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VOLUME 88 - NUMBER 21
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
U. S. Census Chief Tells Why
African-American Count is Critical
By Pharoh Martin
NNPA National Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - For
vears there have been charges that
African-Americans are under-rep
resented in the U. S. Census counts
conducted once every decade.
•it‘s very possible that some Af
rican-Americans or Spanish speak-
ina persons were under-counted in
previous Census because there may
have been some belief that mak
ing face-time with the goveimment
was not in their best interests/* ac
knowledges Arnold Jackson, chief
operating officer for the decennial
Census.
Jackson, who is black, says al
though the last Census in 2000 had
an under-count of less than one-half
percent, he believes masses of peo
ple have gone uncounted in the past
because of a lack of returned data.
Few er than 60 percent of
African-Americans returned their
2000 Census questionnaire com
pared to 77.5 percent of whites, ac
cording to the Census Bureau.
This is the reason that Jackson
says that the next Census, to begin
April I. 2OI0. will involve a full
court press - and vast strategies -
to assure the maximum number
of hard-to-count individuals are
counted.
“We'll have 140.000 people run
ning across the countiy verifying
addresses and updating our data
base." Jackson said in an interview
with the NNPA News Service.
But. the Census Bureau can't
count who they can't find. And for
a long time racial minority groups
have shied away from giving the
government the information they
needed to get a more accurate count
of the countiy's population by not
responding to mailed
questionnaires.
With an estimated 310 mil
lion people residing in the United
States, counting each person is one
of the largest, most arduous pro
cesses the government undertakes.
The Census Bureau is making it a
priority of locating "hard-to-count"
groups such as blacks and immi
grants. They will start by sending
145 million households a question
naire with 10 questions that will be
available in multiple languages. The
questionnaire has been revised and
streamlined from the previous long
form version that many considered
as too intrusive.
The questionnaires, which every
citizen will be required to answer
by law. will provide the Census Bu
reau with a bulk of its data. Jackson
stresses that the form will only take
ten minutes to complete and that all
responses w ill be used for
Historic Holy Cross Church
NCCU Goes The Extra Mile’ for the
Sake of Historical Holy Cross Church
North Carolina Central University announces approval of its proposal to move the historic Hol\ Cross Catholic
Church from its current location at 1400 South Alston Avenue to the historic corridor at 1912 Fayetteville Street
beside NCCU's Shepard House.
Daniel Ellison is chair of the Historic Preservation Commission of the Durham City-County Planning Depart
ment that authorized the project. During the May 5. meeting. Ellison said. "NCCU is to be commended for going
the extra mile." w hich is just about as far as the church w ill be moved.
“We are ttying our best to accommodate the necessaiy growth of our campus in a manner that is consistent with
our respect for our present neighbors and for the histoiy we share." said NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms.
It is fortunate that the slate-roofed. one-stor\ building can be lifted from its foundation and moved intact to the
comer of Fayetteville and Formosa Streets. No changes are planned to either the exterior or interior of the church
but it w ill be repuiposed as meeting space for NCCU and the community.
Dedicated in 1953. the small, picturesque stone structure was home to one of the oldest African-American
Catholic congregations in the state. The building and the 3.6 acres on which it stood were sold to the state for
the development of the campus w hile the parishioners moved to a new and larger Hol> Cross Sanctuar> at 2438
South Alston Ave.. in 2006.
The relocation of the church was prompted b> the need to begin construction of NCCU's new 65.000 square
foot facility for the School of Nursing. Transpoiiing Holy Cross w as not part of the original funding package so
NCCU administrators petitioned and received an additional $2 million from the State Legislature through the
diligence of Rep. Heniy M. "Mickey" Michaux. Jr.
RecentK. the visual impact of the church has been dwarfed by the much larger campus structures adjacent to it
on Alston. Placement closer to the road and alongside the small historic homes on Fayetteville Street w'ill afford
the church the visual impact it deserves.
NC death penalty opponents rally against restarts
RALEIGH (AP) - The head of North Carolina's NAACP said the state ought to take steps to keep
prosecutors and juries from disproportionatek imposing death sentences on black defendants.
The Rev. William Barber said May 21 the evidence that racial prejudice plays a role in sending inno
cent black men to death row became clear last year. In a six-month period ending last May. three black
men who spent years on death row were released after evidence surfaced that their trials were faulty.
Legislation that passed the state Senate would allow an accused killer to challenge his conviction or
death sentence if he can show that race play ed an inappropriate role. An amendment to the bill would
allow e.xecutions to restart after a two-year halt.
Speaker Blue is now officially an NC state senator
RALEIGH (AP) - Former House Speaker Dan Blue has a new title: North Carolina state senator.
Blue sw itched from the House to the Senate on May 16. Supreme Court Chief Justice Sarah Parker adminis
tered his oath in the Senate chamber w hile his family and new colleagues looked on.
He will serve out the two-year term of the late Sen. Vernon Malone. Wake County Democrats picked Blue two
weeks ago. Gov. Beverly Perdue made the appointment official May 16.
Blue w as elected to the House in 1980 and >erved as the state's first black House speaker for four years. He re
mained in the House until 2002 to run unsuccc^^fully for the U.S. Senate, then returned to the chamber in 2006.
Now Wake C oiiiu\ l)emocral^ nuisi cIioonc someone to finish Blue's House term.
statistical purposes only. Accord
ing to Census.gov. the U.S. Census
Bureau does not ask about the legal
status of respondents in any of its
surve\ s or Census programs.
In addition, an arm> of Census
takers w ill essentially canvass every
neighborhood across the countn on
March 30th to make sure their ad
dress lists are accurate.
The 2010 U.S. Census will cost
taxpavers almost S12 billion, ac
cording to a 2008 budget request
submitted by the Department of
Commerce. This is the most expen
sive count ever, w hich 'kson says
underscores the crucial purpose of
the count.
Jackson stresses that ignoring
the Census can have long standing
consequences for communities.
For example, the 2010 Census
data will direciK affect how more
than S.' trillion in federal funding
is allocated to local and state agen
cies and programs over the next 10
years. The count also determines
how mail) congressional represen
tatives states get.
The data gathered in the Census
also helps to shape policy decisions
for the rest of the decade. It will
also measure just how much the U.
S.. as well as Puerto Rico and the
U.S. island areas, have changed
since 2000 and help determine re
sponses to those changes.
Because of the vast undertaking.
Census takers w ill use hand-held
computers. GPS systems and map
ping technology instead of paper
maps. Such devices will ensure ac-
ciiracv and improve the efficiency
of the national population count.
The Census Bureau will also
partner w ith national grassroots or
ganizations that have specific mis
sions to reach out and ensure that
"hard-to-reach" groups are repre
sented.
The Black Leadership Forum.
African-American Women's Clergy
Association: and the National Co
alition on Black Participation are
some of the more than 250 partner
organizations that have signed on.
These groups w ill serve in advisory
rolls for potential issues and barri
ers that ma\ keep citizens from par
ticipating such as immigration and
displacement from hurricanes and
other disasters. They w ill also serve
as watchdogs to assure that racial
minoritv groups are accurateK rep
resented in order to get funding and
congressional representation.
Meanwhile, the count is set to
begin 11 months from now.
“If we feel that you may have
a discrepancy w ith your question
naire we'll call you back" Jackson
said. "We may call eight million
households out of 145 million."
NC labor groups urge end
to public bargaining ban
RALEIGH (AP) - North
Carolina labor advocates and
the state NAACP president have
urged lawmakers to end a ban on
collective bargaining for public
workers that they say is a hold
over from segregation times.
The Rev. William Barber of
the state chapter of the National
Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People said
May 26 that lawmakers passed
the ban 50 years ago to keep
Northern unions from organiz
ing black w orkers. Barber said at
a news conference that blocking
collective bargaining by public
workers helped protect the Jim
Crow law s of the 1950s.
A state Senate committee dis
cussed the repeal May 26 but
took no action.
Business groups oppose the
change, saying limiting unions
holds down the size and cost of
government.
St. Aug. Alumna Honored with
National Postal Stamp
RALEIGH - Saint Augustine's
College will celebrate famed
alumna and former teacher. Dr.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, in
whose honora United States post
al stamp w ill be released, with a
special dedication event on the
campus on June 18 at 11:30 a.m.
Di’. (Tooper. born into slaveiy. was
a quiet feminist, civil rights activ
ist and scholar who - after Eman
cipation - tutored at Saint Augus
tine's College Normal School at
the early age of eight. F-ler life of
105 years was filled w ith accom
plishment. to include her gradu
ation from Saint Augustine's
Normal School and Collegiate
institute. Oberlin College, and the
completion of her doctoral studies
and dissertation at Giide Interna
tionale in Paris, then at Columbia
Universitv. At the age of 66. she
was onK the fourth known Afri
can-American woman to earn the
doctorate degree and anu'iig the
first women to do so in I i jiKe
bhe worked ner way through
school, and raised two foster chil
dren while in her forties. She then
adopted her half brother's five
oiphaned grandchildren (ages six
months to twelve >ears) when
she was in her late fifties. She
also wrote and presented a paper
entitled. "Ihe Negro Problem in
America" in London at the first
Pan-African Conference.
Betsv Shaw, a 31-\ear volun
teer lour guide with the Raleigh
cemeteiy. plans to attend the
event out of sheer admiration for
Dr. Cooper.
"1 knew that she was verv dis
tinguished and courageous. She
was an earlv forerunner for all of
us - during a time when we wom
en didn't do much. 1 just think
it took so much courage." said
Shaw, who was instrumental in
raising the money for a headstone
plaque for Dr. Cooper's unmarked
grave. Shaw's iiivolvement in this
endeavor is included in a Smith
sonian publication that accom
panied an exhibit at the National
Museum of American History and
the Anacosiia Comniunitv Muse
um about Dr. Cooper.
So courageous was this Saint
Auiiustine's school alumnus that
she look on the school board
of Washington. D.C.. when ihcv
decided to dilute the cmriculum
for African-American children
b.iscd on the ihoughl (hat thev
vould not learn as easily as their
White counterparts. Dr. Cooper
asserted that this was unjust and
unlawful: she too. not just her
White colleagues, was preparing
her students for Yale and Har
vard. As a result of (lie dispute,
she was dismissed as principal,
but she landed on her feet and
became chair of languages at
Lincoln Universitv in Jefferson
Cilv. Missouri, then returned to
M Street where she had served as
principal and as a Latin teacher.
During her latter years, she also
served as president of a univer
sity which specialized in adult
education and evening classes.
Cooper not onlv paid for her
husband's headstone, but pur
chased and dedicated one of the
stained glass windows in the
College's Historic Chapel in
honor of her husband. George A.
C. Cooper, also an alumnus. She
is known for her book. A Voice
From the South, and her famous
quote: "The cause of freedom is
not the cause of a race or a sect, a
party or a class - it is the cause of
humankind, the verv birthright of
humanity." The quote is included
or. evety U.S. passport.
Obama observes Memorial Day at
Arlington cemetery
By Darlene Superville
WASFllNGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama avoided a racial con-
troversv on his first Memorial Day in office by sending wreaths to sepa
rate memorials for Confederate soldiers and for blacks who fought against
them during the Civil War.
Last week, a group of about 60 professors petitioned the White House,
asking the first black U.S. president to break tradition and not memorialize
military members from the Confederacy, the group of Southern states that
supported slaveiy.
"The Arlington Confederate Monument is a denial of the wrong com
mitted against African-Americans by slave owners. Confederates and neo-
Confederates. through the monument's denial of slavery as the cause of
secession and its holding up of Confederates as heroes," the petitioners
said. "This implies that the humanilv of Africans and African-Americans
is of no significance."
The White House ignored the request.
Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Nation
al Cemeteiy. a customary presidential undertaking on Memorial Dav. He
also had one sent to the Confederate Memorial there, a traditional practice
but not well publicized. Obama also took the unprecedented step of send
ing a wreath to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington's
historically black U Street neighborhood.
That memorial - to the 200.000 blacks who fought for the North during
the Civil War - had been mentioned as a compromise in recent days.
Presidents traditionallv visit Arlington National Cemeteiy to personally
leave a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a marble structure holding
the remains of unidentified U.S. service members who died during war.
Presidents then have aides deliver wreaths to other memorials or monu
ments. generally including the Confederate Memorial.
Wreaths also were left May 25 at memorials to the USS Maine and the
Spanish American War.
In brief but solemn remarks after he laid the wreath and observed a mo
ment of silence, Obama saluted the men and women of America's fighting
forces, both living and dead, as "the best of America."
“Why in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of narrowest
self-interest have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this genera
tion volunteered all that they have on behalf of others." he said. “Why have
they been willing to bear the heaviest burden?"
“Whatever it is. they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said 'I'll
go.' That is why they are the best of America.” Obama said. "That is what
separates them from those who have not served in unifomi. their e.xtraordi-
nary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met."
(Continued On Page 11)