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John Thompson s DasKeToan pro
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THIS WEEK
In James Weldon Johnson’s
Autobiography of an Ex
Colored Man, published in
1912, the author noted: “It
is a struggle; for though the
black man fights passively,
he nevertheless fights; and
.12)
(See THIS WEEK. P.
Mil i JlliLi'n "—I—.
RALEIGH, N.C.
VOL. 50, NO. 13
TUESDAY! .
JANUARY 8,1991
SINGLE COPY Of?
IN RALEIGH dmOQ
ELSEWHERE 300
Construction Begins
Opponents Fail To Stop Amphitheater
From CAROLINIAN Halt Reports
A Wake Superior Court Judge ruled
last week that the dty had followed
the proper procedure for granting a
special-use permit for an am
phitheater site in Walnut Creek Park
where the Beltline meets Interstate
40.
Some Southeast Raleigh residents
asked Judge Howard E. Manning,
Jr., to review the case last month,
Black Group
Urges Court
Save Gun Law
Prohibit Salem
Of Machine Ounm
[ BY CHESTER HIGGINS. SR.
Declaring that "America’s
young Black men are under the
gun,” Moses Ector, president of
the National Organisation of
Black Law Enforcement Ex
ecutives, has called ou the United
States Supreme Court not to con
sider the National Rifle Assn,
request to unfreete a law pro
hibiting private citizens from
selling or owning machine guns
manufactured after May IS, ISM.
Flanked by officials of several
other law enforcement organiza
tions, Ector made the announce
ment at a news conference, call
ed In Washington, D.C. He em
phasized that “unfreezing this
gun law would Increase the
availability of weapons of death"
that are devastating America's
Black communities.
The suit, J. D. Farmer v.
Stephen E. Higgins, is an NRA
I supported litigation on behalf of a
machine gun manufacturer
against Higgins, the Director of
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
(See GUN LAW, P. 2)
Inside
Africa
Representatives from more than 40
African-American organizations with
interest in Africa gathered recently
at the Africare House in Washington,
D.C., to meet with representatives of
the Organization of African Unity,
and to consider strategies for
building a constituency for Africa in
the United States. Groups represen
ted at the meeting included Alpha
Kappa Alpha and Sigma Gamma Rho
sororities, Delta Research and
Educational Foundation, the
Naitonal Alliance of Postal and
Federal Employees, Jack and Jill of
America, the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, the Links, Na
tional Council of Negro Women, the
African Development Foundation,
TransAfrica and Africare.
Representing the OAU, a coor
dinating body for African countries,
was the executive secretary, Am
bassador Ibrahims Sy from Senegal,
and the political advisor, Dr. Solomon
Gomez from the Cameroon.
Presenters providing African
American perspectives were Dr.
Samuel Myers of the National
Alliance for Educational Oppor
tunitines, Luci Thomas representing
the National Council of Negro
Women, Rev. Jonathan Weaver, the
executive director of the Service and
Development Agency of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church, and
Melvin Foote, the director for consti
tuency development for Africare.
Much of the discussion focused on
the importance of cultural, economic
and informational linkages between
African-Americans and Africans on
the continent. Attention was also
given to defining the role the African
(See INSIDE AFRICA, P. 2)
raising concerns that the 90,000 seat
outdoor entertainment center would
bring unwanted traffic, noise and
drunken vandals to the area.
Following the court’s decision, the
city council began taking steps
toward the opening of the perfor
mance center and awarded contracts
for the project. Contractors for the
projects were also a key concern by
residents observing economic
development.
Citizens have said as a spinoff it is
important that black and minority
businesses receive contracts and jobs
that will be a fair and/or equitable
distribution of bond money.
Economic development \in Southeast
Raleigh should mean jobs, business
and contracts for community-based
residents.
Mayor Pro Tern Ralph Campbell
said the facility would be beneficial to
the community and calls it a
“positive move.”
An opponent of the project, Maxine
Alexander, community education
director for Southeast Raleigh Com
munity Development Corporation,
said it this way: “I would like to ask
the question, what economic benefits
do the supporters of the amphitheater
perceive of as going to the African
American community? To our
understanding the construction, the
company, the concessions are all con
trolled by people outside the com
munity. So, the only Jobs that could
possibly be left are selling hot dogs,
and then, not even as an owner, but
another level of low paying jobs.”
Ms. Alexander also said noise and
traffic would be a problem. “It seems
contemptuous for that size am
phitheater in a residential communi
ty. The noise and traffic is too much
for a residential community to bear.”
Tom McCormick, city attorney,
said he did not know any key positions
that would be held at the facility.
Rodney Eckerman, executive vice
president of PACE Entertainment
Group has announced major staff
positions with Wilson Rogers, who
previously was the general manager
at Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater
in Pittsburgh, Pa., as general
manager Bob Klaus as marketing
director. Walt Lederie, formerly
general manager of Mud Island Am
False Returns Filed
Man Convicted On Tax Charges
Inflated
Refunds,
Credits
A local income tax preparer pled
guilty to two counts of aiding and
abetting in the preparation and filing
of false income tax returns in U.S.
District Court in Raleigh on Wednes
day.
According to U.S. Attorney
Margaret Person Currin, the defen
dant, Rudolph A. Sharpe, of 917
Sea brook Road, Raleigh, admitted in
flating the tax refunds due clients by
fraudulently claiming earned income
credits. As a result of the scheme,
Sharpe fraudulently obtained
thousands of dollars in tax refunds.
Sharpe’s scheme included having
his clients sign blank tax documents
and paying them a portion of the re
fund to which they were entitled.
However, the tax returns filed for the
clients falsely claimed credits and
refunds which the clients were
unaware of and did not qualify for.
The refund checks were mailed
directly to post ofifce boxes controll
ed by Sharpe around the Raleigh
At the time of the fraudulently filed
returns, Sharpe owned and operated
the offices of Professional Income
Tax Service, Suite 7, 817 New Bern
Avenue.
“Sharpe knowingly took advantage
of a tax credit for the low-income tax
payer for personal gain,” said Paul
Machalek, chief, Internal Revenue
Service Criminal Investigation Divi
sion.
U.S. Attorney Currin said, “At
sentencing, Sharpe could receive up
to $500,000 in fines and/or a six-year
prison term.”
An April 1 sentencing date has been
(See CRIME, P. 2)
DISTRESS CALL—The Health Professionals Coalition hos
proposal o $600 nMoa loan-and-grant hind to aid tha
hospitals ovor a flvo yoor ported. Congressman Louis
Stokos (D-Ohte) ogreed with mombors of tha coalition that
tMs may waN be their only hope for survival. Pictured, (I. to
r.) Dr. DavM Satchor, President of Moharry Medical School;
Congressman, Louis Stokes (D-Ohlo) and Joseph Lowery,
President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Pnvate Black Hospitals Sending
Financial Distress Call To Bush
mu.™ xunn., in.*.—Heaun proies
sionals from 11 historically private
black hospitals sent a financial
distress call to the Bush administra
tion last month.
At a press conference at the Na
tional Press Club in Washington, 11
black hospital professioanls,
members of the Coalition on Black
Hospitals and Health Services, said
their institutions were in terrible
financial trouble and would not be
able to continue operating much
longer without financial help. The
hospitals predominantly service the
“poor.” “The present health care
200-Year-Old Bill
Of Rights Comes To
Raleigh By Caravan
NEW YORK, N.Y.-A 200-year-old
original, scribed copy of the Bill of
Rights will arrive in Raleigh on Jan.
IS, transported in a 20th century,
high-t'ch caravan, at part of a
50-sta*e tour of the priceless docu
ment presented by Philip Morris
Companies, Inc.
Virginia’s original copy of the Bill
of Rights is the centerpiece of a
’5,000-square-foot multimedia exhibit
which will be on display free of
charge at the Raieigh Civic and Con
vention Center Jan. 13 from noon to 10
p.m. and Jan. 14 and IS from 10 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
Steeped in history but interspersed
witl>contemporary issues, the sights
and sounds of the exhibit surround
visitors with a sense of the
document’s past and an appreciation
Of its ever-changing nature in
modern-day society.
“Without question, a tour of this
magnitude is a major logistical
undertaking,” said Guy L. Smith,
vice president of corporate affairs for
Philip Morris Companies, Inc. “Just
to move this mammoth exhibit and
provide complete security, a caravan
of vehicles—tractor-trailers, vans,
buses and a custom-built secure
transport vehicle—is required. To our
knowledge, no exhibit or special
event of this proportion has ever
visited all SO states.”
The space-age pavilion, designed
by the award-winning producers of
special effects and display
technologies, Associates and Ferrin.
presents a dramatic montage of
graphic displays, contemporary
video segments and film clips from
movie classics such as "Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington,” “Twelve Angry
Men” and “The Grapes of Wrath "
(See BIIJ.OP MIGHTS P 2>
system tans in mat it rewards
[hospitals] who ignore the poor and
offers no encouragement or support
to health care providers who treat
them,” said Dr. David Satcher, presi
dent of Meharry Medical School.
Hospital administrators are con
cerned that Medicaid and Medicare
reimbursements, a major source of
income, does not pay the cost of pro
viding health care today Hospitals
are also faced with having to care for
increasing numbers of uninsured pa
tients. “These black institutions take
in the poor, the homeless and some of
the most needy people without hm
mg the adequate financial resources
to service them," said Joseph
Lowery, distinguished civil rights
leader and president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference.
The coalition has proposed a $600
million loan-and-grant fund to aid the
hospitals over a five-year period.
Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) agreed
with members of the coalition that
this may well be their only hope for
survival
The loan-and-grant would be used
to help black hospitals develop ways
See HOSPITALS. P 2>
phitheater in Memphis, Tenn., has
been appointed director of the opera
tions.
Sterling Goodwin, chairman of
Southeast Raleigh Community
Development Corporation said what
the city and private developer have
done is legal. “However, the concerns
I have are what impact economically
the facility will have on Southeast
Raleigh. That has not been sufficient
(See AMPHITHEATER. P. 2)
Study Shows
U.S. Has High
Lock-Up Rates
Policy Shifts
For Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United
States now has the highest recorded
rate of imprisonment of any nation in
the world, according to a new report
by the Sentencing Project. With more
than one million inmates in prison
and jail, the United States surpasses,
both Sou^i Africa and the Soviet
Union, the previous leaders.
The study also found that black
males in the United States are im
prisoned at a rate four times that of
black males in South Africa: 3,109 out
of every 100,000, as compared to 729.
The annual cost of incarceration for
the United States was estimated at
$16 billion, and for the estimated
454,724 black male prisoners, almost
$7 billion.
“Despite all the claims, the same
politics that haye helped make us a
world leader in incarceration have
clearly failed to make us a safer na
tion” stated Marc Mauer, assistant
director of the Sentencing Project
and author of the report. “We need a
fundamental change of direction,
toward proven programs and policies
that work to reduce both imprison
ment and crime.”
The study, “Americans Behind
Bars: A Comparison of International
Rates of Incarceration,” found that
per 100,000 population, the United
States incarcerates 426 people, South
Africa 333, and the Soviet Union 268
A doubling of the U.S. prison and jail
>pulations in the last decade has
moved this country into the leading
position. The report contends that
U.S. criminal justice policies have
unnecessarily contributed to the
world-record imprisonment rates.
Rep John Conyers (D-Mich.)
stated, “This report illustrates the
long-term effect of the draconian
criminal justice policies the United
States has been implementing over
the past decade, and is indicative of
policies that have failed our people ”
The Sentencing Project report calls
(See PRISON RATE, P. 2)
CONCERN FOR INMATES-Pictured hare are Soprano
WMe Jordan receiving presentation from Assistant
Superintendent Raymond C. Perry and Chaplain Luther
Coppadge at Trianfto Contctlonal Histttuttan, RaMgh,
following a racant succoisful rodtal lor officials and
inmatoi. (Photo by Chris Hinton)