REP. DAN BLUE Black Pupils' Achievement Needs Upgrading North Carolina's 140 school districts should improve their records on black student achieve ment and should be subject to state intervention if they don't. That was just one of the statements coming from black leaders at the two-day North Carolina Conference for Educa ting Black Children, held Friday and Saturday in Raleigh. The conference was an outgrowth of the 1986 National Conference for Educating Black Children, which produced a docu ment called “Blueprint for Ac tion.'' The blueprint outlined goals and specific actions to im prove education for black children, whose academic achievement continues to lag behind that of whites. Participants said the con ference’s main purpose was to stop talking and start acting on the solutions. Black leaders and educators from across the state worked to set priorities and develop action plans. "This (blueprint] was not prepared as a waste of paper,” said Pennie Battle, a Gates Coun ty School Board member who ’moderated one of the panels. “We are'Just a tiny beginning, but we are going to make a difference.” State Sen. William N. Martin, D-Guilford, who spoke at a panel session about setting policy, said the 1989 legislative session would be a year for legislation to help black students. Both Martin and state Rep. Daniel T. Blue, Jr., D-Wake, said the state should require school systems to meet specific goals in improving the achievement of minority children. School systems that fail to meet those goals. Blue said, should be subject to some kind of state in tervention. “Now, we really don’t have any direct authority to say we don’t think you’ve performed,” he said. stpt ' " 2?e/i “Don’t Retreat On Civil Rights” Court Urged To Exclude nu<;ism »«< BY CHESTER A. HIGGINS, SR. NNPA Niwi Editor WASHINGTON, D.C.-When the United 8tates Supreme Court lait April bye vote of M voted to reheere cim involving e black woman, Bren da Patterson, veraus a North Carolina credit union, to consider U an earlier 1976 ruling should be over turned, civil rights organisations were appalled. Last week civil rights and opposi tion lawyers and groups swarmed to Capitol Hill and the august halls of the -- - * ———- ■ heard oral arguments for and againi reverting the key ruling, Runyon vi McCrary. Julius L. Chambers, al t school* from discriminating on the . basis of race, would weaken decades . of "joint congressional and judicial The intent of the 1866 law in the Reconstruction era was to correct pervasive practices by private individuals that had the effect of putting blacks back into slavery. torney for th« NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argued brilliantly that revers ing Runyon, which prohibited private •(forts to rid this country of racial discrimination." Ho declared that the court had cor The Carolinian RALEIGH, N.C., MONDAY OCTOBER 24,1968 NC's Semi-Weekly SINGLE COPY AC IN RALEIGH £0$ DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST Tawana Brawley Case Triggers Debate Prosecutor Pushes For More Power ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)-State At torney General Robert Abrams may have found a trio of unwitting allies—the advisers to Tawana Brawley—in his efforts to make changes in state laws to aid criminal prosecutors. Actions by Rev. A1 Sharpton and at torneys C. Vernon Mason and Alton Maddox, Jr. throughout the pro tracted Brawley investigation have provided impetus to efforts to toughen penalties for hindering pro secution and to allow the filing of defamation suits on behalf of dead people, said Abrams aide Nathan Riley. The seven-month grand jury in vestigation also may resurrect a debate over changing state laws which grant blanket immunity from criminal prosecution to those testify ing before grand juries. Riley said there’s “clearly going to be a strong interest in legislation" in light of events this year surrounding Brawley, a 15-year-old resident, whose story ef being sexually assaulted by up to six white men in 1987 was labeled a sham by a special state grand jury in Poughkeepsie. As part of its voluminous report, the grand jury made several recom mendations for changes in state laws dealing with prosecutions and in vestigations. Abrams, special state prosecutor in the Brawley case, echoed the suggestions and made a few of his own. (See TAWANA BRAWLEY, P. 2) Black Males Declining In College Enrollment More in Prisons Than In Colleges BY SHIRLEY REED-BLASH NN'PA Stiff Writer The alarming disparity between black female and male college graduates in the state of Maryland has prompted the Montgomery Coun ty Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple to form a special task force to in vestigate the problem, an effort that may have a widespread impact. Roscoe Nix, president of the Mon tgomery County NAACP, said at a re cent news conference that the task .- mm BLACK CHILD CONFERENCE - PMHp McAdoo, i itudent of SwiNwni Alamance High School. WM a participant In IN Educating the Mack Pnnlannfil ' Mod flMlAOAd Id# VnRQ IHWIilinW ■INI iVWIVI INI axpcrlancai and fraotratlans af daaBng with an unretpantlva school system and dassmatas who lava become mirod In that system. force was sparked by a report releas ed last spring by the Maryland State Board of Higher Education, which revealed that 70 percent of the degrees awarded to black college graduates in 1967 went to females. Less than one-third of the graduates were black males. This represents a 10 percent drop in 10 years. In 1977,42 percent of the college degrees award ed went to black male students, ac cording to the report. "If black males are not reaching their potential, you are sowing the seeds for an underclass that is in creasingly hostile,” said John Diggs, chair of the task force and the Mon tgomery College Board of Trustees. His remarks were underlined by the revelation that, in Maryland, more college-age black men are in prison than in college. A variety of reasons for the decline in black male enrollment, including deterioration of the family structure, failure of teachers to encourage black males to excel academically and media stereotypes that portray them as “pimps, football players, basket ball players and entertainers,” asserted Nix, who added, “but that’s speculation.” Nix said that if his organisation is able to identify concrete answers to the questions posed by the report, it could have major national implica tions. “Our state is not unique. We hope that we dan come up with something that could serve as a model for other communities in our nation.” The 19-person task force formed to study the decline in black male enrollment In Maryland is comprised of black male and female profes sionals—some of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds, accor ding to a report. The number of black students (71 percent) enrolled in Montgomery County schools who elect to pursue a (See MALES DECLINE, P. 2) WHAT A RIDE—One of the meet thridog adventures at the North Carolina State Fair la daring to take an exciting ride. Those taligeers soon to bo enjoying it. (Photo by Talib Sabir-Calloway) Judge Orders Minister To Aid King Observance GREENSBORO (AP)-A Baptist minister charged with making harassing telephone calls to the NAACP offices in Greensboro was ordered to participate in observances of Martin Luther King’s birthday and Black History Month. Guilford County District Court Judge William A. Vaden ordered the Rev. David Mabe, pastor of the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Plea sant Garden, to perform 100 hours of community service at the Hayes Taylor YMCA and the Salvation Ar my shelter. He also was ordered to participate in 20 hours of programs at N.C. A&T State University in January and February com memorating Martin Luther King’s birthday and Black History Month. The misdemeanor charge will be dismissed by prosecutors if he fulfills the requirements of the first offenders program. “The hope is that, by having the op portunity to work with and get to know black people, he will change his opinion," said Carolyn Coleman, director of the NAACP’s Southern Voter Education Project. Mabe declined to comment on the sentence. He said he did not make all the calls he was accused of making. NAACP officials said they began receiving harassing calls in January. Tile calls became more frequent in March and continued through August. The caller usually would hang up or say nothing. On some oc casions, the caller used profanity and made racial slurs. New Prison Unit Dorm To Be Opened Soon The number of beds completed under the largest prison construction program in the state’s history will pass the 1,400 mark when new dor mitories and support facilities are dedicated at the Rowan County Prison Unit and the Mecklenburg 1 Prison Unit on Oct. 27. State Correction Secretary Aaron J. Johnson will be the featured . speaker at the dedication of a 50-man dormitory at the Rowan County Prison Unit starting at 10 a.m. At 3 p.m. that same day, Secretary Johnson will join other state and local officials in the dedication of a new 50-man dormitory and a refurbished 68-man dormitory (nearing comple tion) at the Mecklenburg I Prison Unit. These facilities are being built as part of the 928.3 million Emergency Prison Facilities Development Pro gram authorized last year. It is an ticipated that. Pat terson, a black employee of tha North Carolina Cradit Union, could aua for naiiiintfUfjiifnt nndar a i action of the 18M law that says that all paopla hava tba aama right "to make and a* font contracts... as is enjoyed by whlta dtisons.” Tho court votad to rahasr tha Patterson casa to deter mine if tha MW Runyon dootoion, which Is baaed on the poat-Civil War law, i' ™ ^ sarvatlva maJority-CWaf Justice William H Rehnuulst: Justices (Mas court, r. »> Campaign 88: Candidates For Local, National Office Begin Final Election Push The race for Superior Court judge between Judge George R. Greene, a Democrat, and Carlton E. Fellers, a Republican, is of statewide interest and particularly for District 10A Voters should be aware that it is a choice between these two judges on election day, Nov. 8. Both are running for Superior Court and you can only vote for one. President Ronald Reagan gave Republicans a boost in North Carolina last week when he paid a visit to Raleigh and delivered a The race for Superior Court judge is a contest between two former lawyers, George R. Greene and Carlton E. Fellers. Voters should be aware that it is a choice of voting for only one of these judges on Nov. 8. message at the Raleigh Civic Center. The president’s visit precedes Gov. James Martin’s three-day campaign tour of the state by train, known as the “Martin Express.” The tour will begin in Asheville on Oct. 84 and end in Morehead City on Oct. 86. , The train will consist of three AM TRAK passenger cars and will travel along the Norfolk Southern line. The train will stop in 23 cities along the way and approximately 100 passengers per day will be aboard the train. The majority of the passengers are volunteers. NASCAR driver Richard Petty and entertainer Jim my Dean will be aboard the first day. The Democrats will hold a youth rally on Oct.. 16 as a kickoff to mast the candidates and the “1666 Democratic victory season.” The Fourth Congressional District unity tour and rally begins at 6 a.m. in Hillsborough at the courthouee. The schedule: Pittsboro, 10:46 a.m.; Chapel Hill, at the Pit on the UNC campus, 1:10 p.m.; Chapel Hill Democratic headquarters, 3:10 p.m.; Louisburg at the courthouse, S p.m.; Raleigh at the Fayetteville Street Mall with a rally at 6 p.m. The rally will feature Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan, state Son. Tony Rand, U.S.' Sen. Terry Sanford, and Rep. David Price. Council of State candidates Rufus Edmistan, Bob Etheridge, Lacy Thornburg, Jim Graham, Ed Renfrow, John Brooks, Harlan Boyles and Jim Long will also be there. Etheridge, a Democrat running for state superintendent of piNk in struction reported to The CAROLI NIAN that his “priorities are the same as during the primary cam- > paign. First, we must raise the level of achievement of all students. Se cond, we must lower the dropout rate. I am deeply troubled by the fact that North Carolina students score so pnnrly «n mHmu! ttttl I am also concerned that nearly 23,000 students leave high school each year without a diploma... We must focus more upon results of our schools rather than regulations and red tape which stifle creativity and innovation” In Connecticut, Democrat Mirhaol S. Dukakis compared tactics with the Watergate scandal ip accusing Republican George Bush of distorting his record. “Above all, the truth Hi mid—tlw a lot in a presidential campatgs. because, as we learned in Watergate, it matters a lot in the Oval Office,” he said. He said that in the Bush cam paign, as in the Nixon White House, (See ELECTION YEAR, P. 31 Prison Overcrowding Emergency Sets Some Inmates Free Early Because of a continuing rise in the rate of prison admissions, state Cor rection Secretary Aaron J. Johnson last week informed Gov. Jim Martin and state Parole Commission Chair man Sam Wilson that special powers designed to reduce prison over crowding have been triggered for a fourth time this year. “Once again we are faced with the prospect of the early release of con victed offenders from prison because of overcrowding,” Johnson said. “It is the price that must be paid for the past neglect of North Carolina’s cor rectional system. “Although great strides have been made dining the past three years, this latest emergency is a reminder of the great work that remains to be done,” Johnson added. “The con struction of new prisons, combined with the community-based alter natives suggested by Gov. Martin 2Vi years ago, continue to be the only viable solutions to the problem of overcrowding. ” Special provisions of the Emergen cy Prison Population Stabilisation Act were triggered last week when the prison population remained above the legislatively mandated “ceiling” or “cap”’ of 17,460 for a 16th con secutive day. As of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, the population of North Carolina’s 87 prisons stood at 17,665. The law requires the Parole Commission to take steps to reduce the prison population to no more tha 17,280 on or before Dec. 17. To reduce the prison population, the law states that the Parole Com mission can only consider inmates eligible for parole. However, during a population emergency, the pool of eligible inmates expands to include Fair-Sentencing Act felons nine mon ths before their release date (instead ment agencies were so notified tael Wednesday. Although the law als< gives the secretary o{ correction tin authority to return short-term mlsde meanants already in the state priaot system to local confinemenl facilities, this step has not beer necessary in the past and will to avoided during tne present popula i Uon emegency, the secretary said. The triggering of thsee special pro visions cemff less than one. mouth after the expiration of the last prison population emergency on Sept. 11 and can be attributed to die continuing (ties PRISON, P. 2)n