Are Local Schools Reaching Black Children?
The Debate On Black SHident Achievement
Bee Special Sectton/Page 1C
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Alliance
Gaston College Will
Welcome Shirley Chisholm
Alliance/Page IIB
m\t Cljarlottc Post
Vol. 14, No. 48 Thursday, April 27,1989
THE AWARD-WINNING "VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY"
50 Cents
Lawyer May Sue On Behalf Of Jake King Family
White Officer Had 'No Legal Right' To Shoot Unarmed Black Man
By JALYNBSTRONO
PMt Editor
A White Charlotte police cdfl-
cer reportedly Mid he would
never leave hie Job becauee he
llkea "chaalng niggers" during a
conversation last month wldi a
part-time security ofllcer at
Presbyterian HospltaL
According to Information con
tained In a transcript of an in
terview conducted by a police In
ternal affairs sergeant, the
security officer Identified the
police officer as Scott Pope, who
shot and killed an unarmed Af
rican-American earlier this
month.
During their conversation.
Pope also told the security cdB-
cer, "The next guy who f—s with
me. I'm gonna shoot him. That's
why they gave me this g—damn
gun."
On April 1, Pope shot Jake
King, a 33-year-old black man
twice. King died on the front
steps of his home at 1509 Luther
St. in the Cherry community. He
was unarmed.
Following an Investigation,
Mecklenburg District Attorney
Peter Gilchrist announced Mon
day that charges would not be
brought against Ifope.
However, Wayne Alexander,
attorney for King's famlty, says
based on the Information he
has, his Inclination Is to file a
lawstdt on behalf of his clients.
Alexander says Pope used exces
sive force In the situation that
resulted In the death of King,
thereby violating King's consti
tutional rights.
"Based on what we know hap
pened, King was at his hxne in
his yard, unarmed," Mid Alex
ander. "He was not under arrest.
No crime occurred In the pres
ence of the police officers and no
felony was charged against
King.
The officer ordered King out of
his house with no legal right or
authority to demand that he
come out of his home."
In a telephone Interview Wed
nesday, Gilchrist said he did
have probable cause to bring a
charge of manslaughter or mur
der against Pope. He also said he
had enough evidence. favoraMe
to the state, to have the case go to
ajuiy.
Gilchrist said he opted not to
prosecute Pope, 24, because he
did not believe a jury would have
convicted the officer. "In my
opinion," said Gilchrist,
"consideration of all the evi
dence would not support a con
viction."
Alexander argues If a Judge lets
a case go to Jury then the Judge,
in effect, "Is Mylng that a rea
sonable Jury can convict.
"What sort of commentary is
(Gilchrist) making on the Judi
cial process In that he took this
case out of the process," said Al
exander.
According to witnesses, the
King episode began when fire
fighters were called to a Luther
Street residence to attend to
King's sister, who Mid King hit
her in the head with a dass. It
was said that King was disorder
ly and may have been Intoxlcat-
Sm lAWmi On Paga 2A
School Workers Charge Discrimination,
Harrassment By White Supervisors
By HERB WHITE
Boot Staff Writer
African-American workers at
Ch^lotte-Mecklenburg Schools'
supply warehouse charge
they're being discriminated
against and little Is being done
about It.
Billy Roddey, Terry Wallace
and Roosevelt Evans Jr. allege
they have been denied promo
tions and harrassed by white
supervisors. After numerous ap
peals, their cases haven't been
settled and tensions between
white and black workers are
high.
'You can almost cut It with a
knife," said Roddey, 49.
Seven Afrlcan-Amerlcane fllcd
complaints with the school sys
tem's equal emplwment oppor
tunity cSffice In Februaiy 1988,
but couldn't get the warehouse
supervlsora to reach an agree
ment
Roddey and Wallace then
wrote the board of education In
December requesting a chance
to appeal.
But board Chairman Ashley
Hogewood replied In a letter
that the board couldn't resolve
the matter and suggested the
Elvana
complainants reach an agree
ment with their supervisors.
Hogewood said on Wednesday
the complaints with the school
systems' BEG and the local
agency are still pending, making
It unnecesaaiy for the board to
reaolve the matter.
Tt would be Improper for me to
comment on It at this time," he
said.
Roddey
"Based on the advice of coun
sel (schools attorney Hugh
Campbell), they are still In ffie
process of resolving the com
plaints. The matter is not con
cluded.”
Wallace was promoted to a
$20,000 a year foreman position
at the Craig Avenue facility In
1982 after a 1981 complaint An
emidqyee with the system for 19
wars, Wallace said he has since
been stripped of aupervlsoiy du
ties while white subordinates
were better paid.
Wallace's current Job title is
supply technician, a far cry from
f(»eman.
"In '87 I found everything we
settled for had been turned
around," he Mid. "In essence, it
was a demotion."
Roddey started as a delivery
driver five years ago but asked
for a promotion and salary In
crease In 1986 when his duties
expanded to handling the sys
tem's computers. He charged the
Job evaluation committee met
but didn't inform him of its deci
sion.
"That was the last I ever heard
of It," Roddey said. 'You have to
wonder---these people aren't
right." In April 1987, he received
a letter from from Ben Ramsey,
the director of salary and bene
fits, stating his request had been
denied.
Evans, 38 and an employee for
21 years, applied for a supervls-
or'a position along with eight
other candidates In 1987. Six,
whits policsoffioer and 8 poor, black
victim is all too oftsn a rscurrlng theme in the
-Wayne Alexander
Senate Committee Votes
To Eall Second Primaries
BTF.ALANBOTGE
Aaaoclatod ProM Writer
RALEIGH (AP) — North Caroli
na would abolish second pri
maries, long criticized as dis
criminating against blacks,
under a bill unanimously ap
proved by a Senate committee
last Wednesday.
Sen. Ralph Hunt, D-Durham,
the bill's sj^nsor, said this was
the first time such a bill had got
ten out of a legislative commit
tee, although blacks have been
trying to change the law for
many years.
completely eliminating second
primaries. "I think the chances
of p>asslng a second primary bill
on the Senate floor are great,"
Hunt said after the Election
Laws Committee vote. "There Is a
realistic chance. In my mind,
that we will have to compro
mise."
Even a compromise "would be a
major step forward over what we
8«e AN END On Page 2A
See DlSCRIMlNATTraf On Page 2A Hunt said he had doubts about
NeC. Schools Flunking
Course In Educating
African-Americans
RALEIGH (AP) — North Caroli
na schools are falling to im
prove education for b^k stu
dents who enter school behind
their white peers and lose
ground as they get older, a new
^udy saya.
"Very little has changed about
how well our children are do
ing," said Claudette Burroughs-
White, president of the Greens
boro affiliate of the National
Black Child Development Insti
tute, which conducted the study.
The Institute presented a sum-
maiy of the atucty Wednesday at
a conference on educational
equity, which continues through
Satui^y in Raleigh.
For the past three yeaua, the
study found, white females
scor^ highest on the California
Achievement Test with few ex
ceptions. White males scored
second beat, followed by black
females and then black males.
The results were based on 96
schools in the state's eight edu
cational regions at grades one.
two, three, alx and nine.
Itobert Davis, a sociologist at
N.C. A&T State University and
principal researcher for the
study, said traditional explana
tions do not fully account for the
racial gulf In achievement. The
entire gap cannot be explained
by aaying that more blacks are
(llsad\wtaged, he said.
"There may be other kinds of
things going on that we are not
Icxddng at," Davis said.
Schools need to offer role mod
els for disadvantaged students
snd use efi^tlve teaching styles.
he said. Parents and communi
ties also need to become In
volved In schools.
The gap between black and
white students widens as they
move up through the grades. For
example, in region three, which
Includes Wake and Durham
counties, white first-graders
scored at the 64th percentile
while black students scored at
the 51st percentile of students
taking the teat naUonwlde.
By ninth-^^de, the percentile
scores sUpi^ for both groups,
but more so for blacks, who fell
to the 33rd percentile compared
to the 62nd percentile for whites.
The national average is 50.
A panel of six black high
school students at the confer
ence underscored the stuity by
saying they have few role mod
els. face destructive pressures
from drugs and peers and are not
encouiBj^ to set high academic
goals. They do best, they said,
when peuents and teachers show
a personal Interest In their per
formance.
"I feel if my mom had been
there for me, Uke In elementary
school I feel I would not have
gotten Into drugs," said Ttco D.
West, 18, a Junior at Central
Wake Gptional School, an alter
native school for students who
had trouble in other high
schools.
West, who hopes to be a com
mercial artist, said teachers also
fall to make learning relevant to
life.
r
See STATE'S On Paga 2A
■-#1
r
I
Phclo/FRANK WIU.IAMS
THANKS FOK THE MEMORIES.., Cbailotte Hornata' Flayers bemk In the adulation of fims during
ticket tape parade held downtown in honor of the team's Srat season.
Hornets Close A Fan-tastic NBA Season
By HERB WHITE
Boat Staff Writer
Ticker-tape parades, generally
reserved for conquering heroes
and championship sports
teams, came to Charlotte Mon
day, but not to honor victors. In
stead thousands came uptown
to say thanks to the Charlotte
Hornets upon completion of
their first season In the NBA.
The Hornets, who finished
with a 20-62 record, got a re
sounding welcome from their
fans, who stood on rooftops as
the parade moved along Ttyon
Street
Carl Scheer, the Hmnets' gen
eral manager, said that while
the franchise didn't reach the
{UayofTs, the parade capped a
successful season.
"This parade wasn't for a
championship team, but for the
fans Charlie," he said.
Robert Reid, one of the team's
co-captalns, said the city's sup
port was the most Important
factor of the season. Charlotte
led the league in attendance
with an average of 23,100 per
game, the first time an expan
sion club led Its league In any
sport
Reid, who played for the Hous
ton Rockets nine seasons before
being traded to Charlotte, said
fans here are more supportive at
the Charlotte Coliseum than
Houstem's Summit the Rockets'
arena.
"They come nowhere near
close," he said.
Reid sounded a hopeful note
for the future when he said the
Hornets will continue to Im
prove on the court Paraphras
ing ex-Houston GUers football
coach Bum Phillips, Reid said:
"This season, the NBA let us
knock on the door. Next year,
we're going to kick the thing In.”
Queen City News
Charlotte
Housing
Conference
The "Housing Conference of
Charlotte" will be held on
Thursday, April 27, 8 a.m. to 6
p.m. at the Uttle RockAMB Zion
Church on McDowell St. Sena
tor Terry Sanford will be the
keynote speaker and Arthur
Griffin of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg School Board will
speak at the opening the ses
sion.
This conference Is being held
to commemorate American
Home Week, Community Devel
opment Week and Fair Housing
Month. Sixteen sponsoring
agencies have plann^ the pro
gram to address concerns about
housing for low Income fami
lies.
The theme for the conference
is "Home — A Dream or a Reali
ty In Charlotte." The focus of the
conference will be what is being
done locally by the public and
private sectors and how citizen
groups can become Involved.
Inside This Week
Editorials
. Pg.
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Gbltuarles...
.. Pg. 3B
Entertainment.
. Pg.
7A
Sports
... Pg. 7B
Lifestyles
. Pg.
1B
Classifieds..
.. Pg. 10B
Church News.
3B
Alliance
■ ■■ Pg. 11B
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