FEBRUARY 1994
State Library ot hy.-rtl
Raieigh
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 / $5.00
PhilantbropyJoufiial
Up from the grassroots
Nonprofits work to clean up environmental racism
Since the term “environmental
racism” was coined more than a
decade ago by civil rights lead
ers in North Carolina, the issue
has become popular with non
profit environmental groups,
foundations and policy-makers
nationwide. The challenge now,
activists say, is finding solu
tions to the problem.
By Barbara Solow
Therese Vick has no doubt that
“environmental racism” exists.
An organizer for the Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League, Vick
has spent the past year helping resi
dents of poor, mostly black communi
ties in Eastern North Carolina tight
soil and water contamination they
trace to large hog farms in the area.
The dispute over placement of the
hog farms is one of a growing num
ber of protests that have charged
companies with targeting low-income
and minority communities for pollu
tion.
Since North Carolina civil rights
leaders coined the term “environ
mental racism” more than a decade
ago, the issue has gained increased
attention from nonprofit environmen
tal groups, foundations and govern
ment officials across the country.
ORGANIZING
But ydiile identifying the problem
has been a useful rallying point for
communities, solutions still are a
long way off.
What’s needed, Vick and other
organizers say, is stronger evidence
that specific communities have been
targeted, as well as more support
from foundations and government
officials for grassroots organizing.
NAMING THE PROBLEM
The Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League is one of several
nonprofits involved in efforts to docu
ment ground and
water pollution from
intensive hog opera
tions in parts of
Bertie, Columbus,
Halifax, Sampson
and other Eastern
North Carolina coun
ties.
While residents
believe companies
have chosen poor,
black communities as sites tor hog
farms, the companies involved have
denied that race or income had any
thing to do with their decisions.
The dispute has gained the atten
tion ot national civil ri^ts and envi
Survey
finds
blacks and
whites
growing
apart.
Pages 3, 7.
ronmental groups.
In Bertie County, residents living
near hog farms initially were divided
over whether to raise the banner of
environmental racism. “Some
thought it would be divisive,” Vick
says. “Others felt it was a big stick”.
The Durham-based Land Loss
Prevention Project - which has been
studying the possibility of filing law
suits against hog farm owners in
Eastern North Carolina - fonnd some
ontside supporters also were uneasy
about defining the issue in terms of
race.
“We had qnestions like, are you
Look for RACISM, page 13
Slimming down
United Way
hits ’93
target
A tough fundraising year in 1992
led North Carolina’s United
Way affiliates to shift their
focus to the agencies they
serve. That shift, and more
modest campaign goals,
allowed many affiliates to hit
their goals in 1993.
By Katherine Noble
I I nited Way affiliates in
/ / North Carolina set their
fundraising sights low in
1993, and the strategy paid off: For
the first time in two years. Tar Heel
affiliates hit their mark.
Not all the totals are in, but most
ot the state’s larger affiliates raised
more money in 1993 than they did in
1992.
FUND RAISING
According to preliminary figures,
giving to United Way totaled $93.3
million in North Carolina last year,
up from $92.2 million in 1992. That
year, giving fell more than $3 million
from the previous year.
The Aramony scandal, it seems,
had a silver lining: Rather than
focnsing on fnndraising goals, the
scandal forced North Carolina
United Way affiliates to spotU^t the
agencies they serve instead of
fundraising go^s and to set modest
campaign goals. Md in some cases.
Look for UNITED, page 18
Breaking the mold
School refonns taking hold in Charlotte
by putting needs of children first
The challenge of teaching children
how to think is starting to pro
duce educators who resemble
entrepreneurs. Public schools in
Charlotte, for example, are tak
ing risks in curriculum, hiring
and school programs. The
results aren’t in yet, but the
progress is promising.
By Todd Cohen
P ete Stone was hired in
1992 to be principal of a
new elementary school in
Charlotte. He soon filled
half the school’s 60 staff jobs. Then
he did something unusual: He gave
his new employees the job of hiring
their coworkers, including an assis
tant principal.
“If you’re going to ask these peo
ple to be accountable, it’s just com
mon sense that they don’t want to
work with duds every day,” says
Stone, principal of Lake Wylie
School. “They have a team of people
and they’re jnst going to pick the
best people they can.”
Stone is a risk-taker. He says he
was asked to be precisely that by
John Murphy, the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg schools superintendent
who recruited him. With Murphy’s
support. Stone has designed a school
that asks teachers and students to
make choices about how they teach
and learn.
Stone belongs to a slim bnt grow
ing corps of Tar Heel educators who
are bucking an entrenched tradition
of doing things the way they’ve
always been done. While their tactics
Charlotte elementary principal Pete Stone believes in giving students choices. Some ot his students even have
opted to help vacuum the school each day — learning community responsibility in the process.
Photo by Nancy Pierce
vary, these edncators share the goal
of adapting their schools and teach
ing methods to the needs of students.
'They aim to teach students to think
for themselves,
not simply require
them to attend
classes, to memo
rize and spit back
information.
Akin to the
“total quality management” move
ment in business that gives decision
making authority to managers, the
school “reform” movement asks
administrators
and teachers to
be entrepreneurs
and to put the
customer - in this
case, the student
-first.
Pilot programs at high schools
in Chapel Hill, Stokes County
give teachers greater flexibility.
Page 21.
These edncators also understand
that they will be held accountable for
the risks they take throng the per
formance of their students.
An ambitious undertaking is
underway in the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg schools. Eighteen
schools in that system are part of a
national project, known as the
Look for SCHOOL, page 21
NSiDE
Careers 22
Connections 3
Corporate Giving 12
Grants and Gifts 16
In February 17
Job Opportunities 20
Opinion 10
People 16
R.S.VR 17
Professional Services...! 9
Technology 3
f NONPROFITS ]
r foundations' ' ^
j VOIUNTCERS
Global remedy
for family health
For 20 years, Family Health
International has worked in
developing countries to fos
ter family planning to stop
the spread of sexually trans
mitted diseases. Now, it's
also working in the U.S.
Foundations cope
with payout rule
As interest rates decline,
foundations find their
investments may not cover
their federal obligation to
pay out 5 percent of their
assets each year.
Middle-school plan
hinges on volunteers
Gov. Jim Hunt's plan to
provide after-school pro
grams for teenagers will
depend on a core of
community volunteers.
,
• Page 4
• Page 6
• Page 8
FUND RAISING
United Way head
in Charlotte retiring
In 34 years with
Charlotte's United Y/ay,
Don Sanders has built a
legacy of connecting the
United Way and the com
munity. Now he's retiring.
• Page 14