Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 28, 1999, edition 1 / Page 6
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OPINION > ' , J * "mmmm *iM>mvtuu ktuikiiiau Maw* r?t?i The Chronicle n> cvmjki Ernest H. Pitt PubHsherico-Founder NDI'BISI EcEMONVE Co-Founder Elaine Pitt Business Maruiger Fannie Henderson advertising manager J ERI YOLNG Managing Editor steven Moore Production Manager nkionunmomt RtwAmocMor of Circulation puWws, Inc. PuMWmt* AMOCMflion * Let us validate ourselves ? i. We knew it was only a matter time before someone took issue with the tactics of the NAACP's educational commit tee. And sure enough. Rev. Carlton Eversley and the Win ston-Salem NAACP have been criticized by the majority community for using litigation to once more desegregate the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system. The lawsuit that the NAACP filed against the school dis trict is key to desegregation. But litigation is only one com* ponent of the organization's educational initiative. Self help is at the core of the NAACP's strategy to improve schools and increase achievement" of African American children. - ? Experience has taught us that, when necessary, we must take our struggle to the courts. We must work on the grass roots level but also within the legal system to advance our cause. Were it not for legal battles and civil disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement, schools might never have desegregated. The status quo rarely gives way to change without a fight. For power concedes nothing without a demand. As Frederick Douglass advocated, "agitate, agitate, agitate." We urge the NAACP to stay the course and for the African American community to support the organization's educational action plan. We should not be deterred by the majority community's disapproval. Our cause is noble, our tactics are sound, and our timing is correct. - Martin Luther King Jr. took criticism from white reli gious leaders for using civil disobedience to protest racial oppression. In his "Letter From the Birmingham City Jail," Dr. King explained why African Americans could wait no longer for the United States to fulfill the promise of equal ity guaranteed by the Constitution. Inner city schoolchildren can wait no longer for equal educational opportunity. Time is marching on and our chil dren are missing out on programs and resources that afflu ent suburban schools take for granted. As a result, our chil dren fail to dream big and fall short of their potential. For too many students, it's already too late.. ? . That is why the NAACP is taking action. Ideally, education is a great equalizer. That is true, how ever, only when all students have access to "a quality educa tion. For our children's sake, we can Settle for no less. We should not be preoccupied with gaining validation from the white community for the course we have pursued. We must not be concerned about whether the white com munity deems our cause worthy. We must breathe meaning into our own struggle. r The best way to demonstrate our worth is by investing in our own. That meansstriving to build up our own neigh borhoods rather than aspiring to the other side of town. We waste our energy by frying to ingratiate ourselves to the powers, that be. Instead, we must support the African American media, businesses, organizations and institu tions, which have over the years served our community and advanced our interests. After all, unless we do Tor ourselves, no one will ever deem us worthy or take us seriously. * * T v H "* To the Editor: It has been very hard for me to believe what Walter Marshall did to Atkins graduates and the citi zens of East Winston. I have known Walter Marshall for more than 15 years and have listened to some of the comments that people have made about his ' selling-out black people or selling his influence and wavering. However, I tried to overlook such comments and work with Walter because I truly believed that he had the interest of black people at heart. Now, I see what other people said was true. I have firsthand experience regarding how Walter operates. I will not publicly say anything that is disparaging about another brother. I will say that because of Walter's conflict of interest, he has placed himself in a fish bowl, and this community will have to judge his real motives and actual contri butions to our African American children. Victor Johnson Jr. Atkins alumnus WShFC School Board member To the Editor: When the Winston Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education made its Jan.-12 deci sion not to restore Atkins to a senior high school, Walter Mar shall (the traitor of the black com munity), faculty of Atkins Middle School and current parents were the factions given the most consid eration. Walter Marshall is not on the school board, he spoke at the Jan. 11 community forum, and will have a voice when and if the mat ter comes to the county commissioners. That is more than enough input from such an opinionated, uninformed person. Faculty usually do not decide where they will provide education for students. Their main concern shotlld be to guide pupil growth and promote academic achieve ment wherever they are assigned to teach. A school not only exists for present children and parents, but also for futuce children and par ents. Alumni should have been considered because we are parents. grandparents, taxpayers, voters and residents of the community. With the exception of Walter Mar shall, the pros and cons of all groups should have been a part of the decision-making process. For the school board to make a hasty decision based upon the wishes of those who probably put their per sonal interests before the interests of the masses demonstrated mak ing a decision with tunnel vision. j. Now the East Winston community expects that our alternative requests be acted upon. Restore and update the Atkins graduates' history in the school building, and build a senior high school in East " Winston. We voted for the 1995 bonds too! Samuel Puryear Sr. Atkins alumnus ?IB Vinroot stands to benefit from Fetzer's withdrawal Val Atkinson Jones Street Former Charlotte mayor, Richard Vinroot has surfaced as the front runner for the 2000 Republican Gubernatorial pri mary race. Vinroot's name arose after Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer decid ed that "enough was enough." Fetzer is no longer interested in running for governor or any other political office for now. Is Tom Fetzer tired., of the political pressures, or has he finally realized that his Raleigh and Wake county prowess does not extend to Manteo and Mur phy? Whatever his reasons, Vinroot stands to benefit and benefit big. Mayor Fetzer released his sup porters and contributors to sup port any Republican candidate they choose. Fetzer may have wit tingly of unwittingly given Vin root the boost he needed to put critical distance between him and the rest of the field. If Vinroot prevails he will be a formidable opponent for whomever the standard barer of the Democratic Party happens to be. He's articulate, and could hold his own in debates against the likes of Mike Easley, Norris Tolson or Dennis Wicker. Vinroot is a fiscal conserva tive but is less conservative when it comes to social issues. Vinroot is a far cry from Robin Hayes. Hayes was the Republican Party nominee for,, Governor in 1996 who was soundly defeated by Governor Jim Hunt in the gener al election. i VinrpQt will- iit.all likelihood, run a campaign that will be 180 degree departure from the cam paign run by Robin Hayes. Hayes catered to the right wing of the party and told minorities and women td take a hike, and they did. 1 don't think Vinroot will be that mentally dysfunctional. And although Vinroot may attract more minorities and women than Hayes, the question is whether he can get enough minorities and women to make a difference. Vinroot is smart and very savvy, but like so many Republi cans, he's joined at the hip with the Republican "Old Guard" and the purveyors of single-minded moralism. It won't be easy to break-a-way from the likes of Jesse Helms, Taylor,. Burr and Carter Wrenn. If Vihroot should be fortu nate enough to win the Republi can primary, he'll still have one other major obstacle to deal in the general election, and that's the fallout of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Unfortunately, because of .the U.S. House Republican relentless pursuit to overturn the elections of 1992 and 1996, some good Republicans will not be elected or reelected. The way I see it, it's the price of blind conformity. I predict a considerable transfer of seats (from Republicans to Democrats) at the U S- House and Senate levels, State Legisla tures and in the Governors' Man sions. 1 disagree with ex-U.S. Sena tor Alan Simpson when he con tends that by November of 2000, Americans will have forgotten all about the Republicans' attempts to remove Clinton from office. Vinroot and all other Republi cans will have a decided uphill battle in 2000 mainly because of Bob Barr, Tom DeLay and Henry Hyde. Vinroot will do well in the pri mary but he may want to contact his buddy Tom Fetzer again and ask him "what did he really get him into. ?e i Val Atkinson is a columnist for the Triangle Tribune. ?. t Voices from th community... Citizens in her native Salisbury have begun an effort to lobby Elizabeth Dole to run for President. At a rally last weekend, about 1,000 people came out to show their support for Liddy, the name they affectionately call her. We asked local res idents would they vote for a woman if she ran for the highest office in the land. Darryl Brown ? "The redstm / would vote for a woman is because she would obvious ly be qualified to have a legitimate run at the presidency A woman can prove to be as level-headed and show the ability to make level-headed decisions just as well as a man could." Njai Ditkmrton " Yes, I would vote for a woman. I love women, hut if she wasn't doing good I wouldn't vote for her. Just like a man. If he's not doing good I wouldn't vote for him either " Johnni? Sontbury / would, / would vole J or a woman I would vole for her because she is a woman, and f lovt? women " / '? ? ' "?. 1 ..>? I V ' Ayanna Horn* "Depending on what her issues were. If she was going for the right things like health care, for education just like the other candidates, then sure. I would vote for her But / would not vote for her just because she was a woman, that wouldn't he right I would vote for a man who supported the same issues." Grant Duncan I "/ would. / don't think that would he a had idea because a lot of men don't become great men without women, that's what I truly believe. Women truly have compassion, and we as men came from a woman. It would be a tribute to our own moth ers and sisters."
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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