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A matter of racism?
“If Dr. Washington # e
was pot competent, At :
how did she become - i
one of the four final- ; o
ists? That woman did s = y -
not impress me as E ¢
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put on to try to get e » .
job. She just told it . e
like it was.” g{; ‘
— Kingsley Riley, ;.
Richmond County Wg
School Board .
member. i
B Black school board members
do the right thing.
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION
AUGUSTA
The 5-5 deadlock last week over selecting
Richmond County’s new school superintendent
underscores with crystal clarity the sad conse
quences of racial enmity fueled by right-wing
conservatives in the Augusta media.
Uncowed by the blatantly racist attacks
against a highly qualified candidate, Dr. Hattie
Washington of Maryland, the five black mem
bers of the Richmond County School Board held
the line, stuck together and, overnight, became
heroes in the black community.
With sickening regularity the latent xenopho
bia that exists in this community is amplified in
the Augusta Chronicle editorial pages under the
guise of “conservative” analysis. On September
14, the day that the trustees were to decide on a
: See SUPERINTENDENT, page 3
EE I e
;zfié :"«,_‘ ’ 7
Johnnie Jackson:
“The negative things about Dr.
Washington were based on a
distortion of facts. If you check
the woman'’s record and have
heard her interviews a dummy
could have concluded that the
woman was very superior. ”
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S tro Augusta's Finest Weekly Newspape
Smear campaign by white press
scuttles selection of first black super
intendent. Is black candidate for
school superintendent considered too
black and too strong for Augusta?
ol course!
n [ =
Candidate not giving up
“Think about the message being sent to the children.” |
e e e
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
' ‘ AUGUSTA
When Dr. Hattie Washington
learned that the school board was
deadlocked 5-5 between her and an
other candidate she didn’t think
much of it. g
“It was a little surprising,” she
said from her home in Maryland. “I
thought it was a little coincidental
that all of the black members voted
for nje and all of the white members
s Y
AN y i
Adna Stein:
“The only reason Kenneth
Echols said that she [Dr.
Washington] was a clone of
Jocelyn Elders is because he
knew it would scare white
folks to death.”
Locals seek to hoost march
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Don’t be surprised to see cler
gymen and representatives of
the Nation of Islam when visit
ing popular local night spots.
But they’re not there for the
music and drinks.
The Million Man March on
Washington scheduled for Oct.
16 has pulled community lead
ers away from traditional set
tings in an effort torecruit black
men for the historical event.
Called by Nation of Islam
Your local newspaper sponsored by your local grocer.
voted against. I just assumed that
they didn’t know the correct infor
mation. Then I said maybe the oth
ercandidate had better credentials.
Maybe I was just naive.”
But when she learned that the
day before the vote one of the school
board members went on a public
broadcast to say she was the worst
candidate and had never taught a
day in the classroom and the edito
rial writer from the daily newspa-
See CANDIDATE, page 2
TN .
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Andrew Jefferson:
“She is very very articulate.
She won’t sway to the whims
of certain interest groups.
That is one of the reasons
why they don’t want her.
We saw her as someone who
had the total package.”
leader Louis Farrakhan, the
marchisintended to unite black
men and promote responsibili
ty among them.
“There’sthe question of where
are all the black men,” said
Terence Dicks, Augusta branch
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored Peo
ple second vice president.
“Let’s face it. A lot of those
that aren’t in prison or in the
graveyard are in night clubs.
They have a nice little social
life, and that’s where they are,”
he said.
With this in mind, Mr. Dicks,
|
a
Dr. Washington:
“I’'m used to doing
twice as much to
get halfthe oppor
tunity.”
‘ ; '“:f»;.ézfifl:,. # ’ "
-
2B
Y.N. Myers:
“They wanted a white male. Mr.
Thomas Richie was that white
male. He and Washington were
the top two. No question about
it. When he wouldn’t come for
the money, they tried to get
number three — Mr. Smith.”
the Rev. Larry Friar, Harold X
and other march organizers have
been going to night clubs to pass
out literature and speak to par
ty-goers.
“We’re not trying to interrupt
anybody’s good time,” Mr. Dicks
said. “They go there to escape
the issues, but they need to know
what time it is.”
On a recent recruiting effort,
Mr. Dicks said some men at the
club accepted the hand-outs and
showed interest, but noone com
mitted to the march because
See MARCH, page 2
MR. 808 HENNEBERGER gy
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
WWYERBTTY 004 BULK RATE [
ATHE| s, :
: 5 bwo o | el ;
: S NO. 302
: G AUGUSTA, GA
.
, Andrea
— 8 Arceneaux to give
’ keynote address.
See Business
‘ Focus, p. 14.
Merger ok
jump-starts
candidates
B The waiting
has ended for
those ready to .
enter the fight for
seats in the new
government.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
With the U.S. Justice
Department’s nod of ap
proval last Friday on con
solidation of Augusta and
Richmond County, six Au
gusta City Council mem
bers are due refunds for
their slßl qualification fee
for seats that will no long
er exist after Dec. 31.
But for those who still
want a seat in the new
government, qualifying
will cost much more, and
winning will be much hard
er.
On Nov. 7, voters will go
to the polls to decide who
will head the new govern
THE MEETING ——
... along
racial lines!
B School board
attempts to take
care of unfinished
business.
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
“I'm not so sure I'd want
to be a superintendent for
this board,” Richmond
County School Board Pres
ident Kenneth Echols ad
mitted in the dark parking
lot after last Thursday’s
conference room skirmish.
He shook his head. “If the
10 of us can’t work togeth
er, I would hope we could
get 10 more board mem
bers.”
Mr. Echols was one of
the four white trustees who
“picked up their marbles”
and tried to go home when
the meeting turned into a
snarling free-for-all of
name-calling and innuen
do.
After the board bulleted
through the committee dis
cussions in a rare half
hour, Trustee Jeff Annis
planted his elbows on the
table and moved that Ttem
14, the last on the agenda,
be taken care of first. Head
ed “unfinished business,”
it was the task of appoint
ment. Not considering new
comers, many of the 22
county and city incumbents,
including Mayor Charles A.
DeVaney, will battle among
themselves over 11 seats.
Based on Richmond
County Board of Education
Districts, here’s how the
competition stands:
District 1: Willie Mays,
Colis Ivey, Margaret
Armstrong, James Tarver,
Lee Beard, C.S. Hamilton
and J.R. Hatney.
District 2: Freddie
Handy and Kathleen
Beasley.
District 3: Lee Neel,
Travers Paine, Gerald
Woods, William Calhoun
and Carolyn Usry.
District 4: Moses Todd.
District 5: Henry
Brigham, Melvin Ford and
See MERGER, page 2
RAR PR R R
e . e MR
Voters okay
1% sales tax
ing the next Richmond
County Superintendent of
Schools.
Vice President Andrew
Jefferson, who sits next to
Mr. Annis and frequently
whispers back and forth
with him during meetings,
seconded the motion. It
passed quickly and unani
mously.
Mr. Annis then nominat
ed Dr. William Edward
4 ™
Kenneth Echols, Rich
mond County School
Board President: “I’'m
not so sure I’d want to
be a superintendent for
this board.”
Smith Jr., to be voted “yes”
or “no” by each member.
Mr. Jefferson sat up. “We
already agreed,” he said, to
a roll-call vote. He was re
ferring to a “substitute mo
tion” of his, wherein each
trustee would vote on a fa-
See MEETING, page 9