MAY ] 0 2004
TURN TO GOOD
Minister's story of
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Voiume 29 No. 33
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The Voice of the Black Community
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IP
Aiso serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
WEEK OF MAY 6-12, 2004
Tiger’s time
BEUTHRS PHOTO/MIKE BUVKE
Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer, has single-handedly led an explosion in the number of Americans playing the game.
According to the National Golf Foundation, there are about 882,000 black golfers in the United States.
Without Woods, golf would be a
lot less colorful - and profitable
Since he first slid on that
hideous green sport coat at
Augusta back in 1997, this
world has been Tiger Woods
4:razy.
As far as famous sports fig
ures go, there’s Michael,
there’s Ali, and there’s Tiger.
And not necessarily in that
order.
In recent years, minority par-
C. Jemal
Horton
ticipation in golf has soared.
According to the National Golf
Foundation, there are about
882,000 black golfers in the
United States. And youll be
hard-pressed to find anybody
at any venue who will dispute
the notion that Tiger, all by
himself, is responsible for most
of that growth.
So if Tiger can do that for the
whole country, just what exact
ly do you think he is doing for
the Wachovia Championship
this week?
Exactly.
This two-year-old tourna
ment is about to take off like
nobody, even the organizers,
ever could have imagined.
Sure, the tournament at
Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club
was already doing well. Sure,
Please see WOODS/2A
WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP I THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Es2&llils21S£iX£^
College laundry worker is mother, friend on campus
By Cheris F. Hodges
cheris.hodges@thecharlotiepost.com
To Quin Gilchrist, Lula
Bell Houston is a second
mother.
The Davidson College
junior’s mother died before
he enrolled at the school.
Houston, who worked in the
college’s laundry, took the
Washington D.C., native in
as if he were her family.
“She’s a very motherly per
son,” he said. “She took me
in as a child.”
Gilchrist attends
Houston’s church, she cooks
dinner for him and until last
Thursday, she did his laun
dry.
Houston, who worked at
Davidson College for 57
years, retired from her post
at the school’s laundry.
While Houston may be leav
ing the campus, her legacy
will remain. At a retirement
party where more than 100
people attended, the school
imveiled the new name for
the laundry building: the
Lula Bell Houston Laundry.
Overcome with emotion,
Houston, 80, shookherhead,
filled with silver hair, fh)m
Please see COLLEGE/2A
The
Luii Bell Houston
Laundr\
PHOTOAVADE NASH
Lula Beil Houston, who worked at Davidson College’s laundry for 57
years, now has her name in front of the facility.
Schools
separate,
butmera
equalP
50 years after Brown,
questions still linger
By Ben Feller
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Mildred Wright saw only
black faces in her school in Charlotte when she
began teaching in 1957. Back then, segregation
was supposed to be on the way out.
The promise, it turns out, was never that black
and white.
In 1954, the Supreme Court had declared that
"separate but equal” schools were unconstitution
al. Yet in Charlotte, desegregation was not truly
enforced until the early 1970s. And it took a fed
eral judge to make Charlotte-Mecklenburg
schools the national example of urban busing for
racial balance.
Since then, the trend has gone the other way, in
Wright’s district and nationvidde.
Parents in Charlotte sued to stop the district
from using race in determining where to assign
children. The courts halted the desegregation
order, saying the city’s schools had ended the pat
tern of discrimination. Wright has watched inte
gration start to wash away.
“I have grave concerns,” said Wright, now the
principal at Thomasboro Elementary, where
grades are improving but most students are black.
“Children learn more from each other if they
come from diverse backgrounds. If everyone is the
same in every school, you don’t know who’s on the
other side of town,” said Wright, 69. "It’s just like
it was before.”
On May 17,1954, the high court’s decision in the
case that became known as Brown v. Board of
Please see SEPARATE/7A
N.C. study: Health
gaps persist among
races, ethnicities
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecharlnttepost.com
Race and ethnicity has an effect on the health of
North Carolinians, according to a study released
this week.
The state Department of Health and Human
Services report “Racial and Ethnic Differences In
Health in North Carolina,” studied differences in
health measures among blacks,
Indians, Hispanics and whites.
The study pointed out that race is
considered a marker of health
problems, not a risk factor. Still,
African Americans and Native
Americans were generally in poor
er health than whites in most
instances, while Asian Americans
were in better shape than whites.
“This report spotlights many
way sin which the health of
minority groups differs from that of whites,” said
N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom. “Our goal is to
look at these disparities and find ways to close
those gaps, to ensure that all North Carolinians —
regardless of race, ethnicity or economic status -
have an equal chance for a healthy, productive
Please see HEALTH/8A
Odom
Inside
Editorials 4A
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Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E 1D
Happenings 4D
Classifieds 5D
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