Local Blacks Say Causes of Concord Riot
Not Ear Removed from Winston-Salem
? Activist says "Our cup is full and ready to overflow"
By DAVID L DILLARD
Chronicle Suff Writer
African- American community
leaders say racial tensions due to
police brutality and white citizens'
denial of blacks being mistreated
have reached their boiling points
and could explode if citizens don't
come together to resolve problems.
In light of the recent civil dis
turbance in Concord on July 11 over
police usage of pepper stray to sub
due a black man who died in their
custody, blacks here said a similar
incident could occur in Winston
Salem.
The Rev. John Mendez, pastor
of Emmanuel Baptist Church, said
society in general has become vio
lent, but police contribute to the
problem by harassing innocent citi
zens.
"Police have created a lot them
selves by going on false assump
tions that all black* men are crimi
nals and their enemies," Mendez
said. "Nobody will get upset when
someone commits a crime and has
to be arrested. The problem is when
innocent people are wrongly identi
fied." ?
Mendez said that every riot in
the black community throughout the
country has occurred because of
police brutality.
Walter Marshall, one of two
blacks on the city/county school
board, said he rides through Kim
berly Park and other public housing
communities and witnesses the mis
treatment of young blacks by offi
cers.
"It's (the projects) like a colo
nial society; like a Third World
country almost," said Marshall. '
"You should see how little respect
the blacks are shown from the offi
cers. They stop them and search
them unnecessarily."
The civil disturbance in Con
cord followed the death of Angelo
Robinon, who died after he was
sprayed with pepper mace. Just
recently, Winston-Salem police
sprayed Lawrence Francisco Can
non with pepper spray following his
July 7 arrest. Cannon remains in
critical condition in Forsyth Memor
ial Hospital.
Police Capt G. C. Cornatzer of
internal affairs defended the use of
pepper spray and said he doesn't feel
tension toward the police has
reached the point where a riot would
occur.
"Everybody realizes how little
force the police in this city use," he
said. "Our chief encourages people
to only use the restraints that are
absolutely necessary."
^Cornatzer said the department"
will continue to use pepper spray
because its a way to decrease
attacks.
"It's a good alternative to fight
ing and using firearms," he said.
"When used incorrectly *and
wrongly it could be damaging like
any other substance, but the spray is
designed for them to close their eyes
so the officer can make the anest
without using force."
.Marshall is against the use of
pepper spray and feels more black
police should be on the force.
"1 think they should ban it (pep
per spray) and stop using it," he
said.
"They still employ too many
who don't understand blacks. In
cities where the police force is com
mensurate with the population they
serve, there are less incidents."
"Police have a right and a
responsibility to defend themselves,
but not to brutalize citizens," said
the Rev. Carlton Eversley, pastor of
Dellabrook Presbyterian Church and
a member of Citizens United for
Justice. "That's why we worked hard
for the (Citizens Police) Review
Board to hear complaints."
Eversley also believes the prob
lem is rooted in whites misunder
standing blacks and black culture.
"It's not unusual for white peo
ple in general and police officers to
have a sense of denial about racism
and its effects on the community,"
he said. They should not get defen
sive with the individual who raises
the question because he's speaking
of a community problem."
Mendez believes black police
men could be a friend or an even
bigger threat to the black commu
nity when a racist environment
exist
"If the black cops feel like they
have to prove something to white
people, they are often harder on
A Small N.C. Town Explodes from page ai
homeowners stuck in the middle, is
filled with poor but peaceful,
deprived but dependable residents
who all are either kin or at least
know each other.
Argument at Waffle House
Although most blacks and
whites live segregated in the town,
they seem to mingle at work ?
most are employed by Cannon Mills
or Barber-Scotia College ? and
dine together peacefully at the few
most elderly blacks congregate on
their front porches in the evenings
and the younger blacks usually drive
the 17 minutes to find a night life in
Charlotte.
On July 11, Angelo Robinson
decided to stay in Concord to party.
It proved fatal. He and some friends
left a party and went to the Waffle
House on Highway 29. At the
restaurant, according to police
accounts, a disturbance erupted
between some customers. An off
duty police officer who was work
ing for the Waffle House called for
backup while trying to break up the
dispute. Other officers came and
some used pepper mace as they
attempted to subdue Robinson^
Robinson and Edward Dwayne
Cherry were arrested and were
charged with disorderly conduct.
When they arrived at the station,
Robinson was unresponsive. Word
of his death traveled like a summer
time brush fire through the tiny,
close-knit Logan community.
Firefighters use water hoses
Later that night, civil unrest
broke out among some of the 5,500
blacks in this town. About 500
blacks entered a park in the Logan
community and pelted police with
rocks, bricks and bottles. Several
people were injured, though none
seriously. Some blacks went to the
town's business community, where
vandalism and fires caused about
$135,440 damage to property and
vehicles.
Police from at least six jurisdic
tions were called in to assist the
Concord police who, along with
firefighters, were being set upon by
the normally passive black resi
dents. Firefighters turned water
hoses on the crowd.
Several residents said it was not
the first time that African Ameri
cans and police in the town have
been at odds. But it was the first
time that it has resulted in a death,
which in this case was a rude awak
i
ening to the entire community and a
wake-up call to the usually docile
blacks. ?
Joanne Can, a relative of the
Robinson's, described his death as
the final straw that triggered the vio
lent unrest. She said police have
beaten and attacked other blacks
before, including her son, John Carr.
On Oct. 27, 1991, Carr, 18, of
130 Scotia Drive, was hit in the
head by police who charged him
with possession of cocaine and
delaying and obstructing an officer.
-The charges were later dismissed in
Cabarrus County court for lack of
evidence.
On Jan. 23, 1992, Alexander
O'Brian Williams, 21, of 312 Griffin
Circle, was reportedly bit in the face
by a police dog and knocked down
by an officer. Williams was charged
with having an expired license plate,
possession of cocaine and resisting,
delaying and obstructing an officer.
She said events like those that
have gone unpublicized added fuel
to the fire that finally exploded after
Robinson's death.
State of emergency
Bernie A. Edwards, the town's
jnayor,_called an emergency meet
ing with the city's board of aldermen
at 3:30 a.m. on July 12 ? the day
following the destruction ? to give
him power to place the city under a
state of emergency.
Residents had a 9 p.m. curfew,
businesses in the Logan community
were ordered closed between 9 p.m.
and 5 a.m., and the sale of alcoholic
beverages', guns or weapons and
gasoline not directly dispensed into
a vehicle was prohibited.
Businesses and homes where
whites lived ? in or near the Logan
community ? were boarded up.
The few bootleg joints and corner
stores run by blacks were not dam
aged, and they said they did not fear
vandalism. The tragedy seemingly
bonded the town's African-Ameri
can community ? from drug deal
ers to college students.
Damon Clark, owner of Cabar
rus B.B.Q. in Logan, said two well
known drug dealers sat in his store
and said white women would now
be raped and police officers would
be killed.
Clark said the city was very
tense and "felt like a mini Beirut."
"We feel like prisoners in our
own home, like everybody's under
house arrest," he said.
Weekend violence avoided
"This is the store they burned
down," said a man sitting on a log
pointing across the street to what
used to be Komer Mart
Tension in the town became
more heated as the weekend drew
nearer. B tit no incidents Xvere "
reported last wtttohd. To head off
another day of unrest, over two
dozen black and white clergy gath
ered last Friday at First Baptist
Church, where funeral services were
held, for a community prayer ser
vice.
~ ? "W* stand together as Chris- ?
tians to do some good and look for
the common ground," said the Rev.
David Morrow of McGill Baptist
Church, who is white.
A hometown hero
Robinson, 24, was considered a
hometown hero. He was a star I
defensive end at Concord High
School and earned a football schol
arship to attend Wingate College,
where he played nose guard his
freshman and sophomore years.
Many of his teammates and
friends lined the pews of First Bap
tist Church at his funeral Saturday
afternoon. Lillian Robinson cried
out her only son's name. Earlier in
the day, the Rev. Jesse Jackson con
soled the family and urged angry
black3 to not use violence as a
means of protest
Police brutality is a not
limited by race," Jackson said. "It's
not an issue of black and white but
wrong and right"
Jackson said he would take the j
Robinson family to the Justice .
Department in Washington, D.C., to '4
see whether Robinson's civil rights i
were violated. (
*
SBI conducts investigation
Concord Police Capt. Roy
Coley said they felt it fair to the citi
zens not to investigate the matter at
this point but wait on results from
the State Bureau of Investigation.
Coley said the officers involved
have been assigned to desk duties.
Some tension is still out there,
but overall, most people are trying
to remain calm and waiting for the
results of the SBI investigation," he
said.
Coley said the police has never
had a problem with blacks, and they
have only used pepper spray "a few
months."
"This was just one of those
unusual circumstances," he said. "It
was very unfortunate and we hope
we never have another."
blacks and more dangerous," he
said. "It depends on if they realize
that they are a black man or black
woman also." .
Marshall said this deep-rooted
resentment in the black community
has reached its climax and a riot
could occur at any moment.
"Our cup is full and ready to
overflow," he said. "We need to stop
putting our heads in the sand and
recognize that there is a serious
^problem."
Marshall believes CUJ and
other groups active in the commu
nity have prevented a riot from
occurring in Winston- Salem.
"It's our only saving grace," he
said. "We have advocates in the
community working hard, but how
much can any group do when they
continue to violate not only civil
rights but a person s human rights."
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