THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 1992
HAPPY THANKSGIVI
24 PAGES THIS WEEK
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World AIDS Pay
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I Greensboro Coliseum to host
I AIDS Memorial Quilt Nov 30 - Dec 3.
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The Drug War
Why are there more white users,
more blacks arrested?
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PAGE B5
Winston-Salem Chronicle
75 cents
"The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly"
VOL. XIX, No. 14
Clinton-Gore Camp
To Select Nominee
A 2 African-Americans
Vie For Federal Judgeship
By MARK MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Who will become
the next federal judge
for the Middle District
of North Carolina?
The Chronicle
\
has learned that at
least two of the candi
dates vying for the
position ? created
when Judge Richard
Erwin went into semi
retirement in Septem
ber ? are African
Americans.
A third candidate, Thomas W. Ross, a Superior Court
judge from Greensboro, is white.
"I am very much interested in the position," said James
. Please see page A3
Judge James A. Beaty Jr.
Editorial
To Our Readers:
Recently, you have noticed a high number of rela
tively simple errors in your newspaper. In fact, there
have been more errors in your newspaper within the
last four to six weeks than have been in 10 years.
For this, I want to personally apologize and ask
your indulgence. We have been experiencing an inor
dinate amount of unfortunate circumstances. Mainly,
we have been experiencing computer breakdowns and
computer sabotage. We are struggling to get your
newspaper out on time, and we are aware of these
errors. But, please bear with us for another week or so.
We have installed new software, some new computers
and a new network that reduces computer breakdowns.
Many of you have called and have written to me
to express your concern. For that, I am appreciative. I
know you care about your newspaper. If you didn't
care, you would not have called. $
Again, we are about two weeks from having
everything worked out. I know you will understand.
Thank you and God bless you for keeping the faith in
the Chronicle. We're here for you.
Sincerely,
Ernest H. Pitt, Publisher
ON THE
AVANT GARDE
Rally Calls For End To
Neighborhood Violence
By SHERIDAN HILL
Chronicle Assistant Editor
Nearly 75 people braved cold
weather and snow flurries Friday
night to condemn the rising homi
cide rate of black men in 1992.
The candlelight vigil was orga
nized by Black Men and Women
Against Crime following the shoot
ing deaths of three black men in the
past two weeks.
Demond E. McMillian, 20, of
East 10th Street, was shot in the
head on Nov. 7; Frank E. Dunbar
was killed on Nov. 15, and Quentin
J'Rea Blair, 17, was killed Nov. 16
in Greensboro. Earlier this year, 17
year-old Shaun Thomas Dize was
shot to death in the parking lot of a
local gas station.
The rally was held on the cor
ner of 1 1th Street and Cleveland
Avenue in Colony Place Apart
ments.
"It's not our kids making this
trouble/' said Ernestine Sims Mar
tin, who lives on 12th Street in
Summit Square Apartments. "We
pay $410 a month. This is a good
neighborhood. People are coming in
from other parts of town and doing
this."
Please see page A2
/ t g
Ernestine Sims Martin (forward) said , "We've' got to reclaim our neighborhood. What -
ever it takes."
County Group Names Race Relations Top Priority For '93
? Council Vows To Work On County's Racial Climate
By SHERIDAN HILL
Chronicle Assistant Editor
A group of city and county leaders
called race relations the city's top priority
last week, and pledged to spend 1993 focus
ing on improvement.
The Forsyth Community Development
Council pledged to create a coalition of
community leaders who will address race
relations and other community problems.
Nearly 300 people attended last
Wednesday's community meeting. Boafd
member Bill Davis announced that the strat
egy to improve race relations calls for "lead
ers to take a public stand to articulate com
munity values."
FCDC board of directors includes some
of the city's most prominent and influential
leaders, including Forsyth County Commis
sioner John Holleman, city and county
school board member-elect Geneva Brown,
Mayor Martha Wood, and James R. Grace,
East Winston Community Development
Corporation executive director.
The FCDC spawned Common Vision, a
long-term strategic plan for the county. Two
years ago, the public was invited to con
tribute ideas to Common Vision. The result
ing document is a road map to a better com
munity.
During the meeting, the council out
lined progress made in the past year and
listed upcoming goals. They noted that in
East Winston, 14th St. has been extended,
and the extension of Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. west to Liberty St. is planned.
, FCDC President Henry Carter said the
CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic
Association) tournaments will be a cultural
asset to the city. The CIAA will be held in
Winston-Salem for three years beginning in
1993.
Racism was first on the list of problems,
which included the stagnation of the pro
posed New Market Shopping Center. New
Market was expected to become a corner
stone of new commerce in East Winston.
The center is now tied up in several lawsuits
involving eight parties, including the city,
former developer Herman Turner, and the
East Winston Community Development
Please see page A2
Ernest H. Pitt, Gineva Brown, and Tom TrolUnger discuss the race
relations priority for 1993.
City Under Siege As Homicide Total Nears Five- Year High
? Black On Black Crime Plays Major Role In Murders
By TRAVIS MITCHELL
Chronicle Staff Writer
A wave of murders has crippled
Winston-Salem as the homicide rate
approaches an all-time high.
"When I look at homicide I see inci
dents that involve emotions of a domes
tic-type nature, or things which involve
the drug culture," said Winston-Salem
Police Chief George Sweat
"There needs to be a clear message
from the judicial system that if you use a
gun in committing a crime, you are
going to serve time," said Sweat.
"Everybody loses if a gun is involved.
We are our neighbors keeper and the
individuals within the community are
going to have to stand up and speak out
against the use of guns and violence."
The 30 murders this year
approaches the all-time high of 33 set in
1989, said Capt. Linda Petree of the
Winston-Salem Police Department's
criminal investigation division.
There were 23 homicides commit
ted in 1991; 28 in 1990; 19 in 1988; and
25 in 1987, she said.
According to police officials, of the
30 victims of homicide, 19 were black
males; seven were white females; four
black females; and no white females. An
astounding 26 murders were committed
by black males, while white males com
mitted "seven and black females
accounted for one murder. White
females have not committed a homicide
this year, according to statistics.
"Homicide is something that you
can't predict or prevent It is a crime of
passion," said Petree.
'The people in the areas where we
have a proliferation of drugs have gone
back and tried to take the streets back,"
said East Ward Alderman Virginia
Newell. "The neighbors are trying to
help the police to get these people off
the street."
Newell said the only way to curb
violence in the street was for the entire
community to become involved. She
said that various landlord associations
are being urged to put stipulations in
their lease agreements that would evict
cocaine users or traffickers.
Police statistics show that 19 homi
cides involved handguns and eight were
drug related.
"I am a supporter of the Brady
Bill," said Newell. "If we make it more
difficult for people to buy guns by
installing a waiting period, that might
help."
The Rev. John Mendez asked: "In a
city whose population is 40 ffcrcent
black, why are most of the homicides
committed by African- Americans?
"Most African-Americans who are
involved in the drug culture are street
peddlers. What about the rich suppliers
who pump the drugs into the neighbor
hoods. Until they are stopped, crime will
continue to exist."
One successful project, though, has
been the partnership between the police
department and citizens in the Cleveland
Avenue area. It was formed to rid the
violence and drugs in that area.
"Because of the foot patrols, there
hasn't been a homicide in over two years
in Cleveland Avenue," said Capt. M.V.
McCoy, commander of Cleveland
Avenue's foot patrol division. "It has
been mutual cooperation between the
Residents and the officers."
He said that "there is a difference in
the attitudes of the younger genera
tions."
Whites Give Spike Lee's Malcolm X Film Rave Reviews
By MARK MOSS
Chronicle Stiff Writer
Officials from the Hanes Mall Cine
mas, where Malcolm X is playing, report
that whites are not turning out in signifi
cant numbers to see the movie.
- ' However, the handful who do come
to see the epic, three-hour-plus picture,
seem to have enjoyed and to have been
educated by what they've seen.
"The majority of our audiences have
been blade/* Mid Kerry Cato, the the
ater's chief of staff. Cato said that of the
_ * . , , 'imamm^< - 13
Shorty (Spike Lee, pictured) and Malcolm (Denzel Washington, not pictured ) are
arrested for theft
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approximately 60 people who showed up
for one recent weekday afternoon show
ing, about eight were white. Cato, who is
white, also saw the movie.
"I think it's an excellent movie," she
said. "I think it makes you mor$ aware
of what's been going on as far as racism
is concerned."
She said she cried at the end when
Malcolm X gets assassinated and his
wife becomes emotional.
"I think a lot of people need to go
Please see page A9