nae CEL AT IO OL TIA CT Asec nncancnnm een ER Nome SRE ME ASR NI YT CCR ARNCredo of the Black PressThe Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racialand natural antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race,color or creed, full human rights. Hating no person, fearing no person in the- firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.Out Of HidingoNoot? Is he still in politics??The question was dead serious.He had just heard the announce-ment last week that U.S. Speaker ofthe House Newt Gingrich was look-ing into ways to use a discretionaryfund to help finance possible im-peachment proceedings againstPresident Bill Clinton.It was a question echoed by many.Where had Gingrich been? Whathad he been up to? And why sud-denly break his silence, now?When the oRepublican RevolutionThit in 1994, the media were full ofhim. The liberal press decried thecoming of a ra of Americanpolitics, dom(nated by a philosophicalcross between Ebenezer Scroogeand Adolf Hitler.The conservative media hailed ahouse-cleaning in American politicswhere evil and corruption would beswept away in a purge that hadn'tbeen seen since Jesus cleared thetemple of the moneylenders.The visible symbol of that revolu-tion was Georgia Rep. Newt Ging-rich. A self-professed obomb-thrower? from years back, he hadearned his oradical? credentials~through deliberately inflammatory(some said deceptive and manipula-tive) speeches on the House floor.His crowning achievement hadbeen orchestrating the removal ofHouse Speaker Jim Wright for viola-tions of ethics rules that most folksfourid it hard to figure out.He was all but declared the de-facto president by conservatives,who threw their newfound poweraround with an arrogance and aban-don that bothered even many vet-eran Republicans.That, it turned out, was his"andtheir"undoing.After steamrolling through a num-ber of oreform? measures, the con-servative juggernaut bogged downwhen a surprisingly combative Clin-ton made a stand and effectivelyshut down government.The public blamed Gingrich andhis Republicans, saying that thepresident did what he had to do"that they went too far.Opinion polls showed that the pub-lie sympathized with much that theRepublicans were trying to do (theyelected them), but just didnTt liketheir attitude. They were too loud.Too arrogant. Too pushy.They especially didnTt like NewtGingrich.Republicans took the hint. Theybacked off. Gingrich went into a sortof self-imposed exile, making fewpronouncements on public issues.It reached the point that, in the1996 elections, almost no Republi-cans solicited his support, and manydistanced themselves from his poli-cies in their campaign ads.Now, though, Gingrich is back,with that statement and later with awidely publicized denouncement ofClintonTs drug plan.Why come back now, with Repub-licans in such a precarious public-opinion quandry?Could it be, as some suggest, thatRepublican leadership is so out oftouch that they donTt realize theirplan to torpedo Clinton has back-fired, leaving him stronger thanever? oeWe think not. The RepublicanParty, ironically, has been sufferingfrom a leadership crisis. It lost badlyin an election that should have beena romp, because it couldnTt come upwith a candidate that fired peopleTsimaginations.Now, in budget debates, the Clin-ton White House is setting the tone,taking the fight to them.Republicans may feel that theyneed a strong leader, even one thatis widely disliked and ridiculed.After all, if a bozo like Clinton cancontinue to lead the Democrats,whoTs to say Newt canTt resume thereins for the Republicans?Either way, the Republicans mayfeel, they have little left to lose.Remember Winter?We have made it to March already,and what appeared at first to be atemporary break in the weather hasblossomed into a full-fledged earlyspring.Most folks donTt seem to be trust-ingT it, of course. There isnTt any ofthe joyous celebration normally asso-ciated with spring, as people wanderaround cautiously sniffing the air andpeering warily up into the sky.There may yet be a fit of coolerweather before March gets well andtruly out of the way, which is asusual, but for the most part, it seemsthat winter may be behind us.If it holds, this would be the sec-ond year in a row without a winter.Some purists would insist that weNid have a winter, just a mild one,mphasizing the snowstorm Raleighhad on Martin Luther King Day.That, though, was an aberration.The roads were clear by that after-noon, and the snow was for the mostpart gone the next day, as tempera-tures pushed close to 60.In fact, temperatures only actuallydropped below freezing a couple oftimes all owinter.?There was barely enough time tobreak out the heavy clothes or makesure the car heaters worked, beforeit was time to start checking on theair conditioning again.We've had autumns that weremore severe than that.A telltale sign of the type ofweather we have been having is thatour transplanted Northerners couldbarely be heard to complain aboutthe temperatures.They ware wont to do that, evenduring perfectly ordinary winters. Itseems that most of them expect ev-erywhere in the South to be likeFlorida, and get very indignantwhen they see ice down here. Theycould have stayed home for that kindof weather, they huff.This year, though, our adoptedNorthern neighbors were as happyas clams again.When it happened last year, mostfolks figured it was something leftover from Hurricane Fran.Maybe the big storm fried weatherpatterns for the rest of the season,people were saying.This year, though, was a repeat ofthe last one, and it has us wondering.Not that weTre complaining, mindyou. ItTs just that it makes one ner-vous.If the weather can be this confusedduring the winter, what might hap-pen during the summer, when NorthCarolina industry is depending oncrops and tourism?Maybe the global warming peopleare right, and we are in for a generalupturn in temperature that will haveus growing grapefruit in Fayette-ville.Or maybe it will just cancel out theice age that we are supposed to bestarting sometime soon.Whatever eventually happens, forthis year at least, it looks like owin-ter? is over.2020201020001990ATemses@AOL COM ANNTELNAERDEVELOPING MUTUAL GROWTH IN A TIME OFTRANSITIONBy Chessley A. Robinson, IllSpecial To The CarolinianCity planning and development is a chore. One mustweigh all the risks involved in any move and then act withswift reluctance on a wide variety of issues. A city such asRaleigh is a particularly difficult task for Raleigh is stuck ina transition from rural to urban. Should planners develop aprogram to satisfy those living in the sub urban or morerural areas in Raleigh? Should planners abandon those liv-ing In rural or sub-urban areas to develop those people liv-ing In urban settings? These questions were at the heart ofthe past local elections. They were only disguised in the formof inner versus outer Beltline but when it comes directly tothe point the issue is urbanites against sub-urbanites. Whodo we support?The brass tacks of the issue is, however, that the twogroups make up one city. We, as citizens of Raleigh, mustdemand that both inner and outer Beltline Raleigh beplanned equally to develop a balanced city for growth. Thatis why our city planners should separate their agendas twofold: Neighborhood planning and urban density planning.Neighborhood Planning for the Sub-urbanites: To developall of our sub-urban regions in the same manner would be amistake for our city. Anyone who has met with the variouscitizensT councils know that the needs of one are not neces-¢arily the needs of another. The people who'live around thearea of Glen Eden and Ridge Road have different issues andneeds than those people who live between Saw Mill andStrickland roads. If the city makes the mistake of planningequilaterally for all of the sub urban areas of Raleigh then itshall not only run the risk of wasting money by genericallyspending on the needs of one section for the entire region butit will also waste precious time and ignore many issues di-rectly Important to specific neighborhoods that are not inthe agenda for that region. If the city, however, separatedsub-urban Raleigh into neighborhoods then the concentra-tion of dollars could be more focused and Immediately felt byconstituents.Urban Population Density: The secret to developing anurban area is simple. One must increase the population den-sity to create space for developers to build. There are twoproblems. One is that it is simply unethical to move peopleinto an area of less living space simply for the sake of devel-opment, and secondly there will be neighborhoods which areuncomfortable with the move to urbanization. The solutionto the first problem Is to convince builders to build up andnot out. If a builder utilizes technology to build high-risesthen people are not risking living space and the ground isreserved for more development. The builders must be regu-lated, however, to build rooms, especially in living domiciles,that are of a comfortable size and that are affordable. It mayeven be in our best interest to create a pricing ceiling toensure that the price per square foot of living space is rea-sonable. Secondly, do not touch the neighborhoods. The se-cret to development is to develop that which is undevelopedor deteriorating. Why attempt to bother neighborhoods whenyou can leave them be and let them enjoy the benefits ofdevelopment? By building up instead of out you create moreliving space, leave room for ground level development, andavoid developing over established neighborhoods. It allworks together.The way to accomplish a balanced city is to develop allsides at the same pace. At times concentration has gone toNorth Raleigh over South Raleigh and downtown but now achange must be made. A mutual development program in-volving a movement of residents to the downtown area and arejuvenation of inner Beltline Raleigh must begin with thisadministration. This is my opinion of a tool to get the jobdone. Let us close the growing division between North andSouth and unite the city for one goal. To grow as much aspossible for the next generation to prosper!PRACTICING (PRACTICAL) DIPLOMACYBy Hugh B. Price :President, National Urban LeagueLess than two weeks ago the American government wasabout to go to war against Iraq again. Newspaper headlinesblared that the American round-the-clock bombjhg of Iraqimilitary targets"intended to force dictator Husseinto allow United Nations weapons inspectors unimpededaccess to the countryTs weapons sites"was imminent. TheAmerican military high command projected that the plannedfour-day bombing assault would kill more than 1,500 Iraqis.Those projections helped provoke vigorous objections torenewing military action from several of AmericaTs allies inEurope and among the Arab states"and, surprisingly, itprovoked a sudden, strong grassroots reaction within theUnited States, too.Now, there has been no bombing, no deaths, and no possi-bility"always present in such actions"of a wider conflict,because Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General,persuaded Hussein to permit the weapons inspections on theterms the Clinton Administration wanted.Yet, to hear and read some commentators, you'd thinkthat Annan was, on the one hand, just easy pickings for theshrewd, duplicitous Iraqi strongman, or, on the other, justan errand boy for President Clinton and Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright.In the immediate wake of the accord, some newspapersreported that Albright was in effect AnnanTs ghostwriter incrafting its terms, and in a crack bordering on racist, radiotalk show host Don Imus even called Annan oa waiter? whocarried AmericaTs orders to Baghdad.DonTt be fooled by the detractors AnnanTs eleventh-hourand successful negotiations were a dramatic example ofhigh-stakes diplomacy carried out by a skilled diplomat.Of course, no one takes Saddam Hussein at his word. Noone thinks the utmost vigilance"oand more tough talk on thePresidentTs part"wonTt be required to compel Hussein tolive up to the agreement. It may even be that America willhave to take military action in the future.But AnnanTs success in averting the bombing campaignwas notable for one specific reason As Newsweek magazineput it in its story this week, it bought the Clinton Adminis-tration time.oNow, the White House is puzzling over a slew of op-tions,? the magazine stated, o[such as] training insurgents,boosting opponents in exile"that might help get rid of Sad-dam or at least contain him. If nothing else, the deal givesClintonTs team breathing room to figure out the next move.?These words define what is most often the stuff of diplo-macy: figuring out the next move short of war. Diplomacy isthe pursuit of the practical"in this instance, preventing theoutbreak of military conflict, convincing the opposing sidesto try for this week to peaceably work out their differences inthe hopes that a long-term solution can be hammered outacross the negotiating table.That is what has been occurring for decades in the three-cornered conflict in Northern Ireland, and the one betweenIsraelis and Palestinians in the Middle East, and in the still-murderous conflict in the Balkans, and in other hot spotsaround the globe.In that regard, the U.S.-Iraq conflict"for all of SaddamHusseinTs brutality"is no different.Was Kofi Annan acting alone? Of course not. ThatTs notthe function of a United Nations Secretary General. Hisfunction is to be a mediator, to work in concert with leadersand diplomats of the worldTs nations to preserve the peaceand advance the interests of peace. That is what Annan didhere.And why should his ability to do so skillfully surpriseanyone? After all, no one rises to the top of any nationTsdiplomatic corps, and then campaigns for and is voted Secre-tary General of the United Nations, without possessing su-perb political instincts.So, the notion that Annan was the equivalent of a coun-try bumpkin pushed this way and that by either Hussein orthe U.S. reveals more about those who push that line thanabout Annan himself. It shows that theyTre still controlled bythe old stereotypes which declared diplomacy a whites-onlyenterprise that people of color lacked the sensitivity andshrewdness to master.ThatTs one reason itTs exciting to see someone of Africandescent soar to the heights of international diplomacy: be-cause it reminds us that itTs been done before, and not justby such modern figures as Andrew Young and DonaldMcHenry. A half-century ago another great diplomat, RalphBunche, an African-American, won the Nobel Prize for hisefforts to negotiate peace between a young lspe and itsArab neighbors.Kofi AnnanTs mediation of this latest world crisis under-scores anew that the diplomatic heights heTs scaled are popu-lated by people of African descent, too.Support TheBlack Press!