mml ? ? B?P? C ? r" ""* 1 *
John R. Thomas C.B. Hauser Vivian Burke
NAACP QQtS support continued from page A1
idem said that, barring any unfore-_
seen roadblocks* the suit against the
Board would be filed Thursday in
federal court in Greensboro. "The
; draft of the suit is ready now," he
? told the gathering, "All I've got do
to is sign it"
That announcement came dur
ing a community forum called by
the NAACP at Goler Metropolitan
A.M.E. Zion Church on Fourth
Street Tuesday night to determine
the community's support for a law
. suit against the school system.
That meeting followed a work
session Monday night by the Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth County School
Board that resulted in a decision by
the board to consider five different
election plans that could do away
with the current at-large system.
* NAACP officials say none of
; the plans meets their demands for
' > an election plan that ensures that
.J African-Americans in this commu
nity can determine who represents
% them on the school board.
Romallus Murphy, general
counsel for the state NAACP, told
_J; people attending the meeting that a
: suit could indeed be filed because it
addresses the basic criteria the fed
1- eral court would consider in
reviewing the case.
He said the suit would have to
: demonstrate that African-Ameri
cans live in close enough proximity
to each other to form a majority dis
?? trict And that polarized voting still
? exists. That is a voting pattern
? where whites vote for white candi
dates and African-American candi
dates get votes from mostly
! African- Americans.
"This why the voting rights act
was established in the first place....
because of what was happening in
this country, especially in the
south," Murphy said. "That is why
it was extended in 1982, because it
? was determined that the need to
- have it in place still existed."
Former school board member
Beaufort Bailey told the group that
' he felt the reason the school board
was dragging its feet on district
; elections is because they felt they
; could beat a lawsuit filed against
the board. He asked Murphy what
he felt the NAACP's chances of
success were. Murphy quickly
asked, "They (the school board)
will lose."
But Murphy told themhe could
nothing until he got the green light
to proceed. He said 40 counties in
North Carolina arc covered under
section five of the federal voting
rights act. That means any proposed
changes in elections would have to
be approved by the Department of
Justice. He said that would not be
the case in Forsyth County. Here,
he said, the community would have
to initiate the action. He called the
arguments against district elections
"poppy- cock."
"Some communities have got
ten together, sat down at the table,
and resolved their differences. I
have been hopeful that larger com
munities like Winston-Salem would
set the tone for smaller communi
ties on matters of this nature. But
that hasn't happened," he said, "The
voting rights act is there. Now its
up to you to use it.
"If district representation is
good for Congress, and good for the
state legislature in Raleigh, why
isn't it good enough for Winston
Salem, unless y'all got something
here other than tobacco and beer."
That comment drew a great deal of
laughter.
Rev. Lee Faye Mack told the
group she felt the money used to
sue the board could be better spent
educating African- American chil
dren.
"Why we have to sue all the
time?" she asked, "What's wrong
with just taking our children out of
the schools, opening up our church
es, and teaching our children our
selves?"
Murphy told her that certain
elements in the community would
just love that and that African
Americans should not play into
their hands.
Walter Marshall, past president
of the NAACP, told her, "You arc
right, Ms. Mack, but if we do that
we are still going to have to pay
those taxes." ?
"This fight is about who con
trols the money," Murphy said,
"who gets the contract, who the
school board, the commissioners,
aldermen, and others do business
with. Just follow the dollar and
you'll learn a great deal."
John R. Thomas, a food service
employee with the Career Center,
reminded the gathering that the
business community had spoken
strongly in favor of the school board
reconsidering its decision not to
change the method of electing board
members. He urged them not to be
silent or divided on this issue.
"Nobody should leave here
tonight arguing about what we
should do," Thomas said, "we
should be of one accord about this
thing."
Alderman Vivian Burke, a
school system guidance counselor at
the Career Center, said, "We are
here to say we need to file the suit.
This school board hasn't done any
thing and won't do anything. We can
let these people play with us if you
want But our black boys and girls
are in trouble."
C.B. Hauser, a former member
of the state legislature, also urged
that the suit be filed. "We ought to
file the suit and then see what they
come with. If it meets what we
want, then we withdraw it," he said.
Annette Wilson, a former
school board candidate and chair of
the research committee that present
? ed the school board with several
election options, said a suit provided
African-Americans with their great
est leverage. "If we miss this oppor
tunity, we have only ourselves to
blame."
When Marshall posed the ques
tion to the group, "Who here feels
we should file the suit?" He got a
unanimous show of hands.
Nance urged people to join the
NAACP and donate to the legal
expenses of the pending court battle.
He said people should pack NAACP
meetings now more than ever.
Meetings are held every fourth
Tuesday of each month starting at <>
p.m. The executive committee^of
the board meets then.. That i$ ?&t
open to the public, but starting at 7
p.m. the general membership meets.
For now, the meetings arc being
held at the Winston Lake Family
YMCA.
After hearing of the NAACP's
decision, school board chair Garlene
Grogan said, "I had hoped we all
could have come to a different con
clusion regarding this matter. I'm
not really surprised that the NAACP
is pursuing the suit, but I thought
the timing might have been a little
different."
Grogan said the board will con
tinue with consideration of election
plans and said she hopes a plan can
be found that all can live with.
Board still looking
Continued from page A1
; work session that she was absolute
ly opposed to district elections. She
maintained that the integrity of the
"one-man, one-vote rule" be
retained and that if the African
American community wanted to
make sure they had representation
i on the board that they get out and
- work for their candidates.
Nancy Woolen* a member of
the board's so-called minority
affairs committee, continued to
push her compromise election plan
calling for a combination district
:and at-large system for electing
; school board members.
School board member Thomas
Voss seemed to be the most exas
:perated after the constant wrangling
and positioning produced no tangi
ble outcome. "I want to have a
binding vote," he saitf, "and then
let's get down to business. Let's get
this thing over with."
That sentiment was echoed by
^oard member Grace Efrid who
said, "We've been fooling with this
: thing since November. We need to
-'get back to the business of doing
county."
? School system attorney Dou
?glas Punger, painstakingly walked
the board through an exhaustive
'process to get the board to reach
some kind of consensus on the
?plans it would consider. Whenever
the board members seemed to devi
nr did nOU
wseejn responsive, he nudged the
process along until a consensus was
finally reached.
Though none of the plans is
binding on the board, the following
is what they will consider Monday:
? A non-partisan, at-large elec
tion for* all nine members of the
board.
? A non-partisan residentiary
plan requiring two members to live
in one or more African-American
districts, with the other seven living
in one or more mostly white dis
tricts. All board members would be
nominated and elected at-large.
? Either a partisan or non-parti
san election with three board mem
bers nominated in a predominately
African-American district but elect
ed at-large. Three members would
be nominated from a white district
and elected at-large, while three
others would be elected at-large.
? Option of either a partisan or
non-partisan plan that would have
two members of the board elected
from a predominately African
American district, four from a
mostly white district, and three oth
ers elected at-large, and finally
? A partisan or non-partisan
plan where two members would be
elected from an African-American
district," the other seven elected
from a white district
The board could decide on a
totally different plan or retain its ear
lier position to keep the current at
large system. Attempts by Wooten to .
okwhith way the hoard was inclined
to vote were adamantly opposed by
Voss and Gerald Hewitt.
<"I think people are expecting us
to accomplish something here
tonight," Wooten said. "But I don't .
want to take another straw vote on
any of these proposals," Hewitt
countered.
Hewitt said the last straw vote,
which was 7-2 to keep the current
election system and later reversed,
had not served the board well then
and would not serve the board weli
now.
"Let's vote on this thing Mon
day, one way or another and let the
Chips fall where they may," Hewitt
said.
"Even if it means a lawsuit, and
_ divisiveness in this community?"
Woolen asked.
"You're speculating. That's your
opinion," Voss shot back.
? After the work session, several
members of the African-American
community left shaking their heads
in disgust.
"It was a waste of time," said
Naomi Jones, president of the Black
Political Action League. ^They arc
not taking us seriously. Ms. Wooten
is trying to tell them how serious
this is, but they just aren't hearing
her."
Rev. J.T. McMillan, spokesman
for the local NAACP, called the
three-hour ordeal "foolishness."
"They wasted our time and
said, "I don't think they arc going to
change a thing."
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Passing on a tradition of quality
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We never forget
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sincf ri^
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