Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 26, 1989, edition 1 / Page 4
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Paga A4 WtaatetbSaJan Chixxuck Thursday, January 26, 1989 Winston-Salem Chronicle Founded 1974 ERNEST H. Pin Publisher MICHAEL A. PITT Assistant to the Publsher ANGELA WRIGHT Managing Editor JULIE PERKY Advertising Manager NDUBISI EGEMONYE Co-Founder ELAINE L Pin Office Manager BRENDA THOMAS Production Supervisor The NAACP and the billboards WE'RE sure that many of our Afro-American citizens are wondering why the National Association for the Advance ment of Colored People would fight to preserve billboards. It is an issue that would seem to most people to have no racial connotations. Yet, Walter Marshall, president of the Winston Sale ns; m/Forsyth County NAACP, and Dennis Schatzman, state executive director of the NAACP, both made statements adamantly opposing a ban on billboards during last week's Board of Aldermen hearing on the proposed view corridor along the new 1-40 bypass. . They stated that such a ban would adversely affect the Service industries which employ a large number of Afro Americans, thereby causing Afro-Americans to lose those jobs. ] They would have us believe that banning billboards along an 11 -mile stretch of highway would cause such severe finan cial hardship ^ th^ ^5n^comp^ieTwouId be forced to lay off {heir Afro- American workers. Neither of the men offered any tfata to support their claims. ) Given the weaknesses in their arguments about protecting Afro-American jobs, we wondered what might be the real fnotivation for Marshall and Schatzman to inject the NAACP into s^ck-arrobviously non-racial matter. It didn't take long to ix?w the probable connection. Rodney Sumler is second vice president of the NAACP and owner of Associated Consultants. The Naegele Outdoor Advertising Company is a client of Associated Consultants, so it seems there is a conflict of interest here. It seems the NAACP is being used to promote private business interests that have nothing to do with the needs of Afro- Americans. Marshall mentioned in his statement that last summer the NAACP "was able to secure a billboard on Route 52 publicizing our national membership radio fundi* The NAACP may not have had to pay for the billboard, but it's obvious that it now owes something to Naegele.?, It is disturbing that the business of our local branch of the NAACP seems to have less and less to do with the affairs of Afro- Americans and more and more to do with personal agendas. Schatzman's reaction to the statements by Alderman Martha Wood concerning the targeting of Afro- American ?consumers by liquor and tobacco companies-was a goodindi cation x>f the^ type of "leadership" we have in the local NAACP. Wood was reiterating what many Afro- American leaders around the nation have been saying for years: The Afro American consumer is being targeted by tobacco and alcohol companies. That is a fact. Anyone who doubts the veracity of that statement need only to check on some of the "charitable" activities of those industries. .. They are sponsoring many worthwhile endeavors within the AfiKAmerican community, such as scholarships, black history programs, and convention activities for major black organizations. But, nonetheless, the objective is to peddle their wares and solidify a consumer base. It's unfortunate that Schatzman is unable to comprehend this issue. Instead, he would rather rail against Wood and call ;her a racist. There are many people in this town we would call racist; Martha Wood is not one of them. J What is racist, however, is the joke told by Schatzman ?himself at the end of his statement. If he would check the ori gins of his material before he engages in such ridiculous ban ker, he would find that in circles outside the Afro-American community the "elderly gentleman" is a "nigger". Thanks to all who made Jan. 16 a great day * ' To The Editor: | ~ "" illllllllllllll>"milllllllllHHIimi?l The commemoration of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday will always have a very special meaning to me, because of a very unfortunate incident that happened to me. 1 will always hold true to the ideas for which he lived and diec and the changes that he helped tc bring about for all minorities. I, noi only on Jan. 16, but throughout the year, express to my children the importance of the4egacy that Dr Martin Luther King Jr. left for all people ? to have a dream and tc fulfill that dream. Sincere thanks to the commit tee for planning the activities; the parents for sending their childrer out; the Winston Lake Family Y foi the use of its facilities; the radio sta tions for airing such a memorable event; the teachers for sharing theii knowledge of Dr. King with the stu dents; the students for being recep tive to the life that Dr. King led. Also thanks to all other organi zations, companies and individuals for their tireless efforts, patience time, knowledge and, yes, money that it took to make Monday, Jan 16, a day to be remembered, 1 was not able to attend the activities during the day, as I have in the past, but my daughters told me what a wonderful dav it was Again, thanks to all of those whe still carry the dream in their heart* and their everyday living. Vickie H. Hairston Winston-Salem I ? CHRONICLE MAI LB AG Our Readers Speak Out Mental Health successful, happier, more produc tive people. And in some cases To The Editor: Mental Health is saving lives -- and doing no harm that I can see. ^n response 10 recent news cov^ Of course, anything may be erage of the local Mental Health improved, and that's a good thing to agency: In my long and at times do. But Mental Healtfi conies about as heavy involvement with Mental close as humanly possible to being an Health, I have found that virtually undiluted good influence in this com all of these people mean well and munity. Thank you Mental Health are quite effective in doing an awful people for all the good you do. lot of good in assisting indefinite This is a "liberal Democratic" hundreds or thousands of people get view. over what bothers, them, get their Cody Yasinsac heads straight and go on to be more Winston-Salem 1 1 I On recycling To The Editor: The League of Women Voters of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County has endorsed a local group's propos al to start a county- wide system to collect used motor oil for recycling. The League also strongly supports a proposed bill that the General Assembly will consider this year possibly leading to a statewide sys tem by 1990. It was reported in Frank Ttirsi's Jan. 6 Journal article on oil recy cling that Robert Fulp, director of Please see page A8 1988: A year of politics, a year of drift NEW YORK - 1988 was a year dominated by politics. It saw the rise of a serious black presidential candidate, and the election of a new president who appears capable of breaking with at jeast some of the mistaken^ direc tions of the past eight years. Conventional wisdom says the 1988 election proved the political powerlessnes$ of blacks. But. as is often the case, conventional wis dom is wrong. The black vote makes its maxi TO BE EQUAL By JOHN E. JACOB mum impact in close elections, but the 1988 presidential campaign wasn't close. Blacks gave more than 86 percent of their votes to the loser - not out of enthusiasm for him, but against a candidate who had served the Reagan administration. , On the state and local level, however, th^felack vote did have an impact on several important races. Black votes, for example, provided the margin of victory for Sen. Laut enberg of New Jersey over his pop ular Republican rival. And the number of blacks in Congress increased to 23, with the addition of Donald Payne, who car ried New Jersey's 10th Congres sional District. The justified pride in his elec tion as the state's first black con gressman should, however, be joined by heartfelt gratitude for his retiring predecessor, Peter Rodino, who was a stalwart champion of civil rights and who did so much to assure passage of key civil rights laws. ' Conventional wisdom also says whites won't vote for black candi dates, but Jesse Jackson garnered white votes in his primary cam paigns, and Mississippi^Rep. Mike Espy won re-election with 40 per cent of the white vote. But politics wasn't all there was to 1988. A small step forward was Please see page A8 Superintendent selection can heal racial tension n>e U.S. Supreme Court struck VERNON ROBINSON down minority set-aside programs earlier this week. Many of the mil lions of Afro-Americans who are not constitutional scholars see this decision as the latest evidence that the end of a second period of recon struction is drawing near. As this anxiety level rises, the common ground for biracial cooper ation to solve the social problems of our day becomes smaller. "Winston-Salem's majority com munity is concerned about the per ceptions of racial disharmony. These perceptions in the minds of corporate relocators, tiiQ people who influence where companies relocate, mean that it will be that . much harder to bring the companies to town to jump-start the local econ omy. The city fathers and mothers tend to want to treat the symptoms of racial conflict rather than attend to the causes. They talk about inability of the Board of Aid auenu * ma >ut the J the ermcj^v "Chronicle Columnist to get along. What they mean is that the board is too black, does not share their economic interests and that the four A fro- American alder men and Martha Wood should be replaced. I am amazed that these individ uals continue to pick unnecessary fights with the Afro-American com munity. The best example, but cer tainly not the only one, was the insensitivity toward the naming of the Memorial Coliseum. There were no white economic interests at stake here, only the world view of World War II vintage white supremists. Senselessly, efforts were made by prominent members of the com munity to block naming the colise um after Lawrence Joel. And the matter became very messy and, yes, the obvious racial tension spilled all er the papers. It is ironic that those who despair over the ^nd4esse*^racial tension1 in the selection of the Winston-S Roblnson city's image refuse to com promise on issues that virtu ally^ assure racial confronta tion. Many of these people have decided to replace the ward system with one that combines wards and at-large seats to create a "more representative body" (i.e., an unassailable white majority). Evi dently, they plan on replacing the pre-clearance provisions of the Vot ing Rights Acts as well. Black folk will fight such a plan tooth and nail. Such a plan is not negotiable. The other folk ought to know that they cannot buy enough black folk to effect such a plan. The image-conscious have another opportunity to moderate alem/ForsythXounty school super intendent. In addition to the qualifi cations one normally considers, such as educational leadership, experience and scholarship, the next school board superintendent must reduce racial tension and ensure equal access to educational opportu nity. Only Dr. Barbara Phillips fits these criteria. Rejection of her bid for the superintendent's job also rejects the aspirations of the Afro American community and heightens racial tension. If her style of consensus and conciliation is rejected, confronta tion is the only approach other than "yes, massa." Winston-Salem has an opportu nity for healing - if the blinders are taken off first. Vernon L. Robinson is a former candidate for the N.C. Senate. What was the biggest news event during the year 1988? 1988 was a year chockfull of hews and major happenings both in this country and abroad. Jimmy Swaggert bared his Jsoul on national television and asked his followers to forgive him !his indiscretions. Mike Tyson and his bride, Robin Givens, waged the biggest bout of all on national television, in the tabloid an through Barbara Walters' 20/20. The nation watched and waited to see what heavy weight burden Robin would next lay on her - clinically "depressed" husband. *0 Television took us to the Seoul Olympics where Florence "Flo Jo" Griffith-Joyner was the talk of the Games, along with Ben Johnson, who, unfortunately, captured more dubious recogni tion. Major disasters were endured "The way the Democratic Party was going and the way Jesse \{ Jackson tried to run tor president." "The way the campaign was run. There was alot of stuff going on with the campaign." Ethan Sharrcx I'TiiOearth quakosand Hvnettl^ ? [down." w?ymoum both by the Soviet Union and the United States. Thousands were killed iti Armenia when an earth quake struck suddenly and Ameri can lost loved ones at Christmas time when a terrorist's bomb blew a New York-bound airline from the sky. "Bush win ning. The air line acci dents. It was n't a boring year.' Andy Wharton But the biggest news of 1988 was the Presidential election cam paign. The election's outcome seemed almost anti-climactic in light of the attention given the per ceived slighung of the^Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Democratic Con 'The presi ntlal race, ere wasso ucfr slander both sides." vention and all of the mud that was tossed back and forth between can didates Gov. Michael Dukakis and Vice President George Bush. Chronicle Camera asked resi dents what they considered the major news event of 1988.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 26, 1989, edition 1
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