Area music fans give props to the life of Tupac Shakur/Page IB
I CI)arlotte I
VOLUME 22 NO. 1
THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 19, 1996
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
75 CENTS
SERVING CABARRUS, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
NOI starts community patrols
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
Nation Of Islam members Marcus X, Antoine Muhammad,
Dawud Shared and James X patrol Cummings Avenue Sunday.
Different
standard
for Libya?
Contributions
returned to black
N.C. businessman
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POvST
Fayetteville businessman
Marion “Rex” Harris is baffled
by the flap over his efforts to
help tho Yat ioi: Of Ishiia
.secure a $1 Itillion j^raiit front
Libya.
Campaign
contributions
to Gov. Jim
Hunt and
Republican
challenger
Robin Hayes
of Concord
huve been
returned, the
result of his
efforts as
intermediary
between NOI leader Louis
Farrakhan and Libyan despot
Moammar Gadhafi. The Hunt
campaign was attacked for
accepting $500 from Harris
when Harris’ activities were
made public.
“I was called by a represen
tative of Hunt’s campaign,”
Harris said. “I told him to
send it back.”
Hayes returned Harris check
for $100 along with a letter
explaining why his money
wasn’t needed.
According to Harris, he
received a letter soliciting
$100 donations for the
Republican Party. He had his
secretary call N.C. Republican
headquarters, where he was
given a number to make a
donation to Hayes.
“I didn't think he or his cam
paign would be bright enough
to catch it,” Harris said. “As
soon as the check went
through, I would have
requested him to send it
back.”
“If he received a letter, it
probably said to send the con
tribution to the Raleigh
Republican Party,” said Hayes
spokesperson Andrew Duke.
See HARRIS on page 2A
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The Nation of Islam prides
itself on its image.
Well-groomed African
American men, the Fruit of
Islam, in trademark bow ties
making a difference in their
community.
It is this image, as well as doc
umented NOI successes in some
of the nation’s toughest housing
developments, that has prompt
ed a unique westside coalition.
The NOI has embarked on a
large scale initiative with
Fighting Back, westside proper
ty owners, the House of Prayer
and the Westside Coalition to
put an end to the area’s nega
tive image.
‘What we are doing,” said FOI
captain and NOI Security presi
dent Reginald Muhammad, “is
taking back our neighborhood.”
Muhammad is leading FOI
sweeps into westside neighbor
hoods in an attempt to curtail
drug traffic and loitering.
Each member of the Nation
goes through special training as
part of their indoctrination. The
Hayes
African Americans in
Mecklenburg County
Population
Black: 134,468
White: 364,651
Other: 12,314
Income
Median household income:
$22,148
Median household income
(overall): $33,830.
Employment
ILLUSTRATIONAW. MICHAEL HARRIS
Black Power
Demographics shifting; will priorities?
Worked in 1989: 73,353
Worked more than 35 or
more hours per week:
59,272
Worked 50-52 weeks:
40,823
Adult education
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
One doesn’t have to look far
to see what’s happening with
Charlotte’s African American
population in Charlotte.
A lot of it is wrapped up in
the person of Ike Heard Jr.
Heard, as most folks know,
chairs the Mecklenburg
County Planning Commission
and is executive director of a
northwest Charlotte revital
ization effort.
He grew up off Beatties
Ford Road in the McCrorey
Heights community. His par
ents still live there, as active
as ever in the politics and
community affairs of the
northwest Charlotte neigh
borhood.
But Heard lives in south
east Charlotte, in the Olde
Georgetown neighborhood
near South Mecklenburg
High School.
He moved there about 18
years ago from Hidden
Valley.
Heard’s migration matches
the outward spread of
Mecklenburg’s African
American population from its
pre-civil rights movement
westside concentration to
nearly every corner of the
county, particularly the
northwest, southwest and
east.
See BLACKS on page 3A
Less than grade 5: 2,927
Grade 5-8: 5,585
Grade 9-12 (no degree):
16,672
High school diploma: 20,668
Some college: 15,022
Associate degree (occupa
tional): 2,994
Associate degree (academ
ic): 1,791
Bachelor’s degree: 7,215
Graduate or professional
degree: 2,632
SOURCE: 1990 U.S.CENSUS
Retired coach’s legacy goes beyond the athletic field
By Herbert L, White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Nearly 20 years after hanging
up his whistle, Eddie McGirt is
still synonymous with Johnson
(). Smith University.
In th{^ 194()s, he was an all-
CIAA fullback for the Golden
Bulls. In the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s,
he built the program into a con
sistent winner, retiring in 1977
with a 118-73-3 record. This
year, his name graces the Eddie
McGirt/First Union Classic to be
played Saturday between JCSU
and Elizabeth City State.
University. A modest man,
McGirt is flattered that he’s
thought of that way.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “I’m
really not a glory-seeker. If the
school thinks enough of me to
name it after me, it’s OK.”
Lots of people connected with
Smith football over the years
wouldn’t have it any other way.
McGirt was part motivator, part
teacher, and all business. And
iii." Ki\.‘d iL. They ^LlII
rcTurn lo campus or call to talk
catch up on the latest events or
reminisce about past glories. In
addition to his football accom
plishments, McGirt led JCSLTs
basketball team to the 1961
CIAA visitation championship
as well as heading the health
and physical education depart
ment and serving as athletics
director.
“We think it’s fitting to name
the classic after someone who
has give so much to Johnson C.
Smith University,” JCSU ath
letics director and men’s basket
ball coach Steve Joyner said.
“Eddie McGirt is a legendary
figure as far as Johnson C.
Smith University is concerned.
It goes beyond the playing field.”
East Mecklenburg High
School football coach Bill Dulin
ec.-'. Wilh (uJy uiu- »if
high .“School football c-.\poriencL-“.
Dulin had to learn the sport
from scratch at JCSU. McGirt
and his staff took time to mold
the raw youngster into an
accomplished offensive lineman
good enough to be drafted by the
Dallas Cowboys. Today, Dulin
uses those experiences to devel
op youngsters into better play
ers and students.
“When I enrolled at Johnson
C. Smith, I was a project,” he
said. “Their patience with me is
what I’m drawing from in deal-
See McGIRT on page 6A
Eddie McGirt’s legacy at Johnson C. Smith University
excellence on and off the athletic field.
training, which includes
aggressive physical training and
conditioning, makes FOI mem
bers suitable for the role of secu
rity guard, Muhammad says.
FOI members, who patrol
without weapons, have made
vast improvements in neighbor
hoods across the nation, particu
larly in the Ocean Park develop-
See NOI on page 2A
Station
opponents
to meet
Trash facility
angers neighbors
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Representatives of 11
African American neighbor
hoods fighting a proposed
transfer station on Hoskins
Road will meet tonight with
I'osidents (ig'hlintr a rock ([iiar-
r.v near thoir coinmunity a.t
Mountain I.siand Lake.
Tile meeting will be held at
Cooks Memorial Presbyterian
Church on Mount Holly-
Huntersville Road at 7 p.m.
“We are going to see how we
can collaborate and have more
input to the decisions that
affect the health, safety and
beautification of our commu
nities,” said T.B. Haynes, of
the University Park North
community.
The transfer station would
be about 200 yards from
homes on Plumstead Street in
University Park North on a
site westside communities
thought would be offices.
Mecklenburg County com
missioners on Tuesday asked
the planning commission to
consider a moratorium on new
landfills, quarries and trans
fer stations pending changes
in rules that do not require
neighbors of such activities to
be notified of their planned
construction.
The transfer station
announcement surprised the
neighborhoods and added fuel
to the debate about when and
how communities should be
notified about certain kinds of
industrial developments in
their areas - even those not
requiring rezonings for
approval.
“This is an issue of environ
mental health and economic
justice,” said Barbara
Atwater, co-coordinator of the
Northwest Combined
Neighborhoods Association.
Atwater is president of the
University Park North neigh
borhood association.
“We feel we are being
dumped on,” Atwater said.
ANN JOHNSON
stems from
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 6A
Lifestyles 8A
Religion 10A
Healthy Body 14A
A&E IB
Regional News 6B
Sports 9B
Classified 136
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