NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
August 1, 1996
N.C. NAACP moves its state office out of Charlotte
Continued from page 1A
Hickory, has takan office.
At the national convention
last month, the suspension was
continued for 60 days after
national leaders received infor
mation indicating Alexander
had used an NAACP credit card
after his May 15 suspension.
Final action on whether
Alexander will resume the top
N.C. post may not come until
the full national NAACP board
meets in October.
Alexander and his brother,
Alfred Alexander, president of
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
NAACP chapter, called for the
board to reinstate Kelly
Alexander during the conven
tion and evoked their father’s
name in doing so.
After Saturday’s action by the
state board, the Alexanders, in a
recent letter to NAACP chief ‘
executive officer and president
Kweisi Mfume, said they are
withdrawing permission for the
state chapter to use their .
father’s name on any promo- ,
tions or fund raisers, including
the Kelly M. Alexander Sr.
Award, That award is given
annually to the top state chap
ter president.
“We feel strongly that Mr.
Alston and his cronies dishonor
his memory and the work that
he devoted his life to,”
Alexander said.
The closing of the Charlotte
office and dismissal of staffers
David Howard and Veda Perry
will take effect on Aug. 15.
In a letter to Mfume dated
Wednesday, Kelly Alexander
was critical of Alston for the
staff changes, and noted that
Alston was holding onto a
$5,000 check
donated by
R.J. Reynolds
Co. to the
Kelly M. and
Margaret
Alexander
Scholarship.
“This
despite a clear
directive from
Ben Ruffin of
RJR concern
ing the dispo
sition of the
money and a vote of the state
conference executive committee
in December of 1995, upon a
motion by Mr. Alston, to with
draw from joint scholarship
administration and turn it over
to the Kelly M. Alexander Sr.
Leadership
Alexander said.
Institute,'
Kelly
Alexander
Sources
within the
state leader
ship say sev
eral business
es have with
held awards
to the state
chapter pend
ing a resolu
tion of the dis
pute with
Alexander,.
Several agreements were
unclear as to whether funds for
scholarships and other activities
were to be received in the name
of Alexander or the state chap
ter.
Also in the two page letter,
Alexander said Veda Perry has
filed a wage complaint seeking
payment for compensatory time
worked at the national conven
tion. He said a similar com
plaint over compensatory time
and medical benefits has been
made by former N.C. executive
director Mary Peeler, who
resigned after Alexander’s sus
pension.
Mfume
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Race won’t be issue, political parties pledge Brisbane Academy
Continued from page 1A
Cleaver gave as an example a
hypothetical TV ad on welfare
reform that depicts a line of
black people waiting to sign
up for benefits. Other hot-but
ton issues that could invite
race-baiting tactics include
affirmative action, crime and
immigration.
“We think American voters
are tired of negative cam
paigning, period,” Cleaver
said. “When you add race to it,
it becomes even more
obscene.”
The mayors said they decid
ed to take on this issue
because city government must
often bear the brunt of racial
divisiveness in the form of
riots or other unrest. And they
said the recent spate of black
church fires only highlighted
the deep racial polarization in
American society.
“We have to start, at some
point in time, becoming one
America,” said Mayor Richard
Halt of California City, Calif.,
a Republican.
They did not single out
either party for blame and
took pains to say that racial
politics have marred elections
throughout U.S. history.
The mayors plan to monitor
the presidential and congres
sional elections for incidents
of race-baiting and set up a
toll-free number - 1-800-463-
0127 - for people to report
such tactics. They will issue a
report card after the elections,
but also plan to speak out
locally if such incidents come
to light.
Morris Brown turns financial corner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA - Morris Brown
College has put its financial
troubles well behind,
rebounding from a $6.5 mil
lion debt four years ago to a
record-high enrollment and a
projected $2 million surplus.
The 115-year-old historically
black college first faced a bud
get shortfall in 1992, when
administrators borrowed
money to make payroll and
trustees scrambled to raise
money amid fears the school
would close.
After a change of leadership,
trustees and supporters
worked furiously to keep the
college open - they raised
more than $5.6 million in
donations between 1992 and
1993.
A new president, Samuel
Jolley, took over in October
1993, slashing $2 million from
the $21 million operating bud
get. About 50 jobs were elimi
nated, including 10 faculty
positions.
The turning point came in
1994, when the college elimi
nated its debt. Since then,
more students have enrolled -
as many as 2,111 last year -
and thanks to the Olympics,
the school has a new 15,000-
seat stadium and a $600,000
housing contract.
“The turnaround has been
unbelievable,” said developer
and school trustee Herman
Russell. “We’re more hands on
now, and we’re watching
every penny.”
School ofiicials predict a $2
million surplus and a $10 mil
lion endowment this year, but
the school’s budget remains
under tight control.
“At one time we were on our
deathbed; we were in inten
sive care,” Jolley said. “Now
we are no longer in the hospi- diet and the things we do. We
tal, but at the same time very don’t want to sink back into
careful about watching our that illness.'”
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History is the key
to our liberation
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
In his book, “Faces at the
Bottom on the Well: The
Permanace of Racism,” the
first tenured professor of law
at Harvard University,
Derrick Bell, effectively
argues that our fight for
equality has been rendered
ineffective because we are
using an ineffective model -
integration. The integration
model has been used to devel
op strategies for true libera
tion and, quite simply, it has
not worked.
Even Time magazine
declared in a recent issue that
the country is going “Back to
Segregation.” Thurgood
Marshall, the first African
American to serve on the
United States Supreme Court,
put it this way, “Today we
have reached the point where
people say, ‘We’ve come a long
way.’ But so have other people
come a long way... Has the
gap gotten smaller? It’s get
ting bigger... People say we
are better off today. Better
than what?”
It is a question we must pon
der seriously if we intend to
move into the year 2000 as a
whole people. It is a particu
larly important question when
we consider our collective lack
of historical consciousness.
Additionally, implications for
the “talented tenth” and the
state of our mis-education fur
ther complicate the matter.
According to W.E.B. Debois,
“...it is the duty of the Negro
to serve his blood and lineage,
and so working, each for each,
and all for each, we realize the
goal for all.” A rejection of the
American value of individual
ism becomes a necessary step,
if we intend to be a whole peo
ple. Embracing of the tradi
tional African value of com
munity becomes the standard
by which success is measured.
Ironically, it is the tradition
al African value of communal-
ism which has served us to
this historical point. Its aban
donment has led to the gener
al breakdown and breakup of
our communities, racking
them with the ills of our
times. Reclaiming our commu
nities will require a re-educa
tion process which reconnects
us back to ourselves — our cul
ture and history.
The answers are contained
in our history, culture and
innate spirituality. We need
the power of all three. The
serious study of our history,
unlocking its secret lessons, is
the challenge of a mature race
bent on liberation. How seri
ous are you?
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