i
t: <"A ' '■'• Jj
Price: 50 Cents
HUP is a registered Politic*’
Action Committee,” explains
James E. Ferguson II, a partner
in the law firm of Ferguson,
Stein, Watt, Wallas A Atkins
PA. «nd co-convener of BUF. "Its
purpose is to raise ftinds to support
black candidates. Our goals are
to encourage qualified black can
didates, who are sensitive ta the
n—ds of the black community, to
run for political office and to in
crease the level of black political
participation in elective offices."
in® fund raising group ssssss
as Mack candidates sensitivity to
the community through meeting
with the individual office-seeker,
aa was done last Thursday. Sev
. /BUlTims formed approximate**-'
ly 10 years egb. Aside from Fer
guson, the groups' chief officers
are Elisabeth Randolph, co
convener, and Kathleen Crosby,
treasurer. Membership in the
group fluctuates around 20 per
sons each year, according to..
Crosby. Membership dues are
$260 per year for regular mem
bers and $100 per year for retired
members.
- —* t , ^
over the yean, Ferguson as
sures that BUF has definitely had
an influential effect upon black
participation In the political pro
cess. 'We've been able to support
a number of candidates finan
cially,'' he paints ant. "And we
have made the community more
•wan of the need to provide fi
nancial support to black candi
dates." ' “V*'
Pattis Norman, former NFL
standout With the Dallas Cowboys
and Ban Diego Chargers and
presently a successful Dallas,
Tx. businessman will bo guest
speaker at the third annual ban
quet of the West Trsde-Beatties
Ford Road Area Merchants Asso
ciation (WTBAMA) on Friday,
September i«, ?:80 p m., at McDo
nald's Cafeteria, Beatties Ford
Rd. and 1-Bi. • , .
Norman «a owner of Petti* Nor
man Investment Company, Inc.
Tho company, holding* have in
cluded Burger King franchises
Golden Helmet Apartments and
Norman* Keetch, Ine..
. A native of htncolnton, Oa.,
Norman is a graduate of West
Charlotte Senior High School,
Chariot!#. He 1* also a Johnson C.
8mith University alamnus and
Norman continue, to eerve his
alma mater ae a member of the
Johnson C. Smith University
President's Club and member of
the University's Board of True
Hi 1*7*, he was tha WKET-TV
commanUtor for tha World Foot
ball Ua«U* Charlotte Hornet*.
In addition to hi* bumneae in
tataato, Norman haa taken tiaM
for dvl« aarvlea In Dallao by
earring on tho Board of Dlractora
of several organisation* includ
ing tha Dallas Black Chamber of
Commorco, tho llooroland
Branch YMCA, Tha Dallas Ur
ban League, tha Pallas County
Democratic Forum, tha Dallas
Commission on Children And
Youth, the Bays Club of Dallas,
and tho Martin Luther King Cen
ter. He also serves as President of
the Concerned Voters Council,
Ins.
His activities have garnered
Norman oavaral prestigious
awards and honors including th*
Liberty B*n Award by tho Dallas
Bed Association; inclusion in th#'V
Hell of Pome for tho Central In
tercollegiate Athletic Aeeocia
tion; and invitationa from three
U J. Presidents to attend the Na
tional Prayer Breakfast in
Washington, D.C.
. For tho banquet, Norman *
•patch win center on the occa
■*«*>'• theme: "Working Togeth
er For Economic Dignity."
Ticket price for the WTBPA
MA Banquet ie MS and reeerra
tlohe may be made by calling
Beattie* Ford Memorial Garden*
at 892-0394. V
Ferguson underscores this
point stating, “No other group ex
ists solely for the purpose of rais
ing Aw da for black candidates."
"Understandably, to increase
the number of blacks in elected
office, we must be willing to
make the financial sacrifice,'' ho -
adds.
New Harrassment Law Brings
Racial Suits To Local Courts
By Herb White
Post SUIT Writer
After recalling media accounts
of attacks against Blacks in Ala
bama, New York and nearby
Monroe, state Rep. Pete Cunning
ham (D-Mecklenburg) decided to
sponsor a bill that could stem ra
cist harrassment in North Caro
lina.
And after a few amendmenU,
Cunningham's bill is now law.
The legislation, initiated as
House Bill 226 in the recent Gen
eral Assembly session, enables
victims of racial harrassment to
sue individuals or organisations
for damages in local courts.
** senas a message that the
state of North Carolina won't tol
erate racists violating the civil
rights of its citizens and it gives
the victims of such acts the right to
sue," Cunningham asserted.
After hearing of recent civil
rights violations against Blacks,
Cunningham related that he
sponsored the bill to give vic
tims of racial harrassment an
other means of collecting damag
es through the court system.
mere has been an increase in
violent acts against blacks and
minorities,'' he said. "The rea
son to have a state law is to close
the gap in the. federal law.”
The law, similar to one In Ala
bama, gives victims the chance to
file suit in
-R«P- Pete Cunningham
damages for civil rights viola
tions. The Alabama law was used
earlier this year when Beulah
Donald of Mobile sued the United
Klans of America for damages in
connection with the murder of her
son, Michael.
Mrs. Donald was awarded a $7
million judgement against the
hate group, the largest K1 an or
ganization in the United States.
with federal courts located in
large cities as the only remedy,
some suits didn't get to trial be
cause complainants from small
er towns found it too time
consuming and expensive, Cun
Jdpgham said.
flfcth the new law, racial har
^ray^n^tscanbe.ar^ed-lo
tally, which should speed up the
judicial process.
"As it was, if someone violated
your dvil rights, you could take
diem to federal court, but the dock
ets are hill. The federal courts are
in cities like Charlotte and Ra
leigh, so people have to go a long
way to file a suit. With this law,
you can sue at a local court," he
explained.
Getting the legislation passed
was an exercise in compromise
between its supporters and both
houses of the General Assembly.
Coming up with a final draft
that satisfied everyone wasn't
easy, Cunningham stated.
The original bill was amended '
to exclude government officials ;
and supervisors executing their
duties at work. Cunningham said
he didn't like the changes, but the
law still has teeth.
"You can't get the whole loaf,
but the law does get to the core of
the problem,” he concluded.
Cunningham said he has re
cieved positive responses from
civil rights groups and lawyers,
about the bill's passage, but public
awareness may may be slow in
coming.
"I've talked to some lawyers
and organizations like the '
NAACP about the bill, but the Ku
Klux Klan hasn't called and
threatened to burn a cross in my •
| ‘ f j ;., • , .
t . ,
s
By Herb White
' Pm* SteCTWriter
Running for Charlotte city
council aa an at-large candidtate
ie presenting different challeng
es for incumbent Ron Leeper.
More money and campaign
time is required to win at-large,
he said, than when he ran in Dis
trict 3. Leeper, who has been on the
couhcil 10 years, said about
$25,000 in campaign funds will be
needed going into the Nov. 3 gen
eral election as opposed to $1,500 to
run a campaign in District 3.
As of press time Thursday,
about $9,000 was raised for imme
diate needs, such as yard signs
and campaign stickers.
"Obviously, it helps to have the
money as soon as you can get it,"
Leeper said. "You need a little
money early for the primary, but
you need it more for the general
election, which io the tough time.**
Instead of going all-out in the
Sept. 22 Democratic primary,
Leeper's campaign is looking to
the general election, which will be
made up of four Democrats and
four Republicans.
"We re not going to spend a lot
of resources on the primary.
We're going to save our big push
for the general election,” Leeper
stated. "Ifs a calculated risk, as
it is running fpr public office.”
One of rax Democrats on the
ballot in- the primary, Leeper re
lated that he is counting on name
recognition to gain reelection.
Unlike many candidates, Leeper
eaid he is known around the city
and has a constituency on which
to build.
"There's no question you have
to have a base. My base ie the
black community," Leeper re*
marked. "Name recognition is
the key factor, but you have to let
people know that you're running.
I can’t leave any rocks un
turned."
To turn those rocks over, Lee per
has tried breaking new ground
among voters. He has been cam
paigning to gainer support in a
city whose districts have their
own special problems.
in a aumct, yeu ean run on
one or two issues of concern to vot
ers, but when you go city wide,
eveTy neighborhood hae different
concerns," he said.
With nearly a third of the mon
ey raised for the campaign, Leep
er said he believes the remainder
can be gathered before November.
Campaign money has come
from various sources, primarily
fundraiser* and contributions by
mail, Lee per reported.
Response to Leeper's candida
cy has been favorable among
blacks, but also by Whites and
business leaders.
Two-thirds of the support has
come from the white communi
ty," he stated. "I think that
means something, because when
you put your money in it, that
means you're likely to support
me."
Race has not been a factor in
the campaign, Leeper pointed out,
although he assumes voters may
think about it.
"Obviously that's a factor for
any black candidate," he stated.
"One of the things we've done is
that we have a record and that out
weighs other considerations like
r*ee."
Democrats To Have
Fun In High Point
Presidential candidates Bruce
Babbitt, Governor Michael Duka
kie, Congressman Richard Ge
phart, Senator Albert Gore Jr. and
Rev. Jeeee Jackson are all expect
ed sheets for the North Carolina
Democratic Party FunFair, to be
held In .Market Square, High
Point, NC, Friday and Saturday,
September 11 and 13.
The two-day event ie sponsored
by Jim Van Hecks Jr., Chairman
of the North Carolina Democratic
Party, and Senator Tarry Sen
ftnrd, Honorary Chairman.
The purpoea of the FunFair is to
kick of the 1986 campaign.
..)1F ,m 1 1 1 p»« I'i ■ n I ... ■ I
Black Artists Object To Process, Not Art I
f *'
By Loretta Richardson
Post Staff Writer
Moat of tha expressed contro
versy surrounding the proposed
sculpture, a 22- foot-tall stack of
greenish bronze planned for
Charlotte's new coliseum has
been isolated to one concern, the
sculpture's appearance.
But three of Charlotte’s well
known black artists, TJ. Reddy,
Juan Logan and Tommie Robin
son have less problems with the
way the sculpture looks than they
do with the selection process in
volved in the project.
I7M Arts Commission people
involved wen not door on what
they wanted. And because of the
unclarity a number of people
went through unnecessary scru
tiny, " began Reddy.
Reddy acknowledgee that not
only did he apply for considera
tion, but so did Logan and Robin
eon. "We (Reddy, Logan, and
Robinson) war* under the im
pression that the art place the
commission was looking was
one to be included inside the coli
seum. We went through a rather
lengthy process of filling out ap
plications, preparing elide pres
entations, and submitting re
sumes," detailed Reddy.
According to Logan, the pros
pectus was opened to all art medi
an* But contrary to that infer
A/ ■ ” toly as : • i If » «"
ft u> *•• ;*•/€.. <§
ination Logan also learned that
Litohsn Stain, a noted sculptor
was ths commission’s first
choice, but was unavailable for
the project 'If that was the case,
someone would have had to con
tact Ma." ’ • '' ;■£ - V
rwaoMUiy, i reel that the Arts
Commission already had a good
idea on what they wanted and
who they wanted from the begin
ning," related Login.
"And if that was the Mae-the
commission should have targeted
the sculpture art form and let it go
at that," added Logan.
Reddy agreed saying, *lf w*
had known that the commies
■ion Was considering sculpture.
/ Kkj
we would not have gone through
the process. Their whole ap
proach to the project was innppro- f
print# and inexcusable.” fH
Kobinson • objections, white I
coinciding with those sxpresoed L i
by Roddy sod Juan, also touched (
on the subject of race. 1 believe 1
in the public ftinding_ufe£eft ai |
art. But I don't think
process. Black srti
chance. *ft»sy're s
time, ho meteor how m
ply. I hade to say it»
to be the attitude Tvea
"Art id clannish
don't frequent the right
Artiste on P—tA