75 unt< ^ Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point vol. xxiv No. 43
-fEm Chronicle
FORSYTH CNTY PUB LIB .k The Choice for African American News and Information e-mail address: wschronOnehjnlimited.net
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Roundtable joins fight to keep New Evergreen alive
By KEVIN WALKER
ramm
Amid the hundreds of bestseller* at
Special Occasions Bookstore, it is easy
for customers to overlook the brown
clipboard in front of the cash register
But the store's owners, Ed and Miri
am McCarter, find time to remind
shoppers of it as they ring up purchas
es,
"Have you heard about this petition
they are starting to try to get them to
expand Evergreen," Miriam McCarter
asked one of her regular customers.
The "they" are members of the
Black Leadership Round table, a group
of men and women who meet to
address issues important to the African
American community.
The "them" are members of a group
with a similar purpose, the Winston
Salem Board of Aldermen.
The fate of the city-owned New
Evergreen cemetery, located off of New
Walkertown Road, was decided on
May 18, when a proposal went before
the board to expand the facility and
failed to win a majority vote. Board
members tied 4-4, and the vacationing
mayor was not present to cast the
deciding vote.
The decision means that in the year
2001, New Evergreen, the first major
cemetery to open its doors to blacks in
1944, will sell its last plots and reach
maximum capacity.
If alderman are to take another vote
on the issue, at least five members must
agree to it, one more than expansion
supporters originally got.
The round table is hoping the signa
tures of hundreds of citizen will dhow
board members that the future of New
Evergreen is a great concern.
"Almost everyone whose attention
I've called to it have been anxious to
sign it," Miriam McCarter said refer
ring to the petition. '
"(Aldermen) say they are not dos
ing the cemetery, but in essence that's
what they are doing," Ed McCarter
added. "It's not like we are going to
stop dying all of a sudden."
The concern expressed by the
McCarters is exactly the kind of grass
roots outcry that round tabic leader and
N.C. Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth,
Sff MHm on A3
Parents tell
i
board to keep
coordinator,
By JERI YOUNG
THE CHRONICLE ^
-
At least 100 supporters of the African American
Infusion Program attended a meeting of the Forsyth
Board of Education Tuesday night.
And after hours of explaining to school board
members why being inclusive is important to all chil
dren, the Board voted to restore the coordinator's
position which provided training to schools about the
program. *?
Officials are unsure if Pam Frazier, AAIP's last
coordinator will continue in the position.
t Superintendent Don Martin earlier had called the
"temporary*-andnmtgMt IHI ll u?Sln? ?
I, tor's duties to Avon Ruf
. fin, who handles the social I
studies curriculum for the I
school system.
"There was never any I
decision to do away with I
the program," Martin I
said. "It was funded in the I
beginning with grant I
money and we estimated I
it would take about four I
years to implement in the *
school system. At that
time the staff support
position would be phased |_
63bt. We felt a training
coordinator would be
J- J J ! iL C
^
Brown
neeueu ounng mai iuui
year period. After that we thought the program could
be sustained without a full time position."
? But the real winners are students, says educator
Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, a member of the Communi
ty Advocacy Group which mounted a massive letter
' writing campaign aimed at getting black parents to
make school board members and officials aware of
the need for the staff position,
"Textbooks are a little better than they were
before," said Wilson-Oyelaran. "But African Ameri
? can history is still a little spasmodic. It's not really
! chronological. People of color are boxed off to the
I side, if you know what I mean. The beauty of the cur
riculum is that it brought everything together."
^ While the program has been in place for four
years, Wilson-Oyelaran's group says little effort has ,
been made to ensure that schools receive the proper
gaining to implement the program.
! Currently 12 schools have not implemented the
; program and efforts to begin a Hispanic curriculum
have not been completed.
;? Martin says the 12 remaining schools are being
brought on this year. The school System set a drop
dead date for implementation then asked for volun
teers for come on line each year.
' . As for the implementation of the Hispanic com
ponent, Martin says that was never set in stone.
"It was never written on a timeline," Martin said.
r
' ? * ' \
See AAIP on A11
? Thit Wookt' Now* .
? Opinion
? Forum id
,? Butinott How*
? Community Calondar \\
? Sport*
v
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40 Acres?
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bft, and Jamas Dunn on part af a growing numbor of North
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Black farmers locked in
battle to save way of life
By DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE , >
For many black farmers, their future harvests
will rest on what happens at the nation's capital,
not out in the growing fields.
Because of discrimination, black farmers
claim they are unable to purchase seeds or
machinery needed for crops until the middle or
end of the growing season - which may be too late.
Therefore they are unable to make money to pay
for already existing loans. The government then
forecloses on their farms and takes the land leav
ing the black farmer with a huge debt and no way
?
to pay it.
A North Carolina fanner, Tim Pigford, is the
lead plaintiff in the discrimination suit filed last
year by 400 black farmers against U.S. Secretary
of Agriculture Dan Glickman.
The suit alleges that the U.S. Department of
Agriculture has practiced discriminatory loan
policies toward black farmers between 1983-1997.
According to the Congressional Black Caucus,
white farmers received 91 percent of farm loans in
1997, 2 percent went to blacks, 4 percent to His
panics and 1 percent to Native Americans.
?(j See Block Formers on A3
Parents remember special child
iy HANNAH M. ROSE
^or THE CHRONICLE "
On August 29 1994, nine-year-old Kenny Wright
grabbed his books, waved goodbye to his mother, and
skipped out to his bus stop near his family's home in
Carver Glen.
It would have been the 4th grader's fourth day at
Prince Ibraham Elementary School.
Instead, it was his last day of life.
As Kenny ran to the bus stop that morning he was
struck and killed by a Chevrolet Blazer. Kenneth
Wright Sr., a mild mannered and soft-spoken man
said that several residents had complained about the
location of the bus stop.
Since Kenny's death, a lot of things have changed.
Sidewalks have been added to the street where he lost
his life.
But it's the scholarship that bears his name that
most people are talking about.
See Scholarship on A11
I mm\ ??
Vanotta Wright looks at a pkturo of har ton, Kmnny. Xhm
family hat bogun a momoriol fund in Konnyb honor*
'I made some
errors,' WSSU
chancellor says
Schexnider discusses
results of new audit
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHBON1CLE
According to an internal audit, Chancellor Alvin J.
Schexnider of Winston-Salem State violated spending
policies at least four times this year.
The results of the audit were released to the uni
versity's Board of Trustees at a meeting last Thursday
on the WSSU campus.
During an exclusive interview with The Chronicle
earlier this week, Schexnider admitted he made "some
errors in judgment" and is ready to put the matter
. behind him and move the j _ 1
university torwara.
The allegations came
to light two months ago
when individuals with ties
to WSSU reported them to
the state auditor's office.
The Chronicle detailed
them in a series of recent
articles.
"I look at them not as
abuses of power,"
Schexnider said, "but as
the report describes it. It _
said I made some errors in |
judgment. They are minor.
Schmxnidmr
I ney are not material find
ings ... (In an audit) you
have have findings, then you have significant findings
and material findings. These are insignificant find
ings."
The university's board did not sanction or repri
mand Schexnider. However, it did find that he acted
improperly in making personal and school-related pur
chasing decisions.
The findings of the audit revealed that Schexnider
used state employees to perform work at his house
" twice in the last three months. He had employees deliv
er and set up personal workout equipment in his house.
State employees also repaired a basketball goal at his
house.
Schexnider broke university purchasing procedures
when he purchased a large-screen television set for
$1,861.75 for his residence. He did not receive prior
approval from the university's purchasing department,
but later asked for reimbursement.
He also improperly had his house keeper, who
works on a contractual basis, transport his children to
and from school. According to state law, non-state
employees performing official state business can be
reimbursed for travel expenses.
Sre Sdwxnidsr on AS
Chronicle, Post
pick up 12 during
annual convention
By JOHN MINTER
CONSOLIDATED MEDIA OROUP
The Chronick and The Charlotte Post, both
Consolidated Media Group weeklies, were voted
second and third best African American papers in
the country during an industry convention last
week.
The awards were handed out last week in
Memphis, Tenn. during The National Newspaper
Publisher Association's annual convention.
The Chronick picked up five awards including
"Best Sport Section" for the second year in a raw
Srr Awards on A10
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