W Curw
a Cows
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2012
VOLUME 91 - NUMBER 34
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
Rev. William Barber, center is flanked by NAACP officials and supporters at Rally and Press Conference.
NC NAACP Announces Registration, Get Out the Vote Effort
The North Carolina Branch of the NAACP held a Voter
Registration/Get Out the Vote rally on Fri., Aug. 24 at St.
Joseph’s A.M.E. Church in Durham.
Rev. Philip R. Cousin, Jr. was the host pastor.
What could have been a staid affair, turned out to be an enthusi
astic non-partisan rally to focus people in the remaining days of the
Presidential election. The reason for the meeting was to announce
a plan to get as many people as possible registered and increase the
turnout.
On the anniversary of the 1963 March On Washington, the rally
took on the enthusiasm of those rallies that helped to bring a coali
tion of then liberal groups together to fight for equality in the 1960s.
The hope is that Progressive groups will coalesce to do the same in
this election.
Members of the clergy from across the state as well as presidents
of many NAACP college chapters were on hand. They spelled out a
comprehensive plan of action to get as many segments of the popu
lace ready for the “fight for justice.” All expressed the urgency of the
moment.
Rev. Barber and others talked about the importance of this elec
tion and why the national NAACP has made the theme for this year
is “This Is My Vote.”
“We often talked about how previous elections have been 'the
most important’ of its time, but this one is certainly that,” Barber
said. “We will always defend Democracy and our right to vote.”
Rev. Barber went back, in is speech, to establishment of the coun
try and the deliberate exclusion of African Americans in voting and
the struggles to gain the right to vote and its results.
Rev. Barber described how the right to vote was originally given
only to white men who held property or property with a taxable val
ue. For African Americans that rules for being eligible to vote was
given to the states.
N.C. NAACP President William Barber, spoke at length about the
history in this state of the successes of African Americans having the
vote and being able to use that franchise.
“In 1835 with a vote of 66-61 the ability of free African American
men being able to vote was taken away,” Barber said.
This was a constant theme of his speech. That every time African
Americans were allowed to vote and did, the result was a deliberate,
systematic and legislative effort to limit the right to vote at most and
to reduce the numbers able to vote in the least. He went on to show
that this is the same effort of a Republican-led effort, not only in
North Carolina abut across the nation.
“In 1868 a large minority of white men made interracial alliances
with free black men to form a coalition of endorsed one man one
vote, removed property requirements to vote, overturned a long
standing social and economic hierarchy of the time,” Barber said.
When they achieved success, the right-wing whites “attacked the
ballot box.”
Some of the assembled for the NC NAACP Rally
Rev. Barber continued, “over time coalitions were formed to chal
lenged the discriminatory laws of the day only to see new laws en
acted and set forth in a effort to deny the franchise to African Ameri
cans,.”
As time passed in the state many of the coalitions came to be de
scribed as Fusion politics. The melding of African Americans and
what is now described as liberal whites to join forces and challenge
the social and economic forces of the time.
Student presidents from NCCU, Duke, N.C. A&T and other col
leges all spoke of the need to continue the fight for justice and equal
ity.
“I am committed to continue the legacy of the NAACP that was
espoused in 1909,” said the Duke University student’s chapter presi
dent.
Younger speakers talked about how they had heard of the work
that their parents and grandparents went through to fight for equality
and many thought that by now that fight would be over and done.
But that now, the same challenges with different names are still in
existence.
The evening was topped off with what was scheduled to be a
charge for going forward by Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, president, San
Francisco NAACP chapter and pastor of the Third Baptist Church.
(Continued On Page 2)
Rev. Amos C. Brown
Bishop Elroy Lewis, pastor, Fisher Memorial United Holy
Church, 420 E. Piedmont Ave., holds some of the last grapes the
church had on sale for its annual fund raiser. The church had
just a few cartons of grapes from the one-ton they ordered.
NC county settles federal
discrimination case
MORGANTON (AP) - A western North Carolina county has set
tled a racial discrimination complaint filed by the U.S. Department of
Justice after a government employee repeatedly used a racial epithet
at work.
Under the terms of a settlement issued Aug. 23, Burke County will
institute racial harassment and discrimination training for all employ
ees. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimina
tion on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.
According to the federal complaint, a supervisor in the county’s
social services department used a derogatory term for African-Amer
icans on at least four occasions when an African-American employee
was present. The supervisor later claimed to be unaware her use of
the racial epithet could be considered offensive, given the lack of
available sensitivity training within the county government.
Bullied at work at CSX, NC woman
awarded $685,000
ELIZABETH CITY (AP) - A North Carolina woman
intimidated by CSX Transportation Inc. railroad supervi
sors and targeted by vandals is getting more than $685,000
plus interest.
A federal judge in Elizabeth City on Aug. 21 awarded
Vicky Bennett of Northampton County the money for
losses she suffered during her short stint as a CSX rail
road conductor in 2008. Ajury found CSX was an unsafe
and hostile work environment for Bennett.
Bennett complained that she once found her pickup
truck spray-painted with racial slurs, the back window
smashed, and a mannequin head with a noose around its
neck in the back seat.
Bennett said a supervisor angry that she called ahead
to get directions drove the resisting black woman off rail
road property in his company vehicle, refusing to let her
out while he berated her.