P^c 4 - The Chrookto, Saturday, June 16, 1979
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Almost every day, officers of the crime prevention and
* community relations u^iits of the City Police Department
are visiting neighborhoods urging citizens to cooperate
with the police force i^ detecting criminal activity.
The officers tell groups and individual citizens that the
police can only be effective with their help, a theme
particularly stressed in the predominately black areas of
the city which have witnessed a large proportion of the
city's house break-ins and other property crimes.
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However, at the same time, some officers on patrol
appear unwilling to extend any cooperation to the black
citizens of Winston-Salem.
In fact, many of the incidents which have come to our
attention smack of downright disrespect and racial
prejudice. ,
There are long-standing complaints that police do not
respond quickly to calls in certain neighborhoods, would
rather hit blacks with billy clubs than talk with them and
treat our women with an absolute lack of respect.
For instance, there is the case of four black women
arrested in their home on Stadium Drive two weekends
a?a The exact details of the incident are due to come out
7 during a court hearing in July.
Apparently, an officer investigating a bicycle theft got
into a situation whirh *nH^H ir? th* wnman nnn#?
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was a suspect in the theft, being charged with such
crimes as resisting arrest, assault on an officer, and
cursing an officers
What should have been a routine call resulted in a
major incident involving several officers and the women.
On the surface, iuappears that the officers on the
scene either lost control of the situation, or worse,
possibly went out of control. It's up to the courts to
decide what actually happened.
However, we don't think it's too much to ask for our
police officers to make minor inquiries without touching
. off near-riots.
Honoring HI
Few groups in American society have been more
maligned than black fathers. Their detractors look with
scorn to recent statistics that more than half of black
children are being born out of wedlock.
Then, there's historic portrayal of black men as
irresponsible, interested in nothing but having a good
time. As with most generalizations, those beliefs have
created a distorted picture of the men who play such an
important role in the development of our youth.
Any true portrait of the black father must include the
sight of men working two and three jobs far into the night
. to make a decent living for his family, of men taking an
active role in civic and church affairs, of men laboring
tirelesslv to embellish and remodel their homes.
The portrait must include the looks of pride emanating
from faces wrinkled from work and worry as his children
march through graduation lines or into gainful employment
and the stern visages demanding and getting
respect from recalcitrant siblings.
Prevailing academic wisdom about the black family
has been that slavery effectively destroyed the fathermother
relationship, leaving behind a predominately
matriarchal society.
Only in the past few years, has actual research into
census records and slave birth records documented that
the nuclear family of two parents was intact not only
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Emancipation.
According to Herbert G. Gutman, author of the Black
Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925, the rate of
family break-up as measured by the presence of a father
in the household increased drastically from 1950 to the
1970s, largely due to the massive migration from rural
areas to urban areas where jobs were scarce.
Gutman notes the lack of comprehensive full
employment policy as a factor in the continuance of that
trend. "But neither the economy nor those who
dominate the political decision-making process have as a
priority the creation of useful work for those driven in
such great numbers from the land," he saiH
The absence of the biological father from the
household, viewed in isolation, obscures the role played
by older brothers, uncles, grandfathers and neighbors in
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)INTS ed
\
Member North Carolina
Black Publisher's Association
On the other side, police officers are human beings
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worst that society has fa offer. It's rare when someone
pats them on the back. \
And in low -income communities, police officers are the
only available target for frustrations about a whole range
of societal ills.
It's understandable that the accumulation of the above
factors plus w hatever personal problems the individual
officer might have, could contribute to an officer being in
a bad mood at a given time.
Yet, our society entrusts a great deal of responsibility^
-- life and death responsibility - to our police officers.
They cannot only investigate and arrest, but become
judge, jury and executioner in certain situations. And
the officer usually has just seconds to^dccide which role
is appropriate. ? \
The life and death responsibility our police carry is far
too important to beco.me encumbered by an individual
officer's attitudes towards anyone.
We call upon responsible officials in the police
department to maintain a constant vigilance to stamp out
any feelings of resentment or disrespect evidenced by
police officers against any of the citizens of this city.
We also support a revamping of the citizen complaint
procedure, which most people are totally unaware of. At
the very least, each officer should be required to inform a
suspect,while notifying a suspect of his rights of the
complaint procesl.
It would also be a constructive step to designate the
city Human Relations Commission as the body to hold
hearings on complaints of police brutality. Disciplinary
action would still be up to the officials of the . police
department and the city administration.
The above-mentioned steps would bring into balance
the twin necessities for respect for law enforcement
officers and for respect for the rights of citizens.
lack Fathers
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filling the role of leadership and love children require
from their fathers.
Taken from that perspective, most everyone can point
* to someone who fulfilled that fatherly role and who
merits spccial attention this Sunday on Father's Day.
So. let Father's Day be the starting point for a new,
more complete look at the man or men who fill the role of
father, including those who are not married to the
mottier.
Let Father's Day also be a challenge to black fathers to
make a special effort to bring constructive values and lots
of love to tHtir children.
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[Alvln F. PoBisalnt and James P. Comer are
psychiatrists and t)ie authors of the book "Black Child
Care." Dr. Ponssalnt is associate professor of psychiatry
and associate dean for student affairs at Harvard
Medical School. Dr. Comer Is professor of child
psychiatry and associate dean for sttident affairs at Yale
University School of Medicine.]
Dear Dr. Ponssalnt: I'm writing in response to a letter
which appeared in your column and was from L.M.J.
This person had attended a predominantly prep school
and, consequently, become close friends with many of
..the white students, thereby alienating the blacks with
whom this person came in contact.
1 want to let L.M.J, know that he/she is not alone. I
am a 16 year Old junior in high school. 1 attend a private
academy which is founded on fundamentalist, Christain
beliefs. Over 100 people attend the school and only six
are black. I've *iever had any trouble relating to piy
white school friends because we all share a common
belief. Two of my dearest friends are white.
.Here is my problem. Even since I was small I attended
(and still do) an all-black, Baptist church. I've always
been a rathe^iflsecure person, yet I'm very talkative and
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?v nines, iriy wimc incnas nice mis quality in
me, yermy black friends (so-called friends! talk about it
behind my back and say I "act white," and I think I am
better than everybody else.
The only way I can live peacefully is to put on a
charade. When I am with my black friends, I talk and act
black. When 1 am with my white friends, I try to please
them. When 1 first entered high school, my two lifestyles
(black and white) were totally different. Now they've
become more intertwined.
I feel close to my white friends at school, and also to
my friends at church. Yet I know I'll never be able to
bring my two worlds together.
It's upsetting that in this modern world of civil rights,
blacks and whites can't get together. But let's face it,
it's a reality. Please tell L.M.J, that he/she is not alone.
C.K.W.
Dear C.K.W.i Your letter describes very well the pain
and anguish that many blacks must face in attempting to
adapt to two environments and two cultures. W.E.B. Du
Bois, the late, well-known black scholar and sociologist,
said many decades ago that blacks must develop a dual
consciousness - a double identity - in order to5
psychologically survive in America. ** ?
Yet this is usually difficult to do because it's not as
simple as behaving one way around whites and another
way around blacks. Since we live in a society where
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There has been too much given the people of North
double-talk in the consi- Carolina little hope that he
-deration of restoring the - wil^represent the consuCommissioner's
power to mer's interest when he
protect the people aeainst assumes his $39,500 a vear
unfair rates and unfair can- position on the State Utilicellation
of collision ^es Commission as Goverinsurance.
nor Hunt's newest
In a conference on No- appointee.
vember 28, 1978 Rep, As chairman of the
Hartwell Campbell, D,- House Utilities Committee,
Wilson, agreed that the Campbell supported the
insurance industry had notorious CWIP plan that
abusecTtfouse Bill 658 and forces utility consumers to
said,I Son't really think pay for construction of prothey
(the insurance com- posed new power plants
panies) have behaved Tes-~~~~ before they are being used
ponsibly in many areas." through higher monthly
However, on May 8, Rep. ut^*ty bills.
Campbell's recommenda- Based on
tion to the House Insurance Campbell s record of voting
Committee was that House ^ benefit of the special
Bill 658 be continued inde- interest*? his appointment
finitely. He has continued to the Utl,ities Commission
this kind of double-talk by does not *ive consumers a
making statements that he lot to be haPP* about- They
has a bill to include colli- 00111(1 be Just as haPP* with
sion in the reinsurance the appointment of a partifacility
to stop unfair can- c,Pant ,n the Southern Bell
cellation of collision, but he slushfund, and the
has done nothing about it. ?CO?!e r?m?mber all the
In a recent House floor aouo,c-taiic about that,
debate on insurance legis- The insurance commislation.
Rep. Campbell said sioner's office has just won
he supported the elimina- a major court victory on
tion of unfair surcharges in btSalf of the people of
the reinsurance facility, but Not h Carolina. The North
then he voted against it. Carolina Court of Appeals
Rep. Campbell, a former has affirmed the commispresident
of Sentinel Life sioner's order disapproving
Insurance Company, has rate increases in automo
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whiteness is superior to blackness and whites have, a
great share of power and money, the dual consciousness
is not equal. ~ v
Thus there is a constant, strong pull on the part of
blacks and other minorities to identify with and emulate
the dominant group in order to succeed in work,
education and society.
In such a setting, black styles may not work in helping
blacks adapt and survive. Black cultural forms,
particularly those in the ghettoes, are rejected by many
whites despite the fact that they have adopted many of
them, especially in music, speech and dance.
It can be very difficult to determine when black styles
are-acceptable to whites and when they are not because
the degree of acceptance of blacks and their styles varies
so much among whites.
You mention your black friends accuse you of "acting
white." This is undoubtedly because of your speech
patterns and other interests. Can you satisfy both
groups? I suspect not.
Your attempt to please everyone may be an unrealistic
and impossible task which could produce considerable
tension in you. Rather than walk a tightrope, try to be
yourself as much as possible until you reach a point
where you feel uncomfortable.
When you feel confortable, you should discard those
friends, regardless of their color, who don't accept you.
You should understand that some of vour black friends
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may call you names and put you down because they are
jealous and/or resentful that you can successfully adapt
to a white environment. Blacks sometimes resent other
blacks who seem to be making it in the white world.
On the other hand, some may feel resentful toward you
if they feel you are denigrating yourself or "Toming" in
order to ingratiate yourself to whites. However, you are
in the best position to know your own behavior and what
others are reacting to.
You can see that this is a complicated problem. It's a
wasteful shame that blacks must expend large amounts
of energy on these types of racial issues. These conflicts
often can literally either drive some blacks crazy or cause
them to develop odd personality patterns.
Your interest in making contact with other young
blacks in similar situations is a healthy one. It can be
very helpful to talk about these problems and to share
your experiences because it enables you_to gain greater
insightTThat^HTaTdyour future"adaptations to a racially
mixed-up society."
(tf you have any questions for the doctors, send them
to 4'Getting Along/1 care of this newspaper.]
[c] 1979, Summit Press Syndicate
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John Ingram
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bile liability insurance ln spite of a bad law
amounting to $23 million which has allowed uniust*
dollars which should be ified rates of almost $200 ^
refunded to consumers,- million dollars to be collecaccording
to this court See Page 5
decision.
| Winston-Salem Chronicle j
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