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*11
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Urban League's selection?
There is a great deal of irony in the Urban League Board's
selection of its new chairman. And considering the controversy the
League and its board have gone through, one can not help but
, wonder if there might not be a connection between what is past
? and what is present on that board.
The board no doubt felt that Nat Irvin II is an effective and
capable leader who would be able to lead it during a difficult tran
sition period. However, board members may not have considered
certain other facts when they cast their votes or how those facts
may have some future impact on Urban League matters.
Marshall Bass, chair of the Winston-Salem State Foundation,
served on the Urban League Board off and on for more than 20
years until being forced to rotate off along with other board mem
bers in the wake of the Delores Smith dismissal.
As chair of the Foundation, he has been responsible for bring
ing thousands of dollars into the university over the years and
therefore carries Considerable influence.
With the election of Irvin, a vice chancellor at the university,
as chairman of the board, one must wonder if at some point there
might be a conflict of interest.
This is not to suggest that such an occurrence is likely or even -
' being contemplated. But the situation is worth consideration in
viewing how the board will function. And one of the first tests of
__hawuhisix)aid audits Jeadership^vill iunctioais howithandlesits
selection of a new CEO.
?
Graduation '91 , the place to be
Project Graduation just may be the next best thing to whole
someness as mother's home cooking. The success of the program
last year has already helped thousands of young people, high
school seniors, through one of the most dangerous periods in their
lives, graduation night.
Parents let's face it, that is one of the most exciting events your
child will experience. Many will think they have reached that point
in their lives, as we all did, that they are grown and ready to take
on some of those adult pleasures they have been kept from.
Unfortunately for some, that belief can and has lead to abuse
of both alcohol and drugs. It is during this period that our children
face the greatest danger of being involved in drug or alcohol relat
ed accidents.
That is the reason County Commission chair, John Holleman,
through STEP One came up with the Substance Abuse-Free Envi
ronment Initiative (S.A.F.E.). The goal is to get the entire commu
nity involved in providing a safe, alcohol and drug free graduation
celebration.
The statistics concerning teenage drivers and alcohol related
deaths nationally are sobering and so are the numbers close to
home. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Program near
ly 8,000 teenagers a year die in alcohol and drug related accidents
with close to 200,000 critical injuries.
In 1989 in Forsyth County, the year for which the latest figures
were available, there were more than 2,000 crashes involving
young people from age 16 through 20 at least 70 were alcohol or
drug related. Eighty people suffered death or serious injuries as a
result.
Tragically,, there are far too many examples of this situation
occurring especially on graduation and prom nights according to
the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Sergeant D.L. Pridgen of thfc
local office in Winston-Salem said the number of people usually
killed or injured as a result of alcohol and drug related accidents
appears to go up ?n those nights. He said the frequency of those
accidents seems to be directly related to both the number of
schools holding these events and the size of the schools.
All graduating seniors in public and private schools in Forsyth
and Stokes counties and their guests are the focus of the May 31
event at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. Last year nearly three thou
sand kids attended the giant party. 'Project organizers expect at
least that many, perhaps even more to show up.
Organizers are proud of the fact that there was not one report
of any alcohol or drug related accident or incident involving any of
the kids who attended the event last year.
There will be plenty of police security and everyone will be -i
checked for alcohol and drugs before they are allowed to enter the
fairgrounds to participate in the night-long schedule or recreational
activities that have been planned.
Through this program, our children leam that there is an alter
native to getting loaded on their "big night" in order to have fun.
What parents must do is encourage their sons and daughters to
attend the event and that it is really preferable to a wilder night of
fun from which they could end up in hospitals with their lives
changed forever or from which they may never return at all.
Right now, tickets are on sale in each of the public and private
high schools in both counties, for seniors only. Students should not
wait until the last minute to decide if they plan to attend. It is your
night and a lot of people have gone to a great deal of trouble to
ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable experience.
The Fairgrounds will be closed to everybody but seniors and
their quests who have tickets. Activities will include musical enter
tainment, movies, arcade games, fireworks displays, dances, all the
food in the world, and a number of other goodies.
A host of people are counting on the seniors to come out and it
would be ashamed to disappoint them. What would be even worse
though is for any one of you to fall victim to peer pressure and
attend a party that offers something other than good clean fun and
end up paying a horrible price as a result.
.. 4 * . ? ?. ?' . ' ?
A ?
. * *
Reader wants former Urban League CEO reinstated
To the Editor:
As indicated by the attached
signatures, we, the citizens of the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
community do request that serious
consideration be given to the imme
diate reinstatement of Mrs. Delores
Smith as CEO of the Winston-Salem
Urban league. We have waited
patiently since her dismissal Novem
ber 21, 1990, but have neither heai'd
nor seen any charges that warranted
the action taken against her.
Living in a city that advocates
democratic process and justice for
all citizens, we beseech this Board
(Urban League Board of Directors)
to take action that will manifest
some of the principles on which this
agency was founded - provision for
employment opportunities,
enhancement of self-esteem, and
provision of self-help.
Mrs. Smith was doing a cred
itable job before her dismissal and
deserves a chance to continue mak- _
ing Winston-Salem a belter place to
live for all citizens.
Please help Winston-Salem by
taking proper action toward Delores
Smith.
Minister Lee Faye Mack
Chairperson of the
Petition Committee
Cornerstone thanks
To the Editor:
Dr. and Mrs. J. Ray Butler and
the United Cornerstone Missionary
Baptist Church Family take this"
opportunity to say: "Thanks, Win
ston-Salem and Vicinity."
? Your many act^of kindness and
words of encouragement along with
your liberal financial support have
warmed our hearts.
Orchids to Mrs. Edith Ray, a
former parishioner of Dr. Butler
who now resides in Albany, N.Y.
Mrs. Ray has graciously sent us a
donation of $2,000 as an expression
of her love and empathy.
We pray God's blessings upon
all who have supported us in our
endeavor to carry out God's com
mand: "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every crea
ture." Mark 16:15
Allie R. Wright, Publicist
Dr. J. Ray Butler, Pastor
-rmL&e
$4*7, se.
CHRONICLE MAI LB AG
Our Readers Speak Out
Jr. League thank you
To the Editor:
The Junior League of Winston
Salem Inc. thanks the public for its
support of the April 19 and,20
Rummage Sale, our annual
fundraiser.
This year's Rummage Sale was
our most successful ever. On behalf
of the Junior League, I want to
thank the customers who attended
and the members of the community
who donated merchandise, thus
contributing to the profit of over
$75,000. These funds will be
returned to the community as we
strive to meet critical community
needs through our projects and our
trained volunteers.
For over 68 years the Junior
League has been an effective volun
teer organization due, in large part,
to the continued effort and support
of our community. We are most
grateful.
Sincerely,
Allison T. McCall, President
Junior League of
Winston-Salem
Reader's poem
To the Editor:
The Making of a Personality
Lying incarcerated in our
mothers' sacks
Swimming and stroking on
our sides and our backs
We acquire data as our organs form
Programmed to cause fear
and mass alarm
What we are is not our making
We chose not what our brains
are taking
We are embryos sensitive
to sounds and pains
Being compelled this way
to utilize our brains
Nurtured by T.V.s,
receiving much waste
Inhaling smoke and maybe
acquiring its taste
Subliminal messages do
immorally affect
causing love of goodness
* for the hearts to reject
Mary L. Aldridge
A poem for the child
To the Editor:
Children We Love You
Life is a struggle,
we cannot explain.
Most time we lose,
but some time we gain.
You and I were raised
many years ago.
Children weren't like this '
we all do know. w
Children can be a problem, ?
don't you agree?
Old ones, young ones want
everything free.
Today it seems, they are all
going astray,
From good and bad homes, -
all want their own way.
Generations are getting wiser
and weak,
In the word of God, -
He also did speak.
Children, try doing right
and stop the wrong, ;
One day if you live,
you will also be grown.
Sow a good seed while you are
still young,
It's lots to do and you will
have great fun.
You've stepped on our feet and
now on our hearts.
Do things right and you will
never depart.
If you will honor and '
obey us as you should,
God will give you a long life,
like He said He would.
We are some of the reasons
you want to do right,
Buying and giving to you,
everything in your sight.
We will be a good listener
to things you have to say,
With time and lots of patience
all along the way.
This.poem is for yQu children,
read and keepHfeMRind,
When things start going right
for you, you'll say
He's here on time.
*
Selma W. Crosby
In the face of
adversity, we must
keep the faith
At the height of the malicious
congressional campaign to dethrone
him and ride him out of Congress, a
smiling Adam Clayton Powell
would always exhort his supporters
to "keep the faith baby." A familiar
gospel rendition often reverberates
through black church sanctuaries on
Sunday: "We have come this far by
faith, leaning on the Lord." And
Imani, Faith is the seventh principle
of the Black Value System. Despite
all the adversity we face, Africans
in America must believe in the righ
teousness of our struggle and that in
the end "truth crushed to earth will
rise again."
Africans in America have suf
fered through the travail of slavery
with all of its shocks and liorrors.
We were torn from our ancestral
homeland, forced to march long dis
tances to the sea and then undertake
the ordeal of the "dread middle pas
sage." The Trans-Atlantic Slave
Trade produced the greatest holo
caust in human history as 100 mil
lion Africans lost their lives by
some estimates.
Once the Western Hemisphere
Africans were subjected to the
"slave breaking" process; a con
scious effort to de-Africanize the
African and create a semi-human
suitable to serve the white master.
We were taught that our African
ancestry tainted us and that our
And "Free Blacks" were at the fore
front of the abolitionist movement
which fought to overturn the slave
system.
Once "emancipated" Africans
in America were still not genuinely
free. We were used and abused by
VANTAGE POINT
By RON DANIELS
color was a badge of degradation.
We were reduced to chattels, prop
erty with no recognized right to
marry or maintain families.
But despite all the trials and
tribulations of slavery, Africans in
America survived. Not only did we
survive, we refused to submit to our
oppressors. The slave masters were
forced to contend with work stop
pages, slow downs, sabotage, the
constant threat of revolt and the
ever present reality of the run away
slaves "stealing away" to freedom.
power hungry politicians and then
abandoned. In the Sout^ we
endured a rein of terror and the
imposition of a rigid system of
apartheid U.S. style. Hundreds of
Africans were lynched as a means
of enforcing the "Jim Crow" system
and keeping blacks in their place.
White supremacy has always shut
tered at the prospect of the potential
of black power.
Despite the odds, African
Americans rose up to defy the
southern system of segregation and
terror. We kept the faith and kept
on coming. The Civil Rights Revo
lution of the 60s and 70s was one of
the great social movements in world
history; a movement that exposed
America's hypocrisy before the
legally sanctioned segregation in
this nation; a movement which
demonstrated that there is nothing
more powerful than a people with
make up minds and the
confidence/faith and determination
to be tree.
Adversity has not destroyed
Africans in America Adversity has
bred the character and faith to shape
Africans in America as a powerful,
humanistic force for change.
African Americans have not been
crushed by the_oppressive systems
of this society. We have sustained a
steady and unrelenting struggle to
overcome and transform a' racist,
exploitative and oppressive nation.
And that struggle must continue
until we are victorious.
In the face of the curreiU crises
which threaten to derail the freedom
Please see page A6
Racism, the
centerpiece of American
life and
politics
The purpose ot this column is
to get you to read specific issues of
two magazines: the May 6 issue of
Newsweek and the May edition of
The Atlantic .
Ironically, both carry a four-let
subject is RACE," The Atlantic
cover says. Newsweek* s cover,
over the faces of a young black man
and a young white man, says, "The
New Politics of RACE."
In effect, The Atlantic says,
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
ter word on the cover: "RACE."
Ironically, I think, both examine
how and why racism has become
the centerpiece of American life and
politics.
"When the official subject is
presidential politics, taxes, welfare,
crime, rights, or values. ..the real
"Race is the subtext of American
politics. Race helps define liberal
and conservative ideologies ? and
gives momentum and vitality to the
drive to establish a national majori
ty" that is heavily influenced by its
own income and class interests.
"At a time of growing distrust
and resentment between blacks and
whites, moral leadership on race has
given way to the scheming of politi
cal operatives armeS with clever
slogans and divisive labels/
Newsweek said.
" Already, the tactics of racial
manipulation have polluted the
debate in Washington over the civil
rights bill, and affirmative action ?
or quotas ? could become the key
issue in the 1992 presidential cam
paign/ it continued.
I have repeated the same mes
sage in speeches across the country
and in this space. The politicians
would rather discuss civil rights,
affirmative action and quotas than
the economic disaster they'ye creat
ed. ri'
Instead of Americans compet
ing for 10 jobs an efficient govern
ment could create, blacks and
whites are reduced to-fighting over
the only job the U.S. politicians did
n't send to Japan and Germany in
exchange for loans to pay tfie inter
est on the national debt ? a $300
billion deficit During the last quar
ter of 1990, Washington borrowed
$328 billion ? "more than ail the
new debt amassed by home buyers,
credit card holders, small business
es, real estate developers and non
financial corporations."
Actually, there's a third maga
zine, U.S. News & World Report ,
May 6 issue, that you will need to
read to keep Newsweek'*, and
Atlantic's emphasis on race in per
spective. "Why too much debt
threatens your pocketbook and the
nation's economy," The U.S.. News
cover states. Translated: How your
Please see page A6