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THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 20, 1997
VOLUME 23 NO. 10
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
GOP makes another try for black voters
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Karen Woods is the kind of
Democrat Republicans covet.
Woods, pastor of New Creation
Christian Church and owner of a
Charlotte insurance agency, is a
lifelong Democrat. But she’s con
sidering a switch to the GOP,
which articulates self-sufficiency.
“I will be changing my party,”
American
borders
closed to
Haitians
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON - Haitians came to
the United States to escape
oppression and violence in their
homeland that they say rivaled
any of the world’s most perilous
places.
They bounced like corks on
rough seas, and landed in
American cities that embraced
them with open arms. But those
arms that embraced immigrants
are sometimes just as eager to
toss.
Congress decided last week to
soften hard-line immigration
laws for Cubans, Central
Americans and Eastern
Europeans who have been victim
ized by civil strife in their native
lands.
But Haitians were left out.
They wonder why.
‘We had a succession of rulers,
one just as oppressive as the
next,” Elda James, a Boston
immigration lawyer, told The
Boston Globe. “We had a popula
tion in peril after the exile of its
president. You had Haitian bodies
washing onto Florida’s shores.
And that wasn’t civil strife?”
In Boston, which ranks third in
the nation in Haitian population
behind Miami and New York,
Haitians are growing increasing
ly fearful in an environment that
was once a source of security.
“Teople are afraid to walk on
the street because they believe
that anyone can ask them for
their papers,” said Chariot
Lucien, publisher of a Haitian
bulletin in Hyde Park. “They’re
afraid of getting health services
on the basis that they wfll be
asked for identification. These
are people who are reacting by
ricochet.”
Prior to 1996, immigrants were
allowed to apply for suspension of
deportation provided they had
lived in the country for at least
seven years and could show that
returning to their homeland con
stituted hardship. But last year
See HAITIANS on page 3A
Woods, 47 said. “The time is out
where the Democratic Party can
just count on our vote. I have not
seen one way or the other for
them to have my vote.”
A letter from Oklahoma Rep.
J.C. Watts was mailed to African
American voters last week seek
ing their contributions and sup
port for Black America’s PoUtical
Action Committee, a GOP-backed
group. The organization’s goal is
simple: turn
African
Americans onto
the Republican
side. At stake is
the balance of
power in
national and
local politics in
the 21st centu
ry-
“I feel this
Watts
black-led organization has the
potential to help make the GOP
the dominant political force in
America for decades to come,”
Watt wrote.
The OOP’s strategy makes
sense, says Tbd Arrington, chair
man of UNC Charlotte’s poHtical
science department. The difficulty
is in convincing blacks, who typi
cally back Democratic presiden
tial nominees with 90 percent of
their votes, that switching parties
is in their best interests.
“There has been an increase,
but it’s not a lot of people,” he said.
“But certainly, the Republicans
know if they can make a dent in
the solid Democratic base, they
can seal the Democrats up” and
become America’s dominant
party.
Local returns on the OOP’s
See GOP on page 2A
End of an era...
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Legendary Grambling University footbali coach Eddie Robinson chokes back tears during his introduction Saturday before his
Tigers iost to N.C. A&T 37-35. Robinson wiil retire at the end of his 55th season at Grambling after the Nov. 29 Bayou Classic in New
Orleans. Grambling fell to 3-7 with the loss to A&T, the only time in Robinson’s career the Tigers had consecutive losing seasons.
Lack of highway contracts with
black-owned firms questioned
By Sharon Brooks Hodge
THE (WINSTON-SALEM) CHRONICLE
If the N.C. Department of
Transportation isn’t doing busi
ness with black contractors, it’s
not because of any attempt to
exclude them, state officials say.
Last month, N.C. NAACP
President Skip Alston expressed
concern over the lack of black
participation in state highway
projects. North Carolina spends
about $5 billion annually with
private firms hired to build and
maintain state roads. Of that,
Alston contends, only 1 percent
win be paid out to construction
companies run by African
Americans.
The NAACFs figures aren’t sig
nificantly different from the num
bers DOT officials have on their
records. Over the past year, DOT
awarded roughly $760 million to
disadvantaged firms that will be
completing projects to be paid
with either federal or state dol
lars. But that figure is deceiving,
because it includes not only black
firms, but all disadvantaged
groups, including women and dis-
See LACK on page 3A
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS I
Road construction projects lack participation of black-owned firms,
according to the N.C. NAACP.
Brawley defamation trial begins
By Michael Hill
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOTO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Protestors rally with signs outside the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., court
house Tuesday as the defamation suit against Tawana Brawley’s
advisors got underway.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The
Thwana Brawley saga continued
Tbesday much as it left off nine
years ago: with street protests
and charges of racism.
On the day a long-delayed
defamation suit against three of
Brawley’s advisers was to begin,
it hit a final snag when one of the
defendants, Alton Maddox,
refused to enter the courthouse.
Maddox, holed up Tuesday
morning in a coffee shop across
the street from the courthouse,
said he would not enter the budd
ing untd more than 100 pro-
Brawley demonstrators were also
allowed inside.
Whde Maddox said he was anx
ious for the trial to conclude, he
added T am not about to get any
thing over with if it involves
racism.”
Steven Pagones is suing
Maddox, C. Vernon Mason andAl
Sharpton for more than $150 md-
lion, saying the trio defamed him
when they accused him of attack
ing Brawley in 1987.
Court proceedings finally began
three hours late with some
Brawley supporters allowed into
the courtroom after a compromise
agreement. By the end of the day,
about 50 of the 80 perspective
jurors were dismissed for poten
tial bias such as knowing the
Registered black voters in
Mecklenburg County
Republicans
m
Undecided
Democrats
it
SOURCE/MECKLENBURG BOARD OF
ELECTIONS
Revaluation
is focus of
community
meetings
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
How much is your house worth?
The Mecklenburg Tax Office
will tell county residents how the
process of revaluation takes place
during pubhc meetings through
next month.
The next roimd of meetings will
be held today at 7 p.m. at the
Main Branch Library at 310 N.
Tryon St. Tax Administrator John
Petoskey and members of his staff
will provide information and
answer questions on revaluation,
which takes place next year. The
meetings, which are free and open
to the public, will run through
Dec. 11.
“The first question on most peo
ple’s mind is how much their
property assessment wdl change,”
Petoskey said. ‘Tn January 1998,
we wdl begin mailing property
owners notices of their new
assessment, based on current
market values. Until then, the
best way people can estimate
what their new value will be is to
consider what they believe their
home or business would sell on
the open market and that should
be close to the new assessed
value.”
Another frequently-asked ques
tion is how revaluation will affect
property taxes. Petoskey said it is
just one piece of the property tax
puzzle.
“Tkx bdls are the result of the
assessed value being multipUed
by the tax rate,” he said. “The Thx
Office is responsible for making
an accurate assessment of proper
ty values, while elected bodies set
the tax rate.
“Until these tax rates are set,
we have no way of knowing what
impact revaluation will have on
See PROPERTY on page 3A
Pagones family.
The defendants re-submitted a
change of venue request saying a
fair trial is not possible in a coun
ty where so many know the
Pagones family and there are so
few blacks.
“This is entirely Mr. Pagones’
show in his hometown,” Maddox
said.
Maddox was the only defendant
to show up at the courthouse for a
trial expected to last three to five
weeks after several days of jury
selection.
Demonstrators, many from
New York City and New Jersey,
clogged the entrance to the coirrt
building, chanting “no justice, no
See BRAWLEY on page 7A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A '
Strictly Business 8A . y
Religion 10A
Health 16A
Sports IB
A&E5B '
Regional News 106
Classified 128
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