Mackey leads
UNCC women’s
hoops/IB
Episcopal priest
^ makes history at
^ St. MichaeUlOA
Tailgating
more than
burgers and
steaks/16A
tlDIje Cljarlotte
http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 13, 1997
VOLUME 23 NO. 9
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Watt
Affirmative
action vote
is likely in
Congress
By Herbert L. White
THECHARLOTTE POST
Affirmative action, under
constant attack by conserva
tives as reverse discrimination,
won a small victory in the
House of Representatives last
week.
But it’s only temporary.
The House Judiciary
Committee voted to table the
“Civil Rights Act of 1997” spon
sored by Rep. Charles Canady
(R-Fla.), which would have
banned the consideration of
race or gender in federal hiring
and contracting. Four
Republicans - George Gekas of
Pennsylvania; Stephen Buyer
and Ed Pease of Indiana and
Elton Gallegly of California -
defected from their party’s
leadership to side with
Democrats,
effectively
killing the bill
until next
year.
The 17-9
surprised pro
affirmative
action sup
porters, but
committee
member Rep.
Mel Watt (D-N.C.) cautions the
debate isn’t over.
“I don’t think we should
become overly confident,” he
said. “What it means is this
piece of legislation can’t be
voted on in this session.”
Another bill could be intro
duced before Congress
adjourns this month, but that’s
not likely. Although
Republicans helped table the
bill, Canady expects to intro
duce another resolution next
year.
“It’s wrong to give anybody a
preference,” Canady said
'Tuesday on Black
Entertainment Television’s
“BET Tonight.” “Preferences
are not right and that’s what
my bill will prohibit.”
“I would like to hope that” the
GOP leadership will have a
change of heart, said Watt, a
Charlotte Democrat. “But I
can’t assert that with any kind
of confidence. There’s still a lot
of minority bashing on the
Republican side.”
House minority leader
Richard Gephart (D-Mo.) said
he was “very pleased” moder
ate Republicans joined
Democrats to table the mea
sure, calling it a first step in
defeating the bill.
“The Canady bill is an
extreme measure backed by
the House Republican leader
ship that would end all affir
mative action programs in the
federal government, even in
cases involving the most bla
tant discrimination against
women and minorities,” he
said.
“Rushing headlong into the
issue without building a
See BILL on page 6A
Remembering veterans’ sacrifice
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III
John Steele Jr. of Charlotte wipes his eye Tuesday during ceremonies commemorating Veterans
Day at Marshall Park. The holiday was originally called Armistice Day by President Woodrow
Wilson In 1917 to mark the end of World War I, but has grown to Include American military per
sonnel who have served In the armed forces.
NAACP election results challenged
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The three losing candidates in
recent N.C. NAACP presidential
elections have filed a challenge to
those results with the national
NAACP office.
The candidates - Curtis
Gatewood of Durham, Jesse
Smith of Duplin County and
'Ifeny Belk of Charlotte - contend
the victory by incumbent Skip
Alston of Greensboro was made
possible by a
violation of the
organization’s
constitution.
'The com
plaint, dated
Nov. 6, was
signed by the
candidates and
27 delegates to
the state con
ference conven
tion in Raleigh Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
Alston
The document filed with the
national chapter list 10 violations,
ranging from a 20-minute delay
in the opening of the polls to a fail
ure to file a proper credentials
report prior to the election and
improper seating of youth dele
gates.
Included with the complaint
was a copy of the state confer
ence’s souvenir journal, which
included an ad for Alston’s candi-
See NAACP on page 3A
Public outcry brings halt to slave document auction
By Wsther Iverem
THE WASHINGTON POST
In response to a pubhc outciy,
several 19th-centuiy slavery doc
uments scheduled to be auctioned
to the highest bidder today at
Christie’s in New York were with
drawn from the sale and will
instead be donated to a museum
or historical society.
'The eight documents, grouped
in three sets or “lots” in the
Christie's catalogue, include
posters announcing a reward for
runaway slaves, a slave auction
poster announcing “Chancery
Sale of Eight Likely Negros” and
other papers, including a receipt
for “a mulatto boy named Joe.”
They were part of a larger collec
tion of Civil War-era autographs
and manuscripts being sold by
Christie’s.
The decision not to sell the slav
ery documents was made abrupt
ly yesterday after Christie’s was
flooded with calls from furious
radio listeners from arormd the
country who had heard a com
mentary about the sale on the
"Ibm Joyner Show,” a nationally
syndicated program claiming
more than 3 million listeners in
dozens of markets, including
Charlotte, where it is heard on
WBAV-FM.
Tavis Smiley, host of “BET
Tbnight With Thvis Smile3r” and a
See RADIO on page 3A
□
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£NBUR|courrtf
ARReST ^
OCESSINQ
CENTER
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III
Mecklenburg’S Jail Central on Fourth Street opened this year, but
already exceeds capacity.
Crime pays, at
least for jail and
prison builders
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
See CRIME on page 2A
Powell not interested in
run for office in 2000
By Mike Glover
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Powell
DES MOINES, Iowa - Retired
Gen. Cohn Powell said Thesday
he will not seek the Republican
presidential nomination or any
other office in 2000, lacking “the
passion” for
political Ufe.
“I went
through this in
1995. I took a
hard look at
myself and took
a look at the
needs of my
family and I
concluded indi
vidually and we
concluded as a
family that poUtical life was not
for us,” PoweU said at a news con
ference.
“I am not running for any politi
cal office in 2000,” he said.
Powell, who is heading
President Clinton’s national vol-
unteerism effort, had said before
that he had no intention of run
ning for president. Tuesday’s
remarks left no room for doubt.
Polls consistently show that
Powell is by far the most popular
of potential GOP candidates. That
may be why Republicans still
refuse to count him out as a
potential candidate.
“It always leaves him the option
of playing the T was drafted into
-A'' W
the race’ thing” closer to 2000,
GOP pollster Tbny Fabrizio said.
“I think Cofin Powell has such
stature he can go hack and forth,”
GOP strategist Jill Hanson said.
Fabrizio said Powell made a
smart political move by ruling
See POWELL on page 2A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 9A
ZawadI 10A
Religion 11A
Health 14A
Style 13A
Sports 1B
A&E 5B
Regional News 10B
Classified 12B
Auto Showcase 16B
To subscribe, call (704) 376-
0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 1997 The Charlotte Post
Comments? Our e-mail address is:
charpost@clt.mindspring.com
World Wide Web page address:
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Please
Recycle
Ask most Mecklenbm-g County residents what their No. 1 concern is
and the likely answer is crime.
Among Afiican Americans - most often the victims of violent crimes
such as murder, robbery and rape - there are other issues. The high
number of blacks incarcercted or the increasing amount of public dol
lars being spent oh jails and'prisons while public education and other
government services go lacking.
So while $62 million in Mecklenburg jail bonds was approved with 65
percent of the vote in a Nov. 4 referendum, the level of support was 10
percent lower than the $443 nulUon education bonds package.
The jaQ bonds will be used to add 900 beds to JaQ Central in down
town Charlotte. Jail Central, an imposing gray building in the govern
mental complex off McDowell Street, opened in January with 1,004
beds. It cost $77 million.
That puts Mecklenburg in a league with the skyrocketing expendi
tures on the justice system nationally. Prison and jail construction
totaled $94 billion in 1992, up from $6.9 billion in 1980, an increase of
more than 350 percent.
Mecklenburg County spends $27 million each year to operate its jails.
Across the coimtry, there’s a growing concern that the construction
and operation of jails and prisons is becoming such a major industry
that the drive for profits will fuel support for more arrests and longer
sentences, even as the overall crime rate drops.
“I can’t see anyone wanting to deter crime, because there are too many
people getting rich behind it,” Curtiss Neal, owner of a black-owned
prison telephone service company in Forth Worth, Tfexas, told Emerge