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The Augusta News-Review - September 8,1977 -
Walking with dignity
IT'
Sr
I can’t understand for the life of me
why so much Black howling about Elvis
Presley being a Black imitator in his
music style. We must be cognizant of the
fact that Black sound was the basic sound
in early America. Black slaves entertained
evenings up at the “Big House”. This Black
plantation music was the fore-runner of
the minstrel vogue in the early nineteenth
century. Not only the late Elvis Presley,
but the entire popular music industry in
this country is Black-oriented. We,
Blacks, are too often calling others
clanish and provincial when in truth we
ar& just as racist as the proverbial
“home-made sin”. Elvis was good;
therefore, he was successful; and it looks
so big, because he was a member of the
majority, it’s simple as that.
And, another thing, Elvis was no more
anti-black than any other member of the
white race, if we can believe the many,
many Black entertainers that worked on
the same card with him. Old timers
remember how the white would-be tap
dancers overwhelmed Bill Robinson, the
worlds greatest tap dancer, wherever he
appeared. Broadway was given a whole
generation of top-flight tap and soft-shoe
dancers by “Bojangles”, Robinson’s stage
pseudonym. Elvis, who was born in the
heart of “country music domain,” was
naturally destined to be a country music
singer until his old shrewd manager
detected a bit of Negroid showmanship in
his 19-year-old banjo picker. He had often
said around his Memphis hangouts that
“if he could find a white boy that c ould
sing and dance like a Negro, he would
make a “cow-pen” of money.”
Elvis, who died recently in his
Memphis mansion, the price present-day
young, wealthy, super-stars pay for fame
and glory on the stage and on the fields
of sports. Presley became known as the
King of Rock and Roll in the 50s
emulating such stars as Chuck Willis,
Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and many
other Black stars. He forsook his beloved
country music and adopted Black music
and became a multimillionaire. As a super
propagator of Black music, Elvis flipped
his hips and plucked his guitar and his
husky Negroid voice swept the teenagers
off their feet, selling over 600 million
records on way to the bank. Presley’s first
three hits were the product of a Brooklyn
songwriter Otis Blackwell; they were “All
Shook Up”, “Don’t Be Cruel” and
“Return To Sender.” Incidentially
Blackwell never did meet Elvis.
FRIENDLY TO BLACKS
Black artists who were acquainted with
Elvis adamantly refute the whispered
invectives that were never proved, that he
disliked Blacks. He always hired Blacks
on his special shows, that alone is more
than many white artists do. An example
is recalled in the 60s when his very good
Tooth decay, one of the commonest of
all human diseases, can be greatly
reduced by the use of one of the simplest
preventive remedies known to man- good
nutrition.
A proper diet geared for general good
health and started in infancy, including
proper pre-natal care, will provide all the
nutritional needs for developing, and
maintaining -oral structures, including
teeth.
Periodontal disease, which attacks the
gum tissues and bones that support teeth,
has also been linked with diet. This
disease process as previously indicated in
another article is the primary cause of
tooth loss in adults. Teeth are loosened
when they no longer have the support of
healthy gums and bone. Inadequate diet
weakens the tissues and makes them
more susceptible to disease development.
If you think of your mouth as a rather
comfortable home for millions of
bacteria, it is easy to understand how oral
diseases begin as well as the important
role diet plays.
These bacteria in the mouth live on the
foods you eat, but particularly they
thrive on fermentable carbohydrates,
sugary foods being their favorite. When
the bacteria act on the sugars, they
produce a waste product that has an acid
effect on tooth enamel. The more sweets
in the diet and the more frequently they
are eaten, the more acid that attacks the
tooth enamel. The more candy, cake,
chewing gum and soft drinks which
contain sugar, the more dental decay.
Studies have indicated that the MOST
DAMAGE IS DONE WITHIN 15 OR 20
Elvis Was Not
Anti-Black
By Al Irby
Dentistry and you
Nutrition and
Dental Disease
By Dr. W.J. Walker
Page 4
friend and idol, Jackie Wilson, now an
invalid in a New Jersey nursing home, was
knocking 'em cold at a Sunset Boulevard
nightclub in Hollywood. Every night of
Wilson’s three week run, Elvis and his
party numbering 10, visited Jackie’s show,
sitting unnoticed at a rear table.
Also another nightly visitor was
Augusta’s James Brown and his
demanding entourage. But unlike
Presley James Brown wanted the
spotlight and every night demanded a
ringside table covered with champagne
and decorated with a bevy of pretty girls.
On a visit to his Hollywood movie set a
few days later with his friend Jackie
Wilson, a reporter mentioned to Elvis that
a well-known Black blues singer whom he
knew was ill in an Eastern hospital and
“down on his luck” After lunch one of
his aides slipped the reoorter a SISOO
check to be given to the sick artist for his
expenses with Elvis’ compliments. Jackie
also was given a SI4OO wrist watch as a
token of Elvis’ friendship. Jackie Wilson,
like Presley, was a high liver dealing in
alcohol, pills and stronger drugs; finally it
caught up with Jackie Wilson in
September of 1975. He now lies an invalid
and his buddy, Elvis, is gone. Too much
success and money for a generation of
talented kids, both Black and white.
Presley was a prolific buyer of Cadillac
cars. It was estimated that he had given
away more than 200 of the luxury cars
with Blacks among the recipients. In
Memphis his generosity was a legend to
Black charities who could count on him
yearly for hefty donations to their causes.
THE LLYNCH HIM!’ INCIDENT
The same thing would have happened,
on 9th Street in Augusta or 7th Avenue
in New York City, for that matter in any
ethnic-oriented community in the world.
Young Wheeler, undoubtfully must be
sick, no rational person would have done
what he did. The entertainment world
would be the last place in America to go
hunting ing for uncalled for hatred. This
is one area, along with sport, that gives us
an insight into Democracy trying to live
up to fairness and relative good-will. But
one more final observation about the
19-year-old truck driver. Elvis Presley
walked into Memphis Recording Co. to
make a record to give his mother. The
female technician on duty listened to the
unknown recording and this is what she
heard—what they now call Soul, Black
mysterious sound.
Some of it was music from his favorite
Black group “The Ink Spots”. This was
1953 and he waxed his version of their
“My Happiness” and “That’s When Your
Heartaches Begin.” This white Southern
kid was born and reared up with the
sounds of “soul music” permeating his
every action, whether he realized it or
not.
MINUTES AFTER EATING
DECAY-CAUSING FOODS. The person
who eats many between-meal sweet snacks
expose his teeth to the full effects of the
bacterial acids repeatedly throughout the
day.
Sweets are not the only villains
contributing to tooth decay. Gummy
foods cling to the teeth and pack
between them until the next brushing
and flossing.
“Empty calorie” carbohydrates, such
as unenriched white bread and certain
breakfast cereals, provide little protein or
iron needed for building body tissues and
resisting infections. They also lack the
important vitamins and minerals found in
fresh fruits, vegetables and meats.
-- Limit the intake of carbohydrates,
especially sweets. Where possible,
substitute fresh fruits and vegetables like
carrot sticks, cucumber slices and celery
for snacks rather than candy or cookies.
An occasional sweet snack won’t reverse
the prevention process, but serve it after
a meal and clean your mouth afterward,
if possible.
-- Learn the basic foods you and your
family need every day and plan family
meals accordingly.
- Daily, serve enough fresh fruits and
vegetables and other fibrous foods to give
your family’s chewing muscles a good
workout.
- Set up a plaque control routine
where everyone brushes and flosses
regularly.
Arrange periodic professional
check-ups for the whole family with your
dentist.
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BUACK MEOIA INC.
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One of the most difficult, perhaps
unsolvable. problems our nation faces is
what to do about illegal immigration.
It is difficult because we know so little
about it -- estimates of illegal immigrants
in the United States range from four
million to twelve million, a spread so
wide that the truth is that we simply
don’t know how many there are. Nor do
we know if indeed they take significant
numbers of jobs away from citizens and
resident aliens, if they depress labor
standards, or even if they use social
services to an extent not covered by the
taxes they pay.
The problem may be unsolvable
because, short of putting up an
American-style Berlin Wall on the
Mexican border, or instituting police state
tactics, there may be no real way to end
illegal immigration.
To its credit, the Administration is
trying to curb illegals. It has produced a
program of sanctions against employers
of illegals, tougher enforcement of labor
laws and border patrols to try to cope
with the massive inflow.
President Carter is also asking the
Congress to legitimize the status of
undocumented aliens already in the
country. Those who entered before
January, 1970 would be granted
resident-alien status and become eligible
for citizenship. Those who came here
between 1970 and last January would be
able to apply for temporary residency
and permitted to stay and work here for
five years.
The problem of undocumented aliens
is a tough one because equity and fairness
toward aliens have to be combined with a
concern for the well-being of our own
citizens.
Most of the illegal aliens are probably
working in sub-standard jobs, exploited
by employers who know their workers
won’t dare insist on minimum wages or
fair labor standards for fear of being
deported.
That kind of exploitation works its
way through the system by making it
tougher for citizens to find jobs or to
demand decent working conditions. A
large number of citizens are already
employed at below-minimum wages and
Things Yob Should Know
B IMHOTEP -
GOD OF MEDICINE,"
2980 B.C.
So GREAT A HEALER THAT HE WAS WOR SHIPPED AS A GOD FOR
THE NEXT 3,000 YEARS IN GREECE AND ROME ASWELL AS HIS
NATIVE EGYPT! IT WAS THIS PHYSICIAN,POEIf PHILOSOPHER
WHO SAID, “EAT, DRINK ANO BE MERRY, FOR TOMORROW
WE SHALL DIE .”
E KNEW ANO TREATED MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED DISEASES,
>S AND SUBTLE—AND PRACTICED 2,000 YEARS BEFORE THE
NQARY HIPPOCRATES.OFTEN TERMED “THE FATHER OF
CINE’!
To be equal
The Unsolvable
Problem?
By Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
in jobs in which employers refuse to
comply with health and safety
regulations. The existence of a pool of
undocumented workers willing to take
sweat-labor jobs at low pay and
subminimum conditions drags down the
whole labor market.
So the President’s program is correct in
targeting in on employers of illegal labor,
with stiff fines and even prison sentences
for persistent violators. But how effective
that will be is another story. Forged
documents are so common among illegals
caught at the border that the only really
effective documentation would be some
sort of identity card or work permit that
couldn’t be forged. And that would take
us all a long way down the road toward
tyranny - there’s no place in this country
for mandatory ID cards.
There are problems with other aspects
of the program, too. Granting either
permanent or temporary residency is an
attempt at fairness. People who have
struck roots in our society, worked and
paid taxes, all the while living in fear and
outside the protection of the law, deserve
some such recognition. But it also serves
as a spur to others who may decide that if
they sneak across the border, they too
will be granted regularized status after a
period of time.
By other nations’ standards our
immigration laws are liberal, legally
admitting about 400,000 people a year.
But in a time of recession and lack of jobs
for the less skilled and less educated
citizens, illegal immigration is a
worrisome problem.
Perhaps the first step should be to find
out just how bad the problem is. How
many illegal aliens are there? Where?
What jobs do they hold? Do they
compete with citizen workers? Such
studies should be made by community
agencies based in the neighborhoods
where poor people live and work,
including the undocumented aliens.
Once we get a better picture of what is
actually happening we may be better able
to deal with the problem. Meanwhile,
some elements of the Administration
program, expecially the parts zeroing in
on substandard employers, constitute a
step in the right direction.
Our new day begun
SSt 3[
You do not have to be blessed with
20-20 hindsight vision -- only a
reasonably observant mind - to know
that until only a few years ago, the image
that television projected of Blacks and
women was uniformly bad, particularly
of Blacks.
The first 50 years of commercial radio
broadcasting dating from about 1920 and
the first 20 years of commercial television
broadcasting, represent such an ugly
smudge on this nation’s moral escutcheon
that it is taking some furious scrubbing
today just to effect: a dull, uneven shine.
For decades the only image America
had of Black folks on its radio and TV
airways was that of the “Beulahs”,
goodnatured but simpleminded maids;
“Amos n’Andy, a combination of shrewd
coniving simpletons that lived in a
perpetual state of muddled but frenzied
buffoonery.
I’m not saying that many of the
programs involving both Beulah and
Amos and Andy and the Kingfish and Miz
Blue and Caledonia and all the rest were
not at times evocative of chuckles or
outright sidesplitting mirth.
What 1 am saying is that this was the
totality of Black life that commercial
radio and TV would deal with. The other
bits and pieces that help flesh out our
humanity were lost somewhere between
the cracks of yawning indifference and
persistent prejudice.
This is what the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights essentially was saying in its
recently released 181-page report that has
been so soundly thumped by the critics.
The CRC declared TV, its principle
target, is a world in which the
programming is geared to white males
who present strong, mature and virile
images, persons who exercise c ontrol
over their own lives, people who are
problem solving and sensible.
Minorities and women on the other
hand, the report states, generally are
portrayed in dependent and subservient
roles and minorities appear primarily in
ethnic and racial setting or as tokens in all
white shows. It is, says the report, a
world of “stereotypes.”
It is also “a window dressing” world in
which minorities and women appear as
actors or as on-camera newspersons - but
a world in which the decisions are made
ana tne power held by white males. The
report went on io saY that TV is a world
where women and minorities rarely make
news, where newsmakers are white males,
usually government officials or public
41
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CHICKENS COMING \\
HOME TO ROOST
Mallory K. Millender Editor-Publisher
Frank Bowman General & Advertising Manager
Mary Gordon Circulation
Sharon C. Caldwell Reporter
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TV perpetuates
racial and*
sexual
stereotypes
By Benjamin Hooks
figures.
This exclusion, the report, entitled
“Window Dressing On The Set: Women
and Minorities in Television,” suggest that
women and minorities “may not matter.”
The report roundly criticizes the Federal
Communications Commission for
permitting this “stereotyped”
programming and discriminatory
employment practices that lead to this
kind of programming.
Well, I would like to praise this report,
generally, while taking exceptions to
some of its features.
I do not believe the FCC should have
the power to censor programming;'but I
do agree that the television networks are
guilty of racial and sexual stereotyping.
While the FCC has not done all it should
and could, I believe it has done more than
any other major federal regulatory agency
(for example it is the only major
institution of its kind to put into effet a
strong equal employment opportunity
program, establishing both an in-house
office to deal with EEO problems within
the agency and an external EEO unit to
guide the industries the FCC regulates).
I am proud of the role I played in
helping to establish these offices and
much of the programs and policies they
dispense. The FCC, then should be
criticized for things it has not done while
praised for those that have been initiated
in true public interest.
The FCC should have control over
networks to the same extent that it has
regulatory powers over individual stations
that comprise the networks.
That way I believe the FCC can deal
much more effetively with the delicate
issue of programming. For it is a truism
that TV/radio programming is like the
computer: if nothing but garbage goes in,
only garbage comes out. If the networks
are forced to hire and promote on an
equitable basis, the mix of minority,
ethnic and women ideas with those of the
prevailing white male, a much more
dynamic and democratic ideal will
prevail and that is the best kind of
censorship. (By the way, I am happy that
a recent federal appeals court ruling has
declared that only broadcasters with
fewer than five employes are exempt
from FCC’s EEO guidelines. The ruling
strikes down a 1976 FCC order expanding
the exemption to include stations with
fewer than 10 employes, a decision I
strongly disagreed with and wrote a
dissenting opinion against).
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