Urban Leagues officials earmark grant money
$75,0000 grant will be used
for race relations program
By t. kevin walker
, The chronicle ?
Officials at the Winston
Salem Urban League are plan
ning to use funds from a recently
awarded grant to take a popular
cace relations workshop on the
road. v
The workshop ? "Bridging
the Gaps in Race Relations"?
has helped thousands of city res
idents to become more racially
tolerant over the past 10 years,
officials say.
In recent years, demand for
the workshop has spread beyond
Forsyth County. In order to
accommodate those demands,
the Urban League applied for a
grant from the Zachary Smith
Reynolds Foundation last
August.
Last week, the Foundation
awarded the Urban League
$75,000. The money will be used
to help defray the costs involved
in taking the 20-hour workshop
on a trek to towns and cities
across the state.
"We've also gotten requests
for the workshop from outside
the stater The workshop has got
ten very good feedback. It has
helped to Change a lot of (racial)
myths that people have about
each other," said Henrietta
Hodge, the Urban League's
director of program develop
ment.
The workshop involves a
series of discussions dealing with
various subjects? poverty, edu
cation, health care? where
questions of race and culture can
be easily interjected. Moderators
for the workshop vary with the
discussion topics.
The Winston-Salem Police
Department, Forsyth County
Sheriff's Department and
instructors with the city-county
school system have all taken
advantage of the workshop dur
ing its decade-long run here in
the city, Hodge said.
"The whole purpose of
'Bridging the Gap' is to promote
an understanding of cultural dif
ferences," she said. "We have
found that if a person has a bet
ter understanding of someone
else's cultural, they are more tol
erant and accepting."
Currently, the Urban League
has plans to take the workshop to
Wilmington, Wilson and Mon
roe. Expanding the workshop to
other southern states is a possi
bility that the organization is
also looking into.
This latest grant is the Fifth
awarded to the Urban League by
the Z. Smith Reynolds Founda
tion, according to the Founda
tion's executive director Tom
Lambeth. .
Lambeth said for the past two
decades, the foundation has
made a concerted effort to focus
on issues that impact minorities
and women. .
"We wanted to be a founda
tion that focused on North Car
olina and all of its people...We
saw that women and minorities
needed special attention," Lam
beth said.
Since its inception almost 65
years ago, the foundation has
granted more than $257 million
to organizations in counties
throughout the state. Last year,
the Foundation awarded 270
grants totaling $13 million.
A recent rash of hate crimes
led the National Urban League
to revive its efforts ? to bring
about better race relations.
^ "We have always been
impressed with their work, both
locally and nationally," Lambeth
said.
Winston-Salem Urban
League Executive Director
Dolores Smith developed the
workshop in 1984 after she took
a trip to Egypt.
She says the trip to Africa left
her with many unanswered ques
tions.
"I came to realize that I really
didn't know who I was as an
African American, and if I didn't
know who 1 was, how could' I
expect whites to," Smith said.
In addition to fostering
understanding between the races.
Smith said the workshop has also
helped African Americans gain a
better understanding of them
selves and their culture.
But building bridges over
racial gulfs requires a willingness
on the part of both blacks and
whites. Smith says.
"You have to check the soil on
both sides before you can build a
bridge," she said.
Smith added that she would
like the National Urban League
and chapters throughout the
nation to adopt the workshop.
*.
Tuesday, Smith was in
Raleigh where Gov. Jim Hunt
announced yet another grant for
the Winston-Salem Urban
League.
The $25,000 Rite of Passage
grant will enable the organization
to train college students to
become mentors to younger chil
dren who have had run-ins with
the legal system.
Atkins
from page AI
it would be the smallest in the sys-,
tem. Marshall said if board mem
bers allowed the school to be con
verted. they would not be living up
to their responsibility to provide
students with the best education
possible.
"Atkins has always been a sub
standard school. It was never as
good as the schools on society
hill.. .To even consider that propos
al is a violation of your oath of
office." he told the board.
A verbal sparring match erupt
ed between Johnson and Marshall
after the latter accused many of
those who supported converting
Atkins of abandoning it for green
er pastures during its heyday.
Marshall said many elite blacks
snubbed Atkins and sent their chil
dren to the posh Saint Anne's
school and later to mostly white
y public high schools.
"After that (desegregation) suit,
blacks knocked down the doors to
get into Reynolds...Atkins was not
all rosy," Marshall said.
Johnson - a lifelong resident of
East Winston - retaliated by
claiming that Marshall was not a
native of the community and,
therefore, uninformed about the
matter.
"Why did you come to this
community," Johnson asked Mar
shall. "We didn't send for you."
After the meeting, Marshall
said he came to the meeting to
address his concerns to the board,
not to argue with Johnson. But he
says he hopes that he and Johnson
will remain friends.
The community meeting the
night before, was tame in compari
son to the two men's spat. More
than 300 hundred people attended
the forum and listened as Marshall,
Johnson and nearly 17 others gave
their spin on the Atkins situation.
The idea for the forum came
during a school board session on
the proposal. The forum provide
the board, which has been criti
cized for being too sheltered, with
an opportunity to get up close and
personal with the community they
have alienated the most.
The two sides of the debate
were easily recognizable, with many
Atkins teachers and parents push
ing to keep the school as is and
Atkins High alumni lobbying for
the change.
One Atkins teacher said chang
ing the school to a high school,
three years after it underwent a $9
million dollar renovation to
become a "high-tech" middle
school, would be problematic for
the staff
"This is the only newly renovat
ed middle school in the inner
city...Our teachers need a stable
environment, (changing the school)
would disrupt that environment,"
said Natalie Kimbrough.
Womble told the crowd that
school officials have purposely
avoided creating high schools in the
black community.
"This is a conspiracy to keep
our people from being knowledge
able and educated," he said.
By the end of the forum, it had
become apparent that a new move
ment had developed, and had
already, perhaps, gained more sup
port than the original proposal.
The movement involves a plan to
build a brand new high school in
close proximity to Atkins.
A proposal is currently before
the board to buiid a new high
school in the western part of the
county. The school would help to
alleviate overcrowding at West
Forsyth High School, which could
have more than 1500 students in
few years. The school would also
have a student body that is over
whelming white.
But many say the inner city has
been neglected for much too long
when it comes to new school con
struction. Speakers sent board
members home with a clear mes
sage.
"Dr. (Donald) Martin, you
must realize and understand, we
want a high school in the East sec
tor of this city," the Rev. Jimmie
Lee Bonham said, addressing the
superintendent.
Now, that the future of Atkins
Middle is safe, Brown says she will
support a new high school if it is
determined that one is needed.
Though she says a school in the
Lowery Street area would be .a
more ideal location because it
would be far enough away from
Carver.
Johnson has also endorsed the
plan. He says his endorsement isn't
a change of heart.
"I've always wanted either a
new school in this area, or to have
Atkins back as a high school," he
said.
To gauge if there is enough
support in the East Winston com
munity for a new high school,
board members discussed the pos
sibility of conducting polls in the
area or holding more community
forums.
I
ACCU Forecast for Winston-Salem
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Local 7-Day Forecast
Thursday I Thu. night I Friday
Rain and A shower. A shower in
freezing the
rain. morriing.
39 31 49/36
Saturday I Sunday
Clouds and Mostly
sun; mild. .?? cloudy;
showers.
57/38 58/39
| Tuesday 1 Wednesday
Mostly Partly
sunny and sunny and
pleasant. pleasant.
'57/37 57/37
The Week Ahead
Temperatures
?H ?? CD Wll
Abov* Nmt Bmkm
y-??-! y-__i
nOrfTl?! rlOnTWI nOflTlfll
= I HE WEEK AHEAD
Precipitation
?i ez~~] r
Abova Nmt Drtow \
il? ,M a| MM. ??? ?
riormii norma normal
%
U.S. Traveler's Cities The National Summary
Thursday 'Friday Saturday Sunday Monday The overall pattern across the
city hi U w hi Lo w hi . L? w hi Lo w hi Lo W country will revert back to what was
Atlanta 50 38 sh 56 41 sh 60 45 sh 62 45 sh 58 37 pc going on in November. Warm Pacific
1? ^ ?? ' 43 33 pc 49 34 pc 48 33 sh air will flood the country with the
Cheago 27 20 pc 38 32 pc 46 36 pc 42 28 sh 38 24 si northern tier and Southeast receivinn
Cleveland 29 20 pc 38 30 pc 46 34 pc 47 33 pc 44 27 an northern tier and Southeast receiving
Denver 52 29 s 58 26 pc 52 21 pc 50 23 pc 55 27 pc above-normal temperatures Along
Dee Moines 28 20 pc 46 30 pc 44 27 s 43 28 sh 38 22 s with warm air, storms will again
Detroit 24 18 sf 35 30 pc 43 32 pc 43 31 pc 42 25 sn ' penetrate the West Coast, bringing
Houston 60 42 sh 62 44 c 6848c 69 50c 65 46 pc rajn Storms will also frequent the
s s s ?s r ssr ss: ssr
Los Angeles 76 49 pc 72 48 pc 71 47 pc 71 48 pc 68 34 pc Southwest will continue to be dry.
Miami 78 66 pc 78 67 r 80 66 sh ' 80 64 sh 78 61 sh
Mem.- St Paul 23 16 pc 37 21 pc 37 20 pc 39 20 Sh 32 14 a
New Orleans 60 47 ah 62 47 sh 67 50 eh 68 52 sh 68 47 pc
New Yprtr City 28 24 pc 4036r 46 36 pc <0 30 pc 42 32 r
Omaha 33 21 pc 47 29 pc 47 26s .45 24 pc 42 22s
Phoenix 75 50 s 76 51 pc 76 48 s 72 46 s 75 45 pc
San Francisco 60 47 sh 57 45c 57 44 c 58 43 sh 44 31 sh
Seattle 52 40 r 45 36 sh 45 36 sh 46 36 sh 37 24 sn ZlZZl ZZZH
Washington 34 32 c 44 38 r 50 36 pc 44 34 pc 44 34 r ZfjZZZZZZ
World Traveler's Cities Sun & Moon ..
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Sunriae J< Sunadt
c?y HILoWHILoW HILoW HILoW HI Lo W Thu., Jan. 14 ...... 7:31 a.m. 5:29 p.m.
Amsterdam 38 31 sn 36 30 pc 42 32A r 38 28 pc 42 35 r Fit., Jan. 15 7:31 a m 5:30 p.m
Berlin 35 23 sn 27 18 s 3833s 34 22 s 3129 s Sat. Jan 16 7:31 a.m 5:31 p.m.
Buanos Aires 83 63 s 84 66 pc 85 86 pc 86 65 sh 86 66 * Sun. Jan 17 7:31 am 5:32 p.m.
Cairo 67 81 pc 68 53 pc 89 51 pc 82 44 s 6* 46 a Mon. Jan 18 ...7:30 a.m. 5:33 pm.
JaruisHrii 80 42 pc 56 42 pc 57 43 pc 53 31 pc 46 34 ? Tue Jan 19 7:30 a m 5:34 pm
JohanrMfaurg 82 81 pc 86 83 pc 84 64 pc 84 63 pc 84 84 pc Wed. Jan 20 . 7:30 a m 5:35 p m
London 40 37 sh 44 43 s 53 28 pc 35 28 pc 40 32 pc
Madrid 47 34 c 5438s 57 38 s 54 36 s 5638s Moonrisa Moonset
Mexico City 68 41 s 67 40 pc 67 41 pc 65 40 pc 65 40 pc Thu , Jan 14 4 45am 313pm
Moscow 26 18 c 28 27 pc 3123sn 32 21 sf 28 20 sf Fri.Jan 15 5 39a.m 400pm
- * 8 S T Sat, Jan 16 6:31 am 4:52 pm
Rio de Janeiro 82 73 pc 83 73 pc 84 74 pc 55 78 pc 06 76 pc
Rorno 52 30 pc 53 36 pc 53 30 t 57 42*1 57 44c Moon Phmm?
trf" ?.?1-222 ? ? f ?22 ?22 f,r? fu.i l-i
SaoiS 28 15 pc 31 17 pc 3621S 36 22 pc 38 14 pc
Sydney 75 63 c 85 74 s 88 76 pc 88 77 pc 89 77 pc A m
Tokyo 46 36 pc 52 36 pc 50 34 pc 48 36 s 50 40 pc ' ^ ' > \W
pronto 29 18 pc 36 31 pc 47 34 pc 45 32 s 43 30 r 17 Jan 24 Jan 31 ,
Winnipeg 18 12. pc 27 8 pc 21 5 s 22 4 pc 21 3 pc
Zurich 35 24 sn 29 22 s 42 36 s 37 26 s 3635s
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