___ OPINION
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The Chronicle
Ernest H. Pitt Publisher!Co-Founder
nolrisi EgEMONVE Co-Founder
elaine Pitt Business Manager
fannie Henderson' Advertising Manager
' jeri young Managing Editor
Karen J. Olson Circulation Manager s I
Kay Stlltz Production Manager
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^ Nittonri Nwspspw Press j^nocWon of C^irculstion PuUMwn Inc
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\ A millennium wish list
For the last year or so, all people have been talk
; ing about is the dawn of the new millennium.
Prognosticators have predicted the end of the
world as we know it complete with an across-the
I; board failure of computers or a massive terrorist
| attack.
: Most likely, the reality will fall where it normally
5 does - somewhere in between.
For most, the end of the 20th century is a time to
look back, but we see it differently. The new millen
; nium marks the perfect time to look forward. For
: just a moment, we would like to look at the oppor
? tunities the future holds for our community and
African America as a whole.
As the nation braces for the worst, here's a list of
what we hope to see in the 21st century:
? A black president.
? The end of racism as we know it.
? An apology from the United States to African
Americans for the atrocities committed during slav
ery. Only after Americans realize the ramifications
of slavery and what it did to African Americans can
we move toward becoming a unified nation.
? African Americans realize the value of buying
black.
? The end of the debate over the resegregation of
schools. Separate was never and can never be equal.
? A long and achievement-filled tenure for new
WSSU Chancellor Harold Martin.
? Winston-Salem's first black mayor.
? A Board of Education that has the best interests
of all children in mind.
? More elected officials like Geneva Brown.
? A revitalization effort in East Winston that
rivals the effort to transform downtown.
? A real congressional debate on reparations for
the victims of slavery. Each year, a bill is introduced
in the U.S. Congress to study reparations and each
year that bill somehow never makes it to the floor of
Congress. ? ?
? A solid commitment from the city to keep the
National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem.
Despite the fact that city officials seem to have a
hard time believing it, other cities are interested in
stealing away the festival.
? A concerted effort by the media to cover black
issues fairly.
? World peace.
? A retirement party for the Confederate flag and
Ku Klux Klan.
? A safe, happy and prosperous new year for
everyone.
Common-sense can help avoid Y2K
?????????? ??? i i
Armstrong Williams
Guest
m n i s t
Recall for a moment, Stanley
Kubricks mysterious and poetic
film '2001: A Space Odyssey." In
the opening scenes, a group of cave
men learn to hit members of a rival
clan over the head with discarded
animal bones In this fashion, man's
ancestors distinguish themselves as
tool-bearing beasts
In an ensuing sequence, a cave
man hurls the weapon into the air.
As the bone soars into the sky, the
action advances to the year 2000,
and the bone is transformed into a
glorious metallic spacecraft hover
ing over war-torn Earth. In that
momentous scene, the movie has
bridged a million years as the
instrument of man's ascension
becomes the harbinger of his
destruction.
Indeed, this helpless animal
called man has always had to rely
upon his technology in order to
move forward. By definition, then,
as man moves forward, so must that
great engine of technology. Ah, but
has our technology outpaced our
ability to understand its conse
quences?
That is the question many are
asking as the world counts down to
Y2K.
In a nutshell, the Y2K problem
refers to the fact that computers
store dates in two-digit sequences
which refer solely to the year. When
that two-digit code flips to 00 at the
turn of the millennium, the comput
er may think it is 1900, instead of
the year 2000. This minor snafu
could have monumental conse
quences. Since computers are linked,
throughout the world by a vast
I
tapestry of information fields, one
miscalculation could have a ripple
effect that creates whole networks of
misinformation. Worse yet, our
computers could simply become
confused by the anomaly and shut
down.
Does this mean that our whole
technology-based society will go
boom? Presently, all of those kids
picked last for baseball - known in
their adult incarnation as "techies"
- are hard at work attempting to
answer that question.
For the most part, the techies
insist that the Y2K glitch will not
cause planes to start falling from the
sky, or banks to become crippled or
huge masses of city-dwelling
humans to starve. In fact, the Com
merce Department recently com
pared the Y2K glitch to"something
like a tangled shoelace for a world
class marathon runner."
Still, if the vast tapestry of wires
that connect our modern culture
begins to unravel, that growling
engine of technology could provide
one heck of a headache. Exactly
how big a headache is anyone's
guess. Despite funneling billions of
dollars into Y2K preparedness, we
remain uncertain as to exactly
which things may go wrong - from
distribution of Social Security bene
fits, to international trade, to ordi
nary
traffic lights, to how we will
react to these chahges.
What we do know is that
through some common-sense
efforts at preparedness, we can help
protect ourselves. For example:
The elderly should place their
medications in a place which
remains easily accessible in case of
temporary power outages.
Families should make hard
copies of all important personal
and financial documents
Store enough fresh drinking
water and nonperishable food to
last a few days.
You should put together a med
ical kit in the case of an emergency.
You should withdraw some
extra cash in case of problems with
processing electronic transactions.
Prepare alternative means of
communication such as a battery
operated television or radio.
Make friends with your neigh
bors. You might need them!
Human procrastination in the
face of that growling engine of tech
nology helped create the Y2K
conundrum. At this point, we would
do well to remember that chance
favors a prepared mind. By taking
some simple precautionary mea
sures. we can help make sure that
our technology does not move
frighteningly out of scale with our
humanity.
Armstrong Williams is a nation
ally syndicated columnist.
F/VE?.fTWR..l
ONE ?"?'
No victory for Port Chicago defendants
Earl Ofari
J Hutchinson
I Motivational
\ ^ Moments
There was much cause for joy.
and celebration when President
Clinton issued his Christmas par
don for Port Chicay;.) defendant
Freddie Meeks.
He and 49 other black Navy
men were tried and convicted for
mutiny during World War II. The
case is the largest mass mutiny trial
in U.S. Naval history..
It's certainly tempting to see the
long overdue presidential pardon
as final vindication for Meeks and
bringing closure to a case which
ranks as one of the greatest traves
ties of justice in U.S. military his
tory. But that's precisely why Clin
ton's pardon of Meeks can't and
shouldn't close the books on the
issue.
The Port Chicago defendants'
horrific story is simple and
straightforward. On July 17, 1944,
the Bay Area Naval Depot of Port
Chicago was leveled by a blast
which killed 320 Navy seamen, 202
of whom were black. The powerful
blast accounted for a large percent
age of the black Naval casualties in
World War II.
The 20-year-old Meeks, a Navy
reserve seaman for three years, was
one of hundreds of blacks
assigned the dangerous job of
loading ammunition on ships
bound for the Pacific. Meeks and
the other black loaders worked
under white officers. They were
subject to inhuman productivity
rates and had little or no training
in safety procedures and weapons
handling.
When Meeks and the other
black sailors refused to go back to
work they were jailed and charged
with mutiny. They were speedily
convicted of the charge by an all
white Naval panel, sentenced to 15
years, stripped of their benefits
and given a less than honorable
discharge.
Although the 50 defendants
were given a general amnesty in
1946 and their sentences were
reduced to time served, their con
victions stood. They were perma
nently branded as "mutineers." It
was the start of an anguishing 50
year odyssey of fear, personal pain
and hardship for the men and their
families.
Clinton's pardon cannot give
Meeks back those agonizing years.
Clinton and Congress can and
should do much more to try to
right this part of America's past.
Clinton should immediately issue a
posthumous pardon to all the Port
Chicago defendants. Meeks and
one other defendant, Jules Critten
don, are the only known living sur
vivors in the case.
The general discharges that the
Port Chicago defendants were
given should be upgraded to hon
orable discharges. Crittendon also
insists that Congress reduced the
death benefit payment to the fami
lies of the 300 men killed from
$5,000 to $3,000. If that's true -
and Congress should immediately
launch an investigation - the
monies should be paid out to fam
ily members with appropriate
interest. The same applies to any
back pay, pensions and other bene
fits that the men may have been
entitled to but were lost when they
were jailed. Whatever monies they
are owed should also be paid with
appropriate interest.
When full restitution is made to
them and their names are fully
cleared, Clinton and Congress
should apologize to the Port
Chicago defendants for their suf
fering.
In recent years federal officials
have apologized or paid repara
tions for a litany of government
improprieties and historic wrongs
such as the Tuskegee syphilis
experiment, the Japanese-Ameri
cans held in detention camps dur
ing World War II, Philippine and
Vietnamese servicemen who assist
ed the U.S. military in World War
II and during the Vietnam war, as
well as assorted individuals
harmed by government miscon
duct. The Port Chicago defendants
are just as deserving of this gesture
as any of the other victims of gov
ernmental injustice.
The Port Chicago defendants
loyally served their country. Their
only crime was being black in an
era when black lives were degrad
ed. And Clinton's Christmas par
don of one man is not enough to
wipe that shameful stain from the
record.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a
nationally syndicated columnist and
the director of the National Alliance
for Positive Action. His email
address is ehutchi344@aol.com
. _ I
w j We asked local people to tell us their New Years resolutions. Experts
I / say that because of the millennium a record number of people will
MCES FROM THE COMMUNITY... '
I ? ! I
Maurice Wright Sr.
"To get closer to God."
I
Todrina Johnson
"To do better in school."
t
I.
Andre Gould
"Continue to do what I'm
doing, hut only do it better."
Maurice Wright Jr.
"To get better at football"
Charles Fletcher Jr.
"To be a belter parent and spend
more quality time with the family."