tucir cisicn a out rab&s
'BLACK POWER-
A DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE
OF WHITE LEADER
SHIP AND WHITE
DIRECTION.0
CHARLtS K44MM.TOM
mkih
i hi -
Court Affirms Death Penalty i
BO
KM
Nevermore! Nevermore
The State of North Carolina failed
to prove its case against Mrs. Sandra
Dupree, the preacher's wife, who shot
Harry Lee Dickens in the back of .lis
head.
Mrs. Dupree received a verdict of
"innocent" in a Vance County court
room but she will never be fiee.
While it appears that Justice dropped
her blindfold and the white skin of
Sandra Dvipree weighed heavily on the
scales-she will never be free.
The public may never know the pri
vate agony that Sandra Dupree will
suffer. She will suffer it. It is certain
that she will have time to think about
the slowly grinding mills of the gods
they grind exceedingly fine-and she
will never be free.
Mrs. Dupree will walk the streets
and appear to live a normal life but
she will never be free.
Sandra Dupree's prison for life is
within her-arid she will never be free.
Fellowmen may excuse, pardon and
set free the physical self, but ont who
deep within knows one's motives for
committing an act lives a tortured life
within the mental prison bars that rear
themselves and do not move until that
one purges the mental self before God
and the world.
Harry Lee Dickens' life is over. All
the firebombings and protests cannot
bring him back. The firebombings
solve nothing. But protest must go
on as long as injustice exists anywhere
among humankind.
May the Dickens' family, friends
and sympathizers not let Harry Lee's
death be in vain. May it serve as a
motivating force for black folk to.
exert every effort at the polls to elect
officials who will be fairminded.
Neither time nor effort should be
wasted trying to avenge Dickens' death.
That is fruitless. Put that energy to
work in the hardest driving voter regis
tration campaign this state has ever
known and we will get something ac
complished that will deny ALL of the
future "Sandra Duprees."
., The real Sandra Dupree will never
more be free anyway.
People Power
The
shown
unity in
recently
people power, as
by the Lincoln
Community Health Center's renewal
of a needed grant plus some additional
funds, demonstrates how the coopera
tive efforts of individuals and groups
can make good things happen.
All segments of Durham's com
munity, plus our state and other
national representatives, combined
forces to make this happen for pro
gressive and continuing health care
of the community.
Transportation Durham for the
required health services has been an
important component of the needed
health care. Many efforts were also
made in this direction so that the
elderly, the young, expectant mothers
and others who need health care
would be assured of such care.
The continuance of a facility near
the people has been an advantage to
those who sorely need health services
and care.
Dr. Schmidt, Larry Suitt and
other members of the Lincoln Com
munity Health Center Staff are to
be commended for the many man
hours put in on their own time, at
community facilities, to acquaint the
community with the urgent need
for the continuing programs of health
care that are afforded by the facility.
The community is to be com
mended for its dedication in dili
gently working to keep the facility
open. The tried and proven effective
ness of Lincoln Community Health
Center was a great factor in retaining
the grant as well as securing addi
tional funds for a more complete
program
We hope that this spirit of coope
rative effort will continue as the
community seeks to move ahead with
other needed community projects
or facilities such as our library,
recreation, education, government,
and other health facilities.
. "If than It no struct then it no progress. Thorn wtw propow to f Ivor fredwn and yiftj
daprtdata agitation, an man who amt crops without plowing up tha ground Thay want'
fito without thunder and Bflhtnbf.They ntjh oceans' majastto wsm .without tJewful,
roar tfhj waters."
Frederick Douglass
The question whether the death penalty
violates the Constitution's prohibition of "Cruel
and unusual punishment" has been hanging fire
for some time now. The Supreme Court side
stepped it back in 1972 when it struck down
state death penalty laws as being capricious and
inconsistently applied.
Now, it has finally decided the issue,
wrongly, in my opinion.
In the closing days of its term, the Court
upheld the death penalty laws of Florida,
Georgia and Texas, stating that they met the
requirements of fairness set out in the 1972
decision. There are 147 people on the death rows
of the prisons of those states today who now
face execution. :
Those states' laws were upheld because
they met the Court's test for penalties based
on the nature of the crime and the character of
the defendant. In Georgia a first trial is held to
determine guilt and a second trial determines the
sentence. In Texas the jury has to decide that
there was intent tb kill, that if the act was pro
voked, the offender's response was unreasonable,
and that the defendant probably would commit
other criminal acts in the future,
other criminal acts in the future.
According to the Court, these state laws
take the death penalty out of the realm of the
arbitrary and make it reasonable. But this seems
to me very inconsistent.
irYir:c
fxw&n E
In 1972 the death penalty was struck down '
because poor people and black people were
executed while offenders who were white and
affluent got lesser sentences. It's pretty obvious
that under the state laws the Court now finds
constitutional, the same pattern will emerge.
A poor black man in Texas defended by a public
defender is going to be looked on by a jury as one
likely to commit a crime in the future and get
the death penalty, while an affluent white
person defended by an expensive criminal lawyer
will get a lesser sentence. Just watch!
The Court is really straining here. It wants to
avoid the blatant capaciousness of the old ways
in which the penalty was applied and so it has
talked itself into believing that judges and juries
will be completely objective and avoid race and
class judgments. In this it is deceiving itself.
The answer then, if there is no objective way
to determine who is to die for murder and who is
to live, might be mandatory death penalties for
everyone Convicted of the crime.
Fortunately,, the Court rejected this
inhuman notion in cases involving such manda
tory death penalty laws in North Carolina and
Louisiana. By a narrow 5 4 decision it ruled that
such laws, by their "lack of focus on the circum
stances of the particular offense and the character
of the offender" violate the Constitution and
don't comply with contemporary standards of
dCCesS!ne 16 states have laws synHar to those
struck down by that decision, so 145 people on
their death rows now wUl escape death. ,
The death penalty cases show a Court wrig
gling in confusion, uncertainly facing the. moral
dilemma of sanctioning state-imposed death while
not-wanting to buck the hard-line law and order
trend that grips our society.
The Court declares that there is no evidence
to maintain the death penalty as a deterrent so
the only reason for it is the primitive one or
retribution, hardly an enlightened position to
take
. Justice Brennan, in dissent, rightly held that:
"Moral conceps require us to hold thatthe law has
progressed to the point where we should declare
that the punishment of death, Uke punishments
on the rack, the screw and the wheel, is no longer
morally tolerable in our civilized society.
I believe America has evolved to the point
where murder by the state, even for convicted
murderers, is unconstitutional, cruel and unusual
punishrnent that serves "ho purpose and debases
legitimate authority.
It's tragic that the Court could not bring
itself to outlaw the barbarism of the penalty,
thus delaying the eventual, inevitable day when it
will finally be declare unconstitutional cruel
and unusual punishment.
Congressman Hawkins' Column
Freedom And Equality For All
The Prorises And The
Contradictions
Two hundred years ago when our nation
was founded, Blacks were not considered "citi
zens" of the United States. Blacks had no
political rights and freedoms then. Other mino
rities and women have experienced similar
problems in terms of the contradications
between the promise and the reality in our
nation. Times have changed. . . but not enough.
The real challenge lies ahead. That challenge is
to complete the promises of our Constitution,
which guarantees freedoms and equality for all.
these great words: "We hold these truths to
be self-evident: that all men are created free
and equal". . . Yet, at the time that these
words became instilled in our national charac
ters, and engraved in our national conscience,
slavery was still very widely practiced. The
contradictions are evident. That the words of
our Constitution do not recognize equality
between men and women is also a curious, if
understandable, contradiction to the enlight
ened intent of that document. Two hundred
years ago, women had no political voice. They
were excluded from every phase of political
life. , f
But times have changes to a great extent.
Two hundred years later, In 1976, Blacks,
other minorities, and women have achieved
some of those freedoms, and some of that
cqulaity, which were promised by our Consti
tution. In many areas, Blacks, other minori
ties, men and women have gained political
representation at all levels of government -local,
state, and federal Indeed, a great mo
ment for Blacks ..d women came when Con
gresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas addressed
the Democratic National Convention as a key
note speaker - a first in the history of our
nation's politics.
Still, the contradictions are evident. In
1976, two hundred years after the birth of
our nation, over a hundred years after the
Constitutional prohibition of slavery, Blacks
as well as other minorities still suffer under the
weight, not only of political injustice, but
also of economic injustice. It can clearly be
seen that political injustice in many . cases
springs from economic injustice.
In economic terms, the odds are against
minorities in America. Poor housing, poor
education, and the lack of educational oppor
tunities, the lack of job opportunities, and the
lack of good high-paying jobs, employment
discrimination, a very high rate of unemploy
ment - all of these factors, and others con
tribute to an intolerable level of poverty and
economic deprivation among Blacks and other
minorities in America. 'And, this economic
deprivation leads to other evils, sSich as crime,
poor mental health conditions, broken fami
lies, and so on, all of which are intolerable.
It has only been within the last two
decades that federal government programs
have been introduced to aid struggling minority
business enterprises. More programs are needed,
however, to offset the financial obstacles
facing the growth of minority business. Equa
employment opportunity must be strengthened
and enforced to offset the ill effects of racial
discrimination. We need better quality educa
tion for our youngsters to help iisure their
participation in our nation's economic well
. being. Impoverished and unemployed minority
persons must have adequate opportunities to
find productive jobs at fair rates of pay so that
they can begin to share in a new, and healthy,
American economy.
Still the contradictions are evident. It is
important to note that, as with Blacks and
other minorities, the proportions of .women in
politics and government is small in comparison
to what it should be. Women, who make up
more than 50 of our population, hold no
where near 50 of the elective and appointive
offices of the many local and state govern
ments, and of the federal government. Inside
government and out, women, are continually
discriminated against on the basis of sex.
Blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, all
jranprittes,,, and, women Jhavea stake in the
Gmmommm the
third century of our nation's history to
complete the promises of our Constitution,
to insure that freedoms and equality exist
for every person, regardless of race and
background, regardless of sex. This is an
enormous task which is not to be taken
lightly, lit must be, , pursued with the strength
of conviction that has characterized the
history of the struggles of the civil rights and
women's movements in America.
umsxi
Continued From Page 1
forces them to be objective in
their deliberations and not be
mislead by the rantings and
ravings of prosecutors. Weve
seen the aquittal of the Wil
mington 3, we helped to win
freedom for many of the
Attica Brothers, the brothers
at Wounded Knee, the Sole
dad brothers, Leotis Johnson
who got 40 years for carryi
ng one marijuana cigarette,
which was planted on him (he
was a SNCf organizer) and
the most fjrecent is the
freedom of pe Charlotte 3...
The struggle paid off today
they are free on bond and we
aim to make sure that they
never go back to" prison
again." ,f ;
Ms. Davis, who is a mem
ber of the communist party,
was asked if her . political
party selection scared away
people in view of the amount
of false propaganda that
Americans have been fed
throughout the years con
cerning communism.
"I've discovered that
black people haven't been
fooled as much by the pro
paganda. When I was fired
by Ronald Reagan because I
was a member of the
communist party, a lot of
black people came up to me
and said, 'well although we '
don't fully understand what
communism is about, there
must be something good in .
it; after all they said Martin
Luther King was a
communist', and they did in
order to frighten people
away from the civil rights
movement. Under social
ism, its a question of basic
things. You have people who
are given what human beings
have a right to have - free
education, medical care -these
are things that you
shouldn't have to pay for.
Who should have to pay for
having a baby?"
She continued, "I should
also point out that the
struggle that we are building
is one that encompasses
people with many different
political ideologies. The
political complexion ranges
from people who are
members of the communist
party to those who are mem
bers of the democratic party.
The Alliance is a coalition of
all kinds of organizations and
all kinds of people...."
Miss Davis said that she
believed that Martin Luther
King was killed mainly be
cause he began to pull in
all factions of the American
working class to fight against
oppression which, Ms. -Davis
contends, posed a threat to
the social and political order
of this country. She noted
that the state of North
Cuiuuna is the most re
pressive towards workers
where only 5 of the work
ing force is unionized.
She said that the situation at
Roanoke Rapids, with the
workers at J. P. Stevens was
very encouraging.
"We're beginning to
realize that the easiest way
for the ruling circles of this
country to guarantee that
they continue to rule and rip
us off and make profit on the
basis ,of our sweat and blood
is tq have us fighting among
each .other; to have white
, fightng black saying its be-
cause of black people that
Uiey don't have any jobs.
' , That's the easiest way - divide
and conquer."
this interviewer express
ed: amazement at the lack of
. national coverage surrounding
L,the ease of the Wilmington
11 Jen which he described as
, "one,. of the most flagrant
misuses of the justice sys
r iem" that he was familiar
"with today.
"If we had, in this
country, what we call a free
, press," said Ms. Davis, "then
I would be amazed too. The
: fact is that there has been a
nationwide conspiracy to
keep news of injustices and
repression away from the
people. I think there's a
concerted effort to prevent
people in Calitornia from
finding ut what's going on in
birth Qrdira aid ioe-ersa.
How much do you read about
the San Quentin six whose
trial started almost a year
ago?
The interview ended with
Miss Davis speaking in admira
tion of Dr. Jim Grant who
had been imprisoned as one
of the Charlotte 3.
"I felt so good last night
to finally be able to see him,"
said Miss Davis. "He was in
prison by the time my trial
was over and they would never
allow mc to come in and meet
him. It made me feel so con
vinced that all we have to do
is to keep up the struggle as
we're doing now and it won't
be very long before we can
manage to free Rev. Ben Cha
vis and the Wilmington Ten
and finally all the brothers
and sisters, from North Caro
lina to California who are vic
tims of that machine of injustice."
Tfej Yoa Stould Cno7
1500 tve,
The (meatest female ruler of all
wo vtARa acrow mm tut she oamdmw-
EN TMttSiy MTRMUOUtTINfl HCR HALF-
ROTWERTHoniigam. countum plots ro-
MBflfO MAMCT HER SOT 8HK VRNOUWHEO
AiXWROMEa Vi MHT MALE PREJUDICE tME
MASQUERADED AS A JjAOHANQMi HER NAME
AlCDECLAWMi THAT SHE M THE 80H Of OOP
tW RSMNEO UNCHALLENMD UNTIL HER DEATH
THE CAROLINA TIMES
L. E. AUSTIN i' '
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