6A
NEWS/tClie darlottt $at
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Mi
Seminar on preseruation
Continued from page 1A
of the sad state of education
among African Americans in
the rural South, according to
the office’s website. He
estabhshed a fund that pro
vided architectural plans
and matching grants that
helped build more than
5,300 schools from Maryland
to Tfexas between the late
1910s and 1932. More than
800 were built in North
Carolina, more than in any
other state.
JCSU President Dorothy
C. Yancy also attended a
Rosenwald school, said
Rhue.
“It is important to preserve
these schools,” she said.
“Rosenwald schools don’t
exist anymore, we have to
get involved to save these
schools.”
In Charlotte, Billingsville
School was added to the
National Registry of Historic
places in 1999. However,
other Rosenwald schools,
like McClintock Rosenwald
School, located on Erwin
Road, west of Highway 49 in
Southern Mecklenburg
County and the Newell
Rosenwald School, located
on Tbrrence Grove Church
Road in the Newell coimnu-
nity are registered with the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Historic Landmark
Commission.
Public schools attended by
African Americans before
desegregation, including the
long-closed Second Ward
and Plato Price high schools,
will also be part of the semi
nar.
According to a report writ
ten by the commission in
1987, the McClintock
Rosenwald School and the
Newell Rosenwald School
are the best-preserved of the
21 former Rosenwald build
ings that survive in
Mecklenburg County. The
former Rosenwald buildings
are the earliest black school
buildings known to survive
in Mecklenburg County.
Rhue said the university
plans to hold more seminars
in the future to preserve the
legacy of black schools and
black famihes.
The seminar runs from
8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first
50 people to register will
have a chance to have then-
family artifacts evaluated
and preserved, Rhue said.
To register, log on to J.C. Smith
University’s website at
http://archives.jcsu.edu/schoois/
to download a form, then fax it to
(704) 378-3524.
PHOTO/JOYCE WADDELL
The Charlotte Section of the National Council of Negro Women held its 12th annual
Brotherhood/Sisterhood Banquet at the United House of Prayer For All People last month.
Rosa Robinson was presented the sisterhood award and Ronald keeper the brotherhood
award. Manderline Scales, state convener of NCNW, was the featured speaker.
America’s getting darker by the day
Continued from page 1A
ethnicity rather than a race,
so they can be of any race,
including white.
Between 2040 and 2050,
the Census Bureau expects
the non-Hispanic white pop
ulation actually will decline
slightly because of a large
number of expected deaths
of baby boomers, who by
2040 will be at least 76.
Meantime, the Hispanic
and Asian populations are
expected to continue then-
explosive growth.
The Asian population is
expected to more than triple
to 33 million by 2050.
Hispanics will increase their
ranks by 188 percent to
102.6 million, or roughly
one-quarter of the popula
tion.
“Historically, we’ve been a
black-and-white country.
That’s not true any longer,
and even less true in the
future,” said Roderick
Harrison, a demographer
with the Joint Center for
Political and Economic
Studies in Washington,
which studies issues of con
cern to minorities.
“A good deal of social histo
ry in the next several
decades will be reflected in
how we sort that out,
whether we achieve greater
degrees of equality in these
populations,” he said.
The projections - the first
released by the bureau since
the 2000 head count - also
show a burgeoning older
population as healthier
lifestyles and better medical
treatment increase longevi
ty. By 2050, 5 percent of the
country -will be 85 or older,
compared with 1.5 percent
now.
“This poses very interest
ing challenges. Institutions
are going to be transformed -
and Social Security is the
obvious one,” said demogra
pher Martha Farnsworth
Riche, a former Census
Bureau director. She pointed
to education and health care
as other affected areas.
Factors such as how mul
tiracial Americans are count
ed could drastically alter
these predictions, Riche and
Harrison said.
Prior census data show
that most Hispanics choose
white as their race. Riche
said that could be a sign that
future generations of U.S.-
born Latinos would select
white and rather than
Hispanic as their back
ground as they move further
from the generation that
first immigrated to the
United States.
“When you look at 2050
and possibly see a large
Hispanic population that
doesn’t speak Spanish any
more, being Hispanic might
be something very different
from today,” Harrison said.
The bureau expects the
black population will rise 71
percent to over 61 million, or
about 15 percent of the pop
ulation, compared -with near
ly 13 percent now. Blacks
would remain the second-
largest minority.
Asians would comprise 8
percent of the population in
2050, compared with 4 per
cent now.
“This means more of a mix
of cultures and ethnic back
grounds, said Edward
Kwanhun Rim, president of
the Pacific Rim Cultural
Foundation, Inc. in
Barrington, HI., and a mem
ber of a citizen advisory
panel to the Census Bureau
on the Asian population. “It
will be a more colorful and
bright future - we can hope.”
On the Net:
Census Bureau:
www.census.gov
A common-sense
fundamental
of business.
Common sense may not be
so common anymore, but it’s
central to everything we do at
Rrst Citizens Bank. We strive
to be what a bank should be:
A straightforward, rock-solid
financial resource our customers
can have confidence in and
depend on in every stage of
their lives. To experience our
common-sense approach to
banking, talk to a Rrst Citizens
banker, visit us online at
firstcitizens.com or call us
toll-free at i-888-FC DIRECT.
Rbst Citizens BUnk
Do something amazing.
Have a story
idea? CaU The
Post at (704)
376-0496
In a time when people were
standing up for their rights,
it’s a good thing
some decided to take a seat.
Share your story
Contribute to Voices of Civil Rights.
AARP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights are working together to collect firsthand
accounts of the Civil Rights Movement. Voices of Civil Rights will not only preserve these stories
for generations to come, but will also serve as a memorial to those who lived through the
era. The project will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education in
May 2004. From activists to observers, individual testimonies are crucial in documenting
this important time in our nation’s history. The stories gathered will be kept in a historical
archive, housed on the Voices of Civil Rights Web site and may also appear in other media
outlets. To participate visit wwwvoicesofcivilrights.org or send your 500-word account to
Voices of Civil Rights, 661 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049.
AARP
f 7h9 powr to mmko It bottor."
LC
CR
www.voiceMfcivilrifhtA.iMig
Call us at 888-OUR-AARP or visit our Web site at wwwaarp.org.