Winston-Salem Chronicle
Established in '974
trn#$t H. Pitt ? Ndufcrist f gemonye
? bditor'HubliSner ? Co -Founder
Member in good standing with
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N?ltonal N??rK>ap*' ?North Ci'O1"** Audit Buft?flU Arnaijamat^o
Pub**'*#'* A??ocu?i'on Pxn* Aiiooaton Of C IfCUMt lOHS Pw&*rw*. "K
Editorials
The Struggle Ain't Over
As the c o untrv celeb rates Black History
j
Month, African Americans- should ask themselves:
"What can I do todav tor the betterment of my
race?" This is a question that blacks should ask not
only during this celebratory month, but everyday.
Blacks need to continually pay hommage to
their founding fathers. But many today take for
granted the earlier contributionsjhat were made.
So many African American have been condi
tioned over the years to believe that, pardon the
colloquialism. "Black ain't it, " that we now accept
that as gospel.
Blacks play the dozens on each other at pool
halls, on the basketball courts and at other social
arenas, many thinking they are the originators. But
these games, which today have evolved into "your
mamma" jokes, were subliminally put into black
minds hundreds of years ago by the slavemaster as
a way of making "coloreds" feel inferior. Atti- "
tudes did not change when Abe Lincoln in 1863
? signed the Em a n c i p a t i o n*P r o c t a m a t ion, "which
supposedly made slaves freedmen. In fact, a year
before he signed the document, he met with a del
egation of blacks and asked them to leave the
country. ". . .1 think your race suffer very greatly,
many of them by living among us. while ours suf
fer from your presence. There is an unwillingness
on the part of our people, harsh as it may be, for
you free colored people to remain with us. It is
better for us both ... to be separated." He then
proposed a settlement land in Central American. ?
The attitude that blacks are second-class citi
zens persist today among many whiles, too.
That's why blacks are followed around stores
- as if they were common Thieves? are ignored at car
dealership showrooms and w hy whites clutch their
- pocketbooks and cross the street when meeting a
black man.
However, if there were black-owned busi
nesses in East Winston, blacks could turn over the
dollar in the black community more than one
time. It's impossible to find in the black commu
nity a sit-down restaurant, a video rental store or
many major retail or commercial outlets. But
blacks must understand that they have the power -
"and its wtltiin easy grasp -- to stem tHeTimeT
Support what black-owned businesses there are
left in the community. And put pressure on city
officials to build more retail stores in East Win
ston.
The struggle must continue if blacks are to gain
an equitable share of the pie. If blacks don't sup
port each other, no one will.
Winston-Salem Chronicle
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Winston-Salem,
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Discrimination Encounter In Court
To the Editor
I just read the "To the Editor"
section of Februar> 4lh's issue of
the Winston- Salem Chronic le. A let
ter from Crystal Brown stated that
it's not what you know but who you
know pertaining to her experience in
court. 1 was dismayed to read Ms.
Brown's account of the blatant dis
crimination she encountered in our
local courts when demanding an
increase in monetary support from
her child's father.
Most shocking was not the
apparent shady dealings of the
African-American woman judge
and the retained legal counsel. What
was most shocking w as the descrip
tion Ms. Brown gave of the man
with whom she brought a child into
the world. She d^cribed him as an
irresponsible illiterate with an
apparent 4rmking problem. In other
words, the man is a bum.
? It is indeed a shame that
women have to resort to the "legal"
system in order to force fathers to
take care of their responsibilities
which they should be men enough
to shoulder without the type of
intervention. We, as women, must
learn to better choose those with
whom w^begin relationships? We
must le^rn to avoid men with tfttle
or no integrity and a lack of racial
and fatherly pride. I hope Ms.
Brown has learned from her experi
ence. Not only the lesson that it's
not what you know but who you
know, but also the lesson of being
more responsible herself within her
right of choice before beginning
relationships.
I.M. Taylor
Blacks, Whites & Reds
To the editor:
So Cine innati Keds b as eball
teamowner. Marge Schott. has been
sentenced for using "ethnically
offensive" words. Red Herrings
have passed from an art to a science
laced up by the media and sewn
together by baseballs Executive
Council ( 1 1 member body made up
r of other team owners). Excuse me,
but something is very wrong here.
There are just too many free rides at
Ms. Schott 's expense! I don't know
Wr
M
<v
w asks> to k $m> ? m mcmiAR phone
CHRONICLE MAILBAG
Our Readers Speak-Out
Marge Schott. but what I heard from
those that do. she is a wonderful
person who has given much to her
community. It is also hard to believe
by those that know hef that malice
was behind the uttered words, "nig
ger", "Jap", and "money grubbing
Jews".- As a product of an Italian
Irish heritage, most of the 1
hear growing up about Italians and
the Irish came from my-own family.
For several years I worked for a
minority (black) organization in
Baltimore wherein I was one of the
very few non-minority employees. 1
can attest I heard the word "nigger"
and more selt-ettacing racial~jtrtre7r~
from my black co-workers than 1
ever heard from my white brothers.
Why? It's simple, in the right set
ting, making fun of onesdf and or
others, where malicious iment is not
present, has been and always will be
a trait of man's nature.
Fortunately., there are people
like Hank Aaron. Frank Robinson,
Jesse Jackson, Rep. Kewisi Mfume.
who are attempting to draw atten
W^VEGOTTD
?NW IF WE CAN PO
msv% Ttnc in IT 56R7RE OUR
B CONGRESSIONAL
iwem,
tion the truly substantive inequali
ties in the baseball "good ole white
boy" club network. The question is.
"which is worse foul language or
foul play"? Of course, the question
must extend to other sports!
How about corporate America?
There are tens of thousands of com
panies in America. Are such minori
ties as women, blacks, Hispanics,
Asians, etc. satisfied with their
degree of success (or should I say
lack of success) in climbing the cor
porate ladder? Let's get touch. How
about the so-called liberal-learning
new media empire(s), i.e. banks,
-strnngs-&4oans^ and the insurance
industry. Does the reader believe the
only problem with those has been
the "red-lining" lending policies? I
hope not. I have first hand experi
ence. in Baltimore City, of witness
ing the lengths banker's, attorney's,
local and federal government offi
cials wiJl go to rape, and deny eco
nomic advancement for minorities
in federally funded projects. And, I
bet. in their back room plotting,
slick-lip attorney's preparing all the
right "documentation" for HUD, the
word "nigger" was probably never
used! (A story for another time, but
it reads like a novel for its unbeliev
able personages, plots, & successes,
except for its victims who can't for
get.) Lets face it, racial slurs, with or
without malice is a regrettable form
of communication, but is not the
I stress the media empire (only
because of it's influence on our
lives), are in need of an attitude
adjustment, and surrerender its'
NIMBY (Not In My Backyard)
behavior. Our attention must be
drawn to slur behavior, and slur
words will take care of themselves.
My question to the reader's is,
whether you are minority or non
minority, what are you doing about
the root cause of our racial misun
derstandings and inequalities
throughout our society?
And to Corporate America,
media empires, sports leagues and
our law makers I urge you to turn to
the Bible and reflect on. at least.
Matthew 7: vs. 1-5. and Matthews
23: vs. 4,15, & 23-29.
R. Dan Ritchie
Foster & Ross
To the editor:
We would like to thank you very
much for the way in which you pub
lished our engagement anntronce? ?
ments.
We received numerous congratula
tion pertaining to your article com
pared to the one published in the
Journal.
As a note of appreciation. Your arti
cle would truly make a black portion
proud of their accomplishments
towards a future together. Again ,,l
thank you.
Sincerely
Carolyn Foster
Frank Spencer Classic
To the editor:
Your continued support of the Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth County High
Schools is much appreciated. The
Frank Spencer Classic in which
you've graciously participated pro
vides sorely needed revenues - most
of which support those non revenue
producing athletic programs which
sermany students.
On behalf of all the high school
principals and Sugar Creek Enter
prises, Inc., please accept our sin
cere thanks.
Jerry Peoples
Principal
What New NAACP Leaders Need
There is hardly anywhere you
can go and not hear the "secret" that
any day now the NAACP will name
Jesse Jackson as the successor to -
Ben Hooks as its executive director.
A story, alleged planted in USA
Today by a public relations firm
hired by a "Rev." whose name was
mentioned as one of the final four,
included Randall Robinson and Har
vey Gantt, who immediately pro
fessed no interest in the job.
Jackson, the stealth candidate
and rumored frontrunner, wasn't
even mentioned, but that has not
deterred his fans from a hard sell of
the presidential aspirant.
Suddenly, in the media, Jackson
was looking like a NAACP leader.
Conspicuously in the last month, he
started up his "activities again: call
ing for baseball boycott if Reds'
owner Marge Schott was not sus
pended and associating himself with
another high profile cause ? the
Haitian refugees.
The logic for putting Jackson in
charge of the premier civil rights
group is, according to his promoters,
his charisma. They readily admit
that he is severely lacking in the
keep-track-of-the-money depart
ment and use his record in Chicago
at Operation Breadbasket and his
current tenure at the Rainbow Coali
tion as proof.
His friends also concede his
non-interest in building an organiza
tion, other than those functions that
N A
promote his image. There is little
interest in consensus building either.
Their main argument for giving
him a 400.00 member organization
with a multi-million dollar budget
is, "Jesse needs a platform."
Aside from his not being a
major player on President Clinton's
team (spelled: no political clout) and
the refusal of a Democratic presi
dent and Congress to seriously push
for D.C. statehood that would give
him a seat (or platform) in the U.S.
Senate, Jackson's friends don't feel
that the CNN TV show, syndicated
column, business interests, speeches
and ad hoc gadflying are sufficient
for "Dr." Jackson.
However. I was never satisfied
that the NAACP of Black America
would benefit ? and to his advo
cates, it didn't seem to matter.
Compare that attitude with
Kelly Alexander, Jr. and Joe Madi
son, two NAACP insiders who
have worked in the trenches for
years to find new, young faces to
help rebuild an nf^rg vj^|Ar'p infra
structure svith invig<5Tated human
capital.
To me their major asset is trust.
They're known. They're dedicated
and committed to the organization;
not to the next press conference.
Neither is a shrinking violet in the
showboat department when a little
charisma is needed, however. But
neither sees charisma as his defining
civil rights or electoral, with the slo
gan: "Old Values and New Ideas."
Not a bad idea for national NAACP
focus.
Madison and I fell on different
sides of the Clarence Thomas nomi
-nation. He staunchly upheld his
board's opposition to Thomas. After
the debate, we all went out to dinner
and slapped hands. He builds
bridges with people who differ.
Vernon Jarrett, Chicago Sun
Times columnist and Chairman of
the NAACP's ACT-SO program,
wrote that individual egos don't
character trait.
Joe Madison once campaigned
for president of the Detroit NAACP
with Rosa Parks as his running mate
against one the the most entrenched
political machines in the country.
make, organizations confer the
opportunity for individuals to serve
in order to build communities. He
used Martin Luther King and the
Montgomery bus boycott as his
example.
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist