Carver
win buoys
North
Forsyth
*/
- See Page B1
Charity
wedding
gow n tour
hits town
- See Page A4
Author,
speaker
to come
to town
- 5m Page A9
Target
gives -
money to
NBTF
-Stt Pag* A3
i%2T Chronicle
75c'ents Winston-Salem ? Greensboro ? High Point Vol. XXIX No.51
======1=^ inaai i'H'hh m\m - =
Black Like Me
Reporter will tell
tales of light-skinned
African-Americans
in series of stories
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRQNtCl I
I am black.
But I am frequently mistaken
for white. It's not unusual for me
to be stopped by strangers and
asked, "What are you?" or
"Where are you from'?" And peo
ple will ask you these types of
questions in the strangest places -
at a drive-through window, in a
department store, at a bar.
Recently, I was once again
reminded just how low my signal
falls on the racial radar.
"Is she the only white girl in
the wedding?" asked the (white)
wedding coordinator of a Baptist
church in Charlotte. She was
referring to me - the maid of
honor - during a recent wedding
rehearsal.
"She is not white!" replied
members of the rest of the wed
ding party - all of whom were
black and quickly came to my
defense.
, I he wedding coordinator
knew my name, so I do fault her
for posing such a presumptuous
question out loud. Her point was
to tell the flower girl to remember
to stand next to the "white girl."
After the wedding coordina
tor's eyes widened and her mouth
fell open - the usual reaction by
most upon finding out that 1 am
not white - she responded. "Well
she's the closest thing to Cau
casian that I see in the room."
To which I responded. "Well
you haven't seen the rest of my
family, so get ready."
Quickly the other bridesmaids
and the hostesses came to my side
in attempts to console me: howev
er. I explained to them that this
was yet another case of my mis
taken identity.
In my family, we run the
gamut as far as color is concerned.
We come in every shade from yel
low. olive, honey, caramel to
brown. My mother is biracial: Her
father was black and her mother
PhMO by Bruce Chapman
Chronicle reporter Courtney
Gaillard, second from left,
with her family, from left,
Ralph and Mary Gaillard,
her father and mother, and
Nicolle Gaillard, her sister.
File Pttolo
Right: Courtney Gaillard at
work. Here she interviews
Rep. Mel Watt earlier this
month.
was white. (She prefers the term
"biracial" over "mixed" for fear of
sounding like an ingredient in a
recipe.) My father is black and
fair-skinned. Both of his parents
were of mixed ancestry as well. So
naturally I and my three siblings
are light-skinned.
And for our family, the racial
potpourri continues. Both of my
older brothers have married across
racial lines, and my four fair
skinned nieces and nephew are
proof that the Gaillard genes are
strong. I often wonder how they
will be received by the world
See Black on A4
Legislators urge
public to speak
out on moratorium
Bill that would halt
death penalty is tied
up in the state House
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHK< )NI( I 1
The chtmces of North Caroli
na joining several other states by
passing a death penalty moratori
um this year are slim to none. That
is what state Reps. Earline Par
mon and Larry Womble told a
small group of constituents Satur
day during a forum held at City
Hall to discuss the controversial
moratorium bill. The bill cleared
the Senate earlier this year but was
still languishing in a House com
mittee when the session ended a
few weeks ago.
Parmon and Womble are
staunch supporters of the morato
rium. which would halt execu
tions in the state for two years so
that capital punishment could be
examined to determine if it is
doled out fairly. Moratorium sup
porters say that the death penalty
is disproportionately given to
black offenders and to poor peo
ple. Of the 203 people on death
row in North Carolina. 117 are
African-American. Supporters
also say that th? system is so
flawed, that there is a possibility
that innocent people are being put
to death.
i n i s
is not an
issue of
being soft
o n
crime,"
Par mo n
said. "I do
not think
(a mora
torium) is
too much
Parmon
to ask because if we kill an inno
cent person, that will be a black
eye on the state of North Caroli
na."
Saturday's event was billed as
a fortim for residents to give their
positions on the moratorium. But
only strong supporters of the
Set- Moratorium on A10
Lillie Mae Young holds one of her youngest great-grandchildren Satur
day during a party in Young's honor. Young's extended family shut down
a street to give the 86-year-old a birthday party for the ages. To read
more about the event and Young, see page C1.
New education
chief says N.C.
students are on
^1 ? 1 J A 1
me rignt tracK
BY COURTNEY GAl'tLARD
THE CHRONICLE- _____
N.C. public schools are making "great
progress" in closing the achievement gap,
according to Howard Lee. the new chairman of
the N.C. Board of Educa
tion. Lee was in town
Tuesday. He toured
Kennedy Learning Center
and R.J. Reynolds High
School, and capped off his
visit by taking part in a
lunchtime forum that dealt
with the No Child Left
Behind program. The
forum was sponsored by
the Winston-Salem Cham
ber of Commerce.
No Child Left Behind
L?
is federal legislation, signed by President Bush
in 2002, that requires public school systems to
improve their students' standards of academic
achievement. Unlike many states. North Car
olina has had a school accountability program,
the ABCs of Public Instruction, for years that
measures the progress of states schools.
See tee on A11
rrogram
churns
out black
leaders
Project Blueprint
was started by the
United Way in 1987
BY COURTNEY GA1LLARD
THE CHRONICLE
United Way of Forsyth
County is looking for minori
ty volunteers to make a differ
ence in the community. In
October, the United Way Vol
unteer Center will conduct a
two-dav
volun
teer
training
session.
Project
Blue
print.
Applica
tions are
being
, accepted
for
Slade
minorities who are interested
in developing and improving
their leadership skills in the
workplace, nonprofit organi- I
zations and the community at
large.
Sabrina Slade. volunteer
center director, said the proj
ect aims to create a more
inclusive and culturally
diverse nonprofit system in
the community.
"The whole goal is to
make sure that agencies, on a
board level, are representative
of the clients that they serve,"
Slade said.
Project Blueprint was cre
ated in 1987 by United Way
of America through funding
from the W.K. Kellogg Foun
dation. Its goal was to help
United Way and more than
300 other nonprofit agencies
recruit minorities to serve on
See Blueprint on A9
I he Only Choice for African-American and Community /Yews