Winston-Salem Chronicle
"The Twin City's A*ord- Winning Weekly "
Established in 1974
Ernest H. Pitt ? Ndubisi Egemonye
Editor/Publisher Co-Founder
Member in good standing with
Nation* Newspepe* Noth Audit Bureau AfT*ig*fr?ted
Publishers Association Press Association Of CirCUiAtiOAS PtAWws, inc.
udit Bureau Am-team^ 1
Education
Our opinion
School system must
find out why blacks
are punished more.
Why do 37% of our kids
get 70% of the spankings?
A nine-year-old black boy lives with his mother. She
wakes him up before she leaves for work^He' gets himself
ready for school, there's not much foocUn the house, so
he catches the bus without
eating breakfast. On the
bus, he and other students
yell at each other. He eats
breakfast in school, but in
class, he feels far removed
from the white teacher and
the white curriculum. He is
loud in class, pays little attention and distracts other stu
dents. The white teacher does not know how to handle
him. The more uncertain and permissive she is, the worse
he behaves. After several trips to the office, he receives a
paddling. His behavior continues. The paddlings contin
J ue. There has been no real intervention in the child's life.
We don't have a profile of the average student who is
spanked, but this may be close. In Forsyth County, 70%
of the spankings go to 37% of the children: to black kids.
We don't know how much of the corporal punishment
lopsidedness is due to cultural differences, including the .
way whites interpret the behavior of black children.
What a fascinating study this would be for an enter
prising graduate student or local organization to under
take: who are the recipients of corporal punishment, and
what kinds of problems do they bring to school with
^hem? Are they black kids, or are they poor kids? How
does a child's economic situation affect his other behav
ior at school? Wh^> Are white students excused for the
same type of behavior for which ai^ack student is pun
ished? Do black children curse more than white children?
How does the relevancy of the curriculum affect the
behavior and attention span of the student?
Children should not have to come to school to be
? ?
punished, and no teacher should have to use school time
to punish students. Discipline should be set up and .
enforced from the home. In the absence of home-admin
istered controls, schools must have alternatives. But cer
tainly positive alternatives are available, and they can
begin with educating themselves about the black culture.
How does a principal define disruptive behavior? Are
there behaviors that are acceptable in the black student's
home, but not the white student's home? By whose stan
dards are black children judged? Black children may tend
to be bolder, louder, more aggressive, more apt to speak
up and act out as a way of showing their leadership.
White kids probably know the system, know the expected
behaviors, and act out in more subtle ways. If it is true
that black children act up in disproportionate numbers,
: let's examine why.
r
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/eousrmmoNS?
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About letters
? ? ' ?'* '
The Winston-Salem Cftwifcte *?lcom?* )???? from it# readers,
: as wait as coluro ns.
Letters should boosoonciss as possible andshoutd be typed or
'^Thiy'ihw should include the name, address, and telephone
tettow thasama guidelines and wi# be published
Reader wonders why government serves so few
To the Editor:
What a wonderful public ser
vice you could render if you could
distribute leaflets in our slum areas
? and even others of the articles
about racism being only an obstacle
(Sept. 19). It's true! We use it as an
excuse to do nought Why does an
appreciable number benefit from
our form of government and too
many remain poverty-stricken wait
ing for handouts.
J. Johns
Anti-censorship
To the Editor:
Censorship is on the rise /in our
public schools. It seems unthink
able, but too often a small minority
attempts to dictate what all students
can read. .
Recently, a national survey
revealed 229 such cases in public
schools across the country.
Although compromises were
offered, in 87% of the cases, objec
tors sought to restrict materials
from all students.
In North Carolina, three such
incidents occurred. In Burlington,
the parents of a fifth-grader sought
to ban a book from the school
although their chik| was not
required to read the book.
One of the objecting parents
stated, "The moral integrity of our
children is more important than lit
erary value." The books in ques
tions were reviewed and retained,
?but the message was clear. The
freedom to learn is not sacrosanct
? And censorship is not limited
merely to books. It extends to pro
grams in drug prevention and sex
education as well. According to a
recent survey of N.C. health educa
tors, birth control heads the list of
censorship targets.
North Carolina teachers report
ed that 90% of parents support fam
ily life education, yet students do
not rcceivc information they need
in a way Jhey can understand.
One health coordinator
remarked, "If it's controversial, we
^must refrain from saying things or
watch how we say things. We must '
be sensitive to the community. '
However, sometimes we are overly
sensitive and the kids may not pick
up on our messages because we
water things down."
With the proliferation of dis
ease, teenage pregnancy and infant
mortality, our young people cannot
afford to remain in the dark.
Knowledge is not dangerou? igno
rance is.
Prepared health professionals
should not bear the additional bur
den of censorship. /
Our schools should be havens
for learning and should protect and
^ promote the welfare of all young
people. The fact is, AIDS exists. ^
Teen pregnancy exists. If we
care about the health and future of
our children, we have a duty to
CHRONICLE MAI LB AO
Our Readers Speak Out
provide complete and comprehen
sive information.
The effect of censorship in the
public schools is devastating. Our
young people do not deserve to be
prisoners of ignorance.
Sincerely,
4 Cathy R.Stuart .
Executive Director
People for the American Way
Candidate hopeful
To the Editor:
I am writing because I want
you to know that I will be a candi
date for Governor next year. And I
want you to know why.
1 will run because I believe in
the people of North Carolina ?
and in what they can achieve. With
the right kind of leadership from
the Governor, we can build the
future wc want for our state.
This election will be one of the
most important in our lifetimes. It
will decide whether North Carolina
leads or lags behind in the 21st
Century. It will decide whether we
make fundamental changes that
will put North Carolina on a posi
tive path.
We can do it, if we work
together. There is every reason that
we should be a leader. We have
great advantages in natural
resources, climatc and location.
Our people ^re hard-working and
enterprising.
We can compete with any state
and any nation if we have a first
class system of education that
equips North Carolinians with the
skills and knowledge they need in a
modern global economy.
Because North Carolina should
build its economic future on a foun
dation of high skills, not low
wages, we need a three-part strate
gy:
1) Expanding early-childhood
education and making it affordable
for parents;
2) Forging a statewide consen
, sus for real school reform ? more
' lasting and more far-reaching than
anything we have done to date.
This means setting high standards
for what every single student learns
before graduating. It means a
sweeping change in decision-mak
ing authority ? away from Raleigh ~
and to local schools. It means pro
viding the essential resources. It
means giving teachers the freedom
and flexibility to do the job 'they
know how to do. And it means giv
ing parents more voice in the edu
cation of their children; and
3) Significantly upgrading the
skill training that is available in the
community college system and in
the workplace ? for adults who are
working and for students who are
not headed to a four-year college.
These are the things that I care
about more than anything else.
They are goals that North Carolina
can accomplish. They will enable
us to take charge of our future.
If we build the education sys
tems we need, then we will have
better job opportunities. And then
families will be able to provide
what they want for their children
and grandchildren ? good homes,
decent health care and a head start
on life.
? What we must have is a new
attitude and approach. The change
we need will not come from
Raleigh alone.
It will come from neighbor
hoods and communities, from indi
viduals taking action and exercis
. ing responsibility. It will come
from the bottom up, not from the
top down.
Together, we can change
North Carolina ? one community
at a time, one school at a time, one
young person at a time.
Since 1985, I have traveled
throughout the United States and
the world with commissions
involved in education and econom
ic development. 1 have seen that
some of the brightest people and
the best ideas are right here in
North Carolina.
So, every day I can during this
campaign, l am going to take time
to visit a school or a successful
early-childhood program or a com
pany that has a good training pro
gram. We need to focus attention
not only on what North Carolinians
can do, but on what they are doing.
I want this campaign to be a
crusade for what North Carolina
can be.
And 1 want it to be a positive
campaign. In 1984, 1 saw the dam
age that negative campaigns do to
North Carolina. I learned a lesson.
North Carolina deserves better. I
pledge that my campaign will be
clean, fair and focused on the
issues.
Jhis campaign is about North
Carolina's future and about what is
best for our state. I want you to be
part of it. In all of my campaigns, I
have depended on dedicated people
who want to -build a better North
Carolina.
This time, I am starting all
over. I need the friends who have
been with me before, and I need
those who want to get involved for
the first time. To everyone, the door
is open.
I invite you to be part of our
campaign. I challenge you to be a
part of making North Carolina
great
My warmest personal regards.
Sincerely,
Jim Hunt
Discrimination remains strong
Affirmative action
critics on wrong track
One of the uglier aspects of
the debate over the nomination of
Judge Clarence Thomas to the
Supreme Court has been the way
his supporters rushed to use his
rise from poverty as a stick with
which to beat affirmative action
programs.
They're claiming that such
programs aren't necessary; that
they only benefit middle class peo
ple, and that the only way to make
it in our society is through positive
values and self-reliance.
What bunk! They are wrong
on all accounts.
Discrimination, subtle or
overt, remains strong. Even this
Administration's Labor Department
has started a campaign to combat
the "glass ceiling" that blocks
minorities and women in their
careers.
Affirmative action programs
are important tools to get people
into the job pipeline with the
opportunity to advance.
Does^that mean such programs
are for the middle class, or, as
some britics put it, for the elite?
Not by a long shot The Labor
Departments study of several
major corporations found that the
glass ceiling often kicks in not far
aoove entry-level positions.
And some of the most visible
legal challenges to affirmative
action programs have involved hir
ing and promotion practices affect
ifications. .
That gives the lie to charge
that affirmative action forces
employers to hire unqualified peo- .
pie. . .
TO BE EQUAL
By JOHN E. JACOB
ing police officers, firemen, con
struction workers and others who
can hardly be labeled "elite."
One of the affirmative action
decisions of the Supreme Court
that would be overturned by the
civil rights bill before Congress
involved minority workers in a
cannery plant
So the prime beneficiaries of
affirmative action are not the afflu
ent but the working class.
If some programs don't direct
ly benefit the poor ? and many do
? it's because they recruit people
with the qualifications to enter a
college or hold a job, and many of
the poor have been denied the
opportunities to acquire those qual
4,
The critics want it both ways
? to say the programs undercut
merit and at the same time to com
plain that they don't benefit those
who don't qualify.
And by fiddling with the num
bers, the critics of affirmative
action try to make it appear that
most African-Americans are in the
middle class and don't need special
protections.
But barely a fourth of all black
families have earnings of $35,000
or more ? the median level for all
white families ? and most are in
that bracket because two or more
family members work.
Such families are still a minor
ity. A smaller percentage of
African-American families earn
middle class incomes that are in
the $15,000-and-under earnings
range.
Finally, the critics of affirma
tive action try to convince us that
self-reliance is the path to success.
Of course it is. Always has
been and always will be.
Affirmative action opens pre
viously locked doors to those
whose self-reliance and values ,
have made it possible for them to
make it
- Generations of African- Ameri
cans have firmly held to strong
personal values and self-reliance,
only to find themselves denied
opportunities by discrimination
and prejudice.
In fact, Judge Thomas exem
plifies that: his hard work and his
attitude helped him to get the skills
our society values.
But it still took affirmative
action programs to get him into
college and law school and into
employment commensurate with
his skills.
The campaign against affirma
tive action is an exercise in
hypocrisy, and no one should fall
for the lies and half-truths that
degrade the debate.