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Page 3— EDITORIALS
Spelman Spotlight
Norrmh, '
I
OUR VIEW
Carter is Our Choice
For the past few months, the American electorate has been
showered with campaign gimmicks that have, more often than not,
covered and evaded the real issues of this campaign But more im
portant, these actions have made it impossible to know who the real
choice for the president of the United States is.
In light of this ambiguity, the Spotlight has decided, as a result of in
vestigation, to endorse the candidate who by far is the “clear choice”
for president, not on the basis of rhetoric or commercials, but on the
“record” of that candidate and his response t to the needs and con
cerns of the black community and the American people
We hope by this endorsement, we can aid those members of our
community, who are unclear of the stance of the choice candidate to
make a decision
President Jimmy Carter has done more for the black comminity
than most of our past presidents. Look at what he has accomplished
during his first four years as president
Carter asked Congress not to cut this new youth employment
initiative which called for an additional expenditure of $2 billion. That
would bring to $6 billion the total allocation of funds for youth
employment when he took office.
‘Carter has strengthened affirmative action programs in the public
and private sector. All of the federal agencies were ordered to step up
their affirmative action efforts.
‘The President has also reorganized the Office of Federal Con
tract Compliance Programs, which is responsible for assuring that
companies and institutions that have traditionally had less than 50
percent Black employees, significantly increase their hiring of
minorities.
‘Minority business development received a major boost with the
passage of Public Law 95-507. This law requires that all federal con
tracts of $500,000 or more ($2 million for construction) include a plan
for subcontracting with small and disadvantaged businesses.
‘President Carter set precedent by signing the local Public Works
Act of 1977, which established a 10 percent set-aside for minority
firms. Thus far, minority businesses have received about $600 billion,
or 14 percent, of the $4 billion spent under the act.
‘In January of 1979, the President sent a memorandum to all
federal agencies requesting that they increase grants and contract
support to Black Colleges. In August 1980, Carter issued an executive
order which strengthened his earlier memorandum and outlined
specific steps for implementation and removed barriers to Black
college participation.
‘As ultimate director of the federal agencies, Carter has appointed
more Blacks to senior federal positions than any previous president.
‘Carter has attempted to strengthen our ties with Africa Not only
has he been considerate of civil rights in the African continent, he
issued economic sanctions against Rhodesia when Africans fought
for their independence Carter supports the administration of Prime
Minister Robert Mugabe of the new Zimbawe
When we as the black electorate examine the interests, concerns
and accomplishments of President Carter, it should be obvious that
we have no choice between Reagan and Carter. When we recall the
fact that Reagan denies continued periods of racist actions in this
nation, it become further lucid that Carter is the candidate that will
be sensitive to our concerns, and execute in our favor.
Much of the information in this column came from “Our Choice is
Carter,” an article by Ofield Dukes of Ofield Dukes and Associates
Public Relations Firm of Washington, D.C. The article was sent by
Jeffrey Cooper of the Carter-Mondale Re-election Committee
Editorials in this column are written jointly by the editorin-chief ana ussockJte
editor and reflect this paper's official position This Spotlight does welcome edi
torials or letters from students or faculty or any interested person We maintian,
however, the right to reject any copy
I Vote
Against Reagan
By Vivian Fannings
Soon the angry and discouraged black
Americans will be heading into the 1980
election, unhappy with their choices for
President.
Many blacks are so dissatisfied that
they are threatening to boycott the ballot
box. Who could blame them with choice
such as Ronald Reagan (who is too old,
too conservative, and too trigger happy),
(after all we are the first to go when the
government yells war), Jimmy Carter
(who is too incompetent, who promised
us the world last election only to leave
us in the ghettos where he found us), and
everybody knows by now poor An
derson doesn’t have a chance.
Taking all this into consideration I
decided to vote for the candidate who I
considered would do the least damage.
Instead of voting for a candidate I would
vote against a candidate.
Ronald Reagan won my vote for the
candidate I choose to vote against. This
vote was given to Ronald Reagan for his
outstanding record in the area of equal
rights for women, jobs and opportunities
for minorities, his views on the economy,
and his views on foreign policy. If you
check into Reagan’s past you will see
his voting record, and views are as con
servative as Brooke Brothers suits.
I’m not saying Carter's lecord is so
outstanding either. His term has been
one of crisis management, and he has
shown us he does not make good, sound
decisions under pressure. He has cut
back on Federal operated programs, ur
ban spending and he seem to have the
wrong people working for him.
I’m not satisfied with either of these
two candidates, although 111 vote for
Carter. It’s a case of choosing the least
of two evils. We as black people need to
come to grips with the reality of the elec
tion. The cost of silence will be much
greater than just the next four years with
an extreme conservative. For blacks,
Jews, and women it could be the shat
tering of our very existence.
Whether We Vote For, Beyond,
or Against a Candidate
— We Must Vote!
By Craig M. Marberry
If we have heard it once during the
presidential campaigning, we have heard
it a thousand times: the candidates do
not offer the voters any real choices.
This view has been so widely accepted
that, ironically, the candidates are rarely
measured by their qualifications or
ability but rather by their standing in
relation to the other candidates.
The formula is all too familiar “Vote
for candidate ‘A’ because candidate ‘B’
will be the cause of America’s end.” Or,
“Vote for candidate ‘A’ because can
didate *C’ can’t win.”
Some voters wonder whether the
days when a vote was a sign of con
fidence have left us for good. Other
voters wonder why they should even
bother voting. And while serious at
tention should be given to the current
topsy-turvy method of measuring a
presidential candidate’s capabilities, the
latter question should never be in ques
tion. The vote is our sacred right, it’s our
privilege and obligation, it’s our power of
persuasion, it’s our bread and but
ter—it’s OURS.
Listen to most conversations and you
will hear something like this: “Carter may
not be ‘The Man’ for the job, but Reagan
definitely isn’t; but Anderson is better
than Reagan, and possibly “The Man’
over Carter, but don’t vote for Regan.”
We should never be persuaded into
idleness by such ‘merry-go-round’
language.
It does not matter whether you are
voting for, against, around, beyond, un
der, or through a candidate—come
November 4,1980, the word is VOTE!
A cast vote says “I care and I matter.”
A wasted vote says the opposite. The
vote is our collective voice, and if we do
not speak, why should anyone listen?