Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review December 8,1984
Mallory K. MillerrderEditor-Publisher
Paul Walker Assistant to the Publisher
Georgene Hatcher-Seabrook,. • • General Manager
Rev. R.E Donaldsox Religion Editor
Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson Church Coordinator
Charles Beale'.... Jenkins County Correspondent
Mrs. Fannie Johnson Aiken County Correspondent
Mrs. Clara WestMcDuffie County Correspondent
Mrs. Heer. Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor
Linda Starks Andrews Columnist
Roosevelt Green Columnist
Aj irby Columnist
Philip Waring Columnist
Marva Stewart Columnist
George Bailey....,Sports Writer
Carl McCoyEditorial Cartoonist
Olando Hamlett Photographer
Roscoe Williams Photographer
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Election loss no
reason for sellout
By Gus Savage
In most Western democracies, there
exists a viable political party to
represent eaci clearly delineated body
of political,
opinion. In the!
United States,!
however, fori
reasons that have!
never been!
satisfactorily ex-|
plained, two'
major political;
'Sgr
parties have developed as the umbrella
under which every shade of political
thought resides. Probably the primary
reason for this development is the
American preoccupation with winning,
rather than utilizing political parties as
vehicles for propagating social and
economic ideology.
As a consequence, since the disap
pearance of the Whig Party shortly af
ter the middle of the last century, the
task of being the political conduit of
tite publig-will has been relegated to the
democratic and Republican parties.
There, of course, have been times
when one or more minor parties have
launched serious campaigns for major
office. More often than not, however,
these challenges were primarily for the
purpose of teaching the major parties a
lesson. Examples of such that quickly
come to mind are the 1924 Progressive
Party of Robert LaFollette, Sr., a
splinter group of the Republican Party,
and the 1948 Progressive Party of
Henry Wallace, a spin-off from the left
wing of the Democratic Party. Yet, for
the most part, the two major parties,
have dominated the political arena.
Despite our seeming slavish devotion
to the two-party system, the political
philosophy of most Americans most of
this century can be lumped into three
distinct categories: left, right and cen
ter. For the better part of this century,
the left and right have each laid claim
to about one-fourh of the voters, with
the other one-half creating the broad
center.
With neither the left nor right having
enough assured votes to win, common
election strately of both parties has
been to compete for voters demon
strating centrist tendencies.
There have been times, however,
when each party* has been so confident
public sentiment was sufficiently on its
side that it did not tailor its platform or
election tactics to accommodate the
center choosing instead to push the
liolicies of its own center and, in some
Crisis:
not without ironies
The crisis in Africa is not
without its ironies.
When the famine began,
Ethiopia’s leader, Lt. Col.
Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was
warned of the impending crisis
two years previously, reportedly
covered it up so that the gover
nment could go through with plans
to throw a S2OO million dollar par
ty in celebration of the 10th an
niversary of the revolution.
That revolution, which saw the
overthrow of Emperor Haile
Selassie and the creation of a
Marxist state, was spurred on by
the last big famine which took
some 300,000 lives.
The Western news media, which
now floods the airwaves and jour
nals with sobering accounts of the
tragic nightmare, virtually initiated
a news blackout of the disaster un
til very recently.
And the United States, which
Page 4
cases, its extreme wing.
In the case of the Democrats, this
took place during Roosevelt’s bid for a
second term and in 1964 when Lyndon
Johnsom ran for election under the
auspices of the martyrdom of Ken
nedy. Republicans adopted this tactic
in 1956 when Eisenhower was running
for a second term, in 1972 during
Nixon’s re-election and, most recently,
in the Reagan landslide.
Where Reagan’s victory leaves Black
Americans - the most progressive
wing of the Democratic Party can
be gleaned from answers to questions
posed below.
During those races when the winning
party did not have to compete forth
center but was confident of drawir
the center to the party, what was tl
strategy of the losing party? Did the
losing party attempt to compete for the
center or, aware of the mood of the
country, run a campaign designed to
gamer its maximum vote by energizing
its base and, in the process, solidify the
faithful for the future?
Although there is insufficient space
for detailed answers to the above
questions, a look at what has happened
since the administration of Lyndon
Johnson should provide insight into the
direction we need to follow.
If right-wing Republicans had rolled
over and played dead after Goldwater’s
defeat, there would have been no
Ronald Reagan presidency, which
came into existence because of years of
careful planning and hard work
despite the hugh psychological barrier
of the intervening Nixon debacle.
On the other hand, after George
McGovern’s shattering defeat, the
progressive wing of the Democratic
Party became shamefaced. Admit
tedly, the Democratic Party rallied
enough to elect Jimmy Carter, but this
occurred primarily because of the
Aforementioned Nixon mishap.
However, the Carter administration
offers the clearest evidence of the
failure of progressives to gain control
of the party when they had the chance.
In four years, the Carter administration
failed to find a central theme around
which to rally the country.
We as Blacks and progressives must
move into the breach created by Mon
dale’s loss. There is no need to heed
the voices of doom that are raised
around us. Just because we lost an
election, we should not surrender our
principles or lose our vision. Both are
needed now more than ever.
now boasts of being the largest
doner of grain to Ethiopia,
blocked funds for a proposed
special aid program for Africa at
the World Bank meeting last Sep
tember in France. As a result the
Reagan administration was
charged with inhibiting U.S. relief
because of Ethiopia’s status as a
Soviet ally.
Even now, there are distinct
political overtones to the aid of
U.S. is now providing. Some
government officials are hoping
that the relief will represent a threat
to ‘‘Soviet hegemony” over
Ethiopia.
And perhaps one of the most
graphic ironies of all, is the British
shipment of cases of wiskey to
the starving people of Ethiopia.
The liquior was said to be intended
for delegates to the recent OAU
summit in Addis Ababa.
J n f n) I U ©i=>e^) b i—
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l—J X XX J H [__aJ Uv-I I IL? Black Resources iko.
Walking With Dignity
Cosby show beyond race
By Al Irby
Super star sees acting as
touching people’s heart. “Qur
■ iSHi? 4 ' sb
show is not
about Black
people, it is
about human
beings,” says
Phylicia Ayers-
Allen, co-star
of the only
runaway suc-
cess among the
the new television series of the
season.
The Bill Cosby Show (NBC,
Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m.) manages
to remain among the top 10 shows
week after week. It traces the life
of a warm, and loving family
headed by an obstetrician (Bill
Cosby), his leagal-aid-lawyer wife
(Phylicia Ayers-Allen), and four
(now five) children. They live a
typical upper-middle-class, New
York brownstone existence, chock
full of the normal problems that
arise within any prosperous family
unit. In this case, the family is
Black.
Miss Ayers-Allen, the older
sister of ‘‘Fame” star Debbie
Allen, is chatting with a group of
black jotrnalists in a tiny office at
NBC’s Rockefeller Center
headquarters. She has taken on many
of the promotional chores for tne
show, since star Bill Cosby is very
reluctant to submit to interviews
ever since a TV Guide article ap-
On Marriage
By Dr. Cynthia Butler
It is important in a Nigerian
marriage to understand the
husband’s philosophy of family
lite. If the
husband does
not have a
clear philoso
phy of a
husband and
wife as a unit,
the wife will
find the life in
Nigeria at the
J '
least is frustrating.
If the husband does not stand up
clearly at the outset, the foreign
wife may find herself in a situation
that she will label slavery. Because
all of the relatives will view her as
their wife. She will find it difficult
to serve everyone equally even
children in the family.
Children have no real rights, but
they do have authority over wives.
They will report real and imagined
problems to their parents who may
use the information against you.
peared before the show premiered
with pictured him as arrogant.
Does Miss Ayers-Allen, star
tlingly a”-’''* - ' a sparkling
white leather jacket and white
leather boots, agree with that
assessment? She shakes her head
vigorously. “No! He’s adorable.
He really goes out of his way to
make people comfortable. But
he’s a very subtle man and he sees
past the veil that many people
wear.
He may play around and joke,
but when he needs to be serious,
Mr. Cosby is one of the most in
telligent persons I have ever
known.” So how does she account
for the fact that so many reporters
have written that he is arrogant?
She shrugs. “Every human
being has individual problems.
And some people have a problem
dealing with a man who is so con
fident and knowledgeable. He
doesn’t mince or waste words.
When you ask him a question,
you really should know what your
are asking. He won’t be pinned
down by foolishness. “I’ve been
at press conferences with him and I
noticed that people kept trying to
narrow what he had to offer to an
ethnic group. ..Well, he’s bigger
than that. He’s a human being—a
big, accomplished, loving human
being. And he gives freely to all
The wife will not know about these
incidents until a farriily meeting is
called. It is only the husband who
will have a VOICE. If he is weak,
the spiritual fiber of the marriage
will begin to crumble. This may,be
the beginning of the end of the
physical marriage.
Being in a foreign country, a
woman begins to feel uneasy.
Therefore, she will be inclined to
run away rather than communicate
with her husband. Even if she at
tempts to communicate her
feelings, she may find that her
husband does not hear, but
becomes angry. It is hard to com
municate rationally with anger.
Her options will appear to be
closed. The legal system favors the
man.
Nevertheless, I have seen some
very healthy positive marriages
between Black American females
and Nigerian males. One husband
said that his mother paid for the
apartment, but he told her from
the beginning that she could visit
but could not live there unless she
were sick. He translated this
people. He does not concoct
humor that only one group of
people can identify with. He deals
with human circumstances. I
don’t blame him for getting an
noyed when people try to make his
humor less universal. I don’t care
what some reporters have said, I’ve
seen a lot of just ordinary people
come by and tell you they love
him.”
Miss Ayers-Allen certainly is a
top notch defender of her boss,
Mr. Cosby. But a big question the
good lady still must answer, is it
true that the show is basically
a white family sitcom painted
Black.
Miss Ayers-Allen snappped back
at that accusation: “I consider the
source; if the observation comes
from white critics, maybe they have
ve a problem in that hey think of
themselves as the only human
beings on the planet. And when
they see people who are not white,
they feel we are not what we are
supposed to be.”
It will be a great feat for
America when it can look at all
other human beings and welcome
them with love and respect merely
because they are human beings and
whatever their color.” Jesse
Jackson encounter with the Jews,
or an all-Black TV show will be
able toteach white people, who see
only Black stereotypes that there
are other kinds of Blacks.
message to everyone in the family.
With this arrangement, the wife
grew to love her mother-in-law and
the other women in the family.
They have one daughter and have
been married for 25 years.
So there are successful
marriages, but they seem to go
against the grain of the culture. It
is a lot to expect if the husband
does not agree.
Further, the American woman
would need to understand the
background of her husband. For
example, one hospital reported
that 20,000 women had dies in
childbirth that year. These women
leave children behind. Relatives
usually raise them. It is very dif
ficult because most relatives will
have at least 6 to 50 children of
their own. The relative’s children
will have problems.
If they manage to get to school,
it will be a sacrifice to the relatives.
If they make it, they may have
financial and emotional
obligations. They will be expected
to raise and educate youngei
See On Marriage Page 6
To Be Equal
Private sector
must share
in rebuilding
by'JrillN E. JACOB
The prospect of another four
years of an Administration that
fervently believes in voluntarism
and private
initiatives, rat- ,
her than
government
action, to j
correct the
social inequiti
es in our
society places a
■ w
new respon
sibility on the private sector.
In away, it is similar to the
situation that existed after the first
Reagan electoral victory in 1980.
Many in the business community
welcome/government’s retreat
from solving social problems.
But the deep recession dam
pened business’ enthusiasm. And
the enormity of the problems led
many to wait and see whether
market forces could solve social
problems, as many believed they
could.
After a vigorous economic
recovery that left Blacks in place
at the bottom we now know
for sure that market forces alone
won’t do the job.
So the ball is back in the private
sector’s court. What will it do with
it?
I am hopeful that an enlightened
private sector will rise to its new
responsibilities, in part because
•playing a wider, more positive
social role is in business’ own in
terest.
Many businessmen understand
that improved public services and
wider opportunities are essential to
the survival of their companies and
of the free enterprise system.
For example, we see real concern
about the deterioration of a public
education system that does not
adequately prepare young people
for productive roles in a high-tech
economy.
Some companies have respon
ded by “adopt-a-school”
programs, loaned executives and
equipment, and lobbying for more
public support for the schools.
Others have set up training centers
in low-income neighborhoods in
association with community-based
organizations such as the Urban
League, to train people for better
jobs.
Such efforts need to be widened.
The private sector should actively
enter into a partnership with the
voluntary sector to deal with the
social problems that undermine
social stability and business’ long
term interests.
That partnership should be
based on business doing some
things directly, while others are
oerformed by voluntary agencies
with expanded business support.
Among the things business can
do directly are job creation,
training and affirmative action.
The private sector needs to become
far more creative in expanding job
opportunities at all skills levels.
It is questionable whether its
reliance on capital expenditures
yields more productivity than
similar expenditures in training
and employing the young people
and minorities who have such high
unemployment rates. The
fascination with technology has
sometimes led companiesto spend
a lot on equipment that does the
job more expensively and less ef
ficiently than trained workers
could.
The private sector also has to
ignore the signals against affir
mative action coming out of
Washington. The best companies
today are committed to using the
talents of all people and continue
to recruit, train and promote
Blacksand minorities. That makes
good business sense, and even if
equal employment opportunity
laws are lukewarmly enforced,
employers are still open to lawsuits
if they discriminiate.
Private sector investment in bet
ter job, health, housing and
educaion opportunities will yield
future returns in the form of better
workers, suppliers, and customers,
and a stronger society that works
for all its people.
Direct investments and indirect
investments through partnership
programs and support of com
munity based institutions can
make a big difference in the years
ahead.
No one should be under any
illusions that a private-voluntary
sector partnership can replace
government action, but it can go a
long way toward relieving human
suffering and helping many people
into the mainstream of our sociey.