PUBLISHED EACH THURSDAY
f|] THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE
^SSmSS^ "Building Communicative Bridges ^^SSmmSS^^
PEMBROKE, N.C. fa ATrMUcW Setting" ROBESON COUNtY
Volume 8, Number 15 20? PER COPY Thursday, April 10, 1980
?An Editorial Endoresement
DAVIS & LOCKLEAR FOR
THE STATE HOUSE
c
by Brace B?toi
This is the first in a series of editorial
endorsements of candidates running for
elective office in the May 6 primary and
later in the general election in No
vember.
We've thought a lot about it and
we've decided to endorse candidates in
most races...unless there are so many
Indians running that it is suicidal to do
so. We'll try to be reasonable to justify
those we endorse but, in the end, it's
just our opinion. We hope you will agree
with us but we don't expect everyone to
do so. This is America, the land of free p
spirit and expression. Everyone has an
opinion. These endorsements are our
opinions, backed, we hope, by some
justification.
Our first endorsement concerns the
state house race. On May 6 the voters
will go to the polls to decide several key
races. As we see it, the most important
of these races will be the contest for
three house seats in the N.C. General
Assembly from the legislative district
representing Robeson, Hoke and
Scotland Counties.
The incumbants Robert Davis, Hor
ace Locklear and David Parnell are
pitted against challengers William C.
Gay. C.A. Brown and Tracy Britt. In the
race The Carolina Indian Voice is
endorsing only two candidates in the
house race: Robert [Bob] Davis and
Horace Locklear. Davis is a black
legislator; Horace Locklear is the only
Indian house member.
Since 1973, when Henry Ward
Oxendine was appointed to the general
assembly, the local delegation to the
house has been tri-racial thereby
reflecting the racial makeup of the area.
This healthy balance was almost thrown
out of kelter in 1978 when Gay, the
w* m mm ??
principal of Lumberton Senior High
School, forced Locklear into a runoff. He
almost beat Locklear.
Conservatives usually vote for white
candidates, no matter what the quali
fications of the other candidates might
be. For instance, in 1978, Lumberton's
Precinct #8 (one of the last bastions ot
white Conservatism in America) gave
more votes to perennial candidate Tracy
Britt than they did to Professor Adolph
Dial, the respected and capable Indian
agri-businessman and educator. Inter
estingly enough, as we understand it,
'recinct #8 is the home of Robeson's very
political clerk of court, Ben G. Floyd, Jr.
As a consequence of this racial bloc
voting the Indian people almost lost
their only representation to William C.
Gay, the white principal of Lumberton
Senior High School. Had it not been for
the vote in several Indian precincts
(most notably Prospect and Pembroke)
the consequences would have been
disasterous. And Mr. Gay is" trying
again to unseat and disrupt the tri-racial
house delegation, apparently with the
support and efforts of several members
of Robeson's white political establish
ment.
As our readers recall. Rep. Davis and
Locklear twarted the efforts of several
members of the conservative political
establishment, including, as we see it,
Rep. David Parnell, and Ben. G. Floyd,
Jr., and St. Pauls District County
Commissioner Bill Herndon to reduce
the influence and authority of the
Indian-black majority Robeson County
Board of Education. The conservative
forces attempted legislatively to wrest
the Parkton School away from the
county and give it to St. Pauls City
Schools, another conservative control
led establishment in Robeson County,
w I
Had it not been for both Davis and
Locklear the conservative forces in
Robeson County would have hung
another coon skin upon the political
wall. Thanks to Davis and Locklear
Parkton is still a part of the county
school system.
Because of the above vote and others
Davis and Locklear have both been
targeted for defeat, with both or either
one being the goal of the conservative
forces arrayed against them. The game
plan is to replace one of them at least
with William C. Gay. Few Uke Brown
and Britt seriously.
It's clear cut: Indians and blacks
cannot afford to lose either Davis or
Locklear. Given the past history of bloc
voting by conservatives Blacks and
Indians cannot, as we see it, really
afford to vote for anyone other than
Davis and Locklear. A vote for one of
the white candidates, in a sense, is a
vote against Davis and Locklear.
So, for the above reasons and more
besides, we editorially endorse Robert
(Bob) Davis and Horace Locklear for the
state house.
Kandall 5. Jones
promoted to
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a
Ray Lowery
named
Prime Contractor
of the Year
#
ROBINS AFB, Ga.--Say American
Indian to many persons and they
conjure,up certain stereotypes: the
stately horseman concerned over the
destruction of his environment, a tear
sliding down his cheek; or, the fierce
adversary of the American cowboy in
old movies.
But those don't apply to Ray Lowery, a
Lumbee tribe member of Pembroke,
N.C. He's too busy earning his spurs as
the southeast region's Small Business
Prime Contractor of the Year to fit into
any stereotyped role.
The Warner Robins Air Logistics
Center Small Business Office nomi
nated the 33-year-old Navy veteran
minority manufacturer for the Region IV
honor and has high hopes he'll be
named national winner in Washington,
D.C., during Small Business Week in
May.
Why not? As president of his family
corporation, he has guided the destiny
of the Pembroke Machine Company,
Inc.. through "10 years of hustling."
Lowery has brought the business from
a zero employee machine shop opera
tion in a rented room, representing an
investment of less than $10,000. to a
work force of 20 with an annual gross of
SI.2 to $1.5 million. "And. we hope to
be out of here within 18 to 19 months."
says the casually-attired dark-haired
1979 Lumbee Business Man of the Year,
seated at his uncluttered desk.
That rented room, he said, gave him
and his father about 1.000 square feet.
His present plant, encompassing two
fairly recent additions, has about 10.000
square fset.
Concerning his two awards, he says.
"I was surprised about the regional
award, definitely surprised. I'd pro
bably croak If I were selected at the
national level.
ItVAu LIaa ?mlsfiteMia anew fall IK IM
9 llw WflWIW Wlwn iWlflllnvWe setjf I AOs el fee
the eystem we have la this country. Juet
think what this says, my children In
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w I? M
4A (4am T^
? fljrlAAIv e^^^o C e
I
are concerned with only one color and it
happens to be green."
But. it wasn't always this way for
American Indians in tri-racial Robeson
County which Lowery describes as the
poorest county in the U.S. "We were 33
percent Indian. 33 percent black and 33
percent white. Our schools and church
es were all Indian, all black or all white.
You couldn't get served in a restaurant
around here when I was growing up.
The whites were the power structure
they were the doctors and lawyers and
shop keepers.
"We had real racial conflicts here in
the SOs and 60s then everything
changed." recalls Lowery. matter-of
factly. without a trace of bitterness.
About hit other honor, he says.
"There * nothing greater than being
?elected by your peer*." Obviouslv
proud of hit heritage, he addi sig
nificantly. "We (the Lumbees) are the
largest group of non-reservation Indians
east of the Mississippi."
His birthplace, built some 100 years
ago. still stand* about sla miles away
from his business. HI* house was built
around the original log cabin.
Lowery punctuates bis conversation*
with background Information on the
Cherokee* of North Carotins and their
Taall ftM 1aafk A* | i|A?. It B tl sloCf Art
ni ivwi ?* s?*wj wfif VTnitoiviIW
to Oklahoma. He discusses North
Carolina's Lost Colony, too.
"I learned about John White in the
course I took on Indian culture. He
brought the white settlers here in 1587
then went back to England. Three years
later he returned to find no trace of the
settlers.
"But, in 1730 when the Scots came
here, they found Indians with blue eyes
and blond hair living in European style
houses and tilling the soil."
He sketches the saga ot North Carolina
outlaw Henry Berry Lowery who had a
$12,000 bounty on his head. "I'm his
descendant. He killed over 30 people
and then just vanished. He reigned in
this area in the period 1864-74."
How did Lowery come dp with the idea
of a machine shop? "I really don't
know. This is ? farming area but we
weren't farmers. I did farm work aa a
kid to earn money but my father did
machine-related work. At an It-year
old high school junior I worked aa a
layout machinist for an electron Irs
Arm."
After high school, he joined the Navy.
l*uiaa a<* Im|a alarlgnat?* ha ?? i
frying io |fi miii vwuionKit PUI WII
assigned to intelligence end sent to
Alaska and Japan. Money he saved
contwiib 'Aas aoan...
Horace Locklear
Robert Davis
Prime Contractor devote* hi* attention
to paperwork-Ray Lowery, president,
Pembroke Machine Company, Pem
broke, N.C., checks over a government
contract. An American Indian, certified
a disadvantaged small business firm,
Lowery recently was named prime
contractor of the year for the Small
Business Administration's seven-state
Region IV out of Atlanta. He has been
doing business with Warner Robins Air
Logistics Center since 1975. (U.S. Air
Force photo by Skip Korsonj
.
I
I
m
A BOOK FAIR IS COMING
In observance of National Library
Week, the Fairgrove School Library
Club will hold a BOOK FAIR in the
High School Media Center for students,
school personnel, parents and other
interested persons. The dates are April
14. IS. 16: time is 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
each day.
There will be many interesting books,
puzzles, posters and other materials on
display.There will be a variety of stamp
collecting materials. All materials have
been carefully selected for their educa
tional value and child- interest. Profits
from all sales will be used by Fairgrove
School to provide benefits for students.
Students will be scheduled to come in
and enjoy the display and place orders
for materials of their choice. Parents
and other interested persons are invited
to attend the display and make
purchases on either of the three days
from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The
Library Club is looking forward to
seeing you at the book fair.
FACTS ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT
Weight reduction should be guided
by a doctor, says Ann W. Fail, home
economics Extension agent of the
Robeson County Agricultural Extension
Service. Your doctor can help you
decide how much weight you need to
lose and give you instructions to follow.
He may refer you to a dietitian who can
talk with you further about the diet.
A good weight reduction diet will lead
to reversal in those eating habits which
caused weight gain in the first place.
Crash diets, diets that drastically
decrease certain nutrients (such as low
carbohydrate diet), and fasting do not
establish good eating habits that
promote long-term weight control.
A weight control program for adults
entitled "Calorie Countdown" will
begin the first week in May and
continue for six weeks at the O.P.
Owens Agricultural Building, sponsor
ed by the Agricultural Extension
Service. The six-part weight reduction
program is designed to help overweight
adults lose weight by forming better
habits, says Ann Fail.
Participants should obtain an approv
al slip from their doctor prior to the first
meeting. Registration for these sessions
may be made by telephoning 738-8111
or by registering through the mail to
Calorie Countdown, P.O. Box 392.
Lumberton. NC 28358. Sessions will be
on "A Look at your Eating Habits."
"Cooking Slim." "Input versus
Output," "Exercise Counts." "Fad
Diets," and the final session will be
"Fashions to Flatter the Figure."
LAST DAY OF JESUS FILM
Thursday. April 10. is the last day to
view the Christian film Jcms at the
Town and County Theater in Lumber
ton. Although the special advance ticket
price is past, special groups rates are
available for morning and afternoon
showings. Group rates are S2.10 for the
10 a.m. showing and SI.SO for the 2:30
p.m. showing. For more information,
call 738-7193.
\
I
GOV. SCOTT
VISITS
AREA
Pembroke--Pembroke wis one of the
stops on a series of campaign visits by
former Governor Bob Scott Tuesday,
highlighted by the opening of his
Campaign Headquarters in the Old
Carolina Theatre on Fourth Street, in
Lumberton.
He was accompanied through out the
day by his co-chairmen. Rev. E.B.
Turner. Ted Brewington and General
Robert Hughes. Accompanying them
throughout the day too was Rev. Elias
Rogers, president of the board of
directors of Lumbee River Electric
Membership Corporation in Red
Springs.
Scott visited with the workers at
LREMC before going on to'Lumberton
to open his campaign headquarters in
Robeson County and a visit to Pembroke
where he spoke to a sparse crowd at
Sims Restaurant. ?irtWfi
Scott lambasted "the power grab'' or
Hunt and his ctjfiorts. lamenting about
the seeming waste inherent in Hunt's
office.
r j ai a ...t. i
3COII nuico insi wncn nc wis
governor of North Carolina from 1%9
until 1973 there wre only 25 people who
worked in the governor's office in
Raleigh. Scott revealed that Hunt has 57
people working in his Raleigh office as
well as two additional offices he has
opened in Asheville and Washinton.
Scott said the office staff in Asheville
"mostly involves itself in local politics"
and the Washington crowd spends most
of its time booking and making
arrangements for flights in and out of
Washington and securing tickets for the
Lincoln and Kennedy Performing Arts
Centers.
bcott said. "We need to do some
pruning <n Raleigh...especially those
beuarocrats making 35-40.000 dollars...
and closing down two of the governor's
three offices."
Scott promised some old fashioned
leadership saying "You can count on
my word."
Scott also noted that "I am just
planning to be governor one term. I
have no intention of running anymore
becausel'll be called on to make hard
economic decisions."
I
BEEKEEPERS
MEET
APRIL IS
Tho lob*ton County Btikttpiri
Attoriollon monthly mooting will bo
hold April lb. 01 7 JO pm. 01 tho 0.1.
Owont Agricultural Poll ding li Urn*
borion Tho tub|oct tar tho mooting toll
hot "A donmnotwitoQ of oooomMy of
hl?o*, fronton root topo ond hnKonw it
I Single I
issue ..
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to 25c I
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