OPINION
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I The Chronicle
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?J Ernest h. Pitt Publisher!Co-Founder
r nouiisi egemonye Co-Founder
! elaine Pitt Business Manager
Fannie Henderson Advertising Manager
jeri Young Managing Editor
steven Moore , Production Manager "
Karen J. Olson Circulation Manager
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| Where have all the black
j
businesses gone?
J Part IV: Chains draining
\ life out of black funeral homes
The funerary tradition is an integral part of black culture.
"1 was making money and she had a beautiful funeral,"
j entertainer Louis Armstrong said of his wife's funeral.
< "Thank God for that. Didn't have to put the saucer on her.
! I've seen that happen to many of 'em, didn't have no insur
! ance or belong to no club. While you way laying out there was
I the wake, they put a saucer on ypur chest "and everybody who
; comes in, drops a nickel or dime or a quarter to try to make
? up for the undertaker," Armstrong explained in his autobiog
! raphy.
J No matter how poor, grieving black families sacrificed to
J give their loved ones decent funerals. In the black community,
; funerals are an expression of self-worth. That pride shows in
? the hauntingly beautiful mortuary portraits created in the
' 1920& by Harlem photographer James VanDerZee, whose
! works were recently displayed at the James Diggs Gallery.
| Those photographs attest to the artistry of black funeral
; directors.
Prior to integration, the black community had nowhere to
! turn but to black funeral homes to take care of their dead. In
1900, African Americans had more than $500,000 invested in
; funeral homes. Today, there are an estimated 400 black-owned
; funeral homes across the nation. In the United States, the
' , funeral and cemetery business generates from $7 million to $9
! million annually.
The death industry is changing, however. Huge chains are
gobbling up independent, locally-owned funeral homes -
? black and white. Three major corporations - Loewen Group,
1 Service Corp Internatiohal and Stewart - handle 20 percent of
| the funerals and own 15 percent of the nation's 23,000 funer
' al homes. Amid the rise of these conglomerates, funeral prices
r have tripled. Chain mortuaries mark up prices of caskets,
| hearse rental, floral arrangements and death notices anywhere
| from 300 to 800 percent. Grief-stricken families rarely com
? pariso'n shop.
One major chain, the Canadian-based Loewen Group,
| forged an avaricious alliance with Henry Lyons, then presi
} dent of the National Baptist Convention (USA). The deal
J paid Lyons $100,000 and the convention $200,000 for allow
? ing Loewen to contact its 8.5 million 'members. In addition,'
? two members of each NBC church were to be trained as
I Loewen funeral counselors to sell funeral packages on com
J mission. Five percent of sales were to go to several Baptist
? run educational institutions. Ironically, evidence in Lyons'
recyit corruption trial revealed that he scammed the Loewen
? Group just like he did the donors who gave money to rebuild
! burned churches, and just like he did the convention itself.
J Black funeral homes acquired by major chains usually
; retain African American managers and keep the home's fami
? ly name to give the impression of local black ownership.
I These deceptive tactics mislead consumers. The industry is
state-regulated, though. Consumers can call the North Car
olina Board of Mortuary Science in Raleigh to resolve ques
tions of ownership.
For centuries, black funeral directors have provided com
passionate care. Now the funeral homes themselves are strug
gling to survive. We can't afford to give them their last rites.
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To the editor:
As you may know, the State
Board of Education has adopted
new student accountability stan
dards for all public school stu
dents. The standards raise achieve
ment levels and are expected to
more quickly identify students
who need help to reach their grade
level and to provide intervention
for these students so they are pre
pared for their next grade. The ulti
mate goal is to have every student
in North Carolina achieving at or
above his or her grade level.
Communicating the new stan
dards and expectation is a huge
challenge, but I am delighted and
excited that The Chronicle is work
ing on an important Newspapers
in Education project to do just
that. Additionally, The Chronicle
will be publishing a special publi
cation titled "Y2K and You," a
Y2K youth education program
affiliated with the President's
Council on Year 2000 Conversion.
As director of marketing and
communications for Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Schools, I
want to let you know that these
publications have our support and
that we will be working with The
Chronicle on these projects.
Doug Hinson
Director, Marketing and
Communications'
Winston-Salem!Forsyth
County Schools
To the Editor:
I was visiting the campus of
Winston-Salem State University
on Tuesday, Oct. 12, and to my
surprise, 1 was talking to a few stu
dents about the university since
there has been much publicity con
cerning the administration. I asked
one young lady was any of the
publicity true as it relates to the
university? Her response was, "I'm
sure most of it is true. The chan
cellor has been on campus four
years and he walked up to me
while I was standing on the 'Plot'
one day and asked me directions to
Mopre Hall."
I did not believe the young lady
until I heard Dr. Alvin Schexnider
on Tom Joyner's radio show on
Friday morning, Oct. 15. Tom
Joyner asked him to name some
distinguished alumni and he began
to ramble. Mr Joyner seemed to
sense that. Dr. Schexnider needed
help in his thoughts so Mr. Joyner
said "Earl Monroe" and Dr.
Schexnider responded by simply
saying, "Oh, yes, Earl The Pearl,"
and that was it. You would have
thought this would have brought
to his memory the names of
Timmy Newsome, Donald Evans,
Ted Blunt, Elias Gilbert, Cleo Hill,
Richard Huntly and Yancy Thig
pin, to name a few
Dr. Schexnider should have
someone to brief him on some
aspects of WSSU or he should
keep silent. The alumni should be
outraged about such ignorance on
the part of the chancellor.
William D. Johnson
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Kiddy hi-jinks rule at Board of Aldermen
Jerl Young
As I
See It
Mayor Jack Cavanagh and
Pro Tem Vivian Burke must at
times feel like rookie first-grade
teachers left alone in a room
filled with the most unruly 6
year-olds in elementary school
history.
That's probably how Burke
felt Monday night as she lis
tened to Alderman Bob Nor
thington threaten to make
Alderman Vernon Robinson's
life "as miserable as possible."
It's the sort of thing that
makes grade school teachers -
and mayoral folk - cringe and
Students snicker.
The Robinson/Northington
debate has been brewing for
months - a testosterone-driven
contest to see who can get the
most - and most vicious - sound
bytes.
It seemed to reach its peak
during the great "sex,, lies and
tales of the videotape scandal"
last year when Robinson threat
ened to topple CAT-TV, the
city's public access cable chan
nel, during tense budget negotia
tions.
His reason - he felt threat
ened. During an edition of the
GAT-TV staple "Truth to
Youth," someone made a thinly
veiled promise to somehow put a I
crutch -in Robinson where - to i
put it delicately - the proverbial
sun didn't shine.
The cat fight escalated earlier
this year with Robinson's rela- 1
tively random attacks on select
ed leaders of nonprofit organi
zations during budget talks.
Kobinson
refused to
play by the
rules and
managed -
despite
repeated
pleas from
other board
members to
just hush -
to question
leaders dur
Northington
ing a session where no questions
were supposed to be asked.
His blatant refusal to follow
the rules raised Northington's
hackles, prompting an outburst
from the senior alderman that
included the Statement, "Do you
have a problem with English?"
Robinson responded with a
polite "no" and a nicely timed
exit from the meeting chamber.
The scorecard then read
Robinson 1, Northington 0.
On Monday night, the ani
mosity between the two was so
thick it would have to be cut
with Guinsu knife.
At issue - a bond-package
vote worth a relatively measly -
by city standards at least - $6.9
million.
"I and people I've talked to
are sick and damn tired of Mr.
Robinson," an angry Northing
ton exclaimed, after Robinson
had gone through his usual
shenanigans to stall the vote.
"As long as I'm on this board,
his life is going to be as miser
able as possible."
Ohhh. That's a real zinger
and Robinson is sure to be quak
ing in his boots. Robinson gets
chest-pounding rights, though.
Despite Northington's tough
talk, the voter was still tabled.
Robinson 2, Northington 0.
The people most taken aback
were the youths watching the
meeting, including one bright
13-year-old, who caught the
meeting with his dad.
"I didn't know you could talk
like that on TV," he said, as he
snickered into his hand. "When
they took the vote, I thought
they were voting on whether the
board could make that guy's life
miserable. I didn't know there
was anything else going on."
Neither did the vast majority
of people who witnessed the
meeting.
Lost in the debate was exact
ly what happened - aside from
the Laurel and Hardy hi-jinks of
Northington and Robinson.
Here's a piece of advice to
Alderman North'ington.
? Ignore Vernon Robinson.
The two of you can't be separat
ed - Robinson would scream at
the top of his rather substantial
lungs that his rights were violat
ed.
? Don't let Vernon Robinson
make you lose your cool. Robin
son is that kid in sixth grade
who gave you "wet willies,"
tossed spit balls at you and then
whined to the teacher about the
fact that someone didn't like
him. He's relatively harmless.
The only reason he does it is to
see how much of a rise he can
get out of the victim of his
unorthodox tantrums.
One piece of advice to
Robinson: Follow at least a few
of the rules and realize that
board meetings are not your
own personal platform to spew
forth Vernon Robitisonisms.
If Robinson and Northing
ton were in first grade they
would be sitting in the corner
sporting dunce caps - even
, though years ago the powers
that-be decided that dunce caps
destroyed children's sense of
self-worth.
Of course, in the case of
Northington and Robinson, the
dunce caps would do nothing
more than make inflated egos
just a tad more palatable.
Jeri Young is the managing
editor of The Chronicle.
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s
V 7 ' The unemployment rate here and around the nation is lower than it has been
I / in more than a decade. We asked local students if they fear finding employment
WICES FROM THE COMMUNITY,., after graduation, even though the job market is seemingly wide open. I
Jeff Barnes
"I am not afraid about finding a
job because my major is education and
1 know there is always a need for
teachers."
i /
i '
Shonique Nero
"I am still concerned about find
ing a job because a lot of people tell
me that even though you have a
degree you are not going to make it.
So even with a degree, I could still
end up on the street and unem
ployed "
t
trik War ran
"I am not really worried. I am
doing things now in school to ensure
that / will not have any problems get
ting a job once I get out. I think I'll
be able to find one."
0
Toia Mitchell-el
"I'm going straight to grad
school, so right now I am not worried
ahout finding a job. 1 am very much
worried ahout grad school competi
tion."
Yalondo Porker
"I am concerned; I'm a psychol
ogy major and they tell me already
that it is hard to find a job without a
master s; the B. S. is not enough. "
1