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Volume l THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, December 27, 1984 Price: 40 Cents
Black Leaders ]
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Everyone Needs To Better
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( N.C. 28202
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'l 5-V ear-OidTSerena Ro,
,~Active in Explorers Club
Serena Ross Is Concerned With
V* '/.•'* < ■„
t
Mending Differences Between Races
By Jalyne Strong
Post Staff Writer
Fifteen-year-old Serena Ross is a
student at Piedmont Middle School.
She’s active in the Explorers Club
and Project Aries and is a member
of the girls' varsity basketball team.
The Explorers Club does just what
its name suggests. Serena says that
she enjoys the club because they go
fnany different places including
camping out. Recently, she adds,
they were also involved in collect
ing toys and clothes for the needy.
Project Aries, explains Serena, is
concerned with mending differences
between races. “We do things we
hope will bring blacks, whites and
other races closer together,’’ she
states.
Serena’s favorite school subjects
are language arts and social studies
and her favorite extracurricular
activity is basketball. “I do O.K.,’’
she Shyly admits about her ability on
the'qburt. Serena plays guard, and
she says she was taught the game by
her cousin Though at the time of
this interview, Piedmont has lost its
first game, Serena remains confi
ded that there will be victories
ahead. After all, she claims. “We
practice everyday.”
TWs athletic experience may help
Serena later, for her ambition is to
become a policewoman. 'T’ve want
ed to be one ever since I was small,”
she confesses. “It can be a dan
gerous job. But I can handle it,"
m Serena assures. Her plans are to
“ complete high school and then enter
a notice academy
Maybe "Beverly Hill* Cop,” the
movie starring fiddie Murphy, in
fluenced bar- Serena relates that it
Is one of her favorites. Her botMes
include going to the movies and out
• ~a
How beautlfal a day can be
whet, khtdtiett louche* II.
m V '• ..
to eat with her friends. Also, she
enjoys reading and watching televi
sion.
Serena is the daughter of Teresa
Williamson, and she says she and
her mother share a lot with each
other. “We can tell each other our
real feelings without either one
getting mad,” she explains.
She is also the sister of twin
brothers, Dendre and Dondre, who
are six years old. Serena enjoys
■ being big sister to the boys. "I get to
tell them what to do," she laughs.
She also has a lot of fun taking them
out with her. “They attract a lot of
attention,” Serena notes.
One other special person in Sere
na’s life is her friend, Misti.
‘‘We’ve been best friends since the
seventh grade," she reveals. ‘‘Misti
is the kind of person I can talk my
problems over with and she will not
tell others. She also likes to have
fun,” Serena adds.
“I hope one day Misti can be in
The Charlotte Post,” this week's
beauty remarks. That’s one of
Serena’s wishes and another one is
for a car. What kind? Nothing but
the best for this young lady. "A
Porsche,” exclaims Serena. Of
course.
Serena attends the United House
of Prayer For All People.
Commitments From
Blacks Needed To
Combat Black Homicide
By Jalyne Strong
Post Stall Writer
For thelast two weeks this series
has examined the grievous situation
of black-on-black homicide that is
affecting our communities in Char
lotte and other cites nationwide.
We began by quoting statistics
which revealed blacks killing blacks
has reach epidemic proportions.
They account for over 60 percent of
the homicides occurring in Char
lotte ahd up to 48 percent nation
ally.
Next, we discussed the victims of
homicide, specifically surviving vic
tims, the family and friends of
persons who have been killed. We
found that they experienced a per
sonal crisis that is overwhelming
and, consequently, destructive to the
continuation of their own lives It
was found that black-on-black homi
cide not only claims lives but it
leaves a trail of crushed lives in its
wake.
Now is the time to act if the black
community is ever going to try to
compensate for these occurrences
It must begin to look at possible
solutions to this ihcreasing”pfoblemr ~
“Solutions of black-on-black homi
cide will require extensive black
leadership," reported a national
black magazine. It will take a
concerted effort from all outlets of
the black populace to combat the
prohlem Included in this report a re
opinions from professionals of the
community who, in their work, are
intricately involved in the lives of
black people.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
"We must first look at the type of
people who are comitting the
crimes Where do they come from?
It is usually from a background of
violence where hitting and hurting is
used as a method of getting by,”
claims Balrie Long, a family thera
pist and minority counselor.
Long's view is reinforced by stu
dies of social behavior which re
port, “certain subcultures have
values that support and encourage
the overt use of force in inter
personal relations and group inter
actions.”
Officer Frank Coley
_Third in series
Ways in which we can correct this
situation, suggests Long, will have
to begin with the family and extend
to include the entire community.
—“Begmnmgwith smaH children in
the home, parents need to reward
children for positive things they do.
They (children) should get atten
tion for the good they do. Plus
parents have to realize how eagerly
children learn the things they see in
their home Parents must become
serious about their parenting
“Grown children, if they are al
ready exposed to what is bad, need
to be retaught new skills to use A
restructure of values and morals
needs to begin that will develop
positive self-esteem.”
Long emphasizes, “The fact that
killing is wrong has to be taught to
our children Once it was the church
from which we learned this doctrine
but blacks have gotten away from
the church Now it is up to the
parents to get this information to the
children
“The next step is to go back to the
communal idea of parenting,” sug
gests l>ong "We have to act as a
community,” she explains. “If we
are adults it is our responsibility
when we see children fighting to
Has Desegregation Improved The
Quality Of Education For Mack Chif Wn ?
By Jalyne Strong
Post Staff Writer
•Tommy's not going to under
stand why he can't goto school,'' her
father replied. "He's going to won
der why and how are we going to tell
him we're afraid of them?"
(Excerpt from "Neighbors," a
short story by Charlotte writer
Diane Oliver concerning a black
Charlotte family's ordeal over their
son being the first child to Integrate
an all-white school.)
During the late 1960s and early
1970s, Charlotte underwent desegre
gation of its elementary and se
condary schools. It was a time of
upheaval and turmoil for both
blacks and whites In this city. Yet to
see white children and black chil
dren intermingling on school play
grounds and campuses was a dream
for disadvantaged black parents
They felt that desegregation in
education was a big step towards
curing many of society's discrimin
ations. /
Blacks fated many trials to
achieve desegregation of the schoob
especially harassment from whites.
But Charlotte did succeed In de
segregation. In fact this city ac
complbhed it with exemplary form.
Charlotte has subsequently been
used nationally as a model city of
desegregation.
However, today, grumblings of
dissatisfaction can be heard from
black parents ^rho are tjeginning to
Dr. Herman Thom a i
.CMS making fine atari
worry over the consequences of
desegregation Today, over 10 years
later, they're asking themselves has
Uhls option really improved the
education of black children?
Many blacks of Charlotte are
beginning to suspect a tack of
commitment on the part of white
teachers towards black students
And they're remembering with fond
ness the atmosphere of all
black schools ”1 felt my Ins true
tors always cared about me,” re
calls Elaine Nichols, a lecturer in
Afro-American and African Studies
V
Elaine Nlchol*
.“Student* feel no one care*"
at the University of North Carolina,
at Charlotte. Nichols attended the
all-black high school of Second
Ward. “The teachers there invested
the time to push students to
achieve.”
In her everyday dealings with
students on UNCC’s campus, Ni
chols has found certain problems
which she feels may have derived
from desegregation. "Students I've
come in contact with now feel that no
one cares,” she says. She states that
black students have revealed the
fact that the|r white counterparts
are receiving indepth counseling as
to the financial and human re
sources that are available while they
are being told nothing
Dr Herman Thomas, an assistant
professor of Religious Studies and
assistant director of Afro-American
and African Studies at UNCC, ex
pands on Nichol’s assessment by
using an example from his own
experience He claims, “I once
heard a white teacher say, ‘You can
put those people (blacks) in my
class but you can't make me teach
them.’
“This image becomes louder and
louder in my mind," reflects
Thomas when asked his views on the
benefits of desegregation in schools
Thomas at one time taught in a
segregated black high school in
Aberdeen, N.C , and he remembers,
“There was a greater sense of
commitment to excellence on the
part of black teachers t<f the stu
dents There was an extra sense of
involvement, respect and positive
ness ’’
Where did the commitment go’
It probably left with the great
number of black teachers who were
forced out of the profession
Thomas explains, “A large number
of blacks lost teaching positions as a
result of desegregation. A number
that is significantly higher than that
of whites who lost their positions
And It was no accident,'’ he af
See DESEC.REGATIOhi.Page HA
* >
Balrie Long
intervene, not stand idly by be
cause it is not our child.
"The community as a whole must
also set up programs that will teach
social skills, what is appropriate or
inappropriate, plus give the children
an awareness of their worth,
something they can feel good about.
Sports and dancing have been tra- —
ditional outlets, yet teaching ser
vices, organized games and clubs
are necessary additions."
POLICE C ONCERNS
Charlotte Police Officer Frank
Coley has experienced first hand the
occurrences and traumas of black
on-black homicide during his du
ties "It is a hot, fast, and fright
ening thing," he reveals
The happening is caused by many
factors but the key ingredient is
frustration," notes Coley "It is
often frustration, along with the
false bravado and machismo of
young black males, mixed with alco
hol and drugs and availability of
cheap weapons They all come to a
head," says Coley And the result
leads to killing.
The solutions, reflect Coley, are
not going to come from the police
department They will have to come
from the black community itself
"We’ll have to develop a hands
on method of healing rather than a
hands-on method with weapons or
destructive devices
"We are going to have to put a
focus on the positive aspects of our
culture. Develop our educational,
moral and religious fiber
"I have a concern," continues
Coley, "that religion as we know it
is a religion we talk about on
Sundays without a thing to go on for
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc ,
and this contributes to hlaek-on
black homicide
Solutions' he reflects More
religion as we are experiencing it
will not work Some people have
indicated that stricter sentencing by
judges will be the answer But this is
not it Education as we are getting it,
that it not it either
“Love is the answer," offers
Coley “From love we will get truth,
concern and education
"We can’t take a fragmented
approach to such a serious pro
biem. I believe in this basic ap
proach to the solution of this pro
blem that is going to eventually
affect every American in some
harmful or adverse way "
It is a problem, suggests Coley,
that each and every individual must
think about and look for solu
tions to To illustrate he offered a
poignant illustration "Ignore a
monster as it eats away at every
thing about you. Think. When it has
destroyed and satisfied its appetite
on the last object, you are next.”
RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS
Statistics have revealed (hut most
people involved in black-on-black
homicide are not affiliated with a
church However, the church, par
ticularly the black church, is con
tinually being called on the carpet
for its declining Influence tat the
community, which, many are led to
See COMMITMENT On rage AA
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