Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 15, 1990, edition 1 / Page 4
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Managing JULIE PfRRY Advertising Manager Publisher The East Winston Parkway WE HAVE asked the question before and we ask it again: why is there no parkway in East Winston? To date, we have not gotten a reasonable explanation as to why it would not make economic sense to have a parkway in the eastern pan of the city. Consider, if you will, the fact that there is a parkway in the north of the city( University Parkway), there is a parkway in the south of the city (Corporation Parkway ),~arvd there is a~ parkway in the west of the city (Silas Creek Parkway). Addi tionally, there is Peters creek Parkway. Yet, when it comes to the east of the city, there is no park way. That strikes a very strange note to us. And it should be of grave concern to everybody who is concerned about the eco nomic viability and economic growth of East Winston. . Ironically, in its 1988 report, the City-County Planning Board recommended the East Winston Parkway. In fact, the report, called the East Winston Area Plan, viewed the parkway as "the largest and most significant project in the East Winston area."- The East Winston Parkway, according to the report, is crucial to linking east winston to the rest of the city, providing access to the proposed industrial and activity centers near Smith Reynolds Airport as well as creating a connection to the residential streets of East Winston. East Winston continues to suffer from serious neglect of its infrastructure. Many streets in the^rea Simply run out. Dead to point. This hodgepodge has virtually isolated East Winston from the rest of the city. The Parkway can positively impact on that situation. Additionally, the parkway can spur retail and commercial development which is so badly needed in the area. Both, the East Winston Area Plan and the just-released Hammer, Siler, George report strongly emphasize the need to improve the infrastructure of East Winston. Some of those recommenda tions are: widening and lengthening 14th Street, building cul de-sacs or turn-arounds, resurfacing streets, improving sight distance(problems at intersections), adding new street signs, building new curbs and gutters, adding new sidewalks or pedestrian bridges, and others. There is much work that needs to be done. We encourage the new board of aldermen to revive the issue of the East Winston Parkway. It is going to take some guts but it is the right thing to do. East Winston has been neglected for too long. Now that there appear to be some developers willing to take some risks in East Winston with the city's help, we believe it is an opportunity that will trigger eco nomic growth forWinston-Salem. Stand Up and Be Counted - The U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau is pro jecting that there are more than 250 million of us in this coun try. Their demographers will have a better idea of how close we are to passing the quarter-billion population mark once the April 1, 1990 census is taken. That's a 10.4% increase over the 1980 census count. The Census Bureau also estimated that as of Jan. 1,1989, the black population totaled more than 30 million or about 12.3% of the total population. Bureau figures show a black population growtn during the past year that is double white population growth. And that the annual growth rate for blacks has exceeded that of whites since 1950. And if current trends are any indicator the black population will continue to grow at that rate or faster. That is why it is more important than ever that the Census Bureau get an accurate count of blacks in this country. A great deal of black political and economic power will be determined by that count. The number of representatives the state can send to Congress is based on the North Carolina population ratio to other states. For example, if the census shows North Carolina lost population, compared to another state that gained popula tion, that state could gain a seat while our state loses a seat. The more population, the more representation. That same population ratio will also determine how our local voting districts will be shaped and therefore who repre sents that district .The greater the number of blacks in a voting district, the greater the likelihood of black representation, if not in Washington, at least in Raleigh, the city board of alder men, the county commissioners, perhaps even the city-county school board. Then there is the issue of federal and state money alloca tion based on the census. Programs like Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Headstart, and a host of others depend heavily on these funds. A smaller head count will mean a smaller allocation of stare and federal dollars. Thar could mean Ui vUltJUViwu ill oCi ? iCvu i Ot iitWoC V* 4 tO Ul C tWUiil V'VJUippUVi lo handle them. These are but a few of the reasons that people should make sure they are counted in the April 1 census, blacks in particu lar. That is why we are both alarmed and outraged that some of our "leaders" in this community would have the nerve to tell the very people they hope to lead not to cooperate with the 1990 census. This is a fool-hearty strategy that does nothing in the long run birr hurt black people.1 ^ We say blacks who qualify to become census takers can shut the door on the excuse for not getting an accurate count and help to ensure that the black population gets what it should receive. If we don't get involved in the census taking process, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the consequences of being undercounted. Reader takes exception to Fair's comments To The Editor: The statements of T. Willard Fair shed implication far beyond the local political eventualities on which they are a dircct commentary. and Eurocentric in historical orien tation, should, perhaps, be acted upon with violence by other blacks. I am one of those who choose (naive thus it mighi be) to be a part of Western Civilization. I read the Nibelungenlied, am a slightly familiar with organizations such as Ostara and have at least one culture bearing female friend whose origins are Nordic, though not nec essarily centered in the Icelandic Eddas. Perhaps those of us whose ~ slave-name delusions are only rivaled by our ability to transfer those delusions into print, should be humored just a mite longer. I must, thus, ask if Mr. Fair is implying that individuals such as myself should be "purged" in the way that historians arc most accus tomed to "purges;" that is disposed ~ oT by tfie acT of murder? If this nagging question isn't answered then both myself and Caucasian individuals that are wild ly incited by statements such as Mr. Fair's words, might continue to 1 assume that that was indeed his intentional implication.^ Also, there are a great many, white individuals who have been deluded into the idea that it is "alright^ to lifrrthem 11 blacks choose to do so. If they are to be expected to do things such as contribute S50 mil lion to the United Negro College Fund they might like some definite answer as to whether it is alright to like them, or alright only to incite both themselves and the growing number of racists? T.W. Fair is Carl Martin Winston-Salem L Thanks for the Honor To The Editor: Please accept my sincere Iks ior nonon Man of the Year. Wake Up! " To the Editor: My brothers and sisters, I have hAfiAQt * K JV livftCat. !? rant and blind. I was highly elated and over- First of aH; you don't realize \yhelmed to know that 1 had been selected to receive this most distin guished award. You and you staff are to be commended for the high standards you have set in newspaper publish ing in a most efficient and excellent manner. Please know that you have my continued interest, support and prayers as you face new challenges reporting throughout our communi ty and across the state and nation. Lester E. Ervin Winston-Salem we're the most beautiful family on earth. Second of air,you let this so called government take away the freedom we deserve. You are bowing down to the white man when, if we stopped falling to his deceitfulness, we could live in true peace. The government spends billions of dollars to go to space, while my brothers amJ sisters hve on welfafe. Open your eyes, you mighty race!! You must realize that if wc don't start helping ourselves, then there will never be help. Common sense shows you what is happening. They're destroying our planet in their quest for wealth ? and we let them. They are getting rich off of Third World Countries. 1 hate to say this, but most of ya'll are stupid. You are licking the would come together, we wouldn't have to go to them for anything. These so-called black stars aren't doing anything for the black community as a whole. Yeah, they might do something here or there, but I'm talking about full participa tion. The saddest thing about this whole situation is when 1 say I w ilt stands up for my brother and sister, they say I'm sick in the mind. Wake up before we're back in slavery. Peace Statistics should help prompt questions Une of the things journalism^ -students are taught early in their - schooling is to make statistics meaningful; reduce them to terms understandable to the average per son. In an address to the Region IV members^f the National Associa-_ tion of Black Journalists here last week, U.S. Rep. Mike Espy, D Miss., delivered some understand able but sobering statistics. The member of the powerful House Budget Committee painted a statistical portrait of how America shifted from a creditor nation in 1981 to a debtor nation in 1989, how President Bush is using statisti cal distortions to increase military spending, how the peace dividend can be used to further the cause of black America and how Japan is giving the United Stales the shaft He talked of the trillions of dol lars wc now owe and all of the print and broadcast media professionals, as well as college journalism stu dents at the Friday lunchcon under stood that that is a lot of money but how much is a lot of money? Mr. Espy said as a creditor nation in 1981, the amount of money owedto ^vas enough to give each American family $2,500. But during the Rea gan years we shifted from creditor to debtor, and in 1989 if our nation al debt had to be paid off by direct assessment, each American family Caucus would ineet this^weekno propose a cur of approximately $20-22 million in the defense bud get. This would be some of the much-talked-about peace dividend, AGAINST THE GRAIN By ROOSEVELT WILSON would owe $ 1 1 ,000. Ha added that the United States pays SI 50 million per day in inter est on the national debt, most of which is owed to Japan. That is a lot of money. Mr. Espy said President Bush is "prevaricating" when he says the new budget request shows a decrease in defense spending. "The decrease is in the percentage of increase over last year, but the bot tom line is more, and if it is more this year than it was last year, that to me is an increase," he said. With the threat of hostilities subsiding around the world, Mr. or net savings in military spending, because of the lessened U.S. mili tary presence in other parts of the world. When asked what he proposed doing with the peace dividend, Mr. Espy said the Black Caucus wants to use the money to increase fund ing for the poor, particularly in areas like some in Mississippi where the unemployment rate is as high as 32 percent and some fami lies have an annual income of *$5,000. "And these pockets are not limited to Mississippi," he said. "You can find some in every state." In addition, Mr. Espy, who also is a member of the House Hunger, Domestic Programs and Agriculture committees, gave other~staggerirTg~_ statistics: We spend S800 million a day on the military; most of our national debt is owed to Japan but 80 percent of the oil we are protect ing in the Persian Gulf goes4p Japan and Japan pays nothing for this protection. While it is generally agreed that statistics can be used to support virtually any position, I think Mr. Espy's use of the figures is realistic and provides us with something to ponder and should move us to ask some serious questions of our elect ed officials: Why aren't we doing some thing about the national debt? Why do we continue to increase defense spending when there is an obvious decrease in the need for defense? Why do we spend so much money to make the Persian Gulf safe primarily for Japanese interests when most of our national debt is owed to Japan and most of the oil we protect goes to Japan? ...And when will we ever learn that reading George Bush's lips is like reading the lips of a ventrilo quist or a character in a Godzilla movie: Lip movement has no rela tionship to the words that come out. An open letter to white racists and their black helpers yUwluUa Ik-Ai * Wt iUWo yut u iuCKo who WiliUK tikC So vindictive was White that white critics) who are spoiled by a TONY BROWN S JOURNAL By TONY BROWN k V V- uOtilt Uw o una some bad news about the opening of "The White Girl" in theaters. But first, for those blacks who have been praying that the movie fails, here's some good news. When we opened the picture in New York on Feb. 9, 60 percent of the critics of white papers said they wished the picture had never been made. One said aloud what the oth ers were thinking: "Who needs black pride in a movie?" Also in New/York, the Negro "critic" of a black paper, appropriately named Armond White, ouidid the whites in a scurrilous personal attack on me another black critic, Abiola Sinclair of The Amsterdam News , called his tirade "bitchy" and unfounded. I admit that the film is not perfect and <was not made to satisfy while constant Hollywood diet of sex and violence. In fact, the white Negro was infuriated that no pcniscs or .pubic hairs were in view. But the main offense came liOltt UlC WhUCb III UlC iiouywoou establishment. Gene Siskel of the Siskel and Ebert television team saw the film in Chicago at the Cabiiini Green Housing project wnere the mostly-black audience clapped, yelled and gave the movie a standing ovation at the end. Siskel never mentioned that fact on his TV show. Instead, he said the movie's anti-drug theme had no place in the theaters. Siskel should tell that to the parents who arc concerned that their children will get hooked on drugs or to the young people, who after seeing the film, vow to never use drugs.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 15, 1990, edition 1
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