THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020262
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Most of the city's African-American elected officials announced Monday that they are splitting from the Rainbow Coalition, a leading political organization in the black community, and the man who leads it, Bishop L.E. Willis.
Dels. William P. Robinson Jr. and Jerrauld C. Jones and Councilman Herbert Collins said they will rejoin Concerned Citizens for the Political Education of Norfolk, a competing African-American political organization. Councilman Joseph N. Green Jr., who did not attend, also backed the group's stance, they said.
Standing with them at the press conference at City Hall Monday was Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick, a longtime member of Concerned Citizens.
The split confirms what has been evident on the airwaves. Willis or his guest hosts have been steadily criticizing some of the same politicians on Willis' Crusade for Christ talk show on WPCE 1400, a station Willis owns.
The politicians' embrace of Concerned Citizens brings the leadership of the black community full circle. Concerned Citizens was powerful for years under the leadership of now-deceased Evelyn T. Butts. But it lost power to Willis and the Rainbow Coalition in the mid-1980s. The coalition was formed as an offshoot of the national Rainbow Coalition led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a former presidential candidate.
The split could weaken the African-American community politically, or strengthen it by opening up avenues for new levels of participation.
Robinson said Monday that Willis' leadership style was the principal reason for the split. He said Willis, who was convicted in federal courts in 1992 for mishandling a loan repayment, did not accept dissent or differing points of view. Robinson pledged a more open type of political organization. Standing behind the paid elected officials were about 20 civic leaders from the black community.
``The main difference to the public will be the openness and the level of participation, and the receptivity with which all ideas are received,'' Robinson said.
The split already has one clearly visible sign. Willis is backing his son, Levi Willis Jr., against Jones in the Democratic primary this June for the 89th District seat.
Willis said that his disagreements with the politicians present Monday are based on several factors.
One, the religious and political leader said he disagrees with their support for Councilman Randy Wright's bid for Clerk of the Circuit Court. Wright, who is white, opposed the establishment of a black church, Calvary Revival, on East Little Creek Road. This and other stances should rule out support for Wright by black leaders, Willis said.
``Randy Wright has been, and still is, out of touch with the black community,'' Willis said.
Secondly, Willis said he disagrees with Councilman Collins on public housing. Collins has raised the visibility of public housing as an issue by questioning whether public housing has produced a culture that is self-destructive and lacks good values. Willis says this is a prelude to actual demolition of public housing.
Third, Willis disagrees with Jones' and other leaders' support for riverboat gambling. Jones has led the General Assembly effort to legalize riverboat gambling in the state.
Besides his role as bishop in the Church of God in Christ, and leader of the Garden of Prayer Temple, Willis owns a string of radio stations through Willis Broadcasting Co.
He has had problems with the law. In 1992, a federal court fined Willis $10,000 and sentenced him to four months' home detention for breaking a federal law designed to impede money-laundering. Willis pleaded guilty to structuring a loan repayment to evade regulations requiring the reporting of all cash transactions of more than $10,000.
Willis acknowledges that several in the group Tuesday asked him to step down from his leadership position in the Rainbow Coalition. Willis said the move was a power play to remove him from the group. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
James Rivers, left, director of Concerned Citizens for the Political
Education of Norfolk, stands with Dels. William P. Robinson Jr.,
center, and Jerrauld C. Jones, right. The delegates, along with
Councilman Herbert Collins, announced Monday their split from the
Rainbow Coalition headed by Bishop L.E. Willis
KEYWORDS: RAINBOW COALITION by CNB