Roger Troutman and Zapp still have more bounce to ounce/Page IB
VOLUME 22 NO. 8
tllje Cliarlotte
THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7,1996
75 CENTS
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Exhibit touches ‘souls of ancestors’
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Speak her name and gently
touch the souls of our ancestors.
So reads a commemorative
tablet placed on the site of the
sunken remains of the
Henrietta Marie slave ship.
Friday, nearly 300 years after
the vessel sank near Key West,
Fla., the Henrietta Marie begins
to speak to Charlotte about
enslaved Africans and the peo
ple who chained and shackled
them.
The opening coincides with a
gallery crawl and could attract
hundreds of visitors on its first
day.
Those viewing the exhibit “A
Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of
the Henrietta Marie,” will see the
common items used by men at
sea in the 16th century, pewter
and iron wares, a ship’s beU. But
also present are those items pecu-
har to the slave ships, which fol
lowed the triangular trade route
from Europe to Africa to the
Americas and back.
Africans were borne on the
Middle Passage, kept in the
ship’s holds, confined to a space
barely large enough to turn over
for the voyage to America,
which took as long as 12 weeks.
The artifacts of the Henrietta
Marie, the only slave ship recov
ered in the Western
Hemisphere, shed more direct
light on the darkness that was
the Middle Passage, one of the
most obscure segments of
American history. 'The wreckage
was discovered in 1972 by
divers working for ocean sal
vager Mel Fisher. 'The exhibit’s
home base is the Mel Fisher
Meuitime Museiun in Key West.
“For anybody who hves, if you
want to get in touch with histo
ry, you must have artifacts,”
said Oswald Sykes, a member of
the team of black scuba divers
that placed the plaque.
‘Tor those of us who are black,
it introduces you in a dramatic
way to our history. It helps you
feel it. When you look at a piece
over 300 years old and you
know that piece was used to
chain your ancestors...you cry.
You get in touch with your
ancestors. You get in touch with
your history.”
See SLAVE on page 2A
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
A replica of the cargo hold of the Henrietta Marie recaptures the
cramped space captured Africans had to endure.
Gantt comes up short
5357
IK
* ;
Harvey Gantt smiies at his wife Cindy during his concession speech Tuesday. For the second time in six years, Gantt iost to Repubiican Jesse Heims for a seat in the
U.S. Senate. To the ieft is Gantt’s mother, Wilheminia.
Former mayor loses; Leake
falls short for commissioner
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The rematch produced the
same result.
Harvey Gantt failed a sec
ond time to oust U.S. Sen.
Jesse Helms, falling by a sim
ilar margin to his 1990 loss.
Despite a determined effort,
including aggressive attacks
on Helms in radio and televi
sion ads, Gantt, 53, could not
overcome the incumbent
Republican’s popularity in
rural and small towns. Gantt
won 47 percent of the vote,
while Helms won 53.
The result disappointed
African Americans and
soured elation about the
reelection of President Bill
Clinton to a second term, the
first Democrat to do so since
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“I was grateful that the
president won,” said Bob
Davis, president of the Black
Political Caucus. “But I’m
disappointed that a fine, out
standing young man like
Harvey did not send Jesse
home as we had hoped.”
“That says something
about America that Helms in
North Carolina and (six-
term Sen. Strom) Thmmond
in South Carolina won. That
says people prefer old-time
ignorance to forthright
opportunity to operate for a
See ELECTION on page 2A
a.
PHOTO/gUEANNJOHNyUN
Mecklenburg commissioner Darrel Williams (center) chats with
Lawrence Tolliver as returns roil in Tuesday.
Urban
Scouting
popular
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Tony Harris got up early last
Saturday. Not to watch car
toons, though. He was camping
out with more than 200 other
Boy Scouts in eastern
Mecklenburg County.
“We cooked in the woods and
went on some sled races,” Tony
said of the Scouts’ traditional
competition combining many of
the skills they learn in troop
activities.
They also rappelled down a
50-foot tower and rode horses
and bikes. Friday night they
African Americans are
trying to get their 40
acres and a mule
TRI-STATE DEFENDER
P’MbWPAU'L WILLIAMS ill
Tony Harris (ieft) is among the growing number of youngsters
getting invoived in scouting. Patrick Fieids is camporee chief.
Boy Scout Coimdl is working to
roasted marshmallows over an
open fire. Saturday morning
breakfast was chicken and
dumplings. Hey, there was no
microwave nearby.
He’s a member of Troop 221,
one of the new troops the local
develop in the city’s public hous
ing complexes as part of its
Urban Scouting initiative.
Tony, a Sedgefield Middle
See URBAN on pageSA
Alexander
resigns
NAACP
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Kelly Alexander Jr., sus
pended president of the N.C.
NAACP, reportedly has
resigned effective immediate
ly-
Alexander could not be
reached for comment, but
sources said they had been
told Alexander would step
down.
Television news shows car
ried the story Wednesday
night, quoting Alexander’s
brother, Alfred.
'The NAACPs national board
had given Alexander 30 days
to respond to an audit report
made in closed session to the
board of directors on Oct. 19.
The board delayed a long-
awaited decision on whether
to reinstate or take further
action against Alexander, who
was suspended in May from
the position he’d held since
1989, pending an audit of the
N.C. state conference’s
finances.
After his suspension, an
audit was ordered, but could
not be conducted because
some records were not avail
able. Auditors had focused on
a cash management account
at Merrill Lynch into which
Alexander said he had
deposited about half of
NAACP funds for the past
seven years - as much as
$700,000.
Alfred, president of the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
NAACP branch, confirmed the
resignation to local television
reporters, distributing a resig
nation letter supposedly sent
to NAACP director of branch
es William Penn.
Alfred Alexander repeated
his brother’s charge that the
allegations are “false.”
“These are a lot of false accu
sations,” Alfred Alexander
said. “Kelly is just sick and
See ALEXANDER on page 2A
Some African Americans are tr3nng to get the 40 acres and a
mule promised to them more than 100 years ago.
More than 20,000 people filed slavery reparation claims with
the Internal Revenue Service in 1994, and claims are picking up
again, according to the agency. The surge came after Essence
magazine ran a commentary two years ago that argued racial dis
crimination functions as a hidden tax. 'The article urged readers
to fill out their form 1040s as if they had paid $43,209 in “black
taxes” and could thereby collect a delinquent tax rebate. NoWi
thousands around the country have recently been asking for
what they believe is a rebate form and between 500 and 600 peo
ple have filed for the modem equivalent of 40-acres-and-a-mule
or $43,209, said IRS spokesman Steven Pyrek. He said inquiries
were coming from places like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and
Dallas.
See TAXES on page2A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
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Lifestyles 9A
Religion 11A
Kids PagelSA
A&E IB
Regional News 6B
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Classified 13B
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