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Vol 5, No. 44 THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday. June 12. 1980__Price 30 Cents
At this Nov. 1978 press conference the
Charlotte Broadcast Coalition charged
local radio and .TV stations with discri
mination against blacks and women. Left
to right: Rev. Lee Jessup, Charles
Thomas (Equal Rights Council), Rev. ■
James Barnett and Carrie Graves (Peo
ple United for Justice). Revs. Jessup and
Barnett have since left the Coalition.
(Photo by Eileen Hanson)
..~Ana wins
“Little People” Take On
Million Dollar Corporation
Djr CiUCCII IiailBUII
Special To The Post
Can the “little people”
take on a multi-million dol
lar corporation, and win?
The David and Goliath
story of the Charlotte
Broadcast Coalition is one
that could have far-reach
ing effects on TV viewing in
the years to come.
The Coalition recently
negotiated an affirmative
action settlement with At
lanta-based Turner Broad
casting Corporation, which
owns WRET (Channel 36),
estimated at $650,000.
According to the Federal
Communications Act, the
airways belong to the Ame
rii^i public, and corpora
tions using them must re
new their licenses every
three years by showing
they have served the needs
of the people in their broad
cast community.
"How can they serve the
needs of the black com
munity, 30 percent of Char
lotte’s population, when
they don’t have any blacks
making decisions about
programs.?” asked Rev.
James Barnett, former
chair of the Coalition which
includes the Charlotte
Equal Rights Council; Me
trolina Chapter, National
Organization for Women;
People United for Justice;
and several individuals.
The group filed petitioris
in November, 1978 with the
Federal Communications
Commission charging 13
Charlotte radio and TV
stations with discrimina
tion against minorities and
women. Few people paid
much attention.
While only one local sta
tion (WGIV) met federal
guidelines for percentage
of black employees, the
Coalition found WRET had
the worse record and asked
the FCC not to renew its
license.
The FCC agreed that
WRET’s three-year record
for hiring blacks was below
par and granted only a
one-year license, with re
quired reporting on im
provements.
When WRET owner Ted
Turner, who also owns sta
tions in Atlanta and twc
sports teams, wanted to
sell his Charlotte station tc
Westinghouse for $20 mil
lion, he found his 3-yeai
license blocked by the peti
tioj.of the Broadcast Coa
Turner was forced h
negotiate a 4-year agree
ment with the Coalitioi
which then withdrew iti
..iruiv ,'■=
pcuuuu it uni uic r V/V/. riir
visions of the agreement
include:
-black membership on
the Board of Turner Broad
casting
-an affirmative action
program for blacks and
women at all Turner-owned
stations
-back pay claims for 4
black former employees at
WRET
-a management training
program and scholarships
for black interns in com
munications
-grants of $100,000 to
Johnson C. Smith Univers
ity and $25,000 to Clark
College for their communi
cations programs
-funds for community
groups working to promote
equal rights for minorities
-legal fees, Coalition ex
penses and future develop
ment grants.
The total package is esti
mated at $650,000. WRET
general manager Robert
Schuessler said he could
make no comment on the
agreement and how it
would affect WRET until
after the sale to Westing
house around the first of
July.
The roots of the Broad
cast Coalition goes back a
decade, to 1970 when a
group of whites and blacks
from local churches and
Johnson C. Smith Univers
ity formed the Charlotte
Committee for Better
Broadcasting to investi
gate the programming and
hiring practices of local
stations,'- The United
Church of Christ Office of
Communications provided
them with TV monitors and
technical advice.
For one week JCSU stu
dents and a few community
people sat in front of "the
tube” from sign-on to sign
off, recording treatment of
blacks by the media.
"It was the week that
Judge McMillan handed
down his school desegre
gation decision," said
Sarah Spencer, one of the
monitors. "The station I
watched never interviewed
any blacks about the deci
sion. At that time the me
unfair to blacks."
According to Jim Law,
JCSU psychology profes
sor, the group held several
meetings with the manage
ment of local TV station.
“We wanted to make the
public more aware that the
public owns the airways,
and use this leverage to
make changes within the
stations, both on the air and
behind the scenes,” said
Law.
Profiles were developed
on each station after study
of their personnel and pro
gramming files. The re
sults showed WSOC-TV
(Channel 9) to be the worst
offender. However, after
much discussion, the group
decided not to file petitions
against the stations with
the FCC.
Bob Valder, then staff of
the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund in Charlotte, turned
to the Charlotte Chapter of
NOW and together they
worked up charges against
WSOC-TV for alleged dis
crimination against
women.
But again the petition
was never filed. The station
signed an agreement with
NOW which Valder says
“sounds good, but had no
teeth and was not moni
tnrpH ”
The original committee
disintegrated after 1972. No
program monitoring or
personnel studies were
done before the 1975 license
renewal date. No petitions
were filed to the FCC.
“Because nobody put
pressure on the stations, by
1978 the market-wide fi
gures were startling," said
Valder. ‘‘When the stations
didn’t hear from any com
munity group, they thought
nobody could touch them.”
During the summer of
1978 Valder worked hard to
pull together the Charlotte
Broadcast Coalition, aim
ing at the December 1
renewal date. He persuad
ed four black employees
who had been fired from
WRET to loin, as well as
the Charlotte ERC, Metro
lina NOW, and People
United for Justice.
Hooks Urges More Money
For Civil Rights Efforts
Red Cross
Needs Blood
Donors
By Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Blood. It maintains life.
Red Cross officials are
concerned about shortages
over Independence week
end.
Since the Piedmont Caro
linas’ Park Road blood cen
ter will be closed July 4-5,
the Red Cross is launching
a public awareness drive to
recruit donors for Sunday,.
July 6 from 1-5 p.m.
“We are very con
cerned,” says Elizabeth
Hilton, director of blood
services. “It’s imperative
to get 100 donors from
Mecklenburg County or we
will have to cut hospital
orde«Pr and delay sur
. geries.
Mrs. Hilton emphasized
the difficulty in securing
donors that weekend. Many
businesses art dI6sed. _
Textile factories where
the Red Cross frequently
recruits donors shut down
Independence week, she
oa iu.
While employees make a
mass exit to the beach and
other states, the Red Cross
must struggle to obtain
blood donations, according
to Ms. Hilton.
“Although the Sunday pro
grams with the churches
are thriving,” Mrs. Hilton
said, “sometimes they are
not enough.”
Independence weekend is
one of those times.
If you are in good health,
weight at least 110 pounds
and are 18-65 years old, Ms.
Hilton encourages you to
consider donating.
To schedule an appoint
ment on July 6, contact
Vera Wilmer at 376-1661,
ext. 202.
Carter Appoints
3 Blacks To
Advisory Council
President Carter an
nounced this week that he
will nominate three black
women to be members of
the National Advisory
Council on Women's Edu
cational Programs.
The National Advisory
Council on Women’s Edu
cational Programs was
established by the Wo
men's Educational Equity
Act of 1974.
MRS. PATRICIA POTTS ALEXANDER
...An outgoing person
Patricia Alexander
Is Beauty Of Week
By TERESA BU RNS
Post Staff Writer
It's good to know that
someone cares about the
children of today. That
someone is our 24-year-old
beauty, Mrs. Patricia
Potts-Alexander She plans
to open a day care center in
the near future.
She received her Early
Childhood Development
Degree from Central Pied
mont Community College
and is presently working at
the YWCA, Alexander
Street Center. “I’ve always
admired children so," Mrs.
Alexander began, “At the
Y we go camping, work
with arts and crafts, swim,
and we help them with
their homework. I always
thought that I would have
enough patience to work
with children and I do."
When her day care cen
ter opens it will probably
be a much needed institute.
Even today, Mrs. Alexan
der revealed that many
day care centers are
closing down. “Presently,
they are closing - mostly
social service day care
centers," she continued
But work isn’t the only
thought in our Leo beauty's
head She dreams of
sharing her life with her
husband. William Alexan
der. having a family, and
one dav driving an Eldora
do - even with the gas
prices the way they are.
“That's just something I've
always wanted to have."
Mrs. Alexander is an
outgoing person w ho enjoys
talking She gives you the
impression that she could
make friends with even the
most timid person. She also
likes to sew, swim, play
tennis, and travel
Her favorite person mu
sician is George Benson.
Her favorite person is her
aunt, Ms. Curley Davis.
“She’s good to me,” she
explained.
Standing 5’6” at 130
pounds. Mrs. Alexander is
one of three children of
Mrs. Charlie Mae Potts
She attends Greater
Sinai Baptist Church and
would like to become ar
usher in the church Why is
church important to our
beauty? She answered with
the following: "I go to give
my thoughts and praises to
God. He helps my life,
weeks and days become
better."
Another thing, according
to Mrs Alexander, that
keeps her life lighthearted
is a simple facial expres
sion and that is a smile
Carter Urged To Allocate
Additional Operating Funds
Benjamin l hooks,
Exeuctive Director of the
National Association for
the Advancement of Color
ed People, has called or
President Jimmy Carter tc
allocate additional operat
ing funds to the Office ol
Revenue Sharing (ORS)
and to the Law Enforce
ment Assistance Admin
istration iLEAAi, so tha
these two agencies can rule
on a reported backlog ol
almost 1,500 cases againsi
state and local municipali
ties where racial discri
mination has been docu
mented. Without these ad
ditional funds Hooks
charged, “this shameful
state of affairs at the Office
of Revenue Sharing on
September 30 would be au
tomatically dropped, and
LEAA would simply re
main in its present state of
being officially tied down
by bureaucratic red tape."
The concern, according
to NAACP officials, grew
out of information from the
National Black Police As
sociation that the Office of
Revenue Sharing had a
backlog of over 900 current
complaints, with another
300 being monitored
“In spite of this extreme
ly heavy caseload." Hooks
said, "the Office of Re
venue Sharing’s Office for
Civil Rights has only 31
investigators. This means
that the vast majority of
the complaints most of
which have been submitted
by members of the minor
ity community, will pro
bably never be resolved "
In addition to the 1,200
cases pending at the Office
of Revenue Sharing, the
NAACP's Executive Direc
tor noted that the National
Black Police Association
said there were another 225
cases pending in the Law
Enforcement Assistance
Administration (LEAA*.
wnere mere are oniy a
investigators in their Office
of Civil Rights Compliance
James Hargrove. Chair
man of the National Black
Police Association < NBPA1
said that LEA A could nol
splve their problems sim
ply by employing addition
al staff: “They also have tc
change the manner ir
which they accept discri
mination cases -- since thej
now restrict individual al
legations to the aggrievec
individual." In additioi
Hargrove charged tha
there was a general "lacl
of competency" in LEA A
and in the direction giver
by top LEAA officials."
According to NAACP ol
ficials, the Office of Re
venue Sharon and the I^a\
Enforcement Assistanc
Administration "are th
two government agencie
most ideally suited to ir
vestigating charges of di.«
crimination since they ar
the only federal agencie
governed by mandatory c
vil rights enforcement
statutes that require a cul
off of funds on a finding c
nrnhiihlp paiivp "
State and local goven
ments, according to th
NAACP source, “have a
ways opted to eliminate th
probable discrimination
when faced with a threi
tened loss of their federi
funding ”
Hooks concluded by
stating, "Justice delaye
is as explosive a situatio
Benjamin L Hooks
NAACT director
touay us its complete
denial was to Miami just
recently We cannot afford
to allow these backlog of
cases to trigger other ur
ban unrest."
Mrs. Renee Hill
First black elected
Mrs. Hill ’Nuiurtl
To (P< <: Boai-d
()f Truster**
Highlighting Central
Piedmont Community Col
lege s history from 1970-80.
Mrs Renee Hall became
the first black woman to be
elected vice president by
the Board of Trustees
A former State Cotnmis
sioner for Social Services
Mrs. Hill joined CPCC in
1977
She attended several urn
versifies, among them
Duke. John Hopkins and N
I C. Central as well as the
i Julliard School ot Musit
and the Caputo Conserva
tory at Carnegie Hall
Mrs. Hill has served on
the Advisory Committee on
Family Violence, as presi
dent-eiect of Florence Crit
tenton services and with
the American Cancer
, Society
Gov Jim Hunt was
honored in 1979 with a
5 plaque and key to the old
Central building for his
support of the community
jj college system
The old Central building
was renamed Garinger
Hall on behalf of Dr. Elmer
I Garinger.
Another name change
came about when the Mu
sic Library was renamed
e the Russell P. Shriner
Music Library for the man
e who donated thousands of
records to CPCC
1 Other events included the
1 birth of the weekend col
lege program, the openings
^ of Taylor Ruilding on the
n see HILL on Page 2 ^
Here June 21
“Juneteenth” Celebration Will
Commemorate Emancipation (If Slavery
By Eileen Hanson
^ Special To The Pool
“ ‘‘Juneteenth," a day
commenorating the eman
cipation from slavery, will
be celebrated in Charlotte
Saturday, June 21 with a
disco-tea to raise funds for
the John McCombs, Jr.
Legal Defense Fund.
The disco-tea will be held
at the Roseboro Inn, 237 S.
Brevard St., from 4 p.m. to
Midnight. A *2 admission
covers refreshments and
music. The event is co
, sponsored by the McCombs
, Defense Fund and the
Charlotte Equal Rights
!a Council. 4^ _
Mrs. Jesse McCombs
...John McCombs’ mother
’’Juneteenth" came to b<
celebrated in the Negn
folk tradition of Texas as
Emancipation Day, and its
observances - usually pic
nics and rallies - spread to
other parts of the South,
and more recently to north
ern cities with large black
populations.
A century later, on June
19, 1964, the U S. Senate
finally passed the Civil
Rights Act, after 736 hours
of heated debate
According to the ERC,
“Freedom did not come
from signing a presidential
proclamation or passing a
congressional act. Real
i freedom can only be
i guaranteed in fighting Jhe
• T
day-to-day struggles for
equality and economic
justice.”
That is why the Charlotte
ERC has devoted this
year's celebration of June
teenth to raising funds for
John E. McCombs, Jr., a
24-year-old Charlottean
sentenced to 65 years in
Central Prison for killing a
police officer.
McCombs claims he
thought the plainsclothes
officer was an intruder
when he broke into his
college apartment in Dur
ham in April, 1976
"The man looked dan
gerous, shabily dressed
witn a long oearn. a nusny
afro,” said McCombs in his
defense. "He burst into the
apartment waving a gun at
me. I reached for my gun
and fired one shot in self
defense.”
Two of the officers whr
allegedly found drugs ir
McCombs' apartment th<
next day are now serving
time for planting drugs ami
other suspects and dealing
in drugs themselves
McCombs was granted a
new trial by the Court ol
Appeals, but before it coulc
be held, the N.C. Supreme
Court overturned theii
ruling. Lawyers are no*
appealing the case. &
UKUMMJ
&
1 HEREDITY it lome
thing every MAN believe
- in until his own SON begin
acting like a DARN POOL
« - .—