f
r
the word that Donald McMcans. one of the first
blacks to control a television station, is on the verge
oMosing it, highlights once more the perilous posi
tion of blacks in business. .
r" McMeans is president of the Renaissance Broad-"
casting Corporation which owns Channel 65 in
Viheland, New Jersey. Recently word leaked out
that, the company .is unable to . make interest
.payments on $6.45 million in loans and that the
Girard Bank of Philadlephia is cracking down. The
- station has been on the air less, than five months. ,
vfThe dilemma of Renaissance Broadcasting Cor
poration (RBC) also involves that seemingly eternal
U.S. perennial racism. The station's problems
apparently stemmed from a refusal by most cable
television companies to carry its I signal.'. , ;
j McMeans, has charged that twenty cable fran
ffe" 17'000 of thc 460,000 households in I
,WRBCS primary signal area had failed to make
rdom for his station in their systems; This despite a
Federal Communications Commission. (FCC) re-:
qtiirement z that all v cable companies serving
customers within a 35-mile radius of a local station
must carry that channel.' . ' ; , ZZt-.!
f Not surprisingly, because of the station's narrow t
reach, 250 retail merchants had told RBC formally
that they would not advertise On the station until it 1
was included in the area's cable, system. Lack of;
advertising revenue is the kiss of death for virtually;
any media enterprise in this country. ? f
Vet, two other new ultra-high-frequency (UHF)
stations in South Jersey had no, problems what
s sever in getting hooked into cable systems or get
t ng advertising. . - V
"i McMeans has an explanation for this seeming
puzzterTfc insists that "the bottom line. . . .has
been racism. . . .why is it that no cable company
Will carry our signal? People would have been over
whelmingly happy to see this station in South Jersey
if we were white." X ..: .
I'RBCs problem vvith W to 45 staf
fers being terminated, which naturally has meant a
Cutting of such programs as news. Already financial
Vultures are circling overhead just waiting to.
pounce on the carcass of RBC.
! ; This lamentable tale points up once aj?ain that
Affirmative Action:
Reagan and Black Business
, . i : . ' : By Gerald C. Home, Esquire
keeping blacks as "hewers of wood and drawers of
water',' is a prime aim of certain forces. ; .
. - The evidence abounds. The rebellion in Maimi in
1980 caused some to see the light and one result was ?
a federal program designed to provide blacks with ;
the skill to start businesses and to grant them loans
'Thus, 41 blacks were roped into completing
classes in accounting, marketing and federal regula-v
tionsthen serving a three week internship. .But:
after all was said and done, only one measly loan
was granted, though most had requested start-up'
capital for a business. ' '.: ' .
y MAfter the training, they literally dumped us out
in the streets," said Billy Snipes, a 32 year old '
photographer, who was part of this so-called "Be
Your Own Boss" training program. Said Jerrilyn
Bilal, mother of two children after her loan applica- ;
tion to open a gift shop was rejected, "It has been
Impossible. . . .They told me my collateral was not
sufficient. The whole thing is a farce." , . -
'Farce" is the word many are applying to the
Reagan Administration's entire approach to black
business. Unlike Nixon,, he has not even gone so far
as to give lip service to the concept of "black ,
capitalism". Yet, his Administration has assailed,
the section 8(a) "set-aside" program of the Small :
Business Administration, which gave out $10
million in , government contracts to minority
business in 1968 and $1 billion in 1979, At last
count, about 2,200 companies had benefitted. '.
The attacks on Section 8(a) too reflect the
perilous fate of black business. According to
William J. Kennedy III, head of the North Carolina
Mutual Life Insurance Company the nation's
largest and most successful black financial institu-
tion the coming decade win provide a grim future
for blacks. ' J ( ' "
"Black financial institutions, particularly banks
will have a difficult time surviving in the next few.
. years. Of the 41 black banks in the nation, I doubt
; if more than ten.will be left after 1990. A key fac
tor here wjll be the banking monopolies push for
', federal laws that will opeathe doors to interstate
banking. : ;v;'0VQ:v;v ': '''.';
' . Srhal black insurance companies face art equally
unappealing fate. A "death knell sounding for
these businesses is not out' of the question: Here too
legislation is important. Many state ; regulatory
agencies are now outlawing industrial' insurance.
Many-small firms depend on that type of coverage
h to remain alive; V:zzi;:zzz'''z:'';i' "
,. "They (i.e. small insurance companies) do not
have the resources to make the conversion from in
dustrial lines," according to Kennedy. '
Kennedy is in a' good position to survey black
' business. His company is second only to Motown in
its gross assets, as ranked by Black Enterprise
Magazine's 100 top black businesses! Enjoying a
$5.5 billion in total sales, the insurance giant's gross
profits total $73 million, as compared to Motown 's
$90 million. Of the country's 2,000 insurance com
panies, North Carolina Mutual is ranked 125.
Though Kennedy's business may be in good
shape, the same cannot be said about other leading
black corporations. The auto industry generally is
in trouble and black auto dealerships, which reach
ed a peak at 37 in 1972, lost two more places on
, Black Enterprise's list of top businesses; while five
new dealerships made the list, seven did not reach
the cutoff point of $5.2 million in revenues, and.
SAT., JAfJUASY 18. 1332 . THE CAROLINA TIMES -13
three of those seven closed within the year.
, Earl G. Craves, Black Enterprise publisher point!
1 to access to credit as a major problem for the
growth of black business. yv- y
Here too racism enters the picture, as thrcase of
Renaissance Broadcasting' amply demonstrates.
While U.S. Steel, which has chalked up some of the
biggest losses in economic history, has no problem
lining up billions of dollars in credit to purchase
Marathon Oil, black businesses, e.g. RBC, are be
ing cracked down on daily. -'
Publisher Graves has. predicted also that if pro
grams, e.g. Section 8(a), are abolished, "it would
raise havoc' with the balance sheets of about ten
per cent of the companies listed in this survey The
energy companies, e.g. Wallace and Wallace Enter
prises number two behind Motown have
benefitted from such programs. 4 ,
This would have ripple effect in' the black com
munity at large. The top 100 black companies and
i black-owned financial institutions employ an
estimated 25,000 blacks which is only three
tenths of 1 ! of the total number of working blacks
. but their impact is much greater than the
numbers would suggest.
Many of these companies place contracts with
smaller black, businesses; many contribute to black
charities and colleges. If they sink, for better or
worse, many blacks will sink with them.
All of this apparently has not dawned on Presi
dent Reagan. His admission at a recent press con-'
ference that he had not evtn heard of the Weber,
decision on affirmative actton, revealed for all to
see his cavalier lack of regard for black affairs.
His proposed rules ojr affirmative action re
quirements for government contractors would be a
disaster for both black businesses and workers.
This is why many black leaders have called for a
. massive letter-writing campaign to be launched, ,
demanding that the White House strengthen not
weaken affirmative action requirements and
"set-asides". 1
If such a mass protest does not ensue then thef
presently depressed black economy should be ex
pected to plummet even further.
I Never look a gift horse;
in the mouth, he might'
bite youl A word to the
ttrise should be sufficient," -'
tiy smarter folk than
"Sne. The U.S. Congress
has already got it
through its mind and
body for that matter, to
make investing in electric
utilities common stock a '
success. ;
Such be the faith of
life, Don't knock it, grab
it if you cani by socking
away some savings under
the . government's gift
saving plan for utilities
' common stock.
President Ronald
Reagan belives that pro
fit is not a dirty word.
The Economic Recovery
Tax' Act of 1981, spon
sored by him and his ad
ministration makes the
same statement,
t 'If you have not decid-
JTloghfentrjr
; fjrir the third time, are
some strategies and ideas
to deal with them pro-
: . i fitably for a few years. .
There are Ten Com
; mandments of the
Economic Recovery Tax
Act of 1981 which if
: followed after consulta
tion with an accountant
! or attorney familiar with ,
j Ithe tax law should guide
! you through the re
mainder of ' President
Reagan's term of office.
' First, ,defer income in- u
j :o future years.
t Second, accelerate
Reductions ' into earlier
years. ''z'-ziz
( Third, avoid short-
term gains in 1981.
Fourth, buy fully-.
! taxable dividend public
utility company common
; stocks and reinvest their:
stock dividend back into
the company common
stock. ,
Urban Zones
.'Continued from Page 18)
property values are low,
property acquisitions
prior to or during the
early stages can be
detrimental to the
economic interests of
piacks, without more
Safeguards to prevent ex
ploitation , by
1 peculators.
Needless to say, if the
lation's black leadership
ioes hot move quickly to
irotect black concerns in
he final form of enter
rise zone plans, this
Undmark program
night well be another
'black removal" pro
ram similar to. the old
rban; renewal schemes
-'hich wiped out entire
I lack communities and
eci mated black business '
( istricts. '
Let's hope that those
(nlightened black
rga nidations who have
Sal ready endorsed enter
prise ones will act pro-; ,
tnptly to prevent in
jsiiccs of the past from
eing repeated against
lacks this time around. '
Subscribe To
The Carolina Times
: Call Today
682-2913
Fifth, 1981 is the year
to -.. .:. swap municipal
bonds.
'. Sixth, discount bonds,
those selling below their
face value, have become
much more attractive
from high-grade cor
porate bonds to low
grade, corporate bonds.
- Seventh, review and
reassess tax-exempt ver
sus taxable investments.
Eighth, tax shelters
generating large write
offs in 1981 are par
ficti'arlv attractive.
Business In The Black
Utilities Undervalued for Retirement
Dividends From Tax Law
By Charles E. Belle
panies even though tbey tax on the reinvested
have the option of dividends when you
receiving the dividend in finally get around W sell-
cash.
Ninth, the new capital
gains rate is extremely
favorable for the stock
market.
Tenth, Individual
Retirement Accounts
(IR As) are for everyone.
And everyone who
plans on putting any
money in an investment
should seriously consider
the Fourth Command
ment of the Economic
Recovery Act of 1981.
Namely, buy fully
taxable divident public
utility company common
stocks and reinvest their
stock dividends back in
to the company common
stock. .
Starting in 1982, in
dividuals may exclude
from their federal in
comes $750 ($1500 on a
joint return) of stock
dividends received from
U.S. public utilities com-''
There is an exclusion
of $750 ($1500 for joint
returns) for stock
dividends that are
reinvested in newly
issued common stock '
shares. The amount of
these dividends (up to
the permissable limits, of:
course) will be a reduc
tion of the cost basis of
the purchased stock,
which naturally will
result in a capital gains
ing the stock.
What happened was
that you converted what:
would have-' been or-,
dinary income (the
dividends) which could
be taxed a high as fifty .
per cent in 1982, to the
lower maximum tax of
twenty, per cent, if the;
stock is held for twelve
months. A neat trick that
could make you up to
$450 tax free without
half trying.
3KffiEffiJ
ISeagrouft
fi Extra
'sear ZzJ 'tMt-HmMyx m
fill J
i
'.'.Hi"?4?' '
Z'-f
;rf-'
i Af
ft J ""' rrniiirna - - - c
5L
ft r ik
'I :
1 a .
Seagram)?
Extra Prg
1 ;S
, Or
n.ttO NO OTTLtO "
MIUIO0OTG1M
" nTlB "ot miikw cum
K :
'V
;,t5
mm
V:
I,