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Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point
Vol. XXVI No. 23
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118 062201
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all for ADC 270
The Choice for African American News
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2
[lousands rally against rebel flag
lAVENPORT
bCIATED PRESS
luUMBIA, S.C. - With
iding, “Your heritage is
iry,” thousands of people
p Monday to protest the
irate flag that flies above
jitehouse and demand a
ent state holiday honor-
|Rev. Martin Luther King
son, Martin Luther
[l, opened the day with a
ireakfast at the Universi-
l)uth Carolina,
jis is the kind of thing we
be doing on Martin
Luther King’s birthday,” King
said. “The flag is a terrible sym
bol that brings a lot of negative
energy. And while we believe the
flag has an appropriate place, it
just does not belong on top of
the Capitol because it is not a
sign of unification.”
Demonstrators gathered at a
downtown church for a service
before marching to the State-
house, six blocks away, singing
“the flag is coming down” and
waving American flags.
One of the participants was
16-year-old Heather Showman,
who is white. She said the flag did
not offend her but she under
stood why others were offended
by it.
“We need to get this flag off
the Statehouse and promote
racial unity,” she said.
People seeking the flag’s
removal say it is a bitter reminder
of slavery and racism. Flag sup
porters say it represents the her
itage of those who fought and
died for a cause they believed in.
More than 6,000 marched a
week ago in the South Carolina
Heritage 2000 rally to show sup
port for keeping the flag atop the
Statehouse.
In addition to the flag issue,
civil-rights groups want the state
to make Martin Luther King Day
a permanent holiday for state
workers, who now can take off
that day or one of several tied to
Confederate anniversaries.
South Carolina Gov. Jim
Hodges decided to speak at a
King Day observance rather than
attend today’s rally, said spokes
woman Nina Brook.
“The governor wants to be a
mediator, a person who helps
folks come together on the flag,”
Brook told The State newspaper
See Rally on AlO
'A day on - not a day off’
louth told to
Ilow King’s
sample
KEVIN WALKER
IHRONICLE
he federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is
,y on, not a day off,” a large white sign posted
e wall of the Benton Convention Center pro-
.ed.
hose who spoke at the 21st annual Noon
' Commemoration drove home that message,
an overflow crowd to fight for the issues
Cing died for.
iVe need to rid ourselves of the borders that
J us....(Let’s) join in the spirit of together-
said Mutter Evans, owner of WAAA AM
bunder of the noontime program,
vans sponsored this year’s program along
the city’s Human Rights Commission and the
chapter of the NAACP.
re promised great things for the 2000 celebra-
even before the program began.
We will hit a home run, a slam dunk, a game
ing touchdown with this program,” she said.
R.ise up; live out the dream” was the theme of
/ear’s commemoration. Each speech made,
prayer performed and each song sung
d to echo some aspect of that theme,
Wlayor Jack Cavanagh said people of great
1 and determination have historically been
k. down in their prime, mainly by assassins’
ts. Local songbird Janice Price-Hinton sang a
onate rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” as
rowd swayed and clapped their hands in uni
jut it was the event’s keynote speaker, psychol-
Emie Wade, who unleashed the amen coro-
jnd brought the audience to their feet. Wade,
See Speakers on A8
A group of women add their voices to hundreds of others during a spirited rendition
of "We Shall Overcome" at Monday's Noon Hour Commemoration in honor of Martin
Luther King Jr.
housands brave
)ld during march
EVIN WALKER
HRONICLE
dreds of city residents braved chilly winds Monday for an early
; march through the streets of East Winston and downtown,
march was in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil
ovement architect who would have celebrated his 71st birthday
15. Many of those who participated carried homemade signs
ners with various ipessages of peace and love scrolled across
le throng gathered at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which has been the
ig point for the annual march for several years. Activities at the
1 began hours before the march, with a youth breakfast and edu-
al programs.
le marchers included the well known — an alderman, a state rep-
ative, a university chancellor - and not so well known,
rge elusters of school children used their day off to celebrate
! legaey and vision. Students from the joint Vienna and Diggs ele-
iry school ambassador program laughed and talked excitedly
the march began.
le partnership between the nearly all black Diggs and the over-
See Hundreds on A8
Photos by Kevin T. Walker
Hundreds make their way along a more than one mile long route
for a march to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.,
who would have celebrated his 71st birthday Saturday.
Associated Press photo by Lou Krasky
Kweise Mfume, president and CEO of the NAACP, waves to the crowd during
a rally Monday in Columbia, S.C. An estimated 46,000 people gathered to
demand the Confederate Hag be removed from the dome of the Statehouse.
No compromise
Tatum: Despite parity agreement, NAACP
will still file suit against local school system
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Eversley
An agreement between the U.S. Department of Education’s Office
for Civil Rights and the city-county school system will not halt plans
for a lawsuit by the NAACP.
“Our position is to' still move forward with the lawsuit,” said Bill
Tatum, president of the local NAACP branch.
“(The agreement) has no affect on us.”
The agreement comes in response to com
plaints filed with the Office for Civil Rights
(OCR) by parents and the NAACP, whose
primary eoncern is that the sehool system’s
redistricting plan is segregating elementary
and middle schools. The agreement ends near
ly five years of investigation of the school sys
tem by the U.S. government.
Superintendent Don Martin, School Board
chair Donny Lambeth and Doug Punger, the
system’s attorney, were among those on hand
for a news conference last week to announce
the agreement. The news conference came minutes after the Board of
Education unanimously voted to enter into the agreement.
“We are pleased to have resolved these complaints in this manner,”
Lambeth said. “It is our goal to provide quality edueational services
to all of our students without regard to their race or national origin.”
Under the agreement, the school system will develop systemwide
theme programs in schools that are severely underpopulated in order
to foster racial integration. Any student who resides in the school dis
trict will be eligible to apply for enrollment at the systemwide themes.
The system also agreed to widen its criteria for academically gift
ed programs so that more minorities may be included. The system also
agreed to continue to produce an annual report giving data about the
races of students suspended or expelled. These agreement stipulations
are in direct response to charges that minorities are underrepresented
in honors programs and overrepresented in yearly disciplinary figures.
The system will “encourage” appropriate county agencies to come
See Schools on A10
Friends remember
Bonner’s caring
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
Lillian Bonner, the Winston-
Salem Police Department’s first
black female officer, was a trail-
blazer, a caring person and a ser
vant of God, friends and family
members said last week.
Seventy-six-'year-old Bonner
died Jan. 12.
“We think it was a blood clot,”
said Horace Bonner Jr., her only
son.
She was born in 1923 in Sumter,
S.C., one of 15 children. She
moved to Winston-Salem at an
early age. She moved in with her
older brother, A.H. McDaniel,
who was pastor at Union Baptist
Church. She graduated from
Atkins High School in 1941.
She was hired as a meter reader
by the Winston-Salem Police
Department in 1952. She was pro
moted to corporal in 1974 and transferred to the community-services
unit, which worked as a liaison between the Police Department, social
services agencies and the community to help solve problems, her son
said.
After being a meter reader for several years, she qualified to earry a
weapon, her son said. “And along with writing tickets, she was a beat
cop,” her son said.
See Bonner on A10
Bonner
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