Reflections on Role of Black Men Today

the AIDS epidemic in Africa. hl: is ahk to tell his col-leagues lirsthand the need for American help on that con-tinent. He has spent considerahle time in~!\frica, amI heand his wife support a mission there through their church.When asked ahout it. Iioughton is humhle and prefers ttltalk al)(H1t his puhlic rcc()rd.

He is not your average Illulti-millionaire. hut a puhlicservant who enjoys the joh and what it can do for the peo-pic in his district.

Jusr DoN'T OPEN ll-IE "DOOR.

one to 21 TY and mdio stations.In addition to supervising stationoperations, I sought acquisitioncandidates for the group. Basedon profit projections Iprepared,Park borrowed the money to buythe stations for cash.I recommended huying a

broadcast station only if I u)uldhudget it to pnxluee over 40 per-cenl profit after direct operatingexpense. Those industry-normmargins pay loan interest a·ndtaxes, rctire deht, provide capitalfor state-of-the-art equipment,and fuel addition"ll acquisitions.Had J recommended huying astation with expectations of pro-ducing 5-8 percent profit. Parkcould have- rightfully laheled mea kook.

Hochheimer's co-com-plainant <Ibout the Ithaca radiostation merger. Will Burhank.suggests that hy appealing topeople with disposable incomes,Ithaca radio stations neglect "theptXlr." It follows that his "poor"must prefer classical music andcerebral talk on public radio,bec.ause it makes no profit.

TIle late Roy Park never.paidany dividends to himself or oth-ers. He amassed a fortune toestablish the huge, private ParkFoundation that provides long-teffil, generous funding for edu-cation, includin·g the ParkSchool. From its comfortable<lnd protective confines,Hochheimer's anti-husinessdeclamation rings false to all pri-vate sector hroadcaster.>.

If the professor is teachingsuch flawed Qench marks toaspiring cnmnlcrcial communi-cations professionals, well nowthat L'I obscene. ,

John B. BabcockTown of Ithaca. Oct 24

McGarthyism?Sad that the passing of Cor·

nell's P't" President Dean Malincalls forth the guest column fromJohn Schmitt. Schmitt's l."'Olumn

Reflections on the role of black men today,.loOUR READERSWRm

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ror the past year, I have However. for far too long. we-regretted not going to the Mil- America as a whole - havelion Man March (MMM).1 hap- excused African-Americanpcned to he in Baltimore Ihe day males fn)m taking resrxJnsihility:before but thought it to be ItX) responsihility for their actions;much 10 stay another day. It respon~ibilily for the successes;would have been tlK) much of a responsibility for their failures;h;L~Sle to call in ~ick, to make and mosl Importantly, responsi-arrangements for 4me more day. hility for themselves. 'ami 10 fight the traffic for those Afric~ln-!\merican males)0 miles. Instead. I drove 300 understand that change needsmiles back to Ithaca. everyone. hut starts with one.

On Oct. Ie). It}t)5, I watched 111ese I million black men cameCNN <Ill day. Never before have together to address everythingI set.:n such a gathering of mt.:n. that we arc doing 'WTtmgand cel-Grandfathers. sons, frien~s '-lilt! e.hmte cverything~e arc .doingstrangers wt.:re all there. rhese TIght. It was an opportunity formen. looking inward first and personal growth. It was a state-then 10 e,lCh other, looking not menl 10 America that 6 percentfor an~"Wers.but for unity. I have of her population is ready tolamented on tht.: fact thai I was enact change. We arc not thenot present. ·111ishas made the men you read or hear ahout. Wearrival of Spike Lee's movie, arc proud. strong ;lIld ready. -Ille"Gt.:t on the Bus'" otrt.:mely MMM was a day 10 take thisvital. I have eagnly awaited responsibility, <.iaept and 0\\11 it.viewing this film and recently, I Spike Lee's movie poeticallyhad that chance. captured all of this on film. rorIdon't know that Ihave ever those who did not attend the

felt a movie to be so moving and Million .Man March or likegenuinely rea~..,I sat in that scat.· myself, chose not to, "Get on thewith my shoes sticking to that Bus'· offers an insider'sltx)k.movie theater Ooor. and all I TIle learning experience andcould think at)()lIt was being nn understanding this film helpsthe bus. I fclt <l~if I were a part fostcr is immeasurable next toof those African-American men, the price of admis...ion.h(~hyoung and old. I shared Sean W. BradWelltheir joy. their emotions, and· City oflthaca, Oct. 16their pain. I could see my father R d· d fiin one of the charpcters. I saw a 10an pro Itsglimpses of my late grandfather In 'In IthaC<1Journal businessand characteristil.'S of friends in page article Oct. 24 aboutolhers. Most importantly. I saw. changes hroughl ahout hy Eaglemyself. This film helped hring Broadcasting's :lcquisitiof1 ofhome the reality of the MMM. WTKO/WQNY. John

The MMM was not about )-Ilx:hheimer. as.~ociate profeS,.'iOTLouis Farrakhan nor the Nation in the TV and radio departmentof Islam. The MMM was not at Ithaca CoJlege,.laments thatabout the exclusion of African- profit margins in the radio andAmerican women or white television industry of 20 to 40Americans. The MMM was an JlCrt.. ru and more .....border.;_onopportunity for African-Anletr---the ohscene," asserting thatca.n males to addrcss.their pmb- "normal husines.~ profit levels"lems. I would be ignorant to arc in the 5-8% range.believe that the pmhlems facing ,:'.. ) served as chief operatingAfrican American males arc not o"ffteerof Park Broadc.·lsting dur-shared by the greater society~ ing the period when it grew from

was a reminder of the smearsand innuendoes of Sen. Joe. McCarthy's days of power ·andinnuence. It was not necessal)'for one to he guilty of an)1hingat all to he a target of investiga-tion. Career.\ were ruined. soundscholarship was dism"issed_ astainted hy communist ~ympalhy.and U.S. ·policy toward Chinaand the- Far East stagmlted fordecades thereafter.

Under McCarthyism in theearly 1950s. there were fewplaces in the American aC;ldemywhere· one could engage inscholarship on China and theFar East without fear. Honest,even-handed "investigation" wa.~not what they feared. It Wil" the"drumhead just icc" dispensed hyMcCarthy's Un·Amerit;m Activ·ities Committee that frightenedmany into silence ..

Any honest Olina scholar ofthe day might have been gratefulfor a statement such as that hyPresident Malott that one couldfeci safe from witch hunters atO)men.

For McCarthy and his min- .ions, anyone who knew anythingabout China Lobby wa, labeleda communist sympathizer.--McCarthy ignored the real rea·sons for the failure of the QliangKai-5hek regime to hold power:massive corruption ,and-loss ofpopular support.

Charles J.WIveIITown of Ithaca.Oct. 23