[Posted Jan. 2, 2008]

Year In Review Politics, Racial Divide In The News

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter

New Journal & Guide
 
   By this time next year we could be celebrating the inauguration of the nation’s first African American president or its first woman president. Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama or  New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton could make history if the polls continue to show that they could beat any of the top contenders seeking the Republican Party nomination.
But first, the two and others seeking the White House must go through the process of acquiring the party’s nominations which begins this month, as the first primaries and caucuses take place in Iowa and then New Hampshire. 
   Polls indicate Blacks are torn between supporting Clinton and Obama, because they feel she is perceived as the candidate with the best chance of regaining the White House for the Democrats.
       But Obama, who is considered an “electable” black candidate, has either surpassed or is gaining ground on Clinton in Iowa, New Hampshire and other states with early primary races. With business woman and talk show host Oprah Winfrey at his side, Obama staged a series of well-attended rallies in South Carolina.
The Obama campaign and political pundits believe that Winfrey has raised Obama’s profile not only among women, but African Americans, period.

Running Strong

   Senator Barack Obama and Hillary R. Clinton would make history by being elected as the 44th president of the United States. She would be the first woman, 87 years after women got the right to vote, and he would be the first African American elected to the nation’s highest political office, three generations after his forefathers were emancipated  from the bonds of slavery.

Local Highlights

Aborted Job Opportunity

   Among the top local stories of the year, one in Norfolk that came toward the end of 2007. It involved the hiring of Alphonso Albert to head a new city agency which would coordinate crime prevention efforts in some of Norfolk’s most troubled neighborhoods.
For nine years, Albert had been successfully running the city’s Second Chances program which is designed to provide support services for ex-cons when he was picked by Norfolk City Manager Regina Williams. But controversy around disclosures that Albert was a convicted felon led to his resignation from the position.
    Some black leaders said the controversy surrounding Albert was designed to tarnish the record of the city manager who has come under criticism from some segments of the city for her management style and administrative decisions. She has vowed not to resign from office and has received a vote of confidence from the city council since then.

 Another One Bites The Dust

   The building which once housed the Union Kempsville High School, the first high school designed to educate African Americans in Princess Anne County, was demolished. During June alumni held a “last walk” to  observe the  school’s contributions to  educating African Americans during and before the end of the Jim Crow era.

Resurrecting The Old
 

   Built in the late 1940s to serve as the library for the black community during Jim Crow, the old Community library was moved from the parking lot of Emanuel Baptist to the 700 block of Elm Street. The city’s Black Historical Society will convert the building into a history and cultural museum.

An Irreplaceable Loss

   The 147-year-old Zion Baptist Church, located in the heart of Portsmouth’s downtown business corridor, burned to the ground in late December. The flame was sparked by a flame in the sanctuary, fire officials said.

Norfolk makes

World History

   The tallest man in the U.S., George Bell, is a deputy with the Norfolk Sheriff’s Department. Standing 7 feet, 8 inches, Bell is even taller than NBA player Yao Ming, according to the Guinness World Record.

Changes

   March Cromuel, the longest-serving NAACP president in Hampton Roads, retired after 30 years of service to the Chesapeake branch.

   Also, in Chesapeake, William E. Harrell replaced Clarence Cuffee as the city’s new city manager. Cuffee died in 2006. Harrell is the second black to hold the position.

   After he was denounced for his comments about Norfolk Police Department brutality toward African Americans,  Council person Paul Riddick was ousted from the  job as vice mayor. His colleagues, after considerable debate, chose Council person Anthony Burfoot to replace him.

The Nation Grieves

A Senseless Loss

   At Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., 32 people were shot to death on the campus by a mentally disturbed student, who killed himself. This was the nation’s most sensational act of violence in an academic setting.

National Highlights

America Throws Her 400th Birthday

   Over 10,000 people attended the three day “State of the Black Union” program hosted by Tavis Smiley at the Convocation Center at Hampton University as part of the nation’s celebration of its 400th anniversary. Little  noticed, but historians celebrated the 100th anniversary of the African American exhibit at the 1907 Jamestown exhibit which displayed  the cultural, technological and educational contributions of African Americans, now located at a site on the Norfolk naval base.

Protests On The Rise

The Jena Six In Louisiana

   Six African American high schoolers, “The Jena Six,” stirred the passions of activists across the nation.  After a fight with a white schoolmate, six black males were charged with attempted murder. A march and rally were organized in the small Louisiana town. The charges have since been reduced to assault against Mychal Ball. Five other members of the “Jena Six” await trial for similar charges.

Megan In West Virginia

   The Megan Williams case involves a 20-year-old, African American, West Virginia woman who was allegedly kidnapped, raped and tortured by six white residents from Logan County, including three women. Among many other things, the suspects are charged with stabbing Williams, dousing her with hot water, and forcing her to eat animal and human feces.

   NFL Quarterback Michael Vick, who hails from Newport News, was sentenced to 23 months in a federal pen for bank rolling an illegal dog-fighting ring in Surrey County.  

   Popular radio talk show host Don Imus was ousted from the CBS network for referring to the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team as a “bunch of nappy-headed hoes.” Initially fired from his radio/TV show as a commentator, Imus is back on the  air with African American co-hosts.

A Few We Lost

   Herbert Collins,  who lent his name to a suit which changed Norfolk’s at-large election system for city council members. Collins was elected to the city council under this new system.

  Joseph Langston, longtime coach of

I.C. Norcom’s football team, won more games than any other coach in the school’s history.
 

  Renowned civil rights lawyer Oliver Hill, part of the legal team that convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to outlaw separate but equal public schools, also passed away this year.
   

   
    Yolanda King, the oldest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at her home in California.

   The list also includes the name of Joshua Paige, former activist and president of the Inner City Civic League Association of Norfolk. Congresswoman Julia Carson of Indiana, who died of cancer. Also Congresswoman Juanita M. McDonald of California, who died of cancer. Ike Turner, one of the pioneers of rock and roll.

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