r
Duke University Library
Newspaper Department
Durham NC 27706
On The Iranian Crisis
Black people. . . ."are the only group of people
who have emerged out of slavery without arms."
Black children in America should know that
they are seen as Kings and Queens" by many out
side of America.
Rev. Nelson Thompson in
"America Can Hasten Hostages' Release"
Page 2 - This Issue
TtUSPS 091-389)
Words of Wisdom
Men who do things that coast acrer atop to
count then.
God gives every bird its food, hat docs mot
throw it into the Best.
VOLUME 58 -NUMBER 20
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MAY 17, 1980
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913
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JCPS PRESIDENT SAYS SUPREtli COURT
Ruling on At 'Large Election is
- t !3 -l Hi;:
4 'l Vii
i
Set Back For Minorities
Lrv fTTX fTwSW ', i V.. i l
High School
Left to right: Yolanda Murrell (1st place), Shelia McBroojn (2nd place)
and Beverly Battle (3rd place)
a
M
Junior High Winners
Leslie Roland, left, 1st place winner and Rosalind Pendergraft, runnerup.
- l vV
WASHINGTON,
D.C. Eddie N. Williams,
president of the Joint
Center for Political
Studies, last week said
that the April 22 U.S.
Supreme Court ruling on
at-large elections
represents a set back for
political aspirations.
Following is the full text
of Williams' remarks.
STATEMENT
The drive by blacks and
other minorities to in
crease their numbers in
local elective offices has
clearly suffered a set back,
even if not a fatal one, by
the U.S. Supreme Court's
April 22 decision in City
of Mobile et.al. v. Bolden
et.al.
The case, which
challenged the at-large'
election system, was
brought as a class action
suit on behalf of the black
citizens of Mobile, who
comprise about 35 per
cent of the total popula
tion, but have no black
representative on that ci
ty's three member govern
ing commission. A federal
District Court had ruled
that Mobile's at-large elec
tion system "violated the
fifteenth" amendment and
invidiously discriminated-
'aktetereflic4nvilc
tion of the fourteenth
amendment." It was this
ruling that was overturned
by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court
declared that the
disproportionate (or
discriminatory) effects of
an at-large .system were
not sufficient to establish
a claim to unconstitu
tional dilution of the black
vote and that "intent" to
discriminate would have
to be proved.
The requirement to pro
ve discriminatory intent is
extremely difficult, some
say impossible, to meet.
Local governments can
hardly be expected to ar
ticulate ( unambiguously
any intent they may have
40 dilute black votes.
Moreover, it is not clear at
this time what kind of
evidence the courts will ac
cept as proof of intent to
discriminate. Consequent
ly, blacks and other
minorities face the pro
spect of continued exclu
sion from thousands of
local governmental bodies
which are elected at-large.
Those familiar with the
history of resistance to
black political participa
tion will readily recognize
the effectiveness of at
large elections in preven
ting blacks from being
elected to public office in
localities where they are a
large segment of the elec
torate but not a majority.
In such localities, the
abolition of at-large or
multi-member election
systems has been crucial to
efforts to increase the
number of blacks elected
to office.
Since enactment of the
Voting Rights Act of
1965, the number of black
elected officials in the
U.S. has grown
significantly, from about
600 to over 4,600 today.
However, blacks still con
stitute less than one per
cent of all elected officials
in the country, although
they are about eleven per
cent of the total popula
tion. Moreover, the annual
rate of increase in the
number of black elected
officials has been declin
ing steadily since 1975;
between 1978 and 1979 the
net increase was only two
per cent. Joint Center
research shows that even
in localities where blacks
exceed forty per cent of
the total population, they
remain excluded from
governing bodies, often
because of at-large of
multi-member election
systems. The Supreme
Court's decision will un
doubtedly slow the .drive
to correct this inequity.
' Although the Supreme
Court decision is cause for
grave concern, its adverse
effects may be somewhat
Rep. Chisholm Offers Solution
For Black Unemployment
By Trellie L. Jef fers
During an interview in
Durham, May 4, Con
gresswoman Shirley
Chisholm (D-NY) said
that three approaches
. should be used to solve the
nation's black unemploy
ment problem:
There should be
educational programs that
1 will :r give training for
mere s
cooperation between the
education system; and
There should be coor
dination between educa
tion and the 'job training
process.
Said , Congresswoman
Chisholm, "if we are goj
ing to help people become
productive, we have to
coordinate education and
jobs."
She noted that
unemployment among
blacks nationally is said to
be 387, and that there are
situations in which
employers are "screening
for someone to work, but
wg&fl .blac4ts4ack, the-.necessary.
Should te tn twfnrm thf
jobs,"
Mrs. Chisholm said
"Blacks are being trained
for jobs that do not exist
or they are not being train
ed for existing jobs." She
also mentioned that in
some areas, blacks are be
ing trained for jobs where
they are unable to work
because of housing
discrimination.
"We should syn
chronize black unemploy
ment and black education.
People are the most im
portant asset that this
country has; and if we
softened by the fact that it
. was issued by a divided
I Court. Two of the six
Justices who supported
the decision concurred for
reasons different from
those of the other four.
Thus, Justice Blackmun,
in his separate concurring
opinion, criticized the
lower court for being too
extreme in requiring the
City of Mobile to convert
its government to a
mayor-council -form.
Blackmun concluded that
the District Court was
"perhaps overly concern
ed with the elimination of
at-large election per se,
rather than with structur
ing an electoral system
that provided an oppor
tunity for black voters in
Mobile to participate in
the city's government on
an equal footing with
whites."
Implicit in Blackmun's
opinion is the suggestion
that a milder remedy
might have won his ap
proval. It is possible,
therefore, that future legal
challenges to at-large elec
tions, which take a dif
ferent approach, might
produce a different result.
It is important to note
also that the Supreme
don't use this asset, we are Court's decision does not
" heading for trouble,
said.
Mrs. Chisholm was in
North Carolina with
Senator Edward Ken
nedy's campaign group.
She is a member of the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Black Energy Group Challenges
President Jimmy Carter
NEW ORLEANS
The American Association
of Blacks in Energy
(AABE) took action at its
Louisiana meeting last
week to challenge Presi
dent Jimmy Carter to ap
point blacks to two
regulatory bodies which
have decision making
positions , regarding
energy. They are the
Energy Mobilization .
Elementary
Left to right: Phillip Woods (3rd place), Lorie Jackson (2nd place), (
and Minda Purefoy (1st place).
Deltas Award Cash Prizes to
Eight Talent Participants
Eight cash prizes were
awarded winners in the
first "Talent on Parade"
sponsored recently by the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Area Alumnae Chapter of
Delta Sigma Theta Sorori
ty, Inc., a public service
sorority.
First place winners
received $25, second
place, $15, and third
place, $10. Each partici
pant, as well as the win
ners and guest performers, j
received certificates of
participation. '
The elementary
category winners were
first place - Minda
Purefoy, a piano presenta
tion of "The Hanon
Scale" and "Swans on the
Lake"; second place -
Lorie Jackson, vocal solo
of "Hello Young Lovers"
from the King and ; and
third place - Phillip
Woods, photography
display.
Junior High winners
were first place - Leslie
Roland, piano recital of
"The Tumblers" and
"Dream Waltz"; and se
cond place - Rosalyn
Pendergraft, craft display.
High School winners
were first place - Ms.
Yolanda Murrell, violin
rendition of "Concerto in
G Major"; second place -Ms.
Shelia McBroom,
fashion designs; and third
place - Ms. Beverly Battle,
a modern' dance perfor
mance to the music of
"Treasure."
Participants were from
the Pittsboro, Chapel
Hill, Carrboro, and
Hillsborough schools. All
proceeds from the show
go toward the scholarship
fund.
Join The NAACP! Aid In The
Fight For Human Rights!
6.2 Pay Cap Likely For
Federal Workers
While the federal unions, including the National Alliance
of Postal and Federal Employees (NAPFE) are vigorously
opposing the Administration's proposed pay reform bill, -both
supporters and opponents of the measure agree federal
workers will be held to a 6.2 pay raise in October.
The 6.2 pay cap is bad news for federal workers who
already find it impossible to keep pace with double digit
inflation. The consensus is that even if the pay reform
measure is successfully blocked this year, there is little
chance that congressional appropriation committees will
oppose the lead of the Administration or the budget
committees.
The probable pay hike is 2.3 percentage points lower
than the 8.5 average in the pay raise guidelines for the
private sector. And, federal workers cannot help but
remember that the Administration's "national accord"
with labor also called for the same wage guidelines to be
applied to the private and federal sector. Needless to say,;
from all indications this will not be the case in the fall.
And, what does the federal worker have to look for
ward to next year? With the "total compensation com
parability" pay setting formula called for in the pay reform
bill, federal workers will still lack parity with their private
sector counterparts. While the formula compares the'
salaries and fringe benefits of both sectors, it fails to factor
in such benefits as bonuses, sales discounts, and profit
sharing. In the pay reform field hearing held last month in
Atlanta, Georgia, Maryland Congresswoman Gladys Spell
man who chairs the House Subcommittee on Compensation!
and Employee Benefits said OPM "is trying to bring the'
level 6f comparability down, and then tell employees
they're getting full comparability ."
I am inclined to agree with the Maryland Congress-woman.
Board and the Energy
Security Corporation.
High on the list of the
'priorities by the all black
energy related organiza
tion were seats for blacks
on these agencies. There
are seven positions on the
Energy Mobilization
Board and seven on the"
Energy Security Corpora
tion. The first unit will
facilitate the decision
making process as regards
energy while the latter will
manage the proposed syn
thetic fuel development
program.
AABE, headed by
Rufus McKinney, a vice
president with Southern
California Gas, said that
his organization took the
position that the Windfall
Profits Tax should be ap
propriated by Congress to
get on with the develop
ment of synthetic fuels
with' minority firms get
ting a fair share.
The American Associa
tion of Blanks in Energy
was formed three years
ago and has had singular
achievements in making
its presence known in
energy circles, including
the Department of
Energy, state and local
regulatory agencies. One
of the main thrusts of
AABE has been the
development of job op
portunities for blacks in
the energy field.
apply "td election' systems
adopted since 1965 in
areas, mainly in the
South, covered by the
Voting Rights Act. In
several cases the U.S.
Department of Justice has
disallowed use of at-large
or multi-member districts
in states or localities
covered by the Voting
Rights Act because of
their discriminatory intent
or discriminatory effect.
Aside from myriad legal
issues which attorneys and
the Courts must sort out,
the most important and
immediate effect of the
Supreme Court's decision
is the signal it transmits
about the continuing ero
sion of black gains, in
cluding gains in the
political arena.
Thus, the Supreme
Court's decision is seen by
some as an extension of its
DeFunis and Bakke deci
sions and as an ominous
harbinger of difficult
times ahead. The Voting
Rights Act, which will be
up for a renewal in 1982,
may itself be imperiled.
Regardless of what legal
remedies it might
stimulate, the Court's nil-'
ing challenges blacks to
become even more asser
Continued on Page 3
Fire Claims One Death In Oxford
Manor, Several Injuries
IS
BY PAT BRYANT
and
BARBARA TAYLOR
A horrifying nightmare
being repeated with
alarming frequency
among residents at Oxford '
Manor, a federally
subsidized housing pro
ject. Since December, fire
has claimed the lives of
two children and one
adult. The last est fatality
was four-year-old Joyce
Pierce, who died Tuesday
evening. May 13. There
are beliefs that the fire
could have been avoided,
and that apartments in the
complex are riddled with
malfunctioning electrical
systems. City fire inspec
tors have ruled out elec
trical malfunctioning as
the cause of the fire, a
determination disputed by
tenants in the complex.
Mrs. Betty Pierce,
mother of Joyce, tells at
story filled with the horror
bedroom engulfed in
flames. Six of her other .
children made the leap,
but before David Pierce,
7, leaped, he had received
second degree burns over
most of his body. His '
four-year-old sister was.
left behind, . and was
found later by firemen ly
ing among the flames..
Injured in the leap were
Mrs. Pierce, 34, and her
daughter, Linda, 16.
of leaping from a second, when they discovered the
floor window in
.1
Continued on Page 2
School Opening Set For August 19
The Durham City
School Board accepted a
recommendation from
Girsonnel director,
oward McAllister, Mon
day night, May 12, at the
regular school board
meeting, to begin the
1980-81 school year on
August L9 and end June 2.
Teachers will report for
duty on August IS. The
dates were part of next
year's school calendar
which had been created by ,
a committee of Duham:
City - educators, parent
and students.
There were suggestions,
however, from the school
board, to study Labor
Day as a more desirablo.
. date for the begtanlnt.pfl
Jhe 1981-82 schoqlyetn :