I
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RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY.
NOVEMBER 8,1990
VOL. 49, NO. 100
}
Semi-Weekly *“3725*
E SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST ELSEWHERE 300
t
Eastern Star Sponsored Banquet
For Testimonial Service.
SeePage 16
AKA's Challenge Undergraduates
To Exchange Program Ideas,
Goals.
SeePage 11
supportive Urban C
Gantt Me
Strong Impact In Political Arena
What many blacks had hoped and
predicted would be a close race
turned out to be a disappointment
Tuesday night, as N.C. Republican
Sen. Jesse A. Helms pulled out a six
point defeat of challenger Harvey B.
Gantt of Charlotte.
Polls as recently as last week had
shown Gantt either leading Helms or
trailing by only four points, but the
final margin was 53 percent for
helms, 47 for Gantt.
Other Democrats fared better in
state and local races, however. U.S.
Rep. David Price Won handily over a
highly visible Republican John H.
Carringt.... ou to 40 percent.
Wake Sheriff John H. Baker, Jr., as
expected, had little trouble defeating
Morrisville Police Chief Bruce W.
Newnam. Baker got 63.8 percent of
the vote to Newnam’s 36.2 percent.
The Raleigh Housing Bond issue,
which would add a one-cent charge to
the properrty tax to finance low
and moderate-income housing
construction and renovation, was
passed overwhelmingly, 63.8 percent
of the vote. Many black community
citizens and organizations had
endorsed the bond referendum.
Helms’ victory was seen by some
as a victory for appeals to hatred and
fear, as, trailing in the polls during
the last weeks of the campaign, he
released TV spots saying Gantt had
large amounts of support from gays
(clearly visible in the graphic was a
headline with the epithet “queers”),
and appealing to whites’ fears of
affirmative action, designed, some
said, to remind voters that a “good
ole boy,” no matter how unlikable,
was running against one of “them."
Others said that the apparent
“surge” of Helms support at the last
minute was merely an artifact of
problems with Dolling, and pointed
out that some polls had Helms
leading by that margin all along.
Helms jumped out to a 10-point lead
early in the evening, 55 percent to 45
percent, but the major news
organizations refused to predict a
winner in the race until after all the
polls closed at 10 p.m.
The unusually late closing came in
response to a judge’s order in
predominantly black Durham
County, where voting machine
problems and the absence of paper
ballots kept many would-be-voters
standing in line for as much as three
hours. The judge said that vole'-«
should be allowed to vote if they had
arrived in time and should not be
prevented by circumstances which
were not their fault.
The Helms campaign objected,
saying that the law did not allow such
leeway, and sought to overturn the
order in higher state and federal
courts, and even, at one point, calling
the head of the SBI to demand that
the polls be forcibly closed. All
attempts failed, however, and the
polls remained open.
The overwhelmingly pro-Gantt
votes in Durham County did not make
the difference, howevpr as the final
margin was still a healthy six percent
for Helms.
Gantt won in urban areas and
carried the Triangle and Triad, but
lost heavily in urban areas and most
of the rest of the state.
Gov. James G. Martin’s attempts
to get more Republicans elected to
the judiciary and the state Supreme
Court bore little results, with the only
turnaround being N.C. Supreme
Court Justice John Webb losing to
Republican challenger I. Beverly
Lake, Jr., by 52 to 48 percent, and
(See ELECTIONS, P.2)
Jeaae Jackson Not
Likely Nominee In
1992For Democrats .
BY PETER E. UWAGIE-ERO
An Analysis
The presidential race will not be on
again until 1992. However, Dr. Larry
Brisker, researcher and dean of
student development at Cuyahoga
Community College in Cleveland,
Ohio, conducted a poll of 600 black
men and women leaders nationally.
Campaign Days Ahead was one of
the 35 national issues surveyed by
mail. Sixteen percent of the leaders
polled on campaign issues said that
Jesse Jackson was likely to be
nominated by the Democratic Party
for the 1992 race for the office of
president of the United States.
However, Mario Cuomo was
selected by 26 percent of the black
leaders over Jackson. Their criterion
is based on political reality, using
ethnicity as a strong wedge.
Jackson is in the liberal camp of his
party. Even if he were in the
moderate camp, the predominant
ethnic group in this camp is white.
His charisma cannot cut through the
ethnic barrier. Therefore, the black
leaders think that Mario Cuomo will
be the nominee of the Democrats.
If in reality this nation were ready
for a president by a member of a
minority group, the women’s group,
which is a minority in the power
structure only, not in population, is
more likely to produce a president
than the black minority. The reasons
are clear. Population is in their favor.
Ethnicity and their gender will draw
votes for them from all
camps—conservatives, moderates
and the liberals.
There is no doubt that Jackson is an
excellent vote-getter for his party.
The big question is whether his
NEWS BRIEFS
$180,000 PLEDGED
Thomas B. Dameron, Jr.,
' chairman of the Oar Health...
Oar Future Campaign to
eatahllah the Poe Center for
Health Education, announced
recently that the AJ. Fletcher
Foundation has pledged IlN.SOS
to the capital campaign, sending
the total over 92.5 million.
AROUND THE WORLD
A special event for the Fred
Olds Elementary Extended Day
'< Care Is being planned and
programmed for Wednesday,
Nov. 14, by the N.C. State
University Recreation 358
students. The event, titled
'‘Around the World In Two
Hours," will consist of various
activities with an international
theme. For more Information,
call David Holder at (919) 548
9213.
CITY WINS AWARD
City Manager Dempsey E.
Benton, Jr. announced recently
( during a City Council meeting
that the city haueaptured first
place In the lb99Xlty Division of
the National Roadside
Excellence Program. The award,
proaonted annually by the
National Roadside Vegetation
Management Association and
Monsanto Agricultural Co.,
recognises excellence In roadside
vegotatlan management and Is
designed to enhance public
Interest In more attractive, safe,
and serviceable roadsides.
VETERANS'DAY
Most City of Raleigh municipal
government efftcea will he closed
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P.l) .
REV. JESSE JACKSON
nomination will yield the desireo
result—defeating a white candidate
from any wing in the competition for
president. This is the rationale of the
black leaders. They feel that the
stigma of being an outsider to the
moderates and his race do not put
him in a position to garner the votes
he needs in order to win.
On this issue, the black leaders
have placed practicality or reality in
juxtaposition with actuality or idle
daydreaming. To say the least, their
conclusion is that, even if Jackson’s!
case was treated in isolation, his
charisma notwithstanding, the
reality of it is that the election of a
black candidate to the office of
president of the United States is an
(See JESSE JACKSON, P. 2)
Ensure Minority Participation
Contractors Urge Support From DOT
United Minority Contractors of
North Carolina, Inc., a statewide
association of minority contractors,
and a nonprofit advocacy, technical
support and training organization,
recently met with Secretary Thomas
J. Harrelson and Department of
Transportation officials to discuss the
lack of minority contractor
involvement on state highway
construction projects.
“UMC representatives have
continuously encouraged the
department to review their minority
.participation efforts because of low
minority contract awards,” said one
UMC official.
While the state has expended $179
million between July 1989 and
September of this year in state
highway construction projects,
approximately one percent of the
construction dollars were awarded to
minorities.
“The picture looks very bad, ’ said
one UMC board member. “However,
the picture looks even worse when
including division highway
construction awards." Division
highway contracts are construction
awards handled by the 14 regional
division engineers. “One percent is
an embarrassment to the state.”
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continued the board member.
Although North Carolina Is
anoroximatelv 25 nercent minority
and minorities certainly buy cars amf
pay fuel taxes and other taxes, they
are not represented adequately when
it comes time for the state to disburse
these tax monies.
The North Carolina General
Assembly enacted legislation
establishing a 10 percent goal on state
highway construction projects during
the 1989 legislative session. Under
House Bill 399, General Statute 136
28.4, Section 1.5, the state seeks to
encourage greater minority business
participation in state highway
construction. However, the statute
does not mandate a set-aside
program, and the department does
not seem to feel obligated to ensure or
encourage minority business
participation in the construction of its
streets, roads, and bridges.
"The department certainly is not
doing any more than they are
required to do, and they aren't even
making any meaningful efforts to
Implement the law as it presently
exists,” says one minority
contractor. “When you consider the
fact thpt the l.eeislature passed the
legislation in 1989 and the department
waited until July 1980 to place
minority goals on projects—after
spenumg 1120 million with no
minority goals assigned—the
evidence of commitment is obvious.
"The Dottom line is this, we are
only trying to get Secretary
Harrelson and this administration to
understand that we pay taxes, and we
would like to participate In the
development of a strong economy in
our communities just like anyone
else.” *
Attempted Rape
WOMAN ATTACKED ON CAMPUS
Police
Seeking
Suspect
An African-American female was
transported by police early Nov. 7 to
Wake Medicql Center after an alleged
rape attempt.
Raleigh Police Officer P.M. O’Neal
filed the investigation report
following the incident at St.
Augustine’s College.
According to police reports, the
victim was taken to the hospital and
released. The report listed injuries as
“chest pains.” No suspects have been
apprehended.
In other news: Opal S. Gilbert, 22,
of Martinsville, Va., was found
choked and stabbed to death recently
in her West Raleigh apartment. Her
body was found about 7 a.m. at 5416
Portree Place, Apt. 4, by -her
boyfriend, Charles G. Thomas of
Raleigh, according to police records.
George E. Coker, 23, of 313-D
IdleWild Avenue, has been named as
a suspect in the case. Coker is being
held in Wake County Jail without
bond pending a court hearing. No
motive for the slaying has been
determined.
Also, Raleigh police are looking for
an escapee who fled the Triangle
Correctional Center by climbing over
a fence recently.
Jason Beddingfield, 22, climbed
through a hallway window and over a
fence at the prison at 1001 Mountford
Avenue in West Raleigh, according to
(See CRIME, P.2)
SAFE KUS-Partfcipants In the recent “KM Safa
Saturday” warn Raleigh raaMants Andrew Slawart, 4, and
hit sister Ashley, 2, practicing emergency telephene
training skis with their mam, Dedra, at a workshap put
on by Raleigh Peace Department volunteers. The event
ttt National Child Safety Council m
Ptoasaat Valte f
to teach children safety practices
attended the event.
1«>9©
for St*ot*3
*i«t Go»'s
"SScScf
Dozens of volunteers in Raleigh
have been organized. Businesses,
organizations and individuals have
been targeted. Pre-telethon
fundraisers have been planned. Some
have already been held.
What is going on?
The Wake County United Negro
College Fund campaign has kicked
off its annual drive. This year the
organization is seeking to raise
$138,500 between now and Dec. 29,
when the “Lou Kawls Parade o.
Stars," a telethon to benefit UNCF i
aired.
Kenneth C. Wilkins, chairman o
the Wake County campaign, said tm
vear’s drive is receiving stron;.:
support. “We have more volunteers
more community involvement an i
more financial support than we h3v,
had at this point in the past. I am
encourged,” he said
But while he may be encouraged
Wilkins is not taking that goal lightly
Hundreds of letters will be sent ana
visits will be made to prospective
contributors. The campaign has
already organized separate teams tu
call on businesses
clubs/organizations and individuals.
Darius Davis, a local banker, will
head the team that will call on are
businesses. “Wake County’
approach to the private sector thi.
year will be more aggressive and will
include a personal touch,” Davi
said. "We intend to have members oi
our committee personally contact
companies in the area, sit down wit)
the decisionmakers and discuss the
(SeeUNUF p.ai
Editor Focuses
On Employment,
Working Women
Kate Rand Lloyd, editor-at-larue oi
Wonting woman, was the featured
speaker during the annual Academy
of Women awards program
sponsored by the YMCA of Wake
County.
Lloyd joined Working Woman as
editor in 1977 and under her direction,
the magazine’s circulation has grown
from 97,000 to one million. She
currently Is a commissioner for the
National Commission on Working
Women and serves on the board oi
several organizations including Child
Care Action Campaign, Women’s
Equity Action League, National
Women’s Political Caucus and
Institute for Women and Work.
Lloyd addressed the academy last
week at the Marriott at Crabtree
Valley where eight women were
inducted and honored for their
achievements.
The program agenda included an
(See WOMEN, P, 3)