RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY,
MAY 17.1990
VOL. 49. NO. 50
N.C/s Semi-Weekly iSY 25c
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST ELSEWHERE 300
r
Family Reunions Have Noble
Berth ft Black Community
Page 13
“Dude” Smith Terrorizes
MEAC With Baiting Average
' Page 23
Policies And Procedures
For Blacks, Fireman Jobs Are Limited
BY W. MASON, JR.
8Uff Writer
For years, blacks complained of
not being able to get' jobs at the
Raleigh Fire Department. For the
few that would get Jobs, they would
complain that blacks were not being
promoted to higher offices within the
denartment
Now, Dlacks are starting to speak
out over what they call “something
wrong” with the Fire Department
and city administrators who run it.
And they say something will have to
be done about it.
“There’s something wrong with the
hiring and promotional system," said
Welton Jones, a former city fireman
who was with the department for
about 25 years. Blacks make up
roughly 15 percent of the Fire Depart
ment and yet they are not promoted,
he said.
Jones recently was angered over an
academy class that was inducted into
the Fire Department. About 18 new
firefighters were hired by the city,
and none of them were black.
“The way the fire department is set
up, blacks feel bias for jobs and have
trouble competing for higher posts,”
Jones said. Jones has taken his con
corns before the City Council and,
during his 25 years as a firefighter,
brought numerous complaints to the
attention of city officials who contend
they are working to resolve them.
City firemen have been reluctant to
talk about the situation because
many feel they would lose their jobs
and can’t afford to take the risk.
That, Jones says, has helped the ci
ty keep many policies and procedures
quiet and helped to further the treat
ment of blacks within the depart
ment.
Because of the recent hiring of 18
men, however, other firefighters are
starting to speak up, some of them
realizing that waiting will not make
things any better.
One firefighter, James Allen, who
lives on Millbrook Road in Raleigh,
said he is trying to encourage more
blacks to apply to the Fire Depart
ment, hoping that an influx of ap
plicants will make it difficult for the
city to turn people away from jobs.
Allen said it isn’t difficult for blacks
to get jobs with the Fire Department,
but he did say blacks, for one reason
sr another, don't make it.
One reason they don’t make it, he
said, is because of a Fire Department
test that some have said is written on
ly for experienced firefighters.
Blacks, he said, often lack the
knowledge required topass the tests.
The tests, however, are supposed to
be designed for people with no
firefighting experience, a point which
could be a flaw in a system that is
critically hurting blacks.
In the last academy to be inducted,
of the 245 applications that were
given out, about 166 were returned, or
166 people actually applied for the
jobs. Of those, 122 were white males,
40 were black males, three were
women and one was Hispanic.
Of the 166 that applied, 152 were
qualified. Of that number, 166 were
white men, three were white women,
32 were black males and one was
Hispanic.
The weeding-out process continued
until there were no blacks who passed
the written test. About 88 white men
failed the test.
Allen said he hopes to encourage
more blacks to apply as well as get in
formation to the public about how the
city Fire Department operates and
what guidelines and procedures it
uses in getting people into the depart
ment.
Plea Arrangement
MAN SENTENCED IN MURDER CASE
Armed
Robbery
Charqes
A Kaieign man was sentenced this
week to 20 years in prison after
pleading guilty to an armed robbery
during which a convenience store
clerk was killed.
Tony Malloy, 20, became the last of
four defendants to plead guilty for
their involvement in the shooting
death of James Claude Walker, a
clerk at a Phillips 66 station on New
Ben Avenue.
Under a plea arrangement with the
state, Malloy avoided a trial and stif
fer sentence by pleading guilty to
armed robbery. He had been charged
with first-degree murder and armed
rokbaiy and faced a maximum penal
ty of Ufe in prison.
Malloy, Ervin Thomas Lewis, Jr.,
IS, William E. Downey, 18, and
Patrick L. Denning, 17, were charged
with murder after robbing the conve
nience store on June 17, 1989.
A Wake assistant district attorney
said that state’s evidence would have
shown that Malloy and three others
set out on that date to rob a drug
dealer, but did not accomplish that
objective and the convenience store
became their target.
Walker’s death was filmed by a
security video camera and shewed
Lewis shout at Walker and im
mediately shoot him and take money
(See MURDER, P. 2)
&
STUDENTS HONORED
Students with outstanding
academic record! will be honored
during na awards day Tuesday.
choose by the staff, wifi receive a
specially designed Awards Day
tee-shirt for their diligence In
striving to excel academically.
couragad to take an active role in
reading with their children. The
Carroll PTA has provided books
far parental use.
DANCING FOR GOLD
Pisces of CMd, an annual show
co sponsored by the Wake County
Education Foundation and the
Wake County Public School
System, will be held soon to give
students a chance to perform.
it stgnlf
1^ SlhA nnnuiibldiMfbSI aE m§o
■VIS Ulw vVSMJrimwSWH VS MS
of.the ui
ittea’s asset rigorous and
THE MINT TMEK—Wake FarMt-MMvHa High Scheel PrelecT dbectu by Dr. Dm C. Lack*, hud of the
itadete LataHa t«Hh ud ■haada WUHt pipped wtth Cwnutsr EdwaHu Department at N. C. State University,
eueattaa baton |ahda| "taMaf an The Mght Track (See story on thlt page)
Get On The Right Track Project
Helping Students Solve Problems
MY MARK FAUBERT
Special T» Ito CAROLINIAN
Early in the second semester,of her
ninth-grade year, LittSha Jones of
Wake Forest-RolesviDe High School
asked the question, “Why do African
American children teat lower than
European-American children on
standardised tests?” This insightful
question was the beginning of a
journey for her and her colleagues in
' the Getting on the Right Track pro
ject Litisha began the search for
answers to her research queetion.
Litisha found out Oat we still don’t
really know what intelligence is;
therefore, any test that la used to
measure what is not understood can
not claim to be measuring anything.
Littaba and her colleagues leaned
the meanins of teat validity.
uusha learned that aptitude teats
include items much more familiar to
European-American, city students
, than African-American, rural
students. She wondered what would
happen if she and some of tar"
African-American friends made out a
test which included the music,
heroines and dally experiences
familiar to them and asked their
European-American friends to take
that test. She wondered why it was
considered more important to know
that a yacht was kept in a marina
than to know how to tell the difference
between soybeans and tobacco grow
ing.
Other students at Wake Forest
Roles ville High School had other
research questions with which they
grappled during the second semester
of their ninth-grade year. These
students are Shontoinette Alston,
Tonia Brodie, Nikki Butts, Ronea
Gilmore, Jennifer Jones, Natasha
Jones, Michael Hall, Trevin Hart
sfleld, Lashonda King, Shyra Laws,
Tonya Massenburg, Martina Morgan,
Tosha Pullen, Eric Snellings, Miguel
(See RIGHT TRACK, P. 2)
Malcolm X Remembered
For Contrlbutione To
Liberation Movement
Freedom Message Timely, Vital
BY W. MASON, JR.
Staff Writer
The Malcolm X Memorial Commit
tee is planning a march and rally this
weekend in Raleigh to commemorate
the life and contributions of the black
rights activist.
Both activities are scheduled for
May 19. The assembly of participants
will begin at noon at Idlewild Park
(Idlewild and Lane streets) in
Raleigh.
The march will begin at 1 p.m.
through the African-American com
munity to Chavis Park. The rally will
follow at 2 p.m. at Chavis Park’s
playing field.
There will be speeches, singera and
rappers and the special guest will be
Rev. John Mendez of Emmanuel Bap
tist Church in Winston-Salem.
Moruyw, is a liberation theologist
and former student activist. He is
also a traveler and has been to South
Africa and Central America.
According to the Malcolm X Com
mittee, people across the world are
acknowledging the major contribu
tions made by Malcolm X to black
liberation worldwide. Institutions,
buildings and streets are being nam
ed in his honor. Petitions are cir
culating in support of African
Americans observing Malcolm X’s
birthday on May 19 as a national day
of commemoration. Thousands are
reading his autobiography and listen
ing to his tapes, leaning lessons
about his life and political views to
apply to other organizations and
struggles tnat are going on even to
dav
The commemoration of Malcolm X
has also sparked new interest in his
life, particularly the “Autobiography
of Malcolm X,” which was written by
Alex Haley.
“We support the celebration of
Malcolm X’s birthday as a holiday of
the African-American people,” said
the committee. “We recognize
Malcolm X. as an individual, as one
(bee Malcolm X. F. 2)
Poised For A Comeback
Legislators Examining Rent Control
Rent Controls.
Are they good or bad?
Some argue that they prevent
landlords from raising the rent,
which helps low-income and poor
families better cope with inflation
and other rising costs.
Others, however, say that the con
trols restrict landlords from market
freedom and reduce the number of
housing units for rent. They say the
controls also limit freedom in the
marketplace and tax the tenant in
other areas.
A legislative panel has taken up the
matter for study.
A national landlords’ group has
joined the fray, issuing a news
release passionately attacking rent
controls as neither beneficial to the
taunt nor the economy in general.
The release from the National
Association of Investment Proper
ties, headquartered in New York,
Mid, in part:
“More than 200 communities
around the country have adopted
laws restricting increases in residen
tial rents. Adopted with the laudable
goal of protecting low-and moderate
income families from rapidly rising,
rental coats, these ordinances have
N.C. Council Off Churches, Groups
Opposing Death Penalty In 9tate
ma carounun imm
Thote seeking t# abailah the death panalty contend ex
are example* of a paakhment too cruel even for
•oriety'* moot despicable kilter*, white prop*a*at* uy
th«y are not really ooaeoraed about the lufferlng of brutal
Th* Supreme Caurt cleared th# way tor execution* 14
trt axo and »lnee than, 134 priaaaer* have been put to
__j 1* U Mate*. Th* ra*t *»a)*rHy of thoo# oxocatl
hav« been la th* South, with Narih Carotiaa towing • par
<d ik death penalty agree
ther tone *nch thing as a human* way to kill another per
aaa and that mil take* are *ometime* made threagl the
hgriiyilte tai Hm RB
Attaraay* far gaahte merdarur Itahart AHaa Karri*
argaodln court thl* weak in San rraaelaeo, CaUf., that he
adequate paychlatric*'advice at his original trial.
th fay i
ah u Jl chrcalt Coart af Anneal* nanal aareet
Karri*. 37. was convicted af th* 1HS
Ha wa* sentenced la fae ta th* gaa rhaaihar April 3. la
i lint execution in < aliferule »hw t«R. A Mh Circuit
judge ewyed the executieu.
la addition, African-American men are being aeatenc
ed to die at an alamlng rate and the state NAACP Is
pyfMng, along with the Nerth CareUna American Civil
Union, the N.C. Black Lawyers Association, the
North Carolina Council of Churches and the Prison and
Jail Project, to end the racial Implteatlaos of the death
^According to the groups, Congress will consider
federal legislation (S-Uto) designed to rsmag racial Mas
|a the Imposition of the death psaaltjr. IWs bill, known
Racial Justice Act, kgs been Introduced
bya
to the
theL
of senators,
yilllty,
Regardless of their views on cap
neoole asree that racism does aot belong to the criminal
jMtfrr system, especially when the guestloa is one of Ufa
md idth.
The Nortk CmroUna Comdl of CkttrcliM and five other
ad secular orgaalxatloos on May » are cc
saSSSSSSSs-s
N.C. General Assembly at • p.m.
State Beo. Daa Blue. Episcopal Blehep Robert W.
.Sc- DEATH PENALTY. P. Z>
instead been a classic example of the
failure of state intervention in the
marketplace, leading to a reduction
in new rental housing construction,
the deterioration of existing rental
units, reduced tenant mobility, and,
ultimately, increased homelessness.
“The first rent-control ordinances
appeared in the United States during
World War I and were confined to a
scattered handful of communities
that were experiencing severe hous
ing shortages. They were phased out
shortly after the .war. However, dur
. ing Worth WerHyfte federal govern
ment adopted nationwide rent control
as part of its overall wage ana price
controls. Aa before, once wartime
economic strains had ended, rent con
trols were gradually abandoned. By
the mid-1960s, only New York retain
ed controls on residential rents.
“However, in the mid- and
late-1970s, spurred by the rapid infla
tion of the Carter era and a liberal
ethos of government control, more
than 900 communities in California,
Connecticut, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New
York, and the District of Columbia
(See RENT CONTROL, P. 2)
Legendary
Sammy Davis,
Dead At 64
Legendary entertainer Sammy
Da via, Jr. haa died of cancer at the
age of M. His spokeswoman, Susan
Reynolds laid Davis died at Ms home
in Beverly Hills, Calif. Reports say
Ids wife, Altovise was at his side,
although Ma. Reynolds would not
i ssho waa «Ht)i him wiwr "
passed away.
Davis’
steadily since his release from
Cedars-Sinai Medical Canter in Los
Angeles, March 13. Entertainer Bob
Hope said “Sammy Davis was a
satile performer...” and long-1
shew business friend and collei
Dean Martin said “it was a
to know Sammy Davis, Jr.”
In IMP Davis rscehnd a
award for ovaiwdMtpr't
adversities and in1SSS tf-“
tair
t
fe.:
S®