January 29, 1987
Page A5
On the pligh
The writer is the branch
manager of the East Winston
Branch Library.
Branch librarians in black
communities are faced with enormous
problems.
Thev must rnnt#?nH xxiitU o*/
r ? vvii WI1U TT I 11 1 WA"
pressways running through the
heart of the black community,
redevelopment, street people?
lack of adequate security, sluggish
circulation, different collection
needs, the use of the library
as a community center and low
attendance at branch programming.
Too often the branch library
that is serving the black community
attempts to imitate the
services of branch libraries in
white middle-class
neighborhoods.
, A letter expressing these concerns
was sent to administrators
and librarians across the state.
The response to this letter was
overwhelming in terms of branch
librarians wanting to come
Winston-Sa
An independent, loc
I NEWSROOM: Robin Bar!
ftriitor* Annollo Tr>??i %<?s
, riM^wjia I WW, V y p I
Truhon, copy editor; Che
SPORTS: David Bulla, sp
Raymond.
PHOTOGRAPHY; James
Blue, Joe Daniels.
ADVERTISING: Julie Per
Art Blue, Wenna Yvette v
OFFICE STAFF: Brenda is
PRODUCTION: Vinson D
manager; Tim Butner, Ke
Yvonne H. Bichsel Truho
CIRCULATION: Tyrone H
McMoore, Cynthia Reed,
CHRONICLE ADVISORY
Bryson, the Rev. Kelly 0
Latanja Kim Johnson, Vi
Little, Howard L. Shaw, I
Wynn.
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J ?ICOb Fro
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led to a worsening of social problems
and to a new appreciation
for the positive role governrrient
"can play. 1 he failures of an unbridled
marketplace are leading
c
people to understand the need for
long-term, job-creating privatesector
policies. And the negative
results of secretive foreign
policies are leading to new respect
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Payne f,0
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watch a television show about
women which had a female host.
The female challenge to
Donahue is now raging ? but not
without its curious sidelights.
Oprah Winfrey, in a vacuum,
is the answer. She is*sharper than
Donahue, wittier, moie genuine
and far better attuned to her audience,
if not the world. But
America is not a vacuum, and
looming up to haunt the limitless
talents -- and perhaps the future
- of Winfrey, is the specter of
race.
By simply being black, Winfrey
has attracted an enormous
following Donahue never tapped.
But in white-dominated television,
this reality for Winfrey is
fraught with both pluses and
minuses.
Porlu in V?or notinnil notu;r\rl
1??0 I 1 J 111 IIW1 iiailWHUl livinui IN
debut, blacks criticized her for
catering to the white women in
her studio audience.
"I hear this a lot," she told Jill
Nelson of The Washington Post.
"I hear that I don't hug the black
people the way I hug the white
people, that I go to the white people
in the audience first.
"First of all, there are more
white people (in the audience).
There just are more. I could not
survive with this show if I only
catered to black people, I just
could not! I wouldn't be where I
v 6
HE FORUE
it of black br
GUEST COLUMN
B.. Till l a
oy i irvi JMUrSv^UIN
together to solve these problems
collectively.
Librarians from around the
state responded by calling an
organizational meeting of
librarians who serve the black
community - the .first such
meeting in North Carolina.
Among the concerns expressed
at the meeting was the fact that
some librarians could not order
black books i unless .the other
branch managers of that sysfem
agreed to the purchase.
Other librarians expressed concerns
about programming.
One librarian had involved 20
mothers in a reading program,
and now those ? mothers are
reading to their children. Unfortunately,
this librarian's super
visor talked more about that particular
branch's low circulation
t
lem Chronicle 1
\
ally owned newspaper
tsdale, community news
st; Yvonne H. Bichsel
iryl Williams,
orts editor; Kenneth
Parker, photo editor; Art
ry, advertising manager;
lames.
lesbitt, Verisia West
ewberry, production
iith Holland, Clifton Jones II,
m.
lilton, Sam Jenkins, Blandelia
Angela Ross.
BOARD: Carole Jordan.P.
Goodwin, James Green,
ctor Johnson Jr., Larry D.
vJorma T. Smith and Patricia
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? for open, more democratic pro
i cedures.
So 1987 may see the beginnin]
of a shift in national sentimen
that could lead to importan
reforms in our national life and <
better deal for the poor.
John E. Jacob is president o
the National Urban League.
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am if I did. That's not what it'
about."
Others have criticized Winfre;
for not employing enough blacl
staffers and citing performanc<
"excellence" as the reason.
The harshest, and perhaps th<
soundest, criticism is the chargi
that Winfrey's role, at-bottom, ii
to play the reassuring black Nan
ny to her dominant white femal<
audience.
She fed this image recenth
when responding to Mik<
Wallace of "60 Minutes." Like ;
maid interviewing for a live-ir
domestic job, Winfrey deniec
repeatedly that she is. or cares tc
be, attached to any man.
Her image as a fat lady alsc
seems designed to fit Oprah Win
frey's view of what her white au
dience expects of her.
"Weight has been a way o
sheltering my own sense ol
power," Winfrey told 77?<
Washington Post. "It makes peo
pie more comfortable with m<
ana in many ways me more com
fortable with other people."
Writer Jill Nelson observec
that "as her ratings increased, sc
did her size." Ms. Winfrey seem:
to know that it is the other waj
around.
Les Payne is an assistan
managing editor at Newsday.
jffl More opinions,
f I columns and features.
anch libraries
t
than about the outstanding accomplishment
of getting mothers
to read to their children.
Still other librarians were deeply
concerned about the merger of
a rare book collection into one
system's main library's collection.
Book circulation is a major
concern for many branch
managers in black communities,
both around the state and across
the nation. Many public branch
libraries in the black community
have gone out of existence simply
i ? ~
oecause ot non-use and low circulation.
Now we must ask crurselves this
question: What is the role of the
branch library, especially in a
changing society, within ?he
black community?
For the East Winston Branch
Library, "it is to become a community
center for informational
Praising wh
. TaThe Editor:
The Winston-Salem Journal
has over the past few months
published two letters by black
readers, containing accolades of
praise for the white community
and criticism for black leaders.
I find it hard to believe that
these views are reflective of
? blacksl- opinions?in?Winston^Salem
and America at large. Or
does the Journal refer to the
Chronicle when it comes to more
believable opinions and perceptions
of blacks? ?.
No doubt whites like to pacify
their consciences with such
OrQtpf III hlimklo
J^IUIVIUI, IIU1IIUIV piuivjaupiiy.
As a Swiss national, I grew up
never considering myself racially
~ and seeing what white stands
" for, I prefer to remain raceless.
To see white Americans denounce
Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. as a communist and rally with
1,1 men in sheets ? Klansmen -- is
stunning. The all-around reaction
of whites, especially the press, is
S lame and defensive.
1 Tt appears That racism is~
1 perceived to be primarily the proa
blem of blacks (blacks taking a
definitely illegitimate citizenship
status in the mainstream's eyes) ?
f even in the eyes of some blacks
who are enjoying some of the
comforts a wealthy supernation
has to offer. They are few, and
: Desegregati
y By MARGARET HABERMAN
r>-~.? \M.:t ?
( /-soouuimeu VYnitsi
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Black
activist James Mapp has
fought for civil rights since he
was a teen-ager, and he doesn't
plan to change now that his
27-year role in an often-bitter
case to integrate the public school
system has ended.
Mapp became a leading figure
in the protracted- struggle - to
remove racial barriers in local
education when he filed a lawsuit
against the city Board of Educa)
tion in I960.
"Racism is a part of my life,
said Mapp, 59. <4I can't get rid of
it just by holding my hands and
wishing. You have to work. I've
^ been constantly acting to rid the
^ system of discrimination."
? U.S. District Judge R. Allan
Edgar dismissed the suit in
; December, finding thaf the
schoof board had met all the
aspects of a desegregation plan
1 approved in 1976 and noting that
) the case had lingered in court
? long enough.
/ Mapp and his attorneys agreed
not to challenge Edgar's ruling
because most of the grounds to
t appeal already had been decided
by higher courts.
%
*
v
1 WrmYf 1 ? f^AVl 2S3LS
reading, recreational reading anc
related cultural activities. Also, i
is to provide both reference anc
general materials in the most fre
quently requested subjects -- sue!
as health, family life, child care
public and current affairs
science, literature and the arts and,
finally, to give the bes
possible service within the curren
limitations of budget, staff anc
time. .
Another concern that brand
managers have in the black com
ites and chii
CHRONICLE MAILBAG
Our Readers Speak
they ertjoy those benefits thank
to people like Dr. King and Ros;
Parks - people who were willinj
to march and put their existenc
on the line for the greater good o
all humanity. I'm not surprises
that Mr. Smith has to endur
name-calling; I'm surprised tha
he is not afraid of worse.
Equality should be a given ii
this great country. It should be i
matter of national pride t<
mobilize everything an
v everybody to achieve this.
Equality can only thrive here i
those people who conside
themselves white start putting
greater priority on bein
American - and stand up for al
Americans.
Even though only 17 percent o
Americans are black, 40 percen
of the 55,000 who died in th
Vietnam War _were?blae 1
Americans. And about 40 percen
of those serving in our armec
forces are black.
It is my suspicion that this is s<
because it is so hard to secur<
employment in the much-citec
private industry. I can't fathon
that such a large number o
on case still
"From the standpoint of the
pressures of the case, it's 2
relief," he said of the case's con
elusion. "However, it doesn'i
mean that the fight is over for so
meone like me. It's just changec
arenas."
Mapp, who has had 1
storefront insurance and rea
estate agency on the city s Martir
Luther King Avenue for mon
than two decades, said segrega
tion is stHl apparent in the
23,700-student school system
which is about 51 percent black.
Not only do schools of nearl)
all one race exist, but course of
ferings and school materials an
not equally distributed betwecr
whites and blacks, he said.
The school board, which nc
longer will be monitored by the
court, has contended tha
predominantly black or whiti
schools have been caused by liv
ing patterns of city residents anc
not prejudice. ^
"The past vestiges o
discrimination -are no
eliminated, and I think it is in
cumbent upon the white an<
black communities to comi
together and see that they ar
eliminated/* said Mapp, who ha
eight grown children.
"The job hasn't been done/
i munity is the approach to assesst
ing the informational needs of
1 library users. There is a unique
difference between white library
i users and black library users.
? At the East Winston Branch
? Library, many of our black
library users tend to read
* newspapers, magazines and nont
fiction- books, while our white
* library users read novels,
, biographies and best-sellers.
l White library users tend to check
Ollf 1%/ts-fcLro II>II>1A U1 ~ -I. -
vui i/uwfta, wiiiic uidCK users purling
blacks: I
f "communists and agitators"
~~ would be willing to die for this
country - and 1 am sure if it
weren't for the social laziness and
timidness of the mainstream, this
country would have ceased to be
a racist society by now.
f I have the fortune to work for
^ an employer with sound integrity
now, in an environment free of
^?harassment?but?I-have metnumerous
white male executives
who cry about the advantages
i given to minorities and women,
a and on closer examination these
o complaints seemed to grow out of
d the recognition of their sad incompetence
and the fear of vaster
competition. *
if Racism is the worst and most
r destructive expression of inadea
quacy, and its goals are
g diametrically opposite to the
11 goals stated in the Constitution.
r woutcHrke-te add that I see
racism as an illness afflicting the
entire nation, not merely the inlt
famous South.
e .
Marlis Soltermann-Nattiel
Winston-Salem
3 Good Impressions
?
far
1 To The Editor:
i
f On a recent Friday evening, 1
consumes aci
: he said. "I won't only be keeping
i an eye on the school board, but
I'll actually be working to seek
t change once and for all to end the
vestiges of discrimination."
* Mapp said the unfair repossession
of his grandfather's farm in
Mayfield, Ga., by a white man in
^ 1937 started him on his course of
battling racial inequity.
"The white man insisted my
: grandfather owed him something
, and took the farm," he said.
"There was no court or lawyer he
t could go to when a white person
was involved. That had ... some
i bearing on me. I intensely dislike
i segregation."
He joined the Youth Council
> of the National Association for
i the Advacement of Colored Peot
pie at Orchard Knob Junior High
: School in 1941 and wrote letters
denouncing discrimination to a
1 local newspaper as a Howard
High School student.
t He also is a two-time president
t of the NAACP branch in Chattanooga
and has protested racial
i injustice in housing and governe
ment.
e The desegregation case
s originally was filed when education
officials rejected a plea by
Mapp and some friends to allow
e
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sue research interests and make
use of non-print materials.
Of the two types of users,
whose value is to be given the
highest priority? They both are
equally important.
In the weeks to come, 1 will
__ look further at the plight of the
puoiic branch library in the black
community. For now, this is one
black public branch manager's
opinion. What's yours?
Vhat gives?
had an occasion to watch "North
Carolina This Week" on UNC
Channel 26 in Chapel Hill. Seeing
. you (Allen H. Johnson) as a
panelist on that program particularly
impressed me with
respect to your views on topics of
current interest to our community,
including AIDS, teen-age
pregnancy and other aspects of
? our education system:?v
1 believe I speak for others in
the black community 'who feel
and believe that you represent
their views on these issues.
I am also impressed and wish
to congratulate you on the fine
stories which you as executive
editor of the Winston-Salem
Chronicle cover from time to
time. It is rewarding to see you
take positions on matters of importance
not only to the black
people in our community but to
others across the state of North
Carolina.
Again, 1 wish to congratulate
you and wish you much success
as you continue to enlighten our
citizens through the news media.
%
Larry W. Womble
Southeast Ward Alderman
tivist's life
their children to go to a nearby
all-white elementary school.
At the time, the children were
being bused to black schools and
losing half a day of classes, he
said;
"I wanted my kids to get a full
day of education. They were going
from 8:30 in the morning to
noon," Mapp said. "1 wanted
them to get what was being provided
for white kids.
"We initially gave the school
board 48 hours to desegregate the
system. That was how naive we
were," he said with a laugh.
The suit, which Mapp
estimated has cost about-SJ
million to pursue through the
years, has Sparked threats, sugar
in the gas tank of his car and the
bombing of his empty house in
1970.
He also said he has lost
business because of his involvement
in the case, but added that
the lengthy effort was worthwhile.
441 feel very good about the
progress made since then, but it's
just not enough," Mapp said.
"The court never eliminated
segregation. It only acted on cer^
tain selected schools.: I want to do
what the court refused to do."