I
Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, July 26, 1984
__________
Winston-Salem Chronicle
hounded 1974
ERNEST H. PITT,
NDUSISI EOEMONYE ALLEN JONNSON
< n h'unitt' htemhvt tdiht/
ELAINE L. PITT mm
mivnMSk n I
Of In r ( tri uluitii* Stunugf
1/
Picture imperfect
The people who own Penthouse magazine will sell lots of
copies this month.
In a move borne of sheer greed and opportunism,
Publisher Bob Guccione has parlayed a series of nude
black-and-white photos into a media event ? and several
trips to the bank.
Unless you've been marooned on a desert island during ?
the past week, you know, of course, that the photos in
question depict Vanessa Williams, the first black woman to
be crowned Miss America, sans crown and clothing in sexually
explicit poses, five of them with another woman.
Penthouse also self-righteously mentions the hypocrisy
involved in Miss Williams' status as the "exemplar of
simon-pure American femininity," and, in a column signed
by Guccione on the same page, boasts of the^'taste, energy,
goals and ideas" of his magazine's readership.
Both contentions are laughable, and display nerve that is
about as raw as the bodies Penthouse regularly deoicts.
In the meantime, the blow to Miss Williams' career will
be, for at least a while, devastating. She has been asked to
resign her title (to another black woman, runnerup Suzette
Charles) and could bear the double embarrassment of being
the first black Miss America as well as the first titleholdpr
ever forced to step down. ^
True, she posed for the photos before becoming Miss
America (Penthouse says the photos were Taken in
September 1983, Miss Williams' mother that they were probably
shot in 1982) and there is a certain amount of
hypocrisy in pageants such as the Miss America contest,
which tend to lay the saccharrine on in nauseating doses.
But, as most of our parents tend to remind us in their 4<I
told you so- lectures, you reap what you sow in this world,
and Miss Williams sowed a wicked crop, when, for
whatever reason, she posed for those photos.
V?t rtnr o r om r nlen ? ? . . ~ U . - - ~ ?I- _ . ? 1 * *
1 VI, uui d!5U IdUgUl U!> illdl I lie pasi SnOUlQ D6
placed in its proper perspective, and that we all deserve
forgiveness for past mistakes.
If Vanessa Williams is as resilient as she appears to be,
she'll face the pain now -- then resume her life.
Goodbye, Clifton
It is, with apologies to Dickens, the best and worst of
times for friends and co-workers who must watch Clifton
Graves leave Winston-Salem soon.
On the one hand, Graves has the type of talent and
potential that require new horizons and fresh challenges.
His job as an assistant city attorney in Connecticut will offer
both.
An added bonus, Graves has noted, is that he will be
closer to his family, which moved from Winston more than
two decades ago to settle in New Haven.
On the other hand, Graves' youthful idealism, eloquence
and social consciousness served him and the community
well during his stay in Winston.
In fact, if he has a weakness, it may be his tendency to involve
himself in too many causes and organizations, from
the NAACP to the Black Leadership Roundtable to the National
Black Independent Political Party.
But, with firm advice from family and friends, Graves
eventually learned to slow down - at least a little ? and
managed to reduce his level of involvement from very heavy
to heavy.
4 We also expected the Georgetown University law school
_ _i. A ^ _ ? ? JL * % - ? * ?- +
political arena.
After all, Graves, who calls all of us his brothers and
sisters, has the rare gift to relate effectively to white and
black, rich and poor, college faculty and high school
dropouts, without shifting gears.
And he was popular enough to merit not one, but two
farewell parties.
Anyone who knows him would have bet his last dollar
that he was destined to run for something. However, that
dream remains to be fulfilled, probably elsewhere, but you
never know.
The prodigal son may return home once again some day.
men r\ew Haven can mourn his departure.
About letters....
The Chronicle welcomes letters from its readers as well as
columns. Letters should be as concise as possible and typed
or printed legibly. They also should include the name, address
and telephone number of the writer.
Columns should follow the same guidelines, and will
-published if we feel they are of interest to our general
readership.
Submit your letters and columns to Chronicle Letters,
P.O. Box 3154, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102.
41
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By CLIFTON GRAVES
Chronicle Columnist
Author's note: In last
week's column, titled "Far
rakhan, Jesse and the Jews, "a
sentence near the end should
have read: "Hopefully,
though, the ongoing controversy
surrounding Jesse
and Farrakhan, as well as the
crucial issues they both have t
raised,- will motivate you - be
you, black, white, Jew, Arab
or Muslim - to study, analyze,
critique and challenge what
heretofore has been spoon-fed
you about Israel, Judaism,
Semitism and Zionism. They
are not the same. " The author
and the Chronicle regret the
c r r i/r
At the risk of being labeled
a "lame duck" citizen of this
community, I nevertheless offer
an opinion as to why
everyone should support the
NAACP's boycott of Food
Lion stores.
Simply put, the "selectivebuying"
campaign being launched
against the foreignowned
and Southeast-based
fKoin if W? a Isrt
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after months of negotiation
sessions proved fruitless.
Black fam
By JOHN JACOB
Syndicated Columnist
At a conference sponsored
jointly by the National Urban
League and the NAACP, major
national black organizations
came together to discuss
what the hlark rnmmnnitv ran
do to help strengthen the black
family. All
agreed that the problems
facing black families in part
stem from the inequities in our
society that discriminate
against black parity in jobs, in
other key areas affecting family
life. '
But, at the same time, it is
important to strengthen individual
self-discipline and
community values. That suggests,
too, a greater emphasis
on male responsibility and the
importance of the male role in
family relationships.
While concertrating on the
wrongs of discrimination and
poverty, it is also important to
do what we can about the
family's problem ourselves.
Government and private sector
action is necessary, as are
the services and the concern
black organizations ^an pro
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MANUFACTURED TO
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Sold as scrap
To resale outlet
le Food Li<
Clifton Graves
Specifically, the NAACP
negotiators have pressed Food
Lion to hire more black
managers and assistant
m inonorc fn onnracriualu
imiiu?,vi j , iw 3ttK
and use minority suppliers for
its stores; to engage in more
business with minority contractors,
vendors, public relations
firms and insurance companies,
and, finally, to become
more of a corporate citizen in
the black community by contributing
to non-profit and
charitable causes.
Now, to be sure, there are
some of you who firmly
believe that protest tactics,
such as boycotts, are
historically passe.
Hies and rc
vide.
About a fourth of all black
births occur to a teen-aged
mother, and four-fifths of
those occur outside marriage.
That results in a disproportionate
rate of female-headed
households and one-earner
families are more likely to be
poor.
The birth of a baby often
means the end of schooling for
adolescent mothers. Forty per
"The
birth of a baby ofu
f&r adtiteswnb mothers* F&
Hi?I ibp?iiw>?i ri <HOIIWI?
scnooTaropoutsTeave scho
cent of> black female school
dropouts leave school because
of pregnancy. That's about
45,000 young women per year,
or more than the number of
black women who graduate
from college each year.
About half of those young
mothers never get a high
school diploma. So it is not
surprising that the majority of
adolescent mothers are poor;
the median income of
households headed by young
black women is under $4,000.
n..A i 1 I.! i-. t_ _ i_ ?
nui ine snocKingiy nign incidence
of poverty among
MONMLE H*S JUST PICKED 66BALWVE
FtiBACO h& HIS RUNNlVlft WTE
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PURCHASED BY THE
PENTAGON POP *H35 oo
B0U6HT BY CONCERNED
TAXPAYER.
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Others of you no doubt feel
that you are too sophisticated
and/or educated to actively
participate (i.e., carry a sign,
distribute a leaflet) in such a
protest.
~ A few of you probably are
shrugging your shoulders over
such an effort, feeling perhaps
that it is a waste of time 44
'cause white folks gonna do
what they want to, when they
want to," and, further, that
"black folk ain't gonna participate
anyhow."
And finally, there is a segment
of this community that
makes the rather cogent argument
that:
The boycbtt should exclude?
the East Winston store
because some black folk have
some stock in that store.
The East Winston store has
a black manager, Waverly
Martin, and 90 percent black
employees.
The East Winston store has
been a long time coming and
does meet a serious need in
this section of town (i.e., convenience
and access for our
senior citizens in particular.)
Yet, with all du^tespect to
the aforementioned concerns,
reservations and arguments,
Please see page A5
icism
children is not simply caused
by the growth in femaleheaded
households. Those
families are poor not because
they are headed by women,
but because jobs and training
opportunities for disadvantaged
single mothers barely exist.
Racial discrimination is an
important factor, too. More
than two-thirds of black
women family heads with
children are poor; only about
en means the end of school
of bkwk>->fem&k&~ oTBecmAselfrTw
-t *r?
two-fifths of similar white
families are poor. That tells us
race is as important as the
gender of the head of the
household.
Whites also have had similar
growth in teen pregnancies
and in female-headed
households. Their rise in recent
years may be large, but
they still are a relatively small
part of the white community.
And they aren't penalized to
the extent that black families
are.
Black families simply can't
Please see page A5
(i 3oLd vivs/ a wew Sp\Sf7 '
11
Letters
- ? --rrrrt;^
More messages
from friends
The following letter was addressed
to Chronicle Publisher
Ernest H. Pitt.
To The Editor:
111 c f a nr?lp tr\ nffpr rrvn _
J M llVkV IV VH VI VVI1
gratulations on your latest
conquest: being named the
best black newspaper in the
USA! I was so glad that I was
at the NNPA convention to
see and hear what took place.
Ail of us at the Journal are
proud.ofLyau. . As
f Ti c seliTof bldxk ~
newspaper editor in North
Carolina, 1 have had a long
and successful career (around
50 years). And I have never
witnessed the attainments
which you and your fine staff
have reached, not to mention
the very short time in which
you have done so much ?
about one-fifth of my career.
It has been a great pleasure
to work with you over the past
10 years. I hope that I will be
spared to continue to work
with you and that your success
will be even greater than it
presently is.
You all have honored
yourselves and the Tar Heel
state ? not only our race, but
all Tar Heels. ?
God bless you all, and, in
the words of scores of letters 1
have received from my
readers, 4'keep on keeping
on.*'
Best personal regards to my
friends at the Chronicle and
? ^
your family.
T.C. Jervay
Publisher
The Wilmington Journal
Wilmington
A good feeling
To The Editor:
1 want to extend my personal
congratulations to you
on the Chronicle's being
selected as the best black
f
newspaper in the nation. It
gives me a truly good feeling
10 see you ana your statt
recognized for the outstanding
job you are doing. I know
there has been a lot of blood,
sweat and tears to get you to
this point, and I also understand
the challenge now facing
you to maintain the excellence.
I have no doubt that the award
will come vour wav acain npvt
year, as will others.
I look forward to touring
your new facilities.
Nancy P. Lovelace
Media Relations Manager
Wachovia Bank & Trust Co.
_ \ swvifift ?
The following letter was addressed
to Chronicle Publisher
Ernest H. Pitt.
To The Editor:
Congratulations to you and
the Chronicle staff on your recent
award and recognition.
The Chronicle not only has
provided a unique service to
the black community, but I
personally have found it quite
informative and enjoyable.
As recruiters for Hanes
Knitwear, we have found the
Please see page A5
D Li "lit; l!