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% THE NOR HE L UN ^ NOR AT ' The Carolina Indian Voice • January 12, 1984 by Earl Brooks, Baltimore, Md. “AS I SEE IT: AN INDIAN MANIFESTO,” Bruce Bar ton. 265 pages. The Carolina Indian Voice, P.O. Box 1075, Pembroke. N.C. 28372, $10 (includes postage and hand- Henry Berry Lowrie, the legendary Lumbee Indian folk hero, who kept white tra ditionalist Robeson County I North Carolina in a state of post-Civii War siege for near ly a decade, is a spirit cousin I of Bruce Barton who con- ( tinues a ten year struggle of his own for civil and human I justice in the land of Lowrie. 1^ As editor-founder of The BIG BUCKS OFFENSIVE TO ME, PROBABLY WILL COST JESSE HELMS VOTES IN OL’ROBESON I’m trying to keep an open mind concerning Sena tor Jesse Helms because Governor Jim Hunt some times offends me for trying to be all things to all men. A man needs, every once in a while, tojust stand flat footed and take a stand. I like Jesse Helms for that but... 1 found the big bucks gathering at Tom Gibson’s home in behalf of Helms offensive, and it will probably cost Jesse Helms votes when all is said and done in OF Robeson. Believe me 'cause I can smell the political winds a blowing. $500 a throw is a lot of money for anyone to have to pay to see a U.S. senator. And that’s what they say it cost to attend the “by invitation only’’ event at Tom Gibson’s home in Lumberton. The event was. according to press reports, closed to the media because Gibson said. “It is closed to the press because we are going to be cramped, for space.” I’ll tell you. folks, I’m suspicious of anyone connect ed with the public business who has parties and stuff “closed to the press.” What is there to hide? It seems -counter productive to me. And I kind of like Tom Gibson. He ran for sheriff once and he interested me at the time. He seemed like a breath of fresh, political air. But this big bucks stuff bothers me considerably. And, more than that, it might have cost Helms a vote or two in my camp. I know he lost a lot of poor folks votes, and that's mostly what populates Robeson County. Rich people can't elect Godzilla to the presidency of a mean guys federation, much less sell Helms (for even $500) to us sight unseen. And. on top of that, Gibson and his organ ization brought in former interior chief James Watts too. both for $500. God almighty! And, interestingly enough. Gibson lists himself as a conservative democrat. 1 wonder if any of the local Black and Indian Republicans could afford to go to the big bucks party? I've talked to some of them and they swear that they either were not invited or couldn’t afford it. I would rank the big bucks party as one of the most damaging political gatherings in the history of America. Poor folks won’t forget the big bucks party, and it will take more than rich folks like Tom Gibson and the money churn ing Congressional Club (which backs Helms to the hilt) to over come our scorn and votes. Jesse Helms ought to wake up and disavow the big bucks practitioners who seem to have him in rheir Helms got elected to the U.S. Senate because his Christian virtue rang, true and seemed to be a clarion call to decency and honor. But the Congres sional Club and big bucks parties are .leaving a sour taste in the political mouths of we poor folks. I hope someone will tell Jess what 1 just said. If not. Jim Hunt might topple him and replace him in the senate in November. Carolina Indian Voice news paper, Barton has persevered since January 1973 to sup plant Winchesters and sabres with pen and wit, two instru ments that focus local, state, and federal attention upon Robeson County’s en trenched atmosphere of three- way segregation which is the the only Indian journal in Robeson. Lumbees have been established here since 1650, having Indian and English ancestry dating from the English Roanoke Colony of 1587. European settlers in Robeson County before 1700 found people whose features were Indian and European, farming the land, living in houses, building roads and speaking and reading Eliza bethan English. Lumbees are unique in Native American history, and are currently a varied blend of Indian. Euro pean. and other cultures. The Indian Voice’s motto, “Building Communicative Bridges in a Tri-Raciai Set ting,” is the framework for Barton’s philosophy of co operation. The 165 editorials in As I See It, chosen from the paper’s first decade of ser vice. contain issues ranging from civil rights violations and heavy-handed patrols to the unfortunate legacy of over 3(X) humorous musings of Bart AND FOLKS RESPOND POSITIVELY TO “THIS MIGHT BE MY LAST YEAR AS EDITOR OF THE CAROLINA VOICE” COLUMN OF LAST WEEK My heart has been tou ched by the positive response of readers to my column “This Might Be My Last Year As Editor of the Carolina Indian Voice” which appear ed on the front page of the Carolina Indian Voice last week. Most have said “Don't do it!” although one fella said quite forceful. “Good rid dance!” But most folks sounded the alarm of "we . need you!” more than any other response. Readers call ed me. wrote me, spoke to me on the street, in sufficient number, to let me know that the Indian Voice is read and considered each week. Another friend (sic) chas tised me for “being so religious” lately, saying, “People don’t give a good Tinker’s damn about your Christian faith. They want you to take some forceful positions on issues like you used to do before you started all this spiritual mumble jumble.” But I have started down the road of faith, and I make no apologies for it. I believe that Christ is sufficient for my needs and that I can turn to Him in a time of trouble. So. goals are not anathama to God. He is not afraid of goals. And, if one lives righteously and praises God. goals are attainable. That is why I have tied selling the rest of our stock and 5,000 •subscribeis in 1984 as an answer to whether 1 stay or move out of the way and let another have a crack at developing The Carolina Indi an Voice. I believe our goals are reasonable. Just watch and see. I believe we will have 5,000 new subscribers in 1984. I feel it in my bones. And we are developing some- good features that will help us reach our goals. We invite you to share this great adventure with us. I am calling it COUNT DOWN TO 5.000! Count with us as we list subscribers weekly. Get on the lively list. I want to stand naked before Christ, no cover ups. no hypocricy. no sham. I want to take a stand for Christ, publicly and strive for His excellence. Pray for me. 1 need your prayers desperately! years of white supremacy here. The county seat-Lum- berton-- is predominately white. The town of Pembroke nearby is overwhelmingly In dian and the cultural seat of Lumbee Community of forty thousand. Many of these people harbor clear memories of three separate accomo dations for Indian, Black, and White prior to 1954. Barton sheds light on the necessity for Black-Indian co alitions to obtain political control of the county whose 105.000 inhabitants are nearly equally divided among Blacks. Indians and Whites. With some exceptions, which include Lowrie‘s inter racial band which received national press for its pro tracted exploits. Black and Indian voters have not trusted each other in Robeson County since Reconstruction. Barton, in malcontent fashion, stated in 1974 that majority rule in Robeson “will only become a reality when Indian and Black voters hold firm and trust each other. What Blacks and Indians have to do is sit tight and not do anything foolish, like turn on each other at the direction and behest of the powers that be.” Divide and rule strategems have allowed the White minority in this on's alter-ego-OF Reasona ble Locklear-whose spirit re calls the philosophic Jesse B Simple of Langston Hughes, One issue of immense weight for Robesonians dealt with double voting, . which enabled voters of the six city areas (mostly White) to vote for school boards not only in their towns but in the pre dominately Indian county system as well. County voters could not correspondingly vote for city school boards, thus diluting the Black-Indian county vote. Declared legal by North Carolina Federal Judge Algernon Butler in 1974, double voting incensed Indian voters who did not have control of their own school system. Barton’s editorials helped defeat it in 1975 in federal court, a decision which led to the first Indian school super intendent for Robeson County with a majority Indian school board. Today the board is mostly Indian with an Indian chairperson. Indians and Blacks comprise 80% of. the county system. As late as 1982 before the courts ruled against it. gerrymandering of Black-Indian populations out of white held districts was seen capable of weakening Indian power around Lum- 5.000 Lumbee people with roots in Robeson dwell in Baltimore and are kept abreast of home events by the Indian Voice. Lumbees in each of these major cities arc familiar with Barton’s efforts. Responsible for the first Indi an college in the United States, Lumbees have entered eveiy endeavor and are a- mong the best educated Indi an people nationally. It is upon this base that Barton can depend for input and support. The fact that the Demo cratic party chair in Robeson Countv is rotated between Blacks. Indians and Whites is a hopeful sign for the county's future. But As 1 See It is not confined to Robeson. It is an historical document capable of serving as an example of Indian accomplishment des pite contrary winds of op pression which occasionally hurl us off course. Besides illuminating the need for Black-Indian and progressive White unity. Barton's account extends an invitation to others in like circumstances to har monize purposes and heal social fracture. Bruce Barton’s literary ex pertise has produced a col lection of times, people, and circumstances which deserves company with other current works of Native American history and helps prevent past exclusions from becoming some present reader's loss. editoria fAND OPINIOm PAGE rwe Cannot Know Where H We Don’t Know Where We Are Going We've Been.. So fittingly we honor our Pioneer Fall Remember folk, are act necessarily anyone else’s Heit MEANDERING WITH GARRY L. BARTON the “F0WL”-EST moment of MY LIFE The incident left a "fowl” aftertaste in my mouth. ^ their life, | Don’t Quit! southeastern region to exploit berton who benefited from employment, education, and such manipulations, religious activity to prevent Barton has survived many Indian, Black alliances from of the frustrations of separ- gaining root. The lost system atism which breed long-slan- in Robeson County is deeply ding bitterness which claims entrenched due to geogra- too many good minds in phical isolation of the past and segregated society. What has enforced biases running into taken folk like Bruce Barton the future. so long to accomplish what Barton has abandoned the privileged take for granted is normal complacency of the that the former have had to area toward human relations carry the latter in addition to and color line in favor of a their own burdens. He has needed social conscience. He channeled hard-gained time is capable of taking his and resources into a news readers to a time when fields paper which serves a long- had names and common cour- neglected and abused Indian tesy was accorded greater community whose numbers importance, despite the crip- are found in Detroit, Phila- pling farce of race roles, delphia. Pittsburgh, and Bait- Barton’s young enterprise is imore and other cities. Over Dear Bruce. This little letter is to deal with your idea of giving up your editorial writing. Don't. You have been effective be cause you speak the truth as you know it. No one can always be right, but you have been courageous. And this is the number one criteria tor a worthwhile life. If you become a minister of the gospel you would not have as large a congregation as you have in the reading public. So stick with what you have been doing. Sincerely. Dr. Ken Johnson Kiwanis Reporter I guess everyone has had some pretty embarrassing moments ii know I have. One especially embarrassing moment came when 1 was but a teen-, eighteen or nineteen years old if 1 am not badly mistaken. As teenagers are Aoni to do, I experimented with drinking alcoholic beverages-Pabst Blue Ribbon beers if my memory serves me correct. Well, some hillbilly Ifrom West Virginia, not Beverly Hills) friends and I had been drinking the better part of the day, I was putting on a good front; for all intents and purposes, if one did not know better, no one would have even- guessed that 1 w-as in reality plastered. But. when we slopped at a Keniucki Fried Chicken place. 1 unintentionally dropped the big macho masquerade Being the big. bad Indian, 1 struned inside the place to order for everj-one who evidently was too smart to attempt venturing outside the confines of the car I strutted over and got in line behind this distinguished-lookir^ white senior citizen and waited to be waited on. I waited. And 1 wailed. Still, the line seemed to be at a standstill. Although I noticed the cashier casting sort ofJeerv glances at me from time to time, I noticed that she never did bother c| wait on the distinguished-looking old chap or me. Well, she can’t be prejudiced. I thought to myself. ’Cause the fella in front of me was white. And she didn't seem in no particular hurry to wait on him either. I didn’t let it ruffle my feathers, though. You see. 1 was cool. I placed mv hands in my pockets, started rocking back and forth -- and occasionally side«avs -on the heels of my feet, whistling-like coo! cats are supposed to do. Too, 1 figured the fellow in front of me must have already been waited on. Perhaps they’re filling his order in back now. So I rocked. And I whistled. And I waited, And I waited. The longer 1 waited, the more certain I became that she did not w ant to wait on me because I was “a knony-headed Indian.” I waited. And whistled. And rocked! And fumed! Finally, with wounded ego and pricked pride. I stormed out of the place. “I i, just take my business to Hardee's.” I told the cashier in passing, "where it’ll be appreciated!” "Okay,” she replied meekly, still looking at me like she was looking at some son of psycho reject or escapee. I was madder than a wet hen-or rooster-when I staggered out bf the place. D add salt to my ego wound, when I approached the car I couldn’t s :c any hillbilly heads bopping to the beat of music from the radio. I star ed losing mv composure somewhat then. I started getting all sweaty and ■ anicky. 1 was paranoid: sure the whole world had turned against me. And I ke t looking over my shoulder, expecting Rod Sterling to step from the shadows ; anv momeni and pat me on the shoulder while informing me I was in the ”T . ilig'ht Zone.” Anyway, I opened the car door and received the fright of my lif •. There in the floor board of the car were all four grown hillbilly friends, ploppi ig around like chickens with their heads cut off. laughing and cackling and hold ig their sides, acting like some Kentucky Fried Chicken rejects. I .as fuming! ■•What’s so dadbum funny?” I asked the closest hillbilly as 1 anked him up from out of the floor board by his arm. (I never was too go d at cursing. "Dadburn” was about as good as I'd ever get at "cussing like i sailor.”) He wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes, and attempted to answer i le. Pointing in the direction of the Kentucky Fried Chicken establishment, the ' okel burst out cackling again. I turned his arm loose, and he slithered back lown into the floorboard with his companions. It sounded like a chicken coop co vention. whai with all that cackling from "dem” hillbilly doe-doe birds, I looked in the direction he had been pointing and suddenly, like being hit with a bolt of lightnin' from heaven. 1 saw the light: I realized what w'as so funny to everybody: That distinguished-looking gentleman hadn 't been waited on yet. He hadn't even moved yet. He couldn't! It was a statue of Colonel had been standing behind him for the last fifteen minutes. Wei do. Realizing I had been keeping company with a dummy for rninutes, I slithered down into the floorboard of the car and starte I cackling with them. Might as well laugh at myself. I figured. ’Cause I had dummy of myself. .anders! And I what could I he last fifteen tainly made a W Robeson falls tw ice ...but im proving THE OLD FACTS The banana does not grow on a tree. It grows on an herb-the largest known of all plants -without a woody stem or solid trunk That "fowl” incident gave birth to a notion that has been reinforced over the years: it takes more of a man to turn down a drink of alcohol from a friend than ii does to give in to peer pressure and drink with your friends. So. laugh. But, if you drink alcohol, don't be surprised if you check to discover you have been keeping company with a dummy too. You see, a smart man won’t drink — We’ll talk some more next — — • What is a cold? A cold is an upper respiratory in fection caused by over 150 different viruses. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), your cold may last from two to 14 days, but will probably last one week. SEEYOUR^ DOCTOR? This THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE U.S. P.S. #978380 Established 1973 •Published every Thursday by The Carolina Indian Voice, Inc. P.O. Box 1075 Pembroke. N.C. 28372 Phone 521-2826 2ND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT PEMBROKE* N.C. 28372 Subscription rates: In Slate: 1 Y^ar $9,41 2 Years $15,68 (Includes tax) The West Robeson Rams, although showing a lot of patience, and improving'team play, came up short against Cross Coumry rival Lumber- ton last Friday night 72-58. Lumberton is now- 1-0 in conference play and 7-3 over all while West Robeson fell to 1-1 and 4-7. AND E.E. SMITH WINS BY 10 Andre Murphy scored 16 poins. Kenneth Jenkins 14, Walter Johnson 12 and James Hardister 12 ad E.E. Smith defeated West Robeson 70-60 ina Southeastern 4-A Coiit'c- rence high school basketball game Tuesday, • It’s What illness results in 32 million days of lost work, 34 million clays of lost school, and accounts for more doctor visits than any other illness? Believe it or not—the common cold. There’^ no cure for the common cold, but here are some “cold facts” that may help you separate the facts from fiction about this mis understood ailment: estimated that an adult will average two colds a year...and school children average eight colds a year. This accounts for a total of as many as one billion colds a year in the United States •You can ask your phar macist about cold medica tions. He 11 be able to tell you about those that are available without a prescrip tion. One such medicine IS Drixoral’. the 12-hour cold remedy, from Schering Corporation. Free Brochure A free brochure, "You and Your Cold-The Cold Facts, is available by writ ing to: Schering Corpora tion, 1133 Avenue of the Americas. 15th floor. New York, N.Y. 10036 information comc« from Smith Kline and trench Laboratories, a lead er in high blood pressure research and therapeutics. High blood pressure and other heart diseases occur almost twice as often in blacks than in whites I FACTS IMtSURESj than 320 million cusio* And the productivit) • of Northern Ireland t- that's rivaled only li) Germany and Japan. Eleven U.S. Presidents could trace their roots to Northern Ireland. That’.s not the only reason, however, that American business ex ecutives are increasingly ex ploring the possibilities of this lovely land as the base for penetrating the Euro pean Economic Community markets. Three of the rea sons most cite for the move are: high and rapid return or investment; labor stabili ty and productivity, gener ous financial incentives that include tax-free grants. Financial a*’"'® just one mote alltanf, .Northern Irelanf “ t businesses a incentives, better iha"; found in nine ouM other countries, AflO' telecommunications with modern "'"‘■j'' *’ ephone, telex anil* ’ munications .stanriine inf'al™' '■ a technical cd.ra»« tern that i stipF- of business, and preciate why companies operair p Northern Ireland THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE Is Published Every Thursday by THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE. INC. P.O. Box 1075, Pembroke, N.C. The death rate from ypertension and heart d»caae is .|s„ higher for black people^ If you black, it L s especially impor tant that you blood regularly. get your pressure checked Ph. 521-2826 Letten polici Out of Stale 1 Year 2 Years .$12.00 .$16.00 Associate Editor .Connee Br^ySoJ GaffyUBarto?; Stephanie Locklear See your doctor. He or she can detect high blood pressure through a simple pa.nless test. Once y„„; doctor discovers your proh em. and you tolloy the treatment given you, high mu'! I, Se controlled. - ii Theodore Roosevelt, one of the 11 U.S. Presidents •With roots in Northern Ireland. Letters to the encouraged md * Writers should W as short as ' addresses a- J'3 nnnrber, should and all leltersmos' We reserve the "6 Northern Ireland, as an integral part of the United Kingdom, has direct access to the EEC and its more brevll.v. '■‘"‘f't received ,by ^ j,,. Indian Voice I Pembroke, NC ^ \ 521.28261 by 5 Tuesday of ^ week.
The Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.)
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Jan. 12, 1984, edition 1
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