OPINION
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The Chronicle
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fmttsr H. PlTt Publ i sher/Co- Founder
Nouiisi teimoMii Co-Founder
elaine Pitt Business Munager
fannii hcmocrsom Advertising Manager
T. KlVIN WAlKtR Managing Editor
Kay Stuitz Production Supervisor
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North Carotin* ?? ; Amalgamated A
National Newspaper Prwa Association of Circulation Publishers, Inc.
Publishers Association
Photo courtesy of N.C. Supreme Court
Justice G.K. Butterfield, standing far right, is the only black
and Just one of two Democrats left on the Supreme Court.
1 he last ot the
African-Americans
Justice G.K. Butterfield fighting to keep
his seat on the N.C. Supreme Court
N.C. Supreme Court Justice G.K. Butterfield is the only
African-American and one of only two Democrats sitting on the
state's highest court. The state Supreme Court, headed by 1.
Beverly Lake, has a 5 -2 Republican margin, and if something
doesn't happen to slow the tide of right-wing conservatism in
North Carolina, we'll find ourselves with a single-minded high
court, and that isn't good for anybody.
Justice Butterfield was appointed to the bench, and because
he had no primary opposition, this November will mark the first
time he's run for statewide office. African-Americans don't
have enough votes to elect Butterfield by themselves; they'll
need the help of thousands of non-African-Americans. This is
yet another chance for white North Carolinians to show that
Ralph Campbell and Henry Frye aren't the only African-Amer
icans that can be elected to statewide office in North Carolina.
But, having said that, it must also be mentioned that notwith
standing the proclivities of white voters. Butterfield still must
have a huge African-American turnout Nov. 5 if he will have
any reasonable chance of winning.
Butterfield. a Wilson native, has forged ties with the Fitch
family as well as with the political grand patriarch of Wilson
County. James Baxter Hunt Jr. Butterfield's Wilson and eastern
North Carolina roots will bode well for him; but in addition to
eastern N.C. votes, he'll need to pay attention to the votes along
the major interstate corridors. As in all other statewide races.
Cumberland. Wake. Durham. Guilford. Forsyth and Mecklen
burg counties will go a long way toward deciding the outcome
of the race. African-Americans residing in these counties will
have an opportunity to swing the race for or against Butterfield.
Butterfield has his work cut out for him. but it's doable.
Written by Vol Atkinson. Contact him at .
JonesSlreet@nc.rr.com.
Clarification
In the paper's staff editorial last week,'it
was stated that the Sheriff's Office has
never had a high-ranking black. That is
not entirely true. In the 1960s, retired
Eldridge Alston served as deputy sheriff
for the county.
o\
V./
Submit letters
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Chronicle Mai!bag,
P.O. Box 1636, C>
Winston-Salem, NC 27102
[I-I'll n* A*.*,,* zmSiuM "?" "" " ^
"WEY. LADY, IX) You THINK WE COULD TALK YOU INTO BOYCOTTING U WOfcLD SEfclES
aU U9P& BOWL,TOOT?..."
Thanks, RJR
o
To the Kditor:
Last week's RJR Champi
onship at Tanglewood Park
brought to a close a long and
distinguished Senior Tour
event for our region. Since
1987, RJR has been the title
sponsor of the Senior Tour's
wealthiest event. Each year,
citizens front around the region
looked forward to the return of
some of golf's greatest players
to Winston-Salem. Golf greats
such as: Arnie, Player. Chi Chi,
Dent. Irwin. Trevino and more
participated.
Of course this was more
than just golf. The big winners
from the tournament were the
community and area charities.
RJR. through the tournament,
contributed more than $4.7 mil
lion to area charities. From an
economic impact standpoint
the tournament meant people in
hotels, restaurants and in the
shopping centers. The Vantage
put Tanglewood Park on the
golfing map. Golfers every
where come to play Tangle
wood's championship course to
see how they would fare on a
course that held the 1974 PGA
Championship and the Senior
Tour event.
In a time when many corpo
rations fail to live up to their
promises, Andy Schindler and
R.J. Reynolds lived up to
theirs. In the aftermath of the 9
11 events, Reynolds could have
quietly ended its sponsorship
last year. Even amid a terrible
economy, anticipation of weak
ticket sales and declining com
munity support, RJR did what
it promised: It held the final
tournament.
Our community and our
region owe Schindler and R.J.
Reynolds a debt of gratitude,
not only for this event, but in
everything that they do for the
citizens of our city. Thanks for
your continued commitment to
our community, thanks for 16
wonderful years of golf at Tan
glewood Park, and thanks for
living up to your promises.
Also, thanks to the countless
volunteers who returned year
after year to help put this tour
nament on.
We will miss the
Vantage/RJR Championship.
We hope that someone steps in
to sponsor an event next year.
But even more important, we
are thankful that RJR continues
to call Winston-Salem home.
Sincerely,
Winston-Salem Business Inc.
Steve Williams, Chairman
Greater Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce
Murray Greason, Chairman
Winston-Salem Convention
and Visitors Bureau
Bob McCoy, President
Boycott-bustin' black folks
James
Clingman
Rlackunomics
Friday the 13th was true to
form for the groups that called
the economic sanctions
against the city of Cincinnati.
Namely the weekend that
began on Friday, Sept. 13,
2002. was the kickoff of the
Procter and Gamble River
front Classic, a football game
between Morgan State and
Florida A&M, and other asso
ciated activities. Despite the
boycotters' many attempts to
persuade the schools and the
promoter to cancel or relocate
the game, it came nevertheless
and brought with it thousands
of black folks. It was indeed a
boycott buster - at least for
that weekend.
The classic also brought
with it something else. As the
lead story on the local news
that Saturday evening after the
game informed us. "Football
game brings $20 million in
economic impact to the city."
Talk about a boycott buster,
the game is what Cincinnati
had been waiting for all year.
The boycott has cost the city at
least $60 million in tourism
revenue, but the black football
game made a huge dent in that
number.
The promoters said it was
an effort to afford black
youths an opportunity to
attend^ black college. They
said-it was an effort to help
7 The f vrhfi t~was?
not "about,a football game but
about education. They said it
kept black businesses in busi
ness. They.) said the game
should not be considered in
opposition to the boycott, even
though it was played in a sta
dium that ripped off black
people when it was built
(some call it the River-Fraud
stadium) and in the downtown
"boycott zone." They said
black youths needed the
opportunity to see black col
leges in action and to be
exposed to the kinds of activi
ties they could expect if they
attend black colleges.
There was a considerable
amount of sponsorship money
provided to the promoters of
the game as well. Procter and
Gamble. Fifth-Third Bank and
Hamilton County (a surprising
first time that had been done).
Surely there were others, but
those three contributed nearly
a half-million to the cause. A
few white folks on a local
news show were even touting
the game as a "multicultural"
event rather than a black foot
ball game.
Because of the game Mor
gan State and FAMU will
share $400,000; at least that's
what the newspaper stated. In
addition, black vendors proba
bly made a few thousand each,
maybe even $100,000 collec
tively. There were the other
promotional revenues that
-ma** jjesessesJ by- fche SJatk
media, certainty a goodTTTTng.
and the promoters' income,
too. Who knows, maybe they
made a couple of hundred
thousand dollars.
Now, let's look at the stadi
um, which belongs to Mike
Brown. You know him, he runs
the lousiest team in the NFL,
the Cincinnati Bengals. That's
right, we built a stadium for
him with our tax dollars, a
$575 million stadium with no
roof on it, so it's not even in
use most of the time. In addi
tion. Mikey-boy gets the con
cessions. that is, food and
drinks; he gets the parking
rights, too. He also gets the
county to pay for empty seats
just in case the Bengals don't
sell out. Is this guy shrewd or
what? He managed to get a
public entity to use tax dollars
to guarantee his business suc
cess by making up the costs
for not-so-well attended
games. What a genius! 1 won
der how he knew the Bengals
would not sell out. And add $6
hot dogs to all of this.
Back to the black colleges'
football game. The hotelsv
made their usual 49 percent on
every dollar the black folks
spent, and I am sure the
restaurants - only two of
which are black owned in the
downtown area - made their
share as well. I remind you
that the news reported a $20
million economic impact on
?the city.- ? !f<c%. XriXtrrs-arc ~
anywhere near correct, in the
aggregate, black folks did not
even get 10 percent of that.
But that's all right. They
had a great time and the game
showed us the good side of
Cincinnati, according to
Cincinnati's newly crowned
black leader, former federal
Judge Nathaniel Jones. He was
the one the television news
media just happened to find on
the streets and the one the
print media sought out for
comments. He also is the same
person w(tji resigned from a
position with the local Com
? munity Action Agency
because it moved its annual
dinner away from downtown
in recognition of the boycott.
He said he would not be asso
ciated with a group that would
"capitulate" to boycotters'
demands.
Jones is also the same per
son who sits on the $7.8 bil
lion Toyota Diversity advisory
board, formed after Toyota
"capitulated" to the threat of
Jesse Jackson's boycott. Final
ly, he is the one who caused
the "capitulation" of that same
social service agency to
reverse its decision and go
back downtown to have its
dinner. What power! What
hypocrisy!
Yes, the boycott did not
survive black folks on Friday
the 13th. You know how it is:
We have to "get our party" on
-sqfft^iTnrr~rrrTrif'-it~7ltCT[i5 ^
giving up $18 million in the
process.
Here's a thought: Once a
year, every black person send
a check to a black college.
James E. Clingman. an
adjunct professor at the Uni
versity of Cincinnati's African
American studies department,
is former editor of the Cincin
nati Herald Newspaper and
founder of the Greater Cincin
nati African American Cham
ber of Commerce. He hosts the
radio program. "Blackonom
ics" and is the author of the
book "Economic Empower
ment or Economic Enslave
ment - We Have a Choice." He
can be reached at (513) 489
4132 or by e-mail at'jcling
man @ blackonomics.com.
File Photo
Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Riverfront Classic.