Durham NAACP President Arrested at School Board Meeting (after white woman gets job)

ABC Local ^ | Aug 9, 2002 | Jim Hill

[Michael2001]

A Durham minister is out of jail, arrested after a protest at Thursday's Durham school board meeting.

A rowdy school board meeting has people talking in Durham. Durham NAACP president Curtis Gatewood was taken to police headquarters for disrupting Thursday night's school board meeting. "I haven't heard anybody read me my rights yet, what are my rights? Why am I being arrested?" Gatewood said as officers took him away, charging him with trespassing.

Gatewood and several other people got angry because Dr. Regina George-Bowden was not chosen to chair the board. George-Bowden is black. Chairwoman Kathryn Meyers is white, and the vote to re-elect her was split along racial lines. Meyers talked to Eyewitness News about the vote and about the controversy that's marked the beginning of her new tenure.

The group is in its seventh day of protesting, which culminated in an effort at Thursday night's school board meeting. Their anger has yet to cease following the chaotic meeting. "They set us back twenty or thirty years, back in the sixties," said parent Jackie Wagstaff.

"They tell us that they want the best for our kids and they do something like that," said parent Herman Davenport, referring to the controversy over staffing changes at Hillside High School. "It's just uncalled for."

Durham County School board members voted to re-elect Kathryn Meyers as chairwoman for her eighth consecutive term. She's a woman some people criticized for backing the superintendent's decision to replace hillside high school's principal. "They knew that there were people looking for a change in that board," Wagstaff said.

Some people in the black community couldn't handle the split decision along racial lines. Things erupted Thursday night, and Gatewood was hauled off to jail for trespassing after he was told to leave the building. The woman who remained at the helm said she took what happened Thursday night personally. "I was stunned and stung by the personal attack about my credibility and my credentials to serve," said Meyers.

"A black boardmember is nominated for chairperson, a black board member that has a degree from North Carolina State Univerisity, a degree from Duke, she taught at Syracuse her resume went on and on and on," Davenport said.

Meyers suggests the decision has nothing to do with race. "It comes down to a positive working relationship with the superintendent," she said.

But as the group continued its determination to get the superintendent removed from her position, some people called for change in the board's leadership. "Dr. Denlinger is making the decisions that are in the best interest of the students at Hillside and at all of the other schools," Meyers said.

Some aren't buying into that. "Our school board speaks of diversity, but we haven't had any diversity in leadership in our school board in the past seven years," said Davenport.

The protestors plan to continue picketing outside the school board offices until school starts next Tuesday. And they say some parents are considering keeping their children out of school.

[Michael2001]

I'm glad the school board had the guts to stand up to these thugs. By what right does the NAACP protest that a black woman must get a certain job just because she is black?

I run a security firm with three of my buddies and I know we've lost out on certain jobs to less qualified minorities because we are white. Affirmative action is bullcrap. America is about (or should be about) the best man (or woman) for the job, period.

Blacks need to marginalize the NAACP like whites marginalized the KKK. And whites need to stop treating them like they are anything less than racist thugs. I can't imagine blacks trying to appease the KKK; why should whites try and appease the NAACP?

[Notforprophet]

I'm not jumping into this, but pinging mhking.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I run a security firm with three of my buddies and I know we've lost out on certain jobs to less qualified minorities because we are white. Affirmative action is bullcrap.

You've got that right. I have a really good friend who is a contractor for the government. The government has to award a certain percentage of contracts to minority-owned businesses. My contractor friend has a great reputation for the good work he does, and it galls me to see him lose work to contractors that charge twice as much as he does for shoddy workmanship. Most minority-owned government contractors do a half-assed job for too much money because they know they can't be fired. It's a total joke.

[goldstategop]

The NAACLP's Curtis Gatewood is mad that he couldn't be around to stir up more racial ruckus. The NAACLP is the greatest obstacle to civil rights in America today.

[mhking]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The NAACP is a shadow of it's former self. And rather than addressing the true ills of black America, they get wrapped up in these thuggish actions that do nothing but make them look like the fools that they have become of late.

Mind you, if someone dares challenge their position on this kind of idiocy, they/we become nothing short of "Uncle Toms" who have "forgotten who we are."

[TxBec]

**The protestors plan to continue picketing outside the school board offices until school starts next Tuesday. And they say some parents are considering keeping their children out of school.**

Good deal!

[Gunrunner2]

>> "I haven't heard anybody read me my rights yet, what are my rights? Why am I being arrested?" Gatewood said as officers took him away, charging him with trespassing.<<

What? Doesn't know his rights? What a dummy. Everyone in this country knows his rights. This guy is an idiot.

[TxBec]

He'll probably walk then, if they didn't read him his rights, and then turn around and sue for emotional damages or something like that.

[Gunrunner2]

Yup, asgreed on the lawsuit part. . .I'd even say he's gonna sue no matter the outcome of the court case.

What likely happened is the offiers placed him under arrest and were clearing the area, getting him outside. They probably read him his rights once they were out of the room. The key is, did the dummy say anything that would be used against him before his rights were read to him? Probably not. So, the case stands on the merits of what happened before he was arrested. The officers acted correctly and the offense the dummy committed was plain for all to see.

Cheers, and where in Central Texas. I'm former Temple police officer, way long ago, just after university (SWT).

[sonofron]

The police have to read your rights to you if you are being arrested, right? I've always thought this was true, except for minors.

[usadave]

Gatewood and several other people got angry because Dr. Regina George-Bowden was not chosen to chair the board. George-Bowden is black. Chairwoman Kathryn Meyers is white, and the vote to re-elect her was split along racial lines.

Some people in the black community couldn't handle the split decision along racial lines.

So, all of the white school board members voted for the white candidate for Chairperson, and all of the black school board members voted for the black candidate for Chairperson. Hopefully, because of this fact, it will prevent either side from accusing the other of racism.

[meenie]

There are times to make a point, but a disagreement over the color of the chairwoman is a little superficial.

[TomServo]

"They set us back twenty or thirty years, back in the sixties," said parent Jackie Wagstaff.

Another mathematically challenged parasite.

[Gunrunner2]

>>The police have to read your rights to you if you are being arrested, right? I've always thought this was true, except for minors.<<

True. Except they are expected to read them their rights when they can reasonably do so, not while wrestling a suspect and trying to gain some sort of control over the situation. I can imagine the dummy was raising hell and resisting arrest (struggling and hollering), and the offers were taking him outside the venue in an attempt to control him and calm the situation--remember, there are a lot of his supporters in the room, and I am sure they were all aggitated and loud as well.

The police acted appropriately by removing him, taking the situation outside where it was safer (who knew if a supporter might draw a gun and start shooting?).

Reference minors: They are read their rights as well, but they usually are not permitted to "waive" their rights.

[Gunrunner2]

>>There are times to make a point,<<

Yes, follow you.

>>but a disagreement over the color of the chairwoman is a little superficial<<

Yes. Agreed. The whole situation was silly and some dummy made an a$$ out of himself by disrupting a public meeting by ranting and raving---civil discourse is sadly lacking in many places, but I'll bet the dummy that threw the fit has great self-esteem (self-respect is another matter).

[Glenn]

Why anyone would serve on a school board these days is beyond me. The pay is lousy and all you hear are gripes and second-guessing by anyone with a cause. Turn the public schools over to the causists and let private schools prevail.

[river rat]

The NAACP, PUSH, The "Rainbow" Coalition, Jesse, Maxine, Al, etc....... The Black Man's burden has indeed become heavy..

How long before America's blacks see they are being used to elect and enrich the few among them that are "connected"...
Semper Fi

[RightOnline]

As a Raleigh resident (right next door to Durham), let me just say.....

Hey.........it's Durham. Whaddya expect?

[Thumper1960]

You expected more from racist blacks?

"Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme..."

"The White man owes us!"

CRAP! You are owed nothing! Either work with fellow human beings or try your "gimme, gimme, gimme" in Mugabe's little cesspool.