Three Gentle Women
By Richard T. Elmore
Special To The Post
“He hath shewed thee, 0
man, what is good; and
what does the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly and
to love, mercy and to walk
humbly with thy God.”
Micah6:8
This story is about three
women - all black <1 am
white). These women are
genteel. They are vitally
interested in the grow th - in
the stature - of their race.
So am I. Why? 1 consider
that the race problem is
acute and getting worse.
Miami! A black man was
brutally beaten to death by
four white policemen. The
policemen, were tried by
an all white jury. Ac
quitted! Result: Anger! A
large portion of the city
was devasted. Death came
to both blacks and whites.
In the Charlotte Observ
er (Sun., June 15, 1980) this
appears in the headlines:
“Spartanburg blacks upset
after 2 shot by deputies.”
The deaths occured in two
separate instances. The po
> lice claimed self-defense
against the blacks who
; were resisting arrest. Wil
* liam Davis, age 24,’ suc
* cinctly stated the situation:
"flhey didn't have to die
; ™^Iice didn’t have to
* shoot to kill. There must
have been some other way
to handle it - some better
> way - it wouldn't have
happened in a white neigh
borhood."
The Spartanburg inci
dent is in Charlotte’s back
; yard. The Rev. Peter
Jones, a black, pointed out
! that they were trying to
, cool the terror in the city
* and stated: “We pray, very
% much, that someone with
| authority will act before
there is bloodshed. Any
outburst in Spartanburg is
going to trigger tension in
Greehville, in Charlotte,
in Gastonia and all over.”
If you wonder about the
■ above reference to race,
the answer is because it is
pertinent. If you wonder
why this article is about
__41._il__
TT W1IIVII iuviivi umii men,
just remember that when
there is a situation - bad
or good - the French ex
pression Cher Chex La
Femme applies. My three
gentlewomen, through
their gentility and sensiti
; vity - could play a major
role in our present racial
v cristtf
My first lady is Inez
* Parker. Mrs. Parker is
- presently the archivist in
the James M. Duke Me
; morial Library at Johnson
‘ C. Smith University and
the author of "The Johnson
; C. Smith Story/’ which was
well done and widely read.
She received her M.A. de
gree from the University of
Michigan. She taught En
glish at Johnson C. Smith
University for twenty
years. A statement in the
preface is interesting:
"In these inward mo
ments, two years after the
surrender to Gen. Ulyss&
S. Grant at Appamatox, the
Henry J. Biddle Institute,
the embryo of Johnson C.
Smith University was
founded in 1867, in the
impoverished wasteland of
the fallen confederacy. The
wonder of its inception is
; that in the disconsolate
• period it was conceived as
! the brain child of two
pioneers - one a southerner
_I 4 I__4 I_ — _
aim uiv vwivi a iivi ur
* erner."
1 I am not sure but there
; may be a tinge of cynicism.
■ Understandable! Yes! Asa
; Virginian I would like to
point out that General
Robert E. Lee was a com
! passionate man. He was
famous wad occupies a
- very inVJM’tant niche in
^ history. His personal life
* was exemplary.
The northern gentleman
was The Rev. S. C. Alex
; ander. The southerner was
The Rev. Willis C. Miller.
- Mrs. Henry J. Biddle • a
* widow - gave the first
; substantial gift to boost the
organization of what is now
Johnson C. Smith Uni
* versity. Rev. Miller was a
< southern planter and slave
owner. Mrs. Parker point
ed out that he "repented”
and later furthered the
! cause of the freed slave
who was to receive an
education - a prerequisite
for progress. My forebear's
* status was similar to the
j Rev. Miller. My great
grandfather was a south
ern planter and owned
many slaves. My early atti
tude regarding the race
' situation was not what it is
now. Thank goodness! My
grdkt grandfather, of
cdprse. died bef6re I was
inez ranter
...Retired professor
born. His daughter, my
grandmother, I did know
because she did not die
until 1924. She was a noble
woman whom I revered. I
know her father did not
mistreat his slaves. They
were loved. In fact I owe
my life to the daughter of
one of his slaves. Due to my
mother’s ill -health and in
ability to nurse me, a black
woman was my wet nurse.
Simultaneously she
suckled her son at one
breast and me at the other.
My second lady is Miss
Hattie R. Russell. Miss
Russell, who is a retired
teacher of the Charlotte
Public School System, re
ceived her B.A. degree
from Johnson C. Smith Uni
versity and her master’s
degree from Columbia Uni
versity. Miss Russell's fa
ther, the Reverend Pickney
W. Russell taught at the
University from 1900-38. He
was twice Dean of the
college. Reverend Russell
also spoke Arabic, French
and German. He studied at
Columbia University. He
was later awarded an
honorary doctorate. Like
Billy Sunday, who did not
academically earn a doc
torate, he prefers to use
the term “Reverend."
When I interviewed Miss
Russell I tried to get her
age, but exercised her
feminine perogative. She
humorously told me that
she retired several years
ago so I could guess her
age.
My third lady is Mrs.
Daisy Twitty, age 84. She
\ t
Daisy Twitty
Devout Christian
has lived in her home. 402
French Street since 1921 -
59 years. This is in the
Biddleville community.
Mrs. Twitty is a very de
vout Christian. She is a
member of the St. Stevens
Pentacostal Church and
told me "she works for the
Lord." This far surpasses a
BA. MA or Ph.D.
Mrs. Twitty worked for
many years for the white
families around Charlotte
Although she and her hus
band were not blessed with
children of their own. she
told me she helped raise
the children of some of the
white families in Charlotte
She worked for Mr. Tom
Martin who is the maternal
grandfather of Mr William
Beck, a successful auto
mobile dealer. I talked with
Mr. Beck who has kept in
touch with Mrs. Tw ittv and
was delighted to allow me
to use this story given to
me by her.
When I interviewed Mr.
Beck, his eyes lit up when I
talked about his quasi
mother. The tone of his
voice showed the affection
he has for her. How is this
for race rleations? That is
what we need. We must
accomplish this for the
world is aflame with anger
and hatred.
All three of my ladies
have contributed a good
deal, not only to the Biddle
ville community, but to all
of Charlotte. All of them
have helped UNCC in its
University Year for Action
Program in the Biddleville
community. This project
Hattie Russell
Retired CMS teacher
lor the Biddleville or Five
Point community is headed
by Dr. Jonnie McLeod, w ho
has a genuine sensitivity
for the less fortunate, un
able to help themselves.
The UYA Program comes
under the Department of
Human Resources at
UNC'C.
If this article diverts only
one person from anger and
hatred of his fellow-man to
love. I have received my
reward
Recently 1 witnessed the
television program, "Good
Morning America," con
cerning the rioting in Se
wota. South Africa. Why
are the.suppressed blacks
revolting? Apartheid! This
is like our former slavery
that is not too remote in our
history. A philosophical
statement: God did not
look with favor when man
enslaved his brother
We think of slavery as
only relating to our black
citizens (formerly called
Negroes). If you are a
student of history you will
know that slavery existed
in times of Christ. .Many
statements in the Bible
refer to slaves. In warfare
the Romans conquered and
enslaved the Greeks
We need to act now! This
country is "wallow-ing in
anger." Anger begets hate
Presently in Greensboro
the trial of those involved
in the riots several months
ago. is in progress. Howard
Covington of Raleigh. Na
tional Head of the Nazi
Party, said for the press,
“We do plan to descend on
Greensboro with all man
ner of agitation if the men
see THREE Page 10
sexual Ignorance
Is One Cause Of
Teen-Pregnancy
Why are school boards
throughout the country
considering sex education
and family life programs?
Here are some of the rea
sons.
Each year more than one
million teenagers become
pregnant.
Seventy percent of the
pregnant teenagers do not
finish school.
More than a quarter
million cases of VD among
teenagers are reported an
nually.
One of every five 13- and
14-year-olds has already
had sexual intercourse;
more than half of all teen
agers are sexually active
before the age of 20.
In "School and Parents •
Partners in Sex Educa
tion," Sol Go. dan and Ir
ving R. Dickman offer
parents and teachers gui
dance on how they can
provide young people with
the information and values
they need to develop heal
thy, responsible and ma
ture sexuality The 28
page Public Affairs Pam
phlet includes a model cur
riculum for family life
education programs and a
list of resources for further
information. Copies are
available for 50 cents each
from a nonprofit Public
Affairs Committee. 381
Park Ave. South. New
York, N Y. 10016.
Just about everyone
agrees that the primary
responsibilty for sex educa
tion lies with parents. "One
problem,” Gordon and
Dickman point out. "is that
too many parents are un
comfortable in the role as
sex educator... All too often
parents are confused,
tongue-tied, reluctant to
discuss sex with their child
ren, uncertain of their own
information and know
ledge, unclear whether the
values they themselves
grew up with apply to to
day’s young people. ”
For many children,
friends or the media are
their main source of infor
mation - or misinforma
tion. unless they are for
tunate enough to have an
effective sex education pro
gram in their school.
But is it true that the
more teenagers- learn
about sex, the more sex
ually active they become0
Is sex education a cause of
increased teenager preg
nancies0 Paradoxially, say
Gordon and Dickman.
’’those who are most ac
tive are usually those who
know the least. Indicators
are that good sex education
programs do reduce teen
age pregnancies and lower
the incidence of venereal
disease."
So far. only 15 or 20 local
school systems offer ade
quate sex education, or
family life programs. Gor
don and Dickman estimate
"As a nation, we haven’t
really tried sex education
yet."
Sex education should
deal with anatomy and
biology, but also with feel
ings. attitudes, standards,
and human relationships
“At a minimum." Gordon
and Dickman suggest, "a
good sex education pro
gram ought to help young
people to achieve:
+ An enhanced self-con
cept. a greater self-respect
and self-worth - and that
means not agreeing to un
wanted sex 'because he
won't take me out again if I
don’t,' or because 'every
body’s doing it';
The key to an effective
sex education program is
the extent to which stu
dents are helped to under
stand the basis of their
decisions; why they do
what they do -- and the
consequences.
■4
Thursday, August 14. 1980 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page 5
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