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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130441
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LIKE A CHAMELEON/ RACIAL INTOLERANCE TAKES

FROM HOUSING patterns and church attendance to job openings and the final resting place, racism, prejudice and segregation are alive in the Roanoke Valley, Virginia and the United States.

The valley is a prominent example of the chameleon-like changes in the practice of racial intolerance around the country. After electing an African-American mayor, some people use that to argue that racism is dead, all is well, and that measures to improve equal opportunity and access to political office are not needed. On the economic front, many suggest that proportional employment has been achieved and that it is immaterial that those jobs are low-level service and clerical positions.

Evidence of racial prejudice abounds in almost every facet of life, from business and home ownership to check-cashing and public assistance. White and black may work side by side at McDonald's or on the assembly line and maintenance truck - but not in the executive suites, corporate headquarters, the management office or the Roanoke Police Department.

Election of a governor of African descent is symbolically inspiring, though you get the feeling that not much has changed in the local mentality. It leads one to ask if this will be the same after a national victory. The answer, of course, is yes. STEPHEN J. JONES ROANOKE

by CNB