ON THE
AVANT GARDE
BY TANG NIVRI
Black FoIRs, Just Litt^lVhite Folks!
Who is Responsible for Ice Cube?
It may very well be that thesngst and frustration running ram*
pant throughout liie UlaUi community tfl tftl* lyumry i& tne graoual
realization that the struggle I I * ovcr: that black
folks an indeed pretty much just like white folks. Sometimes we are
good; sometimes we are bad. ; B
That other than running faster and being able to jump a little |
higher, blacks are really no better than whites, that sadly, they are
I just is likely to lte, cheat^steal, kttl.orhave tod breath in the morn
ing as wojild Anybody <
h - : IRiat just as Thomas Je
"All men ore indeed
certain inalienable rights
fused about the truth as is
?es, that ^ven the
same station in life;
inner workings of the old
table with the rich and
much reach the same
blacks will still
and combread after
sels sprouts.
Till now, the fight has
were both created equally
cally, have done Jheir best
their equality as human beings,
rightful place on this earth.
indicate this truth:
But now that we are:
possible to explam ltf
illustrated f>y rapper "Ice Cube."
ils under every rock, we find
"black thang" makes its
portraying them as nothing than
self as having a big "jimmy?
drugs, gambling, a 3j|
double, yet, unlike the
in Hollywood in a huge
Yes, this "black tiMI
true American dre*mCy|
there any reason for him
folks? Isn't he getting^w
The fact that he and
notwithstanding, isn't
about? Freedom to do
be? The equation still
Black people should
folks do. Black folks
who Help companies
know best. Why
Mi***#*."'
^fusion in our
We are havin| to
ber of us who have made
ei\joy the American dream ? j*.
like white folks do when ther
brewery any less black? No.
~ called Jin honest living? W
white folks who sell bM
racists for doing the same? Is it
ing? Do not these black<lparents have
house payments to make,'
give respect to those whom re*fig& is
tion day and are otherwise
black awnmunity as part
we call them racist.
?? \ ^ ^ I v * "
and the Bible clearly says,
creator with
IP^j^lO be just as con
IP v, . i
resources, the
same keys to the
to sit at the
peOpleWfllpre tty
Mces allowed.
and collard greens
tips and brus
and whites
whites, histori
ng the truth of
assuming their
liMtfence to
W&M 'r. t: .
it is no longer
mentalities" as
of white dev
that this
black women,
promoting him
big guns,
basketball's triple
??Hive
.? Is this not the
to be? Is
with white
lm his life?
a pimp,
was all
you can
as white
agencies
they
f?r top
choices just
> works for a
is sure to be
lyhy are they
' ' ^ &
to send to school,
.? Do they not
vote on every elec
But when whites target the
reach a Native market,
~ seeing what wehave become, now that some of us have made it in
America, and we don't like
Rather than emulation, blacks should be helping the rest of
America to change its' values! We should be trying to help white
America change its course of direction. We should be trying to help
-our country establish new models of success, to turn away from vio
lence, to look for new models for how families c$n survive, instead
of emulating the values' of AnMsricawhicK inevitably give rise to
cretins the likes of "Ice Cube" and others who live off the misery of
others. Is this not the very thing thir blacks routinely criticize white
folks most for exploitation Of the masses of black folks?
Realty, we are quitethe same. Sure they may not be as good as
we are on the basketball court or on the football field, and we are yet
to decide to master the standardized test, but Jet's just call it even. Wc
can do anything they can, which moans that white folks are good at
drug abuse and so artT we; they are good at spousal abuse and so are
~ we: good at choosing violence as a meatus to solving problems and so
do we. They prefer to kill each other and so do we. V
Finally, whitfc folks are not stupid and We certainly aren't.
Asians, Hispanics and others have long since grown tired of our, ten
dency to whine about the state of Black America when many of them
see that we, like others, that our values anrf questionable, that we're
just as likely to kill ourselves' as is imyofte else^ are just as likely to
exploit others as were representatives from the nation who were sell*
ing fake cures for AIDS to poor, helpless black folks, as were the
black car dealers in Chicago who would sell the car to the black
woman at a price higher than did the white dealers, that we are just
as likely to be our own worst enemy as they are. Such is true for
humanity, the* world over. V "
? As somebody already said, "We have seen the enemy and he is
us." What in the world are we $>ingto do about \fr ~
r
The Choice
The Chronicle
722-8624
? w.v.,, VI 1 1 VI i iv 41 ?
Carver Fight is Symptom of County-wide Tensions .
o> MARK K VOSb
Ch'OHh :t Siar* W HtC
An interracial ficht at Carver
the School and that a March 5 flag
waNing incident likel\ triggered the
tight. That was the day >e\eral
white students skipped?school. he.
High School last week is a symptom
of the racial tensions that permeate
life in Forsyth County, several East
Winston community leaders said.
What we re seeing is just a cul
mination of some of the tensions in
the community.' said Earline V, .
P.irmnn a Forsyth ConnTy commis
sioner. It's just being passed from
the adults to the students.
Three black students wer<;
arrested at the school around noon
last Thursday after they allegedly
beat up a white classmate near the
school's cafeteria.
Horace Cutter. 17. and Greg
Cutter. 18. both of SOS Effird St..
and Rodney Hill. 16. of 4880 Circle
Drive, were charged with assault
following last week s incident. They
were accused of beating Walter
Gray Smith Jr., 18. of 4852 Monte
V ista St.
Robert F. Clemmer. the school's
principal, said Hill and the Cutters
had been suspended for 10 days.
Clemmer said racial problems
had been "festering for a while" at
said, and drose by the school wa\
ing Confederate flags while a Black
History program was being held.
Walter Marshall, one of two
black Winston-Salem Forsyth*
County school board members, said
there is always the potential for the
ktrtd-oft rouble Cane r expeiienced.
"You grow accustomed to hear
ing about these little things that can
lead to what happened at the
school.' he said. He said there had
been other incidents throughout the
school year but none as serious as
last week's.
He said racial problems won t
be resolved until teachers come to
terms with the' "diversity" that
makes up the school system.
He blamed the troubles at
Carver, in particular, on the. students
who come from Belews Creek, a
predominantly white and conserva
tive tow nship northeast of the city .
They're the ones who initiate a
lot of the problems, he said. Their
parents have a "Klan and Nazi men
tality" and students bring that type
oi attitude to school.
Gene\ a Brown. the other black
school hoard member, said a lot of
roblems steir. from a lack of com
munication between students and
teachers Browr said that when she
was an elemental*) school principal,
she frequently gathered with stu
dents to discuss racial issues. She
agreed with Marshall that children
are going to bring into the classroom
the racia! biases the) learn at home.
There are parents trom both
sides of the coin who are going to
teach racism, she said. Some peo
ple are going to h4t\<.' those hatreds,
it's sad to >a\ . But dam if we can t
keep students from doing things to
each other.
Vivian Burke, an alderman
from the Northeast Ward and whose
district encompasses the school, was
critical ot Clemmer for not recog
nizing signs of racial tension. .
What has he done to let stu
dents know that their behavior
tow ards each other is not proper?'
she said.
How many parent/teachers
meetings has he had.' What kind of
long-range things is he doing to pre
sent further outbreaks?"
Burke satd principals are so
buss tmng to move themselves up
the ladder, they overlook their
responsibilities to the students
We don t need a Mr Personal
ity out there, we need a strong prin
cipal. she said.
Clemmer. who was recently
named Forsyth County's Wachovia
principal of the year for the second
time in three years, said that before
the incident at Carvei, the school
system had developed a program to
address these concerns in its long
range planning. And as a result of
last week s fight, the school has
called in an outside consultant ? a
group comprised of college students
skilled in. cultural sensitivity train
ing.
Clemmer said he has also asked
for help from the Winston-Salem
Urban League.
Burke said senior citizens who
live along Carver School Road and
w ho are at home during the day do
not need to feel intimidated by w hife
students parading down the street
waving Confederate flags.
The people in that neighbor
hood don't bother anybody." she
said.
Students Say They Saw It Coming
from page A 1
said. "It's not a normal day here."
The school also had three
deputies from the Forsyth County
Sheriff s Department on duty,
instead of the usual one. As a stu
dent climbed one of the school's
stairwells and turned to walk down
a third-floor hallway, a deputy
stopped him and asked to see his
hall pass.
And students who normally
would have been sitting in English
class were instead sitting in an
auditorium participating in a "Teen
Forum on how to improve race
relations.
Three black students ? Horace
Cutter. 17. Greg Cutter, IS. and*
Rodney Hill. 16 ? were arrested
last Thursday and charged with
18. who is white Smith suffered a
broken nose and two black eyes>.
officials <aid.
None of the four students could
be reached for comment. Hill's
grandmother, when contacted b\
telephone, said she did not wish to
discuss the fight.
Some Carver students, how -
ever. said they saw signs that some
thing was about to happen.
Raymond Banner, who has an
English class with Smith, said ten
dons first flared on March 5 during
a Black History assembly.
"Some white kids skipped
school in protest." said Banner, who
is black. Students, parents and
teachers saw them riding up the
street waving the Confederate tlags.
The boy that they hit (Smith) was
with them."
Banner said that made some
slud ents angry. H e sai d ~se \ - "
eral of them talked about the inci
dent in an English class.
"Some bhivk people were talk
ing about what happened in class,
and he (Smith) said. yeah, he was a
redneck and that he didn t care noth
ing about black people. Banner
said. "And 1 heard some black peo
ple saying. They gonna get it.'"
But Bannet said that wasn't all
that was going on at the school that
week. Some while students, he said,
circulated a petition saying that if
blacks could wear Malcolm X
shirts, then they could carry the
Confederate tlag.
' , "1 saw the petition and 1 shook
im head because 1. thought it was
stupid." Banner said.
Carver Principal Robert F.
Clemmer told students at the Teen
Forum that people must work
together and learn to communicate
~effectivel>
As the bell rang for students to
change classes. Clemmer com
manded them to go immediately to
their next class.
But before the forum ended,
one emotion-filled student inter
rupted Clemmer and asked a very
poignant question. "1 Understand
what you're saying. Mr. Clemmer.
the student said. But how can you
work together when somebody's
smiling in your face one minute and
stabbing you in your back the
next?"
Clemmer replied. "That s the
importance of working together.'
Amy Mecum. editor of the
Cuncr Conner, said race relations
at the school could improve it. stu
' dents understood each other.
"Things like this shouldn't be
happening." she said. "We should
be striving for unity. I'm a big per
son on respect. I've never been
ashamed of Carver until now It's
embarrassing to hear people sny . 1
don't want to go'to Carver."' ** *
3 Blacks Arrested, 1 White Injured
from page A 1
Cutter, 17, and Greg Cutter. 18,
both of 808 Effird St.. ? were each
charged with assault for allegedly
beating up Smith. Smith suffered a
broken nose and blackened eyes.
Clemmer said the ' unpro
voked' fight started around noon
near the school's cafeteria.
Ravniuikl Banner, a student
who saw the fight, said it looked
like mass chaos.
"At first, this white kid and
some black kids were arguing.' he
said. And then a crowd of people
ran over and just started hitting peo
ple." ?
Anthony Murphy, another stu
dent . also saw the fight One boy
went up and hit the white guy and
then it just went loose.' lie said. "I
saw who was hitting him (Smith)
and I went and told the assistant
principal. 'Now I'm hearing some
bo dy^jifteMiieM oo."
Murphy said he was threatened
by another student because he told
school authorities who was involved
in the fight.
Deputies from the Forsyth
County Sheriff's Department
pan oiled the school throughout the
das Friday.
Clemmer said he has restricted
students' movement within the
building and will continue to do so
until "1 feel that things have gotten
hack to normal."
The school has also scheduled a
parents' forum to explain what the
school is doing to resolve recent
racial conflicts at the school and to
get parents involved in solving the
problems.
Traffic Map For NCAA Tournament
When thousands of fans and
spectators converge on Winston
Salem for the NCAA 1st and 2nd
rounds, March 18 &. 20. W93. at
the LJVM Coliseum, the City of
Winston-Salem will he read) i
$28K in Cocaine from page A1
If 1 say what I want to say. ihe
police department aid all the city's
officials will he down on me.
Attucks said. Rut 1 will say this: a
young black entrepreneur catches it
from both sides - from the white
and from the black.
T\e been trying to set some
publicity about m\ place for a long
time and the first time the Chronicle
comes to me is when I'm doing
bad.
Attucks was released from jail
after posting a S25.000 bond
The Cits''* Department of
transportation. Police Department;
nd Coliseum has produced routes
to Joel Coliseum that tire sate, fast
and easy for the NCAA 1st and 2nd
Rands at today and Saturday.
From Points North - (Mt. Airy Virginia) - US 52 South. Exit University
Parkway. Lett onto Reynolds Blvd.
From Points Fast ? Greensboro/Raleigh) - US 421/ Business 40
Exit I S 52 \orthF.\it Akron Drive. I eft over bridge. Left onu> R
Blvd. Left onto Shoretare Drive. Right on 30th/Deacon Blvd.
From Points South ? Southeast ? (Lexington'HighPoint) - US 52 North*
Exit Akron Drive. Left over bridge. Left onto Reynolds Blvd. Lett ontu
Shoretare Drive. Right on 30th/Deacon Blvd.
From Points Southwest ( Statesville, Charlotte, Hickory, N. Wilksborol
Business 40 East. Exit Wake Forest/Silas Creek*>North Bound. Right onto
l'niversit\ Parkwav South Left onto Reynolds Blvd.
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