Page 16
March 2006
The AC Phoenix
“Black Book” and “Secret Police” Is Nothing New
Secret Police
BLACK
MEN
ONLY
The Black book
By: Nathaniel Marshall, Contributing Writer
On November 3rd, 1979, a group of worker rights advocates held a
rally in the then all black neighborhood and subsidized housing area of
Morningside Homes. These citizens
were exercising their 1st Amendment
rights granted by the United States
Constitution. On that day, at high noon,
white supremacist assassins, better
known as the Ku Klux Klan, gunned
them down. The Greensboro police
knew or should have known about the
assassins’ plot but stayed away until
the Klan’s dastardly deed was com
plete.
Because of their conspiratorial
complicity, the Greensboro Police
Department (GPD) and the city of
Greensboro were found guilty in Federal
Court of violating the assassinated
worker advocates civil rights. The sur
vivors of those killed were awarded
monetary damages for the federal con
stitution violations of life and liberty. The GPD had a Ku Klux Klan
informant inside the Klan group working with them (GPD) several days
leading up to the incident.
Twenty six years later. In June 2005, It was discovered that this same
poiice department had officers who operated as a “secret police” that
targeted 114 African-American residents of Greensboro that included 19
African American police officers that were maintained in a “black book.”
The existence of the “secret police” and the “black book” began to
unfold when an African-American policeman of the GPD, Lt. James
Hinson discovered a tracking device placed in his cruiser in June of last
year, 2005. The incident was
vW.A'*>. made public and confirmed the
long held beliefs in Greensboro’s
African-American community that
institutional white supremacy
existed and continues to exist in
the GPD. The discovery of the
“black book” and the existence of
the “secret police” further con
firmed the racial profiling and
racial discrimination claims.
Chief David Wray’s
allegations of illegal wrongdoing
by Hinson to justify the tracking
device were proven false by pre
vious police investigations and an
outside independent probe.
Several black GPD officers
filed a lawsuit 15 years ago claim
ing racial discrimination. They
claimed among other allegations,
that the GPD scrutinized the
actions of black officers more
stringently and showed a patter
and practice of discrimination
toward black officers in the
department. The most recent
revelations resulted in the forced
resignation of Police Chief David
Wray and two of his deputy police
officers. There is growing
evidence that this “secret police”
may have existed as far back as
the late 1970s.
Rev. Nelson Johnson was
the leader of the worker rights
protestors on Nov. 3rd, 1979 and
survived the Klan assassination
/iiistale
libaVe in good hand*.
GERALD SCOTT
Exclusive Agent
««o«.
Allstate Insurance
Company
730 Peterscreek Pkwy., Ste. 102
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
Bus (336)722-3660
Res (336) 922-2981
Fax(336) 722-3516
Rev. Nelson
Johnson
attempt on his life. Johnson testified at the Greensboro Truth and
Reconciliation Commission in August 26, 2005, that
there was a “rough” group of police officers that existed
back in the late 1970s and possibly earlier. Johnson’s
evidence included sworn testimony in a 1983 case, the
United States of America vs. Henry C. Byrd in which
Henry C. Byrd alleged that a former police officer was a
part of a “rogue” police group. Byrd claimed that he
(Byrd) staged accidents including wrecking cars for
insurance money and that a group of police officers
worked with him. Byrd was involved in more than 39
accidents and alleged that a group of police officers
worked with him on investigating the car wrecks and on
certain drug deals.
Last year, 2005, the GPD hired a private detective firm made up of
former police officers that included Byrd’s “rogue” officer. It was this
private detective firm that placed a tracking device on the police car of
Lt. James Hinson. In Rev. Nelson Johnson’s testimony, he set out—
among other facts—that members of this “rogue” police (now retired)-
one of whom placed the tracking device on Lt. Hinson’s vehicle—had a
secret meeting on October 31, 1979 at a police officer’s home. At this
meeting, they discussed the plot to assassinate the worker rights
advocates that would take place on Nov. 3rd, 1979. He related that in a
discussion soon after Nov. 3, that included at least one of the “rogue”
officers on the force in 1979, he asserted he did everything he wanted to
do except get the “nigger” (Nelson Johnson).
Secret police, racial profiling, rogue police, racial discrimination
charges and race based bias lawsuits are reflective of years of denial by
government leaders that nothing was wrong despite protestations over
the years from black citizens stating otherwise. Interim Chief Bellamy is
conducting his own investigation that he plans to complete within the
next two months.
Law enforcement in America has always played a role in maintaining
racism Slave owners relied on the local sheriff and law enforcement to
patrol for and capture runaway slaves, any resistance by the slave
usually resulted in sudden death. J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI were
notorious in spying on Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and other civil
rights activists during the 1960s. Hoover’s Cointelpro Program was
designed to neutralize, discredit and otherwise render ineffective
African-American leadership. Many criminologists and civil libertarians
have growing circumstantial evidence that law enforcement was
complicit in the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
Today the Klan mentality has become more main-stream. David Duke
is an example of the new Klan mentality. Duke, a white supremacist,
presented himself as a respectable three-piece suit conservative
candidate for governor in the late 1980s and lost by a very narrow
margin.
Obviously, there are David Duke’s in the Greensboro Police
Department that need to be identified and rooted out in order to estab
lish a reputation worthy of most of the fine, dedicated men and women
who presently work for the Greensboro Police Department.
Elder Jerry W. Powell
and
First Lady Renee Powell
Diggs Memorial United Holy Church
125 Graham Avenue • Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Phone:336-724-3060
On Sunday March 12 2006
102 nd Church Antuversary • Family & Friends Day
11:00 am Service with Pastor Walter McLaurin of
Lord Jesus House of Prayer Colonial Heishts, Va.
A Fellowship Luncheon will be served
following the morning service.
4:00 Service with Dr. Paul Lowe, Jr. and the
congregation of Shiloh Baptist Church. Come join us in
this great celebration.
“A Church on The Move for GexL. Excited for Jesus”