Social Activists
Turn Up Heat
BY JACK SCISM
AND WILLIAM MARCH
Daily News Staff Writers
The acquittals of six Ku Klux Klansmen and Na
zis on murder charges Monday seem likely to turn
I up the heat on proposals for social and politica
I change in Greensboro.
Calls for action by city government in the wak
| of the verdicts came Tuesday from a number o
| prominent social activists, both black and white, an
| from advocates of a ward system for electing th
I City Council.
I But most Greensboro City Council member
I said they think the many proposals for change in th
I city should be dealt with separately from the city's
I year-long ordeal over the shootings, the trial and the
I acquittals.
"Fate just dealt us this blow. But it has no rela-
I tion to our form of government or to social attitudes
I in Greensboro," Mayor Jim Melvin said.
Melvin, under heavy pressure since the render-
| ing of the verdicts to defend the city's image before
I local and national press, added, "It should be remem-
I bered that our people in this community don't want
I any part of either side, the Klan or the Commu-
| nists."
Nevertheless, some mainstream black and white
I leaders Tuesday disagreed, saying the city's black
community and others think the shootings and the
acquittals reflect problems in —
Greensboro and call for response by city government.
Several said state or federal agencies should take up the
question of the activities of undercover law officers or inform-
I ers who were among the
1 Klansmen and Nazis involved in
the shootout with the Communist Workers Party a year ago Jfe
| in Moriungside Homes. m* 1 •
"The shootings and local JVlelvin
es are related in that people feel left out of the
I system," said James Johnson, chairman of the city
1 Human Relations Commission. "If it weren't for
those conditions, the CWP wouldn't have been in
j there trying to gain support. The anti-Klan pose was
I just a means of drumming up support."
| "From what we've heard expressed, the city's
I blacks feel the verdicts have an effect on them and
I will be pushing harder for changes in the human rela-
I tions picture in Greensboro, including the ward sys-
1 tem issue," said City Council member Dorothy
Bardolph.
I But Vic Nussbaum expressed the view of most
I of the council when he said, "Many people do think
I it's a racial issue, and they're disappointed with the
I way the verdicts came out. But there's nothing the
I city can do about that. I don't think the verdicts
I should have any effect on city politics."
I An ad-hoc, bi-racial group including nine promi-
I nent blacks and whites issued a statement Tuesday
I saying "the acquittal of the Klan-Nazi defendants
I should not be allowed to transform an anti-Commu-
I nist confrontation into a racial confrontation.'
But the group, which included state S_ _
Frye; the Rev. Otis Hairston, pastor of Shiloh Bap- I
tist Church; the Rev. Chuck Klotzberger, head of I
Greensboro Urban Ministry; and James Clotfelter, I
on the faculty at UNC-G, also asked Greensboro city I
leaders and citizens "to give immediate attention to I
the sources of racial disunity in our community as I
outlined in the reports and studies arising from the I
events of Nov. 3, 1979."
The City Council already has been preparing to I
do just that, but it appears there will be increased I
pressure on the council as a result of the verdicts.
The council planned Monday, prior to the time I
the verdicts were announced, to begin discussion at I
its next meeting Nov. 26 of the recommendations in [
the city Human Relations Commission's recent re- I
port on the shootings and the racial situation in the |
city.
The recommendations in the report include:
• That the council seek a compromise on the I
ward system issue, possibly a plan that would in- I
elude nomination of City Council candidates in dis- I
tricts but with citywide voting in the final election.
• Local ordinances to be adopted
by the council against discrimination
in housing, employment and other areas. Eventually, the Human Relations
I Commission would be given the power
I to enforce those ordinances. Now, it
I has only the power to seek voluntary
I compliance. In its report, it asked that
j the first steps toward enforcement
| authority be taken.
• Review and possibly strengthen-
I ing of the city's affirmative action plan
I for hiring blacks and women.
Ward system proponents have said
I they will not accept a compromise sys-
I tem with citywide elections. George
| Simkins, long-time ward system advo-
I cate, said Tuesday he thinks the ver-
I diets will strengthen resistance to a
compromise.
"The verdicts
will open the eyes
of complacent
people and make
us push harder,"
he said. "Most
people were already pretty adamant on the sub-
[ ject of citywide
I elections."
Simkins "I don't see
I how anyone can say the verdicts aren't
| related to racial attitudes in Greens-
I boro," Simkins said. Other black lead-
I ers referred to the verdicts as a sign
I of a nationwide conservative turn evi-
I denced in the recent national elec-
I tions.
Acquittals
Bring Calls
ForChangesl
