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______ Price: 40 Cents
Mrs. Walk
iftii iifrs
Phifer
Charlotte Meek Pub Library
310 N. Tryon St
Charlotte, N.C. 28202
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Hacks Urged To
Bitter $7 Billion
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Gaming Field
..Lot Angeles - Minority oppor
tunity in the $7 billion gaming
industry was the topic of a recent
breakfast workshop chaired by
Leonard Manning, 43-year-old chief
executive Officer of Lottery Tech
nology Enterprises (LTE).
The forum, which attracted se
veral black legislators attending the
National Black Caucus of State
Legislators Conference, served as a
briefing for participants in identi
fying areas of minority participation
as more states eye lotteries as viable
generators of revenue. > »
LTE, which was awarded the
District of Columbia’s daily num
bers game contract, is the only
minority-owned firm in the U.S. or in
the world to operate an on-line
lottery system According to Man
ning, his firm's success in pene
trating Che gaming industry was
possible only through the city’s
commitment to minority participa
tion. ~§4“^ •
“The DJD. government, under the
leadership of Mayor Marion Barry,
required fun minority participa
tion,” explained Manning. “We are
the first firm to have the oppor
tunity to operate a lottery system
and there are considerable more
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the geai It may 4e wM eteg.
Jennifer Alexander
.“Beauty of the Week”
Jennifer Alexander Is
*AnAct»e AU>ung+Lady!
By Jalyne Strong
Poet Staff Writer
She’s a dancer and a musician,
athletic and a good student. At only
11 years old Jennifer Alexander is an
active young lady.
She attends Our Lady Of Con
solation and is in the sixth grade. ‘‘I
like the way the teachers instruct
class. I think we learn more,”
reflects Jennifer. “My favorite
subjects are math and science,” she
‘tells.
Concentration on these subjects
are sure to help Jennifer in her long
rangd goal of becoming a doctor. “I
want to be a pediatrician because I
like working with children and I’m
good at it,” she admits.
For right now Jennifer’s interests
include dancing and music among
other things. She attends Miss
Donna’s School of Dance where she
studies ballet, tap and Jazz. After
eight years of lessons, Jennifer re
veals she’s become very good at her
dancing. "I him Jazz beat,” she
confesses, “I enjoy the music we
dance to.” She explains that in Jazz
dancing they use popular music such
as Michael Jackson’s and Prince’s.
Jennifer developed her musical
ability on the clarinet and plays in
har school’s band. “I want to learn to
play the ptano also,” states Jenni
fer. She says it will be easier to learn
now that she has two years experi
ence with the clarinet. Her in
terest In piano was perked by her
noticing pianists on television She’s
looking forward to the time when the
win be able to play before an
audience. "1 like belt* in recitals,’*
relates Jennifer, who has partici
pa ted in s few with her dancing
class. "I Ilka to show other people
what I’ve learned"
JhmoU^kahy^of this week’s
third SS
must do some pretty fancy ball
playing because the Grayson team
won every game last year
When she has time oat from her
many activities Jennifer asys ahe
does a little needle point Her
mother taught her thi* craft and
Jennifer aays aha la atUl a novice at
It. Other time la spent talking on the
phone to her many girl friends
Her beet friends are her parents,
Ralph and Kay Alexander, Jenni
fer potato out She also has two eider
brothers, Ralph and Vernon, who
are in their twenties Whpt is it like
to have two big brothers?
“Boring,” laughs Jennifer.
“They’ve both gone away’* '
The people she most admires Are
her grandparent*. She says both her
JTIKtatnother and grandfather are ’
handicapped. “Ait they take the
time to come and get me from school
every day.’’'After school Jennifer
stays with her grandparents until
her parents come home. “I help
them clean up and I pick up 'gro
ceries for them,” she reveals.
Jennifer participated in the Pre
Teen Cotillion sponsored by the
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority last
year. "We wore yellow gowns with
yellow shoes and we modeled
bathing suits. We had escorts and
danced as a group,” she describes
the affair. Part of the festivities
presented each young lady who in
troduced herself and stated what
they like to do, recalls Jennifer. She
admits that she is anticipating being
In another cotillion this year.
Back on the subject of her ambi
tion to be a doctor, Jennifer claims
she is not nervous about the in
tense education required. "I do good
in school work,” she states. Her
parents are proud of her aspiration,
Jennifer adds. “They think it's good
that I’m going to take the time to
help other people.”
Jennifer attends Our Lady Of
Consolation Catholic Church.
Ol
Tough Year Ahead
For Black America!
Special To The Post
A slowing economy, growing fe
deral deficits, a volatile labor mar
ket, and a wider gap between rich
and poor is the forecast of the Black
Enterprise Board of Economists in
its “Annual Economic Out
look for Black America. 1985” in the
January issue of Black Enterprise.
The report of the nine-member
Board,' composed of economists
from academia and the private sec
tor, looks at overall economic pros
pects for black America and ex
plores such specific components of
the economy as income, employ
ment, trade policy, fiscal policy, and
the stability of the dollar worldwide.
“The largest single economic and
social problem facing America
today is the ever-widening econo
mic gulf between the races,” says
Black Enterprise Publisher and Edi
tor Earl G. Graves, summarizing
the Board’s findings. Although
blacks represent 11.7 percent of the
population in the U.S., 36 percent are
among the poor. This is especially
true among the elderly where 21
.percent of all elderly poor are black.
W' flftgviljbetwean the hlackmiddle
class and the black poor is a se
parate and equally difficult issue,
further aggravated by the lack of
quality education available to most
black children and the increasing
Earl G. Graves
.Summarizes board findings
number of single-parent households
in the black community.
The black middle class is in a
mor^ precarious position than its
white counterpart, says the Black
Enterprise Board. Dr. Glenn C.
Loury, Harvard economist and
Afro-American, studies professor,
remarks, “The black middle class is
far more dependent upon two earn
ers, and the differences, of course, is
the income level of the men within
the two communities. ”
Since a large proportion of blacks
are employed by the manufacturing
sector, America’s increased pur
chasing of imported steel, automo
biles, and textiles is hurting the
black labor force. Although U.S.
Trade Representative William
Brock has said that the U.S. may be
forced to impose tariffs on steel
imports, Economist Dr. Andrew
Brimmer, a Washington-based con
sultant and former member of the
Federal Reserve’s Board of Govern
ors, believes that tariffs would hurt
black consumers by forcing them-1°
purchase higher-priced domestic
goods.
One solution the Black Enterprise
Board has proposed would be for
American industry to take advan
tage of technological innovations to
lower production costs but maintain
black employment.
Many blacks are trying to start
their own businesses, but the Board
acknowledges that securing venture
capital can be an uphill battle.
“There is capital available for firms
that already were financed, but al
most without exception, new firms -
unless they are spectacular deals or
well connected - just can’t break
in," says Dr. Alfred E. Osborne,
Associate Dean and Director of the
M.BCA. Program at UCLA.
See ECONOMISTS On Page I4A
Black Economists Alarmed
By Widening Class Division
Special To The Post
A widening gap between the eco
nomic status of the races - and
between the black middle class and
the black poor - poses major social
problems for America's future
warns the Black Enterprise Board of
Economists in “The Annual Econo
mic Outlook for Black America:
1985’’ in the January issue of Black
Enterprise magazine.
"One of black America’s great
est problems has been that of class
division. But never has the distinc
tion between the haves and have
nots been so marked as in recent
years,” concludes the Board of
Economists, a nine-member panel of
leading black economists from the
academic and private sectors.
“The largest single economic and
social problem facing America
today is the ever-widening economic
gulf between the races,” says
Black Enterprise Publisher
Earl G. Graves, a member of the
Board of Economists. “If current
economic trends are not redirected
in a manner that will more equit
ably distribute our nation's re
sources, more black Americans
could find themselves on the lower
rung of the economic ladder,”
In 1970 blacks made up 29.7 per
cent of the people living below the
poverty line. Today, WMle blacks
represent 11.7 percent of the popu
lation, 36 perceprt are among the
Men In Untraditional Careers
By Loretta Manago
Pool Staff Writer
Women who were fighting for
equal right! made headlines when
they worked on jobs as construc
tion workers, mechanic* and other
male-dominated professions While
these bold steps were being made in
the work force, quietly and without
much ado, men were treading into
professions that were long consi
dered “women’s work.’’ It has kmc
been accepted that most chefs are
men and even now, the area of
Ahmad Dm let*
.Male (tripper
opportunity for advancement. "Be
fore I came to Southern Bell, I waa in
a dead end position and a friend of
mine suggested I try the utilities
companies. Working here, there’s
more chance for advancement,
groat benefits and good people to
work with, ” cited Page.
A* ■ telephone operator. Page’s
duties are varied. He handlee emer
gency situations, credit card and
cota cans, collect calls, paraon-to
peraon calls, breif telephone pro
blems and tine verification calls. As
soon at he has completed servicing
a person and disconnects, the tele
phone computer switchboard he
Rwhwy Page
.ATAT operator
work* with it lit with another per
son needing help
“Whtn people find out I’m a
telephone operator they have the
notion that I just sit and answer the
phooeall day I have to look at each
incoming call as a different per
son with a unique situation,
^■teetsed Page. , 7'7
What makes being a telephone
operator a great job for Page is his
attitude. Ha takas the position that
aa an operator ha is the company’s J
contact with people and that he*
really is reaching out to touch
‘it three me a grant deal^l
•ee MEN On Page ISA M
poor.
The state of the black family and
the lack of adequate education are
the major factors keeping blacks at
poverty level About 50 percent of
U S. black children are being edu
cated in the 12 largest inner-city
school systems, and, in 1980, three
out of five black children were being
raised by a single parent, 96 per
cent of the time by the mother.
The impetus for solving some of
these problems will have to come
from the black community itself,
says Dr. Glenn C. Loury, Profes
sor of Economics and Afro-Ameri
can Studies at Harvard and a
member of the Black Enterprise
Board. “The welfare state cannot be
the sole solution to the problems of
these families as we’re going toward
the end of the 20th century The
services that are delivered through
the Department of Human Services
are inadequate."
The black middle class itself is in
a precarious position, warns Dr.
Loury. It is far more dependent on
two wage earners than the white
middle class, and more
in the movement away from
tional manufacturing jobs
more technological and
oriented occupations
Dr. Phyllis A.
and Co-director of the
Relations Section,
Management,
tute of Technology,
number of Jobs
will begin to
manufacturers
plants.