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FORSYTH
WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755
Douglas reflects on 30 years of enforcing the law in North Carolina
CurH* Douglas
by sharon brooks hodoe
THE CHRONICLE EditOf
GREENSBORO ? When
black men discun law enforce
ment in North Carolina, the
conversation usually focuses on
concerns of racism and brutal
ity. But Curtis Douglas has
something else to say.
"I think people would have
a better appreciation for law
enforcement and what officers
themselves have to overcome if
they had insight, if they had a
chance to walk the roads the
officers have walked," said
Douglas, who carried a badge
for more than three decades. "I
don't particularly like that
term, 'racism.' That's not the
only mason I had obstacles to
overcome."
Douglas, a retired agent of
the State Bureau of
Investigation, has just written
The Overcoming, a book that
will be released Dec. 5.
Douglas describes it as a series
of vignettes that offers a rare
glimpse into the State Bureau
of investigation. The book also
discusses his encounters with
some of the moat prominent
black law enforcement officers
in North Carolina. For exam
ple, Douglas hat worked close
ly with Sylvester Da ugh try, the
retiring chief of police in
Greensboro.
When Douglas, a graduate
of Livingstone College, first
joined the state police 26 years
ago, only two other men of
color had preceded him.
During his career, Douglas
worked in many phases of law
enforcement. He has served as
a uniformed officer, and he has
also been a special agent, buy
ing drugs under cover in some
of the. worst neighborhoods
the state.
"I never had to shoot any
one," Douglas said, explaining
that, contrary to popular opin
ion and misconception, law
enforcement officers take pride
in doing anything to protect
life.
In an interview with The
Chronicle this week, Douglas
talked about the use of force.
That's a topic that has divided
the Triad, particula^
Winston-Salem, along racial
lines.
"I remember when mace
first came out. Unfortunately,
there were people on the feroe
who just couldn't wait to urn it
We cant use pepper spray the
way mace was used," said
Douglas. Having said that,
Douglas then defended using
pepper spray as a way to sub
due a suspect rather than
resorting to deadly force
"If you have to use deadly
force, it's to protect yourself or
someone else If there is no
S?r DOUOLAS oa A3
(Jouple wants
to tell story
of slave ship
RALEIGH (AP) ? In 1839, a
group of 53 enslaved Africans
revolted aboard a Spanish slave
ship but eventually won their free
dom in the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Raleigh couple is hoping
that a new movie about the little
known episode in U.S. history will
help generate interest in their plans
to build a replica of the vessel and
produce an outdoor drama.
E.B. and Juanita Palmer are
the founders and operators of the
Af-rican-American Cultural
Complex in Raleigh.
They want to tell the story of
the Amistad, or L'Amistad, a
Spanish ship that ended up in the
Long Island Sound and was taken
into New Haven, Conn., by the
Navy after the Africans on board
had rebelled, killed some of their
captors and tried to get back to
Africa.
Eventually, the defendants
were freed and most were sent
back to Sierra Leone.
"This was the first civil rights
case ever tested in America, and
we want to show how the
See SLAV! SHIP on A2
Legislator urges
tougher tests for
staff at sub-par
public schools
By ESTES THOMPSON ,
Associated Press Writer
1 RALEIGH (AP) ? The test
for teachers at sub-par schools
hasn't been given to anyone, but
already is the subject of controver
sy, because some critics say it's too
easy.
Rep. Gene Arnold, R-Nash,
thinks the state should give teach
ers a tougher test. Arnold is chair
man of the House Education
Appropriations Subcommittee and
said he plans to have the commit
tee take the test next year to see for
themselves.
"The test is a high school test,"
Arnold said. "It's silly. If you can't
pass that, you have no business in
the teaching profession.
.."I want a tougher test that not
q&ty defines their basic skills in the
sQ&ject matter, but their presenta
tion. Obviously, that has not been
dohe at all."
?. The Excellent Schools Act,
approved by the Legislature in its
1997 session, requires a general
knowledge test for staff members
in schools that are identified as
low-performing. Some 123 schools
are now in that category, 15 of
which have received special assis
tance teams to help improve edu
cation standards.
The test now being evaluated
by the state Department of Public
Instruction is called the CBEST,
which was developed by National
See TESTS on A3
End of an era
Orambllng University coach Sddle Robinson kempt a close oyo on the field during the Bayou
Classic In Now Orleans Saturday, Nov. 29. Robinson retired Saturday amid tributes and tears
after spending, as he puts H, "57 years with the same wife and same lob." Robinson won
4OS games, more than any other coach In college football.
' ' ' " " ? ' ' A ''
I
I
UNC Students:
Don't dismantle
affirmative action
CHAPEL HILL (AP) ?
Despite assurances that diversity
will be maintained on campus,
many UNC students who favor
affirmative action feel the adminis
tration is in the process of disman
of the
UNC system, ordered all 16 cam
puses to take a critical look at their
affirmative action policies and
change those based solely on race.
"I feel fear," said India Williams,
a senior from Raleigh who is presi
dent of the Black Student
Movement at UNC-Chapel Hill. "I
don't think everyone understands
the implications of Broad's deci
sion.
"Slowly but surely, we are com
ing upon a Proposition 209 for
North Carolina."
Williams was referring to the
California voter initiative that bans
the use of race as an admissions cri
teria in public universities. The per
son who led the campaign for that
initiative ? Ward Connerly ? is
scheduled to speak at Chapel Hill
Tuesday on the invitation of the
Carolina Conservative Coalition, a
student organization.
Broad insists that she does not
intend to reverse decades of
progress toward integration on the
UNC campuses.
"It is very difficult to try to sat
isfy everyone that we are not in a
retreat," she said this week.
She called for the review of cam
pus admissions and financial aid
policies in response to court rulings
striking down racial preferences.
She said she stands behind the
centerpiece of UNC's long-fought
desegregation agreement with the
federal government ? scholarships
designed to bring more black stu
dents to historically white campuses
and more white students to histori
cally black campuses ? but worries
that some individual campus pro
grams may be vulnerable to law
suits.
Minority enrollment at UNC's
10 historically white campuses is
9.84 percent, and blacks make up
nearly 22 percent of the overall
state population.
Broad said she wants to contin
ue to improve the numbers, but not
H with policies that may be unconsti
tutional.
"We have an enviable and proud
record in equalizing educational
opportunity in outreach and
recruitment and student aid," she
said. "Our goal will be to sustain
that successful track record and
indeed to expand it. But it is also
our responsibility to take this kind
of review in light of so many chal
lenges in the courts."
Federal courts have stricken a
scholarship program for top black
undergraduates at the University of
Maryland, and race-based admis
sions and financial aid policies at
the University of Texas.
The rulings, along with
California's 209, have prompted
universities across the nation to
review policies. Broad said.
But some complain that Broad's
review is premature and that UNC
should wait until the U.S. Supreme
Court takes up affirmative action
before changing successful pro
grams.
"The message it sends to stu
dents of color and women is that
UNC doesn't care anymore ? we're
not going to wait for it to come
here, we're just going to do it," said
Ali Fischer.
Some faculty and administra
tors have similar fears.
"I am fearful that we will engage
in wholesale retreat from actions
designed to make society more
equal and open without knowing
what we're retreating to," said
Archie Ervin, the director of
recruitment for UNC-CH.
UNC-CH Chancellor Michael
Hooker, however, said he agrees
with Broad's review of programs,
ahd he believes Connerly's visit can
only help the discussion.
See PROTESTS on A2
Black leaders prepare for volunteer summit
Gladys Robinson
By PAUL E. JOHNSON /
Special to The Chronicle j
When community activist and non
profit leader Gladys Robinson of
Greensboro surveys the pressing social
needs in Guilford County, she realizes that
relying on money alone won't resolve
problems. In an era of cost-conscious gov
ernment and rising demands on funding
for nonprofit outreach, volunteers will
become the key resource for addressing
community needs, said Robinson, the
executive director of the Sickle Cell
Disease Association and a Guilford
County delegate for the Governor's
Summit on Volunteerism.
Greensboro will tagcome the focal point
for the state's effort to promote volunteer
service when the summit is held Jan. 21-22
at the Koury Convention Center. More
than 1,000 people are expected to attend
the summit, which will launch the 1998
Year of the Volunteer in North Carolina.
The logistics and plans for the volun
teer outreach remain tentative at this
point, she said. However, Robinson said
she hopes the summit will result in a
greater number of people volunteering
who traditionally aren't thought of as key,
potential resources.
The pool of effective volunteers does
not have to be limited to people from well
off backgrounds. "There are people who
can do a lot of different things to make a
difference to children and in the quality of
life," she said.
In the African-American community,
the connections of family can provide a
wealth of assistance, said Robinson, who
is representing the North Carolina
NAACP Education Committee at the
summit.
"When I started doing volunteer pro
grams 27 years ago, we talked about neigh
bors who were volunteers. When people
got sick, they were there to look after
someone," Robinson said. "But nobody
every said. 'This is the volunteer of the
month.' They go unnoticed."
She said grandparents, aunts and
See SUMMIT on A2
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