The Double Standard
African-American city employees claim they have been
treated unfairly by their supervisors. The employees are sus
pended without pay, and their boss is reassigned but maintains
his same salary. ? ^ 1 ' _
It's a scenario that has become familiar to many African
Americans who very often find themselves aflhe mercy of
unfair bosses who seem to have little regard for fair play and
use a different measuring stick in their treatment of others who
commit similar infractions. It took a near shouting match in
city hall to get the city manager's office to begin a serious
probe into allegations that African-American city employees
raised months ago. Why? ?
When one is regarded as powerless, he or she receives lit
tle regard or respect from those who have the power.
That is one of the big concerns raised by Aldermen Vivian
Burke, Larry Womble and Nelson Malloy. All are concerned
about the apparent lack of response from the city manager's
office to the allegations raised by African-American blue col- ,
lar wage earners about their supervisors and what was being
done to them.
The individuals who raised the "red flag" in their depart
menLdid scLOut of frustration from the very real perception to
them that a different standard was being applied to them for
actions they say they were led to believe were standard operat
ing procedure. &
; Question. If your supervisor tells you to do something and
gives you either the implied or spoken nod to do it, and you
want to keep your job, what do you do?
City workers now on suspension say they did what they
were told to do. But apparently when they did what they claim
others were doing, it was a different story.
If you are African-American or a person of color, and you
think about it long enough, you are likely to recall countless
examples of similar occurrences on your job. Being passed
over for promotions, not getting the same leeway if you are a
few minutes late getting to work, having to stay longer to fin
ish work for others while they never leem to have to stay, are
all examples of that double standard.
No one condones or should condone the misuse of city
property, time, or tax dollars. When that happens, it costs all
of us. But all who are involved in that practice should be held
accountable, from the highest-paid employees to the lowest.
Wrongdoing is wrongdoing. How that is dealt with should
have nothing to do with who is doing it. ?
Before this matter is resolved, there are likely to be a great
deal of painful decisions to be made at city hall. It will be
interesting to see if the "fair and equitable" treatment for all
city employees is applied.
The mayor and the entire Board of Aldermen should pay
close attention to what happens in this situation because the
wrong actions will send a message to other city employees and
their supervisors about how issues of this type are likely to be
handled in the future. .
The people who have come forward with the information
about what has been' happening have risked a great deal and
may well never recover from the outcome of the proceedings
they are involved in.'
What they have shown the rest of us is that the double
standard is still very much alive despite all the laws and regu
lations that exist to eliminate it. That is why the vigil against
~ such practices can never stop.
Reader disagrees with Alderman's approach
To the Editor:
I am sure anyone who watched
the Board of Aldermen meeting on
Feb. 4 was left with the impression
that the people making the accusa-.
tions against city officials in the
recreation and parks department
were black and the officials were
white. Aldermen Womble and Mal
loy are all too often ready to have
us believe that every situation is us
against them.
I for one do not believe that to
be the case. Stealing, misuse and/or
misappropriation of public funds
should be punished, but I seriously
doubt the aldermen's meeting was
the proper venue to air those con
cerns! I am sure the city has in
place a written procedure to deal
with matters of that nature. In the
interest of fair play, Womble and
Malloy owed it to the accused to let
these procedures run their course. If
after, and only then, the conclusion
of that procedure, they felt justice
was not being served, they could
have turned to another answer
available to them. The entire Board
of Aldermen was elected, or should
have been elected, on the belief
they had the entire city's interest at
heart I am sad to say that with very
few exceptions that is not the case.
Maybe some new, credible can
didates will emerge before the next
elections, in the good of our city, I
hope so. Alderman Womble sug
gested we wait and reserve judg
ment on him about his role in the
political corruption among black
elected officials in Winston-Salem
and Greensboro.
Alderman Malloy has strongly
denounced any complicity or
involvement in a conspiracy to
assassinate the late Huey P.
Newton, one of the founders of the
Black Panther Party. Former Mayor
Marion Barry played the "us against
them" mentality to the hill by con
vincing a jury that, it was not his
fault the world watched as he in the
company of and supposedly at the
urging of my cousin, smoked crack
CHRONICLE MAI LB AG
Our Readers Speak Out
cocaine.
I would hope we as black peo
ple could rise above the slave,
slave-master mentality that so
threatens our future. Our aldermen,
in their positions as policy-makers,
should set a positive example rather
than resort to the tactics employed
by Womble and Malloy. The days
of "if they white, they right," and "if
they black, send them back," are
gone and should be realized by
everyone, especially our elected
officials.
We should all aspire to work
within the system and if the system
proves to be ineffective, then work
to change it.
Thank you,
Steven A. Floyd
President
Winston Sports TYavel Club
Maintain our unity
To the Editor:
At a time when the men and
women in our armed forces are fac*
ing their greatest test, we at home
are facing a test as well. Our test is
to maintain our unity and resolve,
as our troops are doing in the Per
sian Gulf.
We don't want Saddam Hussein
to take this country's tolerance for
anti-war demonstrators as a signal
he should wait out our resolve in a
long and bloody war.
I'm outraged at the brutal treat
ment of our POWs. And I'm sad
dened to see the media give so
much attention to the small number
of anti-war protesters who have -
sprung into action. It seems that
every time a few protestors pick up
their signs, the cameras swarm
around them, and they end up on
the news.
Our soldiers have said that they
have a job to do and are going to -
get it done. I feel I have a job to do,
too. And that's to stand up in strong
support of our troops.
I want them to know that I and
the American people are very proud
of them. We are all inspired by their
bravery.
I hope that you'll print my let
ter, and others like it, in the days
ahead. Thousands of local Ameri
can newspapers are reaching our
men and women in uniforms every
day. Your newspaper may be one of
them. I want the troops to know that
we hold them in our thoughts and
prayers every day. ~ ~
P.S> In my opinion;, the
protestors are extending the war.
Everyone wants peace, but not at
the cost of the precious lives of our
soldiers. We need to concentrate on
supporting our troops.
Sincerely,
Margaret C. Blair
Winston-Salem
?
For our children
To the Editor:
We have let a small group of
our children put fear in us. We are
proud, fearless people. No race on
earthjias endured the trials'of slav
ery, murder, lynching, segregation,
most of which is still going on, and
we are still standing tall. Now we
face oppression from our own chil
dren, crime and violence all over
our city. Groups of young black
boys and men selling death and
destruction. Black girls and women
selling their bodies for this menace
crack. Fear is everywhere.
Please see page A6
Early black journalists are my inspiration
During the summer of 1989, t*
spent 10 weeks as a staff writer
columnist at the Winston Salem
Chronicle (N.C.) as a T. Thomas
Fortune Fellow.
The fellowship, an annual
nationally-competitive award for
education and the black press.
The Chronicle had won the
1988 John B. Russwurm Trophy,
symbolic of the nation's best black
newspaper, and got stuck with me
the following summer as one of its '
many rewards for overall excellence.
.?v
AGAINST THE GRAIN
By ROOSEVELT WILSON
newspaper journalfsrrreducators at
historically-black colleges and uni
versities, is awarded to drra professor
each year. ? , /
The educator is placed at the
paper judged best in the nation the
previous year in a if attempt to pro
vide the educator to sharpen his or
her practical skills, contribute direct
ly to the black press and help
strengthen the link between higher
The richness of that experience
heightened my appreciation for the
black press and its continuing strug
gles and successes despite Its many
obstacles.
But this is not about that experi
ence. It is about the two names asso
ciated with it ? John B. Russwurm
and T. Thomas Fortune.
The first black to earn a college
degree in the United States (Bow
doin College), Russwurm, along
with Samuel E. Cornish, in March
1827 founded this nation's first black
newspaper, Freedom's Journal.
Though he would go to Liberia
two years later to become its super
intendent of education, on March 16,_
1829, Russwurm collaborated with
Cornish for the Journal's first edito
rial, which articulated a philosophy '
of the black press that endures today.
"We wish to plead our own
case. Too long have others spoken
for us. Too long has the public J)een
deceived by misrepresentations, in
things which concern us dearly . . .
The civil rights of a people being of
the greatest value, it shall ever be
our duty to vindicate our brethren,
when oppressed; to lay the case
before the public . . .
"From the press and the pulpit
we have suffered much by being
misrepresented . . . Our vices and
our degradation are ever arrayed
against us, but our virtues are passed
by unnoticed ..."
Fortune, who some say never
wrote unless he made somebody
wince, came along during the 1880s
and until he died in 1928, was a pas
sionate advocate of freedom and a
vocal opponent of oppression.
His razor-sharp editorials
reached all the way to the White
House, once causing President
Theodore Roosevelt to write, "Tom
Fortune . . . keep that pen of yours
off me."
Russwurm and Fortune have
long been an inspiration to me
because they saw the need to speak
out and did so, even when most of
the time it meant going against the
grain.
But unlike Russwurm and l^ot^v
tune, I claim no authority to speak
for others. However, if what I write
makes uncomfortable those insensi
tive to the existence and predica
ment of the oppressed, I offer no
apologies.
At last,. a BlacKHistory Month Special that's definitelv a soecial!
What would you do if. you could get Lee Brown, New York's police
commissioner; Ben Hooks, NAACF executive director; Joseph Lowery,
SCLC president; Shirley^ Chisholm, college professor and the first Black
woman to win a seat in Congress; and four other brilliant, committed Black
leaders to sit down at the same time in a television studio?
You might do what Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) did: Ask Susan
Taylor, editor in chief of Essence magazine, and Tony Brown to moderate
and participate in TBS's Annual Black History Month Special (air date:
Feb. 23 at 10:20 p.m., EST).
Before the taping, I was anxious that the discussion would degenerate
into what the public has come to expect from Black leaders ? complaints
and no plans. The TBS staff, however, had thought out very carefully what
they wanted to accomplish: new directions with solutions to old problems.
New faces on the panel helped steer a new course: Sandra McDonald,
an Atlanta community activist and a sound, energetic thinker; Barack
Obama, president gpf the Harvard Law Review and possessor of good com
mon sense, in addition to a brilliant mind; an astute Alonzo Crim, professor
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
? % ' . ?
and former Atlanta school board superintendent; and Lorraine Hale of Hale
House, a Harlem shelter for AIDS babies, and a staunch believer n self
love and self-help.
I noticed as soon as the taping began in the Atlanta studio that self
help was uppermost on the minds of all of the panelists. As I listened to
Ben Hooks' strong urging that Black people take responsibility for their
own lives, I realized how far we have come in the last 20 years.
"When do we accept the concept that we have to take responsibility for
our lives? When some Black kid gets killed, we don't say White folks made
him do it. , / ^ \
We can't say White folks are making us commit genocide," Hooks
asserts on TBS. Hooks is living proof that the NAACP has changed with
the new demands of leadership.
The organization that Martin Luther King founded, the SCLC, has
renounced and buried integration for the values of equality and freedom. "I
think America has abandoned the strong woman of spirituality and is
shacking up with the harlot of materialism." You will see Rev. Lowery on
Please see page A6
WM?MmSCm,TVW
-v
Judge puts nigger in her place
There was a time in history more cotton to be picked, so he will
when African-Americans could not do anything to stop reproduction of
GUEST COLUMN
By REVEREND RONALD O. ROSS JR.
have enough children for White what they feel are child-beatings
Massa. He wanted us to reproduce house-robbing, dope-ddaling, mur
as fast as wc could. But today dering "Niggers." ^
things have changed. There is no Some say that this theology is a
. v. t ' %
little strong, but is it? 1 don't think
that Ms. Darlene Johnson, a 27
year-old mother of four would say
so. Ms. Johnson was recently con
victed of child-beating by Judge
Howard Broadman, a White male.
Judge Broadman sentenced Ms.
Johnson to one year fn jail, three
years probation and to have the
abortifacient Norplant inserted into
her arm.
? With this sentence Judge
Broadman has contributed to the
Please see page A6
H