Charlotte Boett
VOLUME 19, No. 11
THURSDAY OCTOBER 21,1993
50 CENTS
ymim
—Lifootylo»
The African
Americans. 7A
Viking
Studio
Books
publishes
a colorful
chronicle
of the
black ex
perience
in Ameri
ca.
Entert
ainmem
Soul
Mission.
IB
Solo rhythm
& blues art
ists from
Tata Vega to
Mavis' Sta
ples go gos
pel in a new
musical pro
ject. Winfred
Cross does
a review.
Sports
On the
right track
After a
rough
start,
Johnson
C. Smith
has a two-
game foot-
ba'/ win
streak and
renewed ^2
hope.
8B
J
Jl
JGS
UGSIJ
Religion
Got to get hold
of a man. 9A
The gos
pel play "I
Need A
Man," star
ring Che
ryl "Pepsi!"
Riley (left)
opens in
Charlotte
this week
end.
Opinion/Editorials
General Affairs. 4A
Somali Gen. Mohammed Farrah
Aideed may be a thorn in the
side of the UN and America, but
his success at dealing with Inter
national authority is amazing.
Healthy Body,
Healthy Mind
What’s up doc? 1C
No one par
ticularly
likes to visit
them, but
picking a
doctor is an
important
health care
decision.
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 7A
Around Charlotte 8A
Religion 9A
Church News 12A
Arts & Entertainment 1B
What's Up 6B
Sports 7B
Classified 12B
• For Subscription
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376-0496
©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
Charlotte wins 1996 NAACP convention
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
What started out as an at
tempt to test the waters for
black-oriented convention
business has brought the
1996 NAACP national con
vention to Charlotte.
The nation's oldest civil
rights organization Monday
awarded the convention to
Charlotte, ending a year of
campaigning by local civic,
business and NAACP lead
ers. Charlotte beat out Cleve
land. Detroit and Louisville,
Ky. for the convention, one
of the largest In America.
"I'm still kind of floating
on air," said Charlotte Con
vention & Visitors Bureau
President Melvin Tennant.
"This Is huge for the city."
The 1996 convention Is ex
pected to attract between 18-
20,000 people, said Kelly Al
exander, president of the
N.C. NAACP and a member
of the organization's nation
al board. With a presidential
campaign brewing that year,
major candidates are expect
ed to appear, which also
brings accompanying media
attention to the host city.
"It's a great coup as far as
the city's concerned," Alex
ander said. "This was our
first time out trying to get the
convention, so It says a lot
for the team that put It to
gether."
The Char
lotte effort
reads like a
Who's Who of
civic leaders.
In addition
to Tennant,
who
others
helped sell the city Included
Lenny Springs, a First Union
National Bank executive and
member of the NAACP na-
ill
I
1
1
1 ’
&
i
1
M
iiii
■ i;
5;i;
Mecklenburg Count) Bonds
(> inillioiLs)
School improvements and additions
^ = new schools
■ft = major renovations and
expansion projects
$192
•s'
Parks and recreation centers,
land for new parks
O =newparks
o = new recreation center and
park improvements
D New Libraries
^ CPCC Science Center
V Lakeview Center expansion
^ wm
$30
Total.
Charlotte City Bonds
($ millions)
ill
ft l nvironmental deanuji
A
u Impnvem-nts to *ati'rs\sitrii
tfirtj’.iglir.ut the nt> uui lounts
A Imprf'vrm-nts to s,uiiUrv stwir s'.^U;rIl
tlmnigliont tiv* oit\ uid uair't,
Tot.ll
isx- IliSS'V'i
' * ^
■+ s 's
mi
Bond drive still divides along school lines
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The 1993 Charlotte-
Mecklenburg bond referen
dum is In good shape, Carla
DuPuy believes.
Bob Davis Isn't that enthu
siastic.
With less than two weeks
remaining before election
day, the fate of Charlotte-
Mecklenburg bonds is up In
the air. At stake Is millions
of dollars to be allocated for
everything from parks and
schools to libraries and a
television station.
Supporters say voter edu
cation has removed much of
the fear and apathy stirred
by the $338.75 million
package, $192 million of it
earmarked for county
schools. DuPuy, co
chairperson of the commit
tee pushing the bonds, said
education is working.
"I feel like It is. We've had
many, many educational
visits," she said. "Once peo
ple receive the informa
tion, they become support
ers."
Others aren't so sure
about that, especially In
the African American com
munity.
"The bonds are in trouble
and If they are to pass,
they'll need black support,"
said Davis, chairman of
the Black Political Caucus
(BPC).
At the heart of the contro
versy Is school bond pack
age, which
of
Davis
has
brought
howls
protest
from dia
metrically
opposed
groups
the politi
cally con
servative
Citizens
Government
cial opposition to the pack
age, while
For Effective
(CFEG) and African Ameri
cans, who feel their votes
have been expolted for the
benefit of others In the
past.
'We've seen the broken
promises," Davis said.
CFEG has voiced Its offl-
BPC mem
bers will de
cide Sunday
at First Bap
tist Church-
West. The
meeting
starts at 7:30
p.m.
Black con
cerns in
clude the
placement
of new schools and the hir
ing and promotion of Afri
can American professionals.
If the school S3rstem decides
to open new high schools,
there's concern that West
DuPuy
See BOND On Page 2A
Closings stir protest in Rutherford County
By Vera Witherspoon
THE CHARLOTE POST
The Rutherford County School Board
was reckless to shut down four schools
In Forest City's African American
neighborhoods, critics say.
The local NAACP is concerned the
closings will adversely affect property
values In those communities, which are
about 60 miles west of Charlotte.
"In our first reports to ,the board, the
board said a funding Investigation of
the architect reports that several of the
schools were Ill-constructed and the ar
chitect report recommended that they
go the way they are going," said Stinson
Thompson, chairman of a group ap
pointed by the NAACP to Investigate the
closings.
'We asked for and received the archi
tect report and there was nothing In the
architect report that Indicated they
close schools or transfer to other
schools. These are things that are being
questioned right now."
Black residents and parents who have
children who attend the targeted
schools are In an uproar. They say the
board made its decision without their
Input, especially when blacks supported
a bond referendum that Included the
renovation of Dunbar Elementary, one
of the casualties.
"The community residents are very
disturbed about the closings of the
black schools in the black areas,"
Thompson said.
School Board Chairman Bob Eng
land said the closings were based on
education and economics, not race.
"Never - during the building pro
gram, during the bond Issue, during
the extremely agonizing soul-
searching - never has there been
any decision made In which anyone
pointed to a school as being a black
school or being a white school," he
told The (Forest City) Dally Courier.
With fewer schools In black neigh
borhoods, more black students will
See CLOSINGS On Page 3A
tional board: city council
member Ella Scarborough:
former mayor Harvey Gantt
and Alfred Alexander, presi
dent of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg NAACP. The
corporate community also
played a major role In sup
porting the effort.
"The national NAACP con
vention Is one of the largest
of Its type in this country, so
See NAACP On Page 2A
Trade
pact likely
to hurt
Black workers would
feel sting of NAFTA
By William Reed
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
While Congress Is split In
Its support of the Clinton ad
ministration's North Ameri
can Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), the majority of Af
rican American labor and
political leaders say such a
pact will severely harm
black workers and commu
nities.
President Bill Clinton Is
pushing NAFTA, an agree
ment developed by the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico to allow
free trade across their bor
ders. The agreement has the
approval of all five of Ameri
ca's living former presidents.
But even the Democratic ma
jority leader and whip In thi?
House of Representatives are
opposing the pact, and na
tional polls show that more
Americans oppose NAFTA
than support it.
The main reason support
ers say that NAFTA is good Is
because It will Increase ex
port opportunities, thereby
increasing domestic produc
tion. Opponents fear that the
pact will take away manu
facturing jobs and undercut
the wages of American work
ers.
Although Canada Is a party
to the trade agreement, the
majority of concern among
Americans regards Mexico.
Canada has a higher stan
dard of living than America
and is ranked by the Human
Development Index (HDI) as
being ahead of the U.S. in life
expectancy, educational lev
el and basic purchasing pow
er. Mexico, on the other
hand. Is a poor country and
Its market Is small, only 4
percent of that of the United
States. The Mexico market
Is about equal to the aggre
gate purchasing power of the
African American commu
nity, or nearly $300 billion.
Critics of NAFTA complain
that Mexico is not a large
market for exports, but a
plentiful supply of low-cost,
high quality labor.
Opposition to NAFTA has
created strange bedfellows.
Ross Perot, Patrick Bucha
nan and most black political
leaders are against it. "The
real motive behind NAFTA
is the lure of cheap labor for
U.S. investors," black labor
leader William Lucy said.
"NAFTA is a massive gamble
with Americans' economic
future. For African Ameri
cans, the odds are over
whelmingly stacked against
us."
The majority of the 40
members of the Congression
al Black Caucus (CBC) are
also fearful that NAFTA will
move production jobs to
Mexico and depress manu
facturing wages and undercut
wages in other sectors of the
U.S. Reports say the Ameri
cans most likely to suffer
would be those who live In
the Inner cities and poor ru
ral areas, and have annual
family Incomes of less than
$ 3 6,0 0 0.
Sy-f'