mmmm
THIS REALLY
HURTS
Injuries turn
Bobcats into a
wreck 1C
Coach Bemie
Bickerstaff
radical’s view
OF HISTORY
Documentary on
Monroe native
Robert Williams
highlights Black
History Month fare
on television/1 D
Volume 31 No. 20
me
The Voice of the Black Community
CORETTA SCOTT KING 1927-2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO/RIC FELD
Coretta Scott King, right, embraces
Rev. Suzan D. Johnson Cook at the
annual Martin Luther King Jr. service
in Atlanta in this Jan. 17, 2005 photo.
Coretta King died Tuesday at age 78.
She Stood
alone with
the Dream
MLK’s widow carried
on civil rights agenda
By George E. Curry
S’ATIOS.M. XE\\'SR\PtJi
PUBUSHERS ASSOCIAVOS
WASHINGTON > On Monday, the
Board of Regents of the Smithsonian
Institution voted to erect the National
Museum of African American History and
Culture on the national Mall in
Washington, not far from the Lincoln
Memorial, where Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream”
speech in 1963.
Less than 24 hours after tlie vote,
Coretta Scott King, the widow of the
famous civil ri^ts leader, closed her eyes
for the final time and died in her sleep.
King died at Hospital Santa Rfonica in
Rosarito, Mexico, approximately 16 miles
south of San Diego. The cause of death
was listed on the death certificate as cere-
ta*al vascxilar disease and ovarian cancer.
9ie was 78, three months shy of her
next birthday, and was said to be in
Mexico to seek alternative forms of treat
ment for advanced cancer, which had not
been previously disclosed.
See CORETTAy2A
Super Bowl
city deals with
its homeless
By Bankole Thompson
THE SUCHIGAS Cm7IL\
DETROIT — As Sunday’s Siq^^ Bowl
draws near, some elected officials and
h(mieless advocates are concerned about
the fate of the city’s homeless populaticHi
in the days leading up to the event, which
is expected to draw tens of thousands to
Detroit.
Detroit city council member Kwame
Kenyatta said at a recent council session
he was concerned about the announce
ment that homeless people woe being
rounded up during the Super Bowl
events.
*1 hcpe we don’t just round them up so
folks don’t think there is no homelessness
in Detroit.” Kenyatta said.
Kandia Milton, Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick’s council liaison, said the
BALANCING
ACT
Be prepared for real
estate market's turn
back to sustainable
sales/3D
$1.00
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 2-8, 2006
„ . , Sl'i";:!.";®;; M‘ n
Also serving Ca ipo Beatties Ford Rd
- Charlotte NC 28216-5302
See DETROrr2A
DEBATE OVER UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS
PHOTOCURTIS WILSON
Anol Hernandez and Gabriel Espinoza were among the protesters at Philip 0. Berry Academy
In Charlotte Tuesday opposing conservative efforts to toughen U.S. immigration policies.
Supporters of U.S. Rep Tom Tancredo(R-Colo.) have criticized President Bush’s policy.
Helping hands or
economic threat?
Conservative opponents of US. immigration policy say
illegal aliens threaten African Americans fob security
By Chens F. Hodges
and Eric Bozeman
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Illegal immigration may not
be on the agenda of many
Afiican Americans, but politi
cal cons^ivatives say it very
well should be.
On Monday, a town hall
meeting at Philip O. Berry
Academy addressed guest
worker legislation and its
impact on Afidcan Americans.
U.S. Rep. Tbm Tancredo (Rr
Colo.), a critic of President
Bush’s immigration policies,
was scheduled to speak, but
canceled due to a family
emergency
Tancredo has received sup
port finm the lobbying group
Tfeam America PAC, which
funds political candidates who
stand 1^3 for tougher enforce
ment of border control,
according to a group spokes
woman.
Ibam America’s chairperson
is Bay Buchanan, sist^ of for
mer presidential candidate
Pat Buchanan. She was the
keynote speaker
According to a report by The
Hill newspaper that cxjvers
Congress, ‘Immigration has
deeply divided the GOP base,
with some conservative
Republicans chargmg that the
president’s call to expand
guest-worker programs
rewards illegal aliens.”
Former Wmston-Salem
alderman and 12th
Congressional district candi
date Vernon RoHnson, who
organized the town hall meet
ing, said the GOP and black
See ECONOMIC/6A
Watt: Too early to discuss impeachment
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DURHAM - This nation’s domestic sur
veillance program authorized by President
Bush likely is illegal, but it’s toaeaiiy to talk
about impeachment, the chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus said Monday
*1 haven’t ruled out that some of the things
that this president is doing are illegal, but I
don’t think we should rush readily to the
impeachment platform every time somebody
does something we disagree with,” U.S. Rep.
Mel Watt, D-N.C., said after a speech
Monday in Durham. ‘If we did, we’d have an
impeachment every four years.”
Watt spoke to about 200 people in what he
called his alternative State of the Union
speech, which came the day before Biish’s
speech. The 12th District congressman said
he woffid like for Bush to be impeached, but
added “The question is, is there an impeach
able standard to employ?”
He later explained that he believes “the
spying stuflT was illegal but “has to play
itself out."
Watt
Sanaa Lathan stars in
“Something New," a different
take on Interrada) romance 1D
LifelB
Religion 56
Sports 1C
Business 7P
VMidor
program
meedng
goals
Working-class blacks
stand to lose most,
opponents say
By Herbert L. White
herb.white&thecharlottepost£om .
Charlotte’s race- and gender-neu
tral vendor program is meeting
expectations without stronger reme
dies.
The Small Business Opportunity
program passed by City Coimdl in
2004 set guidelines that proponents
said would provide more opportuni
ties for racial minorities and women.
“In general, the prc^am is work
ing’” said Tlfifany Capers, director of
the city’s Small Bvisiness
Development program. “Asian
Americans had the only disparity as
a construction subcontractor”
In 2004, council voted to include
annual goals for racial and gender
subgroups, but not on individual pro
jects. A study of the SBO program
showed racial disparities had been
wiped out in its first year of imple
mentation, which made stronger
remedies a legal liability
“Right now, race- and gender-neu
tral is working, so there’s no impetus
for city council” to add more aggres
sive rules. Capers said.
For the fii^ quarter of fiscal year
2005-06, $1.35 million of construction
subcontracts went to black-owned
bxisinesses, second only to the $2.39
Please see SMALL/8A
National Mall
picked for
museum
Facility for African
American history
By Derrill Holly
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The National
Museum of African American History
and Culture will be built cm the
National Mall near the Washington
Moniunent, the Smithsonian
Institution said.
The National Mall features monu
ments to presidents and several
museums that are part of the
Smithsonian.
The black history museum “is in
the mainstream of American history,
and this site is in the mainstream of
the other museums,” Walter E.
Massey a Smithsonian board mem
ber, said Monday
Chief Justice John Roberts, who
serves as chancellor of the
Smithsonian Board of Regents,
presided over the voice vote choosing
the site.
Smithsonian oflScdals said the frve-
acre (two-hectare) site would likely
include a 350,000 square-foot (31,500
square-meter) building. That would
be comparable in size to the institu-
SeeMALD2A
A&E ID
Happenings 6C
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