Page A4 Winston Salem Chronicle Thursday June 25.1987
Winston-Salem Chronicle
Founded 1974
ERNEST H. PITT
Publisher
NDUBISI EGEMONYE DENNIS C. SCHATZMAN
Co-Founder Managing Editor
ELAINE L Pin . JULIE PERRY
Office Manager Advertising Manager
MICHAEt, A. Pin VINSON DEWBERRY
Circulation Manaaer Production Manager
EDITORIALS
A cry in the wilderness
THELMA Small, the demure but serious owner of TES
Dress Shop on Fifth and Liberty, came before the
Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity in an
eleventh-hour plea for help.
"Ours is a cry in the wildernessT^sTieTold the men and
women who see more African-Americans in a given week
than any other leaders in the Winston-Salem area. She was
pleading on behalf of the 14 merchants who will be
?hproofed ^nd possibly destroyed?i^-the- federal- court
judges have their bullying way.
They have forced the city government to ignore a
% $250,000 study, paid for with taxpayers' hard-earned
money, ana are tryin&To~fb1^eirpro^^
into a bad location.
In response, the Ministers Conference vows to "fill City
Hall" Monday night at 7 p.rh. Let us show our support for
the owners of these small businesses and be there.
Our nation's greatest cleric, Martin Luther King, once
said, "A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere."
Let us show our support for these small minority
businesses by showing up at City Hall on Monday night.
For tomorrow, you may be next.
The Goetz verdict
J/i *
THE jurors in the Bemhard Goetz case who said on national
television that race played no part in the verdict are
either hopelessly deceived or being simply less than candid.
One juror even went so far as to say that if the defendant
- Goetz - had been black and the teen-agers he shot
had been white, the decision would have been the same.
The record of American jurisprudence simply does not
?support such an assertion. _
Two recent cases tell the story.
In one, Edward Earl Johnson, a 26-year-old .AfricanAmerican,
died in the gas chamber at Parchman Prison
during the early morning hours of May 21. He was judged
guilty of robbing a white woman in Mississippi and killing
the sheriffs deputy who reponded to the call.
This judgment came in spite of the fact that the woman
who was robbed originally said that Johnson wasn't the
robber. She later changed her mind. Johnson had no
previous record and worked at a local factory in Walnut
Grove, Miss.
On the night of the robbery and killing, Johnson's car
broke down in the general neighborhood of the woman's
house. Johnson called a repair truck for assistance.
No court testimony put him*on the scene of the crime,
simply in the vicinity. No court evidence provided him
with a motive, or put the murder weapon in his hand. Yet
a Mississippi jury returned a guilty verdict without benefit
of motive, real opportunity or a weapon.
"Diat racist tradition, which unfortunately is alive and
well in America, is why an African-American fading court
under the same charges and weight of evidence as Goetz
wmilH Hqvp 1
'< vuim iimtv uw^H cunvi^icu on 311 cnarges, not just one#
But the racism of this nation, supported and fed by the
court system, cuts both ways. African-Americans aren't
always its victims," but whites almost always appear to be
the target of its benefits.
Consider, then, the case of Vincent Chin, 27, an AsianAmerican
who was beaten t^death in 1982 by a white man
and his stepson. The killing took place in a parking lot
outside a Detroit restaurant.
In court, eyewitnesses testified that the two men killed
Chin, and the two men - Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz
- admitted killing the Asian-American.
But the presiding judge allowed the two men to plead
guilty to manslaughter. The judge, Charles Kaufman,
sentenced the two men to probation and a $3,000 fine.
TT 11 J .
"We're talking here about a man (Ebens) who's held
down a responsible job with the same company for 17 to
18 years," Kaufman explained before announcing his
judgment. "And his son is employed and a part-time student
.... You don't make the punishment fit the crime; you
make the punishment fit the criminal."
There it is!
Two cases that prove that America still condones
racism, as if proof were needed, and that Goetz was found
not guilty of all but the gun possession charge because he
' m -
is white and the young men he shot -- menacing or not ?
were African-Americans.
So make no mistake, the Goetz verdict was racist.
A
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IIr A^iyp^ it* r?A^ *fi
nc hsrv&y run mi
Jesse'd be I
NEW YORK -- Since the {
. withdrawal of Gary Hart from "
?>4vt? prer.idpntial rarp, therp has
been a great deal of talk and
speculation within some media
and within certain political circles
dsi 11 iniiihii vi hJiiniMUinmhiir* tin !> MiHTdHifcii'iwi.inniTi-..v.T?T-ainr~n^ irraaaa
that the prospects for the Rev.
Jesse Jackson's candidacy have
greatly improved as a result.
i 4 ...i j '
n wouia seem reasonaoie to
assume this, given that the departure
of a front-runner usually
means that the second-place candidate
gains in stature and
resources. However, this is not
the usual scenario and will not
follow the characteristic pattern.
If Jesse Jackson were white, he'd
be halfway to the presidency by
now. But Jesse Jackson is black.
And Jesse lack son is progressive?
And the Democratic Party is
structured to guarantee that Jesse
will not gain from the folding of
the front-runner's campaign.
I am a strong supporter of
Jesse Jackson. 1 backed him in
1984 and I plan to do so again in
the 1988 Democratic primary.
But we mustn't be seduced by the
momentary equalization of
percentages in the poplularity
polls and by the descriptions of
Jackson as a possible "frontrunner."
Jesse Jackson does not gain
from Hart's departure for one
very simple reason. Racism. And
1 don't mean the racism of individual
white voters who may
have supported Hart's campaign.
I? mean the racism of the
Democratic Party ? its structures,
its rules, and its process.
While Jackson may participate
to a certain extent in the inner life
of the Democratic Partv. he is
Rise in mini
I . '
NEW YORK - Five years ago '
the nation was debating a youth
subminimum wage. Conven- '
tional wisdom said that high
wages caused a lack of competitiveness
and a loss of jobs.
Today, the debate centers on
the long-overdue rise in the
minimum wage.
Congress is considering action
that would raise the minimum
wage in steps from the current
$3.35 an hour to about $4.65 in
three years.
TUn
us, v.ui i liiiiuiiiurri wage
has not been raised sinced 1981.
But the cost of living has risen 28
percent since then. That means
the minimum wage has been effectively
cut by 28 percent over
the last six years.
Historically, the minimum
wage has been at a level of 50 percent
of the average wage for nonsupervisory
private workers.
That relationship held until the
early 1970s, when it dipped below
the 50-percent target.
And in the 1980s the traditional
relationship was drastically
broken. Today's minimum is less
than 40 percent of the average
wage.
It's time to play catch-up now."
The minimum wage is a good
nl qpp tn ctoft *
piuvv iw Jittl if 91JIVV I tUSUI^ 11
would enable many famHies to
work their way out of poverty by
earning a living wage.
Only about a third of all
workers earning the minimum
wrepmmHg'SMu
PwML / '''{//A L'
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BMH^^HF JU\k\7T7T JB9I 1KI
5 CORRECTn/MfmSl
laifway the
QUEST COLUMN
By LENORA FULANI
not anything like the white candidates,
all of whom, whatever
their polmcaHwHgf^iire^ocHeccfrr
In to some segment of the official
party structure. When Hart's
support is redistributed, it will
end up in the hands of one or
several of the other white candidates.
*; '
. Jackson has been frozen out of
the process that dominates and
determines the selection of the
Democratic nominee because the
white party bosses don't want
and don't intend for him to win.
It is for these reasons that I am
firmly committed to running a
black candidate, with the Rainbow
social vision, for the
presidency as an independent in
1988. The New Alliance Party,
the country's only black-led,
multiracial progressive independent
electoral party, has already
begun a national ballot access
drive to secure a position on the
ballot for that black independent
in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia.
This independent campaign is
in no way a -detraction from
Jackson's primary bid. In fact, it
is just the opposite. But the
African-American community
must have an alternative to the
dead end of Democratic Party
racism, exclusion and discrimination.
We cannot go on as the
second-class citizens of the
Democratic Party - always loyal,
never rewarded. We need to
move on to an independent,
black-led, multiracial party that
mum uronc
Mill WW
ro BE EQUAL
By JOHN JACOB .
wage are teen-agers. The rest are
adults -- and many of them are
family heads.
A basic principle of a
democratic economic system is a
living wage. Today's minimum is
not a living wage - a full-time
worker making the legal
minimum today earns about
$1,770 less than the poverty line
for a family of three.
Because wage scales for many
jobs are - tied to the legal
minimum, a rise in the minimum
will have an important spillover
effect, raising wages of millions
who are slightly above Unofficial
poverty line - people who are
poor by any definition but the
government's.
That's important because most
>
mLPimzm?
re, if only...
is fundamentally based on our
agenda, our concerns, the needs
of our communities and our
children. We need a third party.
1 have already spoken with
? ?r-~Kev.
Jackson about our plan to
support his primary run with
complete dedication and then ~
barring his winning the
Democratic nomination -- moving
on to back a black independent.
This two-pronged plan is
called "Two Roads Are Better
Than One." I have urged ? and
continue to urge -- Jesse Jackson
to keep the door open to allowing
the voters of the Rainbow movement
to vote their conscience and
not party lnre~aftei^the convention
herp in Atlanta
There are many, many
thousands of people across this
state and this ..country who
recognize that the Democratic
Party applies a racist double standard
when it comes to blacks.
Our people have a powerful
tradition, a moving history, of
fighting against that double standard
and for our freedom. We
must continue that tradition and
* ft,
,w'e must continue that fighTT Only
this time the fight must be to lead
our people through the Jackson^
primary campaign and out c f the
Democratic Party, onto the independent
path. In 1988, two
roads are better than nn<>
Dr. Lenora Fulani is an Executive
Board member of the
New Alliance Party and director
of the Community Clinics
of the Institute of Social
Therapy and Research.
i is overdue
/
new jobs are in the low-wage service
sector, so a higher minimum
will raise living standards for
workers in the fastest-growing
jobs.
But there is a downside that
can't be dismissed. A rise in the
minimum wage will mean some
job losses. Small businesses will
be less likely to hire new people
and will be more likely to lay off
It-enJ!**
workers.
That has to be faced. There
will have to be some kind of
trade-off here, and the balance
favors going ahead with a higher
mimimum.
The best way to deal with that
problem is to ensure training and
skills programs that help lowwage
workers move into better
jobs. ?
John E. Jacob is president of
the National Urban League.
0
a
* V
p
Maybe they'll
figure it out
VERNON ROBINSON
Chronicle Columnist
A busload of black church
members making a fellowship
visit to Winston-Salem arrive at a
local motel. The group leader
goes to the check-in desk to sign
in and pick up the room keys.
The manager says that there must
be some mistake, even after the
group shows their reservation
confirmation.
When the group leader asks to .
use the phone to call the local
. host congregation, the'group is
refused and is directed across the
rfreet. Finally, after the group
gets checked in, the manager
closes the pool due to "chemical
imbalance," kicking black kids
out of the pool while white guests
remain - evidently not affected
by the "chemicals." ?
A white hair stylist with a
booming integrated clientele
decides to sell her shop and move
her clientele to another establish
ment. She begins looking for a
place to rent a chair.
? She finds the ideal Irtcfltjpn, foquires^about
renting^he'chai^and
tells the manager that she has
some black clients. The manager
answers, "Black people won't fit
in with this clientele."
Did these incidents happen 30
years ago? How about 20 years .
ago? Ten years ago?
These two incidents happened
three weeks ago. Are you really
shocked?
Winston-Salem has a long way
to go in terms of race relations. It
is still OK to sTng~nicially offeiv^^
sive songs at political gatherings
(a Lincoln Day dinner, no less). rWhen
the Lawrence Joel
Memorial Coliseum was
dedicated, those who fought
tooth and nail against naming the
building after a black man stood
smiling as "When Johnny Comes
Marching Home Again"* was
' sung as'fctff of a ^ *
Personally, I do not mind if
these folks keep fighting the Civil
War - as long as they keep los-tng.
Doesn't it strike you as odd
- that Larry Womble makes years
of substantive contributions to
the Board of Aldermen, but when
ne raises the name of the Dixie
Classic Fair with several other
issues, the Winston-Salem Journal
runs the Dixie story for
several days?
This is the same Journal that
cannot find any "qualified"
black reporters in the same town
that a "qualified" black police
chief cannot be found. Maybe
there's something in the water?
Greensboro's daily paper has
managed to hire a black assistant
managing editor. When the Klan
marched this time around, I
\ji wusuuivj ndu d dock cniei ot
police. *
You may not have been aware
of a study that the city fathers
commissioned to see what opinions
corporate relocators, the
people who decide where companies
move, have about
Winston-Salem. Black folks
won't be surprised to hear that
these executives saiti~~WtiretonSalem
was racially divisive.
Other folks were surprised ?
probably the same folks who
don't understand why black folk
are umpt that ?u-- ?'
w vnui tilv i U5uy i diMCU
close to $700,000 and gave less
than $1,000 to black-controlled
charitable groups in WinstonSalem.
They probably don't
understand the apparent double
standard with regard to city
guaranteed loans. Can you imagine
how anybody could think
of our city as racially divisive?
A lot of people are concerned
about the KlanT I prefer the
loonies in the white sheets. It's
the respectable ones in the pinstriped
suits that you have to
watch out for.
One of these days, those who
run this town will figure out that
racisfrt ic nnt r?nlw 2-?
... >u ?wv uiiij uuilIU auu IIIl"
moral, but it's costing them
millions in economic development
as well.
Vernon Robinson is chairman
of the 21st Century PAC of
North Carolina.
V"