TUESDAY
O’,Jays To Add Style
Group Part Of ’91 African
American Arts Festival In
Greensboro.
Page 9
THIS WEEK
James Carroll Napier, of
Nashville, Tenn., became
one of the most successful
blacks in postbellum South
By the 1890s, Napier was a
municipal office holder,
in the temperance
(See THIS WEEK, P. 10)
RALEIGH, N.C.
VOL. 50, NO. 17
TUESDAY
JANUARY 22,199:
&
N.C.'s Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY Q|T
IN RALEIGH
ELSEWHERE 300
, Pacifists Demand End To War
Students and peace activists from
around the country are demanding an
end to what they describe as a
“racist" war while President George
Bush vows to destroy Iraq’s mobile
missile launchers and prepare
ground troops for a large-scale inva
sion with many casualties.
A protest rally at Duke University,
Durham, was sponsored Friday by
the university’s Black Student
Alliance to promote a peaceful end to
the fighting in the Persian Gulf and to
show support for U.S. troops and their
families.
Afriye Amerson, 19, a Duke junior
said the war was something personal
for African-Americans because it
was racist. “It is a racist war, and
what I face with this war is different
from what white America faces with
this war.”
Protesters claim that 65 percent of
front-line forces in Operation Desert
Storm are black and that a genera
tion is being threatened with death.
However, defense department of
ficials contend about 30 percent of
U.S. troops in the gulf are black.
Leaders of the burgeoning anti-war
movement also believe that Bush’s
decision to attack Iraq could
galvanize a broad coalition of people
long disenchanted with government
policies regarding civil rights, educa
tion, health care and other social
issues.
Although opinion polls show that a
strong majority of Americans now
favor the military campaign
authorized by the U.S. Security Coun
cil, thousands of anti-war protesters
are holding demonstrations in major
cities and venting anger at the more
than $1 billion the government ex
pects to spend daily oh the war.
Protesters including black,
Hispanic and religious groups ap
proach the issue from different
angles but are bridging a wide range
of political views and causes
represented by an emerging national
movement against the U.S.-led war
(See END WAR. P.2)
Cheney,
Powell
Urging
Caution
BY DANIEL A. YOUNG, SB.
Contributing Writer
Defense Secretary Richard Cheney
and Joint Chiefs of Staff Commander
Colin Powell urged members of the
press to be “cautious in your com
ments” after the start of hostilities
last week.
“I don’t mean to be critical of our
friends in the press corps,” Cheney
said, “but I think it’s very, very im
portant for people to remember a
number of key things. That this is a
very serious business, that we are in
the very early stages of an operation
that may run for a considerable
period of time. There are casualties,
and there are likely to be more
casualties, so while we feel very good
about the progress to date, it is im
portant, I think, for everyone to be
careful about claiming victory, or
making assumptions about the
ultimate cost of this operation in
terms of casualties."
Gen. Powell, responding to
reporters’ questions at the early
morning White House briefing, said,
“I only have a report of one other U.S.
aircraft damaged. There may be
others, but those reports have not
come to me yet. There has been no
counter-offensive from the Iraqis
from the ground or on the air,” says
Powell. “The only Iraqi action that I
am aware of was an air artillery
strike across the border... one oil
petroleum storage facility.”
In response to questions as to
whether the relative lack of Iraqi
resistance had surprised him,
Powell said, “You’ll have to ask them
that. I’m rather pleased that we ap
pear to have achieved tactical sur
prise. We should not, however, rule
out the possibility of Iraqi action in
the air or on the ground and I can
assure you that we are on the lookout
(See IRAQ, P. 2)
Martin Luther, Malcolm And Me
BY DOROTHY SHAW-THOMPSON
An Analjwit
I recently was asked to speak to a
class of second graders about Kwan
zaa. After some thought, I agreed.
Later I was asked to talk to some
preschool students about Martin
Luther King, Jr. I refused. Both ques
tions were answered because of the
same force yet the answer to both
was at the opposite end of one spec
trum.
My young son Evan recently told
me that he wanted to go to a different
school next year. When I asked him
why, he said that “he wanted to go to
a school where there were more black
people.” At the tender age of six, he
feels the difference not because of
looks but because of attitude. I
remember an incident when I was
Eric McLeod
Takes NCAE
Art Honors
J. Eric McLeod, an eighth
grade student at Carnage Middle
School in Raleigh, is the winner ol
a North Carolina Association ol
Educators Minority Arts Award.
McLeod’s entry, a sculpture titl
ed “The Carnival,” placed first in
the category of models or
sculptures for grades 5-8.
McLeod’s entry went through ,
three rounds of judging by NCAE
committees. All entries are Judg- |
ed locally, then submitted to the
district level for consideration,
f* with the final round of judging be
ing conducted by the state
Minority Affairs Commission.
McLeod’s entry was sponsored
by his teacher, Ms. Judith
(See ARTS AWARD, P. 2)
under me age oi nvc ycmo aim
ing in a 5 and 10 cent store in
Washington, D C. A mother came and
violently pulled her young daughter
away screaming and crying. 1 stored
this memory in my brain until 1 was
able to understand it.
When I became a member of a
group of women called the Panel of
American Women, a group that went
to schools and churches discussing
experiences of racism and prejudice,
consisting of a Catholic, Jewish
female, a WASP (white Anglo-Saxon
Protestant) and a black, a school-age
child asked me if I remembered ex
periencing racism when I was a child.
The memory flashed in my con
sciousness and I could see the child
and her mother clearly—I ther
understood perfectly-they wer«
white, I was black.
My earliest memory of racism.
It was interesting to me that as (
panel member, I was confronte<
after a presentation that my presen
tation had been too strong when
presented racism as an ignorant am
unhealthy belief system. It was sug
gested that it had been found that th
panel worked better when member
told “sad” stories that provoke
guilt. The idea was that if childre
felt badly about their prejudice the
(See DR. KING, P 2>
Growing Pains, Challenges
State Prison Programs Expand
Community
Punishment
Alternative
The director of the Division of Adult
Probation and Parole says the expan
sion of North Carolina’s community
based punishment programs is pro
ceeding on schedule, but not without
some anticipated growing pains.
Although the division has been able
to meet its timetables for staffing and
equipping expansions approved by
the General Assembly last summer,
director John Patseavouras said it
will take some time before these pro
grams are filled to capacity with pro
bationers and parolees.
Community-based punishment pro
grams are designed, in part, to ease
the problem of prison overcrowding
by providing alternatives to in
carceration. In North Carolina, these
alternatives are regular probation
and parole, intensive supervision,
electronic house arrest, the DWI
Parole Treatment Facility and the
IMPACT boot camp facility for
youthful offenders.
“We have addressed the logistical
requirements for these programs,”
Patseavouras said. “Now our objec
tive is to make judges aware of the
advantages of these alternatives.”
In support of these efforts, state
Correction Secretary Aaron Johnson
recently wrote each of the state’s
Superior Court judges, urging them
to utilize these programs. “The
resources directed by the Legislature
toward community-based programs
will only be cost-effective if these pro
grams are fully utilized by the
courts,” Secretary Johnson wrote.
Patseavouras notes that the
statewide expansion of programs like
intensive supervision and electronic
(See CRIME, P. 2)
JOINING BOARD - Leu Belcher, supervisor of sports
marketing and a St. Augustine’s College graduate, co
hosted a reception for college president PrezeN Robinson
with Noel Hankins, director of marketing relations, during
a recent visit at the Milter Brewing Company. Belcher
recently joined the board of trustees of St. Augustine’s
College.
Rep. Dan Blue Plans Changes
As First Black Speaker Of House
State Rep. Daniel T. Blue, Jr.,
plans to make committe changes
after he takes a post as the first black
speaker of the North Carolina House
later this month.
In the nation’s 10th biggest state,
which was a Confederate stalwart,
and still rigidly enforced a ceiling on
black political aspirations, the
emergence of Blue is a victory for a
new breed of young black and white
politicians.
Powerful elements from rural and
suburban areas have controlled the
legislative leadership and virtually
dominated statewide elections, but
the picture is slowly changing.
Tested by time and experience,
Blue has earned both national and
statewide reputations. Serving as
chair of the Justice and Law Commit
tee of the National Conference of
State Legislators, he has tesfified
before both House and Senate hear
ings in Washington.
Blue’s six-lawyer firm in downtown
Raleigh is considered the largest
minority legal operation in the state.
And he strides the three blocks trom
the law office to the state Capitol.
“It’s walking distance and I miss few
meetings,” said the son of a rural
tobacco farmer, recalling that his set
ting up shop in the state capital was
one of his wisest decisions.
Blue plans to redesign the commit
tee structure of the House and in the
process put emphasis on such issues
as science and technology and public
transportation.
Blue also confirmed that he plann
ed to hire an entirely new staff wher
he becomes speaker later this month
retaining none of the sever
employees who work for Speakei
Josephus L. Mavretic.
Under Blue’s proposed committe<
structure, the House would have 1
committees and 34 subcommittees
Currently, the House has 13 commit
tees and 50 subcommittees.
His plan includes a new Science an
Technology Committee, a new publi
transportation subcommittee unde
the Transportation Committee, and
hazardous waste subcommitte
(See PLANS CHANGES, P.2)
Foster Parents |
Can Help Make |
Big Difference j
Anita Weatherspoon was single and |
childless. At 25, as a full-time teacher |
of preschool-age children, Anita was 1
kept busy with her demanding J
career. Her many friends and sports j
activities (she is a skilled sport- j
I swoman who was asked to try out for |
the 1992 Olympic Volleyball Team) |
made for a busy social life as well. |
I Then in the fall of 1989, Ms.
Weatherspoon heard a radio an- |
, nouncement about the need for foster |
' parents. This announcement touched |
j her heart, and got her thinking about i
1 how she could help children in need.
. Foster parents are people willing to j
1 take in a child who cannot live at
(See FOSTER PARENT, P 2)
MS. ANITA WEATHEHSl'OON
Inside
Africa
Struggle Grows
With Apartheid
BY GWEN MCKINNEY
NNPA News Service
Nelson Mandela’s release is not an
end.. It’s the beginning of a new
chapter in the struggle to free not on
ly South Africa, but the entire region.
So says Simba Makoni, chief ex
ecutive of the Southern Africa
Development Coordination Con
ference, the economic organization of
the 10 black-ruled countries in
southern Africa, founded in 1980 to
lessen their dependency on South
Africa.
Since then, a free South Africa
looms closer. Namibia, the group’s
newest member, is no longer South
Africa’s colony. The U.S.-Soviet cold
war is over. The two Germanys are
united and a United States of Europe
is imminent.
Mandela is free in a
country still oppress
ed by a racist system.
The region still suf
fers from gross ine
quities and
underdevelopment.
Apartheid is still firm
ly in place.
Makoni, during a recent interview,
opined that the world’s new realities
present special challenges to SADCC
This group of fragile but potentially
rich states—endowed with vast
mineral and natural resources in
short supply in the developed
world—must intensify its integration
movement to counter the imbalances
and injustices caused by South
■ Africa's economic dominance.
“1 sense a premature conclusion—a
. feeling of achievement that because
l of Mandela's release, the struggle is
over,” offered Makoni. “Maintain the
- struggle. Don’t relent until there is a
new, democratic dispensation in
1 South Africa.”
: Apartheid is still firmly in place, he
r issued. Mandela is free in a country
) still oppressed by a racist system,
e The region still suffers from gross in
(See INSIDE AFRICA. P 2)