Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 31, 1994, edition 1 / Page 10
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OPINION/LETTERS Winston-Salem Chronicle Ernest H. Pitt, Publisher/Co-founder NdUBISI EGEMONYE, Co-Founder Richard L. Williams, Executive Editor ELAINE Pitt, Director of Community Relations - Michael A. Pitt, Advertising Manager Mel White, Circulation Manager In Black & White As family members continue to mourn the horrendous and brutal slayings of 10 young women allegedly killed by Henry Louis Wallace in Charlotte over the past two years, we agonize over the thought that perhaps law-enforcement officials did not aggressively investigate these slaying because all ofthe victims were black and not of "high soci V ? * ' . ety. Clearly there were some common denominators that linked the killings early on and placed Mr. Wallace snugly in the puzzle: Mr. Wallace was the boyfriend of one of the victim s roommates. Police questioned him after Carolyn Love was reported missing in June 1992. But it wasn't until March 9, following the death of victim No. 8 Brandi Hen derson that police saw a pattern. Mr. Wallace was arrested on March 12. ^ > L It is not surprising that law-enforcement officials did not pursue Mr. Wallace in 1992., Law-enforcement officials did not see the urgency to investigate Ms. Love's case. We live in a country where the criminal-justice system is made up of white men, has always been antagonistic toward blacks, and is less concerned about blacks killing off each other. We also live in a country where police departments are made up of rogue white racists ? male and female. Because of those factors, law-enforcement officials v unquestionably pursue black men ? particularly young black men ? more aggressively than they do white perpe trators of crimes. It is also a well-known fact that law enforcement officials pursue black men with a much greater enthusiasm and aggression when they commit crimes against whites. There is always less enthusiasm when the victim of a criminal act is black. That enthusiasm wanes fur ther when the victim and the perpetrator are black. That explains why there are so many young black men connected to the criminal-justice system in some way. This is the way it is in almust eveiyxttyrn almost every state m " the nation, including our very own. If it were not the case, then why are police so quick to call the March 13 deaths of _ _ Raymond and Teresa. Graham a-murder-suieide-mstead-of? launching a full-scale investigation. In America, whites . believe' a black life ? or cfeath ? is meaningless; that blacks are no more than animals to be locked away in Amer . ica's jails. In Minnesota, for instance, blacks make up 7 percent of the population, but 48 percent of jail population. Had_Mf_Wallace-committed the-^me-category-oftrime ? black-on-white crime ? that gets this country moving, it is likely that the death toll would not have reached double- * digit figures. But as it currently stands in America, black on-black crime gets discussed; white-on-white crime gets overlooked; and black-on-white crime gets action. Racial Healing Sunday mornings ? the day of worship ? is clearly the most segregated day of the week in this country. But as the j day approaches when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is a good feeling to see two Baptist congre gations of different rarps rnmp tn tnpp.thftr fnr thn ankc. nf worship. * It is a noble effort on the parts of First Baptist Church, an African-American church in East Winston, and Wake Forest Baptist Church, which has a predominantly white congregation, to come together and recognize the need for racial healing in this community. The Revs. Wendell Johnson of First Baptist and Richard Groves of Wake Forest Baptist should be commended for the vision they showed in bringing the two congregations together. But if the fruits of their labor are to be truly real ized, then not only will blacks and whites have to coexist on Sunday mornings, but Monday through Friday as well. This means that more doors of opportunity will have to be opened for blacks. If not, then the gulf between the haves and the have-nots will become greater and we all suffer. Let s hope that the two churches' joint commitment to work together to construct a Habitat for Humanity house for an East Winston faSnily will be an example for other indi viduals, agencies and companies to follow. Outstanding Support for "Taste of New Orleans" Gala To the Editor: The children, staff and volun teers of Best Choice Center wish to - thank the citizens of Winston-Salem for their unqualified support of our 'Taste of New Orleans" Gala in late January. Our months of preparation and the enthusiasm of the supporters brought about an important and sig nificant moment in the life of our fair city. Flow Motors and West - Third Street Management were the sponsors of this wonderful event, but it is the children of Best Choice Center who are the beneficiaries. Literally hundreds of volun teers helped up and more than fifty local businesses provide "in-kind" contributions of truly immense pro portions. We had outstanding sup port from the corporate community which should be commended in these difficult times of "coming through once again." We also had great support from private citizens who became benefactors of Best Choice as Scholarship Sponsors. About 300 people enjoyed the fabulous cooking of Chef John Folse of New Orleans at SECCA on Friday night. Our superb local chef, Don McMillan, prepared authentic Cajun style food for an additional 530 people on Saturday night at the Sawtooth Center and a huge crowd enjoyed the music of the Preserva tion Hall Jazz Band at the Stevens Center. We tried to have something for everyone and I think we suc ceeded very well. And, last but least, the proceeds of this event were far above our expectations. The $40,000 that was raised is already being spent on the after school programs at Best Choice Center. The program will continue and our thanks will con tinue as long as the need is there. Winston-Salem take a bow! This is a truly special community. Your energy and enthusiasm are indeed infectious. Many, Many Thanks. - Eften B. Hazzard Chairman, Best Choice Center f Tobacco Tax To the Editor: As a participant in the March 9 bus trip to Washington, D.C., to protest a 75 -cent federal excise tax increase on cigarettes, I was appalled at the latest news from our nation's capital. In their infinite of the Ways and Means Committee is seeking a $1.25-cent increase in the cigarette excise tax. The willingness of so many of political leaders to continually sin gle out tobacco as a solution to health care reform makes me ques tion both their wisdom and their compassion. Either they don't understand the devastating eco nomic impact that a massive tobacco tax would have on the Southeast or they don't care. I don't know which alternative is more frightening. I hope that everyone, whether or not they are directly employed by the tobacco industry, will call of write their representatives in Con gress. We must make them under stand that punishing^ the tobacco industry is not a politically accept able solution to health care reform. Those who choose to turn their backs on this issue might just find themselves caught in the cross hairs of Washington's next bright idea to "enhance revenue." John W. Singleton Jr. A Great Leader To the Editor: This is in response to a letter that appeared in the Editorial sec tion of this paper on Thursday, Feb. 24, 1994. The article "Reaction Dis appointing" was written by Steven Floyd in reference to a recent con ference sponsored by several com munity organization, of which "D" Smith, President/CEO of the Win ston-Salem Urban League, is a part of. The undersigned writer take exception to the statements made about the demeanor of Mrs. Smith. ^ First, he should have sought infor mation as to her credentials. Sec ond, he should have tried to ascer tain if her leaving was deliberate or if she had another engagement. Third, this newspaper should have investigated to ascertain if there was -any merit to the allegations made therein. None of these things were done, therefore, allegations were made assassinating her character. To say that .. . . "there were only two things that marred the day: one was. . . and the other was the actions of Urban League President Dee(misspelled)Smith," was unfounded. Let us set the record straight for Mr. Floyd. Mrs. Smith left the workshop due to prior engagement which can be verified by her administrative assistant. She left after having informed persons sitting at her. table. Floyd Davis and Florence Corpening of the United Way. If Mr. Floyd would recall, the presenter, Mrs. Linda Moore was al*o seated at the table with Mrs. Smith. Evidently, Mr. Floyd does not know Mrs. Delores J. "D" Smith, and has not bothered to inquire about her skills, abilities and cre dentials. She is a well-educated, well-read, and well-informed African -American female who fs up front about the concerns of the African-American community. She is very competent administrator, nd has guided the Winston-Salem Urban League in a most profes sional manner. She has created and implemented new programs at the Urban League to help' to entire com munity. She has conducted work shops throughout the state of North Carolina in cultural sensitivity and Delores Smith race relations. With her leadership, * the Urban League has grown, and is gaining notoriety by her presenta tions. One may say that she is out spoken, but she stands by her beliefs ana convictions. It she is wrong, she is the first to admit to being wrong. But to falsely accuse her of exhibit ing "childish behavior" is totally without merit. Mr. Floyd, we. invite you to come by the Winston-Salem Urban League and see what we are all about. We further invited you to become a part of our workshop, "Bridging the Gap in R ac e Relar. tions" and maybe then, you will have a different opinion of the Urban League, and its great leader, Delores J. ("D") Smith. We the staff of the Winston-Salem Urban League support "D" Smith 100 per cent as an excellent president and leader. Otto Gaither, Roy Hampton, Bon nie McCray, Mary McGriff, Alberta McMillian, Doretha Man ning, B. Wellington Moseley, Athena Puryear, Cleopatra Solomon, Dorcus Thompson, Beu lah Bunch, Mildred Solomon ?$> Staff of Urban League Needless Gap To the Editor: There is an historic district in East Winston known as Reynolds Town suffering from social and eco nomic neglect Reynolds Town is a cluster of homes bounded by Jack son Avenue on the west; Ferrell Avenue on the east; Tenth Street on the north and Temple Street 7th Street on the south. This past Satur day while driving through this area rounding up youngsters for the Save Our Youth Coocert scheduled for April 8, a 12-year old of the Reynolds Town Youth Association said to me, "I don't want to sing but our basketball team needs a coach and someplace that we can practice as a team." He said that his team could not get into a league and couldn't find a coach. He did agree to sing with the city wide mass choir if I would coach his team. We, the parents of this association Will continue to do what we can for our "Children, but we need some help over here. There is a needless gap in service to the youth of Reynolds Town. Nearby, to the south, the East Winston Economic Development^ Commission refurbished Ferrell Court with improved housing and services. To the north from 10th Street to 14th Street, the East Win ston Restoration Association caused the construction of new homes in sharp contrast to the deteriorating homes in Reynolds Town. West of Ferrell Street is the new shopping center. The old homes in Reynolds Town are decaying, but hopefully the African -American Summit will include this forgotten community in their plans to Save Our Youth. Shedrick Adams Reynolds Town Youth Assn. False Image The Parent-Teacher-Student Association Presidents for every ' middle school in the Winston Salem/Forsyth County System decided that we Cannot sit back and allow a false negative image of our ?middle schools to impact parents' decisions about whether to send their children to a public or private middle school. , As parents, we investigated and evaluated middle schools and made a conscious choice to send our chil- - dren_lo public sector. We- have seen those schools operate first-hand. Some of us have our second or third child presently in a public middle school, and we are unanimously convinced that our children are receiving a top-notch education. The middle-school administrations with whom we work are innovative and motivated. The teachers are tal ented and caring The facilities and curriculum are good and continually improving. Our children receive good care. Ironically, each of us has observed the public middle school* because there is a great internal effort for improvement. Middle school years are diffi cult ? regardless' of the school set ting ? because those years are par ticularly stressful adolescent years for children. No school is without some blemishes, but on balance, we strongly believe that the richness of the public school experience has been the best choice for our chil dren. Our experience and statistics show that parents who have confi dence in the elementary and high school decide to send their child to a private middle school "because of misconceptions about our middle __sch.ools. Iti^ unfortunate for the? children whose parents choose an alternative without giving the public schools a chance to show how good they really are. Some parents have never visited a middle-school cam pus, have never talked with the staff and faculty, and do not question the ? validity of the rumors that they hear. The positive side of the middle school experience does not make a compelling news story and is sel dom reported. The full story is that the Winston-Salem. Forsyth County^ School System does ? fine job edu cating our 6thjf 7th, and 8th graders. We wanted you to know that, with out exception, every president of every middle-school PTSA believes that -our children's school experi ence has been the right educational experience. We encourage you to find out about that experience from the faculty, administration, and par ents with children in the public mid dle schools. We are confident that you will be pleasantly impressed with the truth! Reg and Heather Whitaker, Vivian Garman, Bob & Carol Benford, Doug & Leila Punger, Rich & Sharon Guarino, Ressa & Tracy Alexander, Susan Branch, Linda Hale, Cathy Stepp, Debbie & Gene Dickey, Alice & Wally Cox, Betsy Lindsay, John & LouAnn Watson Middle School PTA Presidents Banning Cigarettes To (he Editor: I am writing to express how I feel about banning cigarettes. There are other issues that face our nation that seem more^ important such as killing, rape, child abuse, alcohol and cocaine. People are killing each otherevery day and drunk drivers pose more of a threat to our lives than cigarettes. My wife was killed by a drunk driver. Why isn't there as much concern about those kind of ?&sues? ril tell you why itJs^not. ? ?Because black crime rate is highest, you allow it to continue since that means one less black to deal with in this country. ?Alcohol consumption is toler ated because the government con trols it. ?Child abuse and rape have plummeted the news media like never before, vet there are limited defense to prevent these crimes. Another consideration that no one seems to care about is the eco nomic impact of Reynolds ' employ ees losing their jobs. If these employees lose their security, the crime rate will increase, as well as unemployment and homelessness. Smoking should be a decision made by each individual adult. The constitution grants us the right to make choices about our lifestyles We will all die some cause eventu ally. So, if a person choose to smoke, being fully aware of the pos sibilities, it should be their right to do so. When a death occurs from an demand that the manufacturer dis continue designing that model? Think about the farmers and paper companies that will be affected if the tobacco industry folds. In my opinion, all the negative publicity about cigarettes has been overstated and overemphasized, especially when there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed so that Americans can feel safe in this country. Something ? is sadly wrong with this picture. Melrose V. Hall
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 31, 1994, edition 1
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