Winston-Salem Chronicle
ike I win City's A**ard-Winning Weekly
Ernest H. Pitt
Publisher/Co-founder
Established in 1974
Richard L. Williams
Managing Editor
Mel White
Circulation Manager
Ndublsi Egemonye
Co Founder Michael A. Pitt
Advertising Manager
Vipaporn Ratana
Office Manager
p'"?? Amoomot
N*?r?p?P*<
Astoc>*i?x
Audit Bureau *ii>n>imwi ^
of Circulations pu> ?.
Blacks Want Respect, Courtesy
Winston-Salem should begin preparing for it.
Because, as sure as day, it's going to happen. This city
is going to explode. If attention is not paid to the racial
strife that afflicts this community, what happened in
South Central Los Angeles, Miami and Washington
Heights and Crown Heights in New York will cer
tainly happen here. Injustices, insensitivity and intoler
ance have this city on the brink of a massive civil dis
turbance. And it may be too late to stop it.
It could have happened this week, when a white
police officer shot and killed an unarmed 26-year-old
black man at Cleveland
Avenue Homes. It could have ;
happened in two incidents
over the past tftree weeks
where police used pepper
spray to disperse a crowd oL
blacks who had gathered after
a fight broke out. It could
have happened after a white
juror refused to sentence a
white man to death for the
Sheila McKtUar
castration murden of an African American?
African Americans are tired of being treated like
second-class citizens.
It could have happened when corrupt black cop Joy
Barber was sentenced to prison, but white corrupt cops
.gOwunpunished. It could have happened last summer
when five police officers bound and gagged a young
black woman in a holding cell, causing her death. It
could have happened when several police officers used
excessive force to restrain a black man last spring.
Winston- Salem, especially members of a law
enforcement unit sworn to
protect citizens, has to be
more sensitive to African
Americans. Do not perceive
danger when when there is a
crowd of blacks congregating.
All black youths are not drug
dealers, vandals or thugs ?
no more than all whites are.
They are college students,
they're 9-to-5 workers. But, for the most part, they are
law-abiding citizens. But more importantly they're
human beings. And they should be treated as such.
When white youths motor along Stratford Road and
huddle in bunches at local hangouts, police officers do
not" use pepper spray on them. Officers simply ask
them to leave. African-Americans should be afforded
the same respect.
Carlos Stoner
How To Reach Us
Production Department
723-9026
Kathy Lev
Debroah Holiday-Belcher
Crystal Wood
News Department
723-8448
Karen Hannon
Mark R. Moss
Deby Jo Ferguson
Business Office
722-8624
Donna Conrad
LaCheryl Mitchell
Emma Jean Pitts
Advertising Department
722-8628
Cliff Hunt
Judie Holcomb-Pack
Circulation Department
722-8624
Walter Mickle Vannell Robinson
Todd Fulton Patrick Edmunds
Winston-Salem Chronicle
Ail-American Blacks and All-American Whites
To the Editor:
To those citizens that have
sought to complain about Alderman
Larry Womble's views concerning
the All- American City of Winston
Salem application, let me remind
some of you that when a black man
or a black woman speaks out against
the status quo, that means you are
anti-establishment. Alderman
Womble has performed many good
deeds around this city, such as
working with children in the school
system, and that stjows how much
he cares. He is constantly checking
to make sure that city services are
rendered in all parts of the city
(street cleaning, trash pick-ups,
assisting city employees, making
sure we have safe and affordable
housing, police protection, and see
ing that our tax dollars are welL-~
spent on necessary services)
whether you are black or white.
Well, Mr. Womble, you have
not been told to speak unless you
raise your hand, but I am not sure in
most cases who is going to give you
permission to speak the truth. If you
have given your All- American letter
to someone of your true ethnic
group, then it might have gotten to
the right source to whom it was
directed.We need to be more cordial
and understanding of one*s own
opinion. These things are needed if
we hope to achieve better race rela
tions, remove violence from the
community, and foster a better"
working relationship for all citizens
of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County.
If we would remember those
that have worked hard in the strug
gle for freedom, it should remind us
ihat Patrick Hairs ton, Rodney Sum
ler, the Rev. Lee Faye Mack, the
Rev. John Mendez, Larry Womble,
the Rev. David Hedgley, Dr. H.
Rembert Malloy, the Rev. W.S.
Fails, the Rev. Carlton Eversley,
George Redd Sr., Joe McFadden Sr.,
the Rev. Kelly OJP. Goodwin, the
Rev. Wamie C. Hay, the Rev. Jerry
Drayton, Walter Marshall, Rev. J.L.
Nance, Vivian Burke, Larry Little,
Moses Lucas, Virginia Newell, Nel
son Malloy, Mel White, Jim Con
rad, Jackie Teal, Earlene Parmon,
Mazie Woodruff, and others that
have done such a great job in this
city. They have gone unrecognized
by some citizens that do not accept
black history.
Before we take Alderman
Womble behind the wood shed and
give him a vote lashing, some of us
need to go behind the wood shed
and get a few lashes ourselves in
order to become more respectful and
understanding without always being
critical.
William Tatum, president
Winston-Salem NAACP
Every American's Voice
To th* Editor:
people of all nations' ethnic groups.
Give us your tired, your poor. Our
Constitution is based upon this melt
ing pot inhabited by any and evepr
creed of people that seeks such a
country. -- *
This letter is in regard to Mayor
Martha Wood, who seems to me and
countless others to continue to try
and shoot down Alderman Larry
Womble's Constitutional right ?
freedom of speech. It seems some
times that politicians forget the
basic concept of our society. So
Mayor Wood's contention that
Womble's voicing his opinion oji
the racial issues in our city caused
us not to be elected as an All- Amer
ican city is political bureaucracy.
If these statements were not
true, Womble sure would not have
made them. Furthermore, if Mayor
Wood would put more emphasis on
the problems in our inner-city
instead of trying to impress the
affluent people of our great nation,
there would be less time for shoot
ing down one man's views and
more time for building an All
American city.
We have the resources within
our city to gain national recognition,
so let's do it constitutionally and not
gain recognition by being "Little
Brother City" to Los Angeles.
Anthony L. James
Race Problems
To the Editor:
I am a black citizen of Winston
Salem. I was bom and raised here.
My wife and I raised our five chil
dren here. After working 37 years in
RJ. Reynolds, 1 am now retired. I
have seen this city go through many
changes. I am extremely concerned
about some of the recent develop
ments inllns city. My father and
mother taught me the difference
between right and wrong and taught
me this difference had nothing to do
with black and white. We raised our
children on the same convictions.
I know this city has problems. I
lived through some of the most seri
ous ones. I know this city has race
- problems. I also know there are two
sides to every story. In order to
make an intelligent decision you
have to look at the total picture.
I have all the respect in the
world for Mr. Womble. He has paid
his dues in the struggle for equal
rights in this city. I do not know the
Rev. John Mendez. I know he is not
lems. Let's teach our children that
right and wrong have nothing to do
with black or white.
William Hairston
Tobacco Kills
To the Editor:
1 am outraged at what I have
read in the Associated Press article
regarding the current legislation
(Regulating Smoking in Public)
introduced -by
Rep. - - Mickey
Michaux, approved by the House of
Representatives, anil currently being
considered by Senate Committee
Judiciary I. Wake up, North Car
olinians ? we have been sold down
the river by our House of Represen
tatives. Three-fourths of Americans
are non-smokers. The Environmen
tal Protection Agency's January 7,
1993 report proves that second-hand
tobacco smoke is a Class A Car
cinogen; the Surgeon General's
reports since 1964 prove that
tobacco smoke kills by causing can
cer, heart disease, emphysema and
other diseases; studies by the
National Academy of Sciences, the
Love, Marriage & Sex
To the Editor:
In a recent article it was
reported that there were some mid
dle school students selling condoms
in school. Though there are iftany
middle school students feeling its
OK to have casual sex, I wanted to
share my feeling on the topic,
because my feelings are different
To me, one cannot talk about sex
without talking about love and mar
riage.
When I get older, 1 know I will
have a real desire tofcnow what love
is and experience it. 1 want to have
the companionship of mairiage. 1
also want to know how it feels to
love and to be loved.
To me, love is something very
special that is shared between two
people who have intimate emotions
?for one another. The word love itself
should not be used as frivolously as
it is now-a-days. To a boyfriend or
girlfriend you say, "I love you," I
suppose because it sounds better
than MI like you,** in teen-age dia
logue. Many think they may have
CHRONICLE MAI LB AG
Our Readers Speak Out
from this city nor from this state. I
know he makes his home in Kern
ersville. So, I do not have much
respect for Rev. Mendez. A man
that is so concerned about us poor
black folks in Winston-Salem that
when it came time for him to choose
a home, he chose Kernersville. Rev.
Mendez should never say he speaks
for the black people of Winston
Salem. All my friends and I believe
Rev. Mendez can not relate to the
average black citizen of Winston
Salem, and we are offended when
he claims he speaks for us.
I believe Mr. Womble was
wrong for writing such a negative
letter about Winston-Salem. The
only importance I place on Winston
Salem being named an All-Ameri
can city is that with such a positive
image it could have made it easier to
recruit jobs to this city. I believe
jobs and education are the keys to
overcoming a lor of problems in this
city. I taught my children not to
blame anyone for their failures but
themselves. All five of my children
finished college and are productive
citizens in this and other cities. They
were all raised in East Winston.
They have never been arrested or on
drugs and contrary to popular belief
the majority of families in East Win
ston do not have criminal records
and are not on drugs. The public
only reads about the problems in
Fast Winston.
Mr. Womble is always talking
about the Carlos S toner murder to
show how bad race relations are in
Winston-Salem, as if whites are out
to lynch us. Let's look at the other
side of the story. Mr. Womble never
talks about the black man who
allegedly stabbed the white lady
downtown as she was leaving
church or the black man who
allegedly shot and killed the white
businessman on Stratford Road. Is
this qn indication that the black peo
ple are out to lynch white people?
My answer is no. The black subjects
who committed the crimes no more
represent the black citizens than Mr.
Knight represents the white citizens.
I believe all life is precious. I
do not understand why Mr. Womble
and Rev. Mendez are not outspoken
about black-on-black crime. I never
heard them speak out against the
person who killed the young man in
Happy Hill Garden or the person
who killed a young man in Skyline
Village. I never heard them con
demn any black for a black-on-black
crime. The press is just as guilty.
Any time there is a murder between
the races, it is front page news; mur
der within the black race is business
as usual.
We should be outraged about
every killing. Our so-called black
leaders should be as outspoken
about black-on-black killings as
they are about any other killing.
We all need to come together as
one community to address our prob
Centers for Disease Control and
many other studies affirm the same
thing.
Yet, our legislature is seriously
considering passing a law that
would force non-smokers to be
endangered and preempting any
local government from overriding
such an unfair law. No law would
be better than this excuse for one.
Rep. Michaux and his tobacco sup
porters offer some of the lamest
arguments one can imagine: they
want to "level the playing field for
smokers.** We're not talking about a
playing field; we're talking about a
killing field.
They go on to say: "You can't
know going from one place to the
next place what you can do and
what you can't do." How ridiculous.
All ordinances call for appropriate
signing. If you can't read, you can
know what you can and can't do,
the same as following different
speed limit signs in various towns
and municipalities.
But the worst of the sell-out is
that our legislature is trying to take
away the rights of local citizens who
want a stricter ordinance than the
current bill provides, and forcing
those businesses, restaurants, county
buildings, etc., by law to provide for
smoking in their establishments.
This means that any of these that are
currently smoke-free will be forced
to allow lethal smoke back inside.
The bill is obviously a smokers' bill,
and as the article states, admittedly
written by tobacco industry Offi
cial*
Come on, non-smoking North
Carolinians; don't be led to the
slaughter by the tobacco industry
and their henchpersons; do some
thing about it: write, call, march,
protest, but don't let this oppressive
legislation dictate to us unfair and
unsafe practices which our freedom
proclaims we don't have to accept
Come on, legislators; remember
* who your constituents are ?
remember their children and grand
children whose lives you are placing
in jeopardy if you pass this tobacco
industry bill!
Sheila Pratt, coordinator
Western N.C. Group Against
Smokers' Pollution
Black Mountain
love or want it so badly that they get
into trouble, like getting hurt emo
tionally, or "making love** to some
one when it may not be love, but
infatuation. Some say you shouldn't
get your heart caught up in love and
making love at such a young age. I
remind myself that guys are experi
Monique Green
encing as much as I am and aren't
thinking about love now.
Marriage is something people
seem to do as a sport Some marry
for financial needs, causing too *
many divorces. When I marry, I
have to be sure I'm in love and be
sure he's in love with me. I feel as
though marriage bonds and seals the
?feelings one has for his or her mate.
The person 1 last went with I can
honestly say I cared about, but later
in life probably wouldn't marry.
It seems sex is very important
to some of my friends and peers. I r
don't want to get as emotional as
having sex, so to eliminate that 1
stay abstinent. 1 feel there is more to
Xsex than just the act itself. There are
emotions involved; you are giving
your most intimate secret to that
person. Sex seems to have become
casual and common and the thing to
do. I just happen to have a different
opinion.
Therefore, I've come to the
realization that I won't find these
things now, but I suppose they'll
come when it's time.
Monique Green, 13
Hanes Middle School