
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991                   TAG: 9102220746
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS RACISM A PROBLEM IN THE ROANOKE VALLEY?

In a valley where segregation once ruled the day, many changes in race relations have occurred over the last three decades. The white-majority city of Roanoke is now in the habit of re-electing a mayor who is black. In a white-majority state that once led Southern resistance to desegregation, Virginians in 1989 elected a balck governor.

For the most part, many people say, racism is dead, and harping on it is unhelpful.

Others see a different reality. The low percentage of black officers in the Roanoke police has come under attack. Even if seldom expressed aloud, some say, racial hostility contributed to Roanoke County voters' rejection last year of a plan to merge with the city. White and black Roanokers may work side by side, but far less often do they seside in the same neighborhood or socialize together.

What do you think? In your experience, is racism a problem in the Roanoke Valley? Have you encountered it or seen evidence of it?

We invite your comments, and will publish a selection of them on this page. Please send your responses by March 6 to: Readers Forum, Editorial Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke VA 24010. Or, you may fax them to 981-3391. Include your address and, for verification purposes only, a telephone number where you can be reached during the day.

by CNB