TUESDAY
.
.... .. .
ionfab To Hear Ms. Angelou
■ M
I Maya Angelou To Address N.C. Women
I Writers Conference Emphasizing Sisterhood
I Of All Women.
|Page 5
Keeping The Blues Alive
B. B. King And His Band Receive Coveted
W.C. Handy Award For Keeping The Blues
Alive.
Page P D_ culTURAL RESOURCES
- NC STATE LIBRARY
This Week
In December l»;so, a concert
was performed at New York’s
Carnegie Hal|, “From
Spirituals To Swing: An
Evening of American Negro
Music. Produced by John
Hammond, it featured boogie
(See THIS WEEK, P.2)
RALEIGH, N.C.,
VOL. 51, NO. 7
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1991
N.C. fs Semi-Weekly \
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY I?
IN RALEIGH £D0
ELSEWHERE 30C
Improving The Environment _
School Dropout Rate Declines In State
North Carolina’s school dropout
rate has declined dramatically in
the last three yean.
“The programs we have commis
sioned to keep children i~ school are
working,” State Superintendent
Bob Etheridge said as he released
the latest figures.
The latest figures show that the
combined rate has dropped to 5.6
percent, the first time it has dropped
below six percent.
Based on a typical school bus’s
capacity, North Carolina has kept in
school about 80 busloads of students
who would normally have dropped
out, based on prior years.
Etheridge said the rate for the last
four years has dropped dramati
cally. The rate in 1987-88 was 7.7
percent in grades 9-12. It fell to 6.6
percent in 1988-89 and to 6.4 per
cent in 1989-90.
“The tragedy is,” Etheridge said,
“that even with the decline in the
rate, we still lost 17,858 students
who dropped out of school. These
young people are in danger of not
being equipped for the technological
age of the future.”
Etheridge praised local educators
and communities for their efforts to
keep students in school by improv
ing the school environment, raising
awareness of the need for education
and stressing regular school atten
dance.
“This good news is tjie result of
sustained hard work and attention
over the past several years by
schools and entire communities.
Local educators have focused on
prevention and on changes to in
struction that better serve students
with different learning styles and
different needs. All children can
learn, and schools are being reor
ganized with that in mind.”
Dropout prevention is a priori ty of
the Basic Education Program, the
state’s major reform effort begun in
1985. The BEP provides about $30
(See DROPOUT RATES, P. 2)
Squeezing Family Dollar
Activists
Confront
Company
BY WINFRED CROSS
Special to The CAROLINIAN
Friction between Family Dollar
Stores, Inc. and members of the
African-American community over a
gift to a Duke University research
center may ease soon.
Charlotte Attorney Charles Jones,
spokesperson for Citizens Advocating
Reconciliation and Reciprocity
(CARR) said the two sides have met
and things look positive.
“We are waiting for discussions
which will reach a meaningful and
satisfactory position on the
reinvestment in the community,”
Jones said in the Charlotte Post.
“W’re very pleased that they are
listening to the dialogue and want to
reach some common accord. We
think it speaks well of the
management skills that have brought
their company over the last few years
to a major growth company.”
The friction started when Leon
Levine, the largest stockholder in
Family Dollar, recently gave a
personal gift of $10 million to the
Science Resource Center to be housed
at Duke University. Jones said CARR
believes much of Levine’s money
comes from his Family Dollar stock
and that chain gets most of its money
from working and black people."
"Our position is that money comes
primarily from the black community.
We think it’s extremely important
that Family Dollar explore ways to
reinvest monies in those communities
that provide its primary source of
income black or white,” Jones said.
George Mahoney, executive vice
president of Family Dollar Stores,
Inc. said Levine chose to give the
money to the research center
“because of the benefit to all of
mankind — to whites, blacks,
Hispanics — to all people, really.
“It should do a good deal of
advancement to scientific research to
benefit all people,” Mahoney said.
i see CONFRONT Co.. P. 2)
SHARING CONTRIBUTIONS—Or. Benjamin Carson,
renowned pediatric neurosurgeon is a shinning role model
for African-Americans. Or. Carson gained worldwide
recognition in 1987 for the first successful separation of
Siamese twins joined at the back of the head. Here, he is
seen sharing moments with N. C. State University
Chancellor Larrv K. Monteith, during an annual
Brotherhood Dinner where Dr. Carson and six African
American students were honored.
NC Housing Finance Agency Offers
Mortgages At Record 6.95 Percent
nrst-uine nuxne outers can soon
obtain home mortgages at 6.95 per
cent, the lowest rate in the North
Carolina Housing Finance Agency’s
history, Gov. James G. Martin an
nounced last week.
The $62.1 million in 30-year,
fixed-rate mortgages will be avail
able statewide beginning Dec. 19
from 24 lenders and their branches.
'Die loans will assist approximately
1,130 home buyers with moderate
and low incomes. Lenders can now
begin placing eligible borrowers on
waiting lists.
"Including these new loans, the
Jackson Blasts Bush
For Economic Racism
SHREVEPORT, La.—Blaming
the nation’s economic disparity on
divisive racial policies of President
George and former President
Ronald Reagan, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson launched a grassroots effort
to forge change in a summit of
Northwest Louisiana black relig
ious and political leaders here last
week.
He publicly blasted President
Bush for the nation’s economic im
balance, stating that the president
and David Duke are very similar.
"They use racial politics to divide the
country."
"They both play orj the political
fears of Americans by pushing
phony issues and stereotypes.”
Jackson slammed Duke for using
White House tactics in his unsuc
cessful bid for governor in Louisi
ana. "Duke used the stereotype of a
black woman as a welfare queen the
same way that Bueh used Willie
KKV.JKBSK ,l/U'KSO\
polarize blacks and whites,” he said.
Duke plans torun.for president next
year..
“What we saw in this campaign
was a well-defined use of an ideology
that Reagan and Bush used for three
(See JESSE JACKSON, P. 2)
North Carolina Housing Finance
Agency has now provided more than
$2 billion in capital for housing in
our state,” said Martin. The gover
nor sai d that the agency’s sale of tax
exempt bonde had financed first
homes for more than 28,000 families
and had enabled developers to build
8,400 affordable apartments. The
(See HOUSING, P. 2)
History Scholar
Succeeds Richmond
As NCCU Chancellor
CHAPEL HILL—Donna J.
Benson has been named in
terim chancellor of North
Carolina Central Univer
sity, effective Jan. 1, 1992.
Benson, appointed last
week by UNC President C JO.
Spangler, Jr., succeeds Dr.
Tyronza R. Richmond, who
announced in September
that he would leave the post
Dec. 31.
A scholar of American and
African-American history,
Benson, 37, joined the staff
of UNC General Administra
tion in 1987 as assistant vice
president for academic af
fairs and was named associ
ate vice president earlier
this year. In that capacity,
she is responsible for help
ing to plan and review aca
demic programs on the 16
campuses of the Universi
tyof North Carolina. She has
been a member of the his
tory faculty at N.C. A&T
State University since 1981
and was previously a visit
ing lecturer at NCCU.
“Dr. Benson has the intel
ligence, the integrity, and
the energy required of a
chancellor,” said Spangler,
in announcing the appoint
ment. “The first college stu
dents she ever taught were
North Carolina Central Uni
versity students, and she
has high regard for the insti
tution. For all these reasons,
I am pleased that Donna
Benson has agreed to serve
as interim chancellor.”
A native of Charlotte,
Benson earned degrees in
L MA Wk
DR. DONNA J. BENSON
history and education from
the University of North j
Carolina at Greensboro, J
where she was inducted into
Phi Beta Kappa and gradu
ated magna cum laude. She
holds master's and doctoral
degrees in history from
Duke University, where her
dissertation was titled
"“Before I Be a Slave’: A
Social Analysis of the Black
Struggle for Freedom in
North Carolina, 1860-1865.”
Her current research fo
cuses on the socioeconomic
(See DONNA BENSON, P. 2)
Inside Africa
Africa Seeks A Chance To Develop
An Analysis
$270 billion! This astronomical
figure represents the amount which
sub-Saharan black Africa owes to
various governments of the world.
There are several reasons for this
galloping indebtedness. Africa’s
debt rose seriously during the 1980s,
at the time when its economic prob
lems mounted substantially. By
1990, the continent’s total debt was
21/2 times greater than in 1980. At
the same time that debt increased
with interest, the price of its com
modities worldwide tumbled.
Recently at the United Nations
Day for Africa, convened by UN
Secretary General Javiar Perez de
Cuellar and chaired by the visionary
Dr. Leon Sullivan, several high gov
ernment officials as well as the
presidents' of General ^Motors and
Colgate-Palmolive participated. All
agreed that it is simply not possible
for the sub-Saharan African coun
tries to develop farther, with their
debt burden exceeding $270 billion.
Therefore, the chairman and oth
ers vigorously called for debt for
giveness. Dr. Sullivan, in an ex
traordinary statement, pointed out
that “If the seven big nations can
forgive the debts of Israel, Poland
and Egypt, then certainty they can
forgive the debt in sub-Saharan or
black Africa.”
Specifically
forgiveness of 80 percent of govern
mental debt, 20 percent would re
main for 20 years. The interest on
the 20 percent and the freed reve
nues on the 80 percent would go for
children, the poor, education and
(See INSIDE AFRICA, P. 2)
TEAM BULDW6 - Raleigh Nursery School staff at a
recent team bunding exercise. Pictured are left to right
Burned Pridgeon, Nancy Cozart, Pauline Wesley, 0.
Vanessa Roberson. Clara Pulley, Kathy Johnson, JoAnne
McLamb, Valeria Linosey, Maine nams, urenaa High
Sanders, and Andre Stancil. Raleigh Nursery School is a
United Way Agency. Not shown are leasia Pemberton,
Lisa Copeland, Sattzsteen Brown and Andre Pridgeon.