By Justin Smith
Staff Writer
Commons Photos by Justin Smith

Several hundred Carrboro and Chapel Hill residents spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day demanding better education for the communities’ black youth.

At a rally that began in front of the Chapel Hill post office on Franklin Street, community leaders called for change in the public education system.

“The political climate in our culture is leading to resegregation in our schools,” said Chapel Hill Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt.

Ashley Osment, of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said more students of color should be enrolled in advanced placement classes. She also noted that an upcoming Supreme Court case could challenge Brown v. Board of Education.

After the speeches, police escorted the group down Franklin Street en route to First Baptist Church on North Roberson Street. Marchers held signs reading, “Unite to fight war and racism” and “U.S. off Iraq soil.” The group also sang traditional civil rights era songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “This Little Light of Mine.”

On the way to the church, Helen Davis held the hand of her 6-year-old grandson, Christopher.

“I don’t want him to forget the march,” she said. “I’m just trying to pass history on.”

Once in the crowded church, the mostly black congregation clapped as an all-white choir from the Community Church of Chapel Hill sang “The storm is passing over.”

Some members of the congregation wore suits while others wore T-shirts and blue jeans.

Chapel Hill resident Keller Tart, a member of First Baptist Church, sat in the back row during the service. When asked if Dr. King’s dream had come true, she said, “It’s come a long way, a long ways.”

Jesse Gibson, Chapel Hill - Carrboro NAACP treasurer, thanked the crowd for “taking a day on rather than a day off to celebrate Dr. King.”

Another NAACP member, Robert Walker, said Americans are living in a time when black youth are under attack.

“We as black folks are the last hired and the first fired,” he said.

The keynote speaker, the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, the second vice-president of the North Carolina NAACP, continued the plea for better education.

“Our children are being lynched academically,” he said.

Gatewood encouraged the audience to participate in a march to the state Legislature planned for February.

“We’re going to mobilize like it’s 1955,” he said. “By faith, we’re going to come back, just as we did before.”

The reverend criticized black rapper Yung Joc, whose lyrics include: “Meet me at the club; it’s going down.”

“You need to meet somebody at the library,” Gatewood said. “You need to meet somebody at the church.

“Yeah, it’s going down. The whole community is going down.”

Gatewood said school systems must find teachers who understand and tolerate black culture.

“It’s time for America to look in the mirror. America should be sued for child neglect,” he said. “Dr. King would show America a mirror.”

During the ceremony, the Rebecca Clark Community Leader Award was presented to Tony Mason, a longtime local civil-rights activist for his work In spurring black voter registration In the 1960s . The Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Award was presented to Moses Cary.