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CW c^\ **CHILL DAVI? 12/01/11 SERIOUS DEPORTMENT BOVIS LIBRARY CB# ^8 UNC-CHAPEL MILL CHAPEL HILL N L u VOLUME 90 - NUMBER 50 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2011 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 Income gap widens within the black community By Jesse Washington What happens within the flack community when the gap widens between the poor and ne affluent? That’s one question used by new census data show- ag well-off African-Americans saving cities for the suburbs and lie South while the ranks of the lack poor grow larger. Over the past decade, the share of black households rank- iig among the poorest poor - hose earning less than $15,000 climbed from 20 percent to 26 jercent, according to census fig- ires released Dec. 8. Other racial ind ethnic groups posted smaller ncreases. During the same pe riod, the percentage of African- Americans making $200,000 or pore a year was unchanged at U percent, even after the Great Secession. Meanwhile, in a reversal of she Great Migration that once pushed blacks to flee Southern racism for economic opportunity n northern cities, many affluent ilacks are returning to the South, ncomes and black populations rave grown in the last decade in ities such as Atlanta, Dallas and fiami. David Lamothe, associ- ite general counsel for a major ank in Charlotte, grew up in lew York City with parents who emigrated from Haitian pov erty and climbed into the middle lass. Now he is associate gen ial counsel for a major bank in Charlotte, where he lives with is pediatrician wife and their iree children, ages 8 to 14. He is acutely aware of differ- nces in the dynamic of today’s (lack community. “Growing up, when we went o a party, it was all black kids, ind we had no idea how much Honey their parents made. Ev- rybody went to the same party, ly best friend lived in the proj ets. My kids don’t have that,” aid Lamothe. “There’s not such opportunity for them to ee those kids (from low-income amilies). There’s more stratifi- ation.” i Despite some gains for mid- [le-class blacks, African-Amer- kans on average last year still lad rising poverty and worsen- pg economic situations com [ NCCU LAW HOSTED EPA ADMINISTRATOR AND BUSINESS LEADERS - Ms. Lisa P. Jackson,, right, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, chaired a roundtable iscussion today with about 30 business and government leaders at the North Carolina Central .niversity ‘ School of Law. At right is NCCU Law School Dean Raymond Pierce .The White House Business Council and Business Forward NC, a trade group formed to encourage participation by business waders in the policymaking process, organized the gathering. See story on page 13. (NCCU Photo by Lawson) pared with whites. The mostly suburban counties where blacks had growing and higher-than- avefage income make up about 19 percent of the black popula tion. That’s compared with 45 percent of blacks who lived in urban counties and small towns where black incomes fell relative to whites. Blacks were more likely than other groups to live in neighbor hoods with poverty rates of 40 percent or more. Roughly one in nine of them did. Lamothe’s response is to make sure his children recognize their humble roots. “I stress to them, just be cause somebody pushes a broom doesn’t make you any Plan to boost employment for disabled workers By Sam Hananel WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration wants to use the power of government purchasing to help increase the number of disabled people in the workforce, proposing to require federal con tractors to set a goal of having disabled workers make up at least 7 percent of their employees. Labor officials called the plan one of the most significant efforts to protect the rights of disabled workers since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. “This is really a historic moment in the civil rights movement in America,” Patricia Shiu, director of the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, said in an interview. Federal contractors and subcontractors account for nearly a quar ter of the nation’s workforce. The proposal could have a ripple effect across the country and help bring down the 13 percent unemploy ment rate for disabled workers, which is about 1 1/2 times the rate of those without disabilities. There are about 200,000 federal contractors taking in approxi mately $700 billion annually in contracts. The government long has used the leverage of federal spending to promote affirmative action in the hiring of women and minorities. The new rule would, for the first time, give that same treatment to people with disabilities. The proposed rule is not a quota. It would require companies to devote more resources to recruiting efforts to hire more disabled . workers, improve training programs and update data collection. Contractors would have to keep detailed records showing they are complying. The rule would require them to list job openings to in crease their pool of qualified applicants. “For nearly 40 years, the rules have said that contractors simply need to make a 'good faith’ effort to recruit and hire people with dis abilities,” Shiu said. “Clearly, that’s not working.” The Labor Department will take comments on the rule for 60 days before considering final approval next year. Disability advocates praised the rule. “It has been proven again and again that investing in opportunities for people with disabilities are repaid tenfold,” said Lara Schwartz, spokeswoman for the American Association of People with (Continued On Page 15) better than them. You have fam ily members on both sides who do that kind of job. You also have family who have been very fortunate professionally, but that doesn’t make us better than any body else.” Still, a gap remains between black families who live in differ ent neighborhoods, attend dif ferent schools and live different lives. “Other than skin color, they don’t really resemble you,” La- mothe said. Yet there is still a psychic glue that bonds black people of all incomes together, said Blair L.M. Kelley, a history professor at North Carolina State (Continued On Page 15) Ms. Brandi M. Fuimore, who received a Bachelor of Science degree in family and consumer science, waves happily to family and friends at NCCU commence ment. (NCU Photo by Lawson) NCCU Awards 608 Degrees at December Commencement North Carolina Central Uni versity awarded 608 bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees Satur day morning in a ceremony at McDougald-McLendon Gymna sium. In a stirring, revival-style commencement address, federal education leader John Silvanus Wilson Jr. urged the graduates to harness courage and vision to overcome fear. “There is fear and courage inside all of us,” he said. “Most of us focus on the obstacles in front of us and we operate out of fear. We need to focus on the goals and operate out of courage.” Wilson is the executive direc tor of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), an office set up within the Depart ment of Education in the 1970s to strengthen the nation’s 105 HBCUs and serve as a liaison between them and .the federal government. Wilson is a former professor at George Washington Univer sity and holds a Ph.D. from Har vard, but he also was trained as a preacher and is the son, grandson and great-grandson of preachers as well. That part of his heri tage was on full display as he recounted a life-changing event from his teens. The back yard of his home in a Philadelphia suburb contained a swimming pool and was en closed by a four-foot chain-link fence, he recalled. Try as he might, when he needed to re trieve a ball that went over the fence, he was never able to hop the fence in a single, swift move the way some neighborhood friends could, he said. It became an obstacle that nagged at him. One day a visiting child fell into the deep end ofthe pool and began to struggle and sink. Wil son was outside the fence when he heard the cries of alarm. He leaped the fence, plunged in and saved the child from drowning. “To this day,” he said, “I don’t remember exerting the slightest bit of energy getting over that fence. I was over in half a second. I know that sci ence says it was adrenaline, but I wondered then and I often won der now, “How can I be in touch with the power that got me over the fence, all the time?” “Earlier, when I would go after that ball, I focused on the fence and I was driven by doubt and fear,” he said. “But when I had to get to that pool, I focused on the drowning boy, and I was Ms. Holly Uzzle receives her diploma from Chan cellor Nelms. Uzzle, who has cerebral palsy, negoti ated the NCCU campus for four years using a walker. In his commencement address, John S. Wilson Jr. praised Uzzle for her perseverance. driven by confidence and cour age. “Graduates, there will be a lot of fences in your future,” he said. “But you need to have a “what fence?” mentality, a “what fence?” psychology, a “what fence?” theology. Do not focus on the fences in life. Focus on what is on the other side of those fences. That’s where life is! That’s where love is! That’s where destiny is!” (Continued On Page 13)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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