* 1 *
OPINION ?
I
The Chronicle
w (w?
Ernest H. Pitt PublisherlCo-Founder
Ndibisi Ecemonve Co-Founder
elaine Pitt Business Manager
Fannie Henderson Advertising Manager
carol Trader Production Manger
T.J. wills Copy Editor
yr .* ^ ro#cfc^o?or? - >m~i ? ?
fwmhRwi inn nliRn ?
Using King's Name in Vain
In September 1830, the first National Negro Convention met at
Mother Bethel Church in Philadelphia. The Rev. Richard
Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
presided. The meeting had a noble purpose: "to devise ways and means
for bettering of our condition." Discussion focused on fighting oppres
sion and promoting universal education. 1
Last week the National Baptist Convention USA (NBC) met in
Denver. In spirit and in truth, the meeting was a far cry from the his
toric 1830 convention. Indeed, the Baptist group's agenda was domi
nated by controversy surrounding its president, the Rev. Henry Lyons.
Earlier this year, Lyon's wife allegedly set fires in a mansion he owns
with another woman, the denomination's public relations director,
Bernice Edwards, a convicted embezzler.
In the aftermath of that incident, Lyons said the $750,000 estate
serves as an embassy of sorts to host foreign dignitaries. Many pastors
were outraged, not just about Lyons' moral indiscretions, but because
they knew nothing of the lavish residence.
The organization's old guard, however, closed ranks around their
embattled leader. The convention's board found no wrongdoing on
Lyon's part but vowed to tighten the financial reins. Convention dele
gates also gave Lyons a vote of confidence. His future, then, would
seem secure as the leader of the nation's largest black religious group.
Some younger clergy, however, are not pleased with the decision of
the majority.
Lyons campaigned for the presidency of the group on a reform plat
form, promising to restore Martin Luther King Jr.'s brand of activism
and to mobilize member congregations. He has since broken his cam
paign promise and made a mockery of the organization he heads
How dare he invoke King's name! By using King's name in vain,
Lyons compromises the moral authority of the civil rights movement.
The retention of Lyons at the helm of the National Baptist Convention
is a low-down, dirty shame. H? does not deserve to be forgiven; he
deserves to be fired. Maybe his wife, now facing arson charges is up to
that challenge.
Why Diana Mattered
She was the undisputed queen of the tabloids, who aspired to
and finally succeeded in becoming Britain's queen of hearts.
Britons of all races and nationalities lined the streets to bid
farewell to Diana, Princess of Wales. The emotional outpouring after
her sudden death hearkens back to the collective mourning set off by
President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination and funeral.
Satellite technology transmitted the princess's funeral to an audi
ence of 2.5 billion worldwide. Princess Diana captivated the world even
more in death than she did in life. Her tragic demise brings to the fore
the lessons to be gleaned from her all-too-short life. The world knew
the princess of Wales as a symbol of glamour and privilege, a young
woman who dared to buck royal tradition and touched countless lives.
Before she was a revered royal, however, she was a country girl who
taught kindergarten. She may have divorced her privacy to marry fame,
but she retained the compassionate heart of a kindergarten teacher.
As Robert Fulghum suggested in his bestselling book, "All I Really
Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," kindergarten teachers have
a wealth of wisdom to impart. A minister-turned-author, Fulghum
suggests that the simple lessons learned in the sandbox apply to
grownups' lives as well.
Here are a few lessons Fulghum says kindergarten teachers show
and tell their young charges.
"Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where
you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't
yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands
before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life ? learn some and think some and draw and paint
and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap
every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the lit
tle seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant does up
and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish
and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam
cup ? they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane
books and the first word you learned ? the biggest word of all ?
LOOK."
These concepts were not lost on Princess Diana. Through example,
she strove to pass these lessons on to her children. Her incredible show
of affection in the streets of London and around the globe suggests
that the sweet, media-savvy princess taught the world, as well.
Her premature death and charmed yet troubled life also conveyed
some tough lessons All that glitters is not gold. And there is no happi
ly ever after.
Th? Chrontcto wvfeoffiM bMn os mmiV os futif cokmni frosts to iwtoffc
Lotion shosM ho os conciso os poosblo ossd should ho typod or logBsty prbth
od. fe otssuso iho outhonticity of tho lottos, you must Itsdudo tho tsotsso,
oddross ond tolophono number of tho vrritor. Columns must
foMow tho satno guidoBnos atsd w< ho pubBshod If Ihoy oro of kdosost to our
gottorol soodorshlp. Thm Omonidt wW not pubhsh assy bWn i or coh/rtsns that
... . J., - , . n'li. i> . ,0 oAmSm tnli ? ??? ilri n *t\ . imfif tot >f||? Umam omoooi
OirlVv Winivui rilll Imwiiiiwnvfl. wwW rvSWYS IIIV iiyni Iw Villi ivnwri ami
columns for brovity ond clority. Submit lottors ond columns tot
Chronido Matbog, P.O. Box 1636, MlrulWhlotow, NC 27102.
Charter Schools:
Black Colleges'
Last Hope?
Most North Carolinians were
surprised to hear that North
Carolina Central University had
missed its projected enrollment
goal by almost 20 percent or
close to 1,000 students. "How
could that be?" exclaimed the
Central Alumni and other boost
ers of the venerable college.
Something is very wrong here.
Central's problems should send
shivers down the spines of all
supporters of historically black
colleges and universities
(HBCUs).
The problem for Central or
any other school with that kind
of shortfall in enrollment is that
faculty positions are based on
Full Time Equivalency (FTE) or
the number of full-time students
and the number of part time stu
dents whose load, when added
together, equals a full time equiv
alent. When FTE drops perma
nently, faculty positions decrease
and untenured faculty are let go.
The untenured faculty is where
much of the institutions' verve
comes from. They are the ones
who gently move the institution
forward. Without the younger
faculty, the institution loses
much of its creativity and energy.
Thus declining enrollment
begets faculty cuts which beget
creativity deficits, which beget
lower enrollment and so on into
an unrecoverable downward spi
ral.
What happened to the stu
dents? Let me put forth a testable
hypothesis. That hypothesis is
that the failure of North
Carolina's public schools to ade
quately prepare young black boys
is severely impacting the number
of black men ready for college
level work. In 1995, the public
schools achieved the perfor
mance level statewide of more
than 73 percent of the black male
5th-graders failing one or both of
the end-of-course tests. If three
or four black boys are crushed in
5th grade, how many do you sup
pose will be going to college?
Racial quotas for college admis
sions are gasping their last
breath. Unless the primary and
secondary system of education is
changed quickly, the only HBCU
left in North Carolina will be
Bennett College (an all-girls
school).
What does this have to do
with charter schools? Everything.
North Carolina enacted char
ter school legislation last year
authorizing the State Board of
Education to approve up to 100
charter schools. Charter schools
are accountable public schools;
accountable to the customer (the
parent) for customer satisfaction
and accountable to the taxpayers
for student performance. Public
school districts whose schools
fail keep right on operating,
hurting kids and denying black
colleges future students. Charter
schools that fail are shut down.
HBCU's don't have to wait or
hope that charter schools can
create a revolution in learning
opportunities. Public HBCU's
can lead the revolution and help
save themselves at the same time.
The section of North Carolina's
charter school law that I am most
proud of is the one that gives the
5 public HBCUs here the author
ity to give preliminary approval
to any charter school with which
it is involved with respect to
planning,x operation or evalua
tion.
This provision empowers
these HBCUs to launch a renais
sance in primary and secondary
education, their historic mission,
and secure a future male student
body as well.
A senior faculty memo at
Winston-Salem State University
suggested that the school create a
college prep program in the
Anderson Center. In addition to
actually running high school
level college prep programs on
campus, HBCU's can place stu
dent teachers in charter schools
and help the charter schools with
the university's varied resources,
as Fayetteville State has recently
started doing. HBCUs can build
a network of charter schools par
ticularly in more rural counties,
creating not only a future stream
of potential college students but
consulting revenue for the faculty
now.
AH"1+BCUs save women's col
leges need large numbers of
black male students to thrive.
Indeed, if the public schools of
North Carolina continue-to turn
out thousands of Peter Pans each
year, boys who will never grow
up to be men and have the skills
to support their families, our
community will not survive.
People begging the public school
districts to improve without forc
ing them to do so remind me of
the beggar in the third Chapter
of Acts. My charge to them is the
same as Peter to that beggar.
"Silver and gold have I none,
but such that I have I offer thee.
In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, stand up (HBCUs)
and walk. We have the greatest
concentration of teaching talent
in any middle class on the planet.
We have a charter bill that specif
ically gives N.C. black colleges
powers that no other HBCUs
have in the country. All we need
is the faith and will to stand up
and walk."
( Vernon Robinson is the presi
dent of the North Carolina
Education Reform Foundation.)
: ?
Guest sColumn
Vernon Robinson
Muhammad's Conversion Should Have Been Questioned
Having seen the Bible used as a license to
justify and carry out personal agendas for
years in the past, I really should not be sur
prised to see it happen today. It seems as if
every time truth demands that one explain his
or her actions, the Bible is used as
a magic wand to transform unjust
acts into just ones.
This act can be seen in the so
call conversion of Benjamin
Muhammad (formerly Benjamin
Chavis). While I respect
Muhammad's courage and effort
to bring about a degree of equity
to the black community, I do find
his conversion somewhat suspect.
After serving the Christian church excep
tionally well for 30 years, Muhammad
declares that the same God who called him to
the church, called him to the mosque. He
rationalized this action with the scripture
"With God, all things are possible." While
one must agree that all things are possible
with God, we must confess that there is one
thing that is impossible with God: inconsis
tency.
Let's think about it. The God of the
Christian church teaches that God is a spirit.
The Nation of Islam, however, teaches that
God is a man ("Message to the Blackman"
p.6). Also, the Christian church teaches that
God came in the person of Jesus Christ, The
Nation of Islam declares that God came in
the person of one Master Fard Muhammad
on July 4, 1930. Additionally, they teach that
Elijah Muhammad is the Christ, the long
sought after Messiah. The Christian church
considers the Bible the word of God. The
Nation of Islam teaches that God himself
refers to fhe Bible as the "Poison Book,"
because it has poisoned the minds of so-call
Negroes so much that they cannot agree with
each other ("Message to the Blackman" p.94)
In my mind, and in the black community,
all of this inconsistency should have brought
forth a legitimate question: How
can God direct a man to teach
one doctrine for 30 years, have
him stop and begin*teaching
another doctrine that is totally
against the first doctrine? Is God
changing with the times also? I
will not attempt to answer the
question above; I believe Mr.
Muhammad has the exclusive
responsibility to answer it. Neither will I say
that one is wrong to support this Day of
Absence that is forthcoming. I do believe that
the black community should begin to take the
responsibility of questioning the actions of
all leaders. Moreover, black leaders should
take on the responsibility of answering legiti
mate questions from the black community.
(Kwame Nyerere is a community activist.)
Guest Column
Kwam* Nymrmr*