Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, April 5, 1984
Winston-Salem Chronicle
hounded 19*4
ERNEST H. PITT
NDUBISI EOEMONYE ALLEN JOHNSON
f "iintlt'f txf\Ulnf t Jtior
ELAINE L. PITT MICHAEL PITT JOHN SLADE
("'(?! Ifu'ium ' ( i'i iilutiitfl Slunuicf' 4 \\i\tvtii t liilitr
An unlikely ally
CirOWn-lir>* wv anrl rlr> the HarnHect th?ir?r?c acr?a/iio!Ki A**
?^ .. . . j v? 11 v? V4 v/ i 11 v v? w4iii vi v Ji umif J, W ICX IIV U U1 "
ing election years.
Vernon Robinson, a man we think we'v^ accurately labeled
as a "devout Republican" in our news columns, has suddenly
appeared in the local Jesse Jackson camp.
What's more, Robinson, who is black and teaches in the
business department at Winston-Salem State University, ^as
done more than grin and shake hands and nibble hors
d'oeuvres at receptions.
In fact, he's been a surprisingly prolific fundraiser for the
Jackson effort, though no one can quite figure out why.
Alderman Larry Little, the Jackson campaign's Forsyth
County coordinator, is more than slightly suspicious of
Robinson's motives, and has in effect said he'd personally
prefer not to see Robinson's face in the Jackson campaign
office on Fourth Street. Robinson may even be a Republican
spy, Little says.
Though Little may have reacted a bit less tactfully than
politicians are supposed to during campaigns, he only voiced
what others have whispered privately while'scratching their
heads and wrinkling their brows.
What is Vernon Robinson up to?
Why is a man who has supported Helms and Reagan passing
the hat for Jesse Jackson, who would like nothing better
than to see Helms amd Reagan both cast out of office on
their conservative duffs?
Such talk perturbs Robinson. And it has hurt his attempts
to raise funds for the Jackson campaign, he says. "The
longer the cloud exists," he says of Little's charges concerning
his motives, "the longer I'm made ineffective as a fundraiser."
Robinson says he was asked by Jackson state campaign
coordinator Rex Harris to work for Jesse because of his experience
in such matters. (Harris was out of town and could
not be reached when we called the Jackson office in Fayetteville.)
Robinson also says he is working for Jackson because his
candidacy has raised issues no one else has sought to address,
including racism in South Africa and the viability of a female
vice presidential candidate.
It's high time blacks spoke for themselves in the political
arena instead of liberal whites, Robinson says.
And Robinson says he is black first and a Republican second.
We can buy most of that. But the questionsejanain.
II M. r> ? - * ?
wnere, ior instancy wjiiKgl^pson sjaridJTJackson gets
the Democratic nominatfofi afid ^President
Reagan?
His initial answer: "It's irrelevant who gets the nomination."
-After further conversation and questioning, including
whether Robinson is working for Jackson because he thinks
he can't win and knows he won't have to decide between the
president and the preacher: "I'm on Jesse Jackson's finance
committee, not Ronald Reagan's."
Finally, after a bit more questioning, Robinson admits he
would support Jackson over Reagan with a less-thanexuberant
"Yes."
And what about Jesse Helms? Will Robinson support him
against Gov. James B. Hunt for a seat in the U.S. Senate?
Robinson: "No comment. That's a no-win question."
Come again?
Though we are still not anywhere near being convinced
that Robinson is supporting the Jesse Jackson campaign for
? 11. i _ i- ^ / ??
an inc ngni reasons,\ we could raise the same questions about
many of us who support candidates because of what they can
do for us as individuals more than what they'll do for the
masses.
Or about those of us who talk a good campaign but get
laryngitis when the time comes to put our money where our
mouths are -- or to ask others to do the same.
At least Robinson hasjeaped some results. And campaign
creditors are much more likely to prefer cash over sincerity.
As for Larry Little, he says he has no hard feelings and
even acknowledged Robinson's efforts at the grand opening
af .the, local Iarksfln , iliiiuglinRnlinvwui
had JefE befamiu?-caiukiJiear ^ ^ _
"If he wants to raise funds for our campaign, he can raise
funds for our campaign," Little says.
Good. Now, let's hope the rest of this campaign's battles
wifl be among the candidates.
Crosswinds
Hatin' comes easy
ITrnm fltn ^ *
a v#in Ilic 1ICUCII V^UUIliy news.
It seems ironic that in the noise and hype of today's fastpaced
society that the more time-saving devices we create,
the less time we have for one another, and with all the advancement
made in recent decades in science and technology
and the more we have to be thankful for, the less we are.
With so little time for love and communication there's little
wonder why hatin' comes so easy.
In our various organizations, at home, on th*job or while
commuting in between, we are filled with such tension and
anxiety that each of us becomes a walking, flustering time
bomb venting resentment ^nd contempt with the slightest
provocation ? or with no provocation.
There are those of us blessed to have lived in an era when
time and society moved at a slower pace, when there were
fewer of man's creations and we were more aware and apPlease
see page A5
*
\
\VS HART WITH A LB FT
TO CENTRAL AMERICA...
MONDALE WITH A Rl&HT
To THE MIDDLE EAST
ANOTHER. FLURRY OF
BLOWS TO THE
INTEGRITY AN P THE
Round \sover.
Death penal
BY JOHN JACOB
Syndicated Columnist
Death seems to be coming back into
style - official, state-ordered executions.
For a long time, thanks to
the Supreme Court ruling, there was
an unofficial moratorium on the
death penalty.
But now, the pace of executions is
increasing. The Supreme Court ruled
that courts don't have to make special
reviews of a death sentence to assure
that it is proportional to sentences
given others convicted of similar
crimes in the state. And many congressmen
are supporting measures to
increase the number of federal crimes
rarrvino iVip
v Mi 1 j m tllV MWUV1I pvnaiijf
That's all wrong. From a moral as
well as a social standpoint, the state
has no business killing any of its
citizens for any reason. The death
penalty is a return to primitive
vengeance and a rejection of civilized
morality.
Part of the problem today is that
the Supreme Court never went as faj
as it should have back in 1972 when i*?
invalidated state death penalty laws
then in existence.
Had it simply found what many
believe to be true -- that the death
penalty is unconstitutionally "cruel
and unusual punishment" -- then
states would now be out of the
business of killing. Instead, most
simply rewrote their laws to meet the
court's narrow objections.
As a result, there are almost 1,300
people on death rows all across the
The aftermai
By MANNING MARABLE
Guest Columnist
The invasion of Grenada has now
receeded from national debate. The
story of Ronald Reagan's illegal and
unjustified attack on another
sovereign nation no longer is reported
on the front pages of American
newspapers.
American troops had seized three
of the island's best hotels and had
turned the local radio station into a
/ "psychological operations" center.
Rewriting -recent
~ reporters and officials quiclcTy"
trayed the late Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop as a "moderate
socialist" who had been liquidated by
"terroristic Marxist Leninists" in a
bloody power struggle. To help
restore "democracy," thevformer
tyrant, Sir Eric Gairy, was returned
to the island.
The media and the U.S. government
are now promoting the image of
"safe, pacified Grenada," the
perfect little island paradise, just the
spot for vacation-bound whites of the
upper class. A recent Washington
Post article presented bikini-clad
women posing on Grenada's beaches,
in front of strands of barbed wire and
TT C r* 1- -
aiuiwu u j> uuups. urcnaua was a
suitable setting, the Post declared,
"because of fashion's turn to
TUlS 9iecnoW ^9 l . (
mtccv*j\c? fln J jg. J
$ m
HART TABS To THE 3<
SPECIAL IN1fe{?E.ST5?. Pi
MONDALE LANDS A \\OOK T
ToTHE HMB SPCAy c
AS THE MEDIA MEN Go p
TO WORK IN THE CORNERS, 1
\T LOORS TO NIC LIKE _
NE\THtR IMAN LEADS
J\^
: *)
ty allows for
country. And if anyone suggests that <
having killed other human beings
they, too, deserve to meet the same t
fate, then they also ought to admit i
that at least some of those 1,300 are <
innocent of the crime for which they i
were sentenced. c
The law of average suggests that i
1,300 juries and judges can't be right
100 percent of the time. Mistakes 1
happen. But with the death penalty, i
mistakes can never be repaired. >
Plenty of instances of miscarriages 1
of justice have been publicized in re- t
cent years. Two men were pardoned ]
after someone else confessed to the
crimes for which they were almost ex- . p
"The low nf nvprriQpc cuoooetQ i
- -- " - - ? CT ^ ^ ^ ?
can't be right 100 percent of the
with the death penalty, mistakes
ecuted -- and their reprieves occurred i
due to accidents. In one case, a man i
survived hanging because the rope's 1
knot slipped; in the other, a <
# technicality caused a delay in the ex- i
^ecution. ~ <
Occasional miscarriages of justice
should be enough to invalidate such i
an extreme penalty, but there is con- i
siderable evidence that a general pat- j
tern of injustice applies to the death i
penalty. 1
Racial differentations are an in- j
escapable part of the use of the death <
penalty. In a society inwhich racism j
still is embedded in the minds and i
hearts of too many people, the death ]
sentence reflects gross racial
7r: Grenada rt
primitive prints, often African- >
inspired or with animal patterns." t
Hidden beneath the hype, nearly <
buried under the American propagan- t
da, is the real meaning of the t
Grenada revolution itself. c
What was accomplished under the r
New Jewel Movement's government J
from 1979 to 1983? Why did the (
Reagan administration and his pup- t
pets in the region, notably Jamaican
Prime Minister Edward Seaga, wish
to crush this democratic, popular i
"The meflia and the U.S. govern
image of a 'safe, pacified Gren<
paradise, just the spot for vacatic
class. "
Several weeks ago I had the oppor- j
tunity to discuss these issues with Ian j
Jacobs, Grenada's Deputy Am- \
bassador to the United Nations in {
IflOl T V- - 1 1 -1- -
i7oj. jatuos naa aiso s?rvea {
previously as personal assistant to (
Bishop and was one of the principal >
spokespersons for Grenada revolu- \
tion. I
Jacobs noted that neither <
Grenada's population of 110,000 nor t
its small size would have seemed to
constitute a threat to U.S. security in t
the Caribbean. Most of Grenada's
VOW USTS, BALLOT B0*tS [ W2 I vj
B y-M
KKSOU, th& cefetfee,
2\e&them ^s
hey vie foe. m?ias
owtqot m>v*nt*(fe
low's it look
rovoo, teddy? p
!MI
f
no errors
iisparities.
A recent study of the imposition of
he death sentence indicates that race
s a strong factor. The pattern in the
light states studied showed that
nurderers of white victims receive the
ieath sentence more often than
nurderers of blacks.
In Georgia, for example, the study
found that in 773 cases involving the
nurder of whites, the death penalty
vas imposed 67 times, or 8.7 percent.
3ut in the 1,345 murders of blacks,
he death penalty was imposed only
12 times - less than 1 percent.
Few people are prepared to defend
publicly racial disparities in sentencfhat
1,300 juries and judges
time. Mistakes happen. But
can never be repaired. "
ng or even to justify the death penally
on grounds of "an eye for an eye"
vengeance. Most of its supporters
:laim the penalty is needed because it
defers others frpm committing capital
:rimes.
But deterrence -- if that's the real
-eason for the death penalty - does
not deter. States that have death
penalties on the average have more .
murders than states that do not have
the death penalty. Some experts even
suggest that the death penalty entourages
homicide in cases where the
perpetrator is unbalanced or has an
jnconscious wish to die or to be
punished severely.
Please see page A5
?considered
weaponry was "of World War II vinaee"
and the armv had nn anti
urcraft missiles. Yet the Central Inelligence
Agency actively engaged in
erroristic activities for years to
iestablize the government. "The only
eason the invasion took place,"
lacobs notes, "is because of what the
Grenada revolution represented
hroughout the Caribbean and in the
rhird World."
The New Jewel government imnediately
initiated programs which
nxated a iigi>?c "by the ptejfik ami
1merit are now promoting the
ada,' the perfect little island
m-bound whites of the upper
"or the people": free medical care,
rree dental care, free public educa:ion,
the construction of new housing
ind the building of an international
. ? A f _ t t
urporx. jacoos arguea tnat tne "real
danger" of the N?w Jewel's advances
-vas clear to the "rest of the Caribbean
and to Latin America. These
beople might begin to say, Tf the
Grenada revolution could achieve
hese things, why not us?"'
The American media helped pave
he way for the invasion by portrayPlease
see page A5
will '
JUl
r
Chronicle Letters
A Republican
for J. Jackson?
To The Editor:
Several people have questioned
why I, a Republican, am involved
in the Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaign
for the Democratic presidential
nomination. It should be apparent
that the importance of
Jackson's campaign transcends
personalities and even party lines.
All but the most dimwitted among
us would recognize this fact if they
merely looked at the hope in the
face of a young black child who
can today legitimately aspirej^the ,
highest office in our land.
Several persons have questioned
my role in the Jackson campaign
as a result of Alderman Larry Little's
charges (that Robinson's
fund-raising effort is an attempt to
infiltrate the Jackson campaign). I
am a member of the state finance
rrvmmitf fnr th#? Tar>tcnn r>om
.? > > ?* v> tilv >rwvn>}Vii VHI1I"
paign. If Mr. Little had problems
with that fact, he should have
taken them up with Jackson's state
chairman, Rex Harris, who personally
recruited me, rather than
the front page of this newspapers
I must apologize if my role in the
campaign offends Mr. Little. I
would be glad to give the over
$1,000 I have raised back to the
contributors but must sadly report
that the money has already been
sent to the state campaign office.
Mr. Little's savage, unprovoked
and untruthful statements about
my role in the campaign have hurt
the finance effort, the lifeblood of
political campaigns, more than he
will ever know. As a result of those
statements, the individual I
recruited to solicit at WinstonSalem
State University will not do
so. Further, the individual 1
recruited and trained to solicit
funds at a large local company
recently informed me that due to
Little's statements, it would be
easier for him to raise money if 1
were no longer involved.
Given the timing of the Little's
statement, just as most folks haye
money to contribute at the end Of
the month, one has to wonder, indeed,
whether he is the infiltrator.
The people of Winston-Salem
have seen an attack on my
character and motives in the past
two weeks. This attack was followed
by what is possibly the weakest
excuse passing for a retraction ever
printed in this paper. The people
of this fine community will have to
decide whether or not I now stand
on principle as I have in the past
- and whether or not Mr. Little has
shamelessly and inappropriately
used his position as the Forsyth
County Jackson for President
coordinator to pursue a personal
vendetta against me.
Anyone, be he white, black,
brown, red, or yellow, seeing Rev.
Jackson's performance in the
debate last week as he rose above
his opponents to a higher ground,
must have stood a little taller, a lit*
.
tie prouder to be an American.
With this statement, let us put
away personal differences and
merge efforts to propel the
Jackson campaign further on the
road to victory.
Vcrnoii L Ral^^ii
The Real Issue
To The Editor:
I see where some of our so-called
black leaders here and across the
country are supporting the Rev.
Jesse Jackson for president. Well,
I have news for all of them. The
Rev. Jesse Jackson isn't the issue
in this year's presidential election
-- Ronald Reagan is.
We need to get him out of office.
And if by some miracle
Tarl^cAn AiA rv *'
juvnjvii uiu {(ci Liic wcmocranc
nomination and all the black votes,
there is no way he can defeat
Reagan in the general election. The
Please see page A5
TtfcYSG \N C?*C6 ^9 *
OF 6KVT JtoUjS M / W [:}
f, \rftSfya