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NEWS
Greensboro community calls for apology from Mayor Knight
By Victor Lopez
Staff Writer
Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight's failure to apologize for com
ments he made during last year's election has prompted leaders
of Greensboro's black community to publicly call for Knight's
apology at a dty council meeting in March.
While campaigning for reelection last September, Knight said
he believed former police chief Robert White and current police
chief Tim Bellamy, both black, were hired because of their race,
according to the Greensboro News & Record.
Knight added during a candidate's forum that he felt former
Police Chief David Wray, who is white, was forced out of office
because of his race," wrote News & Record staff reporter Ryan
Seals. "BCnight said the most qualified candidate should be chosen
as chief, regardless of race."
In January, Bellamy announced his intent to retire, stating that
the move was unrelated to the comments Knight made during
the mayoral election. According to the News & Record, Bellamy
later stated that Mayor Knight's comments regarding his race
hurt him both personally and as a police official, indicating that
the mayor's comments were a part of why he was choosing to
retire.
Bellamy was appointed as interim chief in 2007 following the
departure of Wray, who left amid allegations of racial profiling
and improper investigations of black police officers.
Many Greensboro residents, like Rev. Clarence Shuford,
president of the Pulpit Forum of Qergy, addressed council
during the meeting.
"Many citizens have come to me on the issue. I realize
this is a touchy issue, but for many years I remember people
being labeled because of the color of their skin. I urge for fiiis
apology so we, as a community, can move forward. We want
to continue to grow as a diverse dty. Things like this create a
divide in the dty," said Shuford.
Shuford told The Guilfordian in a phone interview that
the mayor's comments did not just affed the chief, but also
the entire Greensboro community. "Many remember the time
when they were denied jobs because they were black," said
Shuford, "the mayor owes the community an apology so they
can begin to heal from his words."
Other leaders such as Rev. Gardes Brown, president of the
Greensboro chapter of the NAACP and pastor of New Light
Missionary Baptist Church, have fruitlessly called on the dty
coundl to denounce the Mayor's comments.
Brown said dergy and community plan to take further
action based on the reaction of the dty coundl. Brown felt
that by other coimdl members remaining silent on this issue
it showed their agreement with the mayor.
Rev. Nelson Johnson of Beloved Community Center and
The Pulpit Forum agreed, adding, "CXir mayor took the occa
sion to appeal to blatant radsm using the chief. He insulted
those in this dty who have struggled for equal rights. That
was the absolutely wrong way to address race."
According to the Carolina Peacemaker, Guilford County
Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston stood beside Brown and
supporters during the press conference and expressed his
support for the NAACP's actions. "The mayor's comments
offended a whole segment of people. If he didn't mean it, then
he should apologize. If that is still his opinion, then we should
know how he feels. We want to know if this is his opinion
about other African Americans in high positions," said Alston.
Neither Knight nor Bellamy was at the dty coundl meet
ing. However, Bellamy's office told The Guilfordian that the
chief would just like to move forward with his life and focus
on his duties as chief.
According to the Carolina Peacemaker, Distrid 2 Coundl
member Jim Kee disagreed with the dergy's assessment of
the statement. Addressing the dty coimdl, he said, "I just
want to state that over the past months, dtizens have come to
me upset. I understand your concerns. I do disagree with the
assessment made with the statement. The policy fiiat hi; 'ed the
current chief will be the same policy that hires the next police
chief. I realize you cannot control how other people see you,
but you can control how you see other people and yourself.
I want to state if we're going to progress as a dty and as a
people, then we need to focus on what we have in common
than what separates us."
PROTEST
Tea Party gathers in GSO
Continued from page I
of radii) personality Bill Atkins,
drawing raucous cheers from
the crowd.
The demonstration's principal
focus was on economic issues,
especially reducing taxes and
balandng the federal budget.
"It's our money and they're
not spending it wisely," said
Charles Ward of Salisbury.
"That's why we're so irate."
First-year Dustin Flanary, co
chair of the Guilford College
Republicans, proposed an addi
tional reason. Tea Partiers may
feel they are not being paid the
attention they deserve in the po
litical arena.
"A majority of them are not
big businesspeople or academ
ics, (so) they tend to lose respect
within the political community,"
Flanary said.
Participants ranged in age
from toddlers proudly clutching
balloons to veterans solemnly
discussing the nation's future.
Jim Fleet, 87, spoke of federal
unwillingness to place reason
over rhetoric in the healthcare
debate. He views the bill's pas
sage on March 23, 2010, as a re
sult of government ignoring the
peoples' wishes.
"They're trying to say that
this is the way it's always been
done, but if it's always been
done wrong, leTs quit," said
Fleet.
There was also a range in
racial diversity, albeit a nar
row one. The vast majority of
Tea Party rally-goers tend to be
white. Christopher Phillips, 44,
a black Greensboro resident,
countered media allegations
that the Tea Party movement
is fueled by racist fervor.
MSNBC host' Keith Olber-
mann recently alleged that the
Tea Party is an all-white politi
cal faction devoted to perse
cuting those "not like them."
"I didn't see (racism) here
today, I don't see it (while)
watching TV," Phillips said.
Some protesters viewed
their cause as linked with their
faith.
Kim Hanner, 47, held a sign
citing 2 Chronicles 7:14. This
Old Testament verse states
that a country whose people
return to faithfulness will be
divinely "healed."
Several political candidates
attended the rally, such as
commercial realtor Rob Braf-
ford, who is running for North
Carolina Senate. Brafford
briefly coached basketball at
Guilford.
"If I win, I still represent the
people," said Brafford.
Associate Professor of Po
litical Science Ken Gilmore ex
pressed doubt about Tea Party
candidates' ability to apply
their ideology to real-world
policies.
"It all comes down to what
are you going to cut?" Gilmore
said, referring to the dilemma
conservatives would face
when forced to trim spending
from defense. Medicare, or So
cial Security in order to reduce
the federal budget.
The Tea Party has put on
many displays of political
force in the past year. Exactly
how they will change the po
litical landscape remains to be
seen.
Understanding Racism
workshop debnts May 12-14
By MacKenzie Perkins
Staff Writer
Over the past year, the Anti-Racism training workshop
has been redesigned and renamed the Understanding
Racism workshop.
The newly revised program, facilitated by Julie Burke
of the education department and Jorge ^ballos and
Jada Drew of the multicultural education department,
will be put to the test May 12-14, when the new format
will be used for the first time.
L^t summer, a planning committee led by Professor
of Economics Bob Williams and Multicultural Education
Director Holly Wilson met to discuss the revision process
after budget reductions were enacted a year and a half
ago. These financial restrictions coupled with concerns
voiced by past participants over the lecture-based
format of the previous workshops made restructuring
the program imperative.
"I think that there needed to be more of an emphasis
on the personal experience," said Jada Drew, workshop
facilitator and Airicana community coordinator. "There
wasn't a lot of individual work. I tMnk that the piece that
was missing was that personal investment, and (that)
understanding (of) how each individual plays a role in
the system."
The revisions to the workshop aim to address the
concerns over how the training has been conducted in
the past.
"The process has been redesigned to create a lot
of space for that kind of interaction, and I think also,
that this is an opportunity to do something a bit more
Guilford-focused," said Jorge Zeballos, workshop
facilitator and Latino community program coordinator
and international student advisor.
Williams indicated that while the lecture format has
its benefits, the new program design offers more than the
former.
"Trying to talk about racism and being able to discuss
certain racist structures in a couple of days is not easy,"
said Williams. "A lecture format allows for quicker
explanation of material, but it doesn't allow for people
to chew on it."
The planning committee has found a way for the
budget restrictions to work in their favor. In the past,
different facilitators were brought in to conduct the
workshops and the participant experience varied
accordingly. Much of the workshop funds were spent
bringing outside facilitators to Guilford.
"We felt like we had the expertise at Guilford already to
put on these workshops. Rather then spending that money
bringing in external consultants, we could spend that
money ... developing a group of facilitators at Guilford
who could do the workshops for us," said Tom Guthrie,
planning committee member and assistant professor of
anthropology. "We could tailor (the workshops) more
to Guilford's specific needs. It just seemed like a great
opportunity."
"With a Guilford Focus" seemed to be the catchphrase
of everyone involved. The revisions to the curriculum
of the workshops cater to the initiatives of Guilford's
strategic plan and the diversity plan.
"We do obviously want people to develop a process for
understanding racism and white supremacy in a larger
society context, but then we're going to spend sometime
also trying to get a sense of how these issues play out here
at Guilford and what is it that we would like to see that
isn't in place now," said Zeballos. "How the participants
see themselves having an impact engaging in the process
of transforming the institution."
Everyone involved in the revision process
acknowledged that the Understanding Racism workshop
offers participants a different experience than a class on
race might. The workshops are intensive, meeting for a
total of 20 hours over the course of three days.
"A lot of our classes at Guilford focus on race and
racism, but not eveiyone is going to take those classes,"
said Guthrie. "So this is an opportunity for people to have
a time to meet and talk about these issues outside of a
class context."
Recruitment efforts are aimed at students, faculty and
staff, "allowing for a different kind of diversity than the
classroom might allow," said Williams.
Zeballos emphasized the need for community
participation.
"I want everyone to see how important it is for all of
us to be engaged in helping the school feach that goal,"
said Zeballos. "We may only have time to do a couple of
things, and it may seem like a minor effort, but ever}^thing
contributes, as a collective if we all put a little effort into
trying to make this a reality. Then we all have a better
chance of making it happen."