Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 3, 1992, edition 1 / Page 1
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1992 ? SEE CELEBRATION: AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY, SEE PAGE B9 ? 28 PAGES THIS WEEK vf! A Changed Life Hands Up! Gangster gives up life of crime and hits the books. PAGE A7 Cline of North Forsyth shoots a jumper over two Reynolds defenders. PAGE BS Winston-Salem Chronicle 75 cents 'The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly" VOL. XIX, No. 14 Homeowners May Be Forced Off Old Homestead Property A A black family has owned a deed since 1910: the other appeared in 1952 and was passed through white hands. By SHERIDAN HILL ? Chrome/# Assistant Editor . The heirs of William Conrad are struggling to hold onto the Bethania property he purchased in 1910. His daughter, 71 -year-old Betty Conrad Byers, holds a 1910 deed that cites her ownership at "2 acres, more or less." Byers said her family has lived on and farmed the two acres since 1885. Winifred Z. Speaks holds title to most of the same \ tract. Speajb said she wants the Conrad heirs (Byers and her son, Ali Shabazz) off the land so she can sell ! it Speaks maintains the Conrad heirs only own ! about a half-acre. Byers' 1992 Forsyth County tax form credits her ; with .67 acre. But the county tax records are suspect. ; In 1972, the county credited Byers with 1.35 acres for the same tract. A deed in legal limbo Herman Brunson, county assistant tax collector, ; said it's "not that unusual" for two different parties to a own the same land. He speculated that when a large tract is sold, the seller often copies his original deed. 1 ION THE AV.VM i GARDE J IW1I ? I BY TANG NIVRi u folks is running, too. We are all running, running from the percep tion of the black male ? real or imagined ? run ning from dark shadows, images synonymous with that of a predator, running from a modern-day menace to the general society, running from the apocalyptic beast in the Book of Revelation let loose out of the pit of hell, terrorizing the poor souls who still inhabit the earth during the latter UpH of the 20th ceatwy. We are all ninning scared. Something is wrong. If you're white, chances are you are afraid purely on the basis of differential calculus ? a statistical measurement of the fluctuating level frustration and anger manifested by a people who were done wrong for centuries. You've observed his association with vio lence and his extraordinarily high participation in the criminal justice system. Thus you are acutely afraid for what might, of what could happen. Mind you, not what has happened from a purely mathe ' matical basis, it really has not happened to you ? yet! ?'?>>. J But statistics and the lessons of history con- 4 vince you that he is bound to get you. And if you ever give him half the chance, he will try to even thescore. But if you're black, your fear of the image of the black male is much different It is much more ?\|risceral. ; ? You are afraid for your Jife and for the life of those like you. For indeed the shadow of the black male HAS fell upon your home. You, your wife, your children, family, mother, father are all his prime target., as well as heart disease, colon can cer, high Mood pressure, stroke, diabetes... and as if that were noc enough, you carry the extra burden ? of bearing the sins of the WHOLE race ? not just yourself. Thus, whenever one black male fails, then regardless of how fine and upstanding your life may have been, you too are considered to have . failed, to be tainted... yes, your fear is far greater. You are afraid to watch the news, cringe as you 1 listen to the radio, waiting, hoping against all hope that is not YOU again, fearfW of hearing YOUR nam# ftTTMmftd Ollt ACMlin frflrillff th Skt Vfi flnftfhif brother has failed. You are afraid of what the future holds for' your own race of people. You are .afraid in the same way that children see their parents when they A..IU. ?i ? a. ,i a. ^ ? * - *?V ?V .svy y?y \-Jr vs, \k*. ? ? * Ali Shabazz and his mother , fielty Conrad Byers, 71, stand before the house her father built in 1885. McKellar Remembered On National AIDS Quilt By M.C. DAVIS Chronicle Staff Writer Julie Davis nearly changed her mind about going to the Greensboro Coliseum Exhibition Hall on Mon day night. She had talked a friend, Jerome Dickens, into accompanying her for the opening night ceremonies for the AIDS Memorial Quilt, publicized as an interna tional remembrance to those who died of AIDS. Davis and Dickens are both juniors at the Univer sity of North Carolina at Greensboro. She had consid ered postponing her viewing of the exhibition. "Actually, I had to talk her into still coming tonight," Dickens said. "I'm a public health education major," Davis said. "So, we talk a lot about AIDS, and I'm doing volunteer work here later this week," Davis said. With a little encouragement from Dickens, she decided it might be better to view the exhibit before her scheduled volun teer shift. Davis, Dickens and nearly 2,000 spectators saw panels of plain white-on-white designs. Other designs were elaborate with dolls, recipes, poems, earrings, fuzzy balls and flowers. But the panel that most piqued the interest of more than a few viewers featured newspaper articles that were electronically transferred onto quilt material. The news was about a black woman. The quilt panel was of royal purple material. It was composed and donated to the memory of Sheila Epps McKellar. The donor remains anonymous. McKellar died in July after being arrested, hand cuffed and gagged by Winston-Salem police officers who responded to an apparent domestic dispute. Cir cumstances of her death have yet to be released. Sandi Diaz, a Greensboro volunteer co-chair woman of the local committee for The NAMES Pro ject, said, "Sheila deserved a panel. It says, 'Where was her advocate?' Who was there to stick up for Sheila?" Diaz asked. "Her story is told in that panel." Please see page A2 Any small tracts that were carved out. and sold separately might not be listed on the deed. Deeds like Byers' exist in a legal limbo. Speaks owns four lots that are part of the property Byers inherited. Byers lives in a mobile home that sets on part of Speaks* lot. And Byers' gravel driveway runs through it Since 1986, Speaks has tried to get them off the land. Said Shabazz, "My grandfather built this driveway. My people have lived on this land for 127_years. We're not going anywhere. We're dugTrTtoltay?4 ? Forsyth County Register of DeedsXT^ Speas offered no explanation as to how two deeds could exist simultaneously for 40 years. "We're not in a position ? ever ? to ques tion something being a properly drafted docu ment," he said. "I can make a deed to you to the courthouse and it wouldn't be worth-any - thing." A default judgment entered In 1986, a Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy delivered a trespassing complaint against Byers and her son. Byers and Shabazz said they were unfa miliar with the legal system, and did not han Mm mtmptgtAl How The Land Got Smaller Forsyth County Tax records show Byers was credited with the following acreage: 1972 1 .35 acres 11973 1 acre 1986 1992 67 acre Glenn West, a cartogra pher with the Forsyth County Mapping office, ^akl-XheJiislJwgjnw bers may have been keyed in the computer wrong. The last two were because of our re mapping. Gerry Walters, 5, holds a candle memorializing victims of violent crimes at a recent anti-crime rally. Discrimination Charges Levied Against Lee Company i By TRAVIS MITCHELL Chronicle Staff Writer * Two black employees have filed separate griev^ - ances with the Winston-Salem Human Relations Com mission against local jean apparel giant Lee Company, Inc., claiming that the manufacturer favors whites in job promotions and unfairly reprimands black workers. "We have an investigation in progress," said Emery L. Rann ID., commission director. "Several officials in the company have been scheduled for interviews. We want to meet the clients' objectives to the best of our abilities." "We don't feel like we have a problem that we couldn't reach an amicable agreement," said Don Han cock, Lee human relations manager. "We would prefer not to have discussions in the newspapers. We have no comment on any details." Both women are Winston-Salem residents, but their addresses were unavailable on Monday. Olivia Evans filed her complaint based on her termination from the company. Susan Paris stated that she was passed over for a promotion when the company favored a white woman. Both complaints were filed in November, Rann said. Rann said that the commission s powers were lim ited by state law. "Workers have very few rights," he said. "Employ ees can be fired for almost anything. We don't have the authority to subpoena records. We count on companies to act in good faith." TO SUBSCRIBE. CALL 722-8624. JUST DO IT!
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