CHAPEL HILL, HC 275X4
6BPT. 197.9. 6Q 81
WiTiston-Salem Clir^oriicle
No. 28
r!
20'
"The NEWSpaper Winston's Been Waiting For"
24 Pages This Week
Saturday, March 3,1979
White
By Sharyn Bratcher
StaS Writer
Those who anticipated trouble over the Klan use of the
Main Library auditorium saw their predictions come true
Monday night when a white on white confrontation
closed the exhibit. '
members
to protest an
picket the main library on Fifth
exhibit held by the Knights of the
“This is why everybody was upset to have this thing,”
said County Commissioner Mazie Woodruff, also a
member of the library board. “We knew something like
this would happen. But it wasn’t black and I'm glad of
that.”
Vernon Logan, local leader of the Knights of the Ku
Klux Klan, had requested and received permission to
use the main library auditorium for an exhibit of Klan
materials.
William H. Roberts III, director of the library, granted
permission for the event without checking with the
library board. He explained that the library policy states
that as long as an exhibit is free and open to the public, a
group must be granted permission to use the facility.
“It certainly got out of hand,” Roberts commented.
The exhibit began quietly enough. Members of the
NAA,CP had begun picketing the library at 9 a.m., but
the demonstration was peaceful.
“Some people riding by in cars shouted things at us,”
said Russ MacDonald, one of the marchers. “But then a
lot of white people going into the library said that they
agreed with us.”
When the exhibit opened at 6:30 p.m., the auditorium
was crowded with both black and white visitors viewing
the displays, while Klan members stood impassively
against the wall or talked with newsmen.
NAACP president Patrick Hairston told reporters that
he did not consider the Klan exhibit violent enougl^.
They ought to show bombing little children, and
dynamite,” Hairston repeated. “It’s not violent
enough.”
Larry Womble, a member of the library board, recalled
the scene; “It was like a reception at first. Everybody
was just standing around in small groups talking about
their jobs and socializing, and all of a sudden there was
this guy standing in the middle of the floor screaming
and hollering...”
The disturbance was created by David Burtt of
Greensboro, a member of the National United Workers
Organization. He began shouting for people to tear the
Klan exhibits off the walls.
“And then the Nazis came through the door,”
Womble continued, “And they were screaming and
hollering, and I told the director right then to close it
down.”
“I think the whole thing was staged to stop it,” said
Joe Grady, a spokesman for the Federated Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan. “The communists started it.”
Grady complained that the police restrained Klans-
men, but added: “Nobody held the blacks or
communists.”
Grady said that this group still plans to rent the
convention center at some later date, but now he said he
See Page 2 3
NAACP president Patrick Hairston studies a display of
Klan materials at Monday’s exhibit in the public
library.
{D Regulations
ject Some Blacks
By Sharyn Bratcher
Staff Writer
if the Liquor-By-The-Drink re
in passes in Forsyth County, it is
that only one black business
qualify for a liquor license:
Northside.
tilllllllillllllilllllllMMilllllllilllllliiiiiiiilliilliiillli;
Hack places are going
to have problems.
tiding to the conditions of the
ilionlaw, in order to qualify for a
sell mixed beverages to the
, the restaurant must make 51%
JOSS sales on food, seat at least 36
s.and have a kitchen facility.
“Because the law requires a prede
termined percentage of food sales, black
places are going to have problems,”
said John Duncan, director of Midwest
Piedmont Area Business Development
Organization. “But if the bill is passed,
then we can go about getting black
establishments that meet the require
ment,”
Duncan, whose organization helps
minority persons to start businesses,
indicated that some new black restau
rants are in the planning stage.
The political action committee of the
Winston-Salem chapter of the NAACP
favors the passing of the local option
law, saying that it will provide jobs.
See Page 22
Water Bonds Receive
Community Support
By Sharyn Bratcher
Staff Writer
Nathaniel Wiseman
A consensus of Winston-Salem’s
alack leaders are urging the community
to vote in favor of the $14 million bond
referendum in the Tuesday, March 6th
balloting. The bonds will finance an
expansion of the city’s water treatment
capacity in anticipation of future needs.
Voters will be asked to approve $14
million in general obligation bonds
which will be matched with $4 million in
state money. The proposed water
improvement program will increase the
treatment capability of the Neilson
Treatment Plant, improve the water
distribution system, and increase
ground storage facilities.
Unlike the controversial Liquor-By-
The-Drink proposal, the water bond
issue seems to be without opponents.
“I don’t know of a soul who is against
it,” said E. Lawrence Davis, chairman
of the Citizen’s Committee for the
Water Bond Referendum. “We’re very
pleased that our publicity campaign has
been so successful. ’ ’
“We’ve been pushing it in my ward,”
commented alderman Virginia Newell.
“I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t pass.
All the people I’ve been talking to in my
area are for it — and some of those
people have experienced the water
shortage.”
Alderman Vivian Burke of the North
east Ward also favors the bond referen
dum. “I think it will enable us to bring
new industry into the area,” she
observed.
The general obligation bonds are
considered the least expensive way of
See Page 2 2
ick Input Grows
Foreign Policy
SKNGTON - The outspoken visibility of Andrew
imd the quiet efficiency of Barbara Watson are
4 of a growing black input in Aiherican foreign
By John W. Templeton
Staff Writer
•g. the congressman turned United Ijfations
isidor, and Watson, assistant secretary of state for
'#tffairs, are both black, however, they are not
^ blacks taking an active interest in shanine
ipolicy, ^ ®
®lb ago, a group of 300 black leaders from around
'•trj’met with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to
tlbeir concerns about American diplomacy. State
I®'”* official Gordon Hill said the secretary was so
4dwith the exchange that he is pressing his staff
•gtmore meetings with a group of 14 chosen by
("body to meet regularly with the secretary,
’■garole in setting up the unprecedented meeting
’ l^cks and the State Department was the new
Jibe Washington lobbying scene, TransAfrica,
sitselfas “the Black American lobby on Africa
'isribbean.’’
JJ'^obinson, TransAfrica executive director, i
Under New Proposal
Debtors Could Go To Jail
By Sharyn Bratcher
Staff Writer
said
^*softhe meeting with Vance will be measured
_^®tto which the process continues. “We told
arv’s ...i r- . „ . ,
Speaking Out...
office when they first called, that you
* successful meeting discussing 40 issues in
S. co5/4 T5_i.; .
Wes'
'•'entf
said Robinson. “You have to have
w continued dialogue. ’ ’
founded last year with the aid of the
®aal Black Caucus, has a membership of
Robinson. The membership ranges from
to businessmen to black elected officials.
G. Hatcher of Gary, Inc. is chairman;
U.S.Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young
tells a group of editors in Washington that the U.N. can
be a valuable resource in resolving disputes short of
war.
entertainer Harry Beiafonte is vice chairman.
“We are a lens through which black Americans can
focus their feelings on Africa and the Caribbean,” said
Robinson of his organization. TransAfrica has sent
letters to both the president and Congress on a number
See Page 2 2
“A debtors prison in disguise” is the term one
attorney used to describe a bill sponsored by the N.C.
Bar Association that is supposed to offer advantages for
both creditors and debtors.
The bill, which is proposed by the Subcommittee on
Enforcement of Judgments of the North Carolina Bar
Association Committee on Courts and Civil Litigation,
would expand the real and personal property exemptions
of debtors, but it would also permit the garnishment of
wages and permit the court to put the debtor in jail for
contempt of court if he does not pay his debt.
Leon Corbett, dean of the Wake Forest University Law
School, drafted the bill. “The purpose of the bill is to
clarify and update the law,” he explained.
North Carolina’s laws concerning debtors and credi
tors are antiquated, Corbett explained. The new law
provides added protection for both creditors and debtors.
Although the North Carolina Bar Association is
backing the bill, not all attorneys are in favor of it.
Irving Joyner, chairman of the Criminal Justice
Committee for the N.C. Association of Black Lawyers,
commented: “The bill would hurt black and poor people.
They are not as aware of law and court proceedings as
most people.”
Joyner pointed out that creditors win many debt cases
by default — that is, the debtor does not come to court
to present his side of the case, so he automatically loses.
“Poor people are transient,” said Joyner. “Some
times they are not even notified until the default
judgment has already been entered. ”
“This is a creditors’ bill,” Joyner concluded. ”I am
opposed to it, at least until it provides a meaningful
protection for the debtor.”
Attorney Paul Sinai of the Legal Aid Society opposes
the bill, citing a number of negative effects the bill will
have.
“It turns the court into a collection agency,” Sinai
noted. He explained that the bill could result in more
crowding of the court system, since each debt case could
be presented several times in court; once for the initial
judgment, then for setting up payment schedules,
establishing receiverships, or dealing with non-
compliance on the part of the debtor.
James Frenzel, a local attorney who wrote an article on
the new bill, maintains that the creditor’s attorney
should do most of the work, so that the bill should not
cause more work for the court.
District Court Judge William Freeman disagrees. He
feels that the proposed law would crowd the courts.
“It’s too cumbersome,” said Freeman. “I feel that
people ought to be more careful who the;/ give credit to,
instead of concentrating on how to collect after it’s
made.”
He indicated that the bill might make creditors
inclined to lend money even more indiscriminately, since
the bill would give them greater powers to collect.
Sinai noted that the new bill would, in effect, allow
people to be put in jail for debt. The court can garnish
the debtor’s wages or set up a payment schedule, and if
the debtor does not cooperate, he can be jailed for
cqntempt of court.
“The act is aimed at those who have it and won’t pay
it,” said James Frenzel. He pointed out that North
Carolina is one of only two states not having wage
garnishment.
See Pace 2