Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 19, 1989, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page A4 Thursday, January 19. 1989 IVinston-Salem Chronicle Founded 1974 ERNEST H. MTT Publsher \ MICHAEL A. PITT | Assistant to the Publsher ?' . 1 & * i ANGELA WRIGHT Managing Editor JULIE PERRY Advertising Manager NOUBISi EGEMONYE Co-Founder ELAINE L. PITT Office Manager BRENDA THOMAS Production Supervisor | All eyes on the school board THE comments and forewarnings issued by Dr. Bar bara K. Phillips during the noonday celebration of Mar tin Luther King Jr.'s birthday should not go unheeded. Phillips talked about the need for parents to become ? more involved in the education of their children. She . talked about how crucial it is for parents to know what : classes their children are taking, the need for parents to get to know the people who are teaching their children. She also cited the need for some parents to pay closer ; attention to their children's personal care needs and to attend school board meetings in order to know what is - being decided about the welfare of our children. We agree wholeheartedly with Phillips on thes^e ? issues^ Butr Phillips conspicuously sidestepped the issue of her candidacy for the position of superintendent of the ^WinstofiPSalem/Forsyth County Schools. She declined to ?.say even if she, had applied for the position. However, sources close to the school board have con firmed, that Phillips is among 14 semifinalists who have : been recommended for the position. She is one of two Afro-American semifinalists, both of whom are women. The other Afro-American semifinalist, Dr. Gerry J: House, superintendent of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools, has stated that she was not "actively seeking a change." In fact, House says that the school board's attor ney, Doug Punger, asked her to apply for the position. ? Although House did not specifically state that she is_ not interested in the job, we wonder how likely it is that she would accept the job if it was offered to her. Her hus band is a full-time graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill presently working on his dissertation. We are also wondering about what motivated Punger to solicit an application from House. We've watched the school board long enough now to know that there is cause for suspicion. Out of 42 initial applications and 14 semifinalists , we find it odd that only two are Afro-American; one just : happens to be Phillips, and the other happens to be : Someone who doesn't seem to be really interested in the position. V:- School board officials insist that they are unable to :;l$ll us how many of the initial 42 applicants were Afro Americans. They say such information is not readily dis cernible on the applications. While we have long supported Phillips for the posi ts tion of superintendent, our guess is that Several of the 42 ^Applicants were well-qualified Afro-Amenb^ns who had ?la genuine interest in the position. rx Why then would school officials reach out to^sojne one who had not demonstrated an interest? ? ?* . Ostensibly, it would give them a shield against -^charges of racism when they deny the position to >Phillips. If they can offer the position to an Afro-Ameri >can who turns it down (like they expect that she would) *>jthen they don't have to listen to charge^ that they just :-didn't want an Afro-American to head oiir local school :tsystem. Is this just conjecture? Maybe. But we suggest that r-all interested individuals pay close attention to what goes >pn with the superintendent's selection over the next month. :< The board plans to choose three to five finalists Feb. whom they say will be presented to the public around ?r^eb. 10. So, it seems we've got a date with the school A board in February. Let's be there. On why we should celebrate King's birthday Ib The Editor: Why should we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday? For myself, I began to under stand why when I contemplated what this nation might be like with out his courageous leadership and stand for civil rights. I had forgotten what it was like in the years before he walked the road to freedom, fill ing streets across the nation with people who would never again be shunned in alleys of despair. Over the years, I had taken for granted the freedom he helped to ensure for all of us. Racial inequality, religious intolerance and other civil Crimes are condemnable. The few who for ward or defend these crimes do so for their own selfish interests to the damnation of many. Dr. King rose above these vest ed interests and a nation's compla cency and ignorance to direct us all back to the inspired truths on which this nation is founded. Uiis is com mendable! L. Ron Hubbard, international ly acclaimed and best-selling author of "Dianetics," once wrote: "The price of Freedom: constant alert ness, constant willingness to fight back. There is no other price." _ . .Ms. Editor^.! hope you_ and all of your readers will join, as I am, in acknowledging Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this year for his willingness to pay the price of Freedom. Thank - you, Martin, thank you very much. Sharyn Runyon Los Angeles IPEO VI do wo have n R$MANWAM otmpeverr CHRONICLE MAI LB AO Our Readers Speak Out Wish-I-Could To The Editor: We want to tell you about Wish-I-Cduld of North Carolina Inc. in hope&Jhat you will support us in our dream of fulfUttngthe spe cial wishes of very special children. Wish-I-Could of North Caroli na is a locally formed non-profit, tax-exempt organization that will try to grant a wish to any child between the ages of 1 and 18 who is suffering from a chronic or terminal illness. The child must be under the care of a North Carolina medical doctor. We are a small group of dedi c a ted volunteers, working together" to bring special moments to chil dren whose lives are filled with pain,fear,tear3 and, oftentimes^ threat of death. We cannot give to - them the gift of health, but we can give to each child and his or her family ... their wish come true. l Our Executive Board will con sider every wish we receive and grant as many as possible. We are fortunate to have Dr. B^rry Golem be, pediatrician at the Nalle Clinic, as our medical adviser. How can you make a wish hap pen? If you know of a child- who would qualify, please send for a request form or notify the family about our group. If you would like to make a contribution or to receive more information, please write to us With your help and support, we can continue to make dreams come true. Thank you for helping us to * make miracles happen for children. Jan L. Hargett President President Reagan 'rides off into the sunset' NEW YORK - Ronald Reagan rides off into the sunset, ending an extraordinary eight-year presidency that leaves a legacy we'll be strug- ' gling with for a long time to come. The Reagan era began with the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, something a lot of people conveniently forget in the euphoria of the long econom ic recovery that followed. President Reagan is one of the few presidents to have largely TO BE EQUAL By JOHN E. JACOB achieved the goals he set for him self when he came to office -- lower tax rates, a big defense buildup, fed eral withdrawal from social pro grams and less government. I suppose that says a lot for his leadership abilities, especially since public opinion polls Consistently showea that most people disagreed with him on specific issues. But the price exacted by meet ing his policy goals has been awe some. The combination of lower taxes and sky-high defense spend ing led to the extraordinary deficits that will handcuff President Bush in the years to come. X Some people see the deficits as a flaw in President Reagan's strate gy of lowering tax rates to produce higher revenues that pay for the military expansion. But the result has been to get the federal debt lev els so high that Congress would W unable to pass new social programs^ or to expand old ones. ~ Another legacy of the Reagan era is the deeper divisions along race and class lines. The past eight years have seen the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. "a* In effect, there has been a huge transfer of resources from the poor to the affluent. Inequality has always been a serious national Please see page A8 Black Caucus influence reached new depths . A ? About a mopth ago, I suggested an opportunity to be elected Speak er of the North Carolina House of Representatives in an anti-Ramsey Democrat/Republican coalition. The response I got was that I was cpfzy and that Liston Ramsey was ^unassailable. Well, Vernon Robinson is not crazy, and Liston Ramsey is jiot Speaker. I had a hard time imagining the North Carolina Black Legislative Caucus having less influence than it had when I wrote a column about the winners and losers of 1988 sev eral weeks ago. After all, this group showed the political foresight of a bat in backing the losing gubernato rial candidate, Bob Something-or Other, to the last person. Well, I was wrong. Last week, the House voted for Speaker of the House. Rep. Joe Mavretic, D-Edgecombe, beat Ram sey in the same type of bipartisan that Rep. Blue, D-Wake, had VERNON ROBINSON Chronicle Columnist coalition the Black Caucus had the opportunity to put together. With one exception, the entire Black Caucus voted for the losing candidate, Liston Ramsey. Shortly after the vote, Rep. Mickey Michaux, D- Durham, was seen run ning around the House floor talking about "unity," but he has no one with which to unify But the* real deal is that 13 members of the Black Caucus have managed to put their constituents in the precarious position of double minority in the lower House. Onlv Rep. C.R. Edwards, D-Cumberland,^ refused to smartly salute and go down wfth the Ramsey ship. His long-time colleague, Rep. R.D. Bear, D-Cumberland, undoubtedly "read him his rights," giving Qdwards an opportunity to join the winning coalition. Edwards is the only mem ber of the Black Caucus likely to get a committee or subcommittee chairmanship. For all of their seniority, the Robinson Caucus mi?ht M well be fresh men, given the influence they will have. The Caucus legislative agen da is dead on arrival for this and possibly future sessions of the Leg islature. The repeal of the second primary looks anemic. Without the second primary repealed, the ^ptospects for significant victories for black legislative candidates before the crucial 1991 redistricting seems bleak indeed. One must wonder: What has Liston Ramsey done for the black community to compel the Legisla tive Caucus to act like a herd of political lemmings? Is there any clearer indication of the folly of lockstep support of the Democratic Party and subordination of the inter ests of the black community to those of party? In politics, you help your friends and kill off your enemies. The Black Caucus failed to put the interests of their community over party. Afro-American voters have some of the shortest memories of political malpractice, as long as the guilty party is Christian and Demo* crat. But the implications of political impotence of this Caucus are so dra matic that black voters, if not totally hopeless, will remove these "yellow dojT Democrats from office and replace them with officials who will keep a proper distance from mind less partisanship and effectively pur sue a black agenda. Vernon Robinson is a former candidate for the North Carolina Senate. |/Vhy participate in a march for Martin Luther King ? 4* Afro-Americans took to the streets iih major cities and towns Z across the United States in the tra i Edition of 1960s' protest marches in ^commemoration of what would been the 60th birthday of the ::R$v. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Itlti Federal and state offices, uni versities, public schools and many local business were closed Monday in honor of the slain civil rights leader. Forty-four states now official ly observe the King holiday. Ari zona, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and New Hampshire do not King began his non-violent civil rights movement in Decem ber of 1955 when the then 26 year-old doctor of philosophy and pastor agreed to participate in a boycott of the Montgomery city bus system. He was eiectea president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and helped organize a 300-car car pool to pick up former bus riders. King took a stand to advocate Mohandas Ghandi's theories of passive resistance in the midst of the ooycott and the jailing of him self and 300 others. The non-violent King was the victim of an assassin's bullet at 6 p.m. April 4, 1968. Less than a week after her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott King led a memorial march 4 in Memphis, Tenn. In memory of King, and in celebration of his dream daily becoming a reality, more than 300 city residents participated in a march Jan. 16. Tltfe Chronicle asked youth why they chose to participate in the march. ?? > ^ ' < i ?? * "Because I feel he had a a?* ? oerncina Chandtor d
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 19, 1989, edition 1
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