YAM WE AM
N.C. festival
highlights the
virtues of
Afri cart-bred
spud/1 B
WHO’s CADILLAC
IS THAT?
Study examine’s
Caddy's place in
biack culture /IB
Volume 31 No. 33
$1.00
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cat
As the debate over U.S. immigration refomi picks up steau
more African Americans are joining the fray. Like the rest of the
country, there is no consensus on what should be done.
28216 Sll Pi
James B. Oul^e Library
100 Beatties Ford Rd
Charlotte NC 28216-5302
TOP PHOTO/GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK; BOTTOM CURTIS WILSON
Demonstrators in New York City waved U.S. and Mexican flags Monday to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants. In Charlotte, Kimm Williams
(below) showed her support with a homemade sign.
Our continental divide
Native-born blacks weigh economic realities against rights of undocumented •
By Chens F. Hodges
clierisJuxIges@ihechar!onepostx:om
As immigrants rallied in
Charlotte and across the
U.S. Monday to show
America what this country
would be lilce without
Afiican Americans remain
relatively silent on the
issue.
But some politicians and
experts say immigration
often has serious effects on
the wages and employment
of blacks and other low-
income groups.
Former Winston-Salem
alderman Vernon Robinson,
who won the Republican
primary for the District 13
seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives, has been
an outs^ken opponent of
aid to illegal immigrants.
“Anyone wishing to work
here must return home to
apply, agree to be deported
for any violation of the law,
carry a biometric ID card at
aU times and have their
employer sponsor bear the
cost of any public service
used,” Robinson writes on
his web site.
But some blacks have lent
support to the cause — or at
least understand why immi
grants are fitting to stay in
America. .
Ahmed Allhamisi, who
attended Monday’s pro-
Please see AFRICAN/2A
VOTING RIGHTS ACT AUTHORIZATION
Lawmakers back federal extension
By Herbert L. White
herb.wliite& xliechartoneposicoin
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt joined black lawmakers
and members of the Senate and House leader
ship to introduce legislation to reauthorize the
1965 Voting Rights Act.
The legislation, called the
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks
and Coretta Scott King Votii^
Rights Act Reauthoiization and
Amendments Act of 2006, will
extend the federal law for 25
years and update provisions of
the original Voting Ri^ts Act to
take into account continuing
obstacles to voting by minorities. The legisla
tion will also clarify provisions of the Voting
Rights Act that Congress has concluded have
Pioneeriryg urban literature author Nikki
Turner adds publishing to her resume/1 D
Watt
been misinterpreted by the United States
Supreme Court.
‘T anticipate that every member of the CBC
will shortly become co-sponsors of this historic
reauthorization legislation,” said Watt,.of
Charlotte and chaitman of the Congressional
Black Caucus.
The legislation will restore to the Act’s origi
nal intent the rights of minority citizens at the
ballot box. The continued pervasiveness of
racially polarized voting in jurisdictions cov
ered by the VRA’s ejqjiring provisions demon
strates that racial and langu^e minorities
remain politically vulnerable, warranting the
continued protection of the VRA.”
Provisions that would be reauthorized and
extended include;
See LEGISLATORS’/7A
HOW 10
poorest
woikers
Taskforce proposes
options to improve N.C.
health care coverage
By Herbert L. White
herb.whiteSlbecliarlorteposi com
Expanding health insimance to
North Carolina’s working poor will
take the combined efforts of public
and private institutions, according to
a report.
The study, released Wednesday by
the North Carolina Institute of
Medicine, stems from a task force
which identified gi'oups most likely to
lack insurance coverage, the conse
quences of being uninsured, factore
that result in escalating healthcare
costs, and policy options to expand
coverage to the uninsured.
“The primary reason that people
lack coverage is lhat it costs too much”
stated Pam Silberman, NCIOM presi
dent and CEO. “Low income families
and small employers often have diffi
culty paying for health insurance pre
miums, as do other indi'viduals with
pre-existing health problems.”
Seventy-eight percent of N.C.’s unin
sured are full-time workers or in a-
family with one, and a third are in a
family with two or more full-time
employees. Most of the uninsm-ed
have a connection to the workforce,
but are more hkely to be low income or
, work for a small employer than those
with insurance coverage.
More tiian 80 percent of the unin-
Please see STUDY/3A
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
EYES ON THE BALL: Shabazz Weatherly looks In
a pass Wednesday during a flag football game
coached by Carolina Panthers players at Bank of
America Stadium. Members of the Boys & Girls
Clubs from North and South Carolina played at the
stadium.
the box
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Events for
mentoring
young men
By Angela Lindsay
FOR THE CH.AKLOnE POST
An estimated 400-500 people
decked to the nines in tuxedos
and ball gowns are expected to
convene at the Westin Hotel on
Saturday for a very special event.
It is not the prom. It’s the fifth
annual 100 Black Men Black Tie
Gala at 6 p.m. Tickets are $100
per person or $800 per table. They
can be purchased at
WWW.100blackmenofcharlotte.org
/events btml ,
The 100 Black Men is a nation
al organization whose goal is to
improve the quality of life in the
Afiican American community
through their collective resources,
abilities, and experiences. The
gala benefits the 100 Black Men
of Greater Charlotte’s
Scholarship & Movement of
Youth programs. Movement of
Please see 100 /3A
INSiOi
Life IB
Religion 5B
Sports 1C
Business 7C
A&E1D .
Happenings 6C
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.© 2006 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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