Ciiarlotte Boait
VOLUME 19, No. 10
THURSDAY OCTOBER 14,1993
50 CENTS
Arts &
Entertainment
The stories
they'll tell. 4B
Virginia Ha
milton and
Arnold Ad-
off, two pre
miere chil
dren's
writers, will
headline
the Novello
festival of
reading.
festival Of reodino
Lifestyles
in a class by
themselves. 7A
Psychologi
st/educator
Spencer
Holland ad
vocates
gender-
specific ed
ucation for
black chil
dren.
Sports
Aggies on a roll. 9B
N.C. A&T,
picked to
win the
MEAC
football
title, has
grand de
signs on
the na
tional l-AA
crown.
Religion
A program for
families' sake. 9A
Walls Memorial Church opens a
new family center to help folks
understand each other just a
little better.
Camera's Eye
Luther
and the
Divas. 8B
Ace photogra
pher Paul Wil
liams III brings
'em back live.
Extra
What's hot in
automobiles for
1994.
ar And Driver
new-
Both are inside.
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 7A
Around Charlotte 8A
Religion 9A
Church NeitfS 12A
Ar
Clal
For SyjBfiption
Informanon, Call
376-0496
©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
In some Charlotte neighborhoods, young people are
learning hard lessons about life, death and survival.
X
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—\J
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Antoinette Baker, 12; Carmella Morrison, 2; LaVera Sanders, 7; Tasha Sanders, 8; Nina Sanders, 10 and their mother,
Tammy Sanders (left to right) are trying to iinprove their lives in the Fairview Homes community.
Age Of
Iddoccijcc
kge cf suspects arested forttn;rder in Charlotte in 199.2.
g Under 16
H 16-19
H 20-29
0 30-39
n 40-49
50-over
SOURCE/CHARLOTTE POUCB
By Cassandra Wynn
THE CHARLOTTE POST
NEIGHBORS MURDERED
and maimed.
Drugs. Alcohol. Sex.
Petty arguments that turn
Into big brawls, even shoot-
outs. And images in the me
dia that make the "hood"
look like scenes from televi
sion's "NYPD Blue."
Even the Terminator
would have a hard time ris
ing above all that. It's as if
there has been a plarmed as
sault on the childhood of In
ner city black kids. Whether
or not they are tough, sto
ries in the media persist
about how tough they are
supposed to be.
How are they really far
ing? In spite of all the odds,
many rise above the nega
tive influences. Others are
victims of their environ
ment.
Innocence may be the
main casualty of Inner city
mayhem. The idyllic days
of childhood are often fast
forwarded. All too often
youngsters stumble into
life or death situations that
most adults wouldn't
dream of being in or know
how to handle.
Jermond Lowery, 15,
knows how to handle him
self in the streets. 'You can
sense trouble," the Fair-
view Homes resident said.
"If somebody's been arguing
and you walk into an area
where somebody might re
taliate, you can sense it if
somebody’s going to come
back with a gun. Some
times I be getting scared.
Sometimes I be thinking
I'm going to walk into a bul
let."
A ninth grade student at
Cochrane Middle School,
Jermond has learned that
survival can be a matter of
"watching your back."
Whether he goes out at
night, for Instance,
"depends on which night it
is and who's out. If you see
trouble, you go back in," he
said.
Weekends and holidays,
when drinking and drug use
are heavy, are times to be
careful. "On Fridays or Sat
urdays, Mother's Day (when
AFDC and Social Security
checks arrive), holidays, the
Fourth (of July), when people
start drinking, somebody
might start arguing when
somebody leans, on some
body's girlfriend. People
may shoot people over
clothes. You want certain
stuff and you sell drugs to get
It fast," Jermond said.
Usually 14-year-old Shu-
mlra Blount is not frigh
tened by any of the things
that go on at Boulevard
Homes. However, she was
frightened the morning after
Charlotte Police Officers
John T. Burnette and Andy
Nobles were fatally shot in
See INNOCENCE On Page 2A
• Charlotte Police Officer John Burnette, who was killed last week in Boulevard Homes, said he
was troubled by the prospect of using deadly force. See Page 2A.
Remap
Goes To
Court
White Voters Sue To
Block November 2
District Referendum
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
White Mecklenburg County
voters are looking to block a
referendum they say give
blacks more clout at the bal
lot box than necessary.
Motions were filed Monday
In District Court to stop the
Nov. 2 referendum that pro
poses to shift six districts for
the election of county com
missioners and school board
members. Nate Pendley, a
Winston-Salem attorney
representing four plaintiffs,
said the referendum will di
lute the voting strength of
whites. By putting more
white voters in proposed dis
tricts 1, 4, and 5, blacks and
Democrats would gain an un
fair advantage by stacking
the deck in their favor.
The redistricting plan was
drawn up by N.C. Sen. Leslie
Winner, a Charlotte Demo
crat. That plan would replace
one approved by voters last
year but has yet to be imple
mented.
"The present plan is not
perfect, but It comes far clos
er than (Winner's) plan,"
Pendley said.
There's a difference of 9,500
voting-age persons in Dis
trict 4 (with 67,963, the larg
es* area) and District 3 (with
the smallest with 58,406).
The plaintiffs argue mor--?
whites will get less represen
tation.
"I was personally apalled
when I saw this pornograph
ic gerrymander by Leslie
Winner," said Jack Daly, a
plaintiff and former cam
paign director for Republi
can Rep. Alex McMillan.
"Regardless of where you
live, your vote shouldn't
count more than mine."
Although Pendley said "It is
very tough to get an injunc
tion passed," he sees where
the U.S. Supreme Court will
ultimately have to decide re
districting guidelines at
some point. The court earlier
this year ruled in Shaw vs.
Reno that N.C.'s two mostly-
black congressional districts
give an unfair advantage to
minorities at the expense of
whites.
Pendley said the Winner
plan Is a partisan effort to
protect Democrats on the
county commission and gain
an advantage on the School
Board, which would have the
same districts. Especially
bothersome is the annexa
tion of Precinct 96, where
Democrat Lloyd Scher lives,
into the integrated and most-
ly-Democratic District 4.
Under last year's map, Scher
would be in District 5, which
is predominantly Republi
can and white.
Under either plan, two dis
tricts, 2 and 3 in north and
west Charlotte, would be pre
dominantly black.
Black Expo USA Aims To Promote Business Expansion
By Vera Witherspoon
THE CHARLOTTE POST
One of the biggest yearly events In black
America is coming to Charlotte.
Black Expo will present business and en
trepreneurial exhibits at the Charlotte Con
vention Center from 11 a.m.-lO p.m. Satur
day and 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. General
admission Is $4 for adults and $2 for chil
dren under 8.
Black Expo USA is a national traveling
business and trade show that has been in
existence for five years. This year, it will
travel to 14 cities.
"The purpose of the Black Expo USA, the
concept, is to aid all black businesses to
gain exposure and educate the public about
their product or service...and they can also
network with other businesses as well as
corporate accounts to support our busi
ness," said Sylvia Porter, Black Expo's
show office manager.
Expo visitors are usually 70ung, fairly af
fluent, well-educated and more likely to
spend their dollars with black-owned com
panies. According to New York-based NIA
Publishing, which surveyed responses from
the 1991 expo, 65 percent of the attendees
were between the ages of 18-32, 70 percent
were single and 75 percent graduated or at
tended college. Seventy percent of the peo
ple attending make over $25,000 per year.
Fifty-five percent of the audience is female.
Black Expo is expecting 20,000 people
from the Charlotte area to view exhibits.
Over 200 entrepreneurs and businesses are
expected to participate, displaying their
products and services.
"There will be a great variety of business
es. Anything you find in the marketplace
today will be at the expo, such as insurance
plans, health plans, lawyers, doctors, coun
selors, recruiters, government and city
agencies and people who are selling their
products," Porter said.
Businesses are displayed In booths. To re
serve a booth, an application form along
with a certified check or money order must
be submitted to Black Expo. Prices for a
booth vary according to the size of the
booth requested and the type of business.
Porter said, "Other events that will take
place at the Black Expo USA are black in-
See BLACK EXPO On Page 3A
What: Black
Expo USA.
When: Saturday
11 a:m.-10 p.m.
and Sunday
11:30 a.m.-9
p.m.
Where: Char
lotte Convention
Center.
Cost: $4 gener
al admissiion;
$2 for children
under 8.