Winston-Salem Chronicle
I ri.t'si H. Pitt f sicibhsheo m 1974
( o r?.
Nduhisi l.yemom v
Riiharrt I W illiams ' Michael AJMtt
VlvertiMflg Manager
Managing Luitcf
xl . .. . .. Vtpaporn Ratana
Mel White ()t?ke Manager
Circulation Maract
, jiraPA ^ -^=y
, v Audit Bureau ?
? of Circulations im
Stoner Deserved Better
: Rickev Knight is pf^hablv laughing inside of his jail
cell about now Ri^nt-mr-at I tow a cold-blooded. thought
less, semi-literate, racist white man can create the most
heinous crime against a black man and get. according to
one juror, a slap on the wrist. The II jurors who fought
vehemently lor the death penal t \ tor Knight ? eight of
whom wer<r whirr; should brjnottd of who they are and
what thev stand tor iumky Man\ ot* them probably never
thought that thev could tavoi putting someone to death.
But after listening ;<? the grissK details of how Carlos
Stoner was killed, .thev apparent!) soul-searched and found
that the otilv justice served would have been death for
Rickev Knight
If -reports art* corHK't that thc-4one~juror who created the
deadlock. Rob l-veihatt. told other jurors that the only way
he could vote tor the death penult) was if it was a case of
mass murders, then he lied when he was polled on whether
he could vote for the death penalty. And Superior Court
Judge F. Fet/er Mills should immediately launch an inves
tigation into w hether Hyerhari committed perjury or should
be held in contempt ot court
If not. he still has to face himself in the mirror every
morning.
Freedom of the Press
The F;irst Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States deals with tree speech and freedom of the press. A
people's right ot expression was viewed by the founders of
this country to be so important to democracy that it was the
very First tiling they felt competed to deal with.
That is whs Hill Stockton's (of Norman Stockton cloth
ing compans ) statement to w ithhold advertising because he
disagreed with an artu le m the newspaper is so heinous to
us.
This newspapei lias not and never will allow any
advertiser to dictate s\har it prints for fear of losing adver^
tising dollars. We ate incensed that he would be so callous
as toTetCone of our safes people that he? will not advertise
in the CV/;v>;?/<7< because of a news story. We are certain
that Stockton does not agrees with everything in the daily
paper and what" is port rased on TV and in magazines.
We will not altci our sers ice to our readers to satisfy
Hill Stockton or ans other advertiser. We will not neglect
our duty to report on issues that we believe to be of con
cern to our readers. \nd. yes, we w ill always try to articu
late the African American agenda. We will, under threat of
loss of advertising fight tor a tust society*- ? one in which
every responsible citi/en is treated with respect and dig
nity. Hill Stockton ha> insulted the black press of America.
And the Chionnk' will not-a-How it to-ga unreported. No
matter how mans dollars in lost revenue we suffer.
What we 'hmh Hill Si(H Kton really means is he does
not real 1 > caie svhethei \ I rican Americans shop in his
store. And. we suppose, that is his prerogative. But we will
not gise in M ans threats of cutting ads.
Credo of the Black Press
The Mark l'>< -w h,-iic\cs that America can best lead the world
?
awa\ from anraviinn^ v. hen it accords to even person ? regard
less at ra< c t? < r cr,i - ;uil human and leva! rights. Hating no per
son the Hia' k to hcip e\er\ person, in the firm belief
that ail aw hw ' anvone is held back.
How To Reach Us
Production Dep;irtmi nt
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Business Office
722-8624
fanna Conrad
I .</( 'hcrxl Mitchell
F wna .'can Pitts
whertising Department
722-8628
? ( lit f Hunt
J uthc HoU omh-Puck
( it ( ui ttinn Department
Xh 24
' tinncl! Robinson
! ti'i'H k Edmunds
I I
Auonicle
There is Crime in White Communities, Too
\
To the Editor:
In response to the \oiced opin
ion made by Teresa Hurst on
Wednesday. Mas 12. on "Letting
Police Defend Themselves," 1
would like to voice my opinion On
the subject.
1 feel for the officers that got
killed by unnecessary means of gun
fire just like the next person. You
are not the only one. 1 grieve for the
' victims' families as well as for the
accused in the crimes.
Did you know that you just
used the same alibi, discrimina
tion?"
You see. you simply stuck your
foot in your own mouth when you
had the nerve to Say "why do so
high a percentage of these crimes
committed by the black community
go unpunished'1' A\nd you re trying
to sav that black people use the
word "discrimination" as an alibi!
You failed to see the issue for
what it really is ? death by guns!
Not black crime or white crime. buT
crime !
Grant you that there is a lot of
.crime in black communities, but
there's just as much in white com
munities. too! A lot of the time the
crime is in the counties and the
media do not report it. A lot of drug
busts occur in the counties. And the
majority of these people are white.
lhe justice system is failing
because of people like you always
wanting to put the blame on some
one else, instead of pulling together
as one voice to do something about
the crime and anything else that
annoys you and others like you.
That's why we have the NAACP to
? proteut our people. I'nnror saying
that they're right about every issue,
but most of the time they are dead
Shelia McKellar
on the money.
Sheila McKellar may have used
drugs, but that had nothing to do
with why she was handled like she
was. That's why we have the
NAACP.
People like Rickey Knight who
killed unmercifully and wanted to
come back and kill some more is
why we have the NAACP.
Although the men who killed the
officers will probably get life sen
tences for their crimes, how do you
know that these men aren't punished
enough? Do you know them person
ally? I don't think so!
Their punishment will be with
themselves and the good Lord
above. And trust me. they will not
go unpunished. The word "discrimi
nation" has nothing to do with the
officers' hands being tied behind
their backs. The real fact is that we
need to do something about gun
control in all of our communities!
Constance Simon-Jackson
Many Thanks!
To the Editor:
On behalf of the famik ot
Police Officer Michael Ray Jen
nines. we would like to thank the
entire community for all their
prayers and support during our time
of sorrow. Your acts of kindness
were also ureal l> appreciated. We
would like to extend thanks to Cine!
George T. Sweat and the Winston
Salem Police Department, alone
with the various law cntorcement
agencies.
We are thankful Ini :he mans
telephone calls, visits. flowets. t<?od
and cards that were sent during out
Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the new executive director for the NAACP, greets some unidentified members of
the Crotona Naval Cadet Core band during his tour of the Crotona area of the Bronx in New York recently.
Chavis announced the first Latino chapter of the NAACP, which has about 500,000 members.
CHRONICLE MAI LB AG- ~
Our Readers Speak Out
time of sorrow. We want to thank
Rev. Charles E. Gray and the mem
bers Mt. OlfvTBaptisf Church tor
their continued support in these dif
ficult times. I
We would like to extend' a spe
cial thanks to the many participants,
and contributors in the Niaminnette
Jemrmgy Scholarship Fund imd berp
efit basketball game. We hope and
pray that God will throw his loving
arms around each and every one of
you and bless you as you so desire.
Again, thanks!
The Jennings Family
What If It Were Me?
To the Editor:
I was glacT to read recently in
the Chronicle that brother Karim
Allah cut Oprah a little bit of slack,
while cutting almost none! I still
have a picture of me as a child sit
ting on the support of brother
Karim's bike with his arms on either
side of me on the handlebars. How
ever, reading through brother
Karim's book Po Me (sarcastically
titled). I was almost jumping ^nd
-sweatin' in my black/white, take
away-able by the society, bourgeois
sheets! And that, in spite of the kind
way in which brother Karim phrases
his truth.
Not having had what is becom
ing the typical black man incarcera
tion experience. I also had visions
of the Righteous Angers being on
my case like Malcolm if 1 came up
with sly questions like. "Where do
y'all stand against street Islam
groups like the Five Percent Nation
that like rappers like Tupac do not
totally reject the gang-street-thang
mentality?" 1 had to ask myself if
the personable brother Karim could
still protect me with his arms on
those handlebars if 1 got into such a
"devil '-ish mentality for real'}
I know that brother Karim is
absorbed compassionate!) with the
lack of control, lack of true self,
therefore the true people wandering
lost in the image of unrighteousness
from the Original Black Nation ?
primarily, as he might say. lack of
Godself here and now. lack of
Allah.
But 1 was riding through Buena
Vista (with its un-Hispanic pronun
ciation) when, like rapper Ice-T. a
thought shot into m\ brain like a
drill in a brother's head: "What if 1
stopped in here wit It some of these
five tor-a-dollar Arb\ s toast beef
sandwiches and asked to be shown
how the other half lives?" Po me.
Carl Martin
We Should he Proud
To tlu- Fditor:
May we all join in sending our
best wishes and positive vibes to the
"large delegation going to Tampa
(mostly at their own expense) to
"show how proud we are of our city
? thus proving we are an All
American city.
Let us thank our hard-working
Wootl and her co-chairsr
Geneva Brown and John Davis, for
heading up this endeavor.
I found it a delight to work with
this group and learned of even more
reasons to be proud of my chosen
city by learning about many groups
. and individuals who strive to make
Winston-Salem an even better place
to live.
Of course we are not perfect,
but all the projects chosen to high
light the town are working on the
very things that Alderman Larry
Womble chose to criticize. It is hard
to believe a public official of our
city could do this to his own town.
Those of us who were privi
leged to work with this group the
last few months know that there is
much we have to be proud of in our
city and much that we can improve
by all of us working together.
Eunice Heilig
Minorities and Taxes
To the Editor:
Ten billion dollars annually are
leaving the minority community in
the name of taxes. North Carolina,
however, has demonstrated very lit ?
tie accountability and minimum
return investment into the minority
community.
Tax revenues are garnered from
personal income taxes, sales taxes
on goods and services, taxes of priv
ilege, inheritance, corporate fran
chise and insurance. But where are
the tax dollars going and how are
they being used?
The Governor's recommenda
tion for the budget for the Depart
ment of Commerce is S295,847,857
with S64,7 18,490 coming from state
taxesr From this budget less than-1 ?
percent will return to the minority
community. Instead, large private
corporations have received these
monies as an incentive for economic
development on an annual basis.
Within a ten-year period, the Micro
Electronics Center has received over
$200 million dollars. This same pri
vate corporation is asking for an
additional $16 million for fiscal
years 1993-1994 and 1994-1995.
The Biotechnology Center is sched
uled to receive $7,157,547 for fiscal
years 1993-1994 and 1994-1995.
Millions of our tax dollars are
expended under the name of "eco
nomic development.^' Forty different
agencies involved with the "devel
opment" of our state s economy
have few guidelines regarding the
types of priorities and programs
they should focus on because the
North Carolina General Assembly
has failed,.to provide explicit perfor
mance indicators by which agency
effectiveness can be measured.
Some corporations may be duplicat
ing another's programs or even serv
ing cross purposes. Reinvestment
accountability are the needed watch
words for non-discriminatory appro
priations from our General Assem
bly.
1 propose reinvestment of non- ?
discriminatory appropriations for
economic development in the state s
minority community.
Victoria Peterson
Chairperson, N.C. Minority
Republican Council
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