OPINION
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Ernest H. Pitt
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Elaine Pitt
Fannie Henderson
T. Kevin Walker
Kay Siiltz
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Businesses that prey on
the poor are booming
Whether by design or mere happenstance, the payday lend
ing industry is thriving by prying on poor people, especially
poor people with black or brown skin. Given the thumbs-up
to run amok in African-American communities by the Gener
al Assembly more than three years ago, cash-advance busi
nesses can be found next to pawnshops and check-cashing
businesses, two other industries that have benefited from the
vulnerability and circumstances of poor people.
The General Assembly should have been able to look down
the road and see what type of monster it was creating. Legis
lators should have been able to predict that poor people would
be trapped in the payday lending system after using it once or
twice for emergencies. Payday lenders are hostile toward those
who call them loan sharks and they should be. The truth is
often painful, but there are people performing the same ser
vices in a back alley without a General Assembly bill to back
them up and it's considered illegal.
Our lawmakers should focus on more laws that protect
poor people rather than opening a Pandora's box like the pay
day lending industry. There is so much to become enraged
about when it comes to poor people and companies that claim
they are helping them. There are any number of rent-to-own
stores that say they give those with credit chances to own fur
niture, televisions and computers, when other companies will
not.
What they do not like to tout in their fast-paced television
? iots is that they charge double or sometimes even triple the
ee that middle-to-upper-income Americans pay at Wal
.Viart or Best Buy. But many poor people have no other
options. They are sucked in by these legalized scams every
day, many paying weekly payments on merchandise that
they'll finance for years.
America, the land of opportunity, sadly offers few of those
opportunities if your income is below the poverty line. The
opportunities are eaten up by people who have discovered that
the sure way to make a few dollars is by investing in or start
ing businesses that take advantage of opportunity-less people.
Check 'n Go, a payday lender, recently ran an ad in American
Banker urging large banks to invest in the company. The ad
promises big profits and expanded opportunities. Surely some
big banks have already latched onto the payday lending busi
ness. Bat if the big banks truly served their customers there
would no need for payday lenders or rent-to-own stores.
In July, the General Assembly will have the chance to either
slay or tame the monster it created. Legislators should sharp
en their swords and draw blood.
Correction |
Because of incorrect information given to The Chronicle last week,
th- location of the Friday. May 11, banquet of the Winston Lake
Senior Golf Association Annual Golf Tournament was incorrectly
reported. The correct location for the banquet is Winston-Salem State
University's Anderson Center. Cocktails will be at 5 p.m., followed by
dinner at 8 p.m.
The Chronicle welcomes letters as well as
guest columns from its readers. Letters should
be as concise as possible and should be typed
or legibly printed. To ensure authenticity, you
must include your name, address and tele
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and columns to The Chronicle, 617 N. Liber
ty Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 or e
mail us at wschron@netunlimited. net.
My life changed after I
was approved for a
Habitat home
To the Editor:
This time last year my two
children and 1 were living in a
cramped apartment in a high
crime area. Many nights we
feared for our safety as we heard
gunshots outside as we were
going to bed. My life began to
totally change when I was
approved for a Habitat for
Humanity home. 1 started to see
a light at the end of the tunnel
and see hope for my family's
safety.
I moved into my new home at
Christmas and I no longer worry
about my children playing out
side because it is not safe. Habi
tat and the generous, giving spir
it of the Winston-Salem commu
nity have changed my life com
pletely.
I want to thank the local
artists and other volunteers who
raised the money last year to
build my house through Habi
tat's annual fund-raiser Bird
Fest. I would also like to thank
all the other volunteers along
with the Winston-Salem Sym
phony for helping me build my
house. I encourage everyone to
attend this year's BirdFest. May
3-5 at Stratford Place, and help
another family have the oppor
tunity to buy their own home.
You never know, you could be
saving a family's life.
Sincerely,
Karen Clemen!
New homeowner
Merger would be good for state
BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
RICHARD BURR AND SUE MYRICK
The proposed merger of US Air
ways and United Airlines, as well as the
acquisition of a failing TWA by Amer
ican Airlines, has prompted an impor
tant national debate over the future of
the domestic airline ______
industry. Unfortu
nately, some of this
discussion appears to
be going on at the
30,000-foot level
among the academics
who helped to create a
"hub premiums." but
have lost sight of the
real impact these
transactions may have
on real travelers.
In recent weeks,
much attention has
deregulated airline Burr
industry and now seek
to comment on their handiwork. They
use academic buzzwords like "airline
concentration" and
focused on the financial Myrick
failure of TWA and its
proposed acquisition by American
Airlines. In Congress, members of the
Missouri delegation have spoken of
the difficult times faced by the employ
ees of TWA and the communities
served by that company. Many have
spoken of the "white knight" role of
American as it swoops in, late in the
11 th hour, to save a failing TWA the
hub in St. Louis, the jobs of its 20,000
employees and service to more than
100 communities. This has been
applauded by both sides of the politi
cal aisle.
At the same time, few people have
noticed the predicament facing US
Airways. Charlotte and Greensboro
are cities that derive tremendous bene
fits from the presence of US Airways.
There are many cities across the Unit
ed States that are similar in size to
Charlotte and Greensboro, but don't
serve as an airline hub. As a result,
those citjes have far less air service
and what they do have is significantly
less convenient.
For example, US Airways offers
554 daily departures to 110 destina
tions each day from Charlotte, includ
ing 11 international destinations. Com
pare that to Sacramento, Calif., which
is similar in size to Charlotte. Because
its not currently a hub, Sacramento
has 138 daily departures to only 26
nonstop destinations and no interna
tional service. If Charlotte had that
kind of service, the city could no
longer maintain its status as the second
largest financial center in the United
States.
Even if a low-cost carrier like
Southwest was to provide service in
Charlotte or Greensboro, it has limited
nonstop reach and no international
service. With Southwest instead of US
Airways, we can say "goodbye, Lon
don," "au revoir, Paris." and "auf
Wiedersehen, Frankfurt."
The unfortunate fact is that the sta
tus quo is not an option for US Air
ways, and our service in North Caroli
na is at great risk. Just a few weeks ago,
US Airways reported a significant net
loss of $269 million for 2000. It's a
company in deep financial trouble.
Jobs are in jeopardy and US Airways'
long-term survival is at stake.
Industry experts have discussed the
structural weaknesses of the company
and pondered whether its future is the
same as TWA, or Eastern, Pan Am and
BranifT, other mid-sized, pre-deregula
tion airlines confronted by a cost struc
ture and a competitive environment
which eventually and inevitably
drove them ffom the competitive play
ing field. US Airways is in the unten
able position of being squeezed
between the low-cost, low-fare airlines
and the full-scale network carriers.
But, there's an alternative to job
losses, service reduction and hardships.
The merger of US Airways with Unit
ed provides a bright future for US Air
ways' employees, the communities it
serves and the economy of North Car
olina. The terms of the proposed
agreement guarantee not only the
10,500 US Airways jobs in North Car
olina. but those of the entire company,
at a time when many are cutting back
their work forces. Furthermore, with
the innovation of hundreds of new ser
vice options and the first national avia
tion network, no communities will be
cut from the service network. Indeed,
with our new United hub, the Pied
mont Triad, Charlotte, and North Car
olina will be even more connected to
the global economy at a time when avi
ation is crucial to our future economic
development.
It's time for the experts to come
down from the clouds and consider the
real needs of consumers and commu
nities. It is time to avoid the "TWA sce
nario" for US Airways. It is time for
the Department of Justice to approve
the US Airways-United transaction so
that the new company and its employ
ees can begin to build for their future
and for ours.
Black men in police cross hairs
Val Atkinson
Jones
St reet
If you're black in Cincinnati, it
pays to fear the police and adhere to
their every command. Even if those
commands dehumanize, degrade or
stripe you of due process and your
constitutional rights. Because the
penalty for not fearing and adhering is
not probation, 30 days in jail or a S500
fine: the penalty could be and has
been DEATH.
How many times will we have to
revisit this ugly drama of police over
reactions and brutality before some
thing is done in a macro sense to pre
vent these senseless shootings before
they take place. The scenario seems to
follow a predictable path: (1) An
unarmed black man is shot by a white
policeman; citizens led by "black lead
ers" (local and national) protest,
march, and sometimes riot. (2) Local
elected officials and police department
spokesmen defend the actions of the
police. (3) The police department's
internal affairs unit finds that the offi
cer acted properly. (4) A grand jury
fails to indict, or it indicts and the sub
sequent trial leads to acquittal or a
slap on the wrist. (5) And sometimes a
toothless commission is established to
come up with ways to improve race
relations. (6) And finally the racist and
bigoted attitudes that run rampant in
some police departments remain
unchecked.
It's time to throw down the
bandaid and pick up the scalpel. The
business of changing the culture that
produces rough cops is serious busi
ness and requires serious actions.
We've got to first determine the "real"
reason a police officer would shoot an
unarmed man who is wanted for traf
fic violations. And we've got to refuse
to accept the hand-made, universal
responses of... "I thought he had a
gun" "I thought he was reaching
for a gun" "I thought I saw some
thing shinny" I thought. I
thought. I thought. The truth of the
matter is that these cops from across
the tracks, who were reared in a total
ly different cultural environment,
who've been told that the neighbor
hoods they're working in are infested
with criminals and you can't trust any
of them, have been led to believe the
worst about the people they've be
sworn to protect. The police have been
told that... "They're big and strong
and they all carry knives and guns."
After being bombarded with this
kind of language and after riding with
partners who beat heads first and ask
questions later, there's tittle wonder
why some police cultures produce
rough cops. Too many cops go into
African-American communities
scared out of their wits. And this fear
causes them to overreact to almost
every situation.
There are few things that could
help cities like Cincinnati. First of all.
the police training curriculum should
be discarded and rewritten. Second,
police officers should be required to
live in the city limits of Cincinnati.
Efforts should be made to assign
police officers to the precincts where
they live. And the police department
staffing should reflect the cultural and
racial makeup of the city. That means
that Cincinnati's police force should
be at least 40 percent African Ameri
can.
Cincinnati is not unique in its
police makeup. Many cities across
America find that the police force is
tantamount to an occupying army. I
dare say that none of Cincinnati's
police officers who are assigned to the
"Over The Rhine" district actually live
there. Many live in the Mount Adams
area a predominantly white area.
And oh. by the way. this predomi
nantly white area of Mount Adams
seems to get different treatment from
the police. As in most cities, the police
patrol the black community looking
for criminals and acts of violence or
other breaches of the law. Their pur
pose is to show the "criminal element"
who's in charge. In the white commu
nity they appear to be there for assis
tance and property protection. Even
during the citywide curfew last week,
the law was enforced unevenly. It has
been documented that the curfew was
strictly enforced in "Over the Rhine"
and all but totally ignored in the
Mount Adams section of town. In
Mount Adams, cops were seen giving
gentle waves to citizens walking the
streets after curfew hours; at the same
time curfew violators in "Over the
Rhine" were kissing pavement first
and questions were asked later. I was
under the impression that Mayor
Lukin declared a "citywide" curfew
and not a curfew just for "Over the
Rhine." What's up with this?
Don't think that Cincinnati is the
last city that we'll hear of unarmed
black men being killed in cold blood
by their employees. After all, police
salaries are paid from tax revenue.
That makes them employees of every
taxpayer in the city. The bottom line
is. shooting unarmed citizens is
deplorable, and shooting your boss is
even worse and should not go unpun
ished.
Conlacl Vol Atkinson at
JonesStreet@Africana.com.
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