LETTERS/OPINIONS
Winston-Salem Chronicle
I he 1 win City's Atvcvd Winning Weekly
FrnKSI H. Pin, Publisher Co- founder N 1)1 BIS! ECEMOWL, Co Founder
Kl( H \K1) L. V\ IIXIAMS. F.xecutivc hditor
El.XlM Pm, Director ot Communis Relation*.
MlCHAKl. A. PlIT, Advertising Manager MKL VN HITL, Circulation Manager
Editorials
j
Missing the Point
_ i ?
It's a doggone shame that whenever black folks get
together for any positive occasion, some folks attempt to por
tray it as something it isn't. The latest occurrence is this
week's Central hitercollcgiatc Athletic Association Basket
-hall Tournament. which is. being- hosteU here through Satur
day. This tournament, in its 4Mth year, is one of the oldest and
most successful basketball tournaments in the the land ?
..black or white.
Unfortunately, mainstream media and a conservative
black columnist at the daily newspaper here do not want to
recognize it for what it is. Instead, they are attempting to
remove the chief element ? basketball ? from the event.
They arc attempting to paint this occasion as one wherein
between 2(),(KM) and 30.000 black folks get together and drink
and party, : 1 ?
Sure old friends will rcacqiiaint with each other, fraternity
brothers and sorority sisters will share tales. But for a colum
nist to suggest that "the tournament has very little to do with
-sport" and that "there will also be a few dalliances with
'spouses other, than^one's ^
own" attempts to take
away from the very
t h i n g ihiit has g
made the
CI A A Tour
nament suc
cessful in the
. first place.
That, folks.
is the fact
that a fine
brand of has
. ketball is played
' by these 14 CI A A
member institutions
When the Atl.mlir Const Con,,
, fere nee attracts more than 40. 000 to its annual tournament
^ next month, will mainstream media report that it has little to
do with sport? Or will they tout it as some of the finest has
! ketball in the land. The latter, of course. .
Well, CI A A teams play some pretty good ball. too. Ami
they produce some pretty line basketball players, to boot.
Bobby Dandiidgc (Not folk Slate) was a starting forward
.on the NBA chainpRmship team of the Milwaukee Bucks in ?
the early seventies. Karl Monroe (Winston-Salem State) led
liis college team to a national championship and went on to
become one of the greatest players in the NBA with the New
York Knicks and the Washington Bullets. Charles Oakley
( Virginia Union) nuu?w-in a championship tlus year w it h the ?
New York Knicks. There are many others: Ken Bannister (St.
Augustine's and the New York Knicks): Mike Davis (Virginia
Union): Ralph Talley (Norfolk State); Mike Gale (Elizabeth
? r*ity St;Uel The list k rndlesv :
Sot lie potential NBA players u ill he on the hunhroort thi* ?
Aleck"; too: Brian Brooks ( Bow ie, State): Corey Williams
(Norfolk State): and Phenizee Ransom (Winston-Salem
State). * ? ' . ? ? - ?
-Legendan CI A A coacTieTjohn McLcndon. Lcroy Walker
and many others labored hard and against many odds in the
J mi Crow South to make this tournament what it is is today.
And it is not fair to them or to this week's participants to
belittle it.
Credo of the Black Press
7 hi' R l<[< * Press believes that America can hrst Ipad the world away
from antagonisms w hen it aicoids to every person ? regardless of race
or creed ? full human and legal t ights Hating no person, the Black
Press strives to help every person, in the firm belief that all are hurt as
long as anyone is held hack
How To Reach Us
Production
iC&thy Lee. Supervisor
Charlotte Newman,.''
Scarlett Simmons
Reporters
Mark R. Moss
Michael Johnson
David Dillard
722-8624
Circulation
W alter Mickle
V ameH Robinson
Todd Fulton
Patrick Edmunds
Business Office
Lexie Johnson
Tamah Gray
Tamika Hicks
Cheryl Brown
Advertising
Carol Daniel
Judie Hokomb-Pack
A??oci?NX>
?45
Audit Bur?*u ?
of Circulations
Ministers Call for New Policy on High-Speed ( 'liases
To the Editor:
The tragic death of Christopher
Holman demonstrates the urgent
need for a revised pursuit of poli.es
for the Winston-Salem Police
Department. The unfortunate and
avoidable death of Christopher Hol
man. points to the fact that there
needs to be a change in police men
tality and methods when apprehend
ing minor code violators. There is
no question that Daray Hickman's
violation led to >oung Christopher
Hoi man's death, yet, we also contend
that the police have some culpabil
ity in this tragic loss of life.
Firm policies hmust be initiated
in order to guarantee the safety of
innocent residents^ pedestrians and
motorists on our busy streets and
neighborhoods: We woulcTfrope"
that the police would riot be more
cavalier in high speed pursuits on
the East side of Winston-Salem than
the West. Police departments across
the nation are recognizing the horri
ble toll of the lives of innocent citi
zens due to policies that encourage
lack of judgement and insensitivity
in pursuit of traffic or minor code
violators.
We call upon our city officials
rest of the nation in developing
more enlightened pursuit policies.
It is important that guidelines be
developed which can be readily
applied by officers in their perfor
mance of their dutv. Thus the safety
of our citizens may be guaranteed
and the circumstances leading to the
tragic death of Christopher Holman.
Rev. Ronald P. Davis
Rev Serenus T. Churn
Rev. John Mendez
Re\. Carlton Eversley
Reaction Disappointing
To the Editor:
On February 10th. 1 was fortu
nate enough to have been invited to
"attend a conference and workshop at
the Benton Convention Center spon
sored by the Winston
Salem/Forsvth County Schools and
the Mayor's Violence deduction
Way of Forsyth County
The workshop was titled
"Together We Can." a part of the
Safe Schools Initiative.
In attendance were?representa
tives from the schools, community
service agencies, local police and
sheriff departments, members of the
Mayor's Task Force, probation and
court personnel, students and con
cerned parents. ?
The workshop was both
enlightening and alarming, as we
shared ideas in an attempt to*some
how get a grip on the problem of
"violence in our schools.
Because of the varied groups
represented, a lot of us were made
to understand some of the reasons
and causes that have allowed vio
Quincy Jones, left, and Berry Gordy converse during rehersal for "The Jackson b amtiv Honors " show in
Las Vegas Saturday. Gordy will he presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his immense contri
butions to the pop culture.
i :
lence to become a way of life in
some of our schools.
Our. moderator for the day.
Linda Moore, from the Institute of
Educational Leadership in Washing
ton. D.C.. was very know ledgeable
on the subject and offered us food
for thought in the way we should
deal with the problem:
I am sorry to say there were
only two things that marred the day:
one was the earl) conclusion ot the
day's activities because ot the
inclement weather, which couldn't
be helped, and the other was the
actions of Urban League Presidem
Dee Smith.
Although Ms. Moore was con
ducting a workshop that she has
done countless times, in the manner
that she has found to be the most
effective, it was not to the satisfac
tion of Ms. Smith.
After being summarily rebuked
in her attempt to change the direc
tion of the program^ SuuLh. pj.u
ceeded to turn her chair awas from
the speaker. After about 10 pmiutes
of talking to those seated at the table
with her. incidentally while some
one else was talking, she then goyup
and w alked out.
If ihat is The~wa>~she reacts
ever> time she doesn't get her way.
then she should have stayed for the
part of the discussion where we
dealt w ith childish behaviui^and Ux_
eonsequences.
With her kind of leadership, the
L'rbaji League of Winston- Salem"
will most assuredly suffer and be
unable to have any impact in soh
inc this most pressing problerii.
The workshop brought together
a group of individuals who are con
cerned about the future of our chil
dren. Conspicuous by their absence
? were -members of -the Board-of
Alderman ami the W'inston
Salem/Fors\ t h Counts School
Board.
These two groups ha\e con
spired in their inet f cctjvene.ss to
polarize this community along racia.'
linessto the disadvantage ol us all
? w *
We havr school hoard members
need tor new mJiooK in t he towns
ol Clemmons and kerners\ ille
ride the hus lor iomi periods of time
each day. Well, ladies and'.gentle
men. black kids aren't f.ond ol lift*
bus rides either
And our own Walter Marshall,
the educator and protector ot the
weak, has done a urave drsserv ice t?<
: J
all the bluek patents \slio arc Irving
to taise thcit uhildten light by sav
m ii in essence. ' I otgive the black
male clnM t c ?i nnsfvTiaving because
lu-'-li-t- Im:'" m^o.I be aggres
si\
In v Ifsinj: I \\nul<Hike to say
thai. I leel pti\ileiV(l to have been a
patiK<p.mi -n 1 1 1 ?, ? uijikshoymmd 1
lt>( ? k Uu..,i"! i<> ii'> 1 1 )i if I u ion on
-Mau h i \K<? thanks 10 Mrs.
? UniU-? u>.i ? X4+- ? (_ h i?. U-t>l in ? f-ttf?
seleitme m t<> K* on the panel of
And i?.? ' itnui \ . ( ommissioner
I" a i III"- | '.u nmn \ .?n k new nn- ;>ll
the time. Iveauv' u e share the same
bond. an inten'M in'oin ehildren.
M?\?>n \. Floyd
\ ? '
About letters ...
The Chronicle welcomes letters as well us guest
columns from its readers. Letters should he as con -
cise as possible and should he typed or legibly
printed. The letter must also include the name ,
- address and telephone number of the writer to
?ensure the authenticity of the letter. Columns-must
follow the same guidelines and Mill be published' if
thex are of interest to our general rrndrrship The
* Chronicle will not publish any letters or columns
that arrive without this information . We reserve the
& *
right to edit letters and columns jot brevity and
clarity. Submit letters and columns to:
Ch ronicle M a i I bag
P.O.Box 1636
Winston -Salem, N'.C. 27102
To Imprison 3-Time Offenders for Life Won't Work
In baseball, when a batter gets three strikes.
he's
which is why the national drive to imprison
three-time criminal offenders for life uon't work.
It won't curb crime, but it will lead to an
orgy of prison building and to massive injustices.
But the three-strikes-and-out steamroller
seems unstoppable. Even the President, who
should know better, supported it as a feature of
nors are trying to impose it in their own states.
It is a response to the popular fear of violent
cnme and to frustration that all the tough crime
laws passed in recent years haven't curb crime.
But the three-strikes formula is just that ? a
formula. And mechanistic, artificial formulas
never work in human affairs.
One problem with it is: what is a felony?
That's a critical question if you're changing
the law to automatically imprison people con
victed of three felonies for life
For some heinous crimes, such as murder,
rape, and kidnaping, the three-strike rule may not
be needed since current law^provides for long
piison lenns.
For others- the ones that most concern the
average person, such as mugging and drug deal
ing ? life sentences are of doubtful effectiveness
since Such crime are mostly committed by young
people while they are young.
Removing them from society for a lengthy
period of time is defensible. But a life term isn't.
Stiff penalties for offenders would ensure that
such individuals arc off the streets during the
? period of their active cnirie careers.
And by definition, younger offenders arc
those most amenable to changing and to rehabili
tation efforts.
Looking down the road. 1 predict the three
stikes-and-out movement will lend to a taxpayer
backlash.
Once the prisons become clogged and scarce
resources are poured tttitt buitding new prisons to
accommodate the huge influx of prisoners ere
ated by laws mandating
life imprisonment and
longer terms. Ameri
cans will recognize the
monster they've cre
ated in their panic
about crime.
In opposing quick
fixes like mandators
life term. I'm not
ignoring punishment's role in curbing crime nor
the need for action to increase people's security.
Nor do I romanticize criminal elements who
prey upon their communities. African American
suffer most from violent crime, both on a per
sonal basis and on an economics basis, since fear
of crime acts as a deterrent to job-creating busi
nesses in our communities.
But because I am very serious about the need
to curb crime, I want to see us adopt realistic
measures, not easy solutions that won't work.
I suspect the President understands that.
because while he hacked ihTv.-smkcs-and-out. he
also spoke vei> eloquenth about the need for
comnumit\ policing. expand d^g-trcatment pro
gfams. gun conitol. \ allies. and i?-.K.
1 inkering with -.entciK ir,u i r.\ \ pM helps
people kid themselves about
It > a lot toucher ! ?> ?m\:
enforce solid value, to k
'straight.- Let
to youngsters, to keep drug< out our neighbor
hoods and to help people wlt? are hooked on
mi.
l/e . oiwnunities to
ep >oung people
TO BE EQUAL
?%
By JOHN E.JACOB
drugs to get off them
Dome those and the otiiei haul things neces
sary to curb crime anil v it >1 c n > t. yx 41
ual activism b\ the ' good" ^iti/ens ot the com
munity. And n v*.ii! lake investments by
government on a scale sutfieien* in support those
efforts and make a difference ? investments a
lot wiser than those earmarked tot overstocked
prisons.
(John E. Jacob r- pi sule nt of Ihc S Lit o rial
Lrhan League.)