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KC. A&T, S.C. State duel in Carolinas Football Classic/Page 1C
I Charlotte Bosft ■
VOLUME 22 NO. 10
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 21,1996
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Fairness urged with busing
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
While some African
Americans applauded new
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools pupil assignment pro
posals, several groups of white
parents were lining up against
it.
African Americans seemed
to like the balance and stabili
ty in two possible proposals,
which would reassign as many
as 3,775 high school students
next year.
“I was very pleased with
Options 1 and 3,” said Bob
Davis, chairman of the Black
PoUtical Caucus and a former
school principal. “They seem
to have potential for more
integration and potential for
keeping people together from
kindergarten to high school.
There seems to be fairness
and equity in terms of sharing
of busing and resoimces.”
Geraldine Powe s£ud she saw
the presentation on the new
proposals but they were “too
much to absorb at one time.”
“It seems they tried to be
fair with balancing the chil
dren...to make it integrated,”
she said. “I am not sure they
have done that. I plan to go
Thursday night to see it
again. Off the top of my head,
I hope they would be fair to
our children to make it inte
grated.”
Davis said the Black
Political Caucus discussed the
proposals, made public last
week, at its Simday meeting.
“We resurfaced our educa
tion committee and appointed
more members to it in order to
See BUSING on page 2A
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III
Pupil assignment will affect
black students most.
■
K-'.'v'C
i
IfssSS
Iwsi
m
NAACP
election
challenged
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Johnnie Cochran has made a career out of taking up the cause of African Americans fighting for a fair and impartial hear
ing In court.' Cochran, best known for his defense of O.J. Simpson, was In Charlotte this week.
Legal Eagle
Johnnie Cochran’s reputation
has made him a celebrity
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Johnnie Cochran is the first
to admit that he can’t quite
figure out how he became so
popular.
“All these things that are
happening are amazing to
me,” he said. “I don’t very
often take the luxury of think
ing about the reactions of peo
ple at airports, or even general
reactions. People are watching
television, like Saturday Night
Live, and there’s always a
joke. Steve Harvey was talk
ing about my clothes, my pur
ple suit. I’m amazed by that.
'That’s the power of television.”
In Charlotte Tuesday to tout
his new autobiography,
“Journey to Justice,” minus
his infamous suit, Cochran
was mobbed three times in
less than two hours. At the
airport, at a local TV station
and his book signing, hum
dreds gathered to get a
glimpse of the man who fireed
O. J. Simpson.
“There’s a responsibility that
goes edong with all this,” he
said. “People expect certain
things fix)m you - they expect
you to handle yourself in a cer
tain way. I think that is very
appropriate. The Lord is using
me to be a positive role model
for young people, especially for
yovmg Afiican Americans.”
Cochran takes his role seri
ously. He smiles for every pho
tograph, shakes every hand
and autographs anything
thrust in front of him - fi'om
napkins to Post-It Notes. It is
all part of the charm that
makes Cochran the most
famous lawyer in America.
Everyone from Michael
Jackson to Simpson have
taken advantage of his legal
prowess. But before the stars
and even now there are what
he calls the “No-Js,” the com
mon people that have found
solace and justice through
him.
“I always question the offi
cial version,” Cochran said.
“There is always a dispute in
the facts between what the
authorities say happen and
what I know happened.”
And many times he has
proven that the authorities
wrong.
Ron Settles is a good exam
ple. The young footbedl star
was found dead in his Los
Angeles jail cell after being
stopped for a traffic violation.
Police ruled it suicide, but
Cochran and his parents felt
there was something more.
“Why would this young man
kill himself,” Cochran said.
“His parents came to me and
See JOHNNIE on page 2A
Today’s local NAACP election is already being challenged before
ballots have been counted.
The election is being supervised by Kelly Alexander Jr., who
resigned as president of the N.C. NAACP after national NAACP offi
cials demanded that he respond to an audit of financial records.
Alexander was suspended in May, pending the audit.
Voting times in the local election are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at First Baptist
Church West on Oaklawn Avenue.
N.C. NAACP second vice president Valerie Woodard, in a letter to
national branch director WiUiam Penn, cited the addition of three
names to the list of at-large candidates as “yet again proof of impro
priety and deceit in this election.” Woodarf has already contacted
Penn after a candidate for treasurer, former Charlotte police captain
Andrea Huff, was removed fimm the ballot by Alexander.
; ■! Woodard has asked Penn to void any local election results.
Rev. Conrad Pridgen, who is unopposed for president of the local
chapter, said this week that he would welcome an outside review of
today’s election process.
“The NAACP is an organization that has a rich histoiy of fighting
for justice, fi'eedom and equality for all people,” he said. “And we
want to see that same standard appHed internally.
“Whatever it takes to make sure that the election was carried out
properly, if that means a review fiom the national, that’s fine, I wel
come any scrutiny. “In terms of my administration, I would want to
have a very open administration and I welcome scrutiny fix)m the
See NAACP on page 6A
S.C. debates
Rebel flag
By Gary Karr
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Perhaps
only a Republican governor
could get a conservative
Legislature to pull the
Confederate battle flag down
from atop the Statehouse. To
get there, however, GOP Gov.
David Beasley may have to
ignore the impact on a potential
1998 re-election bid.
As Beasley moves to the pohti-
cal middle on this highly divi
sive question, fellow
Republicans are his biggest
obstacle. They wonder why the
governor is getting closer to the
position taken by Charleston
Mayor Joseph Riley Jr., who
lost his bid for governor two
years ago and is considered the
Democrats’ front-runner for
1998.
“He’s trying to take an issue
away from Joe Riley, and the
problem is that all the people
who will praise him now will
end up voting for Joe Riley any
way,” said Richard Quinn, a
Repubhcan consultant who also
pubhshes a Southern heritiige
See FLAG on page 3A
■ Jp;&
Gifts please United Way chief
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Record testament to community
(KVIOO
PHOTO/UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL CAROUNAS
Carolina Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins (left) donated $10,000
to the United Way. United Way president Gloria King Is on the right
Gloria King has set the pace
for the United Way of the
Carolinas.
Brought to Charlotte firom her
native Cleveland, King has
guided the group to its most
successfiil year of fund raising
ever.
In her third year as president,
the group rais^ more than $22
million, an increase of 7.4 per
cent over last year’s total.
'The group also added 28 new
members to its Alexis de
Tocqueville Society, the group
for contributors who donate
$10,000 or more to the United
Way.
“Most United Way campaigns
on a nation wide basis, average
in the 3 percent range in term of
yearly increases,” King said.
“For us, we are in a growth peri
od. It shows.”
She also gives high marks to
the commimity.
“This is an unbelievable com-
muniiy,” she said. “Its ability to
rally itself around, issues or
causes, Tve never seen anything
like it. If we make a decision to
do it, we go out and do it.”
King also credits community
growth and a healthy economy
for the upswing in giving.
“We have 3 percent unemploy
ment,” she said. “We don’t have
a whole community that has
been decimated by downsizing.
Charlotte is a giving communi
ty-”
A 30-year veteran of the
health and human services
field, the energetic King knows
why people value the United
Way.
“Ninety percent of it is rela
tionship building,” she said. “A
lot of people don’t give that the
credence it should have. People
can make all types of decisions
about what they do with their
time and money. Building rela
tionships and making United
Way accountable and creditable.
See UNITED WAY on page6A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 8A
Lifestyles 10A
Religion 12A
Healthy Body 16A
A&E IB
Regional News 5B
Sports 7B f
Classified 10B
Auto Showcase 11B
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