The:
- ION IC LE
Vol. XXXIII No. 24 THURSDAY, February 22, 2007
21 110807 1 5-DIGIT
NORTH CAROLINA ROOM
FORSYTH CTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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Request to
find 'good'
in slavery
stirs anger
Father outraged by actions of
Davidson Count y teacher
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
As an African American and a resident
of rural Davidson County, Aszullayme
(who does not use a last name) knew that
his daughters, Tatiana, 13, and Timeca
West, would be in the distinct minority,
both in their community and in their
school. Still, he says he never expected his
d a u s h -
ters, who
are in the
same
eighth
grade
class at
North
Davidson
Middle
School, to
bring
home an
assign
ment like
the one
they were
given by
K a t h y
Proctor,
their lan
Photo by Layla Farmer gU3ge artS
Aszullayme with his girls, teacher.
Tatiana and Timeca West. |ast week.
"The
assignment was to tell her about what the
good things were about slaves - the good
and the bad things about slaves," explained
Timeca, 14. "She was asking a whole lot
of questions about the subject; she was
aiming the questions towards me and my
sister,"
According to the girls, who represent
two of three black students in a class of 26,
Proctor prompted students to brainstorm
on the subject, offering 10 extra points on
the next test to the students who came up
with the best "good" and bad aspects of
slavery.
According to Tatiana and Timeca, some
of the perks of slavery suggested by their
classmates were slaves' "feedi.ig the ani
mals and washing them," and "not having
to do hard labor." Both answers were
See Slavery on A 12
Chris Ogunrinde speaks to a local crowd.
Black firms to shape .
the new Happy Hill
BY T.KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
One of the city's oldest commu
nines is in the process of birthing
Winston-Salem's newest residen
tial developments.
One hundred and fifty single
family houses and town homes will
soon spring up in the former Happy
Hill Gardens, a former public hous
ing community that low-income
families called home for decades.
The rows of tattered tenament-style
units that once lined the streets of
Happy Hill Gardens were bull
dozed three years ago after the Housing
Authority of Winston-Salem received a more
than $20 million grant from the federal govern
ment to give the community a complete
makeover. New spiffy apartments have already
Watson
been erected. The houses and town homes, each
with two to three bedrooms, will be built as they
are pre-sold in a neighborhood that is
Eg'iil currently being called College Park at
the Gateway.
Three black-owned firms, selected
by the Housing Authority's board, are
taking the lead in the College Park proj
ect. Neicon Real Estate Solutions and
the architectural firm Neighboring
Concepts - both Charlotte-based - will
design and build the homes after
Winston-Salem-based ERA Piedmont
Realty pre-seHs-them.
James Rousseau, the chairman of
the HAWS' board, said the firms were
selected because they have proven track records
of success.
"We look closely at the work that they had
Sec Happy Hill on A 14
Phott* by loiyla Farmer
The panel included Tracey Wiggs, from left, Tracey Salisbury, Tyler Craig and Kwasi Konadu.
N-Word debate sparks passion
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The current nationwide debate over the
use of the word "nigger," made its way to the
campus of Winston-Salem State University
last week, a panel of students, professors and
visitors added their voices to an issue that is
being pondered in living rooms and city
council boardrooms throughout the land.
Included on the panel were comedian
Tyler Craig, comedy promoter Tracey Wiggs,
Dr. Kwasi TConadu, a WSSU professor, and
UNC Greensboro's Dr. Tracey Salisbury.
Student moderators Chelii Broussard and
Qua led the discussion, infusing clips and
examples of the word being used in different
contexts.
Actor Michael Richards, who played the
character "Kramer" on the hit sitcom
ieinieiu, maue inter
national headlines late
last year when he used
the racial epithet toward
several black comedy
club patrons who
Richards claimed were
heckling him during his
act. As a result of
Richards' racial rant,
several city councils in
Mooney several slates are con
sidering symbolic reso
lutions banning the n-word. Even Paul
Mooney, a legendary black comedian who
has used the word for decades in his routine.
has sworn that he will never again use the
word.
Craig, who has appeared on "BET's
Comic View," is still seething over the
Richards episode.
"Somebody needs to do something about
him because he's not a comedian. Comedians
handle things better than that," said Craig.
"He's a sick man."
Although he was outraged by the hatred
Richards, who has since apologized, Craig,
who admits to using the n-word himself, says
that he was not offended by Richards using it.
"I wasn't upset about him saying nigga at
all." he commented. "I was upset aBout him
saying, 'Fifty years ago. we'd have you
strung up with a fork up your a**."'
See N-Word on A14
European Muslims compare notes with black students
Group js making
stops all across
the US.
BY TODrflilCK
THE CHRONICLE
GREENSBORO
Fourteen young Muslim
leaders from Europe visited
North Carolina A&T State
University last week to com
pare their experiences with
the struggle for civil rights
in this Country.
The Muslim group is on a
month long tour of the coun
try sponsored ^by the U.S.
Department of State's Public
Diplomacy Program. They
range in age from 23-37 and
represent a wide variety of
countries in both Eastern and
Western Europe. Among the
group is a lawyer, an assis
tant lecturer, a policy officer
for the mayor of London and
a public relations specialist.
AAT Phot, i
The panel of Muslim vistors listen to questions from A&.T students.
The tour is meant to facil
itate dialog and understand
ing between the foreign visi
tors and those they meet in
the United States. Before
arriving at A&T, they visited
High Point University to dis
cuss immigration. While on
the Aggie campus, they saw
the February One Memorial
dedicated to the Greensboro
Four, the four A&T students
who launched a movement
with their Woolworth sit-in
Tn Feb. 1, 1960. They also
had a conversation with a
group of more than 30 cur
rent A&T students in profes
sor Derick Smith's political
science class.
Before the visitors
arrived. James Mayes, the
university's director of crim
inal justice, did some brain
storming with the Aggie stu
dents. asking them what
things are still separating
America along racial lines.
"Schools!" was the unan
imous first answer shouted
by the students, referring to
the public school system,
which has become increas
ingly re-segragated in the
South. Mayes asked if this
was a good or bad thing and
the majority of the class
responded that it was bad.
The European visitors
shared with the class the var
ious struggles Muslims face
in different countries across
Sec Muslims on AH
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell and
Carl H. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better"
jftugggll fflmteral ffimn z
Wishes to Thank Everyone\For Their Support
822 Car 1 Russell Ave.
(at IVfartln Luther King Dr.)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 722-3459
Fa* (336) 631-8268
msfliome@ bellsouth -net
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