Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 27, 1996, edition 1 / Page 2
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2A NEWS/The Charlotte Post November 27,1996 Racism comes home Historical realities cry for solutions MELODYE MICERE STEWART In the spirit of Ma’at Principal leads comeback The historical reality of the recent events dictates that a lesson in African American history be noted here. No one should have to tell you not to spend your money at Texaco or rent a car from Avis. In the spirit of Ma’at and the Nguzo Saba, the racially correct action is obvi ous. Yes, racially correct. A brief reiteration of the African/African American value systems: Ma’at means Truth, Justice, Righteousness, Harmony and Balance. The Nguzo Saba, celebrated for mally during Kwanzaa, is Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Creativity, Purpose and Faith. African Americans will con tinue to experience Rodney King, O.J. Simpson, 100 African American churches burned in 20 months, St. Petersburg, Proposition(s) 209, Texaco, Avis, police bru tality, and glass ceilings along with the endless personal assaults we each experience for the right to exist as Africans born in America, if we do not re-leam and live the value system our ancestors lived by. All of our historical leaders have advocated racial imity as a necessary step for achieving racial equality. African American leaders who, many in the face of death, exhorted us to unite for strength and power begins with David Walker, Frederick Douglass and Martin Delaney. The call for racial unity and the power within continued with W.E.B. DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, Ida B. Wells-Bamett, William Monroe Trotter and A. Phillip Randolph. The Black Panthers, SNCC, SCLC, King and Malcolm made the same exhortations, only to be echoed by Farrakhan today. The power and strength that racial unification generates makes this country nervous. We have the opportunity to begin practicing a number of important racial principles, among them, Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics. But we must be conscious. We must stop being indiscrimi nate consumers of goods and services and understand our collective economic power - $400 billion yearly - and act like we know. No one need tell me not to rent a car from Avis. (Or buy at Belk, for that mat ter. But you have to know your history.) It is time to take ourselves and our race seriously. Racial unity is a crucial pre requisite for true liberation and equali ty. Self-knowledge promotes consciousness and is the pre cursor to racial unity. This is the lesson. African Americans will continue to experience Rodney King, O.J. Simpson, 100 African American church es burned in 20 months, St. Petersburg, Proposition(s) 209, Texaco, Avis, police bru- tahty and glass ceilings along with the endless personal assaults we each experience for the right to exist as Africans bom in America if we do not re-learn and live the value system our ancestors lived by. Continued from page 1A below average,” he said. “That means the middle school inher its them. “In my profile last year, approximately 40 percent of the students enrolling here were reading below average. We’ve made progress in those areas, but we haven’t made the expect ed gains as presented by the school board.” One of Sawyer’s first chal lenges was to make the faculty represent the student body. Ranson is one of the few “major- ify-minority” schools in the sys tem. Yet the faculty was less than 5 percent black. In his first year. Sawyer increased the number of black teachers and administrators. He also added two new assistants to help with discipline. Students and parents saw the difference. Dunlap, who had a child at Ranson, noticed a change after Sawyer arrived. “Ranson had a history of being a school with discipline prob lems,” Dunlap said. ‘Tart of that was the boundaries set up for the school. It’s a melting pot. People come from some tough neighborhoods.” Dunlap said Sawyer imposed tougher discipline. “After he got there, there was a difference in how discipline was being handled,” Dunlap said. “They are stricter in terms of punishment. Things are now being handled that before peo ple got away with.” Sawyer credits a new sense of ownership, by both students and parents for the change in the attitude at Ranson. “I think that what we were able to bring to Ranson is a sense that we were there to lend to children something they needed to be successful,” he said. “And for children to feel comfortable expressing them selves. We are going to turn this place around.” Sawyer is a perfect fit for Ranson. He has expertise in working with children with behavioral problems and has turned around three schools during his career as a principal. He spends summers traveling around the country, working with schools in trouble. He has brought to campus sev eral programs to help students, ftom the pohce-sponsored Right Moves for Youth to Best Friends, a program for girls sponsored by the Coalition of 100 Black Women. But Sawyer knows that it is not enough. “We try to find every and aU possible alternatives for our children to become part of some thing,” he said. “I think the more important part of educa tion these days is opportunity. Yotmg people don’t have enough opportunities. We wanted to create opportunities for them to express themselves in different areas.” Ranson contends with short ages every day. The library, for instance, is below the 10 book per child ratio mandated by the state. Lunch is a day-long activi ty because of a lack of space. “There is a disparity in resources,” Dunlap said. “If the school board will look at putting more resources into it, they will be aU right.” In the meantime. Sawyer makes do with what he has and continues to be there for Ranson students and parents. “I love my job,” he says, paus ing to answer students’ ques tions. “I couldn’t do an3fthing else.” Beautiful PLUSH Carpet $599 Sq. yd. Carpet Only Trackless Dupont STAINMASTER CARPET Death row inmate not killer, doctors testify in Sterling Spann hearing York man convicted in deaths of three elderly S.C. women $1599 Sq. yd. Continued from page 1A Completely INSTALLED W/Best Pad Your Choice Hardwood or Pergo $ 6 Sq.ft. defense or state’s attorney dur ing testimony Monday. He refiised to acknowledge that he confessed to the NeiU murder. HuUitt and his brother-in-law lived about two miles from the home of Myrtle Robinson, an elderly white woman strangled and sexually assaulted in Gastonia in 1975, according to Spann’s hearing request. Three young black men were convict ed. Defense attorney' ■■3hhn Blume’s motion for a new trial cited analysis by the forensic experts - Drs. Werner Spitz and Emanuel Tanay - concluding the three murders were commit ted by the same serial killer. Blume also cited evidence col laborating Spann’s explanation of how he obtained a coin belonging to the victim and expert Emalysis questioning the state’s fingerprint evidence pre sented at Spann 1982 trial. Spann was convicted and sen tenced to death row in April 1982. On Monday, Spitz, a national ly recognized pathologist, said the similarities between the three murders were so startling they could only be the work of one person. Spitz, who reviewed autopsies of the victims and other docu ments, worked in the investiga tions of President John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and the O.J. Simpson case. Most unusual. Spitz noted, was the method of strangulation — a sleeper-type hold similar to one used by pohce to subdue vio lent suspects. That hold, in which the arm is wrapped around the neck from behind with pressure applied to the sides of the neck, reduces blood flow to the brain. 'That hold does not apply pressure to the thy roid area. Spitz said the victim dies slow ly, but no bones are broken in tile voice box area, bones which would be especially brittle in elderly women. “The reason this is a signifi cant finding and cannot be ignored is this is very rare,” Spitz said. “I have not seen this method of death in conjunction with rape of an elderly victim. It indicates a common fink.” He called the method of stran- gulation a “red flag” which should have been checked out by pohce investigators. Other common links. Spitz said, where that the women were all grabbed tightly on the shoulders from behind, appar ently during the violent sexual assault, possibly sodomy. The victims were beaten about the face and body, and their genital and rectal areas were assaulted. They were killed in a 60-day cycle within a 12-mile radius. 'The victims’ clothing were cut INSTALLED and two of the three were found in the bathtub. Alexander was found on the floor, covered in finit juices. “In my opinion, one person committed the offenses,” Spitz said. “My overall conclusion, based on the significant similar ities in the findings relative to the three individuals that strongly suggest a single perpe trator was involved in the three cases.” ' Following Spitz to the witness stand. Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a forensic psychologist, said he interviewed Spann and Hullitt and reviewed autopsy results from the cases. Tanay, who worked on the case of serial killer Ted Bundy, said it was obvious the murders were committed by the same person. The murderer wanted to torture the victims, not just kiU them, and derived sexual plea sure from it, Tanay said. He called the killings “sadistic sexual homicides,” which were so rare that its unlikely in a population the size of York County, there would be more than one sociopathic or psycho pathic person committing such crimes. Tanay noted pohce investiga tors were aware of the similari ties between the Neill and Alexander murders and went back to make sure Spann was still in jail after finding Alexanders body. “This kind of homicide is exceedingly rare,” Tsmay said. “It involves transgression of bar riers and inhibitions, including torturing another human being, sexually assaulting an elderly woman, mutilation of genitaha. 'The three cases in question are unique and very rare. “This is not about Idlhng, this is about deriving sexual plea sure from inflicting pain or sex ual pain on another individual. The individual is sadistic. He is not pursuing so much the death, but the torture and derives sex ual pleasure from this.” Ted Bundy was the “classic case” of this, Tanay said. Most “sadistic sexual homicides” are committed by white males, he said. Tanay’s examinations of HuUitt emd Spann and a review of their medical records and his tories, indicate that Hullitt is the hkely kUler, because of his sadistic nature. Tanay noted that Hullitt had anally raped his wife and sexually assaulted his daughter, who was also scheduled to testify during the hearing. Spann, on the other, showed no signs of abnormal behavior or psychological illness, despite his 14 years of incarceration. Testimony in the case, includ ing a fingerprint expert, was to continue through today, but Hay is not likely to rule on the request for a new trial until later. Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald Zelenka is han dling the state’s case. With values this great, need we say more? h 535-7111 4517 E, INDEPENDENCE BLVD., (at the cornor of Sharon Amity) PrioritiesEndodoirri rMpaThur 9-8, Tue, Wed & Eri 9-6„Sat 10-6 c ARPFT& INTERIORS Local McDonald’s Owner/Operators roll up their sleeves to make a difference in their communities. By Leonard Saleeby, Denny Anderson and Sharman Thornton as told by Karen Brown Tyson An the spirit of McDonald’s foimder, Ray Kroc, local operators in North Carolina are lend ing a helping hand to make a difference in their communities. Leonard Saleeby, a local McDonald’s opera tor in FayetteviUe, has demonstrated a commit ment to his community through food donations to the Downtown Outreach Center for Males and sponsorship of the WIDU Gospel Celebration. Most recently, Saleeby, along with other McDonald’s owners, joined a group of FayettevUle citizens in restoring the historic Orange Street School. “Donating our time and services to restore such an important piece as the Orange Street School, was an honor,” Said Saleeby. The importance of educational develop ment dosen’t end in Fayetteville. Denny Anderson, who operates 10 McDonald’s restau rants in Wilmington believes it’s important for young people to continue their education. Each year, Anderson hosts the McDonald’s Black History Makers of Tomorrow program. Working with the North Carolina Black Chamber of Commerce, Anderson encourages high school juniors to submit an essay on “How I Plan to Impact Black History.” The winners of the con test are honored during a banquet celebration and awarded $250 Scholarships for college. “Young people today need encouragement inside and outside of the home.” said Anderson. “We hope our scholarship program will give students that needed encourgement to fulfill their dreams.” Sharman Thornton, an operator in Charlotte agrees with Anderson, “Faced with so many tough issues today, young people every where are reaching out for support and encour agement. As a businesswoman and a mother, I plan to provide that support anyway possible.” With determination and commitment, Thornton provided that support by sponsoring an art auction featuring African-American artists. The $10,000 raised at the auction was donated to the African-American Culture Center in Charlotte. hi North Carolina and across the country, McDonald’s owners are keeping the spirit of giving alive.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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