Ciiarlotte
VOLUME 19, No. 15
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18,1993
50 CENTS
Arts &
Entertainment
Into the Foxx
hole. 1B
Comedian/
actor Jamie
Foxx ("In Liv
ing Color,"
"Roc"^Js one
of the hottest
acts going.
But it takes
plenty of hard
work to be
this funny.
Lifestyles
You are what
you eat. 7A
The holidays don't have to go
to your thighs and hips If you
use your head with these calo
rie-busting ideas.
Sports
On the spot. 7B
V ' ‘
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 7A
Around Charlotte 8A
Religion 9A
Church News 12A
Arts & Entertainment 1B
What’s Up 5B
Sports 7B
Classified 12B
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©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
City contract policy may ignite heated battle
Johnson C. Smith guard Melvin
Abrams has some big shoes to
fill this season. The sophomore
is expected to replace Colum
bus "Green Light" Parker, the
school's all-time scoring king.
Shrine Bowl
selections. 7B
Maurice Staley of West Charlotte
and Colin Harris of South Meek
have a couple of things in com
mon: They're in the N.C. 4A
playoff chase and they've been
selected to the Shrine Bowl.
Religion
There's a
message here. 9A
"There Is Hope," a locally-
produced play that encourages
keeping the faith, opens Friday
at Ovens Auditorium.
Opinion &
Editorials
The house
negro. 5A
No one should be surprised
about Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas' record,
James Strong contends.
A disparity of
contract dollars
to minority firms
Minority firpn^ are getting less
than half the pity compared to
three years In fiscal year
1989-90, the tsptal was 8.7%. In
fiscal year 1993-93. it was 4%,
miflorifids
1989-90
1992-93
By John Minter
POST (CORRESPONDENT
The raucous (debate over a
consultant’s finding that
Charlotte discriminated
against minority contrac
tors likely signals the begin
ning of a test of city govern
ment under a Republican
mayor and Republican-
controlled City Council.
"It was ugly," is the way one
observer described the Mon
day debate on the $187,000
study concluded with this
statement: "The evidence
compiled in this report
clearly shows that the City of
Charlotte has been an active
and passive participant in
the discrimination..."
against black-owned busi
nesses.
"Everybody showed their
true colors," said local busi
ness consultant Bill McCul
lough.
William Davis, a minority
prime contractor, called the
debate shcx:klng. "1 thought 1
was back in the 1960's or
1865, before we signed the
emancipation," Davis, owner
of William B. Davis Inc.,
BRITAIN'S CIVIL RIGHTS CHAMPION
w
m
It
reOTOft/SKBfUU BELFtELO-JORNBON C. BBCTH UNTVBRUTT
Blacks have problems across Atlantic, too
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
To be black in Great Brit
ain offers paradoxes much
like in the U.S., an English
civil rights leader says.
Dame Jocelyn Barrow,
deputy chairman of the
Broadcasting Standards
Council in Britain and a vet
eran of that nation's civil
rights movement, told stu
dents at Johnson C. Smith
University that people of
color in Englan(l haven't
faced the same types of his
torical racism as in Ameri
ca. For Instance, last year's
Los Angeles uprising proba
bly would not have hap
pened on British soil be
cause the officers would've
been convicted.
"If Rodney King had been
beaten in Great Britain by
four policemen, the police
men would've gotten life,"
she said. "But police brutali
ty is everywhere."
Barrow, who received the
female equivalent of
knighthood last year, was
in Charlotte to explain the
status of ethnic minorities
in Great Britain. Barrow
was vice chairman of the
Campaign Against Racial
Discrimination in the
1960s and spearheaded
movements to pass anti-
discrimination laws in
Britain.
About 5% of the nation's
59 million people are non-
white, with 2% of them
black.
"The black community in
Great Britain Is still a fairly
young community, since we
didn't start migrating until
after World War II," she said.
"It hasn't gone through the
same things that you have
in America."
Britain has its share of
problems. There is growing
concern with black-on-
black violence, especially in
the Afrlcan-Carrlbbean
community.
"That's an increasing
problem and it doesn't get
the publicity of black-on-
white crimes," she said. "A
lot of the black community
is too ashamed to talk about
it when it happens."
Blacks, who started emi
grating to Britain in search
of jobs, have access to much
of that nation's society, said
Barrow, a native of Trinid
ad. But most are struggling
to make ends meet with a
system that still takes race
into account when it comes
to jobs. Although education
is open to all, blacks with
degrees have a more difficult
time economically than
See DAME On Page 2A
said. "There was division
along racial lines, even
among the parties."
While District 4 council
representative Naslf Majeed
wanted to hurry council to
accept the stu(ly. Republi
cans, Including Mayor Rich
ard Vinroot, opted to slow
the prcKess down.
Majeed argued that since
the present council had com
missioned the study, it
should also vote on its rec
ommendations.
The debate dissolved into a
See CONTRACTS On Page 2A
Stars
And
Bars?
Never
Ministers want
Confederate flag
dropped in S.C.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Two days
after Confederate battle flag
supporters rallied at the cap
ital, an alliance of black
ministers has called for the
flag to come down from the
Statehouse dome.
'To fly a Confederate ban
ner there is to say tr the
■’orld th-ii the Civil War is
itlll being fought in South
Carolina and that equality
for all is still more of a goal
than reality," the Greater Co
lumbia Interdenomination
al Ministerial Alliance said
Monday.
The ministers endorsed a
proposal by state Sen. Dar
rell Jackson, D-Columbla, to
take the flag from the State-
house dome and place it near
a Confederate memorial on
the building's grounds.
Rev. Joseph A. Darby, a
leader of the alliance, criti
cized the attitude at a rally:
"All that was missing was
the white robes."
The rally was organized by
William G. Carter, a Saluda
man who ran the S.C. presi
dential campaign of former
Ku Klux Klan wizard David
Duke.
South Carolina is the only
state to fly the familiar ban
ner with the blue X and red
background. Georgia and
Mississippi incorporate the
flag into their state flags.
The legislature raised the
flag in 1962 as part of a cen
tennial celebration of the
War Between the States.
Black lawmakers have
urged the flag be removed or
replaced. But descendants of
Confederate soldiers have re-'
fused.
State Attorney General Tra
vis Medlock Issued an opin
ion last month that said the
flag flies without legal au
thority.
Astronaut's theme: Science is cool
By Vera Witherspoon
TOE CHARLOTTE POST
A space shuttle astronaut
told Charlotte youngsters
their goals can be among the
stars.
But it'll require some
knowledge of science and
math.
Dr. Bernard Harris, who
spoke at Discovery Place as
part of a program sponsored
by 100 Black Men, said he
has high expectations and
goals concerning space, as
tronomy math and scienc
es.
"I've always dreamed about
traveling amongst the stars.
I have been very interested in
space since I was about eight
or nine years old," he said.
"That is when my astrono
my Interests started because,
I wanted to be an astronaut."
Harris said he believes ex
perimenting and learning is
a continuous process. He
helps encourage students to
learn as much as they can as
he does with his space ven
tures, which was his reason
for visiting.
"I tell children in less than
10 to 15 years, nine out of 10
jobs are going to require ex
pertise in math and sciences.
If they don't get it now they
are going to be left behind,"
he said.
In 1990, Harris was selected
by the National Aeronauti
cal and Space Administra
tion (NASA) for its astronaut
program. He has served as a
mission specialist on two
space shuttle flights, which
wouldn't have happened
without a scientific back
ground.
"The NASA selection Is a
long process. You must ma
jor in a hard science, biolo
gy, chemistry, physics or
medicine," said Harris, who
received degrees in biology
from the University of Hous
ton and medicine from Texas
Tech University. "As a mls-
See BERNARD On Page 2A
PHOTO/PAUL wnuAm m
Astronaut Bernard Harris talked about science, nuith and
space at Discovery Place's Challenger Learning Center.