?
r
i
Dept of Cultural
Resources, N.C. State Library
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh NC 27601
xvnucaun, n.u,
THURSDAY,
APRIL 30,1992
VOL. 51, NO. 46
/f.C/8 Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY Of?
IN RALEIGH <£30
ELSEWHERE 30C
Raleigh Housing Authority And
Residents Begin Annual Spring
Cleanup Campaign In City
Page 13
“The Cosby Show” Leaves Prime
Time After Eight Great Seasons.
Page 22
12th District Race Crowded With 9- Candidates
Hi* 12th congressional district
race has produced considerable
competition but relatively little
voter interest, residents and candi
dates say.
"The primary is right around the
corner and I don’t even see signs in
the yards," said Howard Clement, a
district resident of Durham.
The race boasts seven black can
Barnes Seeks
To Overturn
Conviction In
BB Gun Case
BY CAmh MxuriAKI JS
Stair Writer
“You don’t know me, honey, bu
m tell you what. Fm-a be here ever}
day you’re here to support you, be
cause the community has to be in
volved."
Outside the courtroom, it was thi
voice of a stranger, a mother of tw<
children. But for 16-year-old Willi<
Barnes and his mother, Mattie
knowing who the woman was wasn’’
important. Knowing that she, ant
hundreds of others who had com<
forward, and supported the Bamei
family during excruciatingly trying
timee, was valuable comfort amid <
storm of legal controversy.
The last few months have been ai
ordeal for Willie, Mattie and hit
stepfather, Jim Scales, but demand
ing justice and being willing to fighi
for it gave them the will to see i
through.
It was Feb. 4 when Willie Morrii
Barnes was convicted in Wake Die
trict Court on assault and verba
threat charges stemming from al
legsdly bringing a broken BB gun t<
school last November. But what
puzzled, and in some cases out
raged, many who fallowed Willie’*
case was why the judge who sen
tenced him said she was making an
example of the teen for bringing a
BB gun to school, when that allega
tion was never officially part of the
charges before her.
(See ORDEAL, P.2)
NEWS BRIEFS
-rEACHER GETS
TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
Sherleen Conte, fourth
grade teacher at Stough Ele
atentary School, has been
awarded the Dan Royster
Memorial Scholarship, val
ued at $1,000, to be use din the
Raleigh-Odense, Denmark
Citizens for International
Understanding exchange
program, May 13-27. Corne
has taught in North Carolina
public schools for 20 years.
She will use the experience
in the classroom.
BRAIN ATTACKS HIT
BUCKS HARDER
Thousands of African
Americans are incapacitated
or killed by stroke each year.
And evidence that “strokes
target blacks preferentially
is overwhelming and indis
putable,*’ says Edward S.
Cooper, MJ)., the first black
to serve as president-elect of
the American Heart Assoc is
tion*
These crippling, death
dealing “brain attacks,”
caused by blockages in the
blood vessels supplying the
brain, strike twice as often
among blacks as among the
white populataion. Stroke
also strikes blacks with
much greater severity and at
a much earlier average age.
Black males in the prime of
life are especially at risk.
NCAE ELECTS LOWRY
Members of the North
(Sea NEWS BRIEFS, P. 2)
didata*—four Democrat* and three
Republicans—in addition to two
white Republicans. It got off to a late
start because district boundaries
weren’t finally set until early
March.
The lines were drawn to give
blacks a majority and North Caro
lina another U.S. seat as warranted
by the state’s population growth.
Candidates have tried to get out
their message through a series of
debates held throughout the district
but attendance has been poor.
"Die problem is this: people are
just turned off to politics,” said
Larry Little, a Winston-Salem law
yer and college professor who’s run
ning for the Democratic nomina
tion.
"To have a district with so many
quality black candidates and no one
is listening, it’s disheartening. A lot
of people gave up sweat and tears to
live for this,” he said.
The new district could send to
Congress the first black from North
Carolina in 91 years.
Most of the candidates say they
have little money and have avoided
PRAYING FOR JUSTICE — Citizens and community
leaden joined with 16-year-old Willie Barnes, second
from right, his mother, Mattie end stepfather, Jim Scales
and stepbrother, Jesse, for a community prayer vigil last
moiim luuici niny, Jr. Memorial Gardens.
Barnes was in court this week after being granted an
appeal on charges of assault and communicating a threat.
Black-On-Black Crime
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference said they will take their
message to the* streets to try and
stop the urban violence that is a
leading cause of death among young
blacks.
“We did not fight in Birmingham,
Montomery and Baltimore to stop
our children from being at the back
of the bus to put them at the back of
a hearse,” the Rev. Joseph E. Low
ery said recently.
“Economi violence in the suites is
spawning violence in the streets,”
contends the Atlanta-based organi
zation which is urging members in
its 380 national chapters and
churches, civic groups and labor
unions to fight the epidemic of ur
ban violence through their “Stop the
Killing” campaign.
The FBI reports that 93 percent of
5,279 black murder victims were
killed by other blacks in 1990, the
latest year figures were available.
“Blood is running down the
streets—blacks are killing blacks,”
Lowery said. "We must stop the kill
ing.”
Jim Williams, a spokesman for
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People in
Baltimore, agreed that black-on
black violence is one of the most
pressing concerns facing the black
community.
“When there is poverty, a sense of
despair and there doesn’t seem to be
any way out, it does tend to foster
violence against each other,” he
said.
The SCLC wants to set up com
missions to track urban killings and
demonstrate against the violence.
The campaign is targeting Atlanga,
Baltimore, Birmingham, Chicago,
Cleveland, Dallas, Dayton, Ohio,
Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles and
St. Petersburg, Fla.
The group also wants to begin
amnesty programs with local
churches and law enforcement
atgencies to give people the opportu
nity to dispose of guns. Tougher gun
control legislation is also being
backed by the organization, includ
ing a mandatory waiting period for
gun buyers and parental liability of
children commit arimes using their
parents’ guns.
Other grassroots programs being
implemented are neighborhood
watches, victims networks and tru
ancy sweeps to curb school absen
But the killing won’t be stopped
until the issues affecting urban
blacks are addressed not only in the
black community but by society at
large, the SCLC said.
“We are killing each other be
cause of poverty, racism and drugs;”
said Brenda Davenport, coordinator
of youth and student affairs for the
SCLC. “We have to ask why we have
this response. We need to channel
this energy toward hurting and
redirect it.”
Members said the civil rights
movement has taken a step back
ward during the Reagan and Bush
administrations. Continuing eco
nomic hard times are also aggravat
ing racial tensions.
“There has been an increase in
racial animosity that has cut back
on the progress that has been
made,” Williams said. “When there
is a diminishing of jobs, society
tends to become cruel and less com
passionate. African-Americans are
disproportionately affected but
many whites are too.”
Faced with growing unemploy
ment and few opportunities, many
see drug trafficking as their only
option.
"Die economic violence that op
presses black people generates anti
social behavior,” said Lowery. “Le
gitimate need turns into illegiti
mate greed; so they choose drugs,
Uiminifl Ciummiu UniMilat UHUAt ujH|
w iryiniB tsuvuriiin uou^Nii niwtr ■■ win
be the keynote speaker at St.
Auguatine’s College commencement
exercises en May TO at 3 p.m. in the
Raleigh Civic and Convention Center.
possibility.”
The government needs to provide
better education, job training and
employment opportunities for the
urban poor, SCLC leaders said.
‘If I gave a grade to the federal
government for dealing with vio
lence, I’d give them an F,” said
Martin Luther King, III, son of the
civil rights leader who founded the
SCLC. “We’ve got to save this na
tion.”
(See SCLC TARGETS, P. 2)
Triangle Protestors
To Join Thousands
At Hamlet Rally
BY CASH MICHAELS
Staff Writer
An anticipated 500 protesters
from the Triangle are expected to
join thousands more from around
the country for a mass march/rally
in Hamlet this Saturday to demand
justice for the survivors of the Impe
rial Foods tragedy. Twenty-five
people were killed last Sept. 3 when
a fire raged through the chicken
processing plant, trapping many
inside.
The owner, Emmett Rowe; his son
Brad, and the plant manager,
James Hair, were indicted for man
slaughter. Emmett Roe, who report
edly filed for bankruptcy, faces more
than $800,OOOin fines and penal ties
from the state.
The workplace tragedy, called the
worstin North Carolina history, has
spurred state lawmakers to propose
revisions in North Carolina’s work
ers’ safety laws and strengthen
penalties for employers who violate
them.
Despite subsequent sanctions
after the fire, there are many across
the South and the country who feel
that the Hamlet tragedy can and
will happen again as long as work
ers’ rights are not adequately ad
dressed by government.
According to Ajamu Gordon Dil
lahunt of the Black Workers for
Justice, the march, sponsored by the
Justice for Hamlet/Organize the
South Coalition, will push several
current demands that must be met
to ensure justice for the Imperial
Poods workers.
“We want to let the government
(See HAMLET, P. 2)
costly radio and TV ada. Charlotte
lawyer Mel Watt, a former state
senator and one of four Democrats
running in the district, has recenlty
begun radio spots, as has state Rep.
H.M. “Mickey” Michaux, D-Dur
ham.
'The Republicans have even a
more difficult task; the district is
nearly 80 percent Democrat.
“We know it’s an uphill battle,”
said Republican O.C. Stafford of
Greensboro, a businessman and
computer analyst. "We’vejustgotto
give the best message we can and
listen to what voters say.”
Michaux can expect to have an
advantage in his home town of
(See 12TH DISTRICT, P. 2)
Agency To Pursue
Delinquent Child
Support Payments
Child Support Collectors, Inc., in
connection with Child Support
Services and Credit Services of
Norfolk, Va., has established the
first private agency in North Caro
lina dedicated solely to the collec
tion of delinquent child support. The
announcement was made by Robert
N. Bander, president of Child Sup
port Collectors, Inc. of Raleigh.
Child Support Collectors will in
corporate modem collection tech
niques to the mammoth problem of
collecting delinquent court-ordered
child support in North Carolina and
across the country.
“Nationally, more than $18.9 bil
lion went uncollected for child sup
port in 1989. In that same year,
North Carolina alone reported more
than $65 million in outstanding
child support just for 1989,” said
3ander.
Julie Coffey, vice president and
director of client services, added,
“Throughout the United States,
state bureaus for child support en
forcement are extremely overbur
dened, and our court system is back
logged with countless cases of delin
quent child support.
“Many custodial parents, most
often motehers, literally must wait
years for their cases to come to court.
Then they incur expensive legal
fee3, with no guarantee of ever col
lecting a penny,” said Coffey.
“Meanwhile, these custodial par
ents muist find a way to feed and
clothe their children without the
absent parent’s financial assis
tance.
“Child Support Collectors offers a
new alternative to state agencies
kand expensive lawyers for these
custodial parents,” she added.
Cost to the custodial parent is a
$40 no-nrefundable application fee.
Child Support Collectors then re
tains 30 percent of whatever they
CRIME BEAT
COUNTERFEIT COCAINE
Twenty-two-year-old Marcellous Johnson of 1507 E. Jones St. was
charged with possession of two grams of a white substance police identify
as “counterfeit cocaine.” Police claim Johnson allegedly intended to sell the
substance as cocaine.
FORGERY
Donald Reid Evans, 30, of986 Harp Terrace, was arrested on April 25
and charged with forgery on a U.S. Treasury tax refund check worth
$124.41 and on an application for check-cashing purposes. Evans was also
charged with resisting arrest and uttering obscenities to a police officer.
ASSAULTING FEMALE
Twenty-six-year-old Donell Smith of970 Harp Terrace is charged with
assaulting Brigette Hood, 24, at her apartment. Police classify the allged
assault as “strong arm,” but would not elaborate.
INDECENT EXPOSURE
Julio Vasquez, 42, was arrested on April 25 and chargd with idecent
exposure involving a 32-year-old black female. Police say the alleged sex
offense occurred at the woman’s apartment.
SHOPTLIFTING WATCH
Belinda Person, 31, of Route 2, Box 245, Franklinton, was charged with
stealing a gold watch valued at $20 from a Capital Boulevard clothing store
last week.
CONCEALED WEAPON
Ronald James Antonio Brown, 25, of 703 Bart Avenue, was charged
with carry) ng a concealed weapon. Police say Brown was arrested April 25
at 800 E. Hargett St. with a .22-caliber pistol and 48 high-velocity .22
caliber Remington bullets.
collect.
“If the agency is unable to collect
any monies from the absent parent,
the custodial parent does not pay
anything. Bottom line: no collec
tion—no charge,” said Bander.
“Some people might object to our
collecting a fee for delinquent child
support,” said Coffey. “But we are
helping parents to recover desper
ately needed monies which, through
conventional methods, they might
otherwise never receive.
“This extra income that the chil
dren are entitled to will provide a
better quality oflife for them. In this
country, 13 million children live
below the federal poverty line. As
much as 25 percent of the parents
and children affected by divorce
never see a dime of child support
payments as mandated by the
courts,” she continued.
Child Support Collectors employs
many traditional collection agency
tactics as well as the latest in state
of-the-art computer technology.
The state agencies don’t have the
success that a collection agency has
with these cases. A state’s approach
is to attempt to locate the delin
quent parent and then refer the case
for legal action. The state simply
does not have the advantages of the
technology, staff and the techniques
of a collection agency in finding the
delinquent parents and then con
vincing them to pay,” said Bander.
Child Support Collectors has es
tablished a local number for inquir
ies, 787-8573. Custodial parents
who are not currently receiving
AFDC and have child support pay
ments which are delinquent at least
30 days are encouraged to call for a
free consultation.
Eligible applicants must have a
court order in effect for child sup
port, and the child must be living
with the custodial parent.