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IRS tax exemption
sanctions racism
The recent Witte House sanctioned and temporarily ap
proved an internal Revenue Service decision to restore federal
tax exemptions to more than 100 church schools that refuse to
admit black students jeopardizes the cause of crvi rights in this
cotmfcry
This reversal of an 11-year policy denying tax-exempt
status to private schools practicing racial discrimination was at
first passed by the IRS and then — after public protest —
withdrawn and turned back to Congress for a decision The
government's weak stand on the tax exemption — by implication
— can be seen as a mandate for continued racist policies by the
church schools.
The initial response of the church school leaders ts nothing
short of appalling
Bob Jones III. president of Bob Jones University sad the
federal action gave his school a clean biW of health Jones
went on to say the action was a direct dealing from the hand of
our Lord ft has resulted tn the answer of the prayers of God s
people "
Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was quoted as
saying the federal tax exemption puts an end to a decade of
tramping on religious and pnvate civil rights by the Internal
Revenue Service, aid freedom of religion will no longer have to
take a back seat to bureaucratic determinations of public
pobcies '
These statements — from the leader of a Christian university
and an elected official — are alarm mg not only for what they say
but for the gross hypocrisy they reveal
Thurmond is applauding an errant act by a branch of the
federal government Although the action is not so errant in light
of foe Reagan administration s recent reluctance to back toe
reenactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 Pres RonakJ
Reagan reportedly wanted certain phrases in toe Civil Rights Act
changed
He has since allowed the act to bog down m Congress rather
than expedite its passage This ts not so much a matter of toe
Reagan administration advocating racism — but of the
administration's conservative zeal The administration bebeves
toe government shouldn't impose its wifi on public policy The
results of this is an administration that appears to care tittle about
eradicating racism
Racism did not suddenly cease with toe Civ* Rights Act of
1965 After hundreds of years of racial ckscnmination could a
written law have such a profound influence on American
behavior — especially on toe intractable attitudes of toe south7
The federal government is the only force in tots country
wielding enough power to ensure civil rights One of toe
strongest methods to back civil rights is through tax The merits
of using tax as a means to ensure businesses and schools
comply with toe law is debatable Yet tax ts a more benign
avenue to mam tarn compliance with toe law
The HRS defended its nitiai decision saying they hadn't toe
authority to make national pobcy — only Congress does But
they had. by deed reversed an important national pobcy The
wisest course for toe IRS was to have held up granting tax
exemption to toe church schools until Congress had the
opportunity to act Fortunately, public outcry succeeded in
persuading toe IRS to put toe matter back into toe hands of
Congress
The statements issued by toe presidents of toe church
schools following toe first tax ruling were equally appal*mg
They, like a representative from toe Goldsboro Christian
Schools, were very happy with the government s change of
position. To be very happy to be allowed to discnmmate
against a segment of the human population seems m direct
violation of the basic tenants of Christianity It should not matter
whether toe person is Greek or Jew black nor white It should
not — although it does to these 100 church schools
The hypocrisy of toe church schools — toe hypocrisy and
negigent altitude of toe Reagan administration to have allowed
toe initial IRS tax ruling only fosters toe climate in which racism is
permitted to fester Racism is a malignant disease — that can if
allowed to grow, turn a society violently agamst fee*
Back pages
I am writing this letter m re
sponse to your highly personal
and mcwtfvg piece of Jan 5. enti
tled back pages (although it
actually appeared on page 2)
You seem to think that ike the
sheep gazing at Orweils
whitewashed waB. the people on
campus are incapable of remem
Dermgthe 1960 s or anything that
era stood tor You took it upon
yocrseff to te# us what A was ike
to be a real revolutionary one
with real guns, real drugs real
se* and real political activism
Reaty Cort I do not think your
life was centra! to the politics of
the time People need to speak
out against the brutal pofecies of
state government, and always
have and always win Your brth
d»d not mark the discovery of
revolution — neither did the
1960 s in America You were
s»mpty following a fad White
you were getting sick on Colt 45
and thrashng about with your
panthedike gri the real activists
were fighting and dying for the
real thing
Your temporary attachment to
what you describe as a glamorous
game had no effect on the cause
neither dtp your subsequent fick
le abandonment of A and neither
will your childishly vindictive
coverage of the RCYB From car
efuty inserted typographical er
rors In perfectly good copy, to
purposeful withholding of letters
of support to fabricated quotes
and articles hke back pages
you have proved your distaste of
the RCYB and other politically
active groups You seem to think
that because you are tired of
playing revolutionary everyone
etse should just give up the strug
gle and play dead You also seem
to thnk that anything they or any
one etse ever did was modeled
after your tew years n Berkeley
with Fast Fred, Annie and
Wendy
With words like hysterical
"radical." ‘ children ” and even
“moderate most recently you
attempt to humiliate others for
their sincere actions But I sus
pect that you, remembering the
crazness of nots and the guns
are certainty more embarrassed
by your actions because they
sknpty were not sincere I would
be embarrassed too
You say We probably won t
see the likes of such political ac
trvism n the near future If we
means you perhaps you are nght
But the real world s seething wrth
a sincere rebellion that has never
stowed and s currently acceler
ating exponential^ This is not the
moderate second generation
You are assumng yours was first7
It was not
ft wasn t even the fiftieth
You say you've been in hotter
beds than Eugene Let me tell you
something you will be again,
whether you are playing at being
a revolutionary or an editor
behind a desk
You keep good company m at
tacking political activism in
Eugene — the D A the judges
and courts the FBI I'm sure
that they would also agree that
'America is a singular
democracy " That is the kind of
propaganda from old-time
lefties they Wee to put up on the
wa* after rt has been whitewashed
— and on the back pages of
papers like this one
P S Wo the he* to*d you that
lesbianism is the ultimate of
feminism'’ It is just a slightly
broader philosophy than that
Mo//y Widmer
Registration
On Jan 7 Pres Ronald Reagan
announced h«s decision to retain
draft registration Of course the
decision was never m doubt Ob
stensibty Reagan s decision was
based on the findings of a suppo
sed^ unbiased miitary manpower
task force If you believe it was
unbiased you It undoubtedly be
overjoyed to team that I'm m a
position to sell you the Golden
Gate Bodge at a very reasonable
price An example of the task
force s bias from the very begin
ning was the inclusion as its
executive director of Thomas
Tumage, currently director of the
Selective Service System who as
a member of the Reserve Forces
Pokey Board recommended on
March 11, 1981, a return to mili
tary conscription
Reagan and hts toadies have
been bleating that this «s a firm
demonstration of our resotve In a
cunous irony it is a signal but not
to the Russians Wiat it demon
strates is that we are rushing
headlong into another noble
cause as Reagan likes to phrase
it
As you are subjected to
government propaganda in the
future you would do well to keep
m mind the following quote taken
from a Congressional Research
Service study entitled Oil Fields
As Military Objectives A Fea
sibility Study" dated Aug 21.
1975 On page eleven it says
The Administration Congress
or both — assisted by the mass
media — could take steps to sway
public opinion one way or another
although success would not be
assured ”
David Isenberg
Director, University Veterans
staff
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