&
“No Free Ride ” exposes Mfume ’5 complexity/IB
tlhe Charlotte BoSt
VOLUME 21 NO. 49
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF AUGUST 22,1996
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
NAACP changes to slow, await Alexander’s fate
Acting President says he is being fair with actions, appointments
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBORO - More
changes are on hold for the
NAACP state conference
pending a decision on accusa
tions against its suspended
president.
State conference acting pres
ident, Melvin "Skip" Alston,
said he will comply with a
request by the national lead
ership to slow the pace of
change in the state organiza
tion until Kelly M. Alexander
Jr.'s suspension is resolved.
Alexander has denied any
wrongdoing and accused
Alston of trying to mount a
takeover during the suspen
sion.
In recent weeks, Alston, who
took the post in May, has
closed Alexander's Charlotte
headquarters and replaced 13
of the 28 committee chairmen
who serve on the state's 52-
member executive committee.
Alston told the News &
Record of Greensboro that
internal politics had nothing
to do with the changes.
“It's not politically signifi
cant if you're only replacing
half the committee chairmen,"
Alston said. “To keep 15 peo
ple shows that I'm trying to be
cooperative and trying to be
inclusive."
Alston said he will abide by
a request by National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People national president
Kweisi Mfume to slow the
changes for the sake of con
sensus in the 55,000-member
state conference, which is one
of the nation's largest and
most active.
Alston also has retracted his
earlier call for Alexander's
resignation.
“I've reconsidered and decid
ed it is not my place to ask
him to resign," Alston said.
Mfume did not respond to a
request for an interview by
the newspaper.
Alston said even before he
received Mfume's letter, he
tried to be conciliatory in his
committee assignments by
reappointing Alexander's
See NAACP on page 3A
Bachelor and babies
WM:-
11
m
Z
mil
MM
mt
1...
*
Terry Housch’s read Bible outside of his church. Little Rock AME Zion Church. He says prayer helps him care for
three foster children, ages one to three.
Bachelor finds babies fill days and nights with work, pride
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Bachelor Terry Housch's life
has changed immensely in
these last few months.
He now has three children -
boys, aged one to three.
No, he didn’t get married.
He’s a foster parent for the
Mecklenburg County
Department of Social
Services.
He has gone from living
alone to an existence filled
with diapers, and potty train
ing and the terrible twos.
“At first I was leery of how
it would work out,” Housch
said. “But once I got the kids
it all fell into place. I credit it
to a higher power.”
A foster parent for the past
year, Housch currently has
three toddlers in his care.
He already had one toddler
when representatives from
his placement agency
announced that two more
children needed emergency
placement.
“I went to a seminar...they
announced they had two kids
that needed emergency place
ment,” Housch said. “I
thought about it, decided I
would give it a try. I pray a
lot.”
Housch's day generally
begins about 5:30 a.m. He
wakes first, reads the news
paper, has his coffee and pre
pares breakfast. The children
WEike up on their own at 6:30
a.m.
Everything from bathing to
the packing of bags for day
care is done the night before.
“I learned from trial and
error,” said Housch, with a
laugh. “Getting up in the
morning, trying to get every
thing together - it didn't work
See KIDS on page 2A
Black Spending up, often outpaces whites
By Cliff Edwards
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - Black buying
power increased sharply last
year, helping black house
holds outpace white house
holds on spending for cars,
children's clothing and perish
able foods, a new study found.
The shift highlights black
consumers' increasing impor
tance to the U.S. economy as
they garner more spending
money, said Ken Smikle, edi
tor of the study made by mar
ket research firm Target
Market News Inc.
"Even though African
Americans are only roughly 13
percent of the population,
they're starting to have a sig
nificant influence on many
(business) categories," Smikle
said Monday. “When you're
talking about billions of dol
lars to be made or lost, busi
nesses have to sit up and take
notice."
Personal income for blacks
rose to $324 billion from
$304.5 billion a year earlier,
the Chicago-based research
firm estimated.
Previous studies have found
the amount of money blacks
have to spend is growing
faster than that of other U.S.
groups. And increasing confi
dence in the economy has led
blacks to loosen their purse
strings following a sharp drop
in spending on big-ticket
items a year earlier, Smikle
said.
“In the past two years,
blacks have had a lack of con
fidence in the economy and
their own financial situations,
leading them to delay spend
ing," he said. “Now that things
seem to be more optimistic,
they are making up with post
poned purchases."
Black households spent
$10.8 billion last year on new
cars and trucks, a 163 percent
See SPENDING on page 3A
Denise Dory
out as 6 p.m.
news anchor
By. Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
WBTV news anchor Denise Dory has been shifted from the sta
tion’s 6 p.m. telecast to 5 and 11 p.m., according to station man
ager and vice president Ron Miller.
Nancy Ross will replace Dory, who is African American, to join
Paul Cameron in the prestigous 6 p.m, time slot. Ross will also
anchor the 5:30 p.m. broadcast with Bob Knowles.
Dory will co-anchor the 5 p.m.
and 11 p.m. news shows with
Cameron, who is replacing
retired veteran newsman Bob
Inman.
Cameron served as the sta
tion’s sports anchor before
accepting the job. Delano Little,
weekend sports anchor and
reporter, replaces Cameron.
Little is also African American. '
The new assignments take ■
effect Sept. 2.
“We’re very fortunate to have
so many talented broadcast jour
nalists to best serve our view
ers,” Miller said in a press
release. “This shows the over-all
depth and strength of WBTV
News personnel.”
The announcement comes a Dory
week after Dory’s future with
the station was being questioned. A press release announcing the
Cameron and Little promotions did not mention Dory, who was
returning from maternity leave. Miller said Dory would stay
with the station, but would not
necessarily anchor the same
programs as she had in the past.
Miller’s announcement last
week came as a surprise to
many, including Dory.
She came to the station in
March 1995 after anchor Lisa
Cooley departed for Los
Angeles. She came from WCPO-
TV in Cincinnati. She also has
worked with two stations in
Raleigh.
Ross also joined WBTV in
1995 and has work,ed in Chicago
and ESPN.
The station’s moved attracted
some criticism from African
Americans who have become
accustomed to having an
African American on the main
news broadcast at WBTV. The
WPEG radio morning show,
hosted by The Breakfast Brothers, drew a number of calls about
Dory’s fate at the station. The moves were the topic of discussion
at several gathering spots.
Miller indicated last week that Little’s promotion to sports
anchor would satisfy the station’s desire to be diverse.
Little
•mvi Hi
Black candidate joins 9th District race
Gene Gay
By John Mii\ter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
An African American has
joined the 9th District
Congressional race as a write-
in candidate, challenging
incumbent Sue Myrick.
Eugene Gay, 36, a Columbia
native who moved to Charlotte
two years ago, was certified as
a write-in candidate on Aug. 6
after getting more than 250
certified signatures.
Gay said, “The climate is
right now in the American sys
tem for am independent candi
date. The American people are
fed up with this system of gov-
emment.”
He thinks Myrick is vulnera
ble. “America is ready for a
change,” Gay said.
“I will fight hard for legislation
that will protect each and every
American in the 9th District so
that they will have the kind of
opportunities that will lead
them to their dreams, goals and
opportunities,” Gay said.
According to a resume provid
ed by Gay, he has been a public
accountant since 1983, special
izes in problems and resolutions
consulting. He attended
Midland Technical College in
Columbia for a year, (1980-81),
majoring in arts and education.
He then attended Phillips
College in Columbia two years,
graduating in 1983 with a
degree in accounting and busi
ness administration. He joined
the National Associating of
Accountants in 1983 and is a
lifetime member of the NAACP.
In 1983 through 1985, Gay
was accounting director for the
Salvation Army and was a divi
sion msuiager for Massachusetts
Life and Indemnity Insurance
Co., 1985-86.
And from 1986-87, an account
ing auditor for the S.C. tax com-
Since 1993, he has been a
regional training director for
Excel Telecommunications.
Gay said his accounting back
ground will help him deal with
legislation on taxes and
spendinng in Congress.
He says a complete.change in
policy is necessary in this coun
try.
He said he decided to run
because of several experiences
in his Ufe.
“I always wanted to be a part
of government,” Gay said. “I feel
like I could make a difference for
young people and African
American.”
Gay, who is registered unaffili
ated, said he chose to run as a
write-in candidate because he
didn’t want to be part of a two-
party system.
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 7A
Lifestyles 9A
Religion 12A
A&E IB
Regional News 6B
Sports 8B
Classified I3B
Auto Showcase 14B
To subscribe, call (704) 376-
0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 1996 The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company.
Comments? Our e-mail address is:
charpost@clt.mindspring.com
World Wide Web page address:
http://www.thepost.mindspring.com