Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 3, 1994, edition 1 / Page 12
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LETTERS/OPINIONS Winston-Salem Chronicle Ernest H. Pi IT, Publisher Co-founder NlHBlSl EliEMONYE. Co-Founder Ric h ard L. \N Jl.l.I VMS, Executive Editor Elaine Pitt, Director o! CommLnit> Relations ?MK.'HAEI. A. PlTT, Ad\crtifcirfi; Manager MEL NN HITE. Circulation Manager Editorials CIAA a Success! ? ? j The city of Winston-Salcm. the mayor, volunteers, hotel operators, restaurant owners, hell hops, waiters, waitresses and local citizens are to be commended and congratulated lor makrng the 49th CIAA basketball tournament held here last week a resounding success. We have heard only positive remarks about our city and its people from out-of-town fans. Some of the fears that many of us had simply did not materialize and we are over joyed that they didn't. We got specific reference to the city's policemen who, apparently, treated our visitors with dignity ' and respect. That's 2 : We congratulate the- Coca Cola company for providing the many signs along University Parkway, downtown and at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. For it was those signs that many fans referred to when they described the city's commitment to making them feel welcome. It seems that it was the small things that made the great ? jest "-impact on our visitors. Sales people at Manes Mall smiled" and asked many visitors, 'Are you here for the CIAA Tournament?,' Welcome to Winston-Salem anil may I help you?' Our visitors were impressed with the longer restaurant hours, the attempt 'by our merchants to accommodate them. Winston-Salem Came together and pulled together and it worked. We received a plume catftroin some fans wfro live iirNcw York City "advising us of ihe fact thai Winston Salem hosted Ihe best CIAA Tournament they had ever attended and that they were looking forward to coming back next year. I hey spoke of our first -class facility at Joel Coli seum. They were impressed with the fact that it is named after an African American . that we had the sensitivity to also include every veteran who had died in recent wars. A lot ol what Wi nston -Sa lein is and is striving to become was seen by our CIAA visitors. We all should be proud. We certainly are! % _ (lie disastrous rain -sn;ikt?il_vrmlng.\ Irnl, t ban k Ciod. was viewed positively on I luirsday and the rest of the week when the rains subsided. Business picked up and 4he ven dors were happy, l/ans did not even mind the fact that we really did not have hotel space here for everyone. One ?an said. "Hey. the drive Irom (ircenshoro is no longer than someThTVc^nrrf^s: 'TTarper cities'* Now for our recommendations to make the 30th CIAA Tournament better than the 4c)th. We suggest the follow ing: provide shuttle service from the parking lots at Grove Sta dium and the K.IK World Headquarters building to the coli seuni ( main people did noi like the- long walk): provide ? table clothes, music and food in the area of the vendor tent where alcoholic beverages are served: minority-owned busi nesses should follow through on efforts made to get them to advertise their services along with where they are located. I hat is it ! 3 ... * It was a great at lair, and again w e are proud of the mavorlmd the many committees that worked so hard to make Winston-Salem the place to be in February. Credo of the Black Press The RlarJ^JiLasx-httlicvrs flrrrt-AjyiryirrTrnr Best' lead the world away from antagonisms when it accords to even' person ? regardless of race or creed ' ? full human and legal rights. 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 722-8624 Singing of National Anthem Was a Disgrace To the Editor: Who is responsible for the three soung men who were selected to sine "'The Star-Spangled Bannef" prior to the game on last Saturd.a> night? The tournament w as ver> special to our community and we deserved special music. The Twin Cits Choir did a . beautiful rendition of the National Negro Hymn. "Lift Every Voice and Sing." They sang the hymn av it is written. That is exactl\ what the\ should have done. However. I feel that it was an embarrassment to our city to have our national anthem handled in such a manner. The shakings twisting and whining while the young men were singing was completely inappropri ate. With all of the musical groups in the schools of our city and counts, surely the people in charge could sing our national anthem by ihe.nuisic. 1 have heard soloists, who have beautiful \oices. do the same type of rendition when singing our national _ anthem. There should be a law- gov erning how we sing this important song. ' I 1 ? . ** eauti u singing b\ the -Tw in City Choristers and the undesirable was that our national anthem was sung. Thope that the NAACP will make sure that our National Negro H \ inn is alwav s sung w ith dignitx . Mildred Coleman Leak Health-Care Plan To the Editor: As a member of the Seniors Artist Jacob Lawrence stands among his paintings at New York's Payson Gallery . His series of paintings entitled Migration*4 Has been reunited into a traveling exhibit with slops in Milwaukee, Portland, Ore;, Birmingham, Ala., St. Louis, Sew York, Atlanta and Denver. Coalition. I want you to know that most Seniors dcf^not favor the Clin- , ton Health Care plan. Under the Clinton plan, senior citizens will surely face drastic cuts in Medicare coverage, lose their right to choose their own doctors face long waiting lines, and possibly be denied life-saving medical treat ment. These matters are documented in a report, available at no charge, from the 2-million member Seniors Coalition. - - I urge you to contact the Coali tion today at (703) 273-5449. get a copy of their reports. James M. Bailey About letters . . . The Chronicle welcomes letters as well as guest columns from its readers. Letters should be as concise as possible and should be typed of legibly printed. The letter must also include the name, acUiress and telephone number of the writer to ensure the authenticity of the letter. Columns must follow the same guide lines and will be published if they are of interest to our general readership. The Chronicle will not publish any letters or columns that arrive without this information. We reserve the right to edit letters and columns for brevity and clarity. Submit letters and columns to C h ro nicl e M ail bag P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, N.C. 27 102. CIA A Tournament: A Who's Who in Black America The remarriage ot the W inston-Salem com munis and the CIAA Basketball Tournament was a spectacular event. The coming together alter 32 vears was made possible through a great deal of courting b\ hundreds of city volunteers and officials. Of course, it was definitely a sure deal when coordinated and blessed by none other than Mr. CIAA Basketball himself. Clarence Bighouse" Gaines, coach emeritus at Winston Salem State University. The~ tournament week" was a virtual who's" who of black America and the world. People and players traveled from places all over the world, including Africa. England. Maine. California and the Caribbean. They came from all of walks of life with careers in every field imaginable. There were administrators, doctors, entertainers, sports figures, judges, lawyers, workers on the assembly line of General Motors. R.J. Reynolds employees and even a former governor. Seen in the conveyor belt-like crowd at both the coliseum and the CIAA headquarters (Adam's Mark and the Marque hotels) were many nota bles. Earl S. "Abdul" Davis, former director of Afro-American affairs at Ntew York University, ~ and his son Earl S. Davis Jr.. were among the crowd, as was Ben Ruffin. head of corporate affairs at Reynolds. All three, by the way are alumni of North Carolina Central University. Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder (Virginia Union alumnus) and Judge Henry Frye (N.C. A&T alumnus) were spotted. Longtime tour nament supporters such as former professor C.B. Hauser and his wife, Lois, the Roseboro fam ily. Norm Joyner, the Joyner brothers, cousins, proud parents^_|imnd players, cheerleaders and. "the whole family and the preacher, too." rounded out the' enthusiastic crowds. ce Some basketball fans were there that are chronically addicted to or have an open or secret love affair" w ith tha tournament. Even a few "Aggies Till I Die" fans came over from MEAC territory, saw and were conquered by the festival like atmosphere. . Rumor has it that a national human-rights organization convened in *hr thi* to get a piece of the action. Also, a large number of National Black Theatre Festival fans came back to town for another week fun. frolic and famous folk. - To the fans that were unable to attend or get tickets this year, take heart!!. Remember that the better players win trophies by using their skills and abilities to play the game well. You can play the CIAA game well. tew. The best strategy is to GUEST By: RACHEL COLUMNIST BEATTY JACKSON plan early to attend next year; keep in contact with conference officials-: and support the schools. I personally found the process of obtain ing tickets to .be more political than polite for a number of fans, but that's the way the ^basketball bounces. Having a good time can be hard work. How ever. with the continued involvement and support of the hundreds of local residents, city officials, businesses. Chamber of Commerce. WSSL' and reunion will prove to be in the years ahead an awesome and wonderfully successful marriage. See you next year. (Rachel Betty Jackson, a WSSL' alumnus, worked avidly as a volunteer in Richmond last year booking hotel rooms for this year's tour nament.) Jim Crow Laws Were Passed to Keep Blacks Unarmed I am an African American man who lives in South Central Los Angeles ? and I earn,' a Smith &. Wesson .38 caliber Model 60 revolver. Why? Because the Second Amendment of the United States constitution says that I have every right to. No. 1 am not a member of a street gang.. For the sake of reference. I was a pilot in the elite Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. I am a brigadier general in the California State Military. I have operated a successful bail bond agency in South Central Los Angeles for over 40 years. Most important!), however. I am past presi dent of the Los Angeles Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple (NAACP) and for the past 10 years I have been the California state chairman of the Con gress of Racial Equality (CORE). ___ JU-JDecember 1993.1 became one of the first African- American civilians ? and only one of 13 residents of any hue ? in Los Angeles to be granted a license to cam a concealed firearm in over 1 5 years. The awarding of these 13 gun permits, how ever. was not an act of charity by the city fathers. It only happened because CORE and a number of other organizations filed suit challenging the city's right to waive its obligation to uphold the Constitution. The other organizations may have had other reasons for joining in the suit, but for CORE, the issue was very clear. We had learned from past history. "The history of gun control in America" Mal colm X often said, "is the history of racial and class suppression." Malcolm X was talk ing about the strict inter pretation of the Second . ^ Amendment. People have the right to protect themselves. During slavery, blacks were prohibited from owning firearms. And, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney put an exclamation point on that practice when he wrote, in Dred Scott v. Sandford <1857>, that "the Negro had TKTnghTs" which the white man was bound to respect. ..." Following the Civil War, it took the Freed man's Bureau Act of 1866, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the first portion of the 14th Amend ment to the Constitution to nullify Jim Crow laws passed to keep blacks from owning or carrying guns. Blacks had good reasons for wanting that right regained. The Ku Klux Klan and many red neck sheriff s deputies were picking off unarmed blacks as if they were skeet. Writer Dan Gifford tells the story of how blacks in Monroe. N.C.. armed themselves to ward off the Klan on Oct. 5, 1957. Eighty car *'?" GUEST COLUMNIST ByCELESKING loads of Klansmen were rode into town to harass Dr. Albert Perry, a local civil rights leader. What greeted them were several hundred rounds of ammunition the blacks acquired free of charge from the U.S. Army, through their National Rifle Association chapter. Certainly the call for getting guns out of the hands of criminals is warranted. But I am not a criminal, however. Now. I carry a gun ? legally. The courts say it is my constitutional right due to certain reason able conditions. (Celes King III is the state chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality of California.)
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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