OPINION
THt
Chronicle
Ernest H. Pitt Publisher Co-Founder
Elaine Pitt Business Manager
Michael A. Pitt Marketing
T. KEVIN Walker Managing Editor
File Photo
Ll. Gov. Bev Perdue has earned our support.
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In case you have not figured it out yet, we are not like
most media outlets.
When it comes to giving our support to the men and
women seeking elected offices, we look far beyond the stan
dard stuff. Sure, voting records and experience are impor
tant, but we believe that personality, vision and openness
trumps the other stuff.
We want the kind of folks in our highest positions that
will be right at home at our kitchen table on Sunday evening;
the kind who will be
comfortable at our
churches and communi
ty events; folks that
won't just hear our con
cerns. but listen to them
and take them to heart.
Bev Perdue has
always been one of
those kind of people.
She has been a good
friend to us and many,
many people in this
community, and her
friendship just didn't
develop during election
Bev Perdue will be in
Winston-Salem tomor
row (Oct. 24) at 1 p.m.
for a Meet and Greet
at the Democratic
Headquarters, 1128
Burke Street. The
public is invited to
attend.
years.
We enthusiastically support her to be our next governor.
In terms of record and experience, her Republican challenger
Pat McCrory doesn't even come close to Bev. But beyond
that, McCrory has not reached out to black news media
organizations to tout his plans and ideas for our community.
(That is probably because he has none). Perdue, on the other
hand, has been open to share her thoughts. She has sat in our
conference room many times to talk about her exciting plans
for education, health care and job creation. That says, a lot.
Often, people view black-owned media as inferior and sub
par. We feel if a candidate has that belief, than his or her
feelings about minorities as a whole are probably similar.
State Sen. Kay Hagan has also reached out to us and
sought our endorsement. We are proud to give it to her. There
is no doubt that we need some fresh blood in the U.S. Senate,
and that statement is no knock on Republican Elizabeth
Dole's age
It's not Dole's age that makes her out of date and stale,
it's the philosophy that she embraces - the bad tax cuts for
the rich, an unwillingness to admit that our fighting in Iraq
was a mistake and on and on P
Part of Dole's problem is that she feels that she is entitled
to her Senate seat just because of her decades of stellar pub
lic service to this country. Dole has not done much because
like a monarch, she feels she can't be dethroned.
Hagan is ready to work hard for us. She's a fighter that
will stand up against all forces to battle for all North
Carolinians. We should all vote for Hagan and give Liddy a
much-deserved retirement. ?
We also are voting for: Wayne Godwin for Commissioner
of Insurance; Winston-Salem resident Mary Fant Donnan
for Commissioner dT Labor; Janet Cowell for Treasurer; Beth
A. Wood for Auditor; Ronnie Ansley for Agriculture
Commissioner; and Norman Holleman for Register of
Deeds.
And please don't forget to vote for the judges at the end
of your ballot. Their roles are vital. And please join us in
supporting: Winston-Salem's own Suzanne Reynolds for the
Supreme Court; and Legal legend James Wynn, Judge Cheri
Beasley, Judge Linda Stephens, John S. Arrowood and Judge
Kristin Ruth, all for the N.C. Court of Appeals.
VOTE TODAY!!!!!!!!
SO THAT'S THE
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Why We Must Vote
Hill
Harper
Guest
Columnist
The 2008 presidential
campaign has electrified vot
ers throughout a long process,
as Americans0 have experi
enced a series of political
firsts, including an African
American major party presi
dential nominee, a woman
mounting a serious challenge
for a presidential nomination
and the GOP's selection of a
female vice presidential nomi
nee.
Since January, excitement
has built in the electorate,
exemplified by the large
crowds greeting the candidates
and the massive turnout during
the caucus and primary con
tests. But now our nation faces
a crucial test as Election Day
approaches: some states now
have strict identification
requirements for voters, a
move that could stymie the
anticipated growth in political
participation.
Whatever the motive for
the tougher voter retyiire
ments, public officials, civic
leaders, activists and media
outlets must work to ensure
that voters in their states
understand the rules and that
they bring the proper identifi
cation to the polls. It would be
g serious blow to our democra
cy if droves of voters, perhaps
excited for the first time about
their participation and choices,
are turned away at the polls.
Given the low voter turn-outc
rates we have witnessed over
the past 30 years, our democ
racy cannot afford to disillu
sion people who may be par
ticipating for the first time.
Moreover, as the nation
faces an economic crisis, it is
more important than ever that
the American people partici
pate in the voting process and
feel vested in selecting the
path for the nation's future.
This is especially true for
those espousing that change is
needed in Washington believ
ing perhaps that our current
public officials and represen
tatives have not necessarily
acted in the best interest of our
families, our communities or
our future.
Already, restrictive rules in
many states that do not allow
prisoners or even some for
merly incarcerated individuals
to vote have raised questions
about the fairness of the elec
toral system. It is estimated
that about 5.3 million prison
ers or ex-prisoners won't be
allowed to vote. In Texas
alone, there are over 800,000
formerly incarcerated individ
uals who are by-law eligible to
vote but today are unregis
tered, because most don't real
ize that the laws have changed
and that they are in fact eligi
ble to participate in our
democracy. This disenfran
chisement strikes a contrast to
other democracies around the
world where ex-felons are
generally encouraged to vote
once they return to their com^
munities. Why? In part
because voting is commonly
recognized as one of our most
effective tools for positive
civic engagement and respon
sibility.
While the debate will con
tinue in the US over whether
voting rights should be
returned to the formerly incar
cerated who have paid their
debt to society, there is some
thing we can do now to pre
vent onerous ID requirements
from discouraging voters. We
need to actively educate the
electorate.
for instance, in Arizona,
proof of citizenship is now
required for NEW voters. Tcf'
satisfy this requirement, new
voters must bring a driver
license or a non-operating
identification license and a
copy of a birth certificate.
New voters can also bring
their US passport. New Native
American voters will need
their Bureau of Indian Affairs
card, tribal treaty card or tribal
enrollment number.
In Florida, meanwhile, a
photo ID is required to vote.
Acceptable IDs include a dri
ver's license, US passport,
debit or credit card, military
ID, student ID, retirement cen
ter ID, neighborhood associa
tion ID or public assistance
ID. Similar photo IDs are
required to vote in Michigan.
What's clear is that just as
more Americans appear poised
to participate in the electoral
process, there are more rules
and regulations that they must
follow.
It's the responsibility of
our public servants, as well as
dedicated activists, media out
lets and other leaders, to
inform the public of what they
need to vote. Let's make sure
everyone can participate.
There are many organizations
and campaigns underway that
are actively working to edu
cate voters and it is up to each
of us to actively support such
initiatives. For instance. New
American Media (NAM)
which is a collaboration of
ethnic news outlets are asking
television stations to air a star
studded, 30-second PSA that I
participated in with other
entertainers, who care dearly
about our nation's future.
NAM has also made available
broadcast quality voting TV
and radio PSAs that can be
aired on-air or from web sites,
as well as voting print ads for
newspapers and magazines.
Collaborations such as this, to
educate and encourage the
electorate are essential as we
approach this election.
I believe that in large part
what makes our country the
greatest in the world is that it
is a participatory democracy,
but that only works if we all
participate. It is up to every
one of us to work as diligently
as we can to ensure that every
American who is eligible to
vote is allowed to have their
vote counted, voice heard?
and participate in this wonder
ful democracy.
Hill Harper currently stars
in the hit television drama
CS1: NY and is the New York
Times bestselling author of
"Letters To a Young Brother"
and "Letters To a Young
Sister." He is a Magna Cum
Laude graduate from Brown
University and recipient of
graduate degrees with honors
in both law and public admin
istration from Harvard
University, where he attended
school with Sen. Barack
Obama.
Don't blame minorities for subprime mess
Marc Morial
Guest
Columnist
In the last few weeks, I
have undertaken an aggressive
campaign directed at the
nation's Financial leaders to
dispel the dangerous and
growing myth that minority
borrowers are primarily
responsible for our country's
current economic crisis. In let
ters to Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson and Federal
Reserve Chairman, Benjamin
Bernanke, I have asked that
they both publicly refute
claims by some conservative
pundits and politicians that
most of the defaulted sub
prime loans at the root of the
crisis were made to African
Americans, Hispanics and
other so-called "unproductive
borrowers."
As the New York Times
pointed out in an Aug. 3 arti
cle, Subprime Loans' Wide
Reach, "While subprime loans
deeply penetrated low-income
and minority groups, a new
study suggests that more
upper-income borrowers and
more whites took out such
loans than any other groups."
It is becoming clearer
everyday that a large number
of people who ended up with
Congressional Photo
Controversial Republican Congresswoman Michele
Bachmann of Minnesota.
subprime loans could have
qualified for a prime loan.
That's where the abuse lies.
In the face of these facts,
we have heard conservatives -
from Fox News Commentator,
Neil Cavuto to ABC News
Analyst George Will to
Washington Post Columnist
Charles Krauthammer say that
government efforts to increase
homeownership "put people
in homes they could not
afford" and are "at the root of
our current calamity."
Rep. Michele Bachmann
(R -Minn) added
Congressional weight to this
myth when she quoted an
Investor's Business Daily arti
cle from the floor of the
House that said banks made
loans "on the basis of race and
little else."
In my view, this blatant
scapegoating is an ugly
attempt by the rich and power
ful to shift the blame for this
crisis from Wall Street and
Washington, where it belongs,
onto middle class families on
Main Street and Martin Luther
King Boulevard who are most
victimized by their excesses.
I have taiken up this issue
for several reasons. First, now
more than ever, America
needs unity and real solutions
to fix the economic mess that
has engulfed our country.
Instead of having a healthy
debate on what must be done
to curb too much Wall Street
greed and too little
Washington oversight, too
many are willing to waste pre
cious time and energy blam
ing the victims.
Second, history provides
too many lessons about the
consequences of singling out
only certain segments of the
population as culprits for a
country's woes. On the basis
of hearsay, rumors and misin
formation, seeds of division
are being sown all across the
United States in a volatile
political environment where
Americans are terrified by the
economic situation.
That is why I have called
on both Secretary Paulson and
Chairman Bernanke to quell
this false and unnecessary
tempest. I will take my con
cerns directly to Congress on
October 16th at a special hear
ing on this issue before the
Senate Banking Committee
The National Urban League is
also once again calling on the
major broadcast and cable TV
networks to increase racial
diversity in their newsrooms
as a way to prevent the dis
semination of this and other
dangerous myths by certain
commentators and politicians.
Marc Morial is President
and CEO of the National
Urban League.