DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710240794

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   63 lines

WILDER SAYS EQUALITY AMONG RACES REMAINS A DREAM IN VA., NATION

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder told African-American leaders and others Thursday that much remains to be done in Virginia and the nation before racial equality approaches reality.

And he stopped short of telling them whom to vote for in Virginia's upcoming gubernatorial election. The popular Democrat will not endorse a candidate for governor - a move seen as a swipe at Donald S. Beyer, a fellow party member and former political running mate.

The closest Wilder came to talking about the Nov. 4 decision was to urge his fellow Virginians, ``When someone asks for your vote, ask, `Why?' Ask, `What are you going to do for me?' ''

Wilder'sremarks came during a dinner at Norfolk State University that was part of a two-day conference on ``Education in Virginia: Access, Diversity and the Law,'' sponsored by the Commission on Fordice, the Dr. Martin Luther King Commission and the Joint Subcommittee on African-American Males.

A host of dignitaries attended, including another former governor, Linwood Holton Jr. and senators, delegates and university heads from around the state.

Wilder, who became the nation's first African-American elected governor since Reconstruction in 1989, touted the accomplishments of his administration in the areas of education, the environment and transportation. Then he got down to what he thinks is wrong with the black community.

``We are woefully inadequate in telling and recording our history,'' he said.

``There are recent lessons to be learned from our history if we know it, but we don't.

``One of the glaring assumptions of the African-American community is about the good old days of unity, togetherness . . . there never have been those good old days of harmony many pine for.

`` `Oh, if only we could have another Martin Luther King,' they say. But remember - less than 50 percent supported'' King's stand on Vietnam, Wilder reminded the crowd.

And when Thurgood Marshall took the Supreme Court bench, the criticism of the black community was, `` `He left us,' '' said Wilder. Then he likened the attitude toward Marshall to the one he encountered when he became governor.

``They said, `he's not spending enough time in the black community,' '' Wilder said, then questioned whether the same criticism is ever leveled at white politicians.

Wilder said it was because he never believed that the odds were stacked against him that he was able to make strides for blacks. He cited the success of getting Martin Luther King Day set in Virginia before the federal government and his stand against ``Carry Me Back to Old Virginny'' as state song.

``We must demand what is right and criticize what is wrong . . . You can never talk about an equal piece of the pie 'til you get past the crust,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, right, talks with state Del. William

P. Robinson Jr. of Norfolk during a conference dinner on diversity

and education held Thursday at Norfolk State University.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who spoke Thursday at the conference,

said: ``When someone asks for your vote, ask, `Why?' Ask, `What are

you going to do for me?' ''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu