ELSEWHERE 300
v
v 45
N. C. Special Olympics
Games Set For Oct. Match
See page 15
Raleigh Police Dept. Will Take
Part In Natl. Red Ribbon Week
SeePage 13
rair Market Value Qu ,y^'o »■ x
City's Pit - Seen As Community Threat
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This Is the first
in a aerlea of articlea on downtown
redevelopment, expanalon and its
impact on Southeaat Raleigh, a
predominately African-American
community undergoing financial,
political and social changea In the
name of progreaa and growth).
BY CASH MICHAELS
Contributing Writer
His frail legs could carry him but so
far...and but so fast. But the elderly
gentleman that came into
Community Drug Store last Saturday
morning, did so with all of the ur
gency that his time-ridden body could
muster. Seeing the familiar figure,
William Wlmberley, the proprietor
and pharmacist there, interrupted an
important conversation and, as he
has done so many times before for
over 25 years, kindly asked the man
how he could help
‘‘I’ve got to see the doctor on
Monday...,” said the man, “...but I’ve
done run out of my medicine.” He
held up an empty pill container.
Wimberley took the container and
carefully read the label. “I can’t fill
this for you today because the lab that
makes these is closed on Saturdays."
The elderly man looked concerned,
almost helpless now. “But...,”
Wimberley continued, "...1 can give
you enough to make it till you see the
doctor on Monday. Is that alright?”
The gentleman’s face'lit up. “That's
what I want,” he said softly, but
happily. Wimberley beckoned for him
to have a seat until he could finish. “I
knew your daddy, he was a good man
you know,” exclaimed the man,
referring to Wimberley’s late father,
who was also a pharmacist. "Oh
yes,...” replied Wimberley, patting
him on the shoulder," “I know you
too.”
Since 1964, William P. Wimberley
has been dispensing that kind of care
and attention to his customers at
Community Drug Store, 600 South
Blount Street, which borders both
Raleigh’s downtown and Southeast
sections. But if the current plan of a
downtown redevelopment group is
approved and adopted by the Raleigh
City Council, Wimberley's long and
worthy service to the community.
and particularly to Southeast’s
predominately African-American
residents, will come to an end.
The Bond Package Caucus, a group
of 24 business and civic leaders hand
picked by the City Council to evaluate
and determine a downtown re
development plan suitable to spawn a
bond referendum, earlier this month
told their consultants, RTKL
Associates of Baltimore, not only to
plan a new convention center partly
below the ground west of the current
Civic and Convention Center, but also
to plan a performing arts center on
the block east of the Center, directly
across the street from both the Center'
on South Wilmington Street and Shaw
University on South Street. The
proposed public facility would
virtually take up the entire block,
thus necessitating current residents
and businesses to vacate. One of
those businesses would be
Wimberley’s Comjnunity Drug
Store, and the plan Is scheduled to be
discussed next month.
“It would completely change the
character of the area,’’ a
concerned Wimberley told The
PITV’a PT.ANS P 7.)
Rosa Parks Glows
As Patron Saint
Of Downtrodden
Untiring Activist To
Receive Honors Here
taroumu sum neporu
The “Mother of the Civil Rights
Movement” was a patron saint of
America’s downtrodden prior to
34 years ago when she attracted
international attention for
sparking the Montgomery Bus
Boycott. And today, Rosa Lee
Parks at 77, is still devoted to
human rights and exudes the
same quiet strength that helped
change history in 1355.
Her historical journey begins in
Tuskegee, Ala., her birthplace,
and continues today as she
deliverer an oral lesson to young
people by recounting her role in
the breakdown of segregation in
the8outh.
Ms. Parks helped shape the
future of African-America and
the South when she gave
Montgomery, Ala., a different
voice and another course on Dec.
1,1855.
Briefly, after a long day at the
Montgomery Fair Department
Store where she worked as an
assistant tailor, Ms. Parks
remained rooted to her seat when
the driver of the bus she had
taken home asked her to stand.
The seat she was told to
surrender to a white man was
actually in the first row of the
“colored section” of the bus. The
white section was full, and, as ws
customary, blacks were expected
io give up meir seals wnen wnue
passengers boarded.
Ms. Parks' was arrested for
failure to comply with the city
ordinance and fined $14. When E.
D. Nixon, head of the state
chapter of the NAACP and her
husband, Raymond Parks, came
to bail her out, it was decided this
incident presented the perfect
catalyst to launch a boycott of the
public transportation system in
Montgomery.
(See ROSA PARKS, P.2)
[ 11/i
MS. ROSA PARKS
Congressional Showdown
President Vetoes Major Rights Bill
The White House in less than a
surprising move this week vetoed a
major bill supporting job
discrimination and civil rights issues.
President George Bush rejected the
measure after an unsuccessful effort
over the weekend to have Congress
modify the legislature to his
satisfaction.
The Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights charged in a statement that
White House Chief of Staff John
Sununu and presidential counsel
Boyden Gray “insisted on provisions
that would gut the bill and actually
weaken civil rights laws.” The group
released a copy of a Sept. 21 proposal
made by Sununu and Gray that it said
would allow businesses to hire on the
basis of “legitimate community or
customer relationship efforts."
Customer relations was the code
word used by airlines to restrict flight
attendant jobs to young single
women, the civil rights coalition said.
‘‘The administration’s proposal
could allow law firms, banks and
other employers to bar blacks or
Jews or Catholics from certain jobs
because customers prefer not to deal
with them,” Arthur Fletcher, a
leading black Republican whom Bush
appointed to chair the Civil Rights
Commission, expressed dismay that
the White House was listening so
closely to business interests.
“The business community, which
seems to have the upper hand on this
one this time, really doesn’t want to
be held accountable for their efforts
with respect to hiring, training,
development and promotion” of
minorities, Fletcher said.
In rejecting the measure, the Civil
Rights Act of 1990, Bush becomes
only the second president since the
modern civil rights era began in the
1950s to veto legislation identified as a
civil rights measure. The other was
Ronald Reagan.
“I deeply regret having to take this
action with sespect to a bill bearing
such a title, especially since it
contains provisions that I strongly
endorse,” Bush said in a statement
issued by the White House.
But Bush asserted that the measure
“employs a maze of highly legalistic
language to introduce the destructive
force of quotas into our national
employment system.” Proponents of
the bill content that it would not lead
to quotas.
The bill seeks to expand job
protections that civil rights groups
believe were cut back by six recent
(See RIGHTS BILL. P 2>
Powdered Cocaine Seized
Man Held In Drug Trafficki^
Liquor,
Marijuana
Violations
According to police records,
Ronald Yarborough, of 2340 Foxridge
Manor Road, was arrested recently
and charged with simple possession
of marijuana and liquor violations.
Records show that officer J. F.
Ryals arrested Yarborough in the 900
block of North Blount St. and took
from him one marijuana cigarette
valued at $5 and a 50 ml. bottle of
Chivas Regal Whiskey, valued at $3.
In a related charge Alton Jones of
558 E. Martin St. was charged
recently with possession of cocaine,
drug paraphanelia, damage to real
and personal property and resisting
arrest.
The incident occured in the 400
block of E. Davie St. According to
police records, Officer W. T. McKoy
found one quarter bag of cocaine in
powder form, valued at $25 and one
hyperdermic needle, valued at 25
cents.
In another incident William
Thomas Wright of 411 Frank St. was
arrested and charged with common
law robbery after strong-arming
William Scott Sexton at 1827 Capital
Blvd. Sexton received some cuts and
abrasions, but was not taken to the
hospital. According to police records,
Officer R. J. Daigle recovered from
Wright one Harley Davidson leather
wallet with ID and $80 in cash along
with one bag of Kentucky Fried
Chicken.
Police officials say they are in
constant search of drug violators and
that the war on drugs continues from
simple possession to major
trafficking.
Community |
| ■■
Drug Stor*
832-8538
CITY PLANS—WNam Wimbeitay, druggist and owner
of Community Drug Store on Blount and Lenoir Sts. says a
current plan of a downtown development group threatens
businesses and the community. Wimberley is seen here
with Ernestine Lassiter, assistant pharmacist and
employee of 23 years. The drug stem has served the
commi' ,ity ter the past 25 years. See story on this page.
(Photo by James Sites, Sr.)
Shaw, St. Augustine’s HoM J
Access To Knowledge, Futur*.
BY DR. ALBERT E. JABS
Contributing Writer
According to his new book,
“powershift” Alvin Toffler says that
power will go to those with
knowledge. Mide-muscle will spell
the difference. Education is a key to
this success. African-Americans,
according to Benedict College
President, Marshall Grigsby, will
have a greater role in business,
society, and government if they make
the most of the educational
opportunities at places like Benedict,
Shaw and St. Augustine’s.
Those who study population
patterns—demographers—tell us
that the majority of those entering
the workforce in the 1990s and beyond
will be African-Americans,
Hispanics, and women. This diversity
means that the rules will be made by
those who have the tools and
education is the way to go.
Corporate and financial
In other words, the historically
black college or university has a
unique role in educating millions of
Americans who read at or below the
9th grade level <65 million) or who
are functionally illiterate (23
million). Businesses cannot go on as
usual with these problems.
A recent Carnegie study showed
that many African-Americdan
historically black institutions.
In many ways, America is driven
by the dollar. Access to this dollar
comes through education. The
market is out there and African
Corporate and financial communities should support plans like Shaw
and Saint Augustine’s because America’s motional role will be
determined by the efficiency of its labor force.
communities should support plans
like Shaw and Saint Augustine’s
because America’s motional role will
be determined by the efficiency and
effectiveness of its labor force and
they will be coming from Shaw and
St. Augustine's.
Gantt Gaining
Support From
NCAE, Farmers
Locked in a tight race with
Republican Sen. Jesse A. Helms,
Democratic Senate nominee Harvey
B. Gantt is reaping more campaign
contributions as he gathers solid
support from across the state from
farmers to educators to
environmentalists.
Greenvote, a new PAC of
environmentalists including Founder
John O’Connor, executive director of
the National Toxics Campaign, and
■Robert Redford, actor,
environmentalist and producer, will
release a report comparing the
environmental records of the U. S.
Senate candidates running in the 1990
American students must seize the
time and opportunity to make the
most ot the moment.
America must strive to keep itself
healthy and productive; all of its
citizens must develop the necessary
(See WORK Force, P.2)
race. Hie report will be released Oct.
26 at 10 a.m. in Charlotte at the Mam
on 4th Street and at 2 p.m. in nei^gii
at Pullen Park.
(See HARVEY GANTT, P. 2)