I
Anti-hat*
w*b site
?
Transportation Secretary
;? Rodney Slater meets reporters at the
? ^National Press Club in Washington
Monday, Nov. 24, where he
announced the launching of a new
. ilWeb site to fight hate speech on the
?.Internet. Slater joins political, com
| *munity and civil rights leaders in
! launching the site.
(AP Photo/Joe
Marquette)
(AP Photo/Washington Post, James M Thresher)
Mated attention
Jacqueline Thompson, rear, holds one child from her set
of sextuplets Friday, Nov. 21, at the Mazique Parent/Child
? Center in Washington while her aunt, Grace Baptiste, right,
holds two babies and Ann Marie holds another two babies.
! Few people stepped up to help Linden and Jacqueline
Thompson when she delivered six babies, the first black sex
.tuplets born in the United States. But free baby food, car
?seats and diapers lavished on newborn septuplets in Iowa
^.prompted donations this week in Washington for the
? Thompson babies, born last May ? one girl was stillborn,
I;4ut the surviving four girls and one boy are,healthy and
Steaming to crawl.
i i . I
(AP Photo / Peter Andrew POOL)
Under scrutiny
Winnie Mandikizela-Mandela, right, consults with her
legal advisor Ishmael Semenya, left, during the second day
of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in
Johannesburg Tuesday, Nov. 25. Mandikizela-Mandela, the
former wife of South African President Nelson Mandela, is
being investigated for apartheid era human abuses.
War's last
widow
President Clinton greets
Daisy Anderson, 97, at
Denver International
Airport before departing for
Seattle Saturday, Nov. 22.
Anderson is the last surviv
ing widow of a Civil War
veteran. Her husband was
in the 125th colored troops
division.
(AP Photo/Ruth Fremson)
(AP Photo/Brian K. Dt*0
. /??y
Ufa at ftn IJIanlni
wvii on Mingnm
Army Secretary Togo West gestures during a Pentagon
news conference Friday, Nov. 21, where he talked about
burials at Arlington National Cemetery. West told reporters
that assertions that burials took place at Arlington in
exchange for contributions to the Democratic Party are
"just not true."
* *
Students say race relations not a cut-and-dry issue
By PAUL B. JOHNSON
For some students at North Carolina A&T
State University, a historically black institution,
and predominately white Guilford College in
Greensboro, relations among the races today can't
be defined in black-and-white certainties.
Several students recently said in individual
interviews that they see promising prospects for
people of different backgrounds coming together
in understanding. At the same time, they sae divi
sions that, if not resolved, could tarnish race rela
tions.
"The whole community needs to go forward as
one," said Artis Williams, an A&T student from
Bolivia, N.C. Williams said he sees positive signs
for better race relations in the future as more
African Americans move into traditionally white
dominated professional fields and make it as entre
preneurs.
But as African Americans and other minorities
become a larger part of the broad society, some
people who fear other races may become more^
hardened in their views and actions. If that hap
pens, Williams said, it could strain society.
"Races relations are going both ways," said
Chloe McQuiston, a Guilford College student from
Pittsburgh. "More people are growing up around
different races, and that makes for less prejudice.
But there are also people pulling back into their
own groups."
Dika Harris, an A&T student from Greenville,
said she's encouraged by the fact race is becoming
less relevant to her friends and acquaintances. One
of her best friends is a white student at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and
she said their skin color has no bearing on their
friendship.
"The people that don't worry about it ? that's
1 an encouraging sign," said Devra Thomas, a
Guilford College student from Durham. "If you
step back for a minute and look at it, it shouldn't be
a problem or big deal."
Several students said that the values of toler
ance and understanding they received from their
parents, and in some cases grandparents, has
encouraged them to respect people of different
races.
"A lot of what my parents think has been
passed on to me," said Kendall Kibby-Deck, a
Guilford College student from St. Louis.
However, some students said their experiences
dealing with race relations come from a different
vantage point than their parents, who grew up in
the turbulence of the civil rights era and segrega
tion.
"My generation hasn't been taught the reality
of struggle," said Brian Muhammad, an A&T stu
dent from Greensboro. Muhammad said his par
ents worked to better society by obtaining goals.
After getting those social rewards from their par
ents' generation, too many young people today
"have lost touch with the struggle of previous gen
erations," he said.
Rose White, a Guilford College student from
Greensboro, said a key to better race relations is
understanding what people of different races are
thinking and how they view the world.
Several students said they notice that they have
had more experiences dealing on a personal level
with people of different races compared to their
parents or grandparents, a sign that some divisions
have waned in society. Harris said that progress
with race relations is incremental but noticeable.
"The more time you give it," she said, "things
improve."
*More people are growing up
around different races, and that
makes for less prejudice. But there
are also people pulling back into
their own groups."
? Chloe McQuiston, a Guilford College
student from Pittsburgh.
CHURCHES ?
from AI
projections, the lies," said
Rhodes, assistant pastor of
Wake Forest Baptist Church.
The conference addressed
four major topics: 1) the fail
ure of integration and diver
sity as effective responses to
racism, 2) the need to rewrite
history from other race, gen
der and class perspectives, 3)
the damaging effects of
racism on whites, and therapy
as a setting for healing this
damage, and 4) reparations,
addressing how to repair the
harm done to people of color
over the last three centuries.
This pilot conference
involved 16 white clergy from
seven denominations and
from all parts of the country.
It was founded by the late
Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones
and was funded by the
Burned Churches Project of
the National Council of the
Churches of Christ (NCCC).
Following the pilot confer
ence, the program coordina
tors hope to recruit and train
an additional 100 clergy from
across the country and then
adapt the program for use in
seminaries.
The four steps toward
congregational work for
white churches that came out
of the conference were 1)
confession about racism, 2)
repentance of this spiritual
ill, 3) reparations to minority
culture, and 4) reconciliation
with the minority culture.
"The thing that made this
conference different was the
fact that we even questioned
the white culture," said
Mendez. "Under integration,
what are we being asked to
participate in? Under cultural
diversity, minorities are asked
to participate in a white
majority without looking at
how corrupt its history has
been. We are asked to give up
our culture and belief system,
and it is understood that the
majority Oulture is what's
happening."
Rhodes
If 1 aL ^ Lu
recaiieu inc
meditations
that Dr.
Sammuel
Mann led the
group in. He
encouraged
them to
address what
he called "the
evil within our
people and
our culture."
Mann Used
Howard
Thurman's
book The
Luminous
Darkness as as
a discussion
piece.
Published in
the 1960s, the
text has pro
found implica
tions for
America
today, said
Rhodes.
"Racism is a
spiritual issue,
a soul issuV*
Rhodes said.
"Salvations.
comes wlteb .1
we work hand
in hand to dfkl
with this."
The Souls
of White Folks
Among the most memo
rable presentations was a dis
cussion paper called "The
Souls of White Folks," by
Mab Segrest, a white scholar
who has worked for 20 years
against racism, sexism and
homophobia in local, region
al, and national contexts.
Segrest said, "Because racism
normalizes whiteness and
problematizes 'color,' we as
'generic humans' escape
scrutiny for our accountabili
ty as a group for creating
racism and as individuals for
challenging it."
Rewriting American History
Another outstanding pre
sentation at the conference
dealt with "Rewriting
American History." Herb
Boyd, consultant and writer
to the Burned Churches
Project of the NCCC, pre
sented a paper entitled "We
Hold These Truths, or
Rewriting American
History." He commented on
W . E . B .
r\.. n ? _ ?_ ?
uudois s mon
umental study
Black Recon
struction in
America 1860
1880, referring
to the chapter
called "The
Propaganda of
History."
D u B o i s
asserts that the
facts of
American his
tory in the last
half-century
have been fal
sified "because
the nation was
ashamed."
According to
DuBois, the
shame of the
South was that
it fought to
"perpetuate
human slav
ery," and the
shame of the
North was that
"it had to call
in black men
to save the
Union."
Boyd said,
"We have to
find more cre
ative ways to
make good
information
available ? in
our films, television shows,
radio programs, and certainly
on the Internet." Boyd said it
is time to popularize the
works of Dr. John Henrik
Clarke, Darlene Hines, Anna
Julia Coper, W.E.B. DuBois
and hundreds of young
scholars, black and white,
male and female.
First Nations Intellectual
Property Rights
Cornel Pewewardy, assis
tant professor in the depart
ment of teaching' and
leadership of the School of
at tka I Tnti/nrcifi;
Liuuvaiiv/u ai iiiv u in
of Kansas, delivered another
outstanding presentation,
according to Mende? and
Rhodes. Pewewardy has
taught graduate courses on
multicultural education and
"culturally responsive teach
ing of American Indian stu
dents."
Pewewardy addressed the
issue of protecting Native
sacred knowledge from the
imblic domain. "If we are
breed to accept the status
quo of academia when it
comes to educating others
about the sacred properties of
certain medicines or about
our sacred culture, then acad
emia must be forced to allow
Native peoples to educate
others within acceptable lim
its identified by Native peo
ples," Pewewardy wrote.
According to Mendez and
Rhodes, the conference mes
sage needs to reach many
across the globe. School chil
dren are still mis-taught
about American History.
"Columbus meant death,
oppression and slavery to
most of the world, Native
Americans and African
Americans," Mendez said.
There were once 100 mil
lion Native Americans, and
now there are only 4 million
left, he said. "That is geno
cide."
Throughout the confer
ence participants were forced
to question Christianity and
the role it played in the
oppression of native peoples.
"There was no attempt to
hide the truth. Everyone
knows that the church sanc
tioned slavery and even pro
moted the Hamitic myth,"
Mendez said.
IN iwcMj IImAi, pastor ot Immanuol Baptist
Chunk, NNmI louuMMf* IN pilot eonforoneo on
rarism that mo to*. Lynn Hhodot, assistant pa 1 tor of
Wmho NwilNpN* Chunk, attondod In Kansas City.
KLAN
from A1
"I wish the media had called me,"
ecker said on Tuesday.
After he learned of the rally
through news reports, Decker said he
realized no one, particularly an elect
ed official who is not black, came for
ward to denounce the Klan.
Nevertheless, Decker said he believed
that none of county's legislative dele
gation is sympathetic to the Klan's
racial prejudice.
"From the fact that no one came
forward it should be clearly obvious
that the Klan's overall emphasis is so
far from what Christian people want
that they don't even address it," said
Decker. Looking back, though, the
legislator wonders if speaking up
would ease tension or have the oppo
site effect.
"I don't know that I have thought
about it enough to determine what
we should or shouldn't do," Decker
said. "We could spend a lot of time
taking positions on one thing or
another."
State Sea. Betsy Cochrane, how
ever, did not lee a need for anyone to
step forward to denounce the Klan or
calm the mounting racial tension.
Cochrane does not live in Forsyth
County, but she represents a portion
of it.
"I show that I don't support what
they stand for by not going,"
Cochrane said. "There was not much
response to their effort ? that should
tell you about how people feel."
According to Cochrane, North
Carolina has done giteat deal" to
demonstrate that all people are wel
come in this state, Forsyth County
included. For example, she said, a
large portion of the budget is ear
marked for minority business oppor
tunities.
"Perhaps that's part of the prob
lem," Cochrane said.
She added that part of the com
munity's frustration over race comes
from the fact that some blacks refer to
themselves as African Americans.
"We don't have Mexican
American newspapers and organiza
tions. And you don't hear other
minorities separating themselves from
everyone else and being divisive,"
Cochrane said.
Although the Klan rally took
place in Winston-Salem, it has been a
topic of conversation elsewhere in the
Triad. Confrontation between blacks
and whites ? like the one on
Saturday ? are by no means unique
to Winston-Salem, says Dr. Mary
Anne Busch, who teaches a race rela
tions course at High Point University.
She has one possible explanation for
the escalating harshness between
racial groups. Few people are willing
to talk openly and candidly, she said.
"It seems like the white middle
class might be saying it's over and
done with. They've done all that can
be done," Busch said. "But it's not a
black issue." It's a community issue,
and it should concern everyone who
lives in the community."
Thirteen years ago, when she
began the class, 25 students enrolled,
all of them white. This semester there
are only two students taking the class.
"It seems like people don't want to
talk about race or race relations. The
tensioa is growing, but people behave
in an ostrich-like manner, ignoring
it," said Busch.