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Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow may have sparked another battle Wednesday with civil rights leaders over a T-shirt they consider offensive.
Yow said there is nothing political in a T-shirt he has endorsed, just his personal comment against the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
But Joe Alston, president of the High Point NAACP branch, called for the Republican commissioner to resign for promoting the shirt.
Yow gathered reporters at his home in southeastern Guilford County to stand behind the shirt created last year during his squabbles with the civil rights organization. One side shows a Confederate battle flag and a grinning young boy urinating o
the NAACP logo.
The other side shows a "Yo Yow" Confederate flag logo created during the 2003 controversy.
"This is my sentiment to the NAACP for its actions in last year's battl
e wh
en they demanded my resignation," Yow said.
A
story in the fledgling Greater Greensboro Observer weekly newspaper brought attention again to Yow and the shirts.
"This shirt is not intended to be racial in any way to anybody specifically," Yow said. "This is directed to the members of the NAACP. This is how I feel."
Yow went several rounds last year with NAACP officials who sought his resignation over critical comments.
Yow accused the organization of meddling in the selection of a new county manager last spring. Yow also was quoted as saying he would not support hiring a person with NAACP credentials for the manager's job unless that person was very "overly qualified professionally." NAACP leaders branded Yow a racist for those remarks.
Late
r, the board of commissioners hired then Deputy Manager Willie Best, who is black. Yow supported Best for the manager's job.
Yow criticized the NAACP again Wednesday for what he called intimidat
ion tactics
against South Carolina businesses over display of the Confederate flag on the Capitol gro
unds in Columbia.
"Billy Yow has made some bad decisions with this and said some things that should not have been said," Joe Alston said. "I'd like to ask for his resignation."
Yow said Free Speak Inc., a company in which he has a financial interest, developed the shirt last year and copyrighted the designs. The company is developing a Web site for worldwide sales, Yow said.
"We've had orders from all over for the shirts," Yow said. "I first just wanted to give the shirt to (Commissioner) Skip Alston, but after it got printed more people wanted them."
Some proceeds from the $15 shirts will go to a charity, Yow said, and none to his re-electi
on campaign.
Commissioner Alston, Yow's major political adversary, did not accept that.
"This is for his campaign to raise money from across the country," said Skip Alston, a D
emocrat. "This
is offensive and he is trying to divide the county on racial lines."
Commissioner Alston also is president of the state NAACP chapter. The Alstons are
not directly related.
Last year, Yow threatened to sue the board of commissioners after it passed a resolution he considered a censure for his remarks.
The board later rescinded the resolution after Yow offered his "regrets" about a remark comparing the NAACP to the Taliban of Afghanistan.
"But he has not followed his agreement not to criticize the NAACP," Joe Alston said. "He has a responsibility to the public. He has to keep some opinions to himself. His opinion carries a lot of weight. When you talk about the organization, you are talking about people."
Commissioner Alston also lashed o
ut against the new free weekly and investor-owner Democratic Commissioner Mike Barber.
"He is as much to blame for this," Skip Alston said.
Barber, a Greensboro lawyer, acknowl
edged he arranged for a rep
orter to interview Yow.
"Now I wish I had not done that," Barber said Wednesday. "I'm just an investor. I had no role in this story."
Barber also criticized Yow's T-shirt endorsement.
"This do
es not help us attract business or shed a positive light on the county," Barber said.
David Nivens can be contacted
at 888-3626 or dnivens@hpe.com
Yow said there is nothing political in a T-shirt he has endorsed, just his personal comment against the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
But Joe Alston, president of the High Point NAACP branch, called for the Republican commissioner to resign for promoting the shirt.
Yow gathered reporters at his home in southeastern Guilford County to stand behind the shirt created last year during his squabbles with the civil rights organization. One side shows a Confederate battle flag and a grinning young boy urinating o
the NAACP logo.
The other side shows a "Yo Yow" Confederate flag logo created during the 2003 controversy.
"This is my sentiment to the NAACP for its actions in last year's battl
e wh
en they demanded my resignation," Yow said.
A
story in the fledgling Greater Greensboro Observer weekly newspaper brought attention again to Yow and the shirts.
"This shirt is not intended to be racial in any way to anybody specifically," Yow said. "This is directed to the members of the NAACP. This is how I feel."
Yow went several rounds last year with NAACP officials who sought his resignation over critical comments.
Yow accused the organization of meddling in the selection of a new county manager last spring. Yow also was quoted as saying he would not support hiring a person with NAACP credentials for the manager's job unless that person was very "overly qualified professionally." NAACP leaders branded Yow a racist for those remarks.
Late
r, the board of commissioners hired then Deputy Manager Willie Best, who is black. Yow supported Best for the manager's job.
Yow criticized the NAACP again Wednesday for what he called intimidat
ion tactics
against South Carolina businesses over display of the Confederate flag on the Capitol gro
unds in Columbia.
"Billy Yow has made some bad decisions with this and said some things that should not have been said," Joe Alston said. "I'd like to ask for his resignation."
Yow said Free Speak Inc., a company in which he has a financial interest, developed the shirt last year and copyrighted the designs. The company is developing a Web site for worldwide sales, Yow said.
"We've had orders from all over for the shirts," Yow said. "I first just wanted to give the shirt to (Commissioner) Skip Alston, but after it got printed more people wanted them."
Some proceeds from the $15 shirts will go to a charity, Yow said, and none to his re-electi
on campaign.
Commissioner Alston, Yow's major political adversary, did not accept that.
"This is for his campaign to raise money from across the country," said Skip Alston, a D
emocrat. "This
is offensive and he is trying to divide the county on racial lines."
Commissioner Alston also is president of the state NAACP chapter. The Alstons are
not directly related.
Last year, Yow threatened to sue the board of commissioners after it passed a resolution he considered a censure for his remarks.
The board later rescinded the resolution after Yow offered his "regrets" about a remark comparing the NAACP to the Taliban of Afghanistan.
"But he has not followed his agreement not to criticize the NAACP," Joe Alston said. "He has a responsibility to the public. He has to keep some opinions to himself. His opinion carries a lot of weight. When you talk about the organization, you are talking about people."
Commissioner Alston also lashed o
ut against the new free weekly and investor-owner Democratic Commissioner Mike Barber.
"He is as much to blame for this," Skip Alston said.
Barber, a Greensboro lawyer, acknowl
edged he arranged for a rep
orter to interview Yow.
"Now I wish I had not done that," Barber said Wednesday. "I'm just an investor. I had no role in this story."
Barber also criticized Yow's T-shirt endorsement.
"This do
es not help us attract business or shed a positive light on the county," Barber said.
David Nivens can be contacted
at 888-3626 or dnivens@hpe.com