RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY,
SEPTEMBER 12,1991
VOL. 60, NO. 84
N.C,fs Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY i\ C
IN RALEIGH £O0
ELSEWHERE 300
Senate Hearings Continue As
African-Americans Split On Judge Thomas Pick
From CAROLINIAN SUIT Report*
The NAACP’s decisive vote to
oppose the nomination of Clarence
Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court
surprised many who thought the
organisation’s decision would be
influenced by Thomas' race. If
confirmed, he would be the second
black justice in Supreme Court
history, replacing civil rights
champion Thurgood Marshall.
But the NAACP’s deliberations,
which led to Thomas’ rejection also
disclose a widening rift in black
ideology and politics. Some African
Americans have rallied to support
Judge Thomas because of his
advocacy of black self-help.
Opponents say the notion that
Crime may i
are involved with illegal drug deals
even for the state.
According to police records, Larry
Jones, 26, of 1115 Pender Street, was
charged recently for possession of
cocaine. Jones was caught on the
corner of the 300 block of Carver
Street. Officer S.D. Little, of the
Raleigh Police Department found on
Jones; crack-cocaine • Vi grams,
valued at $50.00 along with $80.00 of
U.S. currency.
Jonathan Reid, 20, of 722Vi Quarry
Street, was charged recently with
possession of cocaine with the intent
to sell. Reid was caught in the 700
block of Bloodworth Street. Officer
, B.L. Kennon, of the Raleigh Police
.-Department found on Reid, 15 plastic
bags of cocaine, valued at $300.00
along with $85.00 in U.S. currency.
A state agency has collected more
than $1 million in taxes, penalties and
interest on illegal drugs during the
first two months of the budget year,
officials said Monday.
The Controlled Substance Tax
Section of the Revenue Department
has collected $1,028,000 since the
fiscal year began on July 1, said Bob
Crump, manager of the section. By
comparison, collections for all of the
fiscal year 1090-91 totaled $1.1
million, he said at a meeting of the
North Carolina Drug Cabinet.
Under legislation that created the
program, drag dealers are supposed
to buy tax stamps and attach them to
(See CRIME, P. 2)
NEWS BRIEFS
GOSPEL CONCERT FOR
SICKLE CELL
A got pel concert la being ipon
aored by Evnngeliat Sblrley
Caesar, Young Cbrlatlana ol
Raleigh and the Triangle Area
Sickle Cell Teak Force to benefit
the N.C. Sickle Cell Foundation,
Sept. 14 at • p.m. and 8ept. 15 at 4
p.,m. at Flrat Baptlat Church, 101
8. Wilmington 8t.
A march to commemorate
Sickle Cell Month la alao achedul
ed for Sept. 15 from Mt. Calvary
Holy Church at 3 p.m. to Flrat
Baptlat for the concert at 4 p.m.
Come chare and enjoy thla ex
perience and help a worthwhile
cauee.
CANDIDATES7 FORUM
SET
The Raleigh-Apex Branch of
the National Aaaoclatlon for the
Advancement of Colored People
will aponaor a "Meet the Can
dldatea" forum on Saturday,
Sept. 11, at 4 p.m. at Martin
Street Baptlat Church, 1001 E.
Martin St.
Candida tea for the Raleigh City
Couitcli and the Wake County
Board of Education will preaent
their platfOruM
A queatlon-and-anawer period
will follow. Come out and meet
youir candidates.
Rev. H.B. Pickett, Jr. is branch
president.
FOUNDATION AWARDS
—, • The Greater Triangle Com
munity Foundation will conclude
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P.2I
African-Americans can overcome
past and present racism and
economic exploitation by exclusively
relying on our own resources is
seriously flawed and naive.
"Many African-Americans who
mean well and others who are clearly
opportunistic are pushing for his
confirmation because he was poor
and black and advanced to become a
lawyer, an administrator over the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and an Appeals Court
Judge. Others are suggesting he
ought to be confirmed because he
may be our only hope of getting
another African-American to succeed
the legendary human civil rights
champion, Justice Thurgood
Marshall,” said the Rev. John
Mendez.
“There are those who want to give
him a chance even though they know
he is a neo-conservative and opposes
the traditional ways African
Americans have struggled against
inequality and injustice, but they
believe he can be saved,” Mendez
said. “Our future is too important to
us and the world for it to be left to
blind chance and fear. I believe that
Thomas is not to be pitied or admired
because he is black. He is to be
accepted or opposed because of his
record and what he represents.
Hence, while I can appreciate
diversity I have no commendation for
conscious betrayal.”
Dr. Frank Godfrey, a Harvard
graduate and professor at Saint
Augustine’s College said “in the
final analysis, it will not matter who
ultimately replaces Mr. Marshall (he
can never be replaced)), as the court
is already stacked with
conservatives. Thomas’ vote will not
make any difference one way or the
other. Most people seem to fail to
realize this point. It appears that
most people I talk to are opposed to
Thomas, but I fear that he will win a
seat on the Supreme Court.”
The White House has expressed
confidence that the Senate will
confirm Thomas to Supreme Court.
President George Bush has urged the
lawmakers to “preserve the
independence of the court’’ by not
asking the nominee how he would
vote on legal issues.
Dr. Agatha Carroo, an associate
professor of psychology at North
Carolina Central University in
Durham and a graduate ot Cornell
University said “the point is that the
problem with Judge Thomas’
nomination does not lie with him, but
with us. He seems to have played the
hand dealt to him in life with
sensitivity, intelligence, finesse and
conviction and took his chances, win
or lose.
“The dialogue precipitated by
Thomas’ nomination is good. Perhaps
(See JUDGE THOMAS, P. 2)
Amid University Turmoil
NCCU’s Richmond Resions
Durham
PrexySays
Pressure
No Factor
Tyronza R. Richmond, chancellor
at North Carolina Central University
in Durham resigned Tuesday saying
to faculty members he wanted to
return to the classroom.
Dr. Richmond said his resignation
had nothing to do with allegations of
financial mismanagement ^nd a
weak leadership-that have plagued
the university much of the past year.
“My vocation, my calling if you will,
has clearly been to the scholarly
endeavors of a faculty member, and !
view my service as chancellor on this
campus merely as an interruption of
my life.”
Dr. Richmond, SI, dismissed
reports he was pressured to resign by
UNC system officials in General
Administration while under scrutiny
for financial mismanagement and
questions about accountability
resulting from media reports that the
university broke promises to award
nearly $1 million in academic and
athletic scholarships.
And a former athletics director
faces allegations for receiving
financial kickbacks.
SBI agents have been on the
campus for the past two weeks and
auditors are to arrive this week in a
continuing investigation of the
school’s spending practices.
In addition to questions about the
serious flaws in the school’s revolves
around professor Clarence Brown, a
Durham City Council member who
double-billed the city and university
for travel expenses.
Brown has also been accused in
divorce papers filed by his wife,
Prattsle Cunningham-Brown, of
using cocaine and of supplying
marijuana to A graduate student
described as his lover.
Richmond ana other NCCU
(SeeNCCU LEADER, P. 2)
\X
the recommendation of an
search committee, U.S. Representative WUMam
cted to become the United Negro
College Fund's new president and CEO. The appointment
became effective Sept. 11. firay, who was the House
Majority Whip and Is presently the highest-ranking African
American In Congress, Is expected to bring new visibility to
chairman and CEO of Warnar-Lambort Co. and chairman of
UNCPa board of directors; Hugh Cullman, retired vice
chairman of Philip Monti Companies and national chairman
of CAMPAISH 2000; Wliam H. Bray, HI; and Or. Haywood
L. Strickland, vlca president and national director of
UNCFl CAMPAIGH 2000.
AIDS activists won a decisive
round this week in their effort to pro
tect anonymous testing for the
disease in Durham, dodging a state
order that would eliminate the prac
tice in 83 counties.
Durham Superior Court Judge
Orlando F. Hudson issued a
preliminary injunction on the request
from the AIDA Coalition to Unleash
Power, forcing the state to continue
anonymous testing in Durham until a
lawsuit on the issue is heard, pro
bably in several months.
Supporters of anonymous testing
called Judge Hudson’s action a
significant victory for public health
and for those at risk of contracting
State’s Prison Crisis: Does It Put
’Questionable’ Parolees On Streets
North Carolina’* continuing pri»or
population criala la eroding the
criminal Justice system, raising quae
tions about whether parolees are con
trlbutlng to a rising crime rate, of'
ftcials say.
Since the General Assembly ap
proved a cap on prison inmates It
1987 to address lawsuits over crowded
conditions, the average prison tern
for felons has fallen from 38 perceni
of sentences to 20.8 percent in 1990
said Ken Parker, a researcher wit!
the Division of Prisons.
Judges are imposing longei
sentences in felony cases—from at
average of 73.8 months in 1987 to 78.1
months in 1990. But felons are servinf
shorter sentences. The average felot
saved 28.9 months in 1990, compare
with 48 months in 1987.
'‘This year I’m sure it’s going tP 8<
down dramatically because we’v<
run out of misdemeanants to let out,’
Parker said.
The Parole Commission has work
ed frantically to keep the system ii
compliance with the prison cap. Bu
with each population criais, more
“questionable” parolees are returned
to the streets, having served less and
less time, said commission member
Sam Boyd.
year for which figures were
available, Parker said.
"I would say that could be due to a
loss of deterrence,” he said. "I don't
know whether that’s the reason or
“The Parole Commission has worked
frantically to keep the system in compliance
with the prison cap. But with each population
crisis, more “questionable" parolees are
returned to the streets, having served less
and less time...'
Commission member Sam Boyd
That may have contributed to a
> sudden rise in the number of inmates
i returning to the system, Parker said.
Recidivism within one year of an in
mate’s parole had hovered around
14.6 percent in 1984 and 1985. It was as
i low as 13.3 percent in 1988 before jum
t ping to 16.4 percent in 1989. the last
not. That’s the only thing in the world
that’s happening. But that’s the ob
vious thing to look at.’’
Parker said there are also
philosophical problems in the Parole
Commission’s understandable reluc
((See PRISON CRISIS. P 2>
the virus that causes AIDS.
“This is really striking a blow in
favor of the Constitution, in favor of
citizens’ rights to privacy and against
the big brother idea of government,’’
said Stewart Fisher, a lawyer
representing ACT-UP, a group that
filed suit against the state health of
ficials who enacted the policy.
Earlier this year, the state Com
mission for Health Services decided
to phase out anonymous testing
statewide by 1994. The commission
also asked State Health Director
Ronald H. Levine to reduce the
number of counties offering
anonymous testing to 17 by
September. Orange and Wake Coun
ties were allowed to continue
anonymous testing—but not Durham.
Beyond anonymous tasting, legal
problems surround AIDS and
employment discrimination and ac
cording to Cathy Tamsberg, an at
torney with East Central Community
Legal Services, “No one wants to be
told that he or she Is Infected with
HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. If
this happens to you, one of the ques
tions which is likely to arise relates to
employment: How is my HIV infec
tion going to affect my Job?’’
AIDS and the virus which causes it
have been known only for a little
more than 10 years. Consequently,
the laws which have been passed dur
ing this period toprotect people with
HIV and AIDS from discrimination
and the public from infection are still
developing. Many of the laws are so
new that they have not been tested in
court. Without court decisions inter
preting the law, predicting the out
(SeeAIDS. P.2)
JUDGE CLARENCE THOMAS
BY JOHN HOOD
An Analytic
If a firm in New York City offers
you a job at the same pay you cur
rently make in Raleigh, should you
accept? Not if you want to maintain
the same standard of living in your
new home as you had in your old one.
It’s just, common sense for people to
take cost-of-living into account when
they consider such decisions as ac
cepting a new job or moving to a dif
ferent city.
Why, then, do public officials,
policy analysts, and the press ignore
cost-of-living when they discuss such
issues as teacher pay? The findings of
a recent report by the Southern
Regional Education Board, for exam
ple, were accepted without question :
that North Carolina “lags behind the
nation” in teacher pay. That’s true
only if you ignore the fact that $30,000
in North Carolina can buy a lot more
than the same salary in New York
The truth is that, regardless of
whether you look at beginning
teacher salaries or average pay
across the entire teaching force,
North Carolina ranks above the na
tional average in real compensation.
According to a survey prepared for
the State of Washington by a Califor
nia consulting firm, North Carolina
teachers on average received a total
of $35,344 in compensation this
year—including contract pay, ex
tracurricular pay, and benefits such
as health insurance and pension
plans. When you adjust every state’s
numbers by their cost-of-livihg
relative to North Carolina, you find
that our state ranks 19th in the coun
try in total teacher compensation,
above the national average of $34,446
and the Southern regional average of
$32,647.
There are some problems with
making state-by-state comparisons of
average pay for all teachers, whether
the comparisons are adjusted for
cost-of-living or not. Average pay will
vary according to the composition of
The truth is that,
regardless of whether you
look at beginning teacher
salaries of average pay
across the entire teaching
force, North Carolina
ranks above the national
average in real
compensation.
tne teaching force. If your state has a
high percentage of experienced
teachers, you will rank relatively
higher than states with a less
experienced teaching force. Similar
ly, if your teaching force holds more
advanced degrees, your pay number
will be higher.
In North Carolina's case, our
teachers have relatively more ex
perience (averaging 14 years, two
years higher than the national
average), but fewer advanced
degrees (at 4.2 years of education, we
rank 49th while the national average
is 4.8 years). A cleaner comparison is
on the basis of starting salary for
teachers with bachelor’s degrees. On
this measure, North Carolina ranks
fourth in the country.
None of this should be interpreted
as arguing that North Carolina
teachers are necessarily well
paid—only that they are well-paid
relative to their counterparts in other
'See TEACHER PAY. P.2)