Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Jan. 22, 1994, edition 1 / Page 13
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 22 1994—THE CAROLm mC8-13 BUSINESS 1960’s Sit-In Protestor Praises Plans For Historic Woolworth By Paul Nowell [REENSBORO (AP) - Nearly 34 irs after he helped ignite the civil ' [its movement by staging a sit-in he downtown F.W. Woolworth lunch counter, inklin McCain pondered the idea turning the five-and-dime into a seum. When life hands you a bunch of aps, which is what we have here h^this store closing, you don’t ^^he told about 200 people who hered at the store last Thursday. ou just make yourself a quilt." a cost of between $3 million and million, local leaders want to isform the aging store into a il rights museum, with the lunch counter - which would continue to serve food - as its centerpiece. The lofty plan pleased McCain, one of four black North Carolina ,A&T State University students who had the courage to put their ideals into action by staging a series of sit-ins at the downtown Wool- worth, starting on Feb. 1, 1960. None of the other protestors at tended Thursday’s announcement. One of them, David Richmond, is dead. Joseph McNeil and Ezell Blair Jr., now Jibreel Khazan, live out of state. Efforts to turn the store into a na tional monument came after Wool- worth announced last year the Greensboro store would be one of Meaner and leaner General Motors has left most of the parts business where it just can’t compete. But it is still losing money on about one of every five parts ousinesses. Group executive J.T. Battenberg must get those in the Diack fast or put them up for sale lieneral Motors Components Group 1992:210 products Today: 174 products 18% breaking even SOURCE: GM 8% breaking even SMALL BUSINESS ANGLE® BY JACK PARIS Discouragement Is A Two-Way Main Street ^ matter how inefficient and bureaucratic you think the U.S. govern- has become, you have to admire its ability to generate zillions of p of information on virtually every topic in the dictionary. And it’s ty stuff too. jce, for example, a report entitled: The Employment Situation. Every [h, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor ires a comprehensive report on the American labor force that only ionomist could enjoy. ^ report offers a sense of the mood of the nation. Obviously, if un- oyment is rising, people are unhappy. If average hourly earnings are. »eople are upbeat. If manufacturers are paying more overtime, in- >rs are reaching for their checkbooks and the stock markets are Ilizing. ke’s one category you cannot read without feeling emotion — dis- iged workers — the number of people who want to work but have I up looking for a job because they no longer believe they can find These days there are more than one million of them. ; misery has company. Discouraged workers are not alone. There are ing numbers of discouraged employers out there too. couraged employers. Yes, the people who run businesses are suffer- Irooping spirits too. Small-business owners especially are dis- nted because of rejection, ill-treatment and lack of opportunity. Jiout entrepreneurs are known for their take-charge attitude, their risk-taking spirit, their eagerness to build the American dream, they [ley’re getting short shrift these days. ^ any small-business owner how he or she feels about the prospects le ftiture and they’ll automatically give you a laundry list of ob is and hassles and taxes and mandates that their state and federal ■nments have imposed on them. They’ll give you the alphabet-soup f agencies they’ve learned to fear and distrust; IRS, EPA, OSHA, and so on. couraged workers should be aware that their woe is due in large part i heavy hand of government which seems intent on erecting ob- s to job creation and business expansion. It almost seems that ington, D.C. prides itself on forcing the nation’s smaller firms into sizing by ladling on the regulations, the taxes, the mandates and the growing demands for paperwork. I what about those who have a great idea and want to start a new ess". Yes, there are lots of discouraged wannabes out there too 5 innovators who are certain they could get that little company of ound and soaring if it weren’t for the government regulatory drag, ording to a 1992 study conducted by the nation’s largest small- 5ss organization, the National Federation of Independent Business 4sa Business Card, government regulation leapt 11 spots to eighth on the list of small-business key concerns in only four years. Ai ate, researchers contend, government regulation will be the No. 1 m of Main Street firms by the turn of the century. Yes, even highei tealth care or taxes. re is a-strong message for Capitol Hill lawmakers in the Bureau’s ~ It’s between the lines. It says until the oppressing thumb of gov- ait bureaucracy is lifted to allow small business gmwth and hiring, will be greater numbm o# woricm. nearly 1,000 across the country to be closed in a cost-cutting move. "A couple of months ago, I was saddened, as you were, when I heard the store was going to close," McCain said. "I always felt this place was more than just another five-and-dime. From here, a clarion call was sent out for justice, brotherhood and equality," he told the crowd of people who gathered inside the store for the announcement. "I feel I can speak for the others when I say we couldn’t be more pleased with your plans," McCain said. Officials with Sit-In Movement, Inc., a non-profit organization, hope to raise between $3 million and $5 million to purchase and renovate the downtown store. They said they have raised about $450,000. "The rest of the money will come from the bottom up," said Sit-In Movement President Skip Alston. "It will be a grassroots fund-raising campaign in which every nickel and dime will count and every $100,000 contribution will count." Organizers hope to open the muse um by Feb. 1, 1995, which would be the 35th anniversary of the first sit-in. Alston, a Guilford County com missioner, said First Citizens Bank, which owns the building, had agreed to accept the group’s $700,000 offer for the building. First Citizens vice president John Francis last Thursday presented Al ston with a $50,000 check to help with the effort. "We have received numerous of fers for this building," Francis said. "First Citizens owns this entire block. We know of no other cause more worthy of us dividing us this valuable piece of property .than the preservation of the F.W. Wool- worth store where the civil rights movement began." Out front, the signs of change were apparent. Plastered on the store’s large windows were black and orange signs declaring "Store Closing Sale." Inside, a portion of the floor space was still being used and customers were buying items at the cash registers. Plans call for the two-level muse um to host a variety of exhibits dealing with human and civil rights. Organizers hope to conduct educational programs at the muse um. The famous lunch counter will be reopened. "The lunch counter will be the centerpiece of the museum, but we intend it to be more than just a place to record the struggle of African-Americans for such basic rights as drinking water from the same fountain as everyone else and being able to eat in restaurants and sleep in hotels," said Earl Jones, another Sit-In Movement official and a member of the Greensboro City Council. "Yes, the Berlin Wall came tum bling down," he said. "This place will bear witness to the struggle of men and women across the world who are, even today, continuing the fight for human rights and dignity in this country, in China, Europe, Ireland, South Africa- and in numerous other countries and on every continent." Black New Orleans Lawyer Eddie J. Jordan Recommended For Fed Post NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Both of Louisiana’s U.S. senators have recommended that President Clinton nominate New Orleans lawyer Eddie J. Jordan Jr. as U.S. attorney for the federal judicial dis trict based in New Orleans. Jordan, 41, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Louisiana, is a lawyer with the state’s largest black law firm - Bryan, Jupiter, Lewis and Blanson of New Orleans. A spokeswoman for Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said Breaux and Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., sent a letter with the recommenda tion to the White House near the end of December. They chose Jordan after their original choice. New Orleans law yer Walter Wilkerson withdrew from consideration. Wilkerson complained that the selection pro cess was taking so long it interfered with his legal practice. Jordan served as an assistant to U.S. Attorney John Volz between 1984 and 1987. The top post is now filled on an interim basis. Missouri Insurance Firm Charged In ‘Redlining’ The City of St. Louis ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Missouri Insurance Department has charged Farm Bureau Town & Country In surance Co. with "geographic dis crimination," claiming the compa ny refuses to insure homes in the city of St. Louis. The department has suggested a $75,000 fine against Farm Bureau. A formal hearing on the charges will be Feb. 2 in Jefferson City. Farm Bureau Town & Country denies doing anything illegal. The department’s move comes amid controversy over whether in surance companies are "redlining." That means refusing to cover homes or cars in poor or black neighborhoods, which are some times marked by lines on a con^>a- ny map. Insurance Department investi gators say they found just such a map in a Farm Bureau policy guide. A line was drawn around St. Louis, and the entire city was labeled "ineligible property." Farm Bureau Town & Country is the ninth-largest home insurer in the state. The company has 234 agents around Missouri but none in St. Louis. Farm Bureau Town & Coun try has two offices in St. Louis County. The case shapes up as a test of the state’s 1991 insurance discrimina tion law. The law, prohibits com panies from refusing to cover properties because of their location, unless justified by a "business pur pose" that is not merely a smoke screen for unfair discrimination. Farm Bureau Town & Country says it has a legitimate reason for staying out of St. Louis. The Missouri Farm Bureau set the company up in 1946 to provide insurance to its members, general manager R. L. LaFarge said. The bureau is a lobbying and benefit group that draws most of its mem bers from farms and small towns. There is no Farm Bureau chanter in the city, so the company doesn’t market insurance there, LaFarge said. Membership in a Farm Bureau cost&$30 a year. Lvarge said it is "absolutely not" discriminating against St. Louisans. (Continued On HENRY R. BROWN RETIRES — Henry R. Brown, senior vice president of market development for Anheuser-Busch,Inc,, announc ed his retirement after more than 30 years of service with the world’s largest brewer. Brown helped develop many of Anheuser-Busch’s most well-known programs, including the internationally acclaimed Budweiser Great Kings and Queens of Africa cultural heritage series, the Anheuser-Busch Community health mobile, the Bud weiser Showdown, and Budweiser Superfest concert series and the Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr. Life and Legacy Awards. Brown also play an integral role in the initial development of the Lou Rawls Pa rade of Stars Telethon to benefit the United Negro College Fund. Fair Lending: Deeds, Not Just Words By Stephen B. Ashley President, Mortgage Bankers Association of America In recent years, fairness in mortgage lending has become a hotly debated topic as federal data continue to show higher loan-approval rates for whites than for minorities. The clear message for all concerned is that more needs to be done to ensure that a greater number of minorities suc cessfully complete the homebuying process. Mortgage lenders, in conjunction with their industry partners, which in clude various lending agencies of the federal government, must face the issue squarely and do what is necessary to "levekthe playing field" for all segments of our population. To achieve this objective, we must work to better understand and eliminate the obstacles encountered and perceived by minority individuals who want to become homeowners. We must work to ensure that the process of home financing does not intimidate, discourage, or dissuade qualified individuals from seeking to become homeowners and we must work to eliminate any racial or other bias, in tentional or unintentional, in the home-financing process. Today’s mortgage programs can accommodate people of practically aH: - income levels. However, certain patterns of employment, income, credit, and accumulated savings are required to enable an applicant to be ap- - proved. We must work to ensure that proper information and help is:: available to make sure people understand and successfully prepare for the': financial requirements associated with home financing. And, we. must. recognize that while some work and credit patterns may be different,rthat difference may not necessarily be a reason to decline a mortgage applica tion. ; : . . At our recent national convention, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) unveiled an ambitious long-range plan to improve home financing opportunities for minorities. The five major points of the: : plan are; 1) An education and training program for everyone in the mortgage lending industry having direct contact with the homebuying public. This program will emphasize the subtle ways that words, attitudes, and actions can create a feeling of discrimination among customers. The program also will focus on how to improve marketing techniques to reach minori ty homebuyers. 2) A series of inner-city homebuying fairs for potential homebuyers that will be conducted by mortgage bankers in conjunction with the Na tional Association of Real Estate Brokers, the nation’s oldest minority trade association. 3) A research project conducted by the Gallup organization aimed at understanding how minorities view the barriers to homeownership. ; ^ . 4) A forum at Howard University in Washington, DC, on February 7 Id raise our understanding of real and perceived barriers to homeownership by minorities. , :7 It will be telecast to universities throughout the country and bring to-' ^. gether leading figures from the Administration, Congress, community : groups and mortgage bankers. 5) An aggressive effort to increase employment and business op- . oortunities for minority entrepreneurs within the industry^ . • : This plan is the beginning of a long-term effort to provide all Amw- . icans with the greatest possible access to homeownership. With the emphasis, focus and an improved understanding — on both the part of lenders regarding minority lending issues and on the part of minontos regarding what is involved in qualifying for a mortgage I have high hopes for this initiative and what it can accomplish. It is the diversity of our country that sets our country apart from other nations. But while our backgrounds may differ, it is our common goals and values that forge the resilience and strength of our culture. Homeownership, is the basic tenet of the American dream that ser>^ as our common heritage. As mortgage bankers, our mission miwt be to malcft certain that everyone has a fair and equal chance at realizing the dream of homeownerstdp. . . - (Stephen B. Ashley is President of the Mortgage Bankers AssociaUo;.; of America and Chairman and CEO of Sibley Mortgage Corporation ic Rochester, New York.)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Jan. 22, 1994, edition 1
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