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€l)t Charlotte
Vol. 15, No. 6 Thursday, July 6,1989
THE AWARD-WINNING "VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY"
50 Cents
Third Black Republican
Enters Council Contest
By HERB WHITE
Post Staff Writer
James Ross, who plans to nm
for Charlotte city council as an
at-large candidate, believes an
Improved thought process can
help In planning the city's fu
ture.
"There's a missing Ingredient
In declslon-maklng In local gov
ernment," he said. "And that In
gredient Is common sense."
Ross said he had given thought
to running In District 2, but feels
his experience In local and state
government would be better re
ceived at large.
"I would have responsibility for
the entire community," he said. "I
think at-large requires a differ
ent concept of the commimlty at
large. I think 1 can be of more
service city-wide."
Ross, a 54-year-old human re
sources consultant. Is one of
Ross
three African-Americans plan-'
nlng to run for Republican at-
large seats. Seven candidates
have announced their plans to
compete for the four nomina
tions up for grabs In the Sep
tember primeuy.
"It's going to be a little tough In
the primary," Ross said. "My feel
ing Is there are four seats and
one Incumbent, so that tells me
there are three seats out there."
The primary Is Ross's first pri
ority. With candidates outnum
bering seats by nearly 2-to-l,
the first hurdle Is likely to be the
most difficult one. But If he can
win In the primary, Ross feels
that he can win In the general
election.
"The Important step Is the pri
mary," he said. "By the Republi
can vote being a very disciplined
vote, by getting through the pri
mary, I can get some support (In
November). "I think I can as
many Democratic votes as Re
publican."
See ROSS On Page 2A
Lowery: Blacks Must Be Free
From 'Confused Priorities'
ATLANTA (AP) -—A top civil
rights leader, speaking 25 years
after major civil rights legisla
tion took effect, says the struggle
for racial equality has become
primarily economic rather than
social.
The Rev. Jo
seph E. Low
ery, president
of the South
ern Christian
Leadership
Conference,
said blacks
must take re
sponsibility
themselves for
Improving
Lowery
their economic condition. In
cluding embracing what he
called "liberation lifestyles" to
make blacks free from drug
abuse and "confused priorities."
"In 1964, we were barred from
eating In public restaurants by
white only' signs and In 1989
millions of us are excluded by
the dollar signs on the menu," he
ADt^By
Any Other
Name...
SUPPLY, N.C. (AP) — A
Bolling Springs Lake man
said Saturday he had recov
ered from the anger he felt
when he went to the Brun
swick County animal shel
ter to look for a dog to adopt
and found an animal who
was Identified with an of
fensive term for blacks.
William Clayton, who Is
black, said he noticed an
Identification tag on one of
the dog cages Indicated the
dog was named "Nigger." The
dog was black with brown
and white spots.
"... It seems Inconceivable
to me that anybody old
enough to have a job work
ing the county would put
something like that down,"
Clayton, 45, said Saturday.
"Common sense would tell
you that would be offensive
not only to blacks, but also
to whites."
Clayton walked out of the
shelter, but not before ask
ing someone why the dog
was Identified with that
name.
Dennis Harpster, who
talked with Clayton on
Thursday, said he responded
angrily to Clayton because
the man was swearing at
him.
"1 told him that was the
name of the dog and I
couldn't help It," he said. "I
told him I didn't name the
goddamn dog."
See DOG’S On Page 2A
said. "All of us have earned the
right to check In to the Hyatts
and Hiltons, but millions of us
lack the means of checking out."
Loweiy was among the 200 civ
il-rights leaders who met Friday
with President Bush at the White
House to commemorate the 1964
act.
The act, signed Into law by
President Lyndon Johnson on
July 2, 1964, banned segregation
In public accommodations and
paved the way for court action to
end racial bias In hiring and
promotions.
The SCLC, under the leadership
of the Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr., was Instrumental In the pro
tests and voter-registration
drives across the South that
brought the Civil Rights Act Into
being.
In a statement Issued at SCLC
headquarters In Atlanta, Lowery
said much has changed — but
much has noL
He noted there are now some
300 black mayors and a sizable
black middle class, but those
gains were overshadowed by a
fast-growing black underclass
In 'poverty-stricken slums."
Lowery ^so urged Congress to
legislate against recent rulings
by the U.S. Supreme Court, such
as a ruling that voided many af
firmative action contract pro
grams tn the nation's cities, that
he said reversed the civil-rights
commitment made In the 1950s
and 1960s.
Lowery seized on the current
furor over Bush's proposal to
amend the Constitution to out
law burning of the flag by call
ing for the same fervor toward
fighting for equal rights.
"A constitutional amendment
on flag burning, though expedi
ent Is not essential and will not
force people to respect the flag,"
Lowery said. "Let's show respect
for what the flag Is really sup
posed to represent — liberty and
justice for all. Including eco
nomic justice for blacks, Hls-
panlcs and women."
yew York, N.T.... Union soldier re-enactor pays his respects to the remains of one of the
members of the legendary Massachusetts SSt^ one of the first black regiments to partici
pate In the Civil War. The remains of 19 Uack Civil War soldiers were laid to rest during a
special reinterment ceremony on Memorial Day in Beaufort, SC. Participants in the his
toric event included Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and world-renowned
trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
Group Tries To Save Slave Cemetery
IVANHOE, N.C. (AP) — In Au
gust 1831, a 31-year-old slave
named Nat Turner Inspired a
short-lived but infamous slave
rebellion In Virginia that left 57
whites dead. Including women
and children.
Though Turner and 20 cohorts
were quickly hung, along with
100 Innocent slaves, news of the
uprising sent a wave of panic
across the South.
Many states responded by
quickly passing laws that strict
ly controlled the movements of
slaves.
Others exercised a more brutal
means of control. In the Samp
son County community of Ivan-
hoe, for example, black folklore
has It that respected slaves were
killed, and their heads placed on
poles along the main road to
Wilmington.
in this smedl community on
the Black River, you can still
find a few ramshackle slave
quarters, plantation homes and
an overgrown graveyard reputed
by loceils to be the resting place
of slaves..
It Is this cemeteiy which re
cently has become the focus of
an effort by blacks to memorl.'d •
See IVANHOE On Page 2A
Many Aren’t So Optimistic About Future Of Civil Rights
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
For civil rights activists with
an eye on the future, the 25th an
niversary of the signing Into law
of the Civil Rights Act Is bitter
sweet.
"When I look at It from the per
spective of today, I have a sense
of grief, disappointment, frus
tration," said the Rev. Clifford
Jones, pastor of Friendship Bap
tist Church In Charlotte.
Jones worries about the contin
uing economic gap between
blacks and whites and recent Su
preme Court decisions eroding
affirmative action.
"We are slowly but progressive
ly retrogressing In our society."
he said, "as It Is related to a sense
of justice for the poor, the disen
franchised and minorities — es
pecially African-Americans."
Some North Carolina legal ex
perts agree that recent Supreme
Court decisions threaten two
decades of civil rights progress
that began when President L)m-
don Johnson signed the Civil
Rights Act on July 2, 1964.
"The civil rights movement
seems to be pretty dead at the
moment, with no allies In the
court. In the White House, or In
Congress," said Daniel Pollltt, a
law professor at the University
of North Carolina of Chapel
Hill.
Another UNC-CH professor
agreed."Early Supreme Court de
cisions were Intended In a way to
further the purposes of eliminat
ing discrimination with Inter
pretations . favorable to the
plaintiff," William P. Murphy
said. But now the Supreme Court
has made almost a 180-degree
tun and "made It tougher for
plaintiffs and easier for defen
dants," he said.
In a June 5 division, a sharply
divided Supreme Court changed
ground rules that had for much
of the decade governed a major
category of lawsuits pressed im-
der the Civil Rights Act.
The ruling shifted the burden of
proof In discrimination cases to
the plaintiff, making It more
dllficult to bring discrimination
suits against employers. It re
lieved employers of having to
prove that allegedly discrimina
tory practices were not dlscri-
mlnatoiy but were In fact neces
sary for business.
In a June 12 decision, the court
spilt alon,' the same 5-4 line to
rule that court-approved afflr-
matlve-ai.tlon settlements on
sex and race discrimination cas
es are open to subsequent legal
challenges by outside parties.
In another 5-4 ruling the same
day, the court placed tight time
limitations on the filing of law
suits challenging seniority sys
tems that are alleged to be dis
criminatory.
But the 1964 act, coming after
years of struggle, was a begin
ning.
"Unth then, your entire world
was circumscribed by two
words," s£ild David Goldfield, a
Southern historian at the Uni
versity of North Carolina at
Charlotte. "White and colored."
The law outlawed dual water
fountains and dual bathrooms
and made It possible for Chris
Crowder, a black woman, daugh
ter of a Monroe sharecropper, to
own The Coffee Cup, a diner In
Charlotte.
Once, she couldn't even have
sat for a meal there.
"It was an all-white restau
rant," she said. 'They served
blacks through a little window,
but they couldn't sit down to
eat."
Twenty-five years later, that
serving window Is boarded up.
And Chris Crowder Is the bt»s.
"Things have gotten better." she
said. "Such a change has come to
me over the past 25 years."
But Franklin McCain, one of
feur N.C. A&T State University
classmates who began sit-ins
and boycotts against whltes-
only restaurants and lunch
counters throughout the South
when they walked Into a Wool-
worth's In Greensboro and asked
to be served. Isn't nearly as opt!
mistlc.
"Progress," he warns, "Is so te»,-
uous."
Black Population Still Greatest In The South
Black population estimates
for selected local areas In 1980-
85 were released recently In a
report by the Commerce De
partment's Census Bureau.
The estimates result from the
latest research techniques for
estimating population by race
and Hispanic origin for states
and counties. The bureau advis
es that the methodology used
has not been fully evaluated
against results of a decennial
ceiisus, and that these estl-
have not been Integrated
agency's official current
estimates program.
The report provides estimates
for states and their local metro
politan and non-metropolitan
components; metrojxilltan are
as with at least 10,000 blacks;
and Individual counties with at
least 80,000 blacks.
Here are some highlights from
the report:
• Sixteen states had 1985
black populations of more than
one million. New York (2.7 mil
lion) and California (2.1 million)
had black populations of more
than two million; only 12 states
had more than one million
blacks In 1980. The black popu
lation of the United States was
28.9 million In 1986.
• California had the largest In
crease In black population
(243.000) from 1980 to 1985, fol
lowed by New York (219,000),
Florida (215,000), and Texas
(201.000) .
• Among the 16 states with a
black population of at least one
million In 1985, Florida had the
highest growth rate at 16 per
cent, followed by California with
13 percent. The black popula
tion In Maryland and Texas each
grew by 12 percent. Michigan's
growth rate of four percent was
the lowest of the 16 states.
• Mississippi had the greatest
population of blacks (36 per
cent) In 1985, followed by South
Carolina with 31 percent and
Louisiana with 30 percent.
* The South had the greatest
See BLACK On Page 2A
Inside This Week
Editorials Pg. 4A
Obituaries Pg. 3B
Entertainment.. Pg. 7A
Sports Pg. 7B
Lifestyles Pg. 1B
Classifieds.... Pg. 10B
Church News... Pg. 3B
Alliance Pg. 11B
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