Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 11, 1990, edition 1 / Page 9
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Thursday, October 11, 1990 Winston-Salem Chronicle Page A9 ;en. Jesse Helms refuses to discuss any aspect of Meredith letter RALEIGH (AP)-Civil rights pioneer James H. ■redilh vowed to become "the most important Black ader in America and the World" in a letter he wrote congressmen before joining Sen. Jesse Helms' staff. ' ”We need to know each other. ... I plan to take ntrol of all NAACP branches. ... I plan to take steps sec that persons with AIDS, Hard Core Drug Idicls persons with Incurable 'Syphilis' and Lunatics . removed from the Black Communities and placed insliiniions," he wrote in the same letter of January 88.' " A year later, he wrote duectly to Helms, asking ) establish a working relationship" with the North irolina Republican. "My goal is to become the base of the future idcrship of the Black Race," the letter said. "In order accomplish this mission I will have to make power- 1 allies." A month later, Meredith asked Helms for a job, jting: "How can this benefit you? It will put your beral adversaries on the defensive regarding their arges of Racism and bigotry ..." Meredith joined Helms' Senate staff as a legisla tive assistant on Sept. 5, 1989 at a government salary of 530,000 to S35,000. Since then, Meredith - who gained renown in 1962 as the first black to attend the University of Mis- sissippi-has stirred controversy with statements assail ing mainstream black leaders. On Monday, the Washington newspaper Roll Call published an article about the letters Meredith wrote before and after joining Helms' staff, Meredith had given the letters to the newspaper, and The News and Observer of Raleigh reviewed them. The letters show that Meredith steadily lobbied the senator for a job, beginning with a December 1988 letter saying, "I consider you to be the strongest force in America today opposing the Liberal Agenda." On Aug. 8, 1989 - a month before Meredith joined the Senate payroll - he reassured the senator that criticism from fellow blacks wouldn’t bother him. "I am the one now holding the club," he wrote to Helms. "1 can send over 80 percent of all Black opera tives to jail from information existing in my own intel ligence apparatus" In his January 1988 letter to Helms and other lawmakers, Meredith wrote of black political and busi ness leaders, saying: "My intelligence sources tells me that more than 60 percent are involved in the Drug problem and over 80 percent are tied to political cor ruptions." In July, several black leaders demanded that Meredith be fired because he made a simiUtr accusation -on Helms’ Senate siationery-against the 3,0(X) dele gates to the NAACP national convention. In an interview Monday, Helms defended Mered ith and declined to discuss details of the letters. "I’m not going to discuss my relationship willi Dr. Meredith with you or anybody else," the senator said. "That’s none of your business. 1 know you’re trying to make .something of it. But Dr. Meredith is a good man. He’s motivated by Christian principles.” Asked about Meredith’s call for putting AIDS and syphilis victims in institutions. Helms said: "I have no comment about tliat. I never saw the letter. If you’re going to ask me questions about things that he’s written in the past, forget it." As for the aide’s comments on black leaders, Elelms said: "I know that Dr. Meredith has been greatly concerned about the lack of action by the civil rights leaders relating to working with the black community to upgrade their morality, reinstate the strength of the family and that sort of thing." Meredith, 58, declined to be interviewed Mon day. "I’ll talk with you after the election,” he said, referring to Helms’ Nov. 6 battle against Democrat Harvey Gantt, who is black. In a Sept. 17 memo to fellow Senate staffers, Meredith outlined his objectives. "The main area of interest is domestic policy, especially regarding the Black Race from the colonial period to the present," he said. "Much of what is today considered history regard ing slavery is in fact originally abolitionist propagan da." He asked staffers to help him obtain information on 35 topics, including, "All major legislation on Slaves, Negroes, Coloreds and Blacks since colonial times," "National and State laws and policy on Addic tive Drugs since colonial times," "All available official documents on American involvement in Slave Trade,” and, "FBI, CIA reports, documents, etc., on the Black Race and National Security." Service organizations question local grant procedure Contined from A1 those funds, except for about 7,000 in donations and contribu- n^come from grants. And some that budget has not yet come in imithe foundations where that intjproposals have been submit- ^Vhat our organizations want a fair hearing of our grant propos- While we have gotten some of latwc have asked for much more jeeded,” Newell said. “We would pe that the foundation leadership II be more responsive in the ureV’ She and others say more atten- n should be given to the kinds of eds that their service organiza- msjare addressing rather than lat the foundations see as the sd Since their organizations work the’eommunity daily. But Delta Arts Center director, inelte Scippio, does not share the swjhat African-American com- inity service groups are not get- ig Jams because of their target- g or because of who is running ! organization. “1 think its about riling good proposals. I don’t M foundations are obligated to support any one ethnic group unless it is set up for that specific pur pose,” she said. “What I have a problem with is our own people not supporting programs set up for them. We have to start being more creative in our own fundraising so we can become less dependant on foundations and corporations. So don’t knock the people who are giv ing us help.” Ms. Scippio pointed out that her organization has not had any significant problems in getting grants it has requested. The bulk of its $100,000 budget this year comes from grants of local foundations. Larry Leon Hamlin, director and founder of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company does not agree with Scippio. “Your proposal has to be four to five times better than a white organization’s proposal to get the money, and you may not get it even then,” he said. “I just want my proposal judged on its merit. I don’t know what can be done about this situation.” Hamlin’s organization is oper ating this year on a budget of about $267,000. But more than $120,000 is anticipated from public and pri-. vate foundations from the national, state, and local levels. Other fund ing sources include ticket sales, memberships, individual and corpo rate donations. One thing that really bothers Hamlin is not getting the support he thinks he should get from the local Arts Council. “We are the Winston- Salem Arts Council’s only African- American fully funded member and it seems to me that they could do more to help us produce more of the types of shows and programs that would benefit the African-Ameri can community,” Hamlin said. Directors of three of the major foundations agree that not every request that comes to their founda tion is granted. Two say race has never been a factor in any grant decision made by their boards. But another says in some instances race may have played a part in decision making for some foundations in other areas. Thom Lambeth, executive director of Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Inc., a statewide foun dation based in Winston-Salem, said the foundation has for years had a special program for issues impacting on minorities. He said his group spent 1.3 million dollars last year, or 13 percent of the grants issued statewide on minority pro grams. But he said he understood how some in African-American community service groups may feel. “My guess is there are still fun ders who are not very responsive to African-American organizations,” he said. “I think it is increasingly less a problem, but still a problem.”- He said some foundations have problems funding any so called advocacy group that might be viewed as controversial. It may have nothing at all to do with a group’s ethnic makeup or with who that group is trying to serve. Vance Frye, associate director of the Kate B. Reynolds Poor and Needy Trust, said in the 20 years he has been involved with foundations the issue of race has never come up. “ We have a very defined purpose to assist the financially needy with their basic needs... food, clothing, shelter, and health care. This is the first time that this matter of African-American has come into the equation,” Frye said. He said his foundation docs not key in on an agency but on its program. “We think we have a fair pro cess and at least three of our nine member board are African-Ameri cans. We have members of the com munity on our board who are reflec tive of our diverse community,” Frye said. Please see page A13 Are you in a student loan? For a limited time, you can pay off your defaulted guaranteed student loan (GSL, Stafford, SLS, PLUS, or FISL) without penalty or collection charges. (These charges can be as much as 35% of your total debt.) You must pay your loans in full ^ August 31,1990 to take advantage of this special Federal program For information, call the guarantee agency that holds your loan, or call the U.S. Department of Education's toll-free number: Federal Student Aid Information Center (800) 333-INFO a>N&uauumm n>mEi990 VAmaaaaiimoNaiip WINNER aunEscooDr VANTAGE C 1990 TSFI
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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