Newspapers / The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / Aug. 15, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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1963 Remembered . f Washington MarchCelebrates First BY NORMAN HILL Sptdtl To The CAROLINIAN Tho«e of ua who were there will never forget it. The day waa electic with overpowering emotions: a joyful bewilderment, shared euphoria and hope. The images have been forever etched into memory—a massive sea of faces, black and white, undulating in the searing heat, rowing in waves along the reflecting pool from the Lin coln Memorial down the Ellipse City Grants Permit For Klan Parade DURHAM (AP)—Durham City Manager Orville Powell has denied a request by Ku Klux Klan members for a parade permit on Sept. 3, and instead will offer to let them march in downtown Durham on Sept. 10. Officials in Raleigh, however, decided to grant the Klan’s re quest for a Sept. 3 permit. It also appears likely that the Klan will be allowed to march in Hillsborough that day. Durham police would be “too thinly stretched" to provide security for the Klan group on the Labor Day weekend, Powell told the Durham Sun. A football game also is schedul ed for 7 p.m. that Saturday in Durham between teams from North Carolina Central Universi ty and North Carolina A&T. The game b expected to draw at least 11, SSS spectators. Powell said the fact that the game is between the predominantly black schools wasn’t a factor In his decision to offer the Klan a parade permit for the following Saturday. “It could have been two white universities,” he said. “Maybe we should have considered that, but we didn’t.” Dwight Pettiford, Parks and Recreation official who handles parade permits, suggested Mon day that Powell deny the Klan’s request for a Sept. 3 permit and offer one on the 10th instead. “That was Mr. Pettiford's recommendation and I concurred In this,” Powell said. “We had too much going on, too much call on our people to handle another ma Pettiford said last week he has tried to contact Terry Boyce, the grand dragon, or state leader, or the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, about the change in dates, but has been unable to talk to him. Boyce has earlier said he does not intend to change the date. Powell said the Klan group would e Informed of their right to appeal his denial of the Sept. 3 (See DENIED, P.2) toward the Washington Monument. There were buttons, colorful union banners and placards: “Freedom Now,” “Pass the CivU Rights Bill," “UAW Marches Tool,” “Free in ’63.” There were songs of protest and op timism. There were famous faces—actors, singers, playwrights, athletes, politicians, writers—mar ching with workers, farmers, students bused in from virtually every corner of the union. The day was Aug. 28, 1963, and before it was over, 280,000 Americans would dramatically awaken the na tion to the power, the goals, and moral imperative of the civil rights movement. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a watershed, a glorious high point that thrust civil rights to the top of America’s social agenda and helped nuke progress inevitable. The march was organised by 74-year-old A. Philip Randolph, the pre-eminent black labor leader and elder statesman of the civil rights movement, and coordinated by Bayard Rustin, whose tactical and logistical genius was a primary reason for its success. And it was given universal, moral power by the eloquence of Dr. Martin Luther King, The Carolinian RALEIGH, N.C., MONDAY AUGUST 15, 1988 NC's Semi-Weekly nFninATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST— SINGLE COPY AC IN RALEIGH £&% ELSEWHERE 30* VOL. 47, NO. 73 Higher Premiums Firms Bilking Blacks policies Based On Racism (AP)—Two North Carolina-based insurance companies will be asked tc alter life insurance policies from the 1960s that force black people to pay higher premiums than white people, the State Department of Insurance said last Thursday. Durham Life Insurance Co. oi Raleigh and Charlotte Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. of Charlotte were named in a nationwide survey as being among 21 companies that continue to collect on such policies. However, both say they have ceas ed to write or sell them. The survey was released Tuesday, July 2, by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "[Such policies] are not expressly prohibited by. stated statue," Ed Bristol, spokesman for the state Department of Insurance, said Thursday, "but it appears discriminatory.” ' Bristol said state insurance of ficials plan to meet with the two ...North Carolina companies still carry; lng the policies and try to persuade them to alter them. He said the department also would ask the Legislature to enact laws that specifically prohibit race-based in surance adjustments. According to some actuaries, blacks have a shorter life expectancy than whites and so were charged higher rates. How much depended on the company and the amount of in surance. However, most insurance com (See BILKING BLACKS, P. 2) nnuiiiiivji vii, i/.v.—iwuiwn.6 Commissioner Jim Long has told a congressional subcommittee that pending legislation would weaken a law that helps insurance regulators fight corruption in business. Bills now pending would amend the so-called “Racketeer Influenced and N.C. GOP Surpasses Democrats In Boosting Of Minority Purchases Republican Gov. Jim Martin’s ad ministration is outdoing Democratic controlled state agencies in efforts tc boost purchases from minority firms, figures compiled bv the state’s cen tral purchasing office show. Seven of nine departments under the Martin administration make at least four percent of their purchases from businesses controlled by minorities, women or disabled peo ple, says a report by the Division of Purchase and Contract. By contrast, just one of nine state agencies controlled by Democrats—the Office of State Auditor—exceeds the four percent goal set by Martin and later by the General Assembly in 1987. Some Democrats disputed the figures, saying the size of their agen cies made it difficult to attract some minority contracts, while others noted that the Legislature’s resolu tion urging the four percent minority buying goal was passed only a little over a year ago, in July 1987—five months after Martin issued an ex ecutive order to that effect. The survey of state purchasing covered the period from July 1987 to March of this year. In it, the purchas ing office found Martin administra tion agencies doing the following percentage of business with firms operated by minorities, women or the handicapped: Administration, 2.5; Commerce, 4.3; Correction, 8.6; Crime Control and Public Safety, 4.8; Cultural Resources, 7.9; Human Resources, 9.0; Natural Resources and Com munity Development, 4.5; Revenue, 1.6; and Transportation, 4.5. Figures were reported for Democratic-con trolled agencies as follows: Agriculture, 0.3; Department of Community Colleges, 1.1; Public In struction, 9.1; Insurance, 1.3; Justice, 2.6; Labor, l.ll; Secretary of State, 1.2; State Auditor, 26.0; State Treasurer, 0.4. The figures troubled some Democrats. "I certainly think we should be do ing better than that," Attorney General Lacy Thornburg said. “We are doing considerably better than that in hiring practices.” “I just think that shows we’ve gota long way to go," said Rep. Thomas C. Hardaway, D-Halifax, who introduc ed legislation that set the rate at four percent last year. ■■lpniiiimiiiiiT nvv. viucuj affected would be the ability of government and the private sector to sue defendants for triple damages, a provision considered one of the sharpest “teeth” of the RICO law. The amendments would “tie the hands of insurance regulators,” Long said. The commissioner, acting as a rehabilitator of bankrupt Beacon In surance Co., is himself a plaintiff in a RICO suit. “To now change the law would hand defendants in these cases an un warranted congressional gift, place a substantial burden on insurance departments, and decrease the number of fraud and misconduct cases that states would be able or willing to pursue,” Long told the representatives. The testimony came in a hearing conducted by the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, part of the House Judiciary Subcommittee. House Bill 2963 and Senate Bill 1523 would remove or weaken the triple damage provisions and would apply to pending cases. Long said that suits involving him and other state in surance commissioners were based on current RICO provisions and that triple damages were necessary to reimburse plaintiffs for legal costs Speaking for the National Associa tion of Insurance Commissioners as well as on his own behalf, Long said that insurance commissioners were concerned that the “rules of the game” might be changed so that the “possibility of recovery is diminish ed.” Jr., whose inspiring “I Have s Dream” speech beautifully encap sulated the aspirations, hopes and demands of millions of oppressed citizens, and reinforced his position as the moral leader of the struggle symbolized by the march. The march was successful because it brought together a broad coalition of religious, political, civil rights and labor groups. Moreover, a point often forgotten is that it was not purely a civil rights march. The motto was "Jobs and Freedom.” For Randolph, freedom meant not only the elimina tion of Jim Crow laws barring blacks I from public accommodations and facilities and denying them the right to vote. Freedom meant economic justice, the elimination of poverty, vocational training and job place ment programs, a fair minimum wage, a broadening of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and a federal Fair Employment Practices Act outlaw ing discrimination by federal, state and municipal governments, and by employers, contractors, employment agencies, and trade unions. These were all part of the 10 demands listed on the programs handed out to all the (See RIGHTS MARCH. P. 2) 1 Emergency Powers Are Invoked To Ease N.C. Prison Overcrowding For the third time this year, emergency power* designed to ease prison overcrowding have keen invoked. State Correction Secretary Aaron J. Johnson informed Gov. Jim Martin and Parole Commission Chairman Sam Wilson by letter last Wednesday that the special provisions of the Emergency Prison Population Stabilisation Act of 1M7 are now in effect. Those provi sions were triggered as a result of the prison population remaining above the legislatively mandated cap of 17.4M for IS consecutive days. Last week the population of the state’s prison system stood at 17,804. The Department of Correction is now required by law to take steps to reduce the prison population to 17,2M within M days or before Oct. 0. The triggering of these special powers comes less than a month after the expiration of the last prison population emergency on July 11. The emergency powers have been invoked on three previous oc casions: March 28,1M7, March 3 and June 23 of this year. To reduce the prison population, the North Carolina Parole Com asiaetott can only consider inmates eligible for parole. The pool of dhgtMe inmates includes Fair-Sentencing Act felons nine months before their release date instead of the original M-day re-entry parole. Also included In that pool are all misdemeanants except those serving sentences for assault and related crimes. With the triggering of the special provisions of the cap legislation, the state is required to stop accepting short-term misdemeanants, those serving 38 to 188-day sentences, into the prison system. Although the law also gives the secretary of correction the authority to return short-term misdemeanants already in the state prison system to local confinement facilities, Secretary Johnson has in dicated that he will avoid doing so. This latest population emergency comes at a time when the State of North Carolina is facing a number of legal challenges to Its prison system. Overcrowding is a major issue in some of those lawsuit. In an effort to maintain a prison system that Is Just, humane, and constitutionally defensible, the construction of 3,888 beds and sup port facilities has been authorised since January IMS. Even with that construction, the state ie still approximately 1,800 beds shy of the number needed to establish a standard M square feet per inmate, one that is believed to be constitutionally defensible. The 1M8 General Assembly appropriated 117.4 million for con struction of 824 medium-custody beds and support facilities. That i tasg than recommended by Gov. Mar This pnpu[|tiau id—grury also comes at a time when the resources of the Di vis ion of Adult Probation and Parole are being strained. Figures released last week by the Department of Correc tion show that the caseload of parole officer* has risen 38 percent during the past year. The total number of persons under DAPP supervision stood at 72,448 in June. Although the General Assembly did appropriate money for the hiring of 28 probation/parole officers, supervisors, and support staff, the lawmakers tagged the allocation with a provision that freezes hiring for those positions until Feb. 1, ISM. The legislature also chose not to fund 14 additional intensive probation positions and 34 clerical positions requested by the governor’s budget. Major Firm To Build New Facility In Kinston wkitA rAMnliilatail TndiMtviaa Us. lAMnvsv Nnrth Pjimlinn’fi inlnmct in jor Appliance Group, one of America* leading ipanujacturers of major appliances, wffibumia new $75 million appliance manufacturing facility in Lenoir County, Gov. Jim Martin and WCI Home Products Chairman Donald C. Blasius an nounced last Thursday. The new plant is expected to employ 850 workers. “A great many people have worked hard to make this project a reality,” said Martin. “Local development of ficials in Kinston and Lenoir County, local legislators, as well as officials of our state Department of Commerce have all been involved in bringing WCI to eastern North Carolina. "White Consolidated Industries manufactures and sells all types of appliances. I know I speak for all North Carolinians in welcoming this internationally respected firm to eastern North Carolina," the gover nor said: Martin flew to WCI headquarters in Columbus. Ohio, in the staring of 1987 the dishwasher project and discuss the state’s suitability for the new operation with company officials. WCI will build the new plant on a 100-acre site just off US 70 west of Kinston. Company officials say con struction of the 500,000-square-foot operation will begin later this quarter, with operations scheduled for 1908. The factory will produce private label dishwashers as well as WCI branded products. Company of ficials say the new operation will em phasize WCI’s belief in the impor tance of its employees and their in volvement in the products they build. To accommodate WCI’s new plant, Lenoir County will extend water, sewer and natural gas service to the new plant site. County officials received an appropriation of $3.5 million from this year’s General Assembly to fund the improvements. County officials say they also expect to apply to the state Department of Natural Resnnrroa »nd Community (See KINSTON PLANT, P. 2) Bobette de Lisser elected I o New Post With National Group Bobette do Liner of Knightdale was elected statistician of the Na tional Association of Colored Women's dubs, Inc. at the national convention in Orlando, Fla., recently. Ms. da Liaoer is the first North Caroli nian to tie elected to office, according to the national history book published in ISM. The NACWC, Inc., is organised and operated exclusive^ for charitable, religious and educational purposes, including making contributions to such tax-exempt organisations and causes as sickle cell anemia, the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund and scholarships to deserving high school graduates. Ms. da Lisser’s duties as statisti cian are to Rather biennially a state ment of the membership ina ww date pertaining to all dubs in the na tion having membership in the NACWC, compiling and turning it over to the headquarters for publica tion. The NACWC endeavors to promote interracial understanding, Justice and peace among all people, raise the standard of the home and advance the moral, economic, social and religious welfare of the family; pr* mote the education of women and girls through local, state and regional activities, and foster and protect the constitutionally guaranteed civil rights of women and children to work and obtain equal opportunity in all areas of emolovmmt (See MS. DE LISSER, P. 2) MS. BOBETTE DE LI88ER
The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Aug. 15, 1988, edition 1
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