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Unanswered Questions About tt10w
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Post Executive Editor
Gov. Jim Hunt's state-wide televi
sion address that was supposed to
have laid to rest the Wilmington Ten
case did just the opposite. Hunt in
fact created a new interest in some
old questions as well as posing some
new ones. The evidence of this is
seen in the fact that more, not less,
has been written and said about the
case and an increasing number of
disturbing questions are arising,
most of which were ignored in
Hunt's address.
"Why," in the words of the "10"
leader Ben Chavis' sister, did he
(Hunt) ignore the recantation of the
states three witnesses?" Why, in the
words of Charlotte Observer report
ci muiuii joruan, αια uie governor
ignore "evidence of marauding whi
tes who rode through Wilmington's
black community, firing (guns) in
discriminately" : Why did Gov. Hunt
shorten the sentences of the "10"
and feel the need to address the
entire state on that decision, if, as he
said, he'd reviewed all the facts in
the case an believed a fair and
impartial trial had been held:
Finally, we ask, was Hunt's deci
sion motivated by the undercurrent
racism that is yet a part of our state
as well as his own personal political
ambitions: Until these and many
other questions like them are ans
wered North Carolina's presumed
commitment to justice and equality
will be tarnished.
Death For The Area Fund?
as a preiace to announcing his
resignation as executive director of
the Charlotte Area Fund (CAF),
Sam Kornegay reportedly said, "I'll
make it,...wherever I am, I'll spend
some time trying to help slow down
that merry-go-round (of poverty) so
somebody can get off. Somebody...
slowed it enough for me to get off.
I've got to return the favor."
Kornegay's comment seems
equally appropriate for the embat
tered 13-year-old poverty agency he
is leaving. CAF, Kornegay said in a
recent POST interview, aims to "do
things to enable low income people
to have an opportunity to improve
their lives." Ironically, CAF as an
agency is having trouble doing
thing» to live itself.
We believe Charlotte's only anti
poverty agency is facing possible
death for a number of reasons. First,
as the agency's chief administrator,
Kornegay views himself as a behind
the-scenes technician who asks pro
voking questions and pushes the
right to buttons to get things done.
(1 This is good as far as it goes, but it
doesn't go far enough. Kornegay has
never played the public relations
"role his position calls for. He has
rarely communicated with the poli
tical powers, except in time of
extreme crisis, he's rarely seen at
public meetings where issues affect
ing the poor are being discussed, and
he rarely responds to news media
inquiries.
Secondly, CAF and agencies like it
are dying a slow death because their
pointed confrontation with the "po
wer structure" in past years has led
to their systematic extinction thro
ugh the denial of operating funds,
funds provided by many of the same
sources that created conditions lead
ing to mass pockets of poverty.
Thirdly, and most significantly,
CAF and its counterparts throught
the nation is dying because they
have never developed within the
poor a sense of loyalty and a
philosophical commitment to the
purpose and intent of such agencies.
It is for this reason that the approxi
mately 40,000 poor people in Char
lotte-Mecklenburg are not rallying
to support CAF in its hours of crisis.
The poor are instead simply turning
to those agencies, public and pri
vate, who now control the dollars to
fight poverty, irrespective of whe
ther such agencies are providing
worthwhile services or not.
Ironically, too, CAF is dying be
cause its very existence, like that of
all welfare maintenance agencies, is
a constant reminder that the system
doesn't work for everyone and those
who are more fortunate don't want
to be reminded of the fact of poverty,
a level where many of their own
lives had begun. Do we need the
Area Fund? We think yes !
Urban Economic Solution?
Lx»i wcx* uic v/iuiriuiie Aimeuc
Club named Cedric Maxwell the
"Carolines Athlete of the Year."
Maxwell, now a rookie with the
Boston Celtics of the NBA, was the
superstar who led the UNCC 49ers to
the NIT and NCAA basketball finals
in successive years.
In spite of many honors and a
promising basketball career with a
reported five figure salary, Maxwell
appears to have kept things in
perspective. This was evident when
he said, "I'd like to play pro ball for
a couple of years...then come back
to Charlotte and start my own
g.. . - ' i
uusiness.
When considering President Car
ter's difficulty in devising an urban
policy to fit many varying needs and
Vernon Jordan's charge that Car
ter's tax cut plan will not aid blacks
in the cities, it seems that Maxwell's
approach might be a good start for
many blacks to find their own
solutions to urban economic pro
blems. Small business ventures are
not easy undertakings, but federal
loan funds are available as well as
private financial support for those
with the courage to try something
new.
[\ YOU MUST BECOME INVOLVED IN THE WELFARE ^
OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. ^
Guest Editorial
Editorial Opinion
Cti/tivno nuiL· — DOT. jer
vay is the distinguished pub
lisher of the Wilmington Jour
nal.
By Tom Jervay, Editor
By his disposition of the
Case of the Wilmington Ten
last Monday night, it is our
opinion that Governor Jim
Hunt has done more to divide
the state racially than any
event in recent years.
According to comments in
local and state-wide dailies
and interviews on TV and on
the radio, the majority of
blacks and the larger and
more influential dailies in
North Carolina, plus liberal
whites, are on one side, think
ing that the Governor did not
go far enough, while on the
other side of the fence, moet
whites and some blacks think
the Governor struck a happy
medium.
The JOURNAL is inclined to
go along with those who be
lieve Governor Hunt missed a
golden opportunity to exhibit
wtatwnanihlp at the first or
der by commuting the senten
ces of the nine men still in
prison to time served. He said
in so many words that his
Monday night address ended
the matter once and for all, as
far as he was concerned. He
wants the citizens to forget the
matter and move forward in
unity to greater things for the
Old North State. We do not
view this possible with so
many people thinking that
these young men have been
punished sufficiently.
We cannot see the logic of
the Governor's reasoning that
the Ten must be guilty, be
cause Alan R. Hall (the chief
prosecution witness and the
only person who claimed to
have seen the nine blacks
bomb the store) recanted his
testimony to Attorney James
Ferguson, the chief lawyer for
the Ten, recanted it again at
the bearing in Burgaw for a
new trial and then changed his
testimony in a tape-recorded
conversation with chief prose
cutor Jav Stroud, saying that
ne told the truth during the
original trial. Fact U. Hall's
testimony In the original trial
should be totally discredited'
because of his coo tin oall y
changing his mind.
..The Wilmington Morning
Star, under an editorial in
Wednesday newspaper head
ed "Wilmington 10 Case
Should Remain Settled"
seems to forget that people
have rights to fight for what
they believe in just as we
newspaper folk always decla
re that we should have free
dom of the press. They seem
to condemn the Rev. Ben
Chavis as an extremist and
agitator, while they deserve
the right to sit as judge and
jury on almoet everything
which happens in Wilmington.
In addition, they infer that
so-called extremists on both
sides of the case should cease
in giving their opinions while
their newspaper has some
God-given right to keep on
putting in their two cents
worth.
The case cannot be wished
away by either Governor Hunt
cm- the Morning Star or anyone
else, especially when the Star
daily keepe the story on its
front page. Certainly that's
news, and it also sells papers.
Well, we are not by our
selves among the members of
the Fourth Estate who disa
gree with the Governor. The
Charlotte Observer, the Ra
leigh News and Observer, the
Fayetteville Times, the Win
ston-Salem Journal, in our
way of thinking, are not extre
mists. We do not consider
ourselves an extremist. We
consider ourselves a liberal,
while these other newspapers
are mostly liberal and fair .
minded and at times may be
viewed as moderates and even
conservatives on some sub
jects.
Earlier this week, the Star
listed the places which were
burned during the local racial
disturbances. We are not say
ing that they were laying these
cases on the door steps of the
Ten. but to be fair th^v nhmilrl
nave also mentioned the bands
of whites who roamed the city,
carrying guns into the police
station to offer help, and the
tear gas which was sprayed
into homes of blacks out Daw
son Street way.
We are carrying editorial
opinion and cartoons from
other N.C. white dailies else
where in this issue so that our
readers may see what the
other part of the state is
thinking about the Case of the
Wilmington Ten.
The nine balcks who remain
in jail have already said they
will appeal in the Federal
Courts and will continue their
fight. Regardless of what
some may say about this
angle, these people are within
their rights. We, as American
citizens though black, have
the same rights have others
under the Constitution.
We were hoping the Civil
War could be put in the history
books and the museums, but
the nasty calls received by a
local TV station just because
one of the mothers of the Ten
was interviewed Monday
night should disappoint all of
us who have worked for better
race relations in Wilmington.
This is our home. We select
ed to return here from college.
We plan to stay here and call
the shots as we see them. As
Sojourner Truth told Frede
rick Douglas, who became
downcast at one point of his
life, "Fred, God ain't dead."
This is our firm belief, and so
long as our home town which
has so many potentials contin
ues to have so much hatred
and malice for our people, just
so long will it remain among
the smaller and less progres
sive cities of North Carolina.
The same holds true for the
State. We have lost our image
of being the most progressive
in the South on racial matters
and let South Carolina, Geor
gia, and even Mississippi top
us in many respects. Booker
T. Washington wisely said
"You cannot keep a man down
in a ditch unless you remain
rtarum urith Wm M
TO
BE
EQUAL
Humphrey Is Irreplaceable
The national outpouring of grief at Hubert
Humphrey's death was entirely appropriate; he
was a giant in an era of lesser men with smaller
vision. His last honors were typical of those of
men who had served as President, and that too
was appropriate, for he should have been
President.
President Carter sent him a photograph of the
two of them behind the desk in the Oval Office
and inscribed it: "Hubert Humphrey, this desk
should have been yours."
He lost the Presidency by an eyelash in 1968 -
only half a million votes out of a total of 73
million. If he had won then the nation would have ^
been spared the disastrous economic disloca
tions of the following years. Most likely we would
kotrA Λα - — —* A
v «·« vawvw miv «tlSAW UllVllipiVJ' lilCIIi
rates of today.
And the reason is that Hubert Humphrey was a
man who translated his compassion to the public
arena. He was concerned throughout his career
with the underdogs, with the sufferings of people
left out of our affluent society. That's why it so
fitting that the new headquarters for HEW is
named after him.
At the dedication ceremonies of that building,
Senator Humphrey, weak from his illness,
summed up the compassionate philosophy that
animated his life.
"The moral test of government," he said, "is
how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the
children; those who are in the twilight of life, the
aged, and those who are in the shadows of life,
the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
Hubert Humphrey met that moral test by
championing the interests of those who despe
rately needed a champion in the seats of power.
His last great cause was the battle for full
employment. He co-sponsored the Humphrey
Hawkins Bill, designed to set the nation on the
road to a full employment economy and con
vinced the Administration to accept a compro
mise version of the Bill. Then, even from his
sickbed, weak from chemotheraphy treatment,
he worked long and arduously for its passage.
Tfc&recouM ben** better tribute to 'thia-greet
man than fôr Ms ÎôlteagUës in the tongresë to
make passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins Bill
their priority item of business in the current
session.
And if anyone rates the title "civil rights
leader," it was Hubert Humphrey. From the
start of his career he worked to advance the
interests of blacks and other minorities. As the
j mo/ui υι Minneapolis, a city mat tnen Had
few blacks, he pushed through the first munici
pal Fair Employment Practices Commission in
the nation.
He didn't do it for personal gain - there wern't
enough black voters in Minneapolis then to make
it a political move. If anything, he probably lost
votes from prejudiced whites.
Not djd he have to fight for a strong civil rights
plank aft the 1948 Democratic Convention, a move
that splijt the Party and led to the revolt of the
Dixiecrats. No, he did it because it was right. He
was told then that it was too early to raise the
issue of civil rights. "Too early?" Humphrey
replied. "It's 172 years too late."
His death leaves a gaping hole in the nation's
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Some Realistic Views On Wilmington 10
r
By Gerald Johnson
I have refrained (ran writ
ing about the Wilmington 10
case because of my lack of
information related to the
case. Moreover, the case had
reached a point where emo
tionalism had taken it from
the realms of rationalism. A
lot of people have worked hard
for the nine Black men and
one White woman in an effort
to free the allegedly political
prisoners.
However, since Hunt has
given his verdict concerning
the case and since so many
opinions have been floating
around about the case, I can
not resist the temptation any
longer
I must hasten to add, tho
ugh, that my opt non Is not
directed towards the innocen
ce or guilt of the 'Wilmington
10', but rather it la on some
observations surrounding the
case
To start off I would like to
My that Governor Hunt, in my
, opinion, did the correct thing
I feel his decision was based
on the information he had
been able to gather concern
ing the case He didn't appear
(o give the case s cursory
review, but rather, he seemed
to hâve attacked the caae both
logically and systematically.
Becauee his decision concer
ning the case was not what the
'Wilmington 10' supporters
wanted is no reason, indeed no
excuse, to ridicule the final
decision. The Governor was
placed in a position where
regardless of what his deci
sion was hé would have been
wrong in somebody's eyes.
Hence, He did the most logical
thing; what he thought was
right. The 'Wilmington 10'
supporters shouldn't have
misconstrued his announce
ment of making a decision on
the caae as a necessarily
favorable result. Consequent
ly, the final decision wouldn't
have been such a disappoint
ment.
The publicity the case Jus
received is unprecedented in
recent North Carolina history
The publicity could have been
a negative factor for the ΊΟ.' I
noticed that the support for
the Wilmington 10' concentra
ted on North Carolina racist
policies in judiciary matters
In other words it slways fo
cused on the faults of North
Carolina and not with the case
itself. When facts were pre
sented about the case they
were cloudy snd smbigious
i
Gerald Johnson
Obviously, any Appellate Cou
rt would tear this type of
information to shreds and in
fact they did. Few of the
supporters were knowledge
able enough about the case to
give anything but lip service
to the case. Which I found very
appalling because it meant to
me that moat of the more
vocal supporters were seeking
publicity for themselves and
could care less about the
Wilmington 10'
I have written in this article
before that the days of march
ing and protesting to get re
sults are over No one will
make a decision based on
emotional yet irrational situa
tion·. This type of thing only
gets publicity, but it doe· not
influence the decisions of good
poiiticans In fact it shouldn't.
If a political figure would base
his decision· on who could put
together the beet protest, then
the Country would be in a
sadder state of affairs than it
already is in.
I thought it was in bad taste
for the six black congreesmen
felt it was necessary for them
to come to North Carolina to
show their disapproval of how
the case was handled. This
action undermine· the ability
for North Carolina to be able
to handle its own affairs. Witty
sll of its hsd points, the North)
Caroline Judiciary System/
wss one of the first to forcé
school busing. It is the sam s
system that freed Jo-Ann Li -
Us from murder. Yee, it h*
hsd its share of unfortunate
circumstances, but sll ttye
decisions will not go your wn,
The one point that has hot
been mentioned as far Ss I
know is the defense for'the
'Wilmington 10' A lot of inno
cent people ere serving time
because the defense lawyers
could not present s case food
enough to set them fret. It
would appe&r to me that this Is
the place ψ start in an earnest
attempt t« free the ΊΟ. Ά case
is won οtj lost by lawyers, not
guilt or j(nnocence
I woufld like to suggest to the
'Wllimngton 10' supporters
that if they plan to continue to
push] for the freedom of the
'10,'(that they go about it a
iittlé differently.
Ijnstead of wasting time and
m/mey trying to make the case
overly political, they should
uée the time to raise money.
While raising money contact
itm of the nation· leading
/lawyer» and find out his opin
ion on the case. If he will take
the case then you are on the
right road to freeing the 'Wil
mington 10.' This is not to say
that the current lawyers are
not doing a good job, but it
would be the first place of
suspect
I don't know Rev. Ben Cha
vis, but I do his sister Dr.
Helen Othow and if he is
anything like his sister, he
deserves the best. Unfortu
nately. the plan of attack up to
this point falls far short of
being the beat. It to time to
re-think old plans and formu
late new plans and start the
struggle anew.
t'tilitv Dis-Service
It seems that the utility
companies have us over a
barrel. They can tell us any
thing . and we are at a loss to
argue the point.
But I find it disgusting that
when you need the service the
most is when they deliver the
least.
During extremely cold or
extremely hot weather when
your utilities are a necessity,
you are immediately warned
to cut back on your usage
or a blackout will ensue. So,
you end up freezing, straving.
and bored. In the dark.
Or, when a heavy storm hits
you lose all power anyway
Trees fall over the lines or
they freexe until they break
Hence, you still freexe to
death.
All of this wouldn't be so bad
except after doing without
power when you really needed
it, your Mil comes in and you
still have to pay 000.00.
It is no wonder that every
body is going back to basics
and depending on themselves
The pot belly wood burning
stove is the hottest selling
item in many areas of the
country. It is not as conveni
ent, but its cheaper and more
dependable