^ Community makes wishes reality/16A Chaplain’s flock is NFL Panthers/1OA 1^ “Soul Food”a movie, musical feast/5A Cfjarlotte http://www.thepost.mindspring.com THE VOiCE OF THE BLACK COMMUNiTY THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18, 1997 VOLUME 23 NO. 1 75 CENTS ALSO SERViNG CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTiES Town split by race, class By Patrick O’Neill FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST ENFIELD - After several failed tries at firing the town police chief, Enfield Mayor E. Kai Hardaway thought his opportunity had come. One of the town’s three white com missioners was sick, so a vote to fire the chief would he tied 2-2, giving the mayor, who is black, the oppor tunity to cast the tie-breaking vote to fire the woman who had accused him of being “a crime figure.” The chiefs claims were never substanti ated. Hardaway was never charged with a crime. To the surprise of Hardaway and the two black commissioners, none of the white commissioners showed up for the commission meeting. Without a quorum, the meeting was cancelled. “I just made a mental note of that tactic,” Hardaway said. Today Hardaway, the savvy mayor who champions himself as an advo cate for dozens of the town’s poorest residents, many of whom lack indoor plumbing in their shanty-like homes, has used the same tactic to bring national media attention to this small Halifax County town located 60 miles northeast of Raleigh along the 301 corridor near the Virginia line. Hardaway and black commission ers Bud A Whitaker and James E. Sledge have refijsed to attend a town commission meeting since June 16. The trio, who appear to have sup port among the town’s African American majority, have vowed not to return to meetings until the white commissioners agree to act in the interest of all citizens. Hardaway, who has a long family lineage in Enfield, says the three black politi cians plan to boycott commission meetings until November’s elec tions when, with the aid of the state chapter of the NAACP, a strategy is being laid to help blacks gain a majority on the town commission. In June, Hardaway, Whitaker and Sledge presented a list of 14 items that have come to be known as “Hardaway’s Demands,” Besides a call for a 5.1 percent pay raise for See ENFIELD on page 3A Groundbreaking for black Civil War memorial AP PHOTO/PATSY LYNCH Rev. Jerry Moore, left, joins Washington Mayor Marion Barry, second from left, and others during the beginning of construction of the African-American Civii War Memoriai last week in Washington. When compieted, the memorial will feature a nine-foot, 3,600- pound bronze scuipture entitied Spirit of Freedom, honoring the forgotten black soldiers of the Civii War. Primary day first step for some By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST Cannon-Sayles council race draws interest Charlotte mayoral candidate Leonard “Preacherman” Harris heads the list of African Americans on Tuesday’s primary ballot Harris, 53, a street preacher once convicted of bank robbery, feces fel low Democrat Jim Harwood, 42, a self-employed salesman, in balloting to decide who will fece Mayor Pat McCrory in November. McCrory, a Republican, has primary opposition fi-om Ken Pfenninger, 31, an armored truck driver. An interesting Democratic contest is the District 3 race between incum bent Charlotte City Council member Patrick Cannon Yvette Sayles, who has been dogged by alle gations that she has ties to Republican con servatives. There’s no Republican can didate in the dis trict so the pri mary winner will take the seat and newcomer Sayles Sayles reportedly admitted attend ing strategy breakfasts sponsored by Republican council member Don Reid at the invitation of Reid sup porter Tom Bumgardner. And sev eral conservatives say they fevor her over Cannon, who spearheaded the drive to establish a citizens review board to monitor police conduct “I’ve gotten encouragement from them, but no financial support” Sayles said of the rumors. “I like to get a perspective of both sides. I like to attend meetings where I can learn.” Sayles, 34, a U.S. Delivery Systems distribution manager, said she did not solicit support from con servatives. Tt is up to the voters now,” Sayles council. He replaced Ella Scarborough when she gave up the District 3 seat to run at- large. At age 30, Cannon remains the youngest council member. Another Cannon African American, Republican Ricky Reid, faces Steve James in the District 2 primary. Reid, 43, has pre- See PRIMARY on page 3A McDonald’s sold By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON McDonald’s Cafeteria and the adjacent hotel were tentatively sold Monday for $1.25 million. McDonald’s Cafeteria and the adjacent hotel were tentatively sold for Sl.25 million Monday to an African American group. Another black group, headed by former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, did not bid on the complex. However, sources said the bid by Baldwin, Shakur and Associates could be upset within 10 days and a representative of the Gantt group, attorney James Ferguson, attended Monday’s foreclosure sale. Sources at the auction could not determine where Baldwin Shakur is based or who owns the firm. McDonald’s restaurant, a westside landmark founded two decades ago by the late John D. McDonald, closed last month and a foreclosure sale was delayed until Monday. African Americans have favored keeping the complex, which anchors the north end of the Northwest business corridor, in black hands. McDonald’s widow, Eunice McDonald has run the restaurant since her husband’s death. See WESTSIDE on page 2A PHOTO/PATRICK O’NEILL Enfield Commissioner Bud A. Whitaker (left) and Mayor E. Kai Hardaway inspect an outhouse. Many homes lack indoor plumbing. Pratt tries to clear name THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OAKLAND, Calif. - Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, freed after spend ing 27 years behind bars, is deter mined to clear his name. Three months after a judge over turned his murder conviction, the former Black Panther charged with killing a Southern California school teacher wants to prove that J. Edgar Hoover's FBI conspired to put him in prison. Pratt's supporters, led by Congressman Ronald DeUums, for mer U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and a former FBI agent, are calling for congressional hearings into an alleged conspiracy. They believe FBI documents can prove the agency framed Pratt as part of a conspiracy against the Black Panthers and others per ceived as enemies of the U.S. gov ernment The FBI and House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde See PRATT on page 6A FILE PHOTO Former Black Panther Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt has under taken a campaign to clear his name by proving the FBI’s COINTELPRO program unfairly targeted black activists and organizations for elimination in the 1960s and ‘70s. Satcher up for Surgeon General By Amy Goldstein THE WASHINGTON POST said Wednesday. Cannon, also a newcomer when he ran for the District 3 seat in 1993, is seeking a third term on President Clinton last week nomi nated David Satcher as surgeon gen eral, moving to fill a job that has lain vacant for nearly three years and unexpectedly proved one of the most contentious of his administra tion. In choosing Satcher, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Clinton tapped a physician who has devoted the bulk of his career to medically underserved communities but has been enough of a Washington insid er to already win congressional con firmation once. The nomination of Satcher, 56, resolves the long-standing question of whether Clinton would attempt to appoint a new surgeon general, a job that congressional Republicans have argued is not needed and that has caused the administration grief in the past Clinton’s last nominee, obstetri cian Henry W. Foster Jr., was reject ed by the Senate two years ago after a maelstrom over abortion. The year before, Clinton fired the last person he had named to the job, Joycelyn Elders, because of repeated contro versies she had stirred over her views on abortion, masturbation and the legalization of drugs. But what yesterday’s nomination leaves unresolved is whether the job - largely a bully pulpit from which to exhort the government and ordi nary Americans to do better on mat ters from exercise to AIDS - can prove an effective megaphone after, it has become so politically charged.^ Clinton’s formal announcement of Satcher comes months after his name first surfaced for the job, allowing time for an uncommonly thorough vetting and for potentid opposition to surfece. If approved,- Satcher would also carry the title of assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human See SATCHER on page 3A □ Inside Editorials 4A-5A Strictly Business 8A Religion 10A Health 16A Sports 1B A&E 5B Regional News 9B, Classified 11B, Auto Showcase 1€B To subscribe, call (704) 376- ■ 0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160. © 1997 Did Charlotte Po^ Comrnehts? S)ur address Is: oharpo^'clt.thinclsfiilngi^. World wye wet^^e address: http://wwj«.thBfldi|i|]Sb!^king.corn