Valentine's:
What It Means
lifestyles/ Page 7A
A Night Of Blues And Jokes
Entertainment/ Page IB
Charlotte Skiers Go West
Sports/Page 7B
Inside The
Alliance
Harrill Lectures
At JCSU
Page IIB
Cliarlotte 3^os;t
Vol. 14, No. 34 Thursday, February 9,1989
THE AWARD-WINNING "VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY"
50 Cents
Mandela's Daughter: Jailing Is 'Painful'
By M.L.LaNBY
Post Staff Writer
Maki Mandela, daughter of
imprisoned South African anti-
apartheid activist Nelson Man
dela, was In Charlotte to deliver
a lecture at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte last
night
Mandela Is a doctoral student
at the University of Massachu
setts In Amherst,
Her cu-rlval coincided with the
latest international news about
South Africa’s detainees.
A group of more than 228
black youths ( mostly members
of the banned Young African Na
tional Congress) have reportedly
engaged In a himger strike.
The strike Is Intended to pro
test the two years they have been
Imprisoned without trial. The
youth have vowed to see this "life
and death Issue" through to It's
logical conclusion If the govern
ment does not respond.
With this as a backdrop, Man
dela addressed the sparse group
of television and news reporters
on her purpose for coming to
Charlotte.
A woman who's bearing re
flected the courageous, Mandela
didn't have any surprises to of
fer her listeners.
She gave an Impromptu pre
view of her planned remarks
which centered on the adversity
that she has endured as a black
woman living under apartheid.
She anticipated questions re
garding the long-hoped for re
lease of her father.
Mandela suggested that South
African officials were merely
going back and forth between
Pretoria and her father's prison
cell.
She said, "There has been
little real movement by the gov
ernment on this matter."
In another reference to her fa
ther, a reporter asked If she had
been allowed to visit her father
,who has been imprisoned for
more than 25 years.
She complained about the re
strictions Imposed on family
visitations. "It is such a painful
experience, because to \dslt we
must communicate by telephone
as we are separated by a thick.
glass partition."
Mandela said nothing to sug
gest the will to free Nelson Man
dela and rid South Africa of
apartheid had subsided in her
homeland.
She expressed the hope that
through her lectures and discus
sions concerned Americans
might be better informed about
South African conditions.
By providing them with first
hand Information about the
cruelties of apartheid, Mandela
hopes to encourage American
citizens to take a more active
part In pressuring their elected
offlclals for change.
Ultimately she sees this as a
means of altering the foreign
policy of the United States re
garding South Africa's human
rights abuses under apartheid.
In June she said It was her In
tention to return to South Afri
ca. Meanwhile, she will contin
ue to lecture across the United
States. "This," she said, "will be
my part of the struggle to coun
ter the misinformation that Is
constantly coming from the ra
cist regime of South Africa."
The situation in South Africa
has generated a world-wide out-
ciy. The efforts of Bishop Des
mond Tutu have only served to
provide the world with Infor
mation that South Africa's gov
ernment has sought to suppress.
Nonetheless, the continuous
pressure has had little effect on
official policy In or out of South
Africa.
The showing of a play titled
"Saraflna" recently underlined
the torment of South Africa’s
millions of black children.
Members of the outlawed Africa
National Congress (ANC) have
expressed the desire to work to
ward a more meaningful dia
logue. So far the government
steadfastly refuses to negotiate
with the ANC.
The University of North Caro
lina at Charlotte arranged the
scheduling of Mandela's lecture
In conjunction with other activ
ities celebrating Black History
Month.
Mandela
PtloIorUNEY
Despite Trends, UNCC Has Racial Cooperation
By HERB WHITE
Poet Staff Writer
Despite a resurgence of racial
incidents at predominantly
white campuses nationwide,
UNC Charlotte has taken steps
to prevent them.
Chuck Lynch, Vice Chancellor
for Student Affairs at UNCC,
said the school isn't Immune to
acts of racial bigotry, but stu
dents have avenues to address
their grievances.
"We have some of the same
symptoms as some of the other
campuses, but I think we handle
our problems a lot better than
most," he said. Still, the national
trends are dlstrubing.
"What I sense is there might be
more (racism). What I sense Is
that there Is less tolerance."
UNCC has support groups
which work with black students
to resolve conflicts with whites
or school policy regarding par
ticular points of contention. The
campus programs Include black
and white st^ and faculty help
ing all students learn more
about each other while raising
their awareness levels. Lynch
said.
The Increase In race-related
Incidents, he said, may be tied to
the Reagan years, where civil
rights were generally deempha-
sized by the federal government.
Emboldened by the govern
ment's position on equal oppor
tunity, some people may have
taken the opportunity to be-
Unlike other colleges across the country, UNC
Charlotte has programs to foster cooperation
between black and white students, says Chuck
Lynch, 'Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
come openly racist, even in the
reputed bastions of liberalism.
"Unfortunately, there are peo
ple who are Just inclined to be
racist," Lynch said.
Black students, who bear the
brunt of the harrassment, may
feel a sense of abandonment by
the powers-that-be, from the
cutting of federal student grants
to the reversal of some civil
rights legislation.
"There may be a sense of frus
tration that the civil rights deci
sions handed down by the Rea
gan administration" have turned
back the clock on blacks. Lynch
said.
In recent years, college cam
puses have witnessed racist at
tacks, both verbal and physical.
Black Population Should Continue Its Increase
'The nation's Black population
is projected to grow by 50 per
cent by the year 2030, according
to a repKjrt by the Commerce
Department’s Census Bureau.
The Black population In 1987
totaled 29.0 million, 7 million
more than In 1970. Under the
bureau's middle range of projec
tions. It may increase 7 million
by 2005 and another 7 million
by 2030. Alter 2030, however,
the Black population would
change relatively little. By 2030,
It may number 47.6 million,
about 18 million more than In
1987.
The white population grew
26.5 million between 1970 and
1987. It Is projected to grow an
additional 29.2 million over the
next 40 years, pjeak at 235.4 mil
lion in 2027, then decline stead
ily. By 2080, the White popula
tion may be only 6 million larger
than in 1987.
The growth of the "other races"
population (primarily Asians,
Pacific Islanders, and American
Indians) may be the fastest of
any of the racial groups. It has
tripled in size in the past 17
years, increasing from 2.6 mil
lion in 1970 to 7.9 million In
1987. This group may be 50
percent larger by the year 2000,
double its present size by 2015,
and triple its size by the year
2040. By 2080, the "other races"
population may be almost 25
million larger than In 1987.
Here are other highlights from
the middle range of projections;
• Since 1970, the Black popu
lation has grown at about twice
the White rate and is projected
to maintain at least that differ
ence through 2030.
• The proportion of the na
tion's population which is Black
may increase slowly from 12.2
percent In 1987 to 13.1 porcent
in 2000, 15.3 percent In 2040,
and 16.3 porcent in 2080.
• the 'White population may
comprise an ever smaller share
of the U.S. population in future
decades, falling from 82.6 per
cent In 2000 to 72.6 porcent In
2080.
• The "other races" share may
rise substantially from 4.3 por
cent in 2000 to 7.8 percent In
2040, and to 11.1 percent In
2080.
• For at least the next 50 years,
the annual number of births to
Black women will remain close
to 600,000 or slightly below the
current level. Births to White
women, however, are expected
to fall. "Other races" Is the only
racial group whose future num
ber of births Is ever projected to
be more than 5 percent above
its current level.
Black Population as a Percent of Total Population:
1990to20e0
White Population as a Percent of Total Population:
1990 to 2080
16.3
82.6
II
1990
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
76.9 7R li
2080
1990
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
2080
Source: U.S. Bureau Of The Census
Last year, a black University of
North Carolina employee re
ceived threats from angiy whites
over the closing of a dormitory
and at East Carolina University,
several whites allegedly shouted
racial slurs at black students.
The incident touched off an al
tercation that resulted In one
white student being hospital
ized and the suspension of a
black student for two years.
UNCC hasn't seen those types
of Incidents, Lynch said. Indeed,
at UNCC, the complaints seem
mild by comparison.
"You'll see something like
someone has a Confederate flag
In the dormitory, or someone
running through the halls
shouting 'nigger,'" he said. "A lot
of these Incidents is where you
don't know who the pierson is."
To address those complaints,
six campus mediators try to iron
out differences between stu
dents. Four of the mediators,
who are faculty and staff mem
bers, are black, while two are
white. Lynch said.
Out of live Incidents brought to
Lynch's ofllce this year, "all but
one were settled through media
tion."
The university also has an offl-
clal racial harrassment policy
that gives spieclflc sanctions for
students who are found to en
gage in racist activity.
In addition, UNCC is produc
ing a videotape, featuring black
students, that describes why ra
cism makes college life less en
joyable.
"A lot of the problem stems
from ignorance and racism," he
said.
More Important, however, is
the sense of cooperation be
tween the races on campus.
"We have a very open dialogue
with our black students," Lynch
said. "Our student leadership is
very mixed . At least at that level
there is a spirit of cooperation."
That cooperation, however,
hasn't spread throughout the
campus, with students going
their separate ways after class.
Blacks usually hang out with
blacks while whites do likewise.
'The social segregation is Just
as much as it's ever been," Lynch
said. 'The black students have
their social functions and the
white groups have theirs."
The Focus Is On
Leadership
Focus on Leadership will inau
gurate Its second leadership
class with Its annual banquet,
Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at Johnson C.
Smith University.
A press conference will be held
at the opening session, where
members of the second class
will meet the media and public.
Details of the Focus On Lead
ership banquet will also be ex
plained.
For more information, call Ke
vin Patterson at 554-5247 or
529-0738.
Irby Works For The Most
Accurate Census Count
By HERB WHITE
Post Staff Writer
The U.S. Census scheduled for
next year will be a snapshot of
America, says Reginald Irby, a
census aware
ness special
ist In Char
lotte. And his
Job is to make
sure the black
community Is
in the picture.
The 1990
census, Amer
ica's 20th, oc
curs every 10
years as is re
quired by law.
In 1980, the
year, there were
Irby
last census
107,006 blacks In Mecklenburg
County, 26.5 percent of the total
population. There were
26,495,025 blacks in the United
States, 11.7 percent of the na
tional population. In the overall
census, 404,270 persons lived in
Mecklenburg and 226,546,000 in
the United States.
Irby, 31, is responsible for
bridging the gap between the
Census Bureau and the public,
with special emphasis on the
black community. There are
about 300 specialists In the
Census Awareness and Prod
ucts Program (CAPP), which fo
cuses on reducing the dllTeren-
tlal undercount among non-
white populations.
As a group that historically
been undercounted, the black
community provides a special
challenge. About 85 percent of
all census questionnaires
mailed to households are re-
See IRBY On Page 2A
inside This Week
Editorials Pg. SA
Obituaries Pg. 10A
Entertainment.. Pg. 1B
Sports Pg. 7B
Lifestyles Pg. 7A
Classifieds Pg. 10B
Church News... Pg. 9A
Alliance Pg. 11B
Subscribe To The Charlotte Post, Cell 376-0496
-.«*«yt^rfT.Wisnas»:. y lyws