Tfio, Dlccti Prosc
Our Freedom Depends
VJords of VJicCcz
Work is the foundation of all prosperity.
Everything that is of value springs from
Work, -Ret. Oliver G. Wilson y
On It J
VOLUME 55 - NUMBER 27
"READ BY OVER 30,000 DURHAMITES"
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1977
TELEPHONE (919) 633587 PRICE: 20 CENTS
STATE OFFICIALS f'UH Oil CASE
Mil
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3
CHAPEL HILL' ALDERMAN R. D. SMITH presents
plaque to Mrs. Gatha Lassiter during Community Tri
bute to her held on Saturday, July 2, at Hargraves
Recreation Center. Story and related pictures, Pagel 1
Record Kambcr of Kridsrs At Ala. Jr.
Even! This Veck
ijage9-
Grilfin Boll Responds To Picas
Fron 60 Qcabois of Confess
Two weeks ago sixty
members of Congress headed
by Rep. Don Edwards asked
II. S. Attorney. General
Griffin Bell to become more
involved with the resolution
of the Wilmington 1Q case.
Bell was asked to file friend
of the court briefs with the
North Carolina Appeals
court and the U. S. Federal
habeas corpus petition for the
past 17 months.
Edwards, chairman of
the House Judiciary Sub
committee on Constitutional
and Civil Rights has referred
to this five , year old civil
rights case as a "terrible
sore". They citied President
Carter's campaign promise
that, if elected, he would
"not tolerate the kind of
racist Injustice that has so
often put civil rights leaders
in prison."
The sixty congressmen
also asked Bell to recommend
a pardon to Governor James
Hunt, an action Edwards
and others are planning to
do.
Attorney General Griffin
' Bell responded a few days ago
to the sixty congressmen by
saying that a review 'team
headed by Drew Days, chief
of the department's civil
J!
or
By KELVIN A. BELL
Frank Howard Alston,
Vice Principal and Dean of
Boys at Hillside High School,
was honored' at a testimonial ;
dinner held on Thursday, ,
June 30 at the Durham Civic
Center. The affair was spon-V
sored by the ' Hillside High i
School Class of 1952
The v greetings v at the
JL&fPSi&i' kSritSM "iVMl - tMlfk , Ration, in support of the ton 10 . ase had ; been
Prof
ROF'OR 'MR. HILLSIDE' - Either way,; F, Howard Alstoncenter, fits the bill. Mrs. Alston (left) covers a
'smile during the testimonial dinner honoring her husband at the Durham Civic Center on last Thursday even
Ing. Hundreds of. friends and former students were in attendance. Right, Dr. Elliott B; Palmer gestures toward
- the honoree as he extolls his virtues (The Carblinajimes photos by Kelvin Bell)., -
;i- . .'v,i.-'.u-1,',ftf.54ui-.-. .' ' ;'..- M p. ", .'vVf''- &.s-'s f . !
J
rights division, has been set
up , , "to determine the
appropriateness ' of depart
ment participation. . . " It has
been learned from a Justice
Department lawyer that
filing a brief with the
federal court in Raleigh is
being considered. :.
Rep. -Edwards iays that
, J Mil .riUU,'.''
Coordinator of the Wilming
ton 1 0 Defense C6mmittee,
Said, however, that me is not
staff has been ' toying with
this issue since February 2nd. .
"We are looking' for some de
cisions and concrete action,
! not further study.. The lives
of ten Innocent people are
slowly being destroyed."
Supporters have recently
been very critical of Presi
dent Carter's stand on human
rights saying that he needs to
apply his position at . home
first beginning with the
Wilmington ), 1 0 caso The
actions of the congressmen
come as a result . of three
former prosecution witnesses
having, stated publicly and
, under oath that they lied at
Jthe 1972 trial at the urging
of the state prosecutor, a vio
lation of federal civil rights
laws!
dinner, catered" by the Down
towner Motor Inn, Were
characterized by such praises
of Alston as: "one . who has
dedicated his lift to human
concern a great "educator ;
and humanitarian; a man of
great wisdom and knowledge;
a firm, but fair disciplinarian;
a motivator and leader;" "If
there is a Mr; Hillside', then
F. Howard . Alston is 'Mr.
Hillside; said Hillside Princi-
pal, John Lucas
Hillside
.; .... . V U.j . i,J
uuiruu
Jerry Paul Saplhey
IVonf to Punish Cocfis
SMITHFIELD - A dis
tinct difference in bonds .
allowed blacks and whites
i charged ; with murder has
taken focus in two cases now
in litigation in North Caro
lina's 11th Judicial District.
The 11th District includes
Harnett Johnston, and Lee
counties, and the cases in
volved are in Johnston and
V Harnett counties. Eleventh
district Attorney is John
Twisdale who resides in
Smithfield, the seat of
government for Johnston
County.
The Johnston County
case involves two black men
Henry Smith and David
Ezra Stewart charged with
f
V ' ; '- " i - " I, ' x - " I
-, s' J - ;v " "1
i i i .vie" t - r &
' , i
ifiv-." I4 S i A .V..V Wilmington 0 across he annealed already to the N.L.
x;4 ... $ -n . 1. 7.
, i5tSStAV - - . 'A-globe. Court of Appeals,?the N. C.
ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF BIAS - Accusing Presi
dent Carter of racial bias, Colston Lewis, a black Re
publican former member of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, told a news conference
Friday, July 1 that he is refusing to vacate his
office. His term officially expired at the close of busi
ness on June 30. He said he will go to court to halt his
abrupt eviction from office. (UP)).
At
, .Alston, r'i native of
Durham and graduate of Hill
side High School, received
.undergraduate, and : graduate
degrees from North Carolina
Central University; Through
his", directiorf' and guidance
since his appointment, , in
194647 Alston has helped
produce' many outstanding
citizens across the nation.
The guest speaker,' Dr.
Elliot B. Palmer, Associate
Executive Secretary, N. C,
Honored
the June 3 double murder of ,
Four Oaks policeman Dennis,
Wilbert Allen, and truck dri
ver, Lenwood "Big Boy" .
Johnson. So far the evidence
.revealed by Twisdale -. : , .
circumstantially connects.
Stewart and Smith withuhe
deaths. . . .
, Allen, a rookie police
man, was found . face down
near his patrol car on 1-95
Friday, June 3 about. 1:30
ajn. There were no known
witnesses to the" crime. A
short time before his dcath
Allen evidently stopped
a car which he radioed to his
dispatcher a description as
"suspicious". A short timet
sSJ -
Continued On
111
Association of Educators, and
former; student of Alston,
summed , it. up well when he
used, the word "PROF" as
an acronym and applied it
to F. Howard Alston - Pro
, fessional arid . personal; "ro
matic and religious; frank,
fair, and ; fatherly, and;
between the "R" and the
'F, O' for the Otherwise."
which"1 has V already been
pointedout. Congratulations,
Mr. Alston '
Testimonial
IS
f
fiov. Ben
Wilmington 10 defendant:
Reverend Ben Chavis held his
first interview with news
people Tuesday, after prison
officials limited him to one
interview per week. He called
for increased support for
pardoning the Wilmington
10 from black leaders in
North Carolina. Chavis also
,' credited the "mushrooming" ;
of the Wilmington 10 case :
:i with President Carter's - hu-
Several times Chavis
held up a copy of a pardon
petition presented to
Governor James Hunt, by
Wilmington 10 defense
attorneys last month. Hunt,
who promised that he would
take action on the case be
fore taking office, has said
he would not intervene in
the case while the case in
involved in the judicial
process.
Saying he had no faith
: ' ! ' - v - a , " v - ' f i i v ' -
Sipport vQercb
Howard University School of Lav; Files
Supreme Court Brief In Allan Baklio Case
The Howard University
School of Law has filed a
friend-of-the-court brief in
the Allan Bakke case now be
fore the Supreme Court
which challenges the State of
California preferential law
permitting institutions of
higher education to select
Siualified minority applicants
or admission.
In its brief, the School
of Law takes the position
that "race as a consideration"
in such admissions "reflects a
compelling state interest to
remedy the gross underrepre
sentation of black and other
minorities in higher educa
tion." The law school brief
further argues thai the
minority admission programs
are required or at least per
mitted under Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
that the 13th Amendment
authorizes the use of these
measures to grant perferential
treatment to blacks.
Institutions of higher
education should be permitt
ed to continue to select qua
lified minority applicants to
insure full equality for all
citizens, says the brief.
Under the existing stan
dards and tests applied under
the 14th Amendment as to
whether state action is per
missible in such a program,
the; law, school argues; the
university has meet all of
the necessary criteria.
Bakke was denied ad
mission to the University of
California College of
Medicine in Davis in Septem
ber of 1973 and 1974. He
contended that he-was more
C9
REV. BEN CHAVIS AT TUESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Cbevis
in the criminal justice sys
tem bringing relief for the
Wilmington 1 0, Chavis
revealed that his attorneys,
"have informed me that our
case can be tied up for at
least four or five more
years in litigation. Are we
to languish four to five
more 'y ears fai prison when
it is Obvious that we are
innocent?" -
Chavis -Veminded the
Supreme Court, and federal
courts all the way up to the
Supreme Court, and ony
one, the N. C. Court of
Appeals would hear the
case. "Our - case has been
through the courts before
but always refused to be
heard ."Chavis said.
Black leaders in the
state, Chavis said, "are under
a tremendous amount of
pressure, particularly now. .It
may be more politically ex-
qualified for admission than
blacks who were admitted
under the preferential treat
ment program.
Herbert O. Reid, Sr., the
Charles Hamilton Houston
Distinguished Professor of the
School of Law, who filed the
brief along with Charles T.
Duncan, Dean of the School,
said that . the Bakke case
"portends a disaster for the
fil - A 1 j
PROTEST HIRING THE RICH - Protesting the hiring by the New York News of
Caroline Kennedy, members of Young Activists Now picket the News Bldg. June
27. The group is seeking summer jobs for ghetto teenagers. The daughter of late
President John F. Kennedy began employment as a copy girl for the paper at the
beginning of the month. (U PI). v .., . .. .. j ,
STO
For WilEia
pedient to remain silent on a
lot of things that they spoke
out on ten years ago. Some of .
us have left the activist field
and gone to the political
field. For those who have
gone tc the political, field,
they have' to make political
decisions, and that's why
they have been silent .
"It was not politically
expedient for them to speak
out for the Wilmington 10
urtftfow.J
they are speaking out now.
Chavis expressed a de
sire to refrain from "offering
too much criticism of my
brothers because I understand
the hardships they have had
to ; go through just to be
accepted as leaders. But I
would say that they should
speak out more on the
Wilmington 10 and other
things in North Carolina."
Somewhat i ronically,
several black 'leaders in the
state were planning for a
march at the same time
Chavis' press conference was
black population of inesti
mable proportions. Conceiv
able, we could wind up los
ing all the gains we had made
before Brown vs. Topeka."
Other members of the
Howard law faculty working
on the brief were: Michael
J. Moorhead, Theodore A.
Miles, Richard Paul Thornell,
Daniel 0. Bemstine and
Genna Rae McNeil.
'fir1
JV
being held in his Hoke
County prison unit. The
march, according to Golden
Frinks, Program Director of
the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SC
LC) is to be used to allow
blacks and whites across the
state to express support for
the Wilmington 10.
First announced to begin
from Wilmington on July
7, Frinks now says the
begjron Jury
U and that during the in
terim period, two planning
sessions would be held. The
first session, Frinks said,
would be held- in Raleigh,
on Friday, July 8 and the
second in Durham on Sun
day, July 10. At press time,
sites for the meetings had
not been announced.
Raleigh , Councilman
William" R. Knight, Secretary
of the North Carolina Black
Leadership Conference, said
the planning sessions will
develop "strategies to support
the march".
The Regents of the Uni
versity of California
petitioned the Supreme Court
following a decision by the
California State Supreme
Court on October 28, 1976,
that the University's admis
sions program was not shown
to be of "compelling state in
terest in integrating the
state medical school and in
improving medical care for
minorities.'