Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 5, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
J- UNC-CH^'m HllL Arc ^^75l4 M Carsma Wims y-faE^uTHUeiwiSE^ ,UME NUMBER 4R TELEPHONE f919) 682-2913 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5,'1987 (USPS 091-380) PRICE: 30 CENTS I Foe Of Racism James Baldwin Dies At 63 r. PAUL DE VENCE, iNCE (AP) - Author James Jwin, who became an articulate sometimes angry voice decry- racism in the United States lugh his novels, plays and Iry, died in the hilltop town on Mediterranean where he took ge "from the madness of Amer- ildwin, 63, died, of stomach »r on Monday night, his pub- trsaid. is best known works include Tell It on the Mountain," his ; novel, published in 1953; tes of a Native Son," "Evidence rhings Not Seen," and mo$t otly, "Harlem Quartet" ’ ^e was Baldwin’s adopted itty and he lived here for 40 s, .the last 16 in St. Paul de ce. For the man who once d blacks to go out and kill les, France was "a refuge away 1 the madness of America." B ^ here, 1^ once said, "was ingoing love rffair." Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jack- called Baldwin "a great source ispiration for that generation ... olific and sensitive writer ... a I advocate of personal and ra- keedom." aya Angelou, author of ”1 iw Why The Caged Bird j," said in a telephone inter- /, "I spoke to him the day after iksgiving ... We laughed to- er, reminded each other how h we loved each other, think he will be remembered as of the great writers of the 20th ary ... I think he will be re- ibered for his courage, an in- ible courage, at once to ^ and the courage to say what he le newspaper Le Monde ribed him as "a conscience in IL" Idwin decided early on that his would be his most effective pon against racism and in- wce. the early 1960s, he argued that is must save whites their , self-destructive insensitivity, e 1970s, he urged that blacks seize power from whites. "Black people don’t believe any thing white people say anymore," Baldwin said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1983. Baldwin’s only French literary prize came posthumously. The As sociation for the Renewal of Franco-American Friendship on Tuesday awarded its first prize to Baldwin for his contribution to arts and letters, business and politics. In 1986, President Francois Mit terrand named him to the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honor. "Getting this award from the coun try that I adopted means France has adopted me,” Baldwin later said. Sol Stein, president of Stein & Day publishers, said his fnendship with Baldwin dated to high school days in New York City. He said he was there when Baldwin received an author’s biographical question naire from Alfred Knopf, publisher of "Go Tell It on the Mountain." "He couldn’t stand the idea of filling in the blanks," Stein said, so he turned the questionnaire over and wrote an impromptu essay about his life. Stein said that essay became the first chapter of "Notes of a Native Son." Small, wiry, witty and with a Gaelic zest for life, Baldwin was bom on Aug. 2, 1924 in Harlem, the son of a preacher. The eldest of nine children, he grew up amid growing racial tensions, fear and hatred. His father ordained him as a minister when he was 12, but he later lost his faith. As a student, Baldwin’s teachers recognized his early talent and en couraged him to pursue his educa tion and career in writing,. He left for France in 1948 on a writing fel lowship and wrote his first play "The Amen Comer." "Go Tell It On The Mountain" recalled Baldwin’s days as a teen age preacher in a store-front church. "Mountain’ is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else," Baldwin said in a 1985 interview with The New York Times. "I had to deal with what hurt me most I had to deal with my father. He was my model; I leameo a lot from him. Nobody’s ever frightened me since." His concern for blacks in the United States never wavered, al though his advocacy of violence waned. Baldwin said in 1983 that integra tion was a failure; that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. probably died in vain; equal opportunity meant a "handful of niggers in the window," black-ran cities were political ghet tos dependent on state and federal power, and black people had better take card of themselves because "no one else is going to do it." His last novel,. "Harlem Quartet," published this year, was about life in the 1950s Harlem Jazz clubs. In 1986, he published "Evidence of Things Not Seen," a book based on the slayings of 29 black children and young adults from 1979 to 1981 in Atlanta. Baldwin palled the book "the hardest thing I ever tried to write.’ In it he painfully came to terms with the kind of racial self-hatre that was believed to have motivatec Wayne Williams, convicted of two of the killings. Baldwin’s stay in Atlanta marked his first major trip to the United States since 1957, when he left- France during the Algerian war for independence and discovered Little Rock, Ark, his first major sojourn to the American South. He took part in the early straggles for integration and was close friend and admirer of King and Malcolm X, militant black activist and au thor. Both King and Malcolm X were assassinated. Despite failing health; Baldwin- told friends he had not lost hope and planned to finish a book on King. He said in one interview, "I don’t feel despair, but I do feel a certain urgency. To me despair is silence, and I don’t see how you can write out of silence." Funeral services will be held in New York on Friday, said Bernard Hassalle, Baldwin’s longtime com panion and secretary. eSU’s Albright No Longer andidate For Texas Southern Post lARLOTTE (AP) - Johnson Smith University President :rt Albright said Tuesday he no er is a candidate for president eras Southern University, the «’s third-largest predominant- ack university. fter careful consideration and reflection, 1 have concluded lohnson C. Smith University is «1 want to be," Albright said at a new conference. Albright said a search firm work ing for Texas Southern solicited him for president this summer. He declined to apply at first, he said, but then agreed to an interview. He said he decided to withdraw after many fiiends and community members urged him to stay at J.C. Smith. Albright has turned down a chance for a bigger salary and the leadership of a large public univer sity with pharmacy and law schools. JCSU, a predominantly black uni versity with about 1^00 students, pays him about $70,000 plus other benefits, he said. Texas Southern was offering about $115,000, plus other benefits that made the salary package worth about $250,000, he said. PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — A Haitian woman mourns the death of her husband, shot Nov. 26 by government troops in Port an Prince. Violence increased dramatically in the week before Nov 29’s presidential elections, with the streets of the capital strewn with bodies every morning. (UPI Photo) Helped Discover The North Pole Remains Of Matthew Henson To Be Moved To Arlington Cemetery BALTIMORE (AP)-The body of Matthew Henaoo, who dis covered the North Pole with Adm. Robert E. Peary, will be moved to Arlington National Cemetery more than 30 years after the black ex plorer’s cl^th. President Reagan has approved the transfer of Henson’s remains from a public cemetery in the Bronx, N.Y. Henson "was overlooked in the history ... for no other reason than his color," said S. Allen Counter, a Harvard University nueroscientist who took on the late black ex plorer’s cause. "I’m pleased for Matthew be cause I know he would say "thank you’.” Counter said in a telephone interview from Boston. "It was my understanding that Henson wanted very much to be buried there." The president’s OcL 30 announc ement ended years of struggle to give the Charles County, Md. na tive recognition for discovering the North Pole with the Peary in 1909. Counter began appealing to the Presidem and Mn. Reagan on be half of Henson a liltle over a year ago with letters descriMng Henson’s acconqilishments and the reason she deserved recognition. Peary and Cmdr. Donald El Mac Millan, who succeeded Peary in leading Arctic expeditions, always contended that Henson was the most essential part of Peary’s North Pole party, according to Counter. Of the seven people on the North Pole expedition, Peary asked only Henson to accompany him for the last 100 miles, MacMillan’s ac count says, because Henson was the most qualified. "Peary said he could not have done it without Henson," Counter said. According to Counter, Henson never got the honor and recognition in the United States he deserved and geographical societies did not give him any credit for the dis covery. ’men Peary died, the National BBOgruihic tociety dedicated a massive monumem at Arlington for him’ Counter said, ’ll did nothing for Henson.’ In June, Counter helped bring Peary’s 82-year-old son, Karree, and Henson’s 8I-year-old son, Ah- naukaq, together from Greenland to honor their fathers’ graves in the United States. "I wanted to set the record straight," said Counter. "I wanted to bring about justice where there had been no justice.” Hearing Puts Sanctions Foe On The Hot Seat BE BULL CITY GOLF CLUB makes its an- 1 donation to the John Avery Boys’ Club and Durham Striders Youth Track Club. Pro- h are from the Bull City Golf Club’s 12tb ■ual Greater Durham Open Golf Tournament I this year August t-2."Plctured (l-r) are; Fred Ruffin, president; David Parker of the John Avery Boys’ Club; Lester Watkins and Edgar McNeil, tournament director. (Not shown, Frank Davis, Durham Striders.) Cosponsors of the tournament are Miller Breweing Company and Lamb Distributors. WASHINGTON (NIS) - A jam - packed Capitol Hill hearing put the on the hot seat the architect of "constructive engagement" who was forced to answer questions about the Reagan administration’s South African policy. The House hearing held earlier this month focused on President Reagan’s "progress report" on ending apartheid and the question of further sanctions. Rep. Howard Wolpe (D-MI), chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, fired a tough round of ques tions at Assistant Secretary of State Chester Crocker, the administra tion’s chief advocate for increased U.S. investments in South Africa. Wolpe, summarizing the bipartisan response to Reagan’s report, lam basted the administration. "It (the administration) applies one standard of human rights to the Soviet Union....and quite another to the apartheid regime of South Afri ca," Wolpe said. Throughout the questioning, Crocker remained cool and appar ently unmoved. "Conditions in South Africa have continued to deteriorate," Crocker admitted, blaming sanctions as an indirect cause. He went on to dismiss trade bans as "folly," and asserted, "U.S. business (can) contribute to the economic empowerment of South African Blacks." The Comprehensive Anti- Apartheid Act of 1986 requires the President to recommend that addi tional measures be imposed if sig nificant progress has not been made toward the dismantling of apartheid—a provision which Reagan failed to implement. Critics have pointed out that loopholes in the law and the admin istration’s failure to enforce specific provisions have resulted in continued trade with the apartheid regime, particularly in the uranium industry. The majority of South Af rican uranium is from neighboring Namibia which is illegally oc cupied by South Africa. Pending legislation, HR 1580, sponsored by Rep. Ronald DeUums (D-CA) calls for a total trade em bargo and requires the complete withdrawal of U.S. corporations in South Africa. Namibia is also cov ered in the Dellums measure.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 5, 1987, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75