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Page 8 Black Ink April 19,1984 KKK continued from pg. 4 CGC continued from pg. 6 convictions for the people of murder ed folk in Greensboro and the atti tude of the Kian are nothing but pranks," she said For example, in February, 1983, two white men burned crosses on a black man's property in Statesville. The two men pled guilty and re ceived probation. Wise said, "1 think secondly, (the Klan resurgence) has to do with the economy. In times of crisis, people look for answers, and the Klan puts out simple answers." In an earlier report written by Wise, she states that there is a corre lation between acts of racist violence and Klan activity and the number of jobs lost in a particular section of the state. Many poor whites who have lost their jobs have come to believe that blacks are taking their jobs, so the Klan propaganda seems credible to them, Wise said. The third reason the Klan is having a resurgence in North Carolina is because there are five or more Klan groups. Wise said, "And several of them have very aggressive leader ship" In fact, there are about 1,600 Klansmen in the state out of the esti mated 12,000 across the nation. There are two basic ideologies. Wise said. First, there is the old Klan ideology that blacks have an inferior position in white society. Second, the neo-Nazis ideology states blacks, lews and Catholics have no position in white society and thus should be moved out or annihilated. The Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is run by Glenn Miller. Mil ler, according to Wise, is much closer to the neo-Nazis ideology. Miller, who is running for governor, was responsible for a letter to black or ganizations throughout the state sup porting a separate black state. The Carolina Knights can be found in the southeast tip of the Piedmont region. The United Klans of America, which recently placed recruitment posters in Durham, Orange and Gran ville counties, is one of the tradi tional Klan groups. Wise said, "they're the ones who when crosses are put up, the FBI will verify that this is a Klan cross because these guys did it in this very old and formal way.'" She added that the Anti-De- famation League of B'nai B'rith, which keeps track of Klan groups, es timates their number to be 400 in the state. The Klan also has a lot of sympa thizers throughout the state. These sympathizers are also dangerous, be cause they are frequently involved in racist activity. Wise said. On the other hand, a number of people do not support the Klan or its ideas. Wise said "But they are iso lated and if they don't hear voices that should essentially state what they view , they are not strengthened in that posture at all, but rather weakened. And that's why we think it is so important for public voices to be heard." Wise also said there are some problems with keeping up with Klan activity also. "One of the problems is being able to prove, at least the way the state is saying it, that the various things are different Klan things. Wise said that many people may not call in or tell anyone about an ex perience with the Klan. "The way we've gotten most of the incidents is through the clippings or people call ing in," she said. In addition, NCARRV keeps track of all Klan rallies and motorcades. Wise said that NCARRV was inter ested in doing a lot of different things besides exposing the public to information about the Klan. One area NCARRV may challenge is the use of phone recordings to puHicize Klan activity. "(The Klan) publishes these phone numbers and you call them up and they give you messages because of some recent legislation in relation to pornography, which says that if you dial in and you get gross porn on the telephone, that it is illegal," she said. Wise said that one of the next steps is to get some legislation passed to stop Klansmen from carrying wea pons that are illegal. "We have monitors at different Klan rallies, they carry not just weapons, but illegal weapons," she said. There has been some effective legislation since the' killings in Greensboro. "It is illegal now to carry weapons at any public demonstra tion on public property as opposed to a public demonstration on private property," she said. Wise said, "The really sad thing is that from the major organizations, civil rights organizations, they have not touched this. And don't ask me why. I don't know whether it is that their resources are gone or whatever." Wise said there has been a lot of cooperation from the different organizations which deal with Klan activities, "in the National Anti-Klan net work, there has been close to 60 to 100 organizations nationally in cluding the National Council of Chur ches, the NEA and other groups," she said. "There's also Klan-Watch that does both litigation and monitoring of the Klan, and they all work closely together and closely with us. The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) has not worked closely with us, although principally they provide information. They do monitoring as well. "In terms of information, we've got a lot of cooperation from friends in the governor's office and the human relations councils. "But," she said, "in terms of civil rights organizations that are here tak ing up this issue in this state, it's not really happening too much. Wise also said that there needs to be a network of support for victims. "We, because Durham has one of the more progressive city councils, are trying to develop a model that might be used elsewhere in this state for resolutions from the city council. (to) pressure the sheriff's department, city police and stuff like that to be more responsive [to victims]." ■ Exam continued from pg. 6 should be advised that cramming is not a regular method of study. For more information on study skills you may call the Student Reading Program at: 962-3782, or you may go to Phillips Annexx. as a representative Watson said that she felt some pressure as being the only black and the only female on the finance committee. "This year there are more blacks on the finance committee and this makes me more comfortable about the status of programming and representation, because that's a big issue, not proper representation of both blacks and females on the CGC." She added that this year students should feel fortunate about the overall procedures of the CGC because there is that proper black representation. Closs, a freshman accounting/pre law major also from Raleigh, works on the finance committee with Wat son and feels no great pressure about being black and in such a high rank ing position among so many whites, especially since this year's finance committee has a better representa tion of blacks on it. "I feel like a CGC representative who is black, not as a black who is a CGC member." Closs, however, admits that he was surpris ed that South campus doesn't have any black representatives. "I think that is unfortunate considering the voting power of blacks on that area of the campus." Another unfortunate surprise for CGC members is Watson's resigna tion. This leaves two blacks in leader ship position (which is still im pressive). Because of all the time and effort Watson has been putting toward the CGC, her grade point average is falling and academics she says, is her first priority. At the same time Watson doesn't want the quali ty of leadership to go down either. "A leader must realize when one is over his head and must be willing to step down and let someone else take his place," she said. "Regardless of how well I am doing now, it is better for me to step down rather than so meone make me step down. It may seem selfish but you have to remember we're academic students first and everything else comes in se cond." "I hate to have Watson leave us," Holley commented. "She was one of our most experienced returning members also one of the most knowledgeable. We understand she had to resign but we regret it. At the present Thomas Keply is taking over Watson's duties until April 14 when the council will hold a full meeting and appoint another chairman to the finance committee. Watson has left, however, some extremely efficient black leaders and members on the CGC according to Exum and Holley. Fxum, who is also close friends with Holley said about the speaker, "I think Reggie can do an excellent job. He certainly has a great deal of conviction and is a very hard worker." In summing up the way he feels about the black membership on the CGC Holley said, "First of all when you look at the number of us (blacks) on campus and look at the CGC and the number of CGC governing roles held by blacks, I think we're in these roles because of experience and work and confidence others have in us — not because we're black." A 1 ib Juggy’s Hair Design 111 N. Merritt Mill Rd. Chapel Hill, NC 942-3119 Precise Perm regular price $40.00 discount price $32.00 save $8.00 Cut regular price $10.00 discount price $8.00 save $2.00 Touch Up (other relaxers) regular price $28.00 discount price $22.40 save $5.60 Curly Look regular price $60.00 discount price $48.00 save $12.00 Offer Good thru May 9 Shampoo & Blow Dry (all conditioners are free) regular price $14.00 discount price $11.20 Save *2.80 Must request discount liairdresser. Must bring this couiwn. If it's your hair* we carel
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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April 19, 1984, edition 1
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