For The individual
__i' — 4
crats, as is Mr. Gantt, and secondly, black;
voters too believed him to be the best
candidate. Likewise, and by way of exam
ple, in predominantly black Distriet 2,
Gantt’s Republican opponent Dave
Berry hi 11 received only 1,648 votes bat
Republican council persons candidates at
large Minette Trosch and Richard Vinroot
received 2,910 and 2,230 votes, respectively.
Thus, black voters, like other voters, give
their votes to whom they consider to be the
best candidate.
In o*her evidence thatdenies overt voting
patterns based on race, sex or even reli
gion, was in the surprisingly large vote that
Jewish merchant-jeweler Al Rousso
received. Rousso led the field in the
at-large election with 33,740 - more than
2,000 votes ahead of his nearest competitor
Richard Vinroot. Rousso’s victory gives
him the likely opportunity to be named
-mayor pro tern. Interestingly and signifi
cantly, Rousso’s political victory had little,
if anything, to ck) With his political philo
sophy, his views on current issues facing
Charlottes ns, his political campaign or his
Jewish faith. Rousso’s low budget cam
paign was billed as a “little guy” people’s
candidate or underdog bucking big go
vernment a popular theme that draws
sympathy from many people. Of coursd,
well known to the voters was the three-year
legal battle Mr. Rousso has had with the
City over condemning his jewelry store for
a public parte site. Thus, some may think
'/"•Mr; Rousso' was elected for the wrong,
reason but it certainly had no connection to
his Jewish religious faith.
Finally, with labels such as conserva
tive, liberal, feminist or even' Republican
and Democrat playing a very minor role in
the elections we find the best evidence of
Sen. Watt's'" comment that Charlotteans
voted' their “choices based oh Individual
qualifications.” Consistent with the values
;• and traditions of America, we strongly
{u?ree with Sen. .Watt’s views and how
Charlotteans^fd, and we bope,willr continue'
jijPjlb vote on political candidates. Ir**,
--
-
•The People . Newsp.pfr"
' 107 Ye*rs
Of Continuous Service
1
IISSl&CtaSnRMd
CterMte,N.CMn |
I I
. ft
' HEAR *
Norme
! NOTtW
According to 1982 statistics
there are 339,239 black
owned firmed with $12.4
billion in receipts in the
lotted States. A vast ma
jority df” these firms are
concentrated in services and
retail vtradfe. The Census
Burgas survey goes on to
Matlf that the number of
black-owned firms increased
4? percent between 1977 and
1992, from; 231,203 to 339,
239. Forecasters estimate
there cbulA be 434,903 black
owned businesses by the
close of the year.
° M The total number of all hew
firms or businesses ^in the
United. States increased ...
about 30 percent between
1977 and 1982. Dun and .
Bradstreet Corporation’s
census of American business
« a
Most statistics show blacks
are starting businesses^ At a
slightly higher rate than the
nation as a whole. How
ever, the total number of
black-owned businesses is
still significantly small com
pared with the national
totals. Reports also found
that a majority, as many as
90 percent, of blade-owned
businesses are smaH, family
owned and run with its
employees unpaid or com
pensated in other ways.
Today's statistics will more
. than likely show that 90 per
cent number td be incorrect
in revealing employee pay
and compensation structure.
More black-owned business
tabkvthan :in-.lp?7»,
*** ,toew”
‘ nesses are finding them
selves in industries where
the returns are much higher
than 1977, thus making the
present and future extremely
promising. The census re
port shows strong growth in
the number of black-owned
firms with sales of more than
$1 milium and the average
sales of business with paid
employees totaled $220,483 in
1982, up from $180,045In 1977.
To encourage {his fantastic
spark of more blacks step
ping into business, numerous
MiUer Says
DoUack Americans Value On Quality ? :
By Sherman N. Miller .
'SpecialTo The Post
Occasionally I find con
clusions in research articles
that my gut instincts simpty
refuse to let me accept. I am
usually troubled by mess
articles until I can either find
data that corroborate their
conclusions or I locate some
inf donation which makes me
further doubt their validity. I
recently read an article that
drew a conclusion that may
have very serious implica
tions on bow the mainstream
business community elects to
service Blade America.
In an article entitled,
“Personal Values and
Product Expectations,” Ved
Prakash of . Florida
International i? University
contends that black
Americans are not interested
in product quality. In a study
of Macks' and whites’ values
in the purchase of clothes
and television sets Prakash
writes, “In quality of fabric,
whites find fulfillment of
personal orientation and
aesthetic value, while for
blacks this attribute is not
related to any value
dimension ” *
I let another Mack read
Prakash's conclusions and
this person expressed
vehement disagreement.
This person’s strong
reactions to Prakash’s paper
demanded that I ask other
blacks what criteria they use
to purchase clothes. I
decided to randomly select
people who live in the city of
Wilmington, DE and solicit
their values in clothing
purchases. I revealed
Prakash conclusions to my
respondents only after they
had given me their
responses. I queried ten
individaals. The following is
a list of some of the replies I
heard. .v
John Collins says, “I look
for the quality In the stitch
and fabric... quality of fabric
... workmanship... the feel to
the hand.”
Lester Brice proclaimed,
"I look for quality and fit! ” .
Anthony Taylor said, “I
mainly buy clothes to look
nice and casual."
Kenneth Emory declared.
“I look for quality in what I
buy.”
Marian Washington ~
uttered, “Good quality.”
Kenneth Brown, Sr. said,
“I sura look for quality.”
Mif. Aft Pellot’s comments
seem to sum up the under- >
girder emotion m eight out of
ten responses of my respon
dents. He averred, “In these
times one must think about
quality ..."
After hearing eight of ten
blacks argue the importance
of quality in buying clothes, I
find myseif with some
reservations on Prakash’s
conclusion. Although I
conducted a cursory survey I
am sure there are some good
reasons for the very high
divergence in these
Wilmington blacks’
comments and Prakash’s
findings.
Since Prakash’s findings
present a potentially
deleterious depiction of
Black America’s value
system, it is imperative that
other researchers corroborate
or disprove Prakash’s
research. I think traditional
black university and college
faculties have a respon
sibility to audit research
papers for their possible
advert* impact on Black
America's upward mobility
These faculty members
ought to also challenge those
findings that are not repre
sentative of characteristics
of the black community.
Michdfe Cde M
Centime* firm Page 1A
Hollywood office, '1to Sensed up «s
the band The Time and we lip
synced the song, ‘The Bird,’”
describes Michelle
Pure Essence is now waith« to
hear from the show's produce s to
see how well they (aired in this last
neck of the competition Maybe
flet’s all keep our fingers crossed)
well be seeing MiebeOe and Pure
Essence on television soon. "I hope
so,” Michelle slgto
"I'm serious about sir^ii*.” she
assures, adding that she is con
sidering it as a profession Pure
Essence, Michelle tells. wiD be fea
tured in an upcoming local talent
But Michelle does not have stars in
her eyes "I want to go to college."
Michelle confsaass. "My mother
would have something to say about
"I would like to attend George
town University.** says MkheOe.
She admits to having a "terrible
time” deciding exactly what she'd
major in
trating on 1
T " £
tors."
Mt of .
family You’re
points out -IM
on t»ttfk«u!aitt*aftm
forward .to the
organizations are provid
ing “how to” workshops for
blacks and other minorities.
Where are the black-owned
businesses? Everywhere
from -MiFdiSon Avenue to
Main Street. California has
the largest number of Mack
owned firms with 44,698 and
gross receipts of $1.6 billion.
Thirty-nine percent of black
owned firms with 41 percent
of gross receipts, $5.1 bil
lion, are concentrated in
Texas, Florida, New York,
Illinois and, of course,
California. The South and
Southeast regions are also .
experiencing “super*
growth” in the area of black
artd minority owned busi
nesses. Z':
made it difficult in
businewT™
vfes'or _
clients or consumers. As a
result of this most of the
products needed by Macks,
such as grocery store chains,
cosmetic and haibcare com
panies, and publishing
houses. Today, blades are
finding that the concept has
changed. More lucrative
markets are available and
exist beyond the traditional
base
High technology is attract
ing a lot of black entrepre
neurs into badnesses -an
industry where color does not
limit the ability to suc
ceed. In high-tech industries
clients are concerned with
whether or not one can de
liver the product. <
An event that helped
spark black entrepreneur
ship hW3S I wi Rece8sion:
uates. Many btack&rvrereMMi
are opening their own
businesses because they are
being detoured from top
corporate levels. These busi
ness owners feel blacks’ rise
to a particular level in major
corporations and then view
their continued climb as a
fruitless effort so thenatural <
step seems to be to start a
business.
Although the rate of sue
&VBS&SL
5~3S£gg
*** ttwy cam* up
l^cgi uioncy to
business ^