Newspapers / The Carolinian. / March 20, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
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RALEIGH NC 27611 RALEIGH. N. C VOL. 49. NO. 33 TUESDAY r MARCH 20, 1990,4/ N.C.'s Semi-Weekly DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST SINGLE COPY QC IN RALEIGH CmDQ ELSEWHERE 300 Ufc OfForcm Questioned Police Aggression Must Stop, NAACP Says BY W. MASON, JR. Sun Writer Acts of police aggression against civilians must end because of the numbers being killed in the line of du ty, NAACP President Kelly Alex ander said in a statement last week. Ibe way to end the aggression is to sensitize police officers across the state about their handling of the law and to train civilians on how to react when stopped or questioned by an of ficer, be said. The statement was released after a grand jury found that a white state trooper had violated no criminal laws when he shot and killed a black Col umbus County man. Trooper Alfred E. Morris shot former Bolton Mayor Sidney D. Bowen to death on the night of Feb. 27 after the two struggled while Morris was trying to arrest Bowen on a drunken driving charge. Morris shot Bowen once in the right side of Uie head, three times in the chest, once through the back and in the cheek. Morris said the killing was in self defense after Bowen began beating Morris with a flashlight. An 18-member grand jury agreed. “We don’t agree with the conclu sion of the grand jury,” Alexander told The CAROLINIAN. The incident is a blatant example of the kind of ac ceptable aggression against civilians that must be stopped, he said. Among some of the actions the NAACP will pursue will be to start training NAACP officials on how to respond to the police in the event of being stopped and questioned. The group also plans to develop a program for residents on how to res pond to the police in situations of crime or questioning. The NAACP also plans to go to Col umbus County where the Bowen shooting took place and try to calm the tensions that have escalated bet ween blacks and whites and other minorities in the community follow ing the shooting. There aren’t any efforts yet to pre sent to police departments across the country that would sensitize them toward doing their job in the com munity, but the NAACP is committed to that task also, he said. Meanwhile, an FBI investigation is continuing into Bowen’s death. The case is expected to continue at least until the family settles its wrongful death lawsuit in the county, he said. The NAACP also does not believe Morris should be returned to active duty before the FBI investigation is completed and then when it is com pleted, there may be a need to have him removed from duty in Columbus County because of the potential for violence hovering in the town, Alex ander said. “A lot of aggression happens in a black/white context but not all of it does,” Alexander said. (See NAACP, P. 2) Information Withheld Black Panther Ruling Reversed The Case Presents Questions The conviction of a former leader of the Black Panther Party on attemp ted murder charges in the machine gun attack on two New York City policemen in 1971 was reversed by a New York State Supreme Court justice who ordered a new trial recently. Justice Peter J. McQuillan over turned the conviction on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to disclose evidence that the defendant, Richard Moore, said would have helped him in his trial in 1973. Hie information that was not disclosed was sufficient to reverse the conviction, the judge said. The ruling ended a 17-year effort by Moore, who is 48. On June 8, M&re will have served 19 yean of a 25-yea rs-to-life sentence in state prison. McQuillan said he based his deci sion to overturn the ruling on a 1998 riding by the New York State Court of Appeals, which said that when the prosecution fails to provide to the defense all of the evidence it has, any resulting conviction must be reven The New York City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investi gation are accused of withholding favorable evidence and mani pulation. Moore said In was framed. i framed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Of fice, the New York Police Depart ment and the Federal Bureau of In vestigation. He said they had withheld favorable evidence and had ‘ st him that to _ i FBI reports emaemral pro secution witnesses that showed they had provided contradictory informa tion about his role in the shooting. At the time of the shooting, the Mack panther Party was dashing with pafiee across the country in what was called a revolutionary movement (See CIVIL RIGHTS, P. 3) Grady Davis, Pastor, Loaves Legacy Of Service Dr. Grady Davis, former pastor of Oberlin Baptist Church, who died March IS leaves behind a legacy of service to the community and a shepherd of the church and his flock. Benjamin S. Ruffin during the Raleigh-Apex NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet on March 17 at Saint Augustine’s College as guest speaker for the event said that Davis was in strumental in the civil rights strug gle, the ministry and community. “He was one of the moat outstan ding ministers I have known,” said The CAROLINIAN columnist Pete Wilder. "He was progressive, in telligent, exciting, community con scious and always willing to see the other aide of the under dog.” Funeral services for Davis or 9520 Sweetbriar Drive were held March 18 at Union Baptist Church in Durham with burial in the family cemetery DR. UKAUY DAVIS EXPERT TESTMIONY—Ar SM gun KqMft msWytal in thn Rsfewt Picks End AptnwdRtiUii shewn with ms •f the wmpms Plehn sAmrdto mad It asuutt scvtral Aslea-Amafteans aataMa tha Cua-N-Sphlts pad ha« In Ralalgb. (Phota by TaM SaMHSaMway) Enthusiasm About Fletcher Post Cautioned By Black Leadership BY CHESTER A. HIGGINS. SR. NNPA New* Editor WASHINGTON, D.C.-Civil rights leaders’ early burst of enthusiasm over the appointment by President Bush of Arthur A. Fletcher to be the new chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, was hedged with cau- ( tion. Althea T.L. Simmons, director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau, told Capitol News Service that “Art Fletcher is an excellent choice... but for the commission to be brought back to its former respectable status all four presidential appointees must be of quality stature." Ms. Simmons made her statement from bed at Howard University Hospital where she is recovering from bone implan tation surgery on her right leg. Ralph Neas, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of more than ISO organizations, put it more bluntly. He said that while the Fletcher choice is a good one, he worries that "There are too many right-wingers on the commission to restore its credibility." Ms. Simmons said the NAACP will give its final assessment after “we delve into the backgrounds” of the Bush appointees “and have the op portunity to see who else he names to that body. There Is no doubt about it,” she added, “Fletcher will need help.” The commission, comprised of sight members—only seven now that Fletcher has been named are presently on board—was established in 1957 to evaluate fedeigl laws and the effectiveness of the government’s qual opportunity programs. It has no enforcement authority, but it also serves as a research center for civil rights information and, until the Reagan administration, was general ly considered an effective agency of integrity, packing strong moral authority. During the 1960s it became a bat tleground, with the conservative Eeaganites and minority groups squared off at each other over clashing visions of civil rights. The president now names four members of the body and Congress four. Presently ther are two known liberals on the board, led by veteran Commissioner Dr. Mary Frances Berry, 52, of Nashville, Tenn., and (S«^ CAUTIONED, P.2) Joke About Blacks And Condoms Ham Serious Undertone BY W. MASON, JR. An Analysis Issues about condoms can sometimes be funny becasue they force people to be open about sexuali ty, a topic many of them are unable to discuss. Issues about the brand of condoms used by people can be funny because the brand name often is a takeoff of the type of person who uses it, such as Stallion or Trojan or other names that might hint of the person’s sexual per formance. That humor, however, may be beginning to transcend the delicate line of what’s funny and satirical and what may be dangerous and presumptuous. In the March 15 issue of Doug Robarchek’s column “Out Front,” which appears in the Charlotte Observer, Robarchek made light of condoms, a subject most people like to laugh at because the implications about their use are often too much for people to work through psychologically. In the column, Robarchek mention ed a new condom on the market call ed Homeboy Condoms, which would be marketed to black youth. To advertise the condoms, Robar chek joked that the makers planned to advertise the new line of condoms with a 40-foot-long blimp. What became apparent immediate ly was that when Robarchek mention ed the other brand of condoms, he didn’t mention any type of advertis ing, nor did he mention any degree of marketing that would excuse the remark about Homeboy condoms as being anything but a play off the myth of the enlarged black male sex organ. The column is disturbing for two reasons. Black men in this country have been hanged by white men because blacks were portrayed as sexual demons whose only goal was to rape white women. The myth became an acceptable reason to explain why white men had to lynch and castrate black men—in the interests of protec ting white women during and after slavery. Secondly, because the myth is alive today, Robarchek’s satire feeds the minds of desperate white women, many of whom are unsatisfied sex ually and desire a black man to satisfy their own curiosity about whether the myth is true. It appears that black male sexuali ty because of its significance in this (See MALE. P. 2) Bis. Bazemore Selected Finalist Pageant Event Ms- Daphne Shawn Bazemore, daughter of Randolph and Rosa Rid dick Bazemore of Raleigh, has been selected finalist tor North Carolina’s 10th annual homecoming queen selec tion to be held May 5-6 at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley in Raleigh. North Carolina’s homecoming queen will receive a cash scholarship plus an expense-paid trip to compete with queens from the other states for America’s homecoming queen in July in Honolulu, Hawaii. America's homecoming queen will receive a cash scholarship plus an expense paid educational trip to Europe. America’s Homecoming Queen, Inc., is a non-profit organization pro moting education and educational travel for high-school homecoming queens in all 50 states. This is a very special year as the pageant is celebrating its 10th an niversary. The 1981-89 alumni queens from the state of North Carolina are invited to help celebrate the 10th an niversary. Touching Today* Problem* Psychologists May Hurt, Not Help BY DR. ALBERT E. JABS CootritoUag Writer About 20 years ago, when I was dean of students at Newberry College in Newberry, S.C., I had a very mean ingful conversation with noted psychologist Bruno Bettleheim. As a student of Sigmund Freud, he had spent almost SO years exploring the minds of children, and was credited with originating many of the techniques and principles of modern child psychiatry, yet, he took his own life by placing a plastic bag over his head. One should not be judgmental, but certainly Freud, Bettleheim, and psychology have their limits. Our col leges and universities are saturated with a pseudo-religiosity that extends from Freud, to Spock, to Skinner, and yss, even to Bettelheim. The truth, if it be told, would be that much of psychoanalysis simply cannot reach the growing problems of drugs, AIDS, poverty, jail, illiteracy, and crime. There is greater evidence and more profound truth in exorcising those private and corporate demons in the Psalms and the gospel of Jesus Christ. But of course, the foregoing will be ridiculed ind laughed at and denigrated as anti-intellectual, unhistorical and lacking scientific veracity. This is precisely the point. The best of secular and scientific wisdom has created cities and com munities of arid deserts devoid of human responsibility. Psychology and health have been oversold and dispensed to a gullible public easily seduced by slick advertising and per fumed ps«»fc»ging Another example of where the American public has been sold a bill of goods is in the matter of testing. We test our children to death from kindergarten to graduate school and then complain because they seem to lack higher-order thinking skills. Re cent research has shown that students who have a vision of a future that is hopeful and viable will tend to do better than those children/students who feel trapped by their circumstances. In other words, our testing system really has roots In 19th century France, where there has been an overdose of rationalism, social stratification, and outright hedonism. Psychology has a proper role, but too often it has assumed an ultimacy which borders on enlightened ig norance. The best of our Judgments, the most visionary of our systems of justice, and the most sublime sense of our mercy can, still, and is, flawed. The lesson of the suicide ot Bet telheim in this modern age, or the suicide of Iterates in the ancient era, is that our psychology at best can on ly be a temporary pallative, and not an enduring answer to the deep sores on the body of humankind that finally can only be resolved by the cross of Jesus Christ. What our society surely needs is a debate between the mind of Jesus TSee PROBLEMS, p. 2) Murray, Others in City Honored For Achievements The City of Raleigh Human Resource! and Human Relation* Ad vleory Commission presented awards at Its first Human Relations Awards Luncheon recently. Awards were given la three categories: clttsen; cttlsen Involve ment: aifd business and Industry. Winners were Margaret Rose Mur ray. cltlxen; AIDS Service Agency, community Involvement; and Carolina Components, business and Industry. Ms. Murray, owner and operator of a chain of day care centers. Is director of a weekly radio talk show, "Traces of Faces and Places,” on WLLE and hostess of “City Line," an Informative program on ci ty government, on WSHA. Since IMS, she has received more than IS awards or commenda tions for service to the community, including recognition as Wake County Cltisen of the Year, Wake County Board of Commissioners' Distinguished Service Award, and the 1189 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award. She Is the founder and president of the Business Building 8ociety and community resource person for the North Carolina Office of Minority Business Enterprise. She also serves as a counselor at the North Carolina Correctional Center for Women where she Is develop ing a program to help keep vffenden from returning to prison. Also nominated in this category w. e Dr. dames Hutchby and Betty Ann Knudsen. » * v /KOMRt >.£.«> MS. MARGARET ROSE MURRAY
March 20, 1990, edition 1
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