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A major motion picture dramatizes the Black
Panther movement. See Artßeat, page 7
Who’slyi
'ho’slying?
» ® -
City council
. ®
seeks answers in
3 ®
secret pay raises
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
The suggestion that Mayor Charles A.
DeVaney blatantly violated city personnel
policy is just another example of his long
time authoritative rule, some city council
members charge.
Mr. DeVaney %
admitted togrant- COUHCI’I
ing several un- shouldn’t puniSh
scheduled raises 'he employees
without setiins by taking back
without getting
approval from the ”
Finance Commit. IN€lr raises,” the
tee, which violates R@v. Hamilton
a city personnel o 3
policy that has SQid. “It wasn’t
beeninplacesince their fault. It
~h . s o ¢ Was the mayor’s
:DeVaney does not mess-up."
:have solo power to
‘give raises as he wishes,” Councilman Lee
‘Beard said. “This just shows that he has no
:respect for council.”
¢ According to a memoranttum written Oct.
:26 by Senior Personnel Administrator Gayle
‘Hamilton to Crystal Hathcox, the city’s chief
payroll clerk, Mr. DeVaney had ordered act
'Ying city administrator Charles Dillard to
request the raises be kept secret.
See SECRET RAISES, page 3
RICHMOND COUNTY SCHOOLS:
Larke to assume interim school supt. duties
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
After each name, an unhesitant “Yes” punc
tuated the growing excitement in the board
room Thursday night, as the Richmond County
School Board trustees voted whether to make
Dr. Charles G. Larke interim superintendent
after Dr. John Strelec’s retirement June 1. The
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See ARTbeat page 6
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@ Your local newspaper sponsored by your local grocer.
| April 20 - 26, 1995 VOL. XIV NO. 696 I
e
I Metro Augusta's Finest Weekly Newspaper I
Ty Cobb, known as the
Georgia Peach, was
known for his racist
comments about black
players.
n 1910, Ty Cobb and the American League cham
l pions, the Detroit Tigers, traveled to Havana,
Cuba for a winter of baseball during the off sea
son. The all-white American league team was
embarrassed by the racially mixed Havana ball play
ers. The “superior” American team split a 12-game
series, six to six, and the great Ty Cobb, who owns the
record for stolen bases, did not steal a single base
though he batted .369. Cobb was so upset he prom
ised never to play against blacks again.
Sure Ty Cobb was a great
baseball player, but like Elvis,
he didn’t think too highly of
black people. Buton that score,
he was a typical Georgia rac
ist.
The attempt tolink the nam
ing of 9th Street after James
Brown with the naming of Lake
Olmstead Stadium for Ty Cobb
is typical of a lot of narrow
minded thinkers here in the
Garden City. James Brown has
made mistakes and has paid
his dues. When did Ty Cobb
ever apologize for his racist
behavior? And besides base
unanimous decision brought
applause from the audience.
Assuming Dr. Strelec’s
replacement is not found
before he retires, Dr. Larke
will be the first African-
American to hold the super
intendent’s position in Rich
mond County.
He is currently the assis-
RACE MATTERS
R SRR O R
E «
Freaknikfurorsparkscharg
es of racial insensitivity
B Cancellation BLR R g L AIELIY karen Amado
of scheduled rap ““o‘l’fn ’\’;\ o M Bl fled ©f Rappers
¢ &ot ¢ !\ ’ IHEL LR Against Vio
concerts spark stree ' e lence talks to
protests as Atlanta % (RN LN the press
braces for Freaknik SANESEE LESNSPR (RN i obouf cancel
o i AL R L g lation of rap
crowds. e ,%‘\ R & entertainment.
The Atlanta Police, Georgia oI f & YR
State Patrol and the National [RSB 35" £.! Wl
Guard are armed and waiting R ,_% - Rappers Against
to respond in the event that ST S N e Violence (RAV)
predictions of violence this Pk SN '/f’l \ %\.\ gy and Onyx Pro
weekend become real. FEEON fij%f‘fi{’} Q J ‘*';% ductions repre-
No, the city is not bracing %5 .*Q&%z?’;‘f" R sentatives, the
itselfforan armed invasionby &% ,56'1:.'7:“3‘_‘"4,’ \ % concert promot
enemy forces, unless thou- f&%’éfl".fl " L ers whohad their
sands ofblack college students FEEVEErE N, : il ; permits revoked,
from around the country on a “FREHAREEINERE : about 50 people
mission to have fun are con- All of this fear and extensive protested outside CNN Center
sidered the enemy. security measures, whichmany against “discrimination” by the
Freaknik, now also known find unjustified and believe to city of Atlanta.
as Freedom Fest, officially be racially motivated, have Although these black-orient
kicks off April 21, but some prompted peaceful demonstra- ed concerts were ordered to be
Atlanta businesses and resi- tionsand public calls for action. canceled, a white-oriented con
dences have already closed Two concerts that were cert scheduled the same week
their doors and headed for planned for the “black” Spring end will still go on, which gives
quieter, presumably safer Break were recently canceled
quarters. for security reasons. Led by See FREAKNIK, page 4
Devif-&
"'
S WA ‘
ST
YEYIIUN "
ball buffs and historians, who
really cares what Ty Cobb did?
Ty Cobb excelled in a sport that
did not permit blacks on the
same field of play as whites. If
blacks had been permitted to
play baseball along with whites
inTy Cobb’s era, would the Geor
gia Peach have been as feared
as he was?
The fact that some Augustans
are serious about naming the
ball stadium after an unabashed
racist is not surprising. Witness
the “history buffs” who feel that
the confederate emblem flying
on the Georgia state flag is a
. ol
Dr. Charles Larke
Article of Analysis and
Interpretation
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
Inside: City Council
opposed to naming
stadium for Ty Cobb
W See Page 3
really neat idea. The mind set of
a lot of white folks seems to be,
ifit upsets black folks, let’s doit!
That'’s all we have here, nothing
more nothing less.
Why was Ty Cobb a racist? It
seems simplistic to suggest that
he was a racist simply because
he was a white southerner, but
the reality was that in a culture
that dreamed up segregation, or
American apartheid, it was dif
ficult to be anything else but a
racist. In that, Ty Cobb was not
unique. He was part of a racist
superstructure, professional
baseball.
John W. Cell, author of The
See COBB, page 9
tant superintendent for vocational services, a
position that involves supervising the depart
ments of vocational education, architecture,
maintenance, and transportation. Though he
will be retaining these duties during his time as
interim superintendent, a period to last up to six
months, Dr. Larke is “looking forward” to the
challenge.
“I’'m prepared to put in 12-hour days,” he said,
See SUPERINTENDENT page 5
MR. 808 HENNEBERGER \'
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GFORGIA NEWSPAPER U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
UNIVERSITY OF GA NO. 302
ATHENS GA 30602 12/31/99 | AUUSTA. GA
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Death toll rises
®
in Oklahoma
car-bomb blast
M Middle Eastern terrorism hinted in
blast that demolished federal building
in Oklahoma City. FBI reports exten
sive damage. Day care center hit; a
dozen children among the 26 confirmed
fatalities dead.
OKLAHOMA CITY
A car bomb ripped deep
into America’s heartland
Wednesday, killing atleast
26 people and leaving 300
missing in a blast that
gouged a 9-story hole in a
federal office building.
Someofthe dead were chil
dren whose parents had
just dropped them off at a
day-care center. There was
no immediate claim of re
sponsibility for the attack,
the deadliest US bombing
in 75 years. At least 200
people were injured, 58
critically, according to Fire
Chief Gary Marrs, and
scores were feared trapped
in the rubble of the Alfred
P. Murrah Federal Build-
ing more than 9 hoursafter the bombing.
Police Sgt. Bill Martin said at least 26 people were killed,
12 of them children. The death toll was certain to rise. “Our
firefighters are having to crawl over corpses in areas to get
to people that are still alive,” Assistant Fire Chief Jon
Hansen said.
Attorney General Janet Reno refused to comment on who
might have been behind the attack. President Clinton called
the bombers “evil cowards,” and Reno said the government
would seek the death
penalty against them.
Their clothes torn off,
victims covered in glass
and plaster emerged
bloodied and crying from
the building, which
looked as if a giant bite
had been taken out of'it,
exposing its floors like a
dolihouse. Cables and
other debris dangled
from the floors like tangled streamers in a scene that
brought to mind the car bombings at the US Embassy and
Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.
“I dove under that table,” said Brian Espe, a state veter
inarian who was giving a slide presentation on the sth floor.
“When I came out, I could see daylight if I looked north and
daylight if I looked west.”
Mayor Ron Norick said the blast—which left a crater 30
feetlong and 8 feet deep—was caused by a car bomb. He said
the car had been outside, in front of the building.
“Obviously, no amateur did this,” Gov. Frank Keating
said. “Whoever did this was an animal.”
Earlier in the day, paramedic Heather Taylor said 17
children were dead at the scene, a figure later disputed by
police. Dr. Carl Spengler, one of the first doctors at the
scene, said the children, all at the day-care center, ranged
in age from 1 to 7, and some were burned beyond recogni
tion.
Reno said that 300 people were unaccounted for by late
afternoon. About 20 of 40 children in the day-care center
were missing. The explosion, similar to the terrorist car
bombing thatkilled 6 people and injured 1000 at New York’s
World Trade Centerin 1993, occurred just after 9 AM, when
most of the more than 500 federal employees were in their
offices.
The blast could be felt 30 miles away. Black smoke
streamed across the skyline, and glass, bricks and other
debris were spread over a wide area. The north side of the
building was gone. Cars were incinerated on the street.
People frantically searched for loved ones, including par
ents whose children were in the building’s day-care center.
Christopher Wright of the Coast Guard, one of those
helpinginsidethe building, said rescuers periodically turned
off their chainsaws and prying tools to listen for pleas for
help, “but we didn’t hear anything—just death.”
“You're helpless really, when you see people 2 feet away,
youcan’t doanything, they’re just smashed,” he said. “We're
talking to victims whoareinthere and reassuring them that
we're doing everything within the good Lord’s power to
reach them and get to them,” the Fire Dept’s Hansen said.
“It’s going to be a very slow process.”
L )
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.\ N
A YOUNG VICTIM in the
hands of an Oklahoma
firefighter. Hundreds are still
missing. (AP photo)
“Obviously, no
amateur did
this. Whoever
did this was an
animal.”
—Gov. Frank Keating
