It’s all about art as Livingstone College kicks ojffestival/Page 6B
m tlThe Charlotte m
VOLUME 21 NO. 31
APRIL 18, 1996
75 CENTS
A campaign colored by race I S.C. man
fights for
new trial
Senate primary
could mirror
1990 battle
By John Hinton
WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE
Six years ago, North Carolina’s
U.S. Senate race became a refer
endum on race.
And it may be again in 1996.
While both Harvey Gantt and
Charlie Sanders deny using race
as an issue, some observes say
race would be a factor in the
Democratic primary and the gen
eral election.
The Associated Press reported
recently that many black
Democrats believe Sanders - not
Gantt - has a better chance of
defeating Helms because Sanders
is white. Gantt says Sanders is
misleading voters with his mes
sage that he is the only Democrat
who can beat Helms.
“The cynical thing that he
(Sanders) is saying is that he can
beat Jesse Helms because he is
white,” Gantt says. “It’s sending
the wrong type of message, espe
cially to our young people.”
Helms has defeated three white
Democrats and Gantt in his four
election campaigns, demonstrat
ing that the conservative senator
can beat white or black candi
dates.
Sallie Stohler, a spokesperson
for the Sander's campaign denied
that the retired Glaxo chief was
making race an issue in the cam
paign.
“That's absurd and Mr. Gantt
knows that it is not true,” says
Stohler. “Mr. Sanders does not
believe race is an issue in the
campaign. He is going after every
Democratic vote-white, black and
Native American. Charlie Sanders
is an outsider. Harvey Gantt is a
career politician.”
Julius Chambers, chancellor of
N.C. Central University and a
Gantt supporter echoed Stohler's
statements.
“I would doubt whether Charlie
Sanders was injecting race into
the campaign,” he said. “I have
never seen Charlie do anything
racist.”
Gantt ran a strong campaign
against Helms in 1990, losing to
the Republican senator by 54,000
votes in an election that drew
See SENATE on page 2A
trl'i
PHOTO/ CHARLES CLARKSON
Harvey Gantt says the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate shouldn’t become a referen
dum on race. The former Charlotte mayor criticized opponent Chariie Sanders for
inferring only a white candidate can beat Republican Jesse Heims. “The cynical thing
that he (Sanders) is saying is that he can beat Jesse Helms because he is white,”
Gantt says. “It's sending the wrong type of message, especiaily to our young people.”
Sanders retreats on level of black support - sort of
By John Hinton
WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE
U.S. Senate candidate Charlie
Sanders is stopping short of saying he
has official support among African
American leaders.
Sanders sent a letter recently to the
Rev. John Mendez, Ben Ruffin, and
Julius Chambers stating that the black-
owned Winston-Salem Chronicle quoted
him out of context when he was asked
about his support in the African
American community. He told the
three leaders “The implication is that
you are supporting me,” said Sanders, a
Democrat and retired president and
CEO of Glaxo Inc. of Durham. “The
newspaper quote was incorrect. I was
quite specific that I had spoken with a
number of prominent African American
leaders. However, I was careful to say
that I had no idea whom you would ini
tially support in the primary.”
Two weeks ago, the Chronicle report
ed that Sanders said his support was
growing in the black community, espe
cially among African American leaders
such as Mendez, Ruffin and Chambers.
Ernest H. Pitt, publisher of the
Chronicle, said the newspaper had
See SANDERS on page 2A
Microsoft gift to help
UNCF member sehools
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A computer software giant is
helping historically black col
leges prepare African
Americans for the information
age.
Microsoft Corp. chairman
Bill Gates was in Charlotte
last week to announce his
company's $6 million software
gift to The College
Fund/UNCF, with $2 million
going to six North Carolina
schools. The total gift of $16
million brings technological
opportunities to students and
faculty at 41 UNCF member
colleges and universities,
including Johnson C Smith
University in Charlotte; St.
Augustine's College and Shaw
University in Raleigh;
Bennett College in
Greensboro, Livingstone
College in Salisbury and
Barber-Scotia College in
Concord.
“Today, only 13 percent of
black Americans live in a
household with a computer,
compared with 30 percent of
white Americans,” said UNCF
president Bill Gray.
“Microsoft's contribution to
UNCF helps our member col
leges take an essential step
toward closing this technology
gap, preparing today’s stu
dents for tomorrow's jobs, and
helping America compete suc
cessfully in the global market
place”
Microsoft, a world leader in
See MICROSOFT on page 2A
Murder evidence points away from death
row inmate Spann, his supporters say
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
FORT MILL, S.C. - Sterling Spann’s been on S.C.'s death row
for 14 years now. He was convicted - at age 19 - of killing an
elderly white Clover woman for whom he'd done
some yard work and window washing.
But new evidence, including another man's
confession, may grant Spann, now 33, the
chance for justice he and his family have sought.
On Feb. 27, U.S. District Court Judge David
Norton hearing an appeal of Spann's death sen
tence directed his'attorney, John Blume of
Columbia, to seek a new trial in S.C. state court.
A motion for a new trial was filed March 19,
but the S.C. attorney general has answered the
motion and no hearing date has been set.
Still, Spann and his supporters feel certain he
will be freed, based on the new evidence.
“We knew all the time he didn't do it,” said Spann's sister,
Cheryl Davis, who has organized prayer vigils and petition drives
on her brother's behalf.
Spann’s mother, former Gastonia elementary school teacher
Sarah Spann Powell, didn’t live to see him freed. She died on
Dec. 6. However, on Nov. 23 - Thanksgiving Day - Rock Hill pri
vate detective Pete Sizemore showed her a copy of the confession
to the murder for which Spann was sentenced to die.
Powell had hired Sizemore last year to look into her son's case,
a task he began believing that Spann, a former classmate, was
See SPANN on page 3A
Author: Race still matters in
\
American cultural relations
Spann
By Clarence Thomas Jr.
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
DAVIDSON - Americans are
desperate to find answers to
the nation’s racial divide, but
don’t know how to look for
them, author Cornel West
said last week.
“Race forces us to examine
those hidden realities that are
buried deep down in our
souls,” West, author of “Race
Matters,” said at Davidson
College.
The Princeton University
professor was at Davidson as
part of the college’s lecture
series, explained Bill Giduz,
Davidson’s
news direc
tor.
“We always
try to bring
thought pro
voking people
to town,” he
said.
“Mr.West is
one of the
greatest
thinkers of our time, so to
expose him to our students
was the opportunity of a life
time.”
West addressed many prob
lems facing the country today
See WEST on page 3A
West
Going on-line: The
Post launches Web site
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Johnson C. Smith University students (from ieft) Louis Griffith
and Wiiiiam Watkins ii demonstrate their computer skiiis as
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Biii Gates and JCSU President
Dorothy Cowser Yancy look on. Microsoft donated $2 miilion in
software and services to six historicaily biack N.C. coiieges.
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The Post has moved into
cyberspace.
This week, you'll be able to
access the latest in African
American news and informa
tion in Charlotte by signing on
to our home page on the
World Wide Web. The Post's
first official day on-line will be
Thursday, with text from the
April 18 publication available
for public consumption.
The home page, which can
be accessed at
http://thepost.mindspring.com
gives readers the latest in
local news, sports, arts and
entertainment, lifestyles and
religion. In addition, the
Charlotte Post Publishing Co.,
parent company of The Post,
will offer pages from the Black
Guide, a directory of African
American businesses in
Charlotte, as well as informa
tion on The Post, its mission
and departments.
The Post is one of two
African American newspapers
along with the Afro-American
papers of Washington and
Baltimore) to have a home
page on the World Wide Web,
complete with text and pho
tographs. In addition, our
page is connected to several
keywords on the Internet,
which can be linked to The
Post through several sites.
We look forward to our days
on the Web, and hope to hear
from you. We can be reached
via e-mail (charpost@clt.mind-
spring.com).
Inside
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© 1996 The Charlotte Post
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