Selling The Dream: King image to be licensed by family/Page 6A
tCfjc Cliarlotte BoSt
VOLUME 21 NO. 21
FEBRUARY 8,1996
75 CENTS
New school could force changes at West Charlotte High
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A new high school already
under construction near UNC
Charlotte could spell the end
of West Charlotte High School
and its decades-old traditions.
Sometime early next year,
the school board will have to
assign students to two new
high schools - one in the edu
cation village, the other in
Matthews near Independence
Stevenson and
Martin set for
District 2 race
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Martin
Hoyle Martin will challenge
Sarah Stevenson May 7 for
the District 2 County
Commissioners seat.
Martin, 68,
filed for the
Democratic
Party prima
ry Monday,
just before
the noon
deadline,
Stevenson,
a former
Charlotte-
Mecklenburg
school board
member, had filed soon after
filing opened in January.
No Republican filed.
Martin spent three terms on
Charlotte City Council. He
made an unsucessful bid for
mayor in 1995 against Pat
McCrory.
He said
neighbors
and his wife
convinced
him to run.
"A number
of folks in my
district liked
what I said
during my
mayoral
race," Martin
said. "They thought my expe
rience was needed in the dis
trict."
Martin said he thought it
was time for some of the so-
called "new guard" to take
over.
None were forthcoming.
Seven candidates sought the
unexpired seat of Bob Walton,
who died of a heart attack in
1994. Stevenson is the only
candidate of those seven to
run for the seat again.
"There's a lot of time
involved in this," Martin said.
"I think a lot of folks feel their
careers are booming and don't
want to (sacrifice what they've
worked for). That ends up
pushing things into the laps of
older, retired folks."
Martin said he still has to
repay debts incurred during
his mayoral campaign, so he
plans a modest campaign for
the commissioners seat.
Stevenson
and N.C. 51.
“That could spell the end of
West Charlotte as we know
it,” said school board vice
chair Arthur Griffin, who
voted against locating a new
high school in the education
village.
Students from the Newell
area would logically be re
assigned from West Charlotte
to the new high school, Griffin
said. Most of those students
are white, meaning West
Charlotte would be more
African American.
Recent practice has been to
make schools which are too
heavily Afncan American into
magnets. West Charlotte is a
partial magnet now, housing
an open education program.
Or, according to Griffin,
white students could be drawn
from the western and north
ern portions of the county,
from the North Mecklenburg
High School attendance zone.
Both of those choices are
likely to attract wide opposi
tion.
West Charlotte alumni have
made clear their support for
maintaining the school’s tradi
tions from the pre-integration
era when West Charlotte was
all-black. It is the only black
high school to survive
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s
desegregation efforts.
White parents from North
Mecklenburg have fought
Standing For Children
■
■
Wifi:
Bennettsville, S.C. native and Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman has
been at; outspoken champion of children for more than 25 years, photo/children s defense fund
S.C. natix^e a voice for young people
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Tears and cheers greeted
Marian Edelman’s speech to
the Ch;! •Mecklenburg
Educatio.i FoLiiidation
Wednesday morning.
The reaction was hardly
unusual for the long-time
evangelist for children.
“I was crying,” said
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools PTA president Linda
Butler. “It made me realize
that I need to do more. There
are so many children who
need us.”
Later, greeting Edelman in
the ■ hallway of the
Convention Center, Butler
confessed her feelings of
inadequacy. Edelman hugged
her and said “Bring all your
children to Washington June
That’s the date of the
planned Stand for Children
being spearheaded by
Edelman and the Childrens
Defense Fund, which she
founded and servc.^ ;-..s presi
dent.
Edelman is in Charlotte
this week for the Children’s
Defense Fund’s annual con
ference at the Convention
See MARIAN page 2A
hard to keep their children in
that part of the county. One of
the most heated debates in
recent memory surrounded
the assignment of North
Mecklenburg area students to
the new Hornets Nest
Elementary. Hornets Nest is
viewed as a midpoint school.
Griffin said the Education
Village high school should not
have been located where it is.
“I’d rather have seen the
high school not built where it
was located,” Griffin said. “I
said that in 1993, because it
will directly take away from
West Charlotte’s population.
“There could have been a
site better than the education
village, perhaps between
North Mecklenburg and the
village. It could have been off
Beatties Ford Road, near Long
Creek or Hornets Nest ele
mentary schools. It could have
been a midpoint-type school.
See SCHOOL page 2A
Farrakhan to
testify about
Quaddafi ties
By James Wright
THE WASHINGTON AFRO-AMERICAN
WASHINGTON - Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan,
after a tour of African nations, will return to this country to testi
fy before a congressional panel about his relationship with
Libyan leader Moammar Quaddafi.
The hearing was called by Farrakhan's chief foe
in the House of Representatives, Rep. Peter King
(R-N.Y.). A subpoena will be issued to the reli
gious leader upon his return to the U.S.
King announced on Jan. 30 that he has
requested an International Operations and
Human Rights Subcommittee hearing into the
partnership li UW';e ri -rrakhan and Qucddafi.
King, vice che-'-e./an subcommitl-a-.i con
tacted committee Chairman Chris Smith U’--
Farrakhan N.J.), who agreei to schedn ' a hearing at the
earliest date. Mepibers of the Congressional
Black Caucus on the subcommittee are Rep.s. Cynthia McKinney
(D-Ga.) and Donald Payne (D-N.J.)
"Louis Farrakhan has consorted with, and sought the financial
assistance of a sworn enemy of the United -hates," King said.
"This unholy alliance between Amc fica's wor.o. hatemonger and
the world's most bloodthirsty dictator must be rnhy investigated."
King said that the Nation of Islam is a "proxy" organization for
Quaddafi.
Even though his constituents include very few Jewish neighbor
hoods, King has worked closely with the Anti-D(>famation League
to fight the Nation of Islam. The conservative lawmaker has
scrutinized federal housing contracts awarded to NOI security
firms and tried to prevent the Million Man March from takipg
place by questioning the permits obtained for the event.
Farrakhan had no comment through his Chicago office.
The subpoena has been issued as Farrakhan and other black
political and religious leaders travel to various countries and are
treated as a foreign dignitaries. Among those traveling with
Farrakhan are; the Rev. A1 Sampson of Chicago; Dr. Sarah
Moten, international affairs representative of the National
Council of Negro Women; Thomas Barnes, former Ga y, Ind.
mayor and former president of the World Conference of Mayors;
and Ali Baghaddi, Secretary of the U.S. Islamic - 'olitical
Conference and Final Call newspaper columnist. African leaders
were anxious to meet with Farrakhan because of his success with
the Million Man March, which was held on Oct. 16.
In Libya, Quaddafi praised the Million Man Mai cu,
"Your march was a test," he said.
Quaddafi linked himself with the struggles of black Am.-- cant..
"Amc- iciv has committed atrocities against us," he said. "We
should use these events to rally our people.
"There are many oppressed in America. Some who are
oppressed are not black. We still relate to them, although usually
blacks are the oppressed ones."
Contrary to the reports from wire services and the daily press,
Farrakhan did not agree to become an U.S. agent of the I.ibyan
leader. "I heard that Brother Mummar Quaddafi did pledge $100
See FARRAKHAN page 2A
Coleman Rippy a role model at J.C. Smith
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Coleman Dupont Rippy’s
influence on Johnson C. Smith
University may be as strong
as when he walked the cam
pus as a professor.
Mr. Rippy, who died
Saturday, taught JCSU
President Dorothy Cowser
Yancy when she attended
Smith back in the early ‘60s.
She calls him one of the
biggest influences on her pro
fessional development.
“I saw him as a role model
when we didn’t know about
role models,” Yancy said. “He
was a teacher I wanted to
emulate. He was a teacher’s
teacher. He was still teaching
me and he was still encourag
ing me the last time I saw
him.
“I remember him telling me
how proud he was of me and
telling me what I was capable
of doing. He was still giving
me that little push you need.
And when it comes from some
one you look up to, it really
means something.”
Mr. Rippy died at the
Hospice Unit of Presbyterian
Hospital. Funeral services
were held Wednesday at Little
Rock AME Zion Church in
Charlotte. Hundreds attended
the service for a man dedicat
ed to his family, church, com
munity and JCSU, from which
he retired in 1982.
Born in Petersburg, Va.,
August 16, 1916, Mr. Rippy
graduated from Lincoln
Academy and earned a bache
lors degree from Paine College
in Augusta, Ga. He was a
principal in Georgia before
joining the Army during
World War II. He was a staff
sergeant in the counterintelli
gence corps.
Mr. Rippy came to Charlotte
after the war and headed the
Oaklawn Community Center,
a program sponsored by the
Myers Park Presbyterian
Church.
He joined the faculty of
JCSU after earning a masters
degree from Columbia
See RIPPY page 3A
Tattoos are colorful, but
caution should be taken to
ensure a safe operation.
Story on page 9A.
Editorials 4A-5A
Community News 3A
Lifestyles 9A
Religion 12A
Campus News 14A
Arts/Entertainment IB
What's Up 5B
Sports 8B
Classified 12B
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