a^j^Ke
A1 Sharpton picks up several
endorsements in native New York
NEW YORK (AP) - Presidential candidate Al Sharpton, who
has won as much attention for his "Saturday Night Live" appearance
as he has on the campaign trail, won the
endorsement of several city and state officials
last week.
Rep. Jose Serrano, a Bronx Democrat,
and Rep. Ed Towns, a Brooklyn Democrat,
were among a group of officials who
endorsed Sharpton on the steps of City Hall.
He has "a record of service, a record of
fighting for social justice, a record of believ
ing in issues," said Serrano. "He is the true
anti-war candidate. He is the true poor peo
ple's candidate."
Sharpton, a well-known civil rights
activist, has previously run unsuccessfully for
Sharpton
the U.S. Senate and mayor.
Sharpton, introduced by Towns as "the next president of the Unit
ed States," said he is seeking to build a coalition that will lead him to
the White House and Democrats to retake the governorship and may
oralty.
"I have more elected official endorsements this morning than I
ever had in my career," he said. "This is the beginning of a movement
that will unite blacks, whites and Latinos to retake this city and this
state and move toward progressive politics.
Among the officials endorsing Sharpton were Democratic state
Sens. Kevin Parker and Carl Andrews and Democratic City Council
members Charles Barron and Larry Seabrook.
Move to rename street after
Martin Luther King Jr. shifts tactics
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Backers of an effort to rename a major
street after Martin Luther King Jr. are changing their focus after an
outcry from local residents.
Former San Jose Police Lt. Ken Stewart's previous proposal to
change King Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Road met with criticism
from some Hispanics who live along King. The road, which runs
through the core of one of San Jose's Hispanic neighborhoods, was
named after early settler Andrew King.
Stewart said he now wants to change the name of Capitol
Expressway, a county-owned road that runs through the city's Ever
green and Eastside neighborhoods. On Dec. 16, Pastor Claudell Huey,
who also supports the name change, asked the Santa Clara County
Board of Supervisors to consider the change in a meeting next month.
Stewart said some opponents of his previous proposal have joined
his effort to change Capitol Expressway to Martin Luther King
Expressway. His earlier idea had pitted some black residents against
some of the city's Hispanics, but Stewart said a new committee has
members of both groups.
Justice Department looking into whether
St Louis fire stations discriminate
ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Justice Department sent letters this month
to many of St. Louis County's 42 fire departments, saying it has infor
mation that fire officials may be engaged in a pattern of discrimina
tion against blacks.
A lawyer for a local black firefighters' group, Althea P. Johns, said
a survey last year by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch helped lead to the
investigation by the department's Civil Rights Division. It found that
of the 42 fire departments serving the county, 22 had no black fire
fighters. Nine other departments had just one black firefighter each.
The firefighters' group, FLAME, met four or five times in the past
year with Justice Department officials, said Airest Wilson, a Univer
sity City firefighter who is the group's chairman.
The newspaper's story showed that many fire departments in
north St. Louis County are overwhelmingly white, even though the
black population in North County has grown steadily for decades.
Overall in St. Louis County departments, 4 percent of the fire
fighters were black. In St. Louis, 42 percent of the firefighters were
black.
Some black firefighters also said they have experienced racial
harassment at work. They raised concerns about the St. Louis Coun
ty Fire Academy policies. The academy gives preference to students
already hired by fire departments, but FLAME argued that practice
made it tough for blacks to get jobs.
Jackson nominated to be HUD secretary
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - President Bush has selected
Alphonso Jackson to replace Mel Martinez as secretary of housing
and urban development (HUD).
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Jackson, now the No. 2 person
. in the department, will become the 13th
n\ju secretary.
Jackson would direct the $32-billion
agency that helps provide affordable hous
ing and promote community and economic
development.
He said his department would "guide
more families toward home ownership,
financial security and the stability that it pro
vides. Vtispaull bring new hope to urban
communities through revitalization initia
tives in conjunction with cities and states."
In 1977. Jackson was named director of
public safety for the city of St. Louis. He is
Jackson
a former executive director for the St. Louis Housing Authority,
director of consultant services for the certified public accounting
firm of Laventhol and Horwath-St. Louis, and was a special assis
tant to the chancellor and assistant professor at the University of
Missouri.
Mel Martinez has resigned as HUD secretary to vie for the
Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Florida. Before being
confirmed unanimously by the Senate to be HUD's deputy secre
tary in June 2001. Jackson was Texas president of American Elec
tric Power, an energy and utility company based in Columbus.
Ohio.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co.
Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Peri
odicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual sub
scription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
Possibility of rape by Thurmond
should not be ignored, blacks say
BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY
NNPACORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON - A 22
year-old Strom Thurmond
having sex with his family's
16-year-old black maid should
not be seen as an "affair," as it
has been widely portrayed in
the media, but rape, a well
respected black sociologist
said.
"You could call this a
statutory rape because this
person was about 16 or so
when this happened," said
Julia Hare, executive director
of the Black Think Tank in
San Francisco. "These are the
types of things that we need to
look at very seriously when
we look at these double stan
dards."
Essie Mae Washington
Williams, 78, a retired school
teacher who now lives in Los
Angeles, decided to tell her
secret in order to bring closure
to the subject and finally
answer persistent questions
from reporters. Washington
Williams has said that she did
not know what the relation
ship was between her mother
and Thurmond or the circum
stances that led to her concep
tion.
For years. Thurmond and
his family had remained silent
and. in some cases, expressed
doubt about the veracity of
stories accusing him of father
ing a black daughter. Just days
before the daughter had called
Mn i pnoto ny uieuru Laira
Essie Mae Washington-Williams discusses her life as Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged
daughter at a news conference last week. Behind her is her lawyer, Frank K. Wheaton.
a news conference to offer
evidence that Thurmond was
her biological father and to
say she was willing to submit
to a DNA test, the family
finally confirmed the validity
of her claim.
Washington-Williams said
she had not come forward ear
lier because she didn't want to
ruin the political career of
Thurmond, who died in June
at the age of 100.
Thurmond was a virulent
racist who ran for president in
1948 on a pro-segregationist
platform.
NAACP Board Chairman
Julian Bond noted the contra
diction between a white
Southerner who considered
blacks inferior while sexually
exploiting an African-Ameri
can teenager in private.
"It is a story, most of all, of
great personal hypocrisy,"
See Thurmond on A10
NAACP: Racism rampant in Va. government
/ BY ADRIENNE SCHWISOW
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND, Va. - Vir
ginia's chapter of the NAACP
asked the state last week to
investigate what it called per
vasive "racism, sexism,
cronyism and nepotism" in
state government.
King Salim Khalfani,
executive director of the chap
ter, said the group represents
hundreds of state employees
who have complained of gen
erally unfair employment
practices resulting from a
small group of "good old boys'
and good old girls" having
run the agencies for years.
Khalfani, who presented
only one specific example of
alleged discrimination at a
news conference, accused
Gov. Mark R. Warner, a
Democrat, of promising to
help and then doing nothing.
"The Virginia state chapter
finds a cesspool of discrimi
nation allegations in state
agencies," Khalfani said.
"We're frankly tired of
meeting. We want action," he
said. "Anytime a governor
gets 93 percent of anyone's
vote, they should expect
action." Warner won 92 per
cent of the black vote when he
was elected in 2001.
Khalfani said no legisla
tors have come forward to
help the civil rights group in
its continuing crusade for
investigations into the Depart
ment of Social Services and
the Department of Correction
al Education. He added that
the group does not have a plan
of action, other than to enlist
the help of someone powerful.
Responding to the
NAACP's complaints, Warner
spokeswoman Ellen Quails
said the governor has "worked
hard to appoint an administra
tion and various boards and
commissions that represent
the diversity of Virginia."
She said top administra
tion officials have met repeat
edly with Khalfani, and she
MtAWAViVAViVAW
Warner
noted that the social services
commissioner and the secre
tary of public safety are black.
"We would dispute that
there is a cesspool," Quails
said.
Maurice Jones, commis
sioner of the Department of
Social Services, said he has
added four minority senior
managers, including himself,
to the group of roughly 20 in
See Virginia on A9
Triad Pest Control is offering a
one-time complimentary
household pest elimination
service to the first two
hundred senior citizens who call.
If you are 65 years or older and
live within Triad Pest Control's
- servieejwea. please call (336)
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2 Corinthians 9:7
Happy Holidays.
Caii
Triad Pest Control
1535 S. Martin Luther King Drive
W inston-Salem, NC
INDEX
OPINION. .A6
SPORTS. SI
RELIGION. B4
CLASSIFIEDS B7
HEALTH. C3
ENTERTAINMENT....C7
CALENDAR. C9
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