Winston-Salem Chronicle
'7 he Twin City's Award- Winning Weekly"
Established in 1974
Ernest H. Pitt ? Ndubisi Egemonye
Editor/Publisher Co-Founder
Member In good standing with:
-^=V
udlt Bureau A
National Newapepof North Carolina Audit Bureau Armlflafmtad
Pubfcahert Association Press Asaoaabon of Circulations Publishers. Inc.
Editorial
Hard-fought victory
Local conservatives and some liberals Took the
position this week that there is no need for a citizen's
board to review complaints against the police
department. The four white aldermen stood united
against the idea when
they voted Monday
night.
One member of the
white community even
suggested that because
the white aldermen
voted against the review
board "doesn't mean that
they are insensitive to the needs of the black com
munity." ?
But that is exactly what it means. A person who
is sensitive to the needs of another says, "I don't feel
what you feel, I don't understand it, but I respect
your needs."
Vivian Burke earned a standing ovation from the
crowd at the meeting when she spoke passionately
about how long and hard the black community fights
for each and every small step towards progress. But
it must be said that Burke's white colleagues, with
whom she has consistendy voted in the past, aban
doned her on this issue. Although she has lent them
her support on countless issues, they refused to sup
port her, and one of them even went so far as to pub
licly humiliate her by walking out on the committee
meeting she chaircdr- ? ? ~
Behind much of the
resistance to a citi
zens review board is
the notion that the
concerns of blacks
are Invalid.
, K>. r
A critical problem between blacks and whites is
the fact that many whites find it easy to explain the
high crime rate in black communities as some kind
of genetic sickness for which there is no cure. But
the black community wants action: we want better
education, more opportunities, more direct commu
nication and responsiveness from the police depart
ment; we want drugs out of our neighborhoods.
The black community does not need excuses and
denials from those who can't see the problem. White
aldermen are not affected by police brutality ? it
isn't their brothers, their fathers, their sisters who are
being jerked from their cars and homes and roughed
up. Can you imagine a small white boy with a quartz
rock being questioned by police for drug posses
sion? It happened here in River City with a small
black boy who now is left with a police record and a
lot of questions about how the police treat black
people.
Mayor Wood deserves great praise for the under
standing and wisdom she displayed during Monday
night's meeting: in the way she dealt with the very
enthusiastic group of citizens in the audience, and
because she had the strength to break the tie-vote in
favor of the black voices who have cried out for this
review board five times in as many years.
White aldermen and white citizens must work
hard to erase the long-perpetuated image of black
men as animals who need to be restrained. Why did
so many white officers feel compelled to restrain
Rodney King? Why was it necessary for such a large
group of white officers in Winston-Salem to sur
round and arrest one black man in his neighborhood
last week?
Why do most of our white elected officials refuse
to acknowledge the reality of the black experience?
About letters ...
The Winston-Salem Chronicle welcomes letters from Its readers,
as well as columns.
Letters should be as concise as possible and should be typed for
- printed legibly. * *
They also should include the name, address, and telephone num
ber of the writer.
Columns should folbw the same guidelines and will be published if
we feel they are of interest to our general readership.
We reserve the right to edit letters and columns for brevity and
grammar.
Submit your letters and columns to:
Chronicle Maibag
P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102
Chronicle vs Journal: a fuller perspective
To the Editor:
I, too, believe the Winston
Salem Journal was remiss in
not promptly printing "the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth" about the alleged Car
los Colon Stone r castration.
And 1 believe the Winston
Salem Chronicle's editorial,
"Tell it like it is," explaining the
differences why the black vs
white newspapers differently
handled the castration story, is
also correct
However,. I think more
explanation is warranted: The
Los Angeles Rodney King beat
ing and race riots were fresh in
the public eye, and possibly the
Journal, seeing itself as a
"responsible" newspaper, wanted
to avoid inflaming the (black)
public, and wished to delay pub
lishing inflammatory details.
A more likely explanation is
this: it is a basic bias of the
white liberal press that race does
not, or should not, be a basis for
daily life, or the reporting of it.
They feel race should not be rel
evant, and they feelj^ite superi
or with their "enlightened" atti
tude.
The Winston-Salem Jour
nal's not telling the whole truth,
initially, about the Stoner castra
tion, 1 suspect, is the result of
this superior white liberal view
point.
In the end, in America, free
dom of the press belongs primar
ily to those that own that press: a
prime reason for blacks to own
their own press; a prime reason
for blacks to support the small
black presses they have.
In my case, as a Caucasian, 1
support the black press because I
want to hear, to read, the other
side of issues. By comparing the
black vs white presses, I ferret
. out a fuller truth, as neither
white nor black presses, nor I,
have a monopoly on the truth.
James Alfred Locke Miller Jr.
Helping ourselves
lb the Editor:
When was the last time we
as a people took some kind of
insight on some of the agencies
in this country? These agencies
that we sometimes depend on
will only bring anger and some
times even the worst out of us. I
wasn't born with a gold spoon in
my mouth, nor have I ever lived
in some of these high class areas
that most of us call home.
The majority of us have for
gotten where we first originated
from or where we are going. I'm
reminded of a family that was
padlocked out of their home on
June 8, 1992 in open shame only
because they didn't have the few
extra dollars that the white man
thought they should have had.
This was a single mother and her
daughter locked out with only
AUKIUKK
WlSMKTON ?#?/
"*VS?Kl\V (f
"WW
twrao pemtw sfHi-^
CHRONICLE MAI LB AO
Our Readers Speak Out
the clothes on their back. The
mother couldn't even work
because her uniform was locked
in the house.
The white man didn't allow
them to get nothing else, which
was real painful. I told her about
several agencies in this county
that she did go to. She was told
at one agency that because she
made a certain salary they could
not help. One agency even told
her that they couldn't offer her
food.
Do you know we as black
people send donations to these
agencies monthly, but when a
working person or anybody that
needs help is denied food or
shelter, where can they go other
than God in prayer? We as a
black race have given the white
man authority to control certain
things. As long as we keep sup
p6rting them, things will never
change.
The black churches are
always grumbling and fighting
each other so much until the
love that needs to be shown has
been deeply covered up. We as a
black race need to take authority
over what belongs to us. We as a
black race were born with intel
ligence.
And as good as a white man
or white church can control their
own money in their own church,
we can too. Quit letting the
white race control what we've
worked hard to get We shouldn't
have to go through nothing to
get what belongs to us. We
shouldn't have to go to these
agencies to let somebody that
hates the color of our skin, tell
us no. We can have shelters for
our homeless to bathe even if it
does call for a few dollars more.
We are always yelling for
justice ahd then we turn around
and still give the white man
what he wants. Let's start now
by taking back what's ours, com
ing together as a people and
keeping our money, clothes, and
food in our black churches.
Don't look around and point
your finger at anybody. Take
inventory of yourself. Our black
pastors need to stop sending
money to these agencies. As
long as we're a puppet for the
white man, our string will be
pulled.
^ Cynthia Caldwell
Look beyond color0
, To the Editor; ;M^ ??M
An incident happened tome
? the other day that really made
me take a look at society and a
lot of its racist views. No matter
how hard I strive to excel in life,
I'm still looked upon as just
another black face.
The thought overwhelms
and saddens me. I thought about
my ancestors before me, their
struggles for a better life, and
my own two children, praying
and hoping for a better life for
them.
Will America ever look
beyond a black face and judge a
person by the contents of his/her
character and not by the color of
his/her skin? In the words of
Rodney King, "Can we all get
along?"
Joanne B. Johnson
A Part of Art
lb the Editor:
On May 2, 1992, ACCESS,
a volunteer organization of
community professionals of the
Southeastern Center for Con
temporary Art (SECCA), held
its annual fundraiser ? Arts
pedition III ? to benefit the
education programs at the
Center. I would like to thank the
Winston-Salem Chronicle for
the article in the May 14th issue
that showed the public and
those who participated in the
event where part of their contri
butions were directed, which
was to the "Color My World"
project
With the help of some "bud
ding" young artists within the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
School System, the created art
will be permanently displayed
in the rooms and halls of Amos
Cottage Rehabilitation Center
for the children to enjoy.
This year's Artspedition was
our most successful ever and we
would also like to thank the over
400 patrons who attended and
the sponsors who donated funds,
services and, in many cases,
time to this event.
Through the tireless efforts
of the volunteers of ACCES, the
staff at SECCA and the creativi
ty of the students of the school
system, we have an end product
that benefits a special group of
children by helping make the
place they call "home" a little
brighter. Thanks for being a part
of the Art!
Jeffrey L. Smith
ACCESS President
Word on the street . .
? In celebration of Winston-Salem fathers, residents talk about the role
of today's father ...
I 1
( To me the role of a father
is there to be a supporter of
his family. He's there to be
the strength for the family. A
family should first look to God
and then to the father. Thafs
the way my mother and
father taught me. All children
need a father and father
should always try to be there
for their children.
)
- Alfred L. 28
f ?
( I think black fathers should
be more of a nurturer and an
educator. I think too many
black men buy into the idea
that they have to be
providers. We know that the
society we live in does not
always allow for that. Some
of them can (be providers),
but all of them can't be that.
But they can always be
nurturers and teachers. j
- Myrna Williams, 40
.1 L
( A father is a provider. He is
the backbone of the family in
essence. He is supposed to
be there to protect his family
and to give encouragment.
Most important, a father is a
role model. Fathers can give
a child that extra needed
love. I'm proud to be a father.
I have a daughter who's 13
and a son who's 10.
- Gary Halrston, 33
( A father should be a strong
figure for a child. I think they
should be there for them to
help guide them in the right
direction and also be there
for them when they have
problems. Children need to
know they can go to them
and talk to them when they
need to. A father can do
things like play football and
baseball with a child also. J
-Ttrrl D. James, 24