RALEIGH. N.c,
VOL. 49. NO. 47
TUESDAY
MAY 8.1990
V/
, ’ <o
,<o
<S (o <V
Oy S, ~> ^
. g . *
-
■ o o> <o
N.C.’s Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY i\ |J
IN RALEIGH
ELSEWHERE 300
urftical To Success /
Blacks May See Little Downtown Growth
BY W. MASON, JR.
8Ufl Writer
The city’s plan •»* boost commerce
nd industry into downtown may
tave a small effect on black
■usineases because many provide
ervices that may not attract new
ustomers.
“Many of the businesses we have
lowntown are dentists, barbers and
'ther services,” said dentist Charles
laywood, who has operated his office
a Hargett Street for the last 20
’ears.
“It will have some impact, but I
don’t think it’s going to be big,” he
said.
The same concern about the low
impact on black busineses was
echoed by other downtown merchants
who said they welcome new com
merce into the downtown area but
question what real impact it will have
on them.
City officials, hoping to compete
with satellite shopping centers and
suburban malls that are sprouting
throughout the Triangle, are hoping
that by bringing more business and
growth to the downtown area, more
people will keep their dollars in
Raleigh.
Already, the City Market area,
which used to be a thriving
marketplace for blacks, has been
transformed by a number of specialty
shops, restaurants and social outlets.
City officials are targeting multi
level office buildings and unique
businesses that would attract
mallgoers to downtown.
The city’s plan, however, has also
had a negative impact on blacks in
downtown and Southeast Raleigh.
Helping Hand Mission, which pro
vides food, clothing and assistance to
low-income residents, already was
told it will have to vacate its building
to make room for new housing
targeted for Martin Street.
Other businesses are targeted that
do not comply with the city’s image of
a vital downtown and they may be
forced to move out.
Downtown merchants, however,
don’t feel threatened about what the
<’itv plans to do. although First Bap
tist Church is fighting to keep its
place.
“I’ve been here for two years,”
said James Robertson, who has
operated Robertson’s Opticians on
Hargett Street for the past five years.
“I don’t feel threatened at all.
There was a black print shop and a
dress shop up that street a few years
ago and they have gone. I don’t
understand why the others left, but I
have a good relationship with the peo
ple here.
“When I first got here, 1 was only
getting blacks. Now I'm getting
blacks and whites. 1 think the spirit of
a new downtown is there.”
Robertson admitted, however, that
his business falls in line with the
city’s plan while others may not.
“If they [city officials] see that the
business is not going to enhance...
they may try to move those people.”
Even if downtown redevelopment
vas completed, may black mer
chants would find that their clientele
would grow only slightly.
(See DnWNTnWN P 9)
woman Shot
MAN CHARGED IN STORE ROBBERY
Cithers
May Be
Involved
Sheriff’s officials charged a
Durham man with murder in the
ihotgun slaying of a Person County
convenience store clerk.
The man, Mohammed Jomel
rhompeon, 17,1136 Hoover Road, also
was charged with armed robbery and
conspiracy to commit armed robbery
(dice said. Thompson was being held
ia Jail. He is charged in the Feb. 27
shooting of Sherri Lynn King, 24, who
was operating the King Bee Mini
Mart Car Wash on US 501 when she
was shot, local officials said. The
store, which is four miles south of
Roxboro, is owned by Ms. King’s
family, sheriff’s officiate said.
The woman was shot in the left side
of her chest and told officials that two
Mack man had been involved in the
robbery. Officials said they were
■eelring another suspect in the case.
Officials said Thompson’s arrest
grew out of investigations into a
series of armed robberies in Durham.
Detectives for the Durham police
department said they will continue to
investigate.
(See CRIME, P. 2)
INSIDE
AFRICA
BY DANIEL MAROLEN
Last week, Dr. Nelson Mandela and
his pretty famous wife, Winnie
Mandela—both indomitable anti
apartheid champions and pillars of
ANC’s resistance—tort : jaunt from
Johannesburg to address a
73,000-strong multiracial audience at
London’s famous Wembley Stadium,
leaving behind a South Africa in
racial turmoil and in the grips of an
unprecedented upsurgence of racial
animosity and bigotry.
The mammoth gathering of men
and women from every nook of the
British Isles and all parts of the world
(See INSIDE AFRICA, P. 2)
luiWEljgl miHjH TO COMBAT SCHOOL
!■ SSZZ
wimiptnvR w pprnip*i upppbp p*ii ppp n^piw
“Ice, ” Weapons Seized As Project^
Marijuana Watch Begins Operation
From CAROLINIAN Sul! Keperii
Illegal drug trafficking is taking on
new dimensions in North Carolina
and officials are saying that drug
dealers are dangerous people willing
to go to any lengths to make money
peddling their product.
Joe Dean, secretary of Crime Con
trol and Public Safety, and Lt. Gov.
Jim Gardner launched the nation’s
first "Marijuana Watch” program
last week in North Carolina. Gardner
serves as chairman of the North
Carolina Drug Cabinet.
The “Operation Marijuana Watch"
plan is targeted at marijuana, North
Carolina’s number one cash crop.
North Carolina ranks third in the na
tion in marijuana production, with
more than $1.5 billion worth grown
each year in the state.
Dean also recently praised an alert
Highway Patrol Trooper, T.L.
Caldwell, for intercepting a major
drug operation during a routine traf
fic stop that resulted in the first con
fiscation of “ice” in Nortn Carolina.
Further investigation uncovered
plans for a laboratory to manufacture
“ice,” a highly addictive form of the
drug methamphetamine.
“This first confiscation of ‘ice’ in
North Carolina is proof that illegal
drug trafficking is increasing in our
state,” Dean said. “Furthermore, the
weapons seized in the arrest are
evidence that drug dealers are
dangerous people willing to go to any
length to make money peddling their
deadly product."
On April 13, Trooper Caldwell stop
ped a pickup truck on 1-85 in Guilford
County because its occupants were
not wearing seatbelts. The truck also
had no license plate and the three oc
cupants made threatening moves
toward the officer during question
ing. The trooper used his trained
police dog “Lobo” to control the
suspects until backup arrived.
During the search of the vehicle,
the trooper found 18 grams of
methamphetamine, 14 grams of
hallucinogenic mushrooms, four han
dguns with two silencers, a fully
automatic 9mm machine gun, one
hand grenade, ammunition, various
explosive materials, fake ID papers,
more than $10,000 in cash and
evidence that pointed to the setup of a
drug lab.
An investigation by the State and
Federal Bureaus of Investigation and
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms turn
ed up a small storage building filled
with chemicals, laboratory equip
ment, more guns, ammunition and
explosives and equipment to produce
fake identification.
All three suspects are in jail under
$1 million bond each.. One of them,
David Lee Rusher, has been con
victed of onerating “ice” labs in other
(See MARIJUANA. P. 2)
Be Sure To
VOTE
In The
May 8th Primary
War On Drugs Seen
Assaulting Blacks,
Violating Rights
Police Waging
Misdirected W ar
BY JOHN A. POWELL
An Analysis
It happened: Mr. Johnson is sitting
in.his parked car. Suddenly, the car is
surrouiK&nfie door yanked open, he
is pulled out and pushed up against a
building wail. In the midst of the
manhandling, he notices that other
men on the street are being similarly
treated. Some of the police assailants
are in uniform and some are in plain
clothes. Most of the assailants are
white. All of those up against the wall
are black.
It happened: Ms. Shaw, African
American, is sitting in her apart
ment. A neighbor knocks at the door
to tell her that a police officer is
downstairs arresting her daughter, i
Ms. Shaw rushes downstairs, where i
she finds her daughter and several ]
police officers who are physically |
restraining two of the daughter's I
male friends. The police, having |
recently adopted a policy of “crack- |
ing down" on non-residents, want to i
know why the boys are in the building
since they don’t live there. Ms. Shaw I
identifies the young men and asks 1
that they be let go. A police officer I
throws one of them to the ground, i
causing his face to hit the concrete, i
When Ms. Shaw’s older daughter,
who is nine months pregnant, comes I
downstairs to see what’s going on, she <
is thrown to the ground. When a third i
daughter announces that she is going 1
to get a camera, a police officer grabs
her and puts a gun to her head.
Either of these incidents could have
taken place in South Africa But they
didn’t—they happened here. Such in
cidents are occurring in black com
munities throughout our nation as
part of the “war on drugs.”
Now nobody, except drug dealers,
is opposed to the war on drugs. But in
the name of trying to stem the drug
tide, law enforcement initiatives are
being taken that threaten to destroy
the hard-won rights of black
Americans. We certainly want drugs
out of our community, which are
hardest hit by drug abuse and drug
related crimes. But our communities
do not border on Colombia or Peru,
ind we are not the only people who
ibuse and traffic in drugs.
While the black community
vrestles with this new enemy, it must
emain vigilant against some old
memies. Long before the drug
ilague, we had trouble getting the
[ovemment to respect basic rights
hat the white community took for
{ranted. For years, agents of the
[ovemment felt free to make mid
light raids on our homes in search of
i boyfriend or an uncle alleged to
lave committed a crime. And not too
ong ago, it was common practice for
he police to stop African-Americans
ind ask them, “How come you’re
Iriving that fancy car?”
Lo and behold, the latter practice
las made a comeback in Florida and
ither states in the name of the war on
Irugs. The Florida Highway Patrol
las instructed its officers to be
(See WAR ON DRUGS, P 2)
Harvey Gantt vs. Jesse Helms
Primary Candidates Prepare For Vote
Candidates in the May primary
election are hoping their individual
messages were clear as voters flock
to the polls to fill in their ballots.
Voters most likely will be attracted
to the polls because of the U. S.
Senate race between Republican
Jesse Helms and the long list of
Democratic hopefuls who aim to beat
him.
Democratic voters will chooee
among 13th Judicial district attorney
Mike Easley, former Charlotte
mayor Harvey Gantt, Bo Thomas of
Hendersonville among others.
Gantt has been putting television
•dvertiaemants before the voters
recently ina last ditch effort to get his
message of improving the working
class and upgrading education before
the voters.
Mike Easley campaigned on the
heels of a grand Jury he convened
that cleared a white N. C. state
trooper of totally shooting Sidney
Bowen, a farmer mayor of Bolton,
during an altercation on Bowen’s
front lawn.
Although both have ijaampalgatd
•gaiMt Helms' conservative style,
Bo Thotnai has campaign-i himself
as a servant of the people wbooe
xsoordehould stand above the others.
The Raleigh-Wake Cltisens
Association has made their
endorcement of the candidates.
For the Democratic primary, they
are: Harvey Gantt, U. S. Senate;
David Price, fourth congressional
district; Eugene Phillips, judge for
the court of appeals; Ann B
Salisbury, district court judge; Brad
Miller, 61st state house district; Bob
Hensley, 64th state house district;
and county commissioners Hal C.
Perry, Stewart Adcock, Abe Jones,
and Jack Nichols.
For the Republican primary, they
are: George Wimbish, U. S. Senate;
Robert Smith and Hill Carrow for
14th district, state senate; and
George Batten, 64th state house
district.
Gantt has said that he plans to be
more than a black senator. He has
campaigned on the issues of
providing more jobs and improving
life for the working class, a class
which comprises a large number of
blacks.
He is concerned about the plight of
poor people, whether they are black,
white of hispanic
The candidates hope a last minute
(See ELECTIONS, P. 2)
Enloe High, Harvard
Grad Vying For Seat
On County Commission
Oa Tuesday, May 8, Enloe High School and Harvard University
graduate. Raleigh attorney Aha Jones, will be on the ballot la the
Pensocratle Party contest for the District 3 seat on the Wake Beard
of Ceaaty Caaunlseloners. District 3 Includes western Wake County
and Northwest Raleigh. All Wake Connty voters can vote in this con
Joaeo to seeking office becaiue of his strong commitment to
public service. “Local government has more Impact on our lives
than any other level of government." he said. "As a Wake Ceaaty
Commlssteasr I will work hard to Improve our schools, support law
enforcement and public safety, and see that there to better delivery
Altar graduating from Enloe. Jones attended Harvard University
(See ABE JONES, P. 3)