North Carolina Now; 4156; Interview with Richard Kohn

The It's Monday February 3rd tonight the legacy of the Woolworth lunch counter sit in in North Carolina. Hello I'm reading this right thanks for joining us as we kick off a new week here at North Carolina now. Tonight marks the start of our observance of February as Black History Month. This evening our guest will be a USC Chapel Hill historian whose research resulted in several

African-American World War Two veterans receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Also tonight profiles a kindergarten program which is designed to help African American students learn by focusing on their heritage. And Michel Louis heads to Greensboro to speak with some of the participants of the historic Woolworth lunch counter sit in. The program starts tonight in Winston-Salem. Improving student performance is a top priority for educators in North Carolina. One way to do that is to make the material more relevant to the student's background. Tonight producer Maria Lundberg tells us about a unique program which is designed to motivate young African-American students and keep them excited about learning. The beginning of a new school year is a time filled with anticipation for young children for kindergartners. It's just the beginning of a lifelong journey in education. Starting school for the first time is an exciting adventure for any young child but for members of one kindergarten class here in Winston-Salem it also means being

pioneers in a brand new program Riggins every week. I am free and this is the ACAR centric kindergarten class at Jefferson Diggs elementary school a voluntary program selected for these 20 children by their parents. Dig's is the first public school in North Carolina to try Afrocentric education which emphasizes African and black American culture and history. The three year pilot program is an effort to help African American students be more successful in school using positive messages and role models. It's aimed at making the African-American child the center of all the information that's coming in that's

being taught. For instance in teaching the alphabet we don't say A is for apple we say A is for Africa or A's for Anderson Marian Anderson. Someone who has contributed to society and who is an African or an African American. This program is essentially a school within a school after being closed for several years. Diggs reopened in 1995 as an academic and arts magnet school at the work with us do this for you. We notice that they did likes to fix things. They would not turn to learning. We did not have a lot of poorly involvement so we saw this as another strategy or idea how to get kids turned on to learn and how to get parents involved in the school along with teaching academics and the arts. And Jenkins incorporates Afrocentric materials and lessons on this

day. The children are drawing pictures of their families an important part of African culture. In the beginning we. We'll be talking a lot about family and the importance of being in a family and contributing to that family showing responsibility. And so they will be taught in terms of what does it mean to be responsible. What does it mean to be productive. What does it mean to work in unison and cooperatively. What does it mean to be creative those kinds of things will be emphasized time and time again throughout their work for those concerned that a program like this promotes segregation. Teacher Rand Jenkins believes it is just the opposite. The whole idea of being a part of a community and being a part of society. Will be addressed and terms of the fact that we all have a place in society and one

person is no more valuable than another person because of their skin color. So it's not about hate at all it's just the opposite. It's about love for self family and love for humanity and Jenkins sees this program as a way to provide an enriching educational experience for African American students. She also believes it will give them a strong sense of self and where they belong in the world. I want to hear that they're signing up for plays or they signed up for the safety patrol or they're doing some community work with the Boys Club or they're in scouting or something of that nature that they're doing something with the gifts that they have to make society better. Even at this young age they can do something. The goal is to help these children to be more successful not only in school but in line. The gap is world wide and in the 20 she may have

African-American kids in the US. But my goal is that these key at the in three years there will be a narrowing in the gap. That these kids will feel safe with you. So if confidence motivated good about themselves and know that they have a rich heritage to a pole and will go forward and can do anything I want them to be excited about learning. One thing them to be excited about who they are and where they came from and what the possibilities are for them in the future. And if I can do that then I will have been successful all feel happy about that. The Afrocentric program of Diggs Elementary will run for three years with each kindergartners going through the second grade in an Afrocentric environment. At that time the program will be evaluated and the school will decide whether it will continue with a new group of kindergarten students. Well still ahead the individuals who made history some

37 years ago in Greensboro. But right now it's time for statewide news break. For that we turn to Mitchell Lois at the North Carolina now news desk. Good evening Matt. Thanks Zoraida. Good evening everyone. A decision in the sentencing phase of the trial of former lieutenant governor Jimmy green tops our news tonight. The 75 year old Green was sentenced to 33 months of home confinement on tax evasion charges. Earlier today in sentencing Graham the presiding judge cited the severe health problems of the former lieutenant governor. Green reportedly suffers from emphysema severe vascular problems and hardening of the arteries. Green was also fined $250000 and must wear an electronic monitoring device at home. A check of North Carolina's legislators driving record shows a majority of them need to slow down. Somebody one of the General Assembly's 100 some of the members have clean records but ninety nine had a combined total of one hundred forty one speeding tickets leading the lead foot PAC is Democratic Representative

William Wainwright of Craven. He's received twenty one speeding tickets and two other citations over the course of the last 20 years. He's also had four wrecks and had his license suspended three times. Governor Hunt is expected to decide this week whether to terminate food stamp programs and 37 of the state's poorest counties under federal welfare laws. Single childless adults are limited to three months of food stamps in that time able bodied recipients are required to find jobs or enroll in short term job training. The federal law does permit exemptions but some of the governor's aides say an exemption would be inconsistent with the state's Work First program. A new report says Restaurants should not be graded under the current letter system but instead with a pass fail system the North Carolina restaurant rules review committee also says inspections should be done less frequently. The committee sent the report to the North Carolina commission of health services in December. No changes are expected anytime soon.

The rules could take years to approve if approved regulations would first take effect as pilot programs in a few counties and then be implemented statewide. Biologist and sports fishermen are teaming up to gather more information about the bluefin tuna later this month. Scientists will begin implanting electronic tracking devices n2 into tuna caught off the coast. Scientists are studying the species to develop better plants to protect them. The new data will help biologists get better information about setting quotas seasons and catch limits. Bluefin tuna is one of the world's largest most popular and least understood fish. Looking ahead to tomorrow's weather seasonably mild temperatures in the 40s and 50s are expected high in the low 60s as forecast for Wilmington. The likelihood of rain is 50 percent or better for most of North Carolina tomorrow. And business news February marks a crucial month in the fight over tobacco. President Clinton is endorsing sweeping federal rules expected February 28. Those

regulations would ban the distribution of anything advertising cigarettes snuff or other tobacco products. The Food and Drug Administration also wants to outlaw vending machines and self-service displays that make it easier for young people to get around the laws and buy tobacco products. Philip Morris and several tobacco and advertising allies are seeking an injunction from a federal judge in Greensboro to block the new rules. That hearing is set for a week from today. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Our guest tonight was instrumental in seeking out seven African-American World War

Two veterans who are eligible to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Before this research was conducted no black soldiers had received this highest honor for bravery. Dr. Richard Cohen a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill long with a colleague. We're contracted by the army to determine why no black soldiers had received this prestigious award. Here to tell us about his research and the end results is Dr. Richard Cohen. Doctor welcome and thank you for coming here tonight. Thank you for having me on the show. Let's start with a little bit of background there's 10 there were thousands and thousands of African-Americans who served with distinction and World War Two but not one had received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Well that's true because although there were over a million African-Americans who served in the war in the army. Mostly they were relegated to service and service support roles and the army was very much segregated at the time so most black Americans didn't have the same opportunity to serve in combat that whites did so as a

result. There was simply less combat time but there were certainly some that did serve in combat that were deserving of the award that didn't get it. There's no question about that the Army Form to all black divisions at least all the enlisted men were black. There were some white officers and all the officers virtually all the officers at higher ranks were African-American or were white. But the truth of the matter is is that they were in combat and even the units that were a service support or combat support or just service units were exposed to combat at various times. And when we went back to research whether any of these individuals had been nominated for the Medal of Honor we found numerous instances where they had served in battle and served bravely even if they weren't in what's known as the combat arms of the army. That is the infantry the artillery. Or the armor. So there were many instances of black bravery and and many instances

of great deeds of valor. So tell me about your research how did you actually go about pinpointing which men were eligible to receive this award. Well the Army asked for proposals to do this research and Shaw University won the contract we assembled a team of military historians some very distinguished ex officers who who were excellent researchers and knowledgeable about the army and its records and the Army asked us to find individuals who had been nominated and to research the way in which the Medal of Honor had been awarded. All the rules the regulations how it had worked in the various theaters in various units. We did that about midway through the research we could find no contemporary evidence at the time that there had been black soldiers nominated. So the Army said Well continue the research but fine. Deeds of valor find us all the African-Americans or black soldiers who had won the second highest award the Distinguished Service Cross. So we

continued our research we found exactly how the medal was awarded how it differed in various theaters even though it was not supposed to because only the War Department could either award the medal or veto the medal if a person had been nominated. And we found other members of various units and divisions who had performed ably and in fact had won the Distinguished Service Cross. You had said it at the beginning of that answer that you had found no contemporary evidence at the time and I would imagine that a lot of that is due in fact to the prejudice that existed at the time. Well we thought so but that's a very hard thing to to prove. People don't leave direct evidence of their racism very often although we found quite a bit. But the law itself was the oversight was very obvious because in almost every Well in fact in every other war a major action since the Medal of Honor was created early in the civil war. Black soldiers had one and yet this

war had the most numbers who had served. So we sat down to try to explain that anomaly and we started with the fact that the army was segregated in that blacks had less chance to to serve in combat. And then we showed how they are how the metal had been differently administered in various places and then we showed that in the division in which blacks saw the most combat the 90 second division there was a pattern of racial discrimination and in fact black veterans were very clear in telling us that there was in their judgment an unwritten rule that no black would win the highest award. We're starting to run out of time Dr. But I found it very interesting how you presented the different cases you understand that you took 10 cases of African-American soldiers and compared them against actual winners of the award we did not do that. The army kept asking us what should we do. We identified nine members who

had won the Distinguished Service Cross and a 10th soldier whose company commander still alive today said he had nominated him for the Medal of Honor for an action. And so we simply presented the case of these individuals showed what they had done and then informally recommended that the army that to the army that if they did some kind of blind comparison it might in fact on an equitable basis using the standards of the time by combat soldiers today looking at this in the light of their experience and perspective they might come up with one or more African-American and out of the nine or 10 they actually came up with how many. Seven in the end they thought were deserving of the award. One of the things we found out too I should say is that even at the time the army recognized that the distinctions between the highest the second highest and the third highest award were very difficult to make. And the language overlapped it was ill defined. And it's a matter of personal judgment. But these men clearly were

had distinguished actions several of them were killed in the actions that eventually won for them the Medal of Honor. And so clearly by the Army's standards at the time and today these were deserving individuals and it was a pleasure really to work on a subject that could provide some justice even 50 years after the fact and that we live in a country that's willing to admit its mistakes and will rectify them in the present if it can you can right your wrongs. Dr. Taylor We thank you very much. Thank you. February 1st marked 47 year sounds for black Greensboro college students made

history by refusing to leave the whites only lunch counter that well worth their sit in led to their claim to flame as the Greensboro Four. However some say there were eight others who were instrumental in launching the sit ins were not recognized. Tonight Michel Louis speaks with two of them. David Richmond he's ill Blair who is now Djibril because on Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. These men are forever ingrained in history as the Greensboro Four. The group which ignited the sit in movement at the Woolworth's store in Greensboro to peacefully protest the management's refusal to serve blacks at its lunch counter. However the Rev. Alexander Fawcett an assistant pastor at Bethel am a church and a sit in participant says there were more than the Greensboro Four who started the movement. It was just about 12 of us during the course time when the thing first began. And we have discussed it and we didn't know which way it was

going to go because we had built up the nerve to do this and we say well Les go and do it. Jim's general agrees he was a classmate of Blair because John and David Richmond at Dudley High School in 1959 general says he participated in the movement because of the closeness he had with his classmates that they were more or less the leaders or the coordinators of it. But there were other people other persons involved in the city and specially the members of that class of 1959 as well as those of the students at AT&T and you can see green spar of the women scholars some of them joined as well as the Bennett students. Yes it says it was not only difficult trying to get service at the counter but it was also a task trying to explain to other blacks what they were doing was quite a few of our people did not understand they still want to go in and get food to go and we tried to

explain to them this is what we're fighting for when we can see that they can sit at the counter and eat our food just like a normal person or anyone else. You know at that time James Jerald was a sophomore at once in Salem State University. He would come home on weekends to support the sit in. Well sitting at the counter or even when we protested some of the. Derogatory statements that were made by one of two people might have had their coats or something or a piece of clothing on someone was smoking or sugar might have been their own assault or something of that nature in a very subtle way not very violent but it was involved and once someone threw a firecracker and it caused some confusion then I was on the line and this is when all of us got locked up. It was over 45 of the guy locked that door and I and the nuns and

everybody else that got us out you know because of this but they had dropped that they're going to make no charges against us but it was cleared up later on. Also it says many of the people who started the incident did not seem to be Greensboro residents people coming out of from different farm areas outskirts of town and this type of thing and they were the ones causing trouble spared no mistletoe and cigarette butts and doing this type of stuff. It wasn't what you may say. Middle class upper class were given us problems it was similar to the lower class the general says that times he wanted to retaliate but in our meetings that we had it was like the local churches and so what this is what we would talk about is to be strong and you know to have that advice of the kind. But there were times when I would want to lash out. But you had to maintain as we say Your coup.

But on February 1st 1960 when the sit in efforts came to a head the names Richmond McCain lair and McNeil became synonymous with the sit in efforts for success that's when he became concerned about the others who were not getting recognized. We would take turns coming up to the counter and then going back to L.A. for class. And during this time when these guys got the recognition they were it was their time to go out and buy them going up look like and that look like they got all the interviews and everything else at that time. Fawcett says an attempt was made to recognize the other eight who were involved in planning the sit in. James Taylor myself we had bought up to like blather about well when you don't have a tail about the rest of us it was like 12 of us and like I don't round table read

parenting. You're missing the other when I say I just feel that you should bring some names and more names into it who really help all the NIEs this week it was a dish you are to organize this but nothing was never said. But Fawcett in general say they harbor no ill feelings about the lack of recognition because the mission they set out to do at the Woolworth's lunch counter was accomplished which led to other breakthroughs. This had been a goal accomplished and many times thought about the struggle that it was to get to be able to sit at the lunch counter where you did your shopping or whatever as well as providing opportunities one could apply for jobs as clerks and not just the menial jobs.

No you don't know you know I have. I feel that we did accomplish that with the first movie even four as the serving of food that a job situation had changed. We found that a lot of blacks were again moved in different positions saw even jobs as goods. This was a turning point. Both Boston and general say they don't want to appear describe. They also don't want to place a dark cloud over the significance of the Greensboro Four. Their purpose is to simply let people know that there were more than four people involved in the sit in false and general say they don't see themselves as heroes but as people who stood up for what they felt was right. Well that'll do it for tonight's edition of North Carolina now tomorrow former U.S. Senator Terry Sanford's joins us. He will be here to talk about politics but rather his new book about growing old he offers a fascinating perspective.

Then on Wednesday gospel great Shirley Caesar will perform for us. Have a great evening everyone. Good night.