Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 20, 1990 TAG: 9006200466
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: CHRISTINA A. SAMUELS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jeffrey said it has not been publicized that blacks also were the victims of bottle- and rock-throwing gangs on 11th Street. She said blacks have hesitated to report the crimes to a Police Department they perceived to be unsympathetic.
"Sometimes . . . sensationalism distorts the true picture," she said.
About 20 people attended the meeting at High Street Baptist Church to discuss the recent problems, the accompanying news accounts and possible solutions. The meeting was open to the community, but the two reporters in attendance were asked to leave about 10 minutes after it started.
They were told the meeting was a private discussion of community problems and that people wanted to work out the problems as a community.
"It's a horrible situation and I feel it mostly stems from God being taken out of everything," one woman said before the meeting was closed. She said if the patterns of drug abuse and violence are not addressed, the Pledge of Allegiance soon might be "one nation, under siege, with drugs and .357 Magnums for all."
Another woman said the lack of recreational activities for young people contributed to the 11th Street incidents.
Carl Tinsley, a former president of the NAACP, said the people who attended the meeting Tuesday are frustrated by such problems and the difficulty in finding a solution. But there also was frustration at the police's handling of the situation, he said.
Despite the psychological training police officers must go through, Tinsley said, there are still some "young white cops who shouldn't be on the force."
"We have made great strides . . . but there's still a lot of racism in the city," Tinsley said.
Jeffrey said there is a "nucleus" of drug and alcohol users who cause the problems or inflame the situation. "The community there [around 11th Street] does not want these elements to be present."
Jeffrey also said actions by groups of teen-agers in predominantly white areas, such as Williamson Road, Franklin Road and Wasena Park, don't get the same negative publicity as those on 11th Street have received. "Vandalism is going on in that area as well."
Jeffrey said the publicity of the 11th Street area could lead to an overreaction among whites afraid that all blacks are going to "rise up" and "take over."
She stressed that this was just an isolated incident that has put the area in the spotlight.
by CNB