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Black Bethanians vow to fight decision |
By T. KEVIN WALKER
For THE CHRONICLE
All her life, Lillian Miller has
been a resident of Bethania, a small
historic town tucked between
Forsyth and Stokes counties.
Miller, a soft-spoken elderly
woman, remembers when the old
dilapidated school house down the
road from her used to be filled with
young, smiling black faces.
With a twinkle in her eye, she
can easily recall walking with her
grandmother through paths and
woods to get to the then one-room
Bethania AME Church.
Like her parents and their par
ents before them, Miller expected to
spend all of her life in this histori
cally black region of Bethania. But
now, that is unlikely.
The Bethania that Miller and
many other African Americans call
home is no more, according to the
N.C. Supreme Court.
Miller did not fight the ruling,
but says the decision hurts.
"I would rather be a part of
Bethania, but I don't think we have
I a choice now," Miller said.
The court's decision, handed
down on July 30, gave the city of
r Winston-Salem the go ahead to
I annex nearly 1,300 acres of land
r once considered Bethania. Among
the annexed acreage are the Oak
Grove and Washington communi
ties, as well as other black areas
within the town.
It was also the latest round in a
bitter legal battle that had pitted
many of Miller's neighbors in the
town against one another. - -
The saga began m l 994, the year
the Winston-Salem' Board of Alder
men approved a plan to annex the
town. State law prohibits the annex
ation of incorporated regions, there
fore, Bethania residents halted the
plan by reviving the town's charter,
which was originally issued in 1839.
The revived charter was
approved by the state's General
Assembly in 1995, but onfy for a
400-acre Bethania. Areas that had
been considered Bethania for over a
century were left unincorporated
and fair game for annexation.
In 1996, 18 black and white resi
dents filed suit against the city of
Winston-Salem and members of
? Bethania's interim board of com
missioners, who favored the 400
acre town, claiming that the town
was 2,500 acres and had been since
the 18th century.
The suit also alleged that the
400-acre boundaries were purposely
drawn to exclude many African
Americans from the town.
The plaintiffs won the first
round. A superior court judge
issued an injunction, prohibiting
Winston-Salem from annexing any
portion of the 2,500-acre town. The
judge also ruled that the General
Assembly's revision of the charter
was unconstitutional because the
first charter was still in effect.
Later, an appeals court over
ruled that decision, once again
opening the door for annexation.
This most recent decision, upholds
that of the Court of Appeals
Bethania, first founded in 1759,
is not only an area steeped in Mora
vian history, but African American
history as well, according to area
residents
Many of the areas on the town's
outskirts were inhibited by slaves
beginning in the late 18th century,
and many of their descendants
remain in those areas today.
Moravians started the Bethania
AME Church for Macks in 1850.
The current pastor of the church
says the controversy has been more
than a passing interest for many in
his congregation.
"It's not just a mild interest.
They strongly feel they should be in
Bethania," the Rev. Alvin Damon
said.
' ~ Damon said the church, which
barely made the 400-acre bound
aries of the town, has tried to stay
neutral in the matter.
"The church itself is not
involved in the controversy," he said
on Monday, "We don't want it to be
one of those things lhat consumes
the church." ?'
When the annexation "is com
plete, Larry Glenn's, and all of the
new city residents', property taxes
will almost double. Glenn, who has
lived in Bethania for all of his 38
years, says the annexation was
inevitable " , '? _
"I thought those folks put up a
pretty good fight, but I knew who
would win," he said in the front yard
"of his home
Glenn added that many people
had a desire to keep the town as sim
ple as possible and that could have
been the reason why many favored a
400-acre town.
? "I wouldn't exactly say that it
was racial. They really wanted (the
town) to stay small, that way you
have less issues to deal with."
? Bethania's Mayor Deborah S.
Thompson was one of five town
officials sued along with the city of
Winston-Salem. She points to the
fact that Bethania's Mayor' Pro
Tempore Willa Lash is an African
American and supported the 400
' .acre boundaries. Lash was also one
of the defendants in the case
"If Bethania had become 2,500
acres, the white population percent
age would have dramatically
increased, and the actual percentage
of African Americans would have
gone down," Thompson said.
"There never was a 2,500-acre
town; I think race has been injected
to get people's attention and to dra
matize it," she said. "There is no fac
tual basis for it... it was all a lie."
Lash, who by most accounts has
endured harsh, personal criticism,
was on vacation and unable to com
ment on the matter.
On Monday, City Attorney Ron
Seeber, who helped represent Win
ston-Salem in the suit, said that he
did not have the information to ver
ify Thompson's racial population
figures for the town.
But an affidavit for one of the
African American plaintiffs alleges
that Bethania's "new" size has
severely crippled the town's black
population.
"I have found only 36 African
Americans who reside in the present
Town of Bethania;...the 1990 Cen
sus showed 1,421 African Ameri
cans residing in Bethania," the affi
davit of Otis Sellers states
A basis for the racial allegations
is also found in another of the plain
tiffs affidavits Eleanor Collins, a
former mayor of the town, swore in
her affidavit that one of the defen
dants told her race was involved in
the decision to endorse a 400-acre
town. ?, V
"1 had just gotten a copy of a
map which redrew the boundaries
of Bethania from 2,500 acres to
approximately 370 acres," the affi
davit states, " 'I asked B. A, Byid
why did you draw the lines this
way?' He said because they wanted
to keep out the blacks"
Harold Kennedy 111 represented
the plaintiffs He said on Monday
that despite the ruling, there is evi- ?
dence of racism in the case.
"What they did was basically
overlook an overwhelming number
of blacks" he said, "We contended
that it violated peoples' rights to
equal protection under the N.C.
Constitution."
Kennedy will not say what the
plaintiffs' next move will be, but he
did say the group has only pursued
the case using state laws not federal
ones
If the plaintiffs do decide to
appeal the N.C. Supreme Court rul
ing, they have at least one ally on the
court.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice
Orr writes: "The obvious effect of
this Act is to grant Winston-Salem
greater annexation than other
municipalities and to diminish
annexation powers of the Town of
Bethania in comparison with other '
municipalities This is the exact type
of circumstance that our Constitu
tion seeks to prevent."
Barring any court injunctions
Winston-Salem , officials have said
that everything is in place to proceed
with the annexation.
*'
Chief Linda Davis and the Men and Women of the
Winston-Salem Police Department
proudly salute
Corporal Lillian Bonner
...the first African-American policewoman
in our department!
Corporal Bonner
inctiirfcjto 1952, Corporal Bonner was one of the
^ or*ginal policewomen.
was t^ie on^ one 8TOup to
the department until retirement in 1982.
l\je Salute Afro-Americans
For Their Achievements
For A Better Tomorrow.
Winston-Salem Urban League
201 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101-2800
Phone: (336) 725-5614
Fax: (336) 722-5713
Dr. Ralph Bunche
An Affiliate of the
National L'rtoan League
A United Way Agency
Shirley Chisholm
"Their Legacy Liues On"
L-R Robert L. Grier, George W. Penn, Raphael O. Black, John H. Ford,
John F. Meredith, Lester E. Ervin, Willie J. Carter, John R. Thomas
Ulinston-Salem Fire Chief John Gist
pay tribute to the eight outstanding men who were the
first black professional fire-fighters in North Carolina.
*
Block Scientists & Inventors
An exhibit celebrating creativity and invention
? FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 31. 1999
Throughout this country and the world, African
Americans have made significant contributions In science
and technology.
This interactive exhibit shows many familiar items
from our homes, communities and offices that have been
influenced by their patented inventions. '
It is our hope that this exhibit will spark the
INVENTOR in all people!
..?'H
SciVVbita
j .%,
Block History Day
Come celebrate Black History at SciWorksl
? SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27. 1999 10AM-5PM
<; ?. *
The day is FREE for everyone to enjoy ? African-American
Market Place ? Guest Speakers ? Musical Entertainment
? Poetry ? Cooking Contest ? Hands-on Crafts for the Uttie
Ones ? Storytelling ? Health Fair ? Free Planetarium Shows
and much morel
This special day honoring black scientists and Inventors Is
sponsored by
jpcHovu mm
V ? fMMt ftl . (tMltf
SARA LEE CORPORATION
SclWort? is easy to find - Just off Hwy 52 N. at the Hones Mill Rood Exit.
400 W. Hotm MM Rd.. WJmton-Satom, NC 27106
(336) 767-6730