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Winnton-Salem Grfknsboro High Point Vol. xxrv Mo. as
The Chronicle
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periodicals " 1 The Choice for African-American News and Information e-meil eddre**: wschrenSiwfvnlieMMd.iMl ^
forsyth cnty pub lib
I African Americans should get serious with their moneyi
1| mj tmmunmmv
J The Coalitioa of Mack
1 Investors (COBI) declared a
P National Week of Investment
b?<?w>April 20-24. The obser
ne?*of Afrkaa>A?erkai? TX
aeed to save and inveat.
The Week of Investment was
endowed by the Nstjoasl Urban
" C^Mcoda^Sremenj'^Unninf
-was diecMeeed. Tuesday featured
^ insurance phmnmg. Hon to form
an invretment dub was the subtest
matter for Wndnreday. Tbunday a
weaker am brought in to talk on
the issue of "Women and Invest
ing." The week culminated on Ftp
day with "Fay Day."
African American* were naked
to commit S25 on this day to me
or mmM and continue this practice
year-round. According to COBI
preeident Carol Davis, commit
menu of J50-5500 have been given
through their web aite.
Brooke Stephen*, was the
speaker on Thursday evening. She
operate* her own financial consult
ing firm and has been an invest
ment manager at Citicorp
Investment Service. Iric. and an
tnternattonaJ trade officer at Chase
Manhattan Bank. She ha* written
for -Rack Enterprise," -Essence."
"Ma," "New Woman" and -USA
Today"
"The whole point and purpose
of this week and what African
American's should be doing is^tt
don't take our money seriously,
nobody's going to take us serious
Hcr focus on Thursday night
centered on women for a couple of
-Women are going to hare to
take more charge of their Uvea A
lot of professional women are
w
going to gel married, if they do
they cad up in divorce or a* single
lend to outlive their hatband* and
aoooer or later you've got to leant
about money, to why not learn
about it when it's time to maBy aafc
question* and be comfortable with
*r
Stcpbene aleo took tome time to I
promote aad ?gn her new booh
"Talking Dollar* and Making
Seats" She'* determined to do her
Job in Idling African American* 1
about the importance of *oringand '
t?rCOM<?A3 j
t.l .Art <-- ?- < ^ i- _ -I g*g| J .* ^
IhwmANM^#
Blacks hunt ways
to pay for college
<'African-American students get
? affirmative action, but not money
By JOHN MINTER
"A.~
Term Moody has known she
t was going to college since she
wu in 7th grade.
r That's when her older brother
Eiduated from Oaringer High
boot and she saw so many stu
dents getting college scholarships
Teresa, 18, who will graduate
from Oaringer in June with a
3.93 grade point average. She's
30th in a class of 343, a member
of the Executive Council, Beta
Club, Yearbook staff and
National Honor Society, and
participates in several communi
ty activities, like the Red Cross
and the Youth Involvement
-Council.
tBut Teresa, 18, still doesn't
ow how she will pay when she
ters N.C. State University next
tr. She plans to major in polit
I science and eventually attend
law school.
Her cations are limited by
raoant affirmative action court
decisiona Colleges aren't allowed
to give scholarships to students
just because they are black any
more.
Like many black students,
Teresa is the first in her family to
go to college. But her parents
nave already told her they don't
have the money to send her.
Her father, Billie 'James
Nichols, a welder, had brain
surgery about five years ago and
continuing medical problems are
a financial drain on the family
income. Her mother, Ida Nichols,
is a nursing technician at Presby
terian Hospital.
But Teresa is caught in the
debate that rages across the
nation about affirmative action
in higher education.
Several recent federal court
rulings in California, Texas and
Maryland have limited the abilitv
of colleges to diversify by provid
ing extra financial help to under
represented groups, particularly
African Americans.
Ironically, the courts are using
the 14th amendment, hailed by
blacks as a guarantee of equality,
to roll back efforts to erase dis
parities suffered by blacks dur
ing centuries of slavery and overt
racial discrimination.
Money on AS
of $ Joyttlyn wcm ths Ik
School o^S^nAMm lIp^liiSBj^ A|n^ SI* Soorf |
??
Few blacks in
area primaries
By SHARON BROOKS HO DOE
and DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE
The May 5 primary is getting
closer.
African Americans in the
Triad have many issues to ponder,
but few black candidates to con
sider. Although there are numer
ous seats up for grab at the federal,
state and county levels, there are
few African-American faces on '?
campaign posters around the
region.
One of the most well-known ;
black elected officials has been on
the campaign trail, but he'll have
to wait a bit longer to see if he'll
represent his party in the Novem
ber general election. That man, of
course^ is Rep. Mel Watt. D-N.C.
Watt represents the controversial
12th District, which includes pdr- ;
tions of Winston-Salem, Greens
boro and High Point.
The district ? some 100 miles ?
long ? was created following the '
completion of the state's 1990 cen
sus. Federal election law requires .
that each congressional district *
include roughly 500,000 residents. ,
Growth in North Carolina over
the last decade made it necessary ;
for the state to redraw the existing '?
11 districts into 12. The result was
a district comprised of a majority '
of African-Americana To get that
percentage, however, officials had '
to stretch the district's boundaries
from one end of the state to the '
other.
St* llaclUiis on A1
"
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' ? . .. *? '*if
Few blacks continue to work the farm
?y DAMON FORD
THI CHHPfflM Rtwntf -
s. The United States Depart
ment of Juatice recently released
a statement on farmers that has a
direct effect on African Ameri
cans who till the soil for a living.
The Department said that the
statute of limitations is a barrier
to recovery for black farmers
who have filed discrimination
complaints.
'?'SN The Department also said
that lawsuits dealing with dis
crimination cases that were not
filed within the statutory period
can not receive monetary dam
ages, even if discrimination is
proven.
According to reports, this
action can result in small farmers
and ranchers going out of busi
ness, even though they have suf
fered for years.
; "We cannot tolerate that
result," said Congresswoman Eva
Clayton (D-N.C.).
* In the U.S., 926,000 farms
kwere operated by blacks in 1920.
'By 1992, that number declined to
I k.816 or one percent of 1.9 mil
" lion farms.
Clayton says that in the past
years there has been a 64 per
cept decline in the black farmers
In N.C.. In 1978 the number
?tood at 6,996 and by 1992, it fell
jto 2.498.
J "There are several reason why
jthe number of minority and lim
ited resource farmers are declin
ing so rapidly," says Clayton.
"The one that has been docu
mented time and time again is the
discrimination in the credit
extended from the Department of
Agriculture, the very agency
established by the U.S. govern
ment to accommodate and assist
the special needs of all farmers
and ranchers."
Reports from the General
Accounting Office (GOA) show
that in 1993 and 1996, the disap
proval rate for loans was six per
cent higher for minority farmers
than the 10 percent rate for non
minority farmers.
"We're the ones that seem to
be pushed aside for some rea
son," said Vern Switzer, a black
farmer who lives in the Rural
Str Pal him ? on A3
VWm IwDw Mi f#?? thkkont on hla forty* County form.
Government could end If 1
the conspiracy theories f
GREENSBORO (AP) - A
former congressman who investi
gated the assassination of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. says the
federal government could silence
conspiracy theories surrounding
the death by releasing its flb from
the inquiry.
L. Richardson Preyer, a former
U.S. representative and ex-federal
judge from Greensboro, was a
member of the House Select Com
mittee on Assassinations In 1978,
it investigated the deaths of King
and former President John F
Kennedy.
King was killed by an assassin's
bullet in Memphis, Tenn., on April
4, 1968. James Earl Ray. who died
Thursday of kidney failure and
complications from liver disease,
pleaded guilty in 1969 and was sen
tenced to 99 years in prison for the
shooting.
Preyer said government files
from the inquiry were sealed after
members of Ray's family refused to
testify unless their statements
remained secret until Ray's death.
The committee also wanted to pro
tect innooent people from unsub
stantiated gossip and frivolous
charges, he said.
Everything in the flies may
already be found in the committees
report, issued in 1978, except for
names and sources of infntWalimi
Preyer said. f
"The files arerft going to
change anything I'M Hire of that," * -
Preyer uid. "Ray was guilty. I -
don't think there's any question of I
Ray's guilt. There's very strong evi- *
dence: After he fired the shot from- *
the boarding house to where King -
was standing, he then fled from the 1
boarding house, and in doing so '?
dropped a bundle of incriminating * -
material, including the gun. He
apparently panicked." :
Making the files public, howev- ;
er, could quiet those who suggest *
the FBI conspired to kill King,
Preyer said.
"I think what worries a lot of J
people is that the FBI was harsh in
their treatment of Martin Luther y
King, that they bugged his living ;
quarters," he said. "That irritated a ?
lot of people, and some have
jumped to the conclusion that the
FBI might have been involved." (
The House Select Committee
concluded Ray killed King, per
haps in hopes of collecting a
150,000 bounty offered by a group ?
of bigots in St. Louis.
Preyer said a new investigation, ?
which King's family has requested, *
would not turn up anything mote ~
about possible FBI involvement. ?
"We could track Ray's course ?
right up to the suburb of where ?
tbc?efoH^vo^>dftAve couldn't
"They had also been trucked by the *
FBI, but the FBI had lost the files."
?