Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Dec. 3, 1981, edition 1 / Page 14
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Is He Guilty Or Innocent? Why Is Wilbur Hobby On Trial? By Pat Bryant Special To The Post Wilbur Hobby, former president of the NC AFL CIO, a federation of labor organizatons, is soon to stand trial on charges that he defrauded the CETA program through contracts ne negotiated with state government. The contracts were to train women and black workers as computer keypunch operators and offset printers. The pro cess started when the Raleigh News and Observ er published 96 articles about Hobby's contracts, not charging criminal acts, but questioning his pro priety and insinuating his guilt. Hobby then became the target of the N.C. Con gressional Club, Jesse Helms' political action group. During the last general election the Con gressional Club whipped Hobby through attacks for unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate I. Beverly Lake and successful senatorial candidate John East. The Congressional Club also fi nanced television commer cials across the state which charged Wilbur Hobby with pocketing the taxpayers’ CETA funds. The following North Carolinians are active in the state's political life. They were asked, “Why is Wilbur Hobby on trial?” Is he guilty or innocent?" Carrie Graves, director of the Southern Organizing Committee's (SOC) N.C. Project on Military Spend ing Vs. Human Needs, is a Charlotte poor people’s ad vocatowho believes Hobby is trial because of his con cern for women, blacks and the poor: ..“Wilbur Hobby is really on trial because he made it possible for minorities, es pecially women, to become more a part of the econo mic clout in our state. He has helped women enter non-traditional jobs such as heavy equipment, engin eering, etc. When you begin to do just a little bit too much good for those in peed in our state, you are bound to be under attack. I don’t think that he has done anything that folks in the ■ political system have not ;done for hundreds of years. ■I think it’s a political move •against labor, and against 'women.” '. Leonard Dunstun is pre sident of the N.C. Associa tion of Black Social Work ers, an affiliate of the Na tional Association of Black .Social Workers. He, too, 'thinks Hobby is under po -litical attack: I “1 am not familiar with 'the charges against Hobby, but knowing as I do how individuals are opposed to .the right to organize in this state, I am very skeptical labout the extent to which ;he’s guilty or that anyone with his background would be guilty. 1 think that the forces who are adamantly opposed to any effort to unionize exploited workers • twill continue to trump up fcharges to try to silence people like him.” Jennifer Henderson is executive director of the North Carolina Hunger Coalition, Fayetteville. She also believes Hobby is inno cent of the charges and that his “crime” is social activism: • “Wilbur Hobby is guilty *of being a labor organizer in the 80s in the rural South. That’s what I think his crime is. It’s as simple as that. I think that given the right set of circumstances, we all could be indicted for our social activism. He’s being indicted for his try ing to creatively use feder al money to help black folks and poor folks. All of us share a part of that indictment ” I>r. Early Thorpe is pro fessor of history at North Carolina Central Univers ity and national president of the Association for the Study off Afro-Ainerican Life and History. He also believes that the charges against Hobby are politic - ally motivated: "He is on trial, funda mentally, because he is a liberal white in the racist South, in racist America. Wilbur has identified with poor people, oppressed peo ple. exploited people, those who are the most up against the wall. He's tried to help them That is his fundamental sin in the eyes of those who are able to bring charges and make them stick even when they shouldn’t. CETA work through the nation has been under attack by Jesse Helms, the right wing and the whole conservative crowd. That is a part of the general attack on poor people." Mrs. Virginia Newell is chairperson of the Mathe matics and Computer De partment of Winston-Salem State University and is a Winston-Salem Aider woman. She is not sure of Hobby's guilt or innocence: "I really don't know whe ther he is guilty or inno cent. All I know is what I’ve read in the papers. You don't know that what the papers say isthe truth. One version that I have heard is when the feds send money down you’re already late getting it, and then you have got to get into opera tion or you loose all of it." (Gordon Dilluhunt. a post al worker, is an organizer of the Black United Front in Kaleigh. He, too, thinks Hobby is innocent and the victim of political attacks: “He is innocent. I have had access to all of the legal papers, but just from what is generally available it is clear that this is an attempt to discredit Wilbur and perhaps put him in jail for a while with the aim of beating organized labor to the ground so that it cannot rise up. This is an import ant time for the enemy to do that because the condi tions are calling for more activity. The black com munity is coming to life again. So here is the op portunity to squash that in the bud. ..Header reaction to the opinions expressed in this column are encouraged. Please indicate your will-' ingness to have your views published. They should be sent to Pat Bryant, editor. Southern Exposure Maga zine, .P. O. Box S31, Dur ham, N.C. 27702. A&T Alumni The Queen City Chapter of AlcT State University Alumni Association will meet Friday, December 4, 1961 at 8 p.m. in Parlor C of the Executive Inn. 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 3, 1981, edition 1
14
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