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3A
NEWS/(C6e Ctairlotte
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Census: Ktoilan income rises for
black Chariotteans; gap closes
Continued from page 1A
' earned $36,686.
Yolanda Jordan, 41, moved
■to Charlotte in 2002 after
her job with Alltel communi-
'cations transferred her from
its center in Raleigh. While
Jordan said she took a pay
cut to come to Charlotte, she
feels hke the move was a
financial benefit. Jordan,
who works in customer ser
vice with the telephone com
pany, cites AUtel allows room
for advancement as well as
yearly salary increases.
“There are a lot of opportu
nities in Charlotte and a lot
of money to be made,” she
said.
The improvement can be
traced to a growing black
professional class and a
strong local economy, demo
graphic and community
leaders say. African
Americans are better edu
cated and are migrating to
the city’s professional offer
ings.
“It says a whole lot about
African Americans in the
Charlotte market,” said
Terrell Blackmon, interim
executive director of the
Northwest Corridor
-Community Development
Corp. “Charlotte is in the top
10 in terms of college gradu
ates and income and that
gap is closing in terms of
African American (income).
...For so long we’ve been at
the bottom.”
Whites earned a median
$54,703 in 2002 and
Charlotte’s growing
Hispanic community earned
$33,820. Charlotte’s African
American figures outstrip
better-known urban areas
like Atlanta and
Washington, D.C., both of
which have more established
black middle classes.
“There are places that
have become real meccas for
college-educated blacks in
the southeast,” said
Roderick Harrison, a demog
rapher at the Joint Center
for Political and Economic
Studies, a Washington-
based think tank. “There are
large and substantial profes
sional classes in these areas,
certainly among single peo
ple.”
And their impact is adding
to Charlotte’s growth. While
many are settling through
out the city, many are mov
ing into the urban core,
Blackmon said. With
increased affluence and rela
tively affordable housing,
blacks are becoming home-
owners.
“We’re seeing an increase
in African Americans who
want to move to the north
west corridor,” he said.
“Homeownership is a key (to
development) and African
Americans are taking
advantage of it in terms of
creating wealth.”
Charlotte’s median black
income exceeds Atlanta and
Washington, according to the
Census figures. Washington,
which has the highest per
centage of black profession
als in the U.S., has a median
of $32,279. Atlanta house
holds earned $22,216.
Part of what drives the
increased economic clout of
Charlotte blacks is the city’s
economic drive. Charlotte
has become a national leader
in attracting college-educat
ed black professionals who
are taking jobs in the bur
geoning financial industry.
“Blacks and whites who
are coming to Charlotte are
coming from other parts of
the country,” Harrison said.
...You’ve become known as a
magnet for professional
blacks and that becomes a
beacon to others.”
The disparity between
black and white income is
driven in part by social and
educational factors,
Harrison says. Single-parent
homes and a relative lack of
advanced education leaves
African Americans in perpet
ual catch-up mode.
“There’s household compo
sition, where there are more
Sudan, rebels agree on oil revenue
By Andrew England
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NAIROBI, Kenya - The government and
rebels have moved a step closer to ending
Sudan’s 20-year civil war after agreeing on
how to divide the country’s oil revenue - a key
stumbling block in the peace talks, the chief
mediator said Sunday.
Lazaro Sumbeiywo told The Associated
Press the two sides had agreed in principle on
how to share the oil revenue and were work
ing to reach a full agreement on wealth shar
ing.
“It’s a major breakthrough. It was one of the
contentious issues holding back the talks,”
Sumbeiywo said.
Yasir Arman, spokesman for the rebel
Sudan People’s Liberation Army, or SPLA,
said a joint committee was working to finahze
a comprehensive wealth sharing agreement
“anytime now.”
“We have resolved some difficult points on
wealth sharing,” Arman said. ‘We have made
a real breakthrough.”
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single-female heads of
households among African
Americans,” said Harrison,,
who is director of the Joint
Center’s demographic data
bank. “There’s education
level, where you have fewer
blacks than whites with col
lege degrees. While “black
and white women females
with college degrees earn
about the same amount, but
black men earn 15 percent
less than white males.”
Despite Charlotte’s rela
tive black prosperity, there’s
an underlying underclass of
poor people.
Of the 189,579 African
Americans living here,
38,984 live below the federal
poverty level. About 40 per
cent (16,061) were between
the ages of 18 and 64, the
prime working years.
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