Address of the Retiring President: Equal Opportunity for All Charles C. Bookert, MD Immediate Past-President, NMA
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Sidney Poitier, on receiving the coveted Academy Award, said, "It's been a long hard way." For me the past four years have been indeed a hard way. I have always thought that these proceedings are too long. I shall do what I can today to try to shorten them. This is Jesse Barber's day and I shall do what I can to make it so. Last August, in Los Angeles, the mood was one of gratitude. Twelve months later is has not changed. Last year, I was grateful to my parents for making the world of a poor black boy full of hope, love, and happiness. I was grateful to my wife and daughter for being there both in the good times and the bad. I was grateful to the members of the NMA for their faith in me. I was grateful to Al Fisher for the magnificent job he did for me. Today, I am again grateful to the members of the National Medical
Presented to the 83rd Annual Convention of the National Medical Association, Washington, DC, July 30-August 3, 1978.
Association for allowing me to wear this golden medallion, symbolic of leadership in our Association. I have had the wonderful privilege of visiting all the regions of this vast nation. Everywhere I have found members of this Association to be dedicated, idealistic men and women working hard to meet the health care needs of all people. Many, after long hours in the office, work in civic and cultural endeavors such as in Scouting or for the Churches. Others are involved in politics. All are trying to make this land a better place to live. I have had the pleasure of going to such "exotic" places as Phoenix in midwinter, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Hilton Head, South Carolina; Tan-Tar-A, in the Ozarks; and Biloxi, Mississippi. Everywhere, men and women of this Organization have made me feel like a VIP. Your cordiality, your warmth, and your sincere expressions of friendship helped me realize that I shall 'remember this year as long as I live. As I traveled, I found changes in our nation, particularly in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Hotels and public facilities were open in a manner I never thought would be possible. I found elected black officials all over the
JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, VOL. 71, NO. 1, 1979
South. I found black mayors in cities that I never thought would change. (This demonstrates, in no uncertain terms, the value of the vote.) Many of you were a part of the force for change. You should be proud of helping to change this nation for the better. I know that you will be pleased to hear that the national office is in an economically sound condition. This year, we have operated within the monies received in dues and earned from the Convention and Journal. I hope that we will never again have leadership so shortsighted or unconcerned, and in some cases dishonest, as to jeopardize this Organization by spending money we do not have. All of the suits against us by creditors who had not been paid have been resolved. The renovations in our national offices have been completed. We have a facility in the embassy section of Washington, valued at more than $400,000, which is all completed and paid for. This building can only be sold by the House of Delegates; thus, we should be on sound economic ground for years to come. The agreements made with Appleton-Century-Crofts, for the publication of our Journal, and with 85
Scherago Associates, for the management of our Annual Convention, are proving profitable. The evidence suggests that the profits will increase. We have $100,000 plus interest on deposit in two black savings and loan institutions in Washington, DC. The Board of Trustees, at my suggestion, has voted to attempt to deposit $25,000 each year in hopes of building a reserve fund of one-half million dollars. Our members are beginning to pay their dues again, apparently having regained some of the faith lost in the era of economic chaos. We saw the largest attendance of black doctors ever at any of our conventions at this year's meeting. In an effort to improve the public image of our Organization and to create awareness of the NMA throughout America, a public relations organization, operating out of Washington, DC, has been hired. (We asked President Carter to speak at the 1978 Convention, feeling that our proximity to the White House would facilitate such an event. However, we were informed that his schedule would not permit it. This seems strange to me since the black vote was vital to his election.) Other measures accomplished at the national level over the past several months include: 1. Implementation of a central billing system. The national office will bill for local and state dues as well as national dues. Hopefully, this will help to increase membership. 2. We have, since last August, secured 340 new members. These are men and women who never belonged to the NMA before. 3. Since August, we have new chapters in Indiana and Ohio which promise to be hardworking, dedicated groups. 4. We have a full-time staff, headed by Dr. Matory, working on continuing medical education, which, as you are all aware, is increasingly important. 5. We can accredit state and regional programs on CME. 6. In January, we reestablished the Liason Committee of the NMA-AMA, believing that some of our goals are in common. The AMA agreed to make available, for our use, their technology and their research staffs in any area. 7. We requested, along with the National Black Women's Organization, money for a National hnmunization 86
Program. We received a grant of $453,000 under the umbrella of the NMA. 8. We established better communications with the legislative councils in Washington as is evidenced by those who appeared on this year's program: Senator Kennedy, Secretary Califano, Senator Dole, Congressman Rogers, Congressman Stokes, and others. 9. We have placed an increased number of our members on national councils and are being asked more and more frequently to name doctors who will serve. (If any of you are willing to serve, submit your name to our national office.) 10. We are distributing our Journal to all black medical students in the nation. I feel that this is very important to increase and sustain a high level of
membership. 11. We established a task force that wrote the NMA Position on National Health Insurance; all of you have it in your possession. (The Carter Administration has submitted its National Health Insurance bill, but I feel that it does not meet the criteria set up by our task force. At this point, it seems that it will take some time to get any National Health Insurance legislation through Congress. There is an effort already being made on hospital cost containment legislation which is critically needed.) In our Association, your work, your sacrifice, your vision, your determination, and your commitment to an equal chance in life for all our people have made great progress possible. Due partly to your efforts, we have rewritten the nation's laws to clearly recognize equal rights for all Americans. Do not let anyone sell this achievement short-it is monumental. Without it, equality of opportunity is not possible in medicine, in education, in our neighborhoods, or in any other aspect of American life. Today, life is better for most of us than it was for our parents and grandparents. Incomes are higher; educational opportunities are greater; health care has improved; and political representation and influence has increased. This is progress, progress which touches all our lives. It is real and we must be aware of it. We cannot, however, be satisfied in measuring our progress by the distance that we have come, or by the change in
the abominable conditions which existed in a period of gross injustice. In fact, a large ravine of racism still separates black and white America: eBlack family incomes average only 52 percent of white family incomes. *Less than one half of black people over 18 years of age have a high school diploma. *Unemployment rates for blacks have been double the rates for whites for two decades. *Twenty-seven percent of black families will struggle on incomes below the poverty level. These are only a few of the facts. It is clear that we are still a long way from our goal of equal opportunity and justice for all. In moving towards this goal, the focus must be on jobs-decent jobs, well-paying jobs, jobs with a challenge, jobs with a future. Jobs mean wealth. Wealth means that doors will be opened that have been closed since this country began. We must unite politically. Unified black folk are a political force in this country that has to be heard. Gerald Ford attempted to win the Presidency while ignoring the black vote. Hence, Carter won. I say that never again will a politician ignore the black vote. We must educate our children. Through education the future can only be brighter. Above all, we must love one another; in so doing we will stand together and sustain each other. Thus, we will not forget the less fortunate black masses and will always be cognizant of the fact that none of us really has it made until all have a chance to be a part of the mainstream. I have known the excitement and the great expectation of the House of Delegates for a long time. I have also known its drudgery and time consumption. I served as a delegate and in all of its important offices. But, the ancient poet Omar Khayyam wrote, "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on." And so must I move on. I heard a national news commentator say on the day after Bobby Kennedy was killed, "You may not like the Kennedys, but you have to admit they stand for something." In the years ahead I hope the members of the NMA will feel that I tried to stand for something. Again, I thank you for your faith and trust. In many ways you enriched my life in a manner that I shall never forget.
JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, VOL. 71, NO. 1, 1979