Newspaper Page Text
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April 27, 1995 AUGUSTA FOCUS
A bad moon is rising
ocally and nationally it seems that
I the inability to grasp the conse
quences of racial intolerance will
guarantee that social and civil unrest will
be a daily occurance.
The vaunted Contract With America, for
all its fiscal conservatism and hints at so
cial responsibility, is merely a prescription
for chaos.
While Oklahoma City thrust the militia
movement onto the national stage, another
hundred days of G.O.P. shenanigans in the
U.S. Congress is sure to open the curtain on
yet another act of American reaction to
heavy-handed government activity. This
time, however, the underclass, along with
the underemployed, will seek to get atten
tion by whatever means are left at their
disposal.
The adage popularized by the late Bob
Marley may be the most telling refrain of
the age: A hungry man is an angry man.
It is to no one’s surprise that the initial
reaction from our daily newspaper to the
tragedyin Oklahoma City wasa rant against
immigration policies. Indeed, the xenopho
Why hasthe dump-DeVaney
movement grown so rapidly?
Everyone is wondering why, all of a sud
den, the sky is falling in big chunks on
Mayor Charles DeVaney. Indeed, hizzoner
thinks he knows why he seems to be the
chief target of the Augusta Chronicle on
slaught.
The mayor recently railed against the
newspaper for falsely reporting that he was
recently in the United Kingdom while is
palace was in revolt back in Augusta. Said
the mayor, “I never stepped foot in the
United Kingdom.” Yet, The Chronicle nev
er bothered to modify its statement.
Some might say, it’s much ado about
nothing. After all, the mayor was abroad.
So what if he was on the other side of the
English channel. Can’t the media be grant
ed a little license when circumstances war
rant such. The bottom line is, while the roof
was caving in, the mayor was nowhere tobe
found.
Buy why is the push to dump DeVaney
such an item with he daily newspapers?
Some say that the whole issue of consolida
tion isbehind the frosty attitude toward the
mayor.
Remembering J.P.’s
ast week — when having lunch at
I BL’s lovely quarters with a group of
senior citizens from Shiloah Com
munity Center as special guests of Channel
6, WJBF-TV, the state’s most outstanding
TV station — my 83-year-old mind some
how traveled back to my childhood 70-odd
years ago in the early 19205.
The place was the large restaurant known
as J.P.’s Place, located then immediately be
hind City Hall on the corner of Ninth and
Telfair Street. This was a major eating and
meeting place for many business, civic and
professional leaders, as is BL’s today.
And this was just before the full movement
of the Afro-American business, religious and
residential community southward of Walton
Way, later in the 1920 s and early 19305.
Breakfast and lunch were major events for
networking at J.P. Waring’s place. As an
example, Dr. George Stoney (the Spanish-
American war surgeon) had a luncheon party
to salute Dr. Taylor Frierson, who had a
patient to recover successfully from some
type of serious illness at Dr. Burris’ Sanitar
ium, which was among the first and only
hospitals in which a Negro doctor could prac
tice. I heard doctors S.S. Johnson, T.M. Josey,
W.W. White and others express their anger at
these discriminatory medical rules.
At another table, attorney Judson Lyons
(who previously had served in Washington
D.C. as U.S. registrar of the treasury) in
quired of the Rev. Dr. C.T. Walker why they
moved Walker Baptist Institute out of
Waynesboro to Augusta. Dr. Walker replied
with rare courage and honesty, “They rocked
Since 1981
A Walker Group Publication
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
Augusta, GA 30901
724-7855
bic chant reverberated across the nation
and the airwaves until it was confirmed
that the chief suspect was not a foreign
national, but a homegrown American
war hero.
Even after that fact was acknowledged
and the threat of domestic terrorism
loomed ever more probable, the call for
increased scrutiny of foreign nationals
continued unabated.
A chilling reminder of the problems
that lay before us is the fact that, as
horrific as was the act of the Oklahoma
bombers, the vast majority of conserva
tives in this country have been quick to
point out that they deplore the methods
of the terrorists, but don’t really feel too
uncomfortable with their beliefs. And
while racism is out of fashion for the
moment, the chant for small government,
less immigration from Third World Na
tions, and a yen for high-powered assault
weapons are all issues on which neo
gazis and Republicans, alike, can shake
ands.
The scenario goes something like this.
With the issue of consolidation headed
for a June referendum, the folks down
town want to make crystal clear that
there is little sentiment for maintaining
the status quo. The best way to go about
that, so the story goes, is to dump on
Prince Charles like there is notomorrow.
It makes sense. With the county’s woes
well documented and the city in a total
free fall, consolidation appears to be an
idea whose time has come.
But, if the mayor is in favor of consol
idation, and plans to run for the top spot
if the two governments merge, it stands
to reason that the powers pulling the
strings down at the news building on
Broad street must not want him to be
successful.
The next question is, why has the may
or fallen from grace with the downtown
crowd. Gossip has it that ever since the
mayor supposedly reneged on a real es
tate arrangement with adowntown king
pin, his stock has been steadily declin
ing.
and ran us out, saying that coons should be
out in the fields picking cotton, rather than
going to school.”
My father was always elated to see former
Augustans back home visiting, come by his
restaurant. He cited members of the big
Harper family — Lucius Harper, executive
editor, Chicago Defender; Thomas Harper,
one of the founders of Paine College;
Raymond Harper, businessman; Dr. Lexus
Harper, surgeon; and Mrs. Laura Harper,
banker and businesswoman — for their
successes.
Then camethe Golden Blocksin full bloom:
the Lenox Theatre, 1920-21; The Penney
Savings Bank, 1924. The Pilgrim Insurance
Co. was in full force in its New Building (of
1917 vintage) which is now the Walker
Group headquarters. Then there was the
three-story Dugas Building on Gwinette
and Pine Streets, and Dent’s and Mays’
funeral homes, coupled with The Big
Wigfall’s Building. Yes, there were plenty of
Negro-owned and operated businesses
around Augusta.
Thanks forthe solid background-informa
tion assistance, Mrs. C.A. Richardson, Dr.
Ike Washington and Prof. Marguerite
Frierson.
There were also Afro-American business
and professional facilities at the southern
end of the Fifth St. bridge with William
Carpenter’s big store and Dr. J.E. Carter’s
dental office coupled with the Martin gro
cery store on the hill, the Tracy Williams
store out on Twiggs, and others elsewhere.
Let us be proud and cherish our past!
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
Dot T. Ealy
Marketing Director
Rhonda Jones
Copy Editor
Emma Russ
Production
Rhonda Y. Maree
Reporter
Jimmy Carter
Distribution
Derick Wells
Art Director
Sheila Jones
Display Advertising
Faye Davis
Classifieds/Subscriptions
Editorial
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G.O.P. contract is for wealthy
resident Franklin D.
P Roosevelt began his
administration with
100 days of great achieve
ment for the people; the
current 104th Congress,
especially the House of Rep
resentatives, hopes toclaim
the same distinction. But
should they be proud of their
achievement so far?
If the tax cuts in the
House’s hill are enacted,
approximately 50 percent
of the cuts would go to the
richest 10 percent of the
households.
According tothe Treasury
Department, the new tax
bill will give 20 percent of
thetax cut to the wealthiest
one percent of American
families.
What is the bottom line
afterall the dustsettlesover
the Contract with America,
and all the hoopla is over?
How will these tax cuts be
paid?
By the year 2000, more
than S6O billion will be cut
from welfare programs, and
discretionary programs will
be cut by 17 percent.
That means the poor will
pay for the tax cuts of the
rich.
CIVIE RIGHTS IQVRNAL
Environmental racism still prevalent
t was 25 years ago that
I we began to celebrate
Earth Day and to com
mit ourselves to stop the
destruction of the planet. In
the meantime thousands of
trees have been planted,
recycling has become the
norm, water and the air
have been cleaned up and
polluters have been put on
notice. But the task of bring
ing Mother Earth back to
her healthy self is far from
done.
Ask the people of Warren
County, North Carolina.
More than a decade ago the
residents of Warren Coun
ty, a poor, nearly all-Afri
can-American county,came
to the Commission for Ra
cial Justice for help in stop
ping the state from placing
a landfill in their county,
which they feared would
place toxic wastes in their
community. After earlier
PCB spills in their county,
they were fearful of what
the health and economic
repercussions would be.
The response of the staff
of the Commission was to
join the residents of the
county in lying in front of
the first trucks scheduled
to bring the wastes into
Warren County. Over a pe
riod of time 500 people were
arrested in Warren County
in what became the begin
[ e
Hugh B. Price reports that under the
American Contract tax bill, more than S6O
billion will be cut from the welfare programs,
and other discretionary programs will be cut
by 17 percent by the year 2000.
In the 19305, President
Roosevelt created many pro
grams that helped peoplein
need and made America
stronger.
For instance, public jobs
were created to hire unem
ployed people tobuild roads,
bridges, schools, and parks.
Years later, President
Lyndon B. Johnson’s admin
istration created many oth
er programs under the
Great Saociety aimed at re
ducing poverty.
The 104th Congress saw
the enactment of many bills
by the House in 100 days.
Butifthe House hasits way
on welfare reform, teenage
mothers and their children
may be begging on Ameri
ca’s Main Streets.
Additional cuts are
threatened in child-care al
lowances, food stamps,
housing assistance, educa
Bernice Powell Jackson comments on
the environmental battle that is taking
place in Warren County, NC and other rural
areas in the U.S.
ning of a new movement —
the environmental justice
movement. It was, and is, a
movement which seeks to
end the dumping of toxic
wastes in communities of
people of color across this
nation.
Last month the Commis
sion for Racial Justice jour
neyed back to Warren Coun
ty to hear from the resi
dents what has happened
since the state did proceed
to dump PCB-laden waste
in that county. What we
heard was both frightening
and inspiring.
It seems that landfill now
has over amillion gallons of
PCB-contaminated water in
it, which had the potential
to do great damage to all. It
seems that high levels of
dioxin, which the federal
government has acknowl
edged as carcinogenic, have
been found in monitoring
wells surrounding theland
fill. It seems that there is
now an environmental cri
sis in Warren County be
cause of the moral and eth
aid and in many other ar
eas.
Congress wants to focus
the crime bill on punish
ment, when we need more
emphasis on prevention
programs that reduce crime
and prepare youngsters for
the future.
Public TV is at risk as
well, even though it is an
extraordinary asset and
deserves public support.
The Summer Youth Pro
gram is wiped out, and the
year-round job training pro
gram is slashed by $3lO
million in the House and by
$422 million in the Senate.
Job Corps, adulttraining,
and One-Stop Career Cen
ters are also affected by the
proposed spending cuts.
Other valuable programs
such as school safety, AIDS
prevention, home heating,
low-income housing subsi
- dies and many others would
ical crisis the state of North
Carolina initiated when it
forcibly sited a toxic PCB
landfill in a community be
cause it was poor and black
and disempowered.
At the meeting with War
ren County residents last
month, we heard how drink
ing water has to be brought
into the elementary school
to protect the children, how
property values have
dropped, and whatthe men
tal and spiritual impact has
been on the young people
growing up in that county.
We heard the stories of the
children, of those who en
dured much over the past
decade and who are fearful
for their own health and
that of their families. The
stories of the people were
powerful and their continu
ing commitmenttofight was
inspiring.
We also heard the voice of
another leader in the battle
for environmental justice in
this country. It wasbrought,
on tape, to the people of
Warren County from the
be heavily cut.
Congress’goals tostream
line the government, bal
ance the budget, and cut
spending are laudable.
However, Congress could
have reduced the size of
government, reducing
spending, cut taxes and
achieved many other legis
lative accomplishments
without concentrating so
many cuts on the poor.
Unlike the first 100 days
of President Roosevelt’s ad
ministration, the new Con
gress seems hell-bent on
helping those Americans
who need it least.
These cuts will drive the
poor in our cities into deep
er poverty by eliminating
crucial economic programs,
harm children by attacking
school programs, and by
making it harder for fami
lies to become self-suffi
cient.
These cuts will be dra
matically felt in every low
income community in the
nation.
The bottom line is that
this “New Deal” is a very
bad deal for America’s cit
ies.
people of rural Louisian%
It was a word of thanks t6=
the people of Warren Coufi=f
ty for their stand againgt:
injustice in their own stat®s
and for their willingness to :
lie in front of the trucks :
many years ago. It was®
word of solidarity from orte
poor community of colorjust -
beginning its fight against ©
environmental racism to a £
community of veterans in £
the struggle. ¢
Indeed, the people in For- §
est Grove and Center :
Springs, Louisiana are or- &
ganizing to fight the san@, ©
company that the Native |
American community xfi;&
Prairie Island, Minnesoޤ -
is fighting about the placé=
ment of used nuclear rod#
above the ground in thej§
community. Environmental: *
racism is alive and well ang: 3
spreading. < 3
So, while we have plang ¢
edtrees and educated mang -
Americans about the en;E 3
ronment over the past 2& &
years, there is much left § g
do. Only when environmeng, 2
taljustice hasbeen achieved: 2
in this country, when z
people live in safe, viabke' &
communities free from eca¥ &
logical destruction and de E
radation, only then can :
truly celebrate Earth Dags &
for one and all. o
