4A
EDITORIALS/The Charlotte Post
January 30, 1997
Cljarlottc ^osit
Published weekly by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson
CEO/PUBLISHER
Robert Johnson
CO-PUBLISHER/
GENERAL MANAGER
Herbert L. White
EDITOR IN CHIEF
What makes
King’s efforts
important
Instead of reciting his words,
take the challenge to do his work
By Ahmad Daniels
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Daniels
King
Chavis
Those who
have seriously
studied Dr.
Martin Luther
King’s
philosophy
realize he was
more than a
milque toast
tum-the-other-
cheek pacifist.
Hackley’s hiring points problem
Lloyd V. Hackley’s recent res
ignation as president of the
North Carolina Community
College System provides the
perfect opportunity to examine
the way the state hires and pays
its executive branch ofiScials.
The system in place today des
perately needs reform. The case
of Hackley shows why. As chan-
cellor of Fayetteville State
University from 1988 to 1994,
Hackley earned $117,820 per
year. In salary discussions with
the State Board of Community
Colleges, however, Hackley said
his overall compensation pack
age at FSU was about $231,000
per year.
Hackley’s compensation fig
ures aroused the curiosity of one
state senator, who had research
staff members calculate
Hackley’s compensation at FSU
themselves. They arrived at
$178,185 - an estimated
$53,0001ess than Hackley’s.
The reason for the discrepan
cy? NotonlydidHackleyadd
together all calculable benefits
he received as chancellor -
induding the rental value of
the house and the cost of the
housekeeping services, both
provided by FSU — but he also
induded the additional income
he would need to purchase
those services on his own with
out cuffing into his net income
— effectively coimting the same
“income” twice. Former Gov.
Robert Scott, the community
college system president before
Hackley, received anannual-
salary of about$113,000. Board
members, seeking to lessen
Hackley’s “pay cut,” offered
him a starting salary of
$140,000 - 24 percent more
than Scott’s. Before resigning,
Hackley earned $149,226 a
year as system president.
After getting the job, he added
two assistants at a cost of about
$55,000 and $74,000 per year.
Some administrators received
hefty raises, induding one who
received a 35 percent raise and
another who received a 41 raise
raise. Vice President J. Parker
Chesson.Jr. went from $101,709
under Scott to about $115,000
last year. Critics, meanwhile,
called Hackley’s adipinistration
disorganized and inept. One
member of the state board, state
Treasurer Harlan Boyles, said
Hackley appeared uncomfort
able in his new role. “There was
a perception that maybe the job
was different from what
(Hackley) anticipated,” Boyles
said. “You get a feeling from his
body language that this may not
be what he thought it would be.”
“Organization has been a prob
lem (for Hackley),” said Rep.
Robert Grady (R-Jacksonville),
a member of several House edu
cation committees. Grady said
Hackley’s reports were usually
incomplete or missing the
requested information.
Grady offered a specific exam
ple of HacMey’s ineptness. State
law mandated that Hackley
submit a report on community
college fimding by Jan. 31,1997,
Grady said. Hackley, however,
signed a contract with Mgt. of
America to complete the study
by April 30. Not only was that
“a direct violation of state law,”
Grady said, but if the study
finds inequities, it becomes
impossible to make changes this
fiscal year. Furthermore, Grady
said, Hackley didn’t notify the
legislature about the contract
until late December.
JON SANDERS is research
fellow at the Pope Center for
Higher Education Reform in
Raleigh.
When I was a child growing up in New York City, my mother
would bring me dusty Easter baskets down from the attic and
adorn them with artificial grass, brightly colored jelly beans,
boiled eggs of various and sundry hues and a huge chocolate rab
bit.
Once Easter Sunday was over and the not-eaten morsels either
saved or thrown away, the baskets would be taken down from the
mantel piece and safely tucked away until next
year.
A major emphasis was also placed on getting
new clothes, attending the mandatory church
service and getting together with friends to
board either the E or F train to 42nd Street to
Manhattan to catch a movie. That was my annu
al Easter ritual from the age of 11 to 16 when I
began buying my own clothes and was no longer
mandated by my mother to attend church on
Easter or any other time. Thus, resulting in my
not having developed a real understanding and
appreciation for what Easter really meant.
Lamentably, the way far too many persons observe Dr. Martin L:
King's birthdate reminds me of how I celebrated Easter as a
child.
The media retrieves from its dusty archives tapes or transcripts
of Dt.:King’s omniRfiepent “I pave A Drea^^’l^sgpgch; ^pd„either
play it or make reference to it ad infinitum'ad nauseam.
Ministers and laypersons of all ethnicities gather at Myers Park,
join hands and sing “We Shall Overcome.” All of
which culminates a few days later with a parade
and a program at the Convention Center inter
spersed with prayers for peace. So nice. So tidy,
so antiseptic.
Dr. King said in “The Strength To Love” (p.
122) that “Prayer is a marvelous and necessary
supplement of our feeble efforts, but it is a dan
gerous substitute.” And "The idea that man
expects God to do everything leads inevitably to
a callous misuse of prayer."
Dr. King was arrested 125 times and spent
many long days and nights behind prison walls
for his beliefs. When he was sentenced to four months at
Reidsville State Prison in Georgia after his arrest at an Atlanta
sit-in, he said to reporters, “This is the cross that we must bear
for the freedom of our people.” Dr. King knew all too well that the
best kind of prayer was and is righteous participation.
Dr. Ben Chavis, who has graciously consented to assist in the
organizing of Black Monday, has been called an “outsider” by,
often times, the same persons whose platitudes of praise for Dr.
King can be found cascading from their mouths every Jan. 15 and
Jan. 20.
Dr. King, who was repeatedly labeled an out
sider, said in “Why We Can’t Wait” (p. 68) that
“No Negro, in fact, no American, is an outsider
when he goes to any community to aid the cause
of freedom and justice. No Negro anywhere,
regardless of his social standing, his financial
status, his prestige and position, is an outsider
so long as dignity and decency are denied to the
humblest black child in Mississippi, Alabama or
Georgia.”
It is all too easy and highly hypocritical for
many clergy in particular and the public in gen
eral to applaud Dr. King’s direct actions in Albany, Georgia to
Birmingham, Alabama and yet fail to support Charlotte’s immi
nent direct action (Black Monday). Dr. King stated in “Letter
From Birmingham,” that “Nonviolent direct action seeks to cre
ate such a crisis and foster such a tension
that a community which has constantly
refused to negotiate is forced to confront the
issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that
it can no longer be ignored.”
Cries have been heard by some that Black
Monday is di-visive and therefore causes ten
sion. Dr. King said “My citing the creation of
tension as a part of the work of the nonvio
lent-register may sound rather shocking.
But I must confess that I am not afraid of
the word “tension.” King went on to say “I
have earnestly opposed violent tension, but
there is a type of constructive, nonviolent
tension which is necessary for growth.”
(Italics added).
Those who have seriously studied Dr.
Martin Luther King's philosophy realize he
was more than a milque toast turn-the-
other-cheek pacifist. Dr. King knew all to
well what many have apparently forgotten,
that Good Friday comes before Easter, and before the crown we
wear, there is the cross we must bear.
AHMAD DANIELS is a community activist.
Womack deserves credit for ship exhibit
By Brenda A. Bakari
SPECIAL TO THE POST
History is the fundamental
foundation of tradition and
truth. It is the touchstone
tablet of knowledge and wis
dom that has been handed
down generation to generation
constituting the strength and
stability of various cultures. It
is the story so vividly told by
the Henrietta Marie.
Though scorned and fought,
unappreciated and rejected.
Dawn Womack of Spirit
Square had the vision and
temerity to make the imposi-
ble possible. Thousands came
from cities all around, waiting
in line calmly and orderly for
over two hours to embrace his
tory that school texts have
always denied them.
Womack’s vision was to bring
the voices of the Henrietta
Marie into the hearts and
minds of Charlotte’s citizens
so that they could witness
their tradition, their truth. It
was an honorable occasion
that Spirit Square will never
forget. The lines seemed to go
on forever, and the people
kept coming.
Six days a week for more
than three months, excluding
holidays, the African
American docents, hospitality
people and miscellaneous vol
unteers manned Spirit Square
with a zeal, dedication, punc
tually and professionalism
that withstood any and all
criticism. They worked relent
lessly to accommodate exem
plary speakers, talented per
formers, and an overall three
month program tastefully
orchestrated by Womack.
“A Slave Ship Speaks, the
■wreck of the Henrietta Marie,”
whose theme was
“Enslavement to
Empowerment,” exemplifies
the African American commu
nities dedication to it’s history
and the knowledge of their
empowerment. Thank you
Dawn Womack for “Speaking
her name and gently touching
the souls of our ancestors” in
such a way that the indelible
imprint will reecho and reecho
throughout time. Thank you
Almetto Alexander for insist
ing on this well deserved
salute. Thank you volunteers,
for like the pressure of time
and weight upon coal pro
duces diamonds so the holo
caust of Salvery produced
your undeniable brillance and
excellence.
BRENDA A. BAKARI lives
Womack
in Charlotte.
Time for a police review board
By Kelly Alexander Jr.
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Just over 60 days ago our
community was electrified by
the news that once again an
unarmed Afiican American citi
zen had been shot dead by a
police officer.
In the time it took to fire five
shots, public confidence in the
ability of our police to investi
gate themselves fell mortally
wounded along side the inert
body of James Willie Cooper.
This latest shooting has proved
to be the catalyst, unleashing a
deep vein of discontent. On
radio talk shows black and
white citizens have openly
expressed their support, doubts
and fears about our police.
Out of the concern expressed
by most thoughtful dtizens has
emerged a consensus that video
cameras need to be placed in
police cars.' One group of citi
zens initiated a drive to raise
money to help. Yet, the most
important group of citizens...our
elected city council has
remained ominously silent.
Will they allocate the money
to get the job done?
We have spent time talking
about Don Reid’s unfortunate
remarks to Leadership
Charlotte about black teen
agers, that could have been bet
ter spent putting constructive
pressure on the city council to
change the process of delay force
investigations and to buy video
cameras.
Our present system is fatally
flawed. A workable system of
citizens review needs at least six
elements.
Political support. This support
is best exemplified when the
process is put in place by a vote
of the elected political leader
ship. Citizens review needs a
mandate strong enough to be
seen by the general public as
able to reach aU types of police
misconduct.
Citizens review needs a clear
reporting path directly to the
mayor and City Coundl.
Those charged with imple
menting the citizens review
process should be broadly reflec
tive of the composition of the
community.
The “citizens
review
process” needs
to have a man
date powerful
enough to
compel testi
mony and ini
tiate investiga
tions.
To the great
est extent com
patible with
state law, the investigations,
deliberations and conclusions of
a “citizens review body” should
be open to the public.
The present City Charter
grants most of these powers,
including the power to initiate
investigations, to the Civil
Service Board. Oiu- Civil Service
Board has a history of ignoring
the problem of deadly force.
Alexander
The challenge then, for the City
Council is to replace the existing
board with one that will do the
publics business in a responsi
ble way.
The City Charter (Subchapter
D, Sec. 4.61) pro'vides for the
removal of the members of the
CivU Service Board “...by a two
thirds vote of the City Council,
with or without cause.” The City
Council should vote this month
to vacate all the positions on the
Civil Service Board, adopt crite
ria that win upgrade the qualifi
cations for appointment, and
institute a search process to
make it truly representative of
the community.
What Charlotte needs is a
City Council that is willing to
deliberate less and provide more
timely leadership. Video cam
eras and Citizen Review are
within the power of the council
to implement now.
KELLY ALEXANDER JR. is
former president of the N. C.
NAACP.