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REGIONAL NEWS
Why Blacks Should Vote For Don Johnson
By Rick Dunn
Political experts
around the country
are predicting that
the Republican Par
ty will enjoy signifi
cant gains when the
general election is
held on November
8. After all the votes
are tallied, the GOP is expected to
become the majority in the U.S. House
of Representatives, kick several
Democratic governors out of their seats,
and capture many other state and local
offices.
While Republicans are looking for
ward to basking in their political glory,
some are saying that their happiness will
result in misery for Blacks, the poor and
liberals.
“If you think we (Blacks) got it bad
now,” moans State Rep. Keith G. Heard
(D-Clarke County), “let the Republicans
gain control. You talk about suffering.”
The majority of Republican can
didates are running on a platform that
is similar to a party contract recently
signed by GOP congressional con
tenders. Armed with promises of welfare
reform, term limits, a reduction in
government spending, lowering of taxes,
and limiting government intrusion, these
candidates are taking aim at many
Democratic incumbents.
One of those on the firing line is 10th
District Congressman Don Johnson of
Royston. His sprawling district includes
the metro-Athens area, and the possibili
ty of his defeat has many Blacks more
than a bit concerned.
Not that Blacks don’t support welfare
reform and other portions of the GOP
platform, but they see Republicans as
ultra-conservatives who will move to
strip away many of the gains people of
color have made in the last 25 to 30
years.
When Johnson’s opponent, retired
Augusta dentist Charlie Norwood,
speaks of returning to the America that
existed prior to the infusion of liberal
thought into mainstream politics, it is not
a pleasant thought to Blacks.
“If my grandson is going to live the
American Dream the way I lived it, we
are going to have to take this country
back,” Norwood recently said to a group
of cheering, conservative supporters at a
barbecue where the Confederate flag
served as a back drop.
It is that type of rhetoric, and fear of
a complete conservative take over, that
has many Black Johnson supporters hop
ing that Blacks go to the polls in record
numbers to help give the Democrat a se
cond term in office.
“It is very important that we vote,”
said Black Athens attorney Ken Dious.
“Don Johnson is one of the congressmen
under attack. He’s been designated by
the Republican Party for defeat, and that
can only happen if the Black vote doesn’t
turn out.”
Both Dious and Heard say that Black
support of Johnson should not be based
just on fear of conservatism, but because
”he is the best man for the job.” They
point to the congressman’s support of
President Clinton’s budget and crime
bill, two of the reasons Republicans are
saying he should be defeated, as cause to
cast ballots for him.
“Don had to make some tough
choices. They weren’t popular, but they
were in the best interest of the district and
country,” said Heard.
Republicans claim that the Clinton
budget placed a great tax burden on the
middle and upper class, but Dious con
tends that the overall effect was very
good for the poor, especially in Georgia.
Indeed, recent U.S. Census reports in
dicate that the rate of poverty has declin
ed in the “Peach State”. It went from
17.7 percent in 1992, to 13.5 percent last
year.
GOP members attacked Johnson’s
support of the crime bill because it bann
ed the sale of certain assault weapons.
They felt it was an infringement on the
right to bare arms. The congressman
justified his position by asking, “Do you
really believe the people of the 10th
district want gang members and crazed
killers to be able to buy machine guns at
K-Mart and other places?”
Dious added that the majority of
Blacks supported the crime bill because
of the devastating impact of Black on
Black crime. He called the weapons ban
a symbolic “step in the right direction”
which should have limited affect on
sportsmen.
“It didn’t effect the hunter, except the
hunter who hunted mankind,” he said.
Dious, who attended law school with
Johnson, dismisses Republican claims
that Johnson is too closely aligned with
President Clinton. “Don is his own
man,” said Dious. “He votes the way he
wants to.
“When he went into office, the coun
try was in shambles with the economy
and crime situation, and he knew things
had to be changed. He saw some bills
come along that were different and he
supported them.”
Johnson also aided Black en
trepreneurs interested in doing business
with the federal government; supported
a bill to intensify research into the causes
of and a cure for lupus (which has a high
prevalence among Blacks and women);
and backed a bill to remove the remain
ing barriers to full voter participation.
The need for Blacks to vote for
Johnson goes far beyond what he has
done on the national level. According to
Heard, “there have been many un
publicized efforts undertaken by the con
gressman which have benefited the com
munity.”
One was Johnson’s support in getting
a fulltime air traffic controller at Ben
Epps Field. “Lots of people in East
Athens did not realize the danger that ex
isted from airplanes possibly crashing in
to their homes because the control tower
was not manned daily. Prior to Rep.
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