Tuesday, May 4,2010 -Thomasville Times - 5
OPINION
Thomasville Times
MICHAEL B. STARN
Publisher
mstarn@hpe.com
•
LYNN WAGNER
Advertising Director
lwagner@hpe.com
LISA M. WALL
Editor
editor@tvilletimes.com
•
ZACH KEPLEY
Sports Editor
tvillesports@yahoo.com
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor
I would like to share some
facts with you about a man, an
honest man, rxmning for re-
election to the N.C. House of
Representatives, District 80.
His name is Jerry Dockham,
and 1 have known him quite
weU for more than 55 years.
I grew up with him, went to
school with him, and for a
short time was his seventh-
grade sweetheart. During
aU those formidable years
there was always a constant.
1 admired him, respected him
and knew he was a person
meant to help with change,
the right kind of change!
As is so often the case, if a
child is raised with morals
and character, those qualities
remain, and this is the case
with my candidate for N.C.
House. Jerry’s actions are
preceded with concern for
the personal and individual
rights of others, trying never
to overstep his authority
but always willing to listen
and act only when change
is best. Changes which are
right for his constituents and
citizens — this sometimes
means reexamining his posi
tion when the majority feels
differently This comes with
listening and receiving ideas
from his district’s population.
Ideas become bills and bUls
become laws, such as the ones
that have benefited Davidson
County introduced by N.C.
House Rep. Jerry Dockham.
Lexington’s Bar-B-Q Festival,
named The Food Festival of
the Triad, was no easy task for
him. The folks in the eastern
part of our state like theirs
as much as we do — even
though I can’t imagine why!
The funds, a few years ago,
that were obtained for the City
of ThomasvUle to promote
tourism (to excite people as
to what is here) and for the
Town of Denton as weU. These
are just a few examples of
the people’s ideas that Rep.
Dockham worked to make
happen. 1 would be remiss if
1 did not include his undying
support for Davidson County
Community College. He has
served there as a most loyal
trustee for the past 25 years.
Folks, you need to know
that in Raleigh, one must
commimicate with both sides
of the aisle. Republicans and
Democrats, to pass legisla
tion. This he does and does
with integrity and honesty,
important qualities you had
better look into deeply when
you make your choice in the
Republican primary for N.C.
House of Representatives
District 80 on May 4. Your
choice will be your represen
tative! 1 say this with com
plete and total conviction.
I believe your vote must
be for Jerry Dockham, my
husband of 38 faithful years.
This from the heart
of a born and bred life
long Republican.
Louise Dockham
Denton
To the Editor
There wUl be a third
candidate for Davidson
County Sheriff on the bal
lot in November. My name is
Don Swink. I am an UnafBli-
ated candidate for Sheriff of
Davidson County. To avoid
any confusion, 1 want to let
the voters know that 1 will not
be on the Primary ballot on
May 4, but I wiU definitely be
on the ballot in November. As
an Unaffiliated candidate, I
am required to get signatiures
of 4 percent of the registered
voters in the coimty by June
25th. to put my name on the
November ballot. As of the
writing of this letter 1 have
attained that goal, having over
4,021 signatures in hand.
However, the Board of
Elections also told me that I
would need about 10 percent
more than that to make up
for the ones they will throw
out for various reasons, so
therefore we wiU be working
some of the polls on Primary
day to get the remaining few
hundred signatures needed to
ensure that we have enough.
So be looking for us at some of
the polls on Election Day May
5th. and sign the petitions.
If you would like to vol
unteer to work a poll, give
me a call at 561-1760. Thank
you, and God bless.
Don Swink
Unafiiliated Candidate
To the Editor
As Early Childhood Educa
tors, there are many things
that we know. Research teUs
us that the first five years of
life lay the foundation for all
future learning. Also, more
than 40 years of early edu
cation research shows that
high quality early education
experiences positively impact
young children. Research
teUs us that those participat
ing in high quality care are
far more likely to graduate
from high school, commit
fewer crimes, be homeown
ers and have higher earnings.
More importantly, they will
provide communities with a
higher skilled workforce that
will be required as technol
ogy continues to expand.
This past week (5ov. Bev
Perdue released her proposed
state budget for the 2010-11
fiscal year. This budget makes
critical investments in four
key areas, education being
one of them. 1 would like
to recognize and thank our
governor today for holding the
line on investments in young
children. Smart Start initia
tives across the state were
held as equals to the K-12 and
community college systems.
This is an important step in
our state’s future success.
Linda Leonard
Executive Director
Smart Start of
Davidson County
Lumbees, Lewin and Lowery
VIEWPOINT
D.G. MARTIN
N.C. Columnist
Are you trying to make
sense out of the latest news
from the Lumbee Tribe?
According to news reports,
the Lumbee Tribal Council
has approved a contract
with a Nevada-based lobby
ing firm that will attempt to
persuade Congress to grant
the tribe full recognition
without any restrictions
on gambling ventures.
A bfil granting recognition
but restricting gambling has
passed the House of Repre
sentatives and has been wait
ing on action by the Senate.
The shocker in the new
contract with Lewin In
ternational is a provision
that would require the
Lumbees to pay Lewin $35
million if Congress grants
recognition and permits
gambling, unless the tribe
votes to set up a gambling
operation run by Lewin.
The contract with Lewin
has some of the 50,000 or
more Lumbees who live
in and around Robeson
County worried and angry.
Just when a compromise
recognition bill was finally
about to become law, they
say that the tribal leader
ship changed directions,
put the recognition effort in
jeopardy, and risks the loss
of $35 million, a substantial
part of the tribe’s assets.
Just when we are trying to
make sense of the Lumbee
actions and as people start
asking questions about the
tribe’s history, a new book
comes to the rescue. The
book is Lumbee Indians in
the Jim Crow South: Race,
Identity, and the Making of a
Nation. Its author, a Lumbee
Indian, is UNC-Chapel HiU
Assistant Professor of Histo
ry Malinda Maynor Lowery.
Although the Lumbees are
the largest Native American
tribe east of the Missis
sippi River, they have had
to struggle for appropriate
recognition and acceptance.
Some North Carolinians
question whether or not
they are “real Indians.” So
have agencies of the federal
and state government.
But, although there may
be disagreements about
issues that affect them, the
Lumbees have no doubt that
they, their families, and the
groups of their neighbors
and kinsfolk who have lived
for hundreds of years in and
around the swampy lands
that border the Lumbee
River are Indian people.
Professor Lowery supports
their claim. Her new book
lays out in detail bow these
peoples have worked, plotted,
fought, and compromised
in order to preserve and en
hance their Indian heritage.
To accommodate the white
establishment’s notions of
Indian governance, the Lum
bees tried a series of tribal
names — Croatan, Siouan,
Cherokee and Tuscarora. To
gain and retain recognition
and support from the state,
they accommodated them
selves to the Jim Crow racial
culture of the South. They
submitted to studies that
evaluated their “Indianess”
based on dubious scientific
measurements of physical
features that supposedly
defined race. And in 1956,
they had to accept a form of
Federal recognition that de
nied them every benefit given
to other Native Americans.
Lowery believes that the
identity of the Lumbee is
defined primarily, not by the
percentage of Indian blood,
but by kinship, mutual recog
nition, and strong and long
standing connections to the
land. With this background,
she says, lack of government
recognition “did not prevent
the Indians in Robeson Coun
ty from becoming a nation.”
She quotes Lumbee At
torney Arlinda Locklear, the
first Native American lawyer
to appear before the U.S.
Supreme Court, “We have
always been independent and
self-determining communi
ties ... [Sovereignty is] not
bestowed by government...”
Nevertheless, the goal
of full Federal recognition
is one of those things that
holds Lumbees together.
But, decisions about
the strategy and tactics
of securing recogni
tion can divide them.
According to Lowery,
Arlinda Locklear has been
working on behalf of the
Lumbee Tribe since 1983 in
the effort to secure Congres
sional action to recognize
the tribe. Reportedly, she
worked mostly for free.
Ironically, the Tribal
Council’s new contract
replaces Locklear with
Lewin International.
It is a result that not even
Lowery’s wonderful book
can make me understand.
Note: Listen to D.G. Martin’s
radio interview with Malinda
Lowrey at www.l360wchl.
com/listenwide.
html?showname=dgpodcast
D.G. Martin is hosti of
UNC-TV’s North Caro
lina Bookwatch, which
airs Sundays at 5p.m.
For more information or
to view prior programs
visit the webpage at www.
unctv.org/ncbookwatch/.
This Sunday’s (May 9)
guest is Elizabeth Edwards,
author of “Resilience, ”
a moving memoir of fac
ing tragedy in her life.
www.tvilletimes.com
LEHERSTOTHE EDITOR
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will not be printed. Letters should be no more than 400 words, unless otherwise approved
by editor. Limited to one letter every 30 days. All letters are subject to editing.
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Thomasville Times
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EDITORIALS
All unsigned editorials are the
consensus of Editor Lisa Wall and
Sports Editor Zach Kepley