Winston Salem ( hroniclo Thursday July 1 1993
Opinion
Winston-Salem Chronicle,
I hr '?? 11 City's Award Winning Vi eekly
Ernest H. Pitt Ndubbl Egemonye
Publuhcr/Co-fourKfcr Co-Fouider
Richard L. Williams
Managing Editor
Elaine Pitt Michael A. Pitt
Dira&or of Community Relation* Advertising Manager
Mel White Vlpaporn Ratanatanincherl
Circulation Manager Office Manager
jdit BureSU
Ctmna Vif?n* Audit BlifflU Ama^a/natcd
p'mi Auoomox Aivx^iix- Of Circulations Py6i4?i?it. ix
Newell' s Leaving a Void
Virginia "V.K." Newell was recently tpwing around two
of her grandchildren visiting from Youngstown, Ohio. When
they saw a tall building on the corner of Church and Third
streets, the boys wanted to know
what the building was. Newell
shamefully told them: "That's a
? building that incpfcerates black
males more than it does anybody
else.
HI was saddened to tell my
grandson that if you live here, your
chances are four times greater
going there than other folks/' she
said.
During Virginia Newell's 16
years serving Winston-Salem as an
alderman, she has tried to change Virginia Newell
that. She has tried to make Winston
Salem a thriving community where all its citizens can work
together for a common vision.
Newell, who for years was WSSU's math department
chairperson, has run the Math and Science Academy for
black youths since 1991. She has also fought for economic
development in EasrWinston. Sick of "band-aid approaches"
to escalating crime, she is now calling for the city to form a
Crime Task Force to study the root causes of crime and vio
lence.
Virginia Newell's decision to not seek re-election in the
fall will leave a major void in this city. But it will give her ~
more time to instruct, cajole and admonish her two grandboys
? and whoever else is smart enough to listen ? on the
importance of being a public servant working toward the
good of everyone.
Virginia Newell
Roy "Campy" Campenalla
Roy "Qmipy" Campanella, who died Saturday of a heart
attack, was one of the first great black athletes to break major
league baseball's color barrier. Campanella played for the
Brooklyn Dodgers from 1948 through 1957, being named the
National League's Most Valuable Player three times during
that stretch.
Campy, who later became a great humanitarian, was
arguably the best backstop in his era during his brief stay in
baseball.
He was great defensively and at handling pitchers, but it
was his power that set him apart from most National Leaque
catchers in his era. He still holds the record (41) for most
home runs hit in a season by a catcher. Seldom does a catcher
display the firepower at the plate that Campy did. The only
modern-day catcher that may have matched his power was
Johnny Bench.
Although Campy was highly recognized as the best back
stop of all time, his career was cut short one January night in
1958. He was driving alone near his home on Long Island,
N.Y., when his car skidded and overturned. After the acci7
dent, he lay paralyzed from the chest down in a hospital bed
for 10 months with spinal nerve damage. That accident left
him in a wheelchair for the final 34 years of his life.
And during those years, Roy Campanella has remained in
the eyes and hearts of millions of baseball fans.
How To Reach Us
722-8624
Production
Kithy Lee - Supervisor
Deborah Belcher
Crystal Wood
Karen Harmon
Doug Ritz
Reporters
Mark R. Moss
Deby Jo Ferguson
David Dillard
Business Office
Donna Conrad
LaCheryl Mitchell
Crystal McNair
Advertising
Cliff Hunt
Judie Hoi comb- Pack
Circulation
Bill MoseT
Walter Mickle
Varnell Robinson
^Todd Fulton
Patrick Edmunds
0
Dialogue Will Bring Answers to City's Problems
To the Editor:
In reference to the letter from
Mr. Greer that was published
recently (6/24) in your Chronicle
Mailbag section, 1 would like to take
just a few minutes to tell him and
anyone else who might be wonder
ing "Who is that Man?"
As past president of the Win
ston Sports Travel Club, I organized
and personally sought out as many
as nine families to participate in our
annual Feed the Hungry Program.
Not one year, but this will be our
' eighth consecutive year.
I have organized several food
drives, clothing drives and made
cash donations to Crisis Control, the
Samaritan Soup Kitchen, the Salva
tion Army and the Christmas Cheer
Toy Shop, just to name a few. I am
_ sure you know thai these organiza
tions and services cater to a large
number of black people in this city.
I do not remember seeing you at
the Ernie Shore Field parking lot
unloading and loading those 2,100
Christmas trees to be given away in
all of the city's public housing pro
jects as well as in other economi
cally deprived areas. Although I do
commend Larry Womble for staying
the entire day in spite of suffering
from the flu, as he was.
A coward, Mr. Greer? Far from
it. I was one of the few citizens,
black or otherwise, who saw fit to
protest when the Ku Klux Klan
marched in our city. I also attended
their marches in King, Dobson, High
Point, Yadkin vi lie and Thomasville.
I sure do not remember seeing you.
Waiting for the master's
crumbs? Not me, brother. Eighteen
years on the same job, the proud
owner of 16 perfect attendance
awards. The only things that have
kepi me off the job were birth of my
twins and the death of my grand
mother, Callie Hauser. So you see,
Mr. Greer, I have never waited for
the crumbs; 1 didn't have the time. I
was busy helping make the bread.
No, I don't attend your candle
light vigils, which I feel are just an
asinine attempt on your group's part_
to divert attention away from the
real problems that we face: a lack of
education, drugs, high rates of sin
gle-parent households and teen-age
pregnancies.
I don't know all the answers,
but I do know that they don't lie in
blaming the white man for all of our
troubles. The time has long since
come when we have to take some
responsibilities ourselves.
. I marched in the Citizens
United for Justice march from the
Winston Mutual Building to the Hall
of "Injustice?" as the Rev. Mendez is
fond of saying, although my beef
was not with the police, but only to
nothing could be further from the
truth, although even he had a part to
play.
Conflict breeds communication,
and dispute brings forth dialogue, so
maybe some good will come out of
all of this. I have always heard that
there is more than one way to skin a
cat; we just happened to have cho
sen different paths to follow in our
quest for what is best for our people.
1 can live with that.
Marches and vigils were instru
mental in venting our frustrations,
but the road to freedom lies in eco
nomics. And the way to economics
is through education, not in falling
in line behind someone just because
he happens to be a politician, minis
ter or so-called leader. Your group
should encourage our youth to
acquire all the education that they
can, so they will be better armed to
compete against the other people
that they will have to compete
against for the jobs and opportuni
ties that await them.
Acting Professionally?
To tbc Editor:
In my opinion, the daily news
paper was proud to print the article
"Officer Shot During Fight." Officer
Gene F. Piscitelli shot himself in the
line of duty, thus triggering him to
shoot, kill and cold-blooded murder
Daron Lamont Bines, who was
unarmed.
I understand that the officer was
only doing his job, but he is also
. trained to think as well. Upon a self
inflicted wound to the thigh of Offi
cer Piscitelli, I feel he became angry,
and instead of thinking to call a
back-up and reporting he had shot
himself, instead he fatally shot Mr.
Bines in a vital area of the body.
-Why not the thigh or arm, if he
wanted to wound him? Or why
shoot him at all? The shooting of
himself should have been enough
shooting.
Was it just an act of pride, to be
CHRONICLE MAILBAG
Our Readers Speak Out
make known my belief that black
children would have been better
served if the school board delayed
their plans for redisricting until the
two black board -members had taken
their seats, something that we all
pri>bably agreed on.
Being a former softball umpire,
1 have been trained to call 'em like I
see 'emrand if all I see is negative,"
then ...
You insinuated that I am a
"step'n fetchii" kind of man, but
Our city is blessed to have an
abundance of black leaders and role
models: C.B. Hauser, Mutter Evans,
Michael Grace and Coach "Big
house'* Gaines, just to name a few. I
am sure that all would echo my sen
timents about the importance of a
good education being the key to our
future.
So, Mr. Greer, who is that man?
"That's that man.
Steven A. Floyd
Secretary/treasurer
Winston Sports Travel Club
heroic and gel the media's attention?
He would have been a much bigger
hero in my eyes if he had not mur
dered this man in cold blood.
If Bines displayed a weapon or
was shooting at him, I could see it
But that act he displayed was simply
cold-blooded murder. 1 hope he can
live with himself after this, but 1
don't see how anyone else could.
Murder is murder, not matter how
it's done or who does it I just hope
other officers learn from this.
Danny E. Lindsey
NAFTA: A Bad Gamble for African Americans
African Americans have an
important stake in a new trade
agreement now pending in the Con
gress. The trade agreement is the
North American Free Trade Agree
ment, or NAFTA as it is better
known.
Very little has been written in
the black press about NAFTA, but
the economic implications of this
trade agreement for African Ameri
cans are enormous.
Currently, there is a big debate
on the benefits that U.S. industry
could yield from NAFTA, but little
is said of the grave and severe
impact that will be suffered by
African Americans if this pact is
approved.
v
Relative to their white counter
parts, black workers are more likely
to be employed in industries which
will experience large job losses to
Mexico, including automobiles and
trucks, apparel, household glass
ware, ceramics, major household
appliances and electronics. History
has proven that U.S. workers who
are thrown out of work because of
import competition do not climb up
the job ladder. Instead, they fall
back to lower wages, or worse, end
up in unemployment lines.
? Jobs lost to imports from
Mexico are high-wage manufactur- grams and services. Public sector
ing jobs. In 1991, average hourly workers, who are disproportionately
GUEST COLUMNIST
By WILLIAM LUCY
wages in those industries running a
. trade deficit with Mexico ranged
from $8.30 to $16.30, with wages in
six of the nine affected industries
averaging more than $12 per hour.
? Threats to move production to
Mexico will depress manufacturing
wages as well as undercut wages in
other sectors of the economy. One
economist concluded that NAFTA
will inflict ai\^ average annual wage
loss of $1,000 per worker for the
lower 70 percent of the U.S. labor
force.
? To be sure, increased unem
ployment and wage depression will
have powerful ripple effects
throughout every African-American
community. Less disposable income
will result in shrinking retail sales
for neighborhood businesses. The
local tax base will erode, drying up
funding for critical government pro
female and minority, will be laid
off.
? In addition to the obvious eco
nomic backlash of NAFTA, there
are also social costs ? chiefly, drug
trafficking ? to be considered.
NAFTA is likely to put more crack
cocaine on the streets of our inner
cities.
A recent U.S. intelligence
report warned that drug traffickers
have started buying Mexican manu
facturing, trucking and warehouse
businesses as fronts for drug ship
ments. There is already a massive
drug enforcement problem on the
border, NAFTA will make it worse.
NAFTA proponents claim that
firms are not moving to Mexico for
low wages, but rather to reach the
Mexican consumer market. That
claim" is ridiculous. The Mexican
market is tiny, less than five percent
of the U.S. market. By almost any
criterion, there are more attractive
consumer markets right here in the
U.S., including African-American
communities. Consider this, in
1990, the aggregate purchasing
power of the Afro- American com
munity was $265 billion, roughly
equal to Mexico's Gross Domestic
Product ? all private and public
sector spending ? of $270 billion.
Instead of policies to make
Mexico more attractive to investors,
the U.S. government should encour
age investment in our own African
American market. If the American
business community were making
investment in jobs, plants and
equipment in our inner cities and
poor, rural communities, as it is
doing in Mexico, black unemploy
ment would plummet from its cur
Let's be clear: the real motiva
tion behind NAFTA is the lure of
cheap labor for U.S. investors.
NAFTA is a massive gamble with
America's economic future. For
African Americans, the odds are
overwhelmingly stacked against us.
William Lucy is secretary-trea
surer of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal
Employees and president of the
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
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