Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 11, 1999, edition 1 / Page 6
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OPINION ^ ' . - 1 I, ** ""* llMI??'|tll? <???????>?? l)4l fM*l The Chronicle The Omtmfm ??? .<????? 1 Hmm mtd Bjmmmmm Ernest H. Pitt Pubiisher/Co-Founder -f ndibisi egemonve Co-Founder \ Elaine Pitt Business Manager Fannie Henderson Advertising Manager \ jeri yol'ng Managing Editor steven Moore Production Manager I - ? :' : rntmtMmmumm' PmtaocMkm o? Ctrculatton llnc. Keeping Black History Alive * Every February, we salute African-American luminaries, recall the trials, tragedies and triumphs of our American saga, and beat the drum for our African heritage. This history bears repeating, but some just as compelling stories never get told. Living among us are ordinary people who breathe life into African-American folk traditions. Sara Murphy of rural Robeson County is a healer. Some call her a root worker, some a spiritual adviser. People travel from miles around, sometimes on chartered buses, for her cures and advice. In warm weather, Ms. Mur phy digs roots and gathers herbs for the secret concoction she makes in batches and puts up in Mason jars. She claims that one swallow of the potion three times a day will cure most illnesses and remove spells. Ms. Murphy, who also tells the future, insists that she uses her gift only to heal, not to hex. One female client received sassafras roots to chew on, a lucky red bag filled with coins and predictions of her future. Another client explained, "Whole lotta ail ments a regular doctor can't cure." If Ms. Murphy's potion doesn't cure what ails you, Joe Thompson's fiddling will. Mr. Thompson, who lives in Alamance County, can't read music and plays by ear. He began playing the fiddle at age six. Soon after, he was performing with his father at Saturday night square dances. Though interest in the music waned in the 1940s, Mr. Thompson kept playing at home, during tobacco curing time and for family reunions. In the 1970s, he was "discov ered". by folklorists and started performing publicly again. The nation's last living African-American traditional fid dler, Mr. Thompson mixes his songs with stories of rural lifV? ? Itv< Buckdancers Algia Mae Hinton and John Dee Holeman are as fast on their feet as Mr. Thompson is with his fingers. Both are also blues guitarists. Mr. Holeman, who lives in Durham, shows off buckdancing when he takes a break from playing. Ms. Hinton, who lives in Johnston County, can do a buckdance while playing a guitar behind her head, never missing a step or note. , . Woodcarver George SerVance of Thomasville, lets his dolls do the dancing. He was 10 years old when he first saw a man carving a dancing doll in the local five-and-dime store. "Nobody ever showed me now to carve," he said. "The Lord just gave it to me." In his basement workshop, Mr. SerVance carves walking sticks. Biblical figures and dancing dolls of Uncle Sam, the royal guard, clowns and other characters. His work is dis played in the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. In High Point, quilter Bunice Hope expresses her artistry with needle and thread. She finds inspiration for her quilts in stained glass windows, flags and flowers. She has "even crafted a Martin Luther King Jr. quilt. Unlike Dr. King, these plain folks will never be famous or change the world. They contribute in another way. They keep history alive. - ? ' ? \ ? ' .V Taking land from blacks is a part of U.S. history Barbara Reynolds V Guest Columnist In South Africa and in the Unit ed States over the past few week we saw the loosening of deep-seated agricultural policies that have worked to enhance the wealth of whites, while deepening the poverty of blacks Although officials in pre apartheid South Africa or post-slav ery United States won't call it that, but land-grab reversals shook the dust off of preferential treatment policies for whites that are deeply rooted in the history of both coun tries. The U.S. government agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to black farmers who had docu mented evidence that they ? unlike white farmers ? were denied gov ernment loans disaster relief and other aid because of their race. Next, I hope former Agricultural Secretary Mike Espy will sue over the racist policies that forced him out of that Cabinet post. Yes he was acquitted but he is still out of his position. These racist policies worked not only to destroy black farmers and wrest land from black hands but to also ensure that the land stayed in white hands In other words the land was set aside for whites based on the long-standing principles of white supremacy on which the Unit ed States and South Africa were built. In the United States partly because of U.S. government policies black farmers have lost land at incredible rates In 1820, 14 percent of the nation's farms were owned by blacks, according to U.S. Agricultur al Department - the USDA - Statis tics By 1992 the number had fallen ? to below 19,000 or one percent. "What you are looking at is a policy of genocide being unleashed at the black farmer, which took its toll on the black family and whole communities," said John W. Boyd Jr., a Baskerville, Va. farmer. Boyd Jr. is also president of the National Black Farmers Association, a group founded in 1995 to fight racism in USDA loan programs "There were hundreds of cases where the inability of black farmers to get the kind of aid whites did forced them into bankruptcy. Then if they owed $100,000 for example, the note was reduced to $30,000 and sold to a white farmer," he said. The department's policies are rooted in U.S. history, where black labor and land were exploited to increase white wealth. Initially, black slaves were one of the greatest sources of white wealth. In 1860, shortly before the Emancipation Proclamation, black slaves constituted a $7 billion capital investment. That was bigger than all other private investments and the federal budget. There were many land giveaway programs that were denied to blacks For example, the Homestead Act - enacted on the eve of the Civil War and enforced until 1900 ? provided about 600,000 families with homes and farms Blacks were unable to acquire any of it. When they showed interest their lives were threatened, according to Claud Anderson in his book "Black Labor, White Wealth." These farms became the basis of huge amounts of inherited wealth, which blacks could work on, but not own. * In 1866, President Andrew John son vetoed a congressional bill that would have given tjlack slaves a mete "40 acres and a mule" as compensa tion for 250 years of bondage. This slap in the face left thou sands of blacks penniless, defense less and landless after the Emanci pation Proclamation. / Barbara Reynolds jp a columnist for the National Newspaper Publish ers Associaton. Education could be big loser with current lottery bill Val Atkinson Jones Street State Senate Bill 21 was written by Sen. Tony Rand, D-Robeson, and co-sponsored by Sens. Frank Balance, D-Warrenton;* Charlie Smith Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg; Howard Lee, D-Orange; Bill Mar tin, D-Guilford; Aaron Plyler, D Richmond; R.C. Soles, D-New Hanover and David Weinstein, D Cumberland. ^ After my initial reading of the bill I thought the clerk had misla beled it. It should be called the Clean Water Bill instead of the State Lottery Bill. < I don't have anything against clean water, we all should drink more of it. But I'd like to see educa tion get the lion's share of any lottery proceeds in North Carolina. After all, that's where most supporters of a state lottery think the proceeds are going. But Senate Bill 21 - as it's cur rently written - would return 50 per ? U cent of lottery revenues to winners in the form of prize money sixteen per cent is earmarked for administra tion, and a whopping 20 percent would go to the "Clean Water Revolving Loan and Grant Fund." The remaining 14 percent would be divided between technology, cap ital improvements and scholarships. This division could leave the scholarship fund with as little as S percent of total revenues. I don't think that's what lottery supporters have in mind when they talk about an "Educational" lottery. I'd like to see the bill give schol arships a larger portion of the net revenues. Another change I'd like to the see is some financial aid to students with less than a "B" average, but with val idated financial needs. Senate Bill 21 would only give scholarships to stu dents with "A" or "B" averages. There are always a huge number of North Carolina high school gradu ates with "C" averages who need financial help more that those with "A" or "B" averages. Across the country there is a pos itive correlation between high family income and high grade point aver ages. In many cases children with high grade point averages are the children of wealthy families who've paid for the best education they could buy for their children because they could afford it. To the bill's credit, there is a semblance of means testing in that there is a $150,000 threshold that families must qualify under. Even so, the Senate would be wise to ensure that the lottery does n't become a direct transfer program of poor folks dollars to well heeled financially stable families. Another change to consider would be the expansion of funding or stipends to private institutions of higher educa tion. The current bill calls for $2,500 to be granted to qualified students to attend private schools in North Car olina. That's a drop in the bucket fpr private school tuition. And Anally, the bill needs to ensure that small businesses - espe cially businesses owned by minori ties - have a fair chance at landing a lottery franchise, or "retail outlet" as it is referred to in the bill. According to the lottery data collected by states with similar demographics to our own, we can expect minorities to play the lottery at a higher rate than the majority population. This ought to mean that minorities have a fair share of retail outlets and that minority stu dents have a fair opportunity to ben efit from the net proceeds of the lot tery. Senate Bill 21 has a long way to go before it becomes law and there will be a "number of opportunities to ensure that minorities get a fair shake. Senators Balance, Dannelly, Martin and Lee will, I'm sure, see that the bill is just and fair. As for the House, well, this is an opportunity to facilitate healing from "The Deal." The lottery bill will provide an opportunity for the Legislative Black Caucus, House Democrats and cooperative Republicans to work together for the benefit of all North^ Carolinians. Now that it we know who the Speaker will be fpr the next two years and who his key committee heads are, it's time to focus on the real business of the legislature - the people's business. Val Atkinson is a columnist for the Triangle Tribune fa FROM THE COMMUNITY... A number of Republican candidates have already formed presidential exploratory commit tees. A former vice president, a millionaire publisher and a conservative Christian are all expect ed to'seek the Republican Party's nomination for president. We asked local African Ameri cans? who traditionally vote Democratic? whether they would east their ballots for a Repub lican. J Lamon William? "Even though Clinton is caught up in some stuff right now, he did more than George Bush did. And he's still trying to do things even though he 's been in a scandal for the last year." Jason Abraham "I think / would because / believe in voting for the person and not the group And if they shared the same views that I do then I probably would vote for a Republican. " I Shmnaika Smith "I w ould vote for a Republican if they have the qualities 1 look for in a president It doesn't matter if he's a Democrat or a Republican as long as they are looking out for minorities, health care and education. As long as they have those types of qualities, I would vote for them." tarry Harris "I can't say I would because their beliefs are different from mine. I'm strong-minded and their rules are too different from those of the Democ rats. " I ? farrah fryar "Probably not. Because their background as far as ! have ever known have not been the same as mine. I usually side with the Democ rats, but if their issues or topics are similar to mine I might consider it." '
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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