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Program Helps Black College-Bound Students
By DAVID L DILLARD
Chromcl* Suff Writer
For many young African Ameri
cans, being popular versus being smart
is a major choice in their everyday
lives. Because they fail to see the two as
congruent, most opt for popularity.
According to Winstor?Salem resi
dent Ernest Wade, young black students
often shun doing well in school because
they believe it doesn't make them popu
lar with their peers. Wade~said he con
stantly hears phrases like "I just don't
want to do good anymore," or "It's not
worth it"
Wade also noticed that there was
no program to help African-American
youths aspire for higher education. He
wanted to do something about it, so in
- 1989 he helped developed Project
Ensure, which emphasizes higher edu
cation for African-American students.
"We designed this program with
two goals in mind," said Wade, who is
director of Minority A ffairs at Wake"
Fbrest University. "One was getting stu
dents through high school and getting?
the most of it; the second goal was to
get them enrolled in college."
The project began with 8th-graders
who serve three weeks in residency at
Wake Forest during the summer and
meets once a month during the acade
mic year.
Wade said the program began with
incoming high school freshmen because
it helps them remain focused during the
transitional period.
"Here we have the middle-school
concept where you are king of the hill
as an 8th-grader, and the next year you
go back to being green and not knowing
anything," Wade said. "We spend a lot
of time motivating the kids, so we
thought that at this level we could ease
the transition better." ,
Of the 30 students who started the
program, 22 of the remaining 23 com
pleted high school and have been
accepted to a college. The remaining
student is expected to finish in summer
school, Wade said.
Spencer McCall, 18, who gradu
ated two weeks ago from Parkland High
School, said the program was a big help
in preparing black youths for college.
"I really liked the hands-on experi
ence; it was very challenging," McCall
said. "If we didn't have it many wnulri
still go to college, but this program
brought us together to show us our his
tory and give us a cultural foundation."
McCall, one of a few students to
complete all four years of high school
with perfect attendance, will attend
Wake Forest University in the fall and
plans to become a doctor.
Wade said a cross-section of stu
Ernest Wade (left) gives computer instructions to Project Ensure students*
dents chosen for the program are taught math originated with folks iusl like
math, science, English, African history
and life skills.
colm X, the civil rights movement and
African history to dispel rumors that
blacks have not contributed to society
and to motivate them to continue.
"Some people will sell that notion
that maybe blacks don't have the apti
tude to do math, but when they know
them, they want but into it," Wade said.
"Our kids are brilliant and have an
innate ability to succeed. It is critically
important that they don't give it away
by succumbing to the pressures of soci
ety."
The project is a five-year cycle
ending next year. Wade said he hopes
Wake Forest will continue.
Bias from page A1
racially motivated incidents reported, ranking fifth among
the counties with the |ighest level of bias crimes.
While the report listed non-violent activity, including
harassment and intimidation, Linda Williams, a
spokesman for NCARRV, cited Winston-Salem as "one
of the areas with the most violent incidents." She made
reference to the castration murder of Carlos S toner and
the death of Shelia Ann McKellar. S toner was killed by
four white men, and McKellar died in police custody after
she was restrained in a jail cell Both were black.
The report said that hate-group activity, such as
marches and meetings, decreased from 1991, while vio
lent incidents and harassment significantly increased.
"They leave behind a climate that says it's seemingly
alright to target someone because of their race," Williams
said. "We have noticed that when organizing is down, the
incidents seem to increase. But certainly a rise in whites
joining a while supremacy group is alarming."
The Confederate Knights of America, National
Socialist Front is currently the hate group of most concern
to North Carolinians, NCARRV says, because they target
white youths for membership.
"They are the ones we should watch out for because
they have formed a skinhead arm," Williams said. "Terry
Boyce {national leader of the Confederate KntgtHS of
America) is someone to take seriously because he is cur
rently organizing among white youths."
Williams said Boyce is rrioving his group closer"
toward military bases so they can undergo paramilitary
training. Boyce reportedly has a stockpile of homemade
weapons, computers, and is moving their operation under-,
ground so their activities cannot be easily monitored, she
said.
In the most recent activity in Winston-Salem, Aaron
Moser, a skinhead with ties to the National Socialist
Front, was charged with killing a white man, Thomas'
Scharf, and injuring his black friend, Julius Johnson.
According to Williams, the hate groups are preparing
for a race war that they predict will happen in 1995.
Williams doesn't think the idea is far-fetched as long as
people continue to ignore racially motivated violence.
"I think under certain criteria, it's already happening r
on a much smaller level," she said. "I think a race war is
probably inevitable as long as we think everything is O.K.
and pretend there is no problem with racism."
Discount Concert Tickets Available
Group discount rates are available for next week's
"For Real Tho" concert at Joel Lawrence Memorial
Coliseum featuring Levert and the Rude Boys. Groups
of 10 or more will receive a $2 discount Contact the
coliseum box office before 5 pjn. June 23. Tickets are
- - $16 in advance and $17 the day of the show.
Burke Says She Will Remain Dedicated to Her Voters
A She takes new job,
$10,000 pay cut
By MARK R. MOSS
ChronicU Staff Writer
Alderman Vivian Burke wants her
constituents to know that although she
has accepted an out-of-town position in
the Hunt administration, she will still be -
able maintain the same level of service
and attention she has given them in the
past
"They can rest assured that 1 will be
as conscientious and dedicated as 1 have
ever been," Burke said last week from
her new office in Mooresville.
Gov. Jim Hunt named Burke, an
alderman since 1977 and mayor pro
tempore, regional head of the N.C.
Department of Environment, Health and
Natural Resources on May 26. Burke,
who started her new job on June 7,
makes the one-hour commute from
^Winston-Salem to Mooresville daily.
Managing the department involves
coordinating agencies in 1 1 counties.
On May 20, Hunt revised the ethics
order barring state employees from
holding any other paying public office.
Rachel Perry, Hunt's press secre
tary, said the ethics order was not
revised solely to accommodate Burke's ~
appointment.
"The revision to the ethics order
was simply making official the individ
ual exceptions that had been made in
the previous administration," Perry said.
"Our legal counsel felt it was better to
go ahead and make the revision."
Hunt did not want to discourage
people from serving in his administra
tion, she said.
She said "a number of" Hunt
appointees were in situations similar to
Burke's, and that the policy was
changed near the time of the announce
ment of Burke's appointment was coin
cidentaL
"Gov. Hunt has the greatest confi
dence in Vivian Burke and feels she
will be careful to avoid any real or
imagined conflict of interest," Perry
said.
Burke said that as regional head she
is primarily responsible for making sure
that the governor's policies are carried
out. Her responsibilities also include
meeting with county and city managers,
commissioners and elected officials and
attending public hearings that concern
the environment. Ninety employees
work in the Mooresville office* she said.
The governor chose Burke, she
said, because "he understands that I am
capable and qualified."
"I can manage both of thenr,"
Burke said, referring to her new
job and her position on the
city's board.
Burke, who also chairs the I?
Public Safety Committee, said
being an alderman is a part-time
job but she has carried out its functions
on a full-time basis. Her last job as a
counselor at the Career Center was full
time.
"I have a very high energy level,"
she said.
With an advisory committee com
posed of citizens from her ward. Burke
said that "not too much happens in my
community that I don't know about. My
constituents are just like my family."
Burke said that her new $42,500-a
year job represents about a $10,000 pay
cut Money, she said, "is not an issue."
"This is a new experience, a new
challenge. It's an honor and a step up,
and an opportunity to help some folks,"
she said.
Death Threats . from page ai
Mayor Martha Wood.
Womble said that it was diffi
cult for him to believe that "out of a
city of 160,000 people that one poor
African- American from East Win
ston" could stop Winston-Salem
from getting the Ail-American City
designation.
"It wasn't the letter, it was the
conditions," Womble said. "If they
think this is an All-American city, I
said he sent a memorandum to
Wood and City Manager Bill Stew
art informing them of the threats.
Wood called the threats repre
hensible" and said she, too, has
received threatening calls in the
past
"There's no reason in this coun
try for threatening anybody," she
said. "1 don't care how controversial
the issue is, I think it's reprehensible
for any American citizen to threaten
anybody for their views. It's anti
American."
Meanwhile at Saturday's rally,
sponsored by Citizens United for
Justice, many of the approximately
45 residents spoke in support of
Womble.
"Those of us here today are
behind him 100 percent," said Floy
Howie, a city resident "One letter
did not influence the recommenda
tion of people who make the deci
sion for the All-America City." The
city is in the mess that it's in
because, Howie said, "the bad is
outweighing the good."
resident, suggested that criticizing
Womble means not taking a look at
the real problem-the conditions that
Womble addressed. She said
African Americans might need to
organize a "non-shopping Saturday"
in order to get the respect given
white residents and white elected
officials.
"However we do it, we need to
do it economically," he said.
The Rev. John Mendez,
Emmanuel's pastor, said that
because of Womble's importance to
the community, "a lot of us felt we
needed to come together and talk
about the larger picture."
Rev. John Mendez
\ *
He said the application for the .
Ail-American City designation "was
very untimely."
He accused city officials of not
being able to take criticism and
added that the "city wants us to
remain boys and girls, they don't
want us to mature . . . This is not
new to us."
Darrvl Hunt from Page A1
wouiu nave testified that it was
Johnny Gray, not Hunt, who killed
Deborah B. Sykes.
Sykes was raped and stabbed to
death in 1984. Hunt was convicted
of first-degree murder in 1985, but
the N.C. Supreme Court overturned
the conviction in 1989. He was con
victed again in 1990, but in Febru
ary, the state Supreme Court
ordered next week's hearing on the
latest allegation.
Hunt said the hardest part of
being incarcerated is Tm innocent"
and "not being able to go home; not
being around people I love."
The last J 1/2 years have been
the hardest," Hunt said. "When I
first came in I was uneducated. But
after being in here learning and
growing, 1 see a lot of things hap
pening. I see brothers coming in that
don't need to be in here, but they're
trapped in the system.
"I can see so much oppression,"
he said. "They in and out. . . . It's
like: 'As long as you can keep 'em
down, you can keep 'em coming
back.'"
Hunt seemed pleased to see
several of his longtime supporters,
many of whom belong to Ciuzens
United for Justice, who have fought
to prove his innocence. He warmly
embraced attorney Larry D. Little,
the Rev. Carlton Eversley and
Alderman Nelson Malloy. Little
said he feels extremely confident
that Hunt will get another trial.
When asked where is his fam
ily, Hunt gave his ready smile and
waved his large hand around the
crowded room.
This is my family," he said.
Moments later, his visitors left,
but not before hugs and well-wish
ing. Hunt was frisked by a Sheriffs
deputy and escorted back to his jail
cell where h r. awaits yet another day
in court to prove his innocence.
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