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Winston-Salem Chronicle
"The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly'
VOL. XV, NO. 28
Black community
leaders support Kennedy
-Burke election plan
By ANGELA WRIGHT
Chronteto Managing Editor
Afro-American community
leaders say they fully support a
county election plan being pro
posed by state Representatives
Annie Brown Kennedy and Logan
"IfHolleman is as strong an ally of
the black community as he says he
is, he will support this plan."
Attorney Larry Little
Burke, and that they plan to lobby
the Forsyth County delegation for
passage of the plan.
The redisricting plan spon
sored by Kennedy and Burke will
be introduced to the General
Assembly later this month as an
alternative to a plan submitted by
*'/// could go there and sign the
till with them, I would do it."
-- Mazie S. Woodruff
the Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners.
The commissioners' plan was
the result of a compromise
reached between Commissioner
John Holleman and Walter Mar
shall, president of the local chap
ter of the NAACP, in response to
a lawsuit brought by the NAACP
challenging the at-large, staggered
term method of county elections.
The lawsuit charged that the cur
rent method of electing county
commissioners diluted Afro
American voting strength.
The Holleman-Marshall plan
calls for the creation of five dis
tricts, one of which would be
about 92 percent Afro-American.
Voters in each district would nom
inate candidates in the primary,
"If they can get- something that's
better than we had, then we should
try it."
-- Walter Marshall
but the candidates would run at
large during the general election.
Afro-American community
leaders objected to the plan
because it did not go far enough to
"It will enhance this community
because, when you consider how it
affects the entire county, I think it
works well."
? Aluerman Vivian Burke
guarantee a seat on the commis
sion to an Afro-American candi
date ?'
Under the Kennedy-Burke
plan, the Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners would be expand
ed from five to nine members.
The county would be divided into
three districts, one of which
would be predominantly Afro
American. Each district would
nominate and elect two members.
Three commissioners would be
elected at-large. There would be
no staggered terms for either the
district seats or the at-large seats,
and there would be no second pri
maries.
"Until this plan came along-, we
only had what I call the Walter
Marshall plan It did not have the
full support of the black communi
ty
? Alderman Larry Womble
If the Kennedy-Burke plan is
approved by the General Assem
bly, the size of the board would go
from five to nine in 1990.
"We had received requests
7 don't believe they are being nar
row-minded in wanting nine mem
bers -- which is how it should be
anyway for a county this site."
- Alderman Virginia Newell
from many of our connifttcii to
come up with a better bill/ said
Kennedy. She said the plan was a
combination of many similar
plans used in counties across the
state.
This plan has been discussed
with several members of the black
community and they have whole
Please see page A7
Woman's arrest
shocks community
By ROBIN BARKSDALE
Chronicle Stall Writer
The arrest iast week of a young Winaien-Salem woman on bank
robbery charges has left the community stunned and wondering what
went wrong. -
and charged with the robbery of the Friendly Center branch of Gate
City Federal Savings and Loan. The Greensboro police also have
reported finding additional evidence linking her to the robbery of five
other banks, four in Greensboro, one in Winston-Salem and one in High
Point.
But members of the local community use words such as "socially
conscious/ "generous" and "a wonderful person" when describing
Beatty. She is remembered for her political activism, and those who
knew her find it hard to picture her as a bank robber.
"I knew her fairly well as far as being a collaborator on community
projects. I encouraged her to get involved with the political process, and
I sat down with her and discussed the need for her to develop her lead
ership qualities," said Vernon Robinson, who received a call from Beat
ty last Thursday morning following her arrest. "I think she had quite a
bit of potential. She's bright and very plugged into what is going on in
the world. Something has gone wrong. I don't know what it is, but the
community is worse off for all of this."
According to Greensboro police reports, Beatty entered the Gate
Please see page A7
Biggs, Burke
say all's well
From Chronic** Staff Report!
Judge Loretta C. Biggs and
assistant district attorney L. Todd
Burke recently told the Chronicle
that their controversy over whether
appropriate courtroom conduct was
observed has been resolved and
that, contrary to what was printed in
the Winston-Salem Journal , Burke
was never held in contempt of
court
Biggs said that, while she did
not wish to understate the serious
ness of the controversy, it's serious
ness was exaggerated in part
because of the visibility of the posi
tions held by Burke and herself.
Earlier reports stated that Biggs
had ordered Burke out of her court
and found him in contempt after he
disobeyed her order to approach the
bench.
"It was a simple misunder
standing/ said Burke. "Judge Biggs
and I met and we resolved it We
had a positive relationship before
the incident and that positive rela
tionship continues."
"Mr. Burke and I will never
agree on the circumstances which
generated this matter. However, we
do agree that it is behind us and that
: we will continue to enjoy a positive
working relationship," said Biggs.
Survivors
Associated Press Laser Photo
Two young girts chase each other through a field of "teff"
(Ethiopia's staple grain) at an orphanage in Nollo in
Ethiopia, not far from the camps where their whole fami
lies died of starvation In 1984-85. Only babies at the time,
they mlraculoualy survived and were brought to the
orphanage where they will remain until the age of 16.
File Photo
The arrest of Celeste Beatty on charges of bank robbery last
week has stunned the community.
Consultant says
East Winston plan
should be expanded
By TONYA V.SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
Without a more balanced development approach, the economic
future of the East Winston community will be to house the poor, sakl
opment Andy of that area*
Henry, vice president of Hammer, Siler, George Associates, a coo
sulting firm based in Silver Spring. Md.. also asked members of the
mayor-appointed East Winston Development Task Force to expand the
area of the study, saying that East Winston is only a smaller part of a
larger development marketing area.
"Wi muflt r?r?gni7r that thfrr is not aw much land within the
boundaries of East Winstpn^-; . but there are land sources extending out
from that area," Henry told task force members during a briefing Tues
day night on his most recent findings. HWe need to recognize that and
use it, hopefully to our advantage.
"We do have sites in East Winston, but they are scarce sites, so we
better think long and hard on how to use them"
Certainly the poor have to be housed, but, if that continues to be the
economic purpose of East Winston, the community can't logically
expect their goods and services to be of the same quality and levels as
other communities, Henry said.
More housing for people in the middle-income bracket is needed in
Please see page A7
The Declining State of Black Health Part IV
Cancer is second leading cause of death
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
This is the fourth in a series of artidles examining the
declining state of Afro-American health . Future art i -
cles will address causes of, treatment for and survival
rates of leading diseases that cause death among Afro -
Americans.
John Gray and his sister Ruby Cobb had always
been close while growing up in Traphill, N.C. They are
closer than ever now because Cobb is nursing and tend
ing to her older brother's needs as his body is daily los
ing the battle against cancer.
Gray has multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone
marrow. He will not recover from the disease.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death among
Afro-Americans, said Frank Matthews of the N.C.
Health Statistics Center. In 1984, 386 Afro-Americans
per 100,000 were diagnosed with cancer compared with
350 whites per 100,000. During that year 219 per
100,000 Afro- Americans died of the disease compared
with 167 per 100,000 whites.
"Incidence of mortality rates fbr cancer are signifi
cantly higher in black than in white Americans or mem
bers of other minority groups," said Dr. C. Everett
Koop, the U.S. Surgeon General in his 1988 "Report on
Nutrition and Health. "This difference is especially pro
jK>unc?4 in mates; Blacks also have the lowest survival
rates for cancer at most sites (parts of the body).
"These differences in cancer experience are more
readily explained by social and environmental factors
than by biologic differences."
Afro- American women are at a higher risk for can
cer of the breast, colon and rectum and cervix. Men of
the race need to be concerned about cancer of the colon
and rectum and prostate cancer.
Afro- American men have the world's highest me of
prostate cancer, said Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, a cancer
surgeon at Howard University Medical School. He
added that of the 24 most common cancers, 18 are more
common in Afro-Americans than whites.
"Cancer is perhaps the best example of how social
and economic conditions dictate the individual experi
ence blacks have with disease," wrote Denise Foley in
"Special Report on Black Health" appearing in the
March 1985 edition of Prevention Magazine. "While
medical advances in diagnostic techniques have
increased the amount of early detection - often the <Bf
ference between life and death with cancer - blacks are
not being diagnosed in the early, curable stages."
A national survey by the American Cancer Society
revealed that urban Afro-Americans tend to be less
knowledgeable about cancer's warning signs, less likely
to see a doctor and more likely to underestimate both
the prevalence of cancer and clumce for a cure.
John Gray never visited the doctor on a regular basis
before he was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. He
came to Winston-Salem regularly for treatments during
his early bouts with the disease.
"But he wouldn't take his medicine like he was sup
posed to, and there was nobody else who had the
because of their work and stuff , to take care of John,"
his sister said. "So they brought him to me."
John Gray had lived a healthy life and didn't get sick
until after he retired, Cobb said. He had worked in a
furniture factory in Wilkes County.
Cobb is no stranger to caring for cancer patients,
having nursed her mother when she had the disease.
Please see page A3