Carpenter
’’die 60 Years Wed
See Page 19
North Carolina Girl Scouts
Promote Statewide Literacy
See Page 17
RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 17,1991
VOL. 50, NO. 94
N.C.'s Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY A(J
IN RALEIGH
ELSEWHERE 300
Senate Votes Thomas Onto High Court
From CAROLINIAN Sun Rtparti
Newly appointed associate Justice
Clarence Thomas, who was born to
uneducated parents In rural Georgia,
won confirmation to the Supreme
Court on Tuesday by one of the
narrowest margins In history, barely
surviving an accusation by Anita Hill,
one of his former assistants, that he
had sexually harassed her.
In an all-day debate during which
-^President George Bush brought
heavy pressure on wavering
^.senators and the public flooded
•^Capitol Hill with telephone calls and
telegrams, the Senate voted 52-48 in
favor of the 43-year-old jurist to
become an associate justice for life.
During the voting 11 Democrats
joined 41 of the 43 Republtcsns in
supporting Thomas.
Thomas’ victory margin was
narrowed considerably by the sexual
harasament charges.
Three Democrats who had said
flatly last month that they backed
Thomas ended up by voting
no—Joseph I. Licberman of
Connecticut and Richard h. Bryan
and Harry M. Reid, both of Nevada.
They were Joined by three other
Democrats who had hinted that they
supported Thomas—Bob Graham of
Florida, Daniel P. Moynlhan of New
York and Robert C. Byrd of West
Virginia.
But seven Southern Democrats,
many of them dependent on black
voters for their political survival
because of the flight of whites to the
Republican Party, held firm in
support of the nominee, along with
four from other parts of the country,
and that made the difference.
North Carolina's senators, as
expected, spilt their votes, with
Republican Jesse A. Helms voting to
confirm and Democrat Terry Sanford
voted against.
Many of the Southern Democrats
who voted for Thomas were up for
election next yiear after narrow
victories In ISM, and noted privately
that black voters In their states
backed Thomas.
Ms. Hill quietly accepted Thomas'
confirmation to the Supreme Court on
Tuesday, and said she hoped the
outcome wouldn't stop others from
complaining about harassment in the
workplace.
"The Issue of sexual harassment is
now part of a dialogue," Ms Hill told
reporters outside her home with her
mother standing by her.
She said three things stuck out in
her mind.
“The first is that I was able to go
out, in perhaps not the best of forums,
the best of settings, but I was able to
go out and tell what I know to be the
truth. And I am glad that I was able to
do that. I am sorry that the forum
wasn't as some people had hoped it
would be, but it was accomplished
and I’m glad it was.
“The second thing is that we were
exposed—all of us were expoaed—to
the process, the legislative process,
the Senate process in a way that I
never have been before. Many others
have been, but many of us have not
been, and I think we as a country can
learn from that. We know more now
about the process than we ever knew
before. And we should all be thankful
for that.
“Finally, the issue of sexual
(See JUDGE THOMAS, P. 2)
^Gold Star
^ Award To
Wake Teacher
A teacher from the Wake County
Pu.ilic School System will receive
Central Carolina Bank’s Gold Star
Award for excellence in teaching on
Thursday, Oct. 24. North Carolina
State University Chancellor Larry K.
Monteith will be the keynote speaker
for the banquet, to be held at the
North Raleigh Hilton at 7 p.m.
The award recipient will be chosen
from six finalists. Nominees were
named at each school in the 79-school
system. A systemwide Teacher of the
Year Selection Committee chose six
finalists from these nominees. The
selections were made based on
classroom observation, interviews,
and information the nominees
submitted, including biographical
sketches, philosophies of education,
community service, and letters of
recommendation.
This year’s finalists are Camille
Skiles Lore, a second-grade teacher
at E.C. Brooks Elementary; Lynn G.
Orlando, a teacher of the trainable
mentally handicapped at Garner
j Elementary; Marsha H. Massey, a
kindergarten teacher at Zebulon
Elementary; Lorna Henson, an
autistic III teacher at West Millbrook
Middle; Karen Baker Burden, a 10th
grade English teacher at Cary High
School; and Wanda McCaskill
Sweeney, a third grade teacher at
Helen Y. Stough Elementary.
The award recipient will receive a
cash prize of $1,000 from the bank and
the CCB Gold Star trophy. The
remaining five finalists will receive
(See TEACHER, P.2)
Former tennis coach Thomas
Crown at N.C. Central University
in Durham has filed a complaint
contending that he was fired
because he brought a lawsuit
against the school last
December, for falling to pay him
for several years* work. The
motion, filed in Durham Superior
Court, says that Crown's
termination also was the result of
complaints he had made to the
university concerning the
funding of athletic scholarships.
SCHOOLS OFFER NORPLANT
Health clinics at Duke and the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill are offering students
Norplant, a new contraceptive
device that will protect against
pregnancy for up to five years.
Norplant—six small tubes
surgically implanted in a
woman’s upper arm—was
approved in December by the
Food and Drug Administration.
Private physicians in the
Triangle area began offering it In
February. The two schools began
offering the contraceptive to
students this term, but North
Carolina State University does
not offer it.
COLLEGE TUmON UP
The nation’s public colleges
this fall Imposed a 14 percent
increase in their tuition charges
and blamed it on recession
related cuts in state funding, the
College Board said In its annual
tuition survey. But private
colleges, which Imposed steep
tuition Increases In the Haas,
continued the trend of slight
moderation. Their tuition
Increases averaged seven
percent, down one percentage
See NEWS BHIKKS.P 2)
66-Year-Old Shot
Woman Found Dead
Single Bullet
Wound To
Chest Cause
According to records of the Kaieigh
Police Department, M-year-old
Queen Ester Evans, of 511 S. Swain
St., was discovered dead by her son
about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Records show that Evans had been
fatally shot in her downtown Raleigh
home.
Ms. Evans had been shot once in
the chest, stated Sgt. John Beasley of
the police department. He added the
, a pistol was found on the back porch,
not far from where the body was lying
inside the house.
Wigppffrs had. r$p«rted bearing a
single gunshot between 5 a.m. and 6
a.m.
ms. Evans' husband had left for
work between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m..
He also was questioned late Tuesday,
but he was not considered a prime
suspect.
Police found no evidence of forced
entry into the house, and had seen no
signs of struggle. Nothing was taken
from the house, according to police
records.
In other news:
A Raleigh girl who was struck by a
car Monday night while leaving an
elementary school remained in
critical condition Wednesday at Wake
Medical Center.
Bobbie Shalytha Yolanda Jones, 10,
of 1401 Millbrook Road, Apt. 308, was
in the neuro-lntensive care unit
suffering from a “closed head
Injury," hospital officials. The girl
was injured when she ran out in front
of a car after leaving a cheerleading
activity at Millbrook Elementary
School. No charges were filed in thte
case.
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chairman af tha Caafannca aad Papa Yen DWto, tacand
tram right, to the etgantoaNen’s newly appelated Secretary
General and a representative of Mayor Mamadou Oiop of
Dakar, Senegal. PtiMp Mania and MMar Boor spontorod the
convontian’s banquet. Tho aovon year oM WCM Is a non
pnMorgaabatinaf correal mayers from North and South
Antonin, the Caiman and front the continents of Africa,
Asia and Europo- Undor Mayor Ford’s leadership, the WCM
sdoks fa advance world peace and economic stability
thmifh Ns Uva-Bor” appraoch: Trust, Trade, Tourism,
Technology, and Twin Cities.
Murder Victim’s Survivor Gives
Views On NC’s Death Penalty
BY ELMER C. SCHWERTMAN
An Aiulyiit
Ten yean ago, my wife was
kidnapped, raped and murdered. She
was 57; I waa 63. With her death, the
core of my life ended.
I need not tell you what Irreparable
damage this did to my family. For the
•urvivon of such a shattering
catastrophe the poet Emily Dickinson
has said it best: "Parting is all we
know of heaven and all we need of
hell."
In the wake of the tragedy I had to
confront the grave question of
whether her murderer should be
sentenced to die.
The prosecutor was kind enough to
consult me about my feelings when it
became legally desirable for him to
Washington Summit To Target
Environmental Racism Problem
BY OWEN MCKINNEY
NNPA Ntw« Sarvltc
Janice Dickeraon uid the knows
how native Americana must have felt
being displaced by powerful forces
who would use the Indian’s ancestral
lands In the name of greed and
exploitation.
Dickerson, 40, still regrets leaving
her home. It waa land that she said
had been held by her people since
Reconstruction. As part of a $1.4
million settlement from Georgia
Gulf, Dickerson and some $0 other
families in Revilletown, La. were
brought out In IMS, escaping
emissions of vinyl chloride and other
toxins which Dlcksraon said polluted
the air, land and water.
“I was between a rock and a hard
place. I could have stayed to fight,
continuing to subject my family to
unregulated and deadly toxins. Or I
could leave, accepting a monetary
settlement, but forced from my
ancestral home,” says Dickerson.
“Even though we won the suit, we
still lost."
Dickerson is now an organiser,
working with other families along an
80-mile strip between New Orleans
and Baton Rouge known as “Cancer
Alley.” It is an area inhabited by poor
people and the descendants of slaves.
It's also home to some 136
petrochemical Industries and oil
refineries and scores of waste dumps
and incinerators that annually
release more then 900 million pounds
of toxins into the sir, ground and
water.
In Louisiana, state and federal
regulators allow the petrochemical
and waste industries to operate with
virtually no monitoring and little
enforcement. Dickerson and other
American, Latino, native American
and Aalan-American communitiea in
the nation'* capital for the ftnt
National People of Color Leadership
Summit on the Environment.
Rev. Benjamin V. Chavis,
executive director of the United
Church of Christ Commission for
( mien- Alley in New Orleans is nu iih m
inlinliiinl liy poor people and (lie descendant s
of slaves. II is also home lo some i:t«*
petrochemical industries and oil refineries
and seores ol waste dumps and incinerators
that annuallx release more than !MM» million
pounds of toxins into the air. ground ami
water. The environmental movement is a lit*
and death struggle for communities of coloi
organizers insist that cancer Alley is
a graphic and symbolic statement on
the injustice being confronted by the
new, emerging environmental
movement.
What is being called a watershed
movement will be marked in late
October whan Dickerson and other
Louisiana organizers Join several
hundred leaders from African
Racial Justice and cthtiiair ot uw
summit, said the meeting will be a
watershed event.
“The summit will he a major
building block in this new
environmental movement," said
Chavis. “What we're doing is not an
intellectual exercise. But it directly
i See KNVIKONMKNT. F. 'M
offer a plea bargain for a sentence of
life imprisonment. Since the
murderer was to be tried for a
previous attempt to rape and murder
a young woman in Raleigh, and since
the state had an ironclad case, the
prosecution was certain that the
court would impose a double life
sentence, which meant the murderer
would not be eligible for parole
consideration until he was in his 90s
Despite my anger and grief over
my wife’s murder, and despite the
belief that this man had attempted to
harm another woman, I agreed to the
prosecutor's plan to offer the plea
bargain. Even though the murder had
devastated my family, ruined my
life, and brought an end to the life of
my wife, I could not in good
conscience ask the State of North
Carolina to kill another human being
In my name. I feel the same way
about the pending execution of
Michael McDougall, scheduled for
Oct. 18.
In the intervening 10 years I have
reflected often on the nature and
quality of capital punishment, and
how the United States and the
Western world have dealt with
murder and murderers
My conclusion is that capital.
punishment is contrary to the wisdom
expressed in the Sermon on the
Mount and the Declaration of
Independence. These are more than
abstractions. They inform the basic
ethos of our society.
The Sermon on the Mount taught
that we should love, not hate, our
enemies. Survivors of murder
victims are usually obsessed with'
only one thought, retribution. But if
they were to act on that impulse,
they, too, would be guilty of murder. *
Instead, the state, an impersonal
agent, kills the accused murderer, in,
their name. But the
institutionalisation of such an act,
doesn't make it any less cruel. After ■’
all, the murderer also has ioved ones, -
who suffer because of the execution.
Tliese teachings are consistent with
(SeeDEATH PENALTY. P. 2>
UNCFTo
Honor Dan
Blue Here
Educational systems are designed
to control the thinking of the people
thi ough the control and manipulation
of images and information. Today,
many African-Americans have been
so mis educated that they defy the
evidence of Africa's past in the face
of overwhelming scientific and
historical data. Denied because it
was not taught in primary and
secondary schools and because it is
not a serious requirement at the
university level.
Choosing the right school and
especially the right college or
university can be a tough decision
when there are so many factors to
consider. But don’t take it lightly;
this decision will be one of the most
important in the life of an individual.
There are now 107 black colleges
and universities, if one is referring to
those institutions that are historically
black; 117, if referring to all
institutions whose student
populations are predominantly black.
The national Association for Equal
Opportunity in Higher Education
includes all 117 as members. The
United Negro College Fund was
founded to heto raise funds for
private black colleges and
universities; it has 42 members.
The demise of black colleges has
been wrongly predicted. The forecast
for all higher education today seems
to make it a greater possibility, but
there is also a greater migration
toward black colleges and an
Afrocentric education tht emphasize
a cross-cultural, multi-ethnic
perspective.
After receiving numerous awards
from various civic, political and
religious groups, N.C. Speaker Daniel
T Blue will be honored once again.
The Raleigh-Wake United Negro
College Fund will hold an
appreciation banquet for Blue on
Saturday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m. at the
North Raleigh Hilton (Old Wake
Forest Road)). Blue has earmarked
all proceeds for the local UNCF
chapter.
State and local dignitaries will be
on hand to recognize this statesman
and attorney. ‘Dan deserves
recognition for his leadership in
education, support of historically
black colleges and commitment to
help our young people who are our
future leaders,” said local UNCF
chairman Kenneth Wilkins.
The banquet is sponsored by
Buaweiser/Harris Wnoiesale. for
ticket information, call 546-8290 or
H2B-4451.
Black colleges as they move
toward the 21st century, facing major
challenges - both financial and
academic.
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