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Crat
Commission Study Uncovers Racist Attitude
by cash Michaels
Contributing Writer
The alleged beating of a 16-year
old African-American teenager by
Crabtree Valley Mall eecurity was
the direct result of an unwritten
mall policy that black youth "break
the rules or cause more trouble than
other groupe and therefore must be
treated differently," according to a
city task force report released Wed
nesday.
The report, submitted to the City
of Raleigh’s Human Resources/
Human Relations Advisory Com
mission, also alleges that Crabtree’s
security chief “tolerates racial, sex
ist and ethnic jokes” and that “dis
parate treatment, if not outright
discrimination, is practiced in han
dling all personnel on the [Crabtree]
police force.”
Hie report emanates from an
investigation by Raleigh’s Human
Resourcdes Department and a spe
cial Crabtree task force of the com
mission, into an incident involving
16-year-old Lorenzo McCoy at
Crabtree Mall on Jan. 25.
As first and exclusively reported
by The CAROLINIAN six week*
ago, McCoy charged that he and twc
other teenage friends were told to
leave the mall by Chief of Security
John Wilson for allegedly loitering.
After a verbal exchange, McCoy and
his friends claim they were leaving
when Chief Wilson radioed for secu
rity backup, then ran from behind
the youths to block their exit. Wilson
then redirected them toward a hall
way that McCoy deacribed aa "dark
and narrow.”
When McCoy refueed to uee that
exit, and tried to proceed toward the
way he came in, he claima the chief
grabbed him and a struggle eneued.
It was then that another security
guard separated the two and hit
McCoy across the face with his fist.
McCoy claim* he was also subse
quently kicked.
McCoy and one of the other youths
were handcuffed and taken down
stairs to a security office, where he
claims more verbal and racial abuse
occurred. He was eventually
charged with assault on a govern
(See CRABTREE, P. 2)
NAACPAnd
Community
React To
Crabtree
Report Here
Community reaction to the
Raleigh Human Relations Commis
sion report on Crabtree Valley
Mall’s security farce has been swift
and strong, with several calls for the
dropping of all charges against 16
year-old Lorenzo McCoy. Many of
the people and organizational rep
resentatives that The CAROLIN
IAN spake with ezpreesed satisfac
tion that there was now hard evi
dent* of alleged racism on the mail’s
part!
“I find the report by the Human
Relations Task Force very disturb
ing, and a clear, unbiased review of
the events, actions and attitudes
prevalent [when the incident took
place]," said Bruce Lightner, com
munity activist and member of the
Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association.
"It farther seems evident that
Crabtree does not intend to live up
to the accord it reached in August
1991 to settle the first controversy
(See REACTION, P.2)
HUMAN RELATIONS
AWARDS
Johnny Blaylock, founder
of the “Friends Committee
Against the Spread of Drugs
and AIDS,” and Beth MeCal
lister, a healthcare specialist
who has worked tirelessly to
help persons living with
AIDS, ware among citizens
honored at the Raleigh Hu
man ResouroeWHuman Rela
tions Advisory Commission
Awards Luncheon held at St.
Augustine’s College last
Wednesday. The awards were
given to citizens who have
aaade extraordinary contri
butions to the community.
Blaylock, whose organiza
tion will be opening an AIDS
hospice house on South
Bloodworth Street, gave his
award to his daughter, in
hopes that she will “pass it on
to her children one day.”
HELMS CAMPAIGN
CHARGED
The VJ. Justice Depart
ment filed suit against the
1890 re-election campaign of
Republican UJ3. Sen. Joses
Helms and the N.C. Republi
can Party last Wednesday for
the mailing of 180,000 post
cards that allegedly intimi
dated blaek voters in several
predominantly black pre
dates. Many believe that the
intent of the postoards,
which erroneously told black
voters that they were not eli
gible to vote and would be
prosecuted if they did, was to
undermine the candidacy of
Democratic 8enate chal
lenger Harvey Gantt, an AM
Bather than fight the suit,
the Helms re-election com
mittee filed a oonsent decree
at the same timeinU.8. Dis
trict Court, denying the
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P.2)
Superintendent Candidate
Asks ‘Freedom Schools*
BY CASH MICHAELS
BtefTWriter
He is the first African-American
in North Carolina history to run for
the state’s top education post, state
schools superintendent. But to 37
year-old Vernon Robinson, that is
not why he wants to win.
And the prospect of dethroning
yet another prominent Democrat in
the person of incumbent Bobby
Etheridge, while enticing, still isn’t
enough for this up-and-coming star
in the Republican Party ranks.
Proving that expensive bureauc
racy an be cut, local school system
autonomy enhanced, and parents'
right to choose the schools of their
choice are the reasons why this as
sistant professor at Winston-Salem
State University wants the title
"State School Superintendent” to
come before his name.
And Vernon Robinson feels that it
is in the African-American
community's particular interest
that he get elected.
"Public schools have failed low
income children and have treated
them as disposable,” Robinson told
The CAROLINIAN last week as he
officially announced his candidacy.
That is why he feels radical educa
tional reform is necessary, and' part
of that reform means schools of
choice for black parents.
VERNON ROBINSON
attend private school*.
Robinson has called on black
churches statewide to consider the
recreation of "Freedom Schools," a
reference to many of the church
baaed schools for the children of
slaves after the Civil War. Robinson
says this is the "second period of
American slavery” because the cur
rent public school system has cre
ated "welfare state” conditions in
the AfWcan-Ammerican commu
nity.
Vernon Robinson has called on
churches statewide to consider the re
creation of “Freedom Schools,” a refer
ence to many of the church-based
schools for the children of slaves after
the Civil War.
*1 support empowering parents to
choose die public school that beet
meets their children's educational
needs. Choice ensures that every*
one in a particular school shares a
common vision," he says. Allowing
parental choice would, according to
Robinson, expose bad schools to
competiti vimriket forces* making,
them get hotf' * or close down. Low
income parents snouid get tuition
grants to allow their children to
Robinson says black churches can
hind “freedom schools” through fed
eral hinds offered through the U.S.
Education Department's O.I. Bill,
with additional hinds from the
stats.
“I want to save educational oppor
tunity in public schools, but to do
that» wamust change these schools
and hold thi m responsible to every
parent regardless of income,” said
Robinson.
At the first megor debate between
Robinson, incumbent Etheridge,
and Democratic challenger C. Owen
Phillips, superintendent of the High
Point City Schools, Robinson
pushed for parental choice and more
local control. He said he would
greatly reduce the number of ad
ministrators currently employed by
the state, establish 'world-class
standards* so that North Carolina
students can be competitive with
their foreign counterparts, and put
the best possible teachers in the
classrooms, indicating that “the
best” didn’t necessarily mean that
they would need teaching degrees.
“This election will be a referen
dum on whether the parents and
other taxpayers in North Carolina
beleive in higher spending, higher
taxes on a smaller family budget to
improve schools, or whether they
support the real education reform
package I have outlined. That’s the
choice for 1992,” said Robinson.
Enloe & Two Durham
Schools To “Superquest”
RESEARCH TRIANGLE
PARK—Two team* of student* and
teachers from Enloe High School in
Raleigh, a team from Jordan High in
Durham, and a team from Durham
High have accepted a challenge that
will stretch the groups’ imagina
tions, build stronger math and sci
ence skills and give the teams a
whole new perspective on how sci
ence can be done.
That’s NC SuperQuest—an excit
ing competition sponsored by the
N.C. Supercomputing Center at
MCNC. Designed to reward stu
dents and teachers for work on proj
ects of their choice, it also teaches
them computational science—
“doing* science on a computer.'
To enter NC SuperQuest, the
students and their teacher-coaches
from Enloe High submitted one ini
tial idea titled “Future Traffic
Within the Solar System,* and an
other initial idea titled ‘Postpone
ment of Population Takeover of
Support Systems*
Durham’s Jordan High School
students are working a project titled
“A Study of Structural Integrity
Through a Seismic Disturbance.*
And Durham High School stu
dents, entering the competition for
the second time in a row, submitted
an abstract for a project titled “Pro
jecting the Effects of Human Inter
ference on the Duke Forest Ecosys
tem.”
Other teams from public and pri
vate high schools across the state
submitted abstracts with ideas for
computational problems that range
from the jet stream to weather
modeling, from pollution control to
earthquakes, from space stations to
cell growth, and more.
“Those teams will work hard, but
they will enjoy it,” says NC Super
Quest Manager Kris Allsbury. “And
just as important, the students who
participate in NC SuperQuest are
learning computational skills they
will be able to use in school now and
in many areas of education or sci
ence they may choose later on.”
For teachers, this is a chance to
rediscover their excitement about
teaching math and science as they
put supercomputing to work in the;
classroom.
Now the teams are working to
refine their initial ideas into pro
posal form forjudging. On April 1, a
panel of independent judges will
■elect preliminary winners from
four separate geographic regions of
North Carolina and one at-large
team.
In June, these five preliminary
winning teams will spend two weeks
at NCSC for the NC SuperQuest
Summer Institute. During that
time, the students will learn more
about supercomputing with hands
on experience, lectures and demOn
(See SUPERQUEST. P. 2) >•
CRIME
BEAT
Editor's Note: This column, a
fixture of The CAROLINIAN in
years past, has returned to our
pages in hopes of deterring
crime in our community. The
information contained herein is
taken from public arrest rec
ords and does not necessarily
mean those mentioned are
guilty of crimes.
FACES ASSAULT CHARGES
Myra Denise Dula of1780 Proctor
St has been charged with simple
assault on 46-year-old Tesse Rogers
Horton. The 31-year-old Ms. Dula
allegedly assaulted Ms. Horton in
the parking lot of the Proctor Street
address on Monday at 2:30 p.m. No
injuries were reported.
STUDENTS ARRESTED
Ms. Clarissa Marie Sanders of
114 Dabney Hall and Dawn Ramona
Hebbert of 1315 Oakwood Avenue
have been arrested and charged
with larceny and larceny and ob
struction, respectively. The duo was
allegedly caught shoplifting at a
retail store at 4217 Six Forks Road
at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. $240 worth
of merchandise was reported stolen.
NABBED FOR POSSESSION
Lamont Travis Jones of 2616
Steward Drive reportedly broke the
narcotic drug law by possessing .2
grams of crack cocaine Saturday in
the parking lot of the 300 block of
Dacian Road. The incident report
edly happened between 12:15 and
(See CRIME BEAT, P. 2)
Needham Broughton High Student
Wins $40,000 Morehead Scholarship
CHAPEL HILL—Maurice Anto
nio Smith, a senior at Needham B.
Broughton High School, has won a
1992 Morehead Award to the Uni
versity of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
Smith, the eon of Frederick and
Battle Smith of 1009 Wollstane
Circle, Apex, ia president of Top
Teens of America, Inc., a member of
the varsity basketball team and a
participant in Governor's School
West in mathematics.
The $40,000 scholarship pays all
expenses for four years of under
graduate study at UNC-CH and for
a four-part summer enrichment
program. The John Motley More
head Foundation also pays a tuition
differential for out-of-state schol
ars. The award is renewable annu
ally.
Criteria for the award include
academic achievement, leadership,
moral fores of character and physi
cal vigor. Recipientsare determined
by merit and achievement, not by
financial need.
The aummar enrichment pro*
gram complement* each scholar’s
classwork with opportunitiee for
hands-on leadership and problem
solving experience*. The program's
Internships focus on four areas:
outdoor leadership, public service,
private enterprise, and travel and
study abroad.
Trustees of the John Motley
Morehead Foundation in Chapel
Hill have awarded scholarships to
50 high-school seniors in North
Carolina and Id other states for
study beginning next fall.
Morehead Scholar selection fol
lowed a screening process that be
gan in September 1991 and conco
luded in Chapel Hill Feb. 22-25.
"Theee students exemplify the
qualities we seek in a Morehead
Scholar,” said Charles E. Lovelace,
Jr., executive director of the More
head Foundation. "Their outstand
ing scholastic record and involve
ment in extracurricular activities
make them the kind of well-rounded
■tudents who will enhance the aca
demic community of the univerelty
(See SCHOLARSHIP, P. 2'
MAURICE A. SMITH