Wilder says
Bush is playing politics with civil rights
I ByDBMIS PATTERSON
? Associated Press wntef
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? Vir
ginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder on Sat
urday accused President Bush of play
ing politics with the issues of civil
rights and gun control.
"He is continuing to make the
plea that the Civil Rights Bill is a
quota bill/1 Wilder told about 400
people at a luncheon sponsored by the
Legislative Black Caucus. "Now he
knows better than thau"
Bush and congressional
Democrats have squabbled for
months over the bill, which is aimed
at nullifying some recent Supreme
Court rulings on job discrimination.
Bush has said the bill will lead to quo
tas for minority hiring.
Blacks, Wilder said, remember
"the bocks of the movie theatres and
the buses to which we were assigned
like diseased animals. Our nation has
Plea 1
Continued from page A1 ^
will soon be out again and back in
their neighborhood to do the same
thing again. %
Branch, who did not return the
Chronicle's phone call about this
story, has said in another published m
report that she did not think the Old
ham case would be heard that day
when she told Mrs. Imes to go
home.
Branch said at that time she was
dealing with another very difficult
sexual-abuse case that she had to
give it the most attention. She said
she was eager to dispose of jail case
to ease the overcrowding at the local
' jail. She said she chose "to look after
the other victims in that other very
difficult case."
But Crump said her niece and
Mrs. Imes* son were not given the
same consideration. "Why should
our children be made to feel that
what happened to them doesn't mat- .
ter, but what happens to a child in '
Clemmons means something more,"^
Crump asked?
Crump said she has known Old^
ham since she and her husband
moved into the community 16 years
ago. She said Oldham's parents, both
dead now, were fine people. But she
said Oldham had been in an out jail
during that period of time. She won
ders why the information about Old
ham's past criminal history was not
made available after the investigat
ing officer in the case gave all of
that information to Branch.
That record includes convic
tions for crime against nature
involving a little boy, assault on a
female, fraud, and contributing to
the delinquency of a minor.
"I mean this ,man actually
showed my child a video of a 14
year-old girl having sex with a dog.
Everything surrounding this case we
were not able to tell," Imes said.
She said it was her son who told
her about the alleged rape of
Crump's niece. And she said she
later found out that Oldham had
threatened to harm them if anybody .
told what happened or what had
been going on. What also concerns
Imes and Crump is that they said
found out there were 11 other chil
dren in their neighborhood that may
have been victimized by Oldham.
But they said the parents didn't want
their children involved.
Imes said considering how the
case was handled she can understand
why now. Asked if she was bitter
about the justice system she said,
"What justice system there is no jus
tice system. Can you imagine us sit
ting down a 12 year-old boy and and
a 13 year-old girl and telling them
that it was just to bad about whatk
happened to them because nobody^
cares." >
"My niece has been victimized
twice, once by him (Oldham) and
once by the system," said Mrs.
Crump. "I don't know what can be
done about it; but I want the public
to know that, they are always talking
about bringing these child abusers to
justice and when you report it, what
do the courts do? They take it light
ly. They pick their cases and the
one's that get the most publicity are
the one's that get handled."
The plea arrangement to relieve
overcrowding at the county jail
apparently did not achieve what
Branch intended because as of
presstime OJdham was still in thexJ
Forsyth Jail waiting to be transferred
to prison. * - """
come too far in the last three decades
to acquiesce to those who want to turn
back the clocks in 1992/ he said.
He also criticized Bush for
threatening to veto the Brady Bill,
which would require a seven-day
waiting period before a handgun
could be purchased. Wilder said
Democrats next year "can hold
George Bush accountable for his cal
lous willingness to play politics with a
piece of legislation that is literally a
matter of life-and-death for thousands
of Americans each year."
Wilder, the first black ever to be
elected governor, said he represented
a first, but that more blacks would fol
low him into high office. "Yes, on the
horizon, we see that day, and it's not
that distant on the horizon, when
North Carolina will answer the call;
when substance and qualifications of
the candidate will overcome the most
cynical and distorted of opposition
claims and commercials," Wilder said.
The governor made no reference
to his present political feud with U.S.
Sen. Charles S. Robb. D-Vel
Robb has admitted that he went
to a hotel room with a former Miss
Virginia while serving as governor,
but has denied that he had sex with
her. Robb recently admitted destroy
ing an apparently illegal tape record
ing of a Wilder phone conversation in
which the governor reportedly gloated
that Robb's political career was in tat
ters.
Both Robb and Wilder have indi
cated an interest in national politics,
but some Democrats worry that the
feud has damaged their chances.
Wilder said Washington could
learn from Virginia's example of fis
cal management. The state responded
to a projected $2.2 billion shortfall
next year by cutting back spending
and avoiding a tax increase. Wilder
said federal officials could do much
the same in handling the federal
deficit.
'It's these 'Washington insiders'
who have mismanaged the taxpayers'
money," Wilder said. "You know the
fat's there. The Republicans know it's
there."
ftSeCVS
LEAN
HALF
GAL.
CTN.
VAN II I r
QUANTITY
RIGHTS
RESERVED
PACK
12 OK. CANS
PRICES
GOOD
THRU
6/22/91
cheT boyardee FROZEN
SAVK
21c
7 OZ. PKG.
ANNOUNCING
A NEW SERVICE
,CeRY EXpr
FT
G S
GROCERIES DELIVERED0
> TO YOUR HOME*
945-4306
H?FEE CHARGED FOR DELIVERY.
LIMITED DELIVERY AREA.
GROCERY EXPRESS IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED
AND OPERATED AND SHOPS EXCLUSIVELY AT
wm
HOMETOWN FRESH
LEAN
-AND
TENDER
BEEF
LEAN & TENDER SIRLOIN TIP
*2.79
LB.
Chicken
t?.U54iv
rr-?
Hit DEAN CHICKEN. STEAK OR SAUSAGE
SAVK
50c
8 OZ. PKG.
I.i HA I IONS - h wmiiorm: kd w
IIWA 121 I.IWISVII.I.K
MARKET
cloutL
LAND-O-LAKES
MARGARINE
SAVE
\He
l-LB. PKGS.
SAVK
50#
CARROTS t-LB. BAG 29?
NEW! HORMEL BLACK LABEL MICROWAVE
12 OZ. PKG
GROUND
FRESH
DAILY
Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder