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STAR SEARCH Alt^r Classic gives coaches and players chance to see, be seen/1 C Qsringer High's Cory ^ FarmeR EASTER’S ORIGINS Celebration a mix of Jewish, Christian traditions along with pagan lituals/BB TO YOUR HEALTH PrimeCare Medical , opens new facility in West Charlotte/8C Dr. Patrick Evivie Volume 29 No. 29 www.thecharlottepost.com $1.00 Mrlotte iiilillMlnililiTillilliiiiilMiililiiiiiililllnilliiMPi! The Voice of the Black Community WEEK OF APRIL 8-14, 2004 28216 S12 P aisr, sprvinn rah- James B. Duke Library Also serving Cabc Beatties Ford Rd Charlotte NC 28216-5302 The few. The proud. The first. N.C.-trained Marines broke last barrier to military service By Herbert L. White herb, white @ thecharkmeposi.com When World War II broke out, America’s armed forces were segregated with the exception of the Marine Corps. It was whites only. But men like Thomas McPhatter literally fought to break that barrier. McPhatter, a retired Navy chaplain now living in San Diego, Calif, dropped out of Johnson C. Smith University in 1944 to join the Marines, which allowed African Americans into the service two years earlier. They didn’t train at Parris Island, S.C., where white recruits were indoctrinated. Blacks got their first taste of Marine life at Camp Montford Point, near Camp Lejeune in Onslow County. “It was Mke the black West Point,” McPhatter, 80, said of the recruits who trained there. “We were the best black folk could PHOTOSAJNIWORLD GROUP (TOP); NATIONAL ARCHIVES North Carolina honored the Montford Point Marines at the CIAA basketball tournament in February (top). CpI. Arvin Ghazio disarms PFC Ernest Jones during an unarmed combat drill. Montford Point, located at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, was the training site for black Marines from 1942 to 1949. find.” For the ultra-elite service, having blacks in the ranks was was seen as a break from tra dition. From its formation in 1775 - before the United States became a nation — the Marines were all-white down to support, positions. ‘The Marines had a reputa tion for being in Ihe thick of things and if they were going to fight, the Marines was the best of the best,” said Jack Robinson, curator of the Please see MARINES/3A HORSE PLAY: Paige Johnson, a world class equestrian and daughter of Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson, led a demonstration Wednesday at Byers Elementary School. Johnson, who is trying to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, will ride in the Charlotte Jumper Classic this weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum. PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON Reparations suit filed against Lloyd’s of London INTERNATIONAL PRESS SERVICE Descendants of slaves are suing British and U.S. firms for ‘’aiding and abetting the com mission of genocide” by allegedly insuring slave ships that brought Africans to the Americas. The 10 plaintiffs, who are African-American, have used DNA evidence to link them to specific tribes in Africa and have filed suit in federal court in Manhattan for $1 billion. The suit accuses three compa nies - Lloyd’s of London, FleetBoston and R.J. Reynolds - of insuring and financing ships which brought people from Africa to live as slaves in American tobacco plantations. One plaintiff, Deadria Farmer- Paellmann, said at a news con ference that these firms ‘’have destroyed our national ethnic identity.” Acting for the plaintiffs is high- profile lawyer Edward Fagan, who famously made Swiss firms pay more than $2 billion to vic tims of the Nazis. ‘Why is it too far fetched to say blacks should be entitled to com pensation for damages and genocide committed against them?” said Fagan. ‘’Every other group in the world that has been victimized in this way has been.” Other descendants of slaves brought a similar case in Chicago in January, but a feder al judge threw it out. Bush touts jobs; opponents cringe By Pete Yost THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Bush on Monday defended his record on the economy and the war in Iraq, appearing at Central Piedmont Community College where he praised a partnership between local business leaders and the academic community. “Tferrorists can’t stand free dom,” said Bush, declaring that he wfll “stay the course” and bring democracy to Iraq. “We’re still being challenged in Iraq and the reason why is a free Iraq will be a major defeat in the cause of terror.” The president said that in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, “I had a choice to make after Saddam Hussein once again refused to disarm,” adding that “I will defend America every time.” The- president made no mention of the radical Shiite cleric whose supporters riot ed in Iraq over the weekend. Aboard Air Force One, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the cleric, Muqtada ai-Sadr, has “pledged sohdarity with ter rorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah.” The cleric is Please see BUSH/3A PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON Protesters walked uptown Monday to protest President Bush’s handling of the economy and Iraq. Pnniision would ban racial pronruig U.S. House gives OK; Senate vote is next By Hazel Trice Edney NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON - The nation’s first federal racial profiling provision that would require every state to establish anti-profiling laws in order to receive certain federal transportation funds has been passed by the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, but must now get Senate approval. “I have gotten this through the worse House,” says Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), chief sponsor of the provision. Norton which is a part of a $275 billion transportation biU {HR-3550) that passed a week ago 357 to 65. Norton’s provision is attached to the “Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users,” which generally provides funding for the nation’s highways and transportation systems. Her provision, backed by the entire Congressional Black Caucus, earmarks $60 mil lion over six years for states to develop racial pro filing laws and collect racial statistics on traffic stops. rile provision would require states and locahties to make and enforce strong anti-profiling laws for use on federal highways in order to quality for money to enforce certain kinds of traffic offenses, including drunk driving and speeding. Please see RACIAL/7A Loving ex-convict may increase the chances of HTV By Starla Vaughns Cherin THE WESTSIDE (FLA.) GAZETTE FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Damaries Cruz was so in love she didn’t know what hit her. She found out she was HIV positive one year after meeting her new fiancee. He knew he had the dis ease. Given one year to live Damaries took to her bed. That was 13-years ago. Ibday, her new job with the Broward County Health Department has her talking to women about HIV/AIDS and handing out condoms. She does this in front of Broward County’s four main jails. She talks to women who are waiting during visiting hours. “We want to empower women and educate them in risk reduction. Ill go anywhere to speak about this. Just call me,” she said. She is passionate about her work because she doesn’t want anyone to suffer as she did. Her fiancee had been having sex with men while in prison. That is where he contracted the disease. “When I met him he had been out of jail for three months. He said I knew I would take someone with me. I never thought it would be you. When he died he had 8-T cells left,” said Cruz. The Florida Department of Health reports that although blacks comprise only 14 percent of Florida’s population, they make up 47 percent of 95,141 AIDS cases and 55 percent of the 32, 3113 HIV cases reported through December 2003. Women make up 70 percent of AIDS cases and 69 Please see LOVING/6A Inside Editorials 4A Life 4B Religion 8B Sports 1C Real Estate 5C Business 8C A&ETD Happenings 4D Classifieds 5D To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160. © 2004 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co. Please Recycle o®oi
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April 8, 2004, edition 1
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