Foundation Of
* ‘ . i • .
Rewritten From
The Carolina Times
When academicians begin de
stroying counterproductive con
cepts and terms, replacing
them with concepts and terms
that are not racist, and the
business community begins pro
moting this new approach in the
mainstream, then the rest of us
must accept the challenge.
The challenge begins on the
individual and personel levels.
Men must set standards that
are productive and successful;
that set the type of examples for
our children and for others that
are both inspiring and encou
raging.
Women must set similar stan
dards.
.
It is not enough to pay these
standards lip service. We must
.live them. -
We must teach them to our
children, and we must not allow
people who cannot shake the
habit of being oppressed, who
have become chronically black,
to take us back to the days of
race and racism.
-i Consider some specifics.
Black men don’t act a certain
way because they are black.
Rather, they act a certain way
because certain standards of
behavior have not been set.
So why not decide, for exam
ple, that every child deserves"7
and needs a resident father as an
important member of the . team
■ required to produce a successful
future generation.
Black women don’t act a cer
tain way because they are
black, but rather because cer
tain standards of behavior have
not been set.
So, why not decide, for exam
ple, that our goal in personal
relationships is to establish a
joint plan by which both mem
bers of the relationship reach the
zenith of their individual po
tential?
Black criminals don’t com
-mit crimes because they are
black, but rather because they
are criminals. Crime is coun
terproductive, and we must not
wink at it, or make excuses for it.
So why not decide that we will
be anti-crime, period?
Therefore, when the neigh
borhood thief offers to sell you
stolen items, have him arrested.
If your neighbor buys stolen
items, have him arrested.
All of this is hard — very, very
hard - and none of it can be
achieved overnight. But it is
better to be striving for these
standards and miss them, than it
is to not strive because we don’t
believe we can achieve them.
But the bottom line is really
quite simple. If race and racism
are to .be destroyed in this
country, then we must initiate
that destruction.
We must build our foundation
of existence on the fact that we
are human, that we are native
born Americans, with all the
constttutkxuUL significance that
fact carries, and that we are the
only limiting factor in our quest
for greatness.
In other words, as we change
ourselves, others must change in
order to adapt to these new
people on the scene, masters of
the American mainstream.
“Mama, ftn R-ee!” ^
“Mama, I’m free....” These
were the words that black
engineer LeneU Geter of Den
mark, S.C., conveyed to his
mother by telephone last week
when charges of armed rob
bery against him were dropped.
Mr. Geter is the young man
falsely accused, tried and con
victed for armed robbery for
$615 and sentenced to life in
prison. In spite of numerous eye
witnesses confirming that Geter
was at Ills place of—employ
ment when the robbery oc
curred, he was sent to jail on the
incorrect testimony of witnesses
• at the scene.
LeneU Geter spent 16 months
of his life in jaU for a crime he
. • -t i .
— —
did not commit
taken identii
of law broke!
mistakes are the price we must
pay for security, or in the word of
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., the
first Chief Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court, “This is a Court
of law, young man, not a Court of
justice.”
Since we live in a society that
prides itself on the value, rights
and dignity of the individual, we
rnnnot iirrrpt rithcr of thane
reasons for Mr. Geter’s incor
rect imprisonment.
As a nation in our values and in
our criminal justice system, it’s
time to reassess our strength and
weaknesses and to find justice.
*
■
:
i
ffH-f |
Wanted. JOB
Portry Coed Offers Five
' sim lor Us ^
certificates wflT not be
given in the Virginia Dare
Contest. Cash knd book
prizes will be given to each
o# the seven winners in the
contest for teen-agers.
The winner of the
Young contest for a book of
original poems receives a
check for $100 and a large
cup to be engraved with the
winner's name and to be
kept one year.
Winners. in the Scbull,
Pearson and Rutledge con
*w*W*JW! - urn,
prise - $50, secood prize -
$25, and third prize - $15.
Those winning places of
Honorable Mention in each
of tee four contests will be
given a book of poetry.
Eleven other winners in
eech contest will receive
Certificates of Merit
A contestant may enter
only one poem in any con
test. H the writer sub
mits a poem in a second
contest, he must send a
different poem. Pltems
- nmet-hr origfnat, previous
ly unpublished^ and not
offered at the time to any
other contest or publica
tion. Contestants should
avoid bizarre language
and pornographic wer£ or
images. Each poem mb
mitted -will be accom
panied by H to beip de
fray printing and mailing
entries to managers and
Judges, and in seadfaut
cash prteas, books, and
certificates of award to
winners.
For further contest in
formation and rules, the
writer should send a aetf
addrcaaed, •
loo to the contest coordin
ator: lie. Lucy X. Walters,
P.O. Box M, Hudson, NC
Dennis Wads
Dr. Dennis L. Watts of
the Watts CUronraetioa
Center just returned from
Atlanta, Ga., where be par
ticipated in a tw»day
workshop on the treatment
of node and bade igjurieB
caused by automobile ac
cidents.
•
The main thrust gf the
two-day seminar was the
seriousness of the whin
lash Injiay and the ne
cessity for early Uit
ment to prevent perma
nent Injury and a lifttime
of suffering.
Dr. Watts has prac
ticed chiropractic ' in
Matthews for thue yean.
the charlotte post
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CMeaga, III. satis New York. New Yarfc 1SS9S
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F " ■
from Vapuol /fig
Name Changes Don’t Change Practices
Alfred* L.MjmUm.
A. W. Hank, a Mack
mambar ot the Virginia
Assembly, in the latter part
«f the 19th century, real
i*ed that the State of Vir
ginia had several institu
tions of higher learning far
whites, but not one for
blacks. lCr. Harris pro
posed the martauTit
legislation for a black Vir
ginia 8tate Callage.
In ins the State estab
lished at Petersburg, Vir
ginia Normal and Colle
giate Institute, la IMS the
name was i*of»i to Vir
ginia Normal and In*
dustrial Institute, IMO the
name became Virginia
State College, IMS Virginia
State College for Negroes,
1979 It became Virginia
State University, Through
all of these name charg
es from 1998 until the
present, the Institution has
remained burdened with
blatant discriminatory po
licies
The NAACP Legal De
fense Fund baa filed a
complaint against Dr. John
Casteen, III, Secretary of
Education and the Coun
cil of High Education ter
the State of Virginia .,TI*
complaint has been'feed
with Secretary Terrell
Befl of the U S. Depart
ment of Education.
The State of Virginia has
defaulted on Its 1971 com
mitment to bring Virginia
State University (VSU)ta
compliance with Title VI of
i
j Alfred. L . Utadbe.
the 1CM 6vti Rights Act,
which proto btadtocrtmiiv
stk» hi saw institution that
receives fotleral fundr
The commitment plan
provided Virginia State
University Arith a range of
programs, quantity and
quality of facilities, stu
dent aaslstdnce and other
rmmtm Comparable to
the traditkmaBy similar
white institutions. It also
provided for the compie
Uoe of all aaodad improve
mem* um renovation* by
IttMS. Ia 1W, Virginia
extended the commitment
ttaae to MMl. If the re
cently adjourned Virginia
Aaaemhly hee failed to pro
vide funds for Eradicat
ing these inequities, the
State can jeopardise its
eligibility for receipt of
federal education fun*
The Office of Civil Rights
of the U.S. Education
Department appear* to
have been lex in requir
ing Virginia to fulfill its
1978 commitment The Vir
ginia report to the U.S.
Education Department in
1979 admitted: VSU admin
istration presented a coo-.
• traction plan to the State
Secretary of Education
that requred 979,444,439.
Only 910^280 baa been
received since 1978 and
93^98,9000 of the. amount
has been frozen. VSU had
the highest percentage of
unsatisfactory educational
and general space with 39.8
percent, George Mason .9
percent, Junes Madison
9.8 percent, Longwood 1.3
percent and Radford 3.3
percent. Virginia officials
explain lack of elimination
of these inequities on
prolection that VSU enroll
ment will decline in the
next decade.
n>« press reported last
•prtag that VSU’s library
had to cancel subscrip
tion* for IMS of 1,000
Periodicals, practically no
booka were added, the li
brary staff was cut and
prnfnasori wars unable to
make necessary aaaign
menta because of the ab
■■■Dltwaan
vsu and Virginia Poly
tech Institue (VPI). a com
parable university are a
blatant disgrace. In 1174
VSU ranked Slat in the
aatioa of lend grant col
leges that received federal
funds, VPI rankad seventh
In 1874 VSU received no
federal funds at aO, while
VPI was given M l mill
Ion for Ha agriculture
|^ogram for the period
199M8, VPI was provided
1811,011,406 federal funding
while VSU for the same
pariod received 819,906,913
of federal fundings s
VSU faculty salaries are
the lowest among state uni
versities. The average
VSU salary k 888,000,
which k 81,300 lower than
Virginia collages of lower
classification. The average
faculty salary for Virginia
stats universities • com
parable to VSU k 935,306
and nationwide it k 886,800.
The 1878 plan nr tan ked
eight high detnaiei pro
grams at VSU. However
the amended ion plan
mentions only throe. Thasa
token integration face
wring plan hoping that it
win attract some white
■UMcnw Kmphasls on
these programs has com
pMHy negate ted basic
curricula add science tm
P**»> was fornudatodw^
out VSU faculty having any
fanpuL This is the tra
ditional Vlrgbda racial
paternalism, “father
knows beat.”
NAACP Legal Defence
Fund has recommended
insmaattag ot the a^i
discrimination system by
the fall ef ISM
V8U’a funding, pro
grama, facilities sad ad
naindedmaglaA *_ .__ *
minifttriuofl
tern intact Virginia’s ra
cial (hscrlmfnation policy
In higher education.
========"-■ .—
Schools That Work i
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n— -«i im-i.
ny uapnne cwev nine
1^- AFTPN8 Staff Writer - *
Special To The Post
It is difficult to live down a reputa
tion.--—/
That fact is aa painfully true for in
dividuals as it is for schools. And it is as true<
•for school districts as it is for an entire
educational system.
New Haven's (CTXifiH House High School
Is s school with a reputation: It changed
from s rigorous, college-oriented academ- *.
ic high school in the fifties to s com-'
high school bdet by riots in the
underachieving students, de- ,
pta* in ,nd * deC‘ying PhySiCfll
jBut like many other schools in this
&»»ntiy. Hill House School is' now undo:- ‘
taking a series of self-improvement .
-> aimed at improving student
‘ staff morale - that aK
_ . its tarnished reputation,
Even before all the recent reports began ‘
to mourn the mediocrity of American
education, a bulge number of schools - :
realised there wag a problem and em
barked on improvement projects. Some of
these programs were initiated at tiie school
level while others were mandated by school ,
districts or state governments. And while .
the nature of these programs varies, many
schools have adopted what Is known as the '
“effective schools” program.
Much of this program is based on
research done in the sixties that sought to .
find ways to improve the basic skills of low
achieving students in inner-city schools. In
order to do that, researchers studied the
characteristics of urban schools where -
achievement levels were much higher than
average to see what made some «»hnni» ;
more effective than others.
Ronald Edmonds, one of the key re
searchers in the field of school effects, .
found that there were at lease five cha- ,
racteristics that effective schools share:,
--there is 9 clear sense that education is •
the primary mission of the school and there '
is a broadly understood instructional
focus: * ;*■
-teachers have high expectations that all
students can achieve a mastery of basic -
skills;
-there is a safe and orderly environ- -
ment conducive to teaching, learning .
human development; and
-there is frequent monitoring and test- -
_ing of students to see whether they are
learning. " l" ",“ 1
Other researchers have added a few other
indicators of effective sChfc&Ls, such as a
. high percentage of time on task in {Ms
classroom and parental support for tne
school.
Effective schools are defined as those that
display all five characteristics set out by
Edmonds and not schools that only
one or another feature. As for schools that
wanttostart such programs, research has
shown that change works best when the
principal and teachers work together in the
-planning and implementation.
Aa of this year, Hill House students are
expected Ho do at least two hours of
hojnefrorfc each evening. Homework note
books are periodically collected in class,
and the principal'Tiimself sometimes
requests to see class assignments. Seniors
are required to take at least five aca
demic classes and pass four in order to
graduate, and the number of allowable cuts
has been reduced from seven to four, with a
move now to reduce this to zero, Crosby
said. The school has also instituted an
in-school suspension program, which re
quires students who have disobeyed rules to
do their schoolwork in isolation diving the
school day. The number of fights in the
school has also been reduced although not
yet eliminated, Crosby said.
“In short, effective schools programs
appear to be rather widespread, are being
carried out with reasonable care and are
believed to be making enough difference
that they will probably be an important
feature of the school improvement land
scape, in both elementary and secondary
schools, for the next few yean,” the stuJl
concluded.
No one is claiming that the problems of
America’s public schools are over. It will
take a long time for the system to win beck :
its reputation. But the first steps are now
being taken.
. . * >
Hill House High School, for example,
started working on a program during the ;
19ms school year with the help of one of 1
the federal education labs, the Northeast Re- j
gional Exchange. DeNorris Crosby, the :
principal, asked teachers whether they 1
were Interested in creating an effective j
school program and when they said yea, he *
took a survey to see what the teachers’ \
major concerns were. Than with help from ;
the exchange, the staff began to develop a :
program that has already resulted fan major 1
schootwide changes.
About half of the 80 teachers in the school
are actively participating in one of the i
improvement committees.
# r