UPWARD
BOUND
N.C. Central wins
first CIM football
championship In
25 years and a
spot in Division II
playoffs /4C
Volume 31 No. 8
tlClfe Cl^arlott
IN STEP
Former North
Carolina Dance
Theatre standout
Uri Sands turns
choreographer/1 D
$1.00
28,
Ja«es e. Duke Library
100 Beatties
Charlotte NC 28218 5302
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 10-16, 2005
Suburbs’ agenda resonates
Bonds, school board vote signals growing clouf
Watt
PHOTOMIADE NASH
Anthony Foxx is congratulated after winning
an at-large seat on Charlotte City Council. It
was Foxx’s first try for public office.
Caucus:
More
relief
input
By Jeffrey McMurray
niEASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Black lawmakers want
more influence in the federal effort to rebuild
the Gulf Coast, proposing legislation to
address social problems they say the
Republican-led Congress is overlooking.
All 42 U.S. House members of the
Congressional Black Caucus led by Rep. Mel
Watt, D-N.C., have signed on
to the measure, which
includes a long list of health,
housing and education provi
sions. It also would guarantee
victims a monetary grant
similar to the ones doled out
for victims of the Sept. 11 ter
rorist attacks.
Watt, who represents the
12th District, said he didn’t have a cost esti
mate because it was unclear how many Gulf
Coast residents have be^ forced to move.
He floated $200 billion as a ballpark figure
for the overall recovery
“One of the things we’re wonied about is
that our government, perhaps, would just as
soon forget about those people and let thmi
go where they are and fend for thaxiselves,”
Watt said. “That is inconsistent with what
we said as a nation we would do for the vic
tims of this hurricane.”
At a news conference, Watt and other cau
cus members suggested that the Bush
administration has ignored their advice
about the federal response to Hurricane
Please see CAUCUS2A
Court nominee
gets lukewarm
response on Hill
By Geoige E. Curry
SATIOXM, .\EA\SP\PFJi PLtiUSHhJiS ASSOCIAVOX
WASHINGTON - Jonathan Tlirley, a legal
scholar and law professor at George
WashingtOTi University, says that President
Bush’s recent nominee to replace Sandra
Day O’Connor may be even
more conservative than
Antonin Scalia, the court’s
most conservative member.
“...There will be no one to
the right of Sam Alito on this
court...” I\uiey said Monday
in an interview on The Tbday
Show. Katie Couric followed
up, “Not even Antonin
Scalia?”
Thrley ‘Theyll have to make a race for
the ri^t, but I think it’ll be by a nose, if at
See NOMINEE/3A
By Herbert L. White
herb.whited, thecfuirlotteposl corn
Charlotte is Mecklenburg
Coxmtys hub, but its political
muscle - at least TViesday - lies
outside the city limits.
Suburban voters, aided by a
helping hand fi^m conservative
Republicans, delivei'ed the polit
ical equivalent of a left hook
with Larry Gauvreau and Ken
Gjertsen winning seats on the
Charlotte-Mecklenbmg School
Board. They also led the chaige
to defeat the $427 million refer
endum for CMS.
School bond opposition was
spread across the county, regard
less of party affiliation, race or
economic status. Pro-bond cam
paigns led by the Charlotte
Chamber of Commerce failed in
part due to suspicions of CMS
mismanagement and tax con
cerns. The results were striking:
Please see SUBURBS/2A
HARDING UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL
PHOTOACURTIS WILSON
Harding University High School band director Anthony Jones leads a practice on campus Monday.
Harding and Philip 0. Berry Academy will participate in the National High Step Band Competition this
weekend in Birmingham, Ala.
Strike up the band
To compete on a national level, musicians and
dancers are dedicated to work, play as a team
By Paula Young
FOR THE CIimJDTTE POST
The Harding High School
Marching Band is high-step
ping its way to a national com
petition this weekend.
The award-winning band was
invited to compete at the
National High Step Band
Competition in Birmingham,
Ala.
Nate Haynes, a saxophone
playing senior with the band, is
excited about the competition.
“I feel pretty good about it,” he
said. ‘T have confidence in us. I
know we are going to get some
trophies.”
If Harding wins, it means
another trophy and a $5,000
prize. Neighboring Philip O.
Berry Academy will be compet
ing as well.
The marching Rams are not
novices in winning. This year
alone, Harding took home first
place at the Battle of the Bands
in Winston-Salem and in
Halifax County, Va.
Haynes, who has been with
the band since his sophomore
year, feels Harding is at its opti-
Please see MARCHING/3A
Neighbors’ reward for caring
Initiative prograjn acknowledges their efforts
When
students
‘act
white’
Researcher:
It’s about
behavior, not
grades •
By Sommer Brokaw
WE iRi.mjjj-: mBVNE
CHAPEL HILL - Afiican-
American students are usu
ally not labeled “acting
white” because they aspire to
high grades.
This was one of the new
findings revealed at the
Institute for African
American Research at the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill’s second
annual Youth and Race
Conference.
The two-day event, co
sponsored by the
Department of Afiican and
Afiican American Studies at
Duke University’s Robertson
Scholai’s program, was held
at the Sor\ja Haynes Stone
Center for Black Culture
and History and at the
Griffith Theatre in the
■ Bryan Center.
The topic of the “acting
white” theory centered on
how the stigma affects racial
identity and the educational
achievement gap between
blacks and whites.
Ronald Ferguson PhD., an
economist and senior
research associate at the
Wiener Center for Social
Policy at Harvard
University gave the keynote
address, followed by work
shops and a recap.
Researchers Signithia
Fordham and John Ogbu
popularized the theory in
1984 as the idea that when
smart black kids perform
well in* school, thej; are
picked on by their less suc
cessful peers for “acting
white.” In the post-civil
rights era, this theoi*y
Please see ACT1NG/7A
Alito
By Herbert L. White
herb.whUe(fl. ihecharlottepost/rom
At Blessed Assurance Adult
Day Care, there are no
strangers.
The advocacy program for
physically and mentally-chal
lenged s^iiors brings together
folks fium 24 to 101 for fellow
ship and growth. The best part
is providing them a construc
tive hom9 away fix)m home.
“What we do is provide these
adults an alternative to long
term care,” said Blessed
Assurance Executive Director
Nathaniel Higgins. “Most of
these {people want to stay at
home as long as they c£in with
their children and families.”
Hu^ins was recognized by
Bank of America at its second
annual Neighborhood
Excellence Initiative awards
last week The program «icour-
ages non-profits, individuals
and hi^ school students who
work to improve tiieir commu
nities.
Individuals likp Huggins, who
founded Blessed Assurance in
1999, direct^ his $5,000 award
to Adult Day & Health Care
Services, which funds the
senior program.
Washington Heists neigh
borhood Association President
Mattie Marshall was commend
ed for her work with city and
local groups to make communi
ty improvements.
“I realized we live in a great
neighborhood, but it suffered a
decline,” Marshall said. That
was imacceptable because
we’re so blessed. We saw the
human potential and assets
and I was blessed to see that
potential.”
Over the years, Mairshall and
her neighbors worked to reduce
imanployment, high drop out
rates, and crime in Washington
Heights. The community also
helped build Habitat for
Humanity homes to give work-
See NEIGHBORS/6A
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Nathaniel Huggins, founder of Blessed
Assurance Adult Day Care, shares time
with Landers Quick, 93.
Charlotte Bobcats Arena turns
Uptown into one of the city’s
best housing markets 4D
LifelB
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Business 8C
A&E1D
Happenings 6C
WSIBI
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