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November 9, 1995 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Time for honors and change
imely honors coming for Dr. Mac
I Bowman
As you prepare your pre-Christ
mas calendar, please jot in Sunday, Dec.
10, 3 p.m., for the new Bethel AMC Church
for the annual Alpha Phi Alpha Founder's
Day Program. Tracy Williams Jr. invites
you to attend. Dr. Mac Andrew Bowman
will give the Founder’s Day address. This
highly accomplished physician will also
receive some very special honors.
Congratulations new governmental
team
Now that the November elections have
passed, with fairly good turnouts, let’s all
joinhands and move forward together and,
with this new government, work together
for Georgia’s second largest and highly
historic city. And of course, congratula
tions to our new Mayor-Commissioner
Larry Sconyers who will head this new
governmental team. Augusta can also
play an important role in the September
1996 post-Olympic period with a 260th
birthday observance here.
Our well-known friend Floyd Adams Jr.,
publisher of the Savannah Herald and a
former NAACP official, pushes incumbent
Mayor Mrs. Susan Weiner into a Savan
nah runoff election later this month. In
other places around the South, the Demo
crats were significantly successful in halt
ing the GOP surge that started in Novem
ber 1994. While this column is written
prior to Colin Powell’s presidential an
nouncement, I personally hope that he will
FOCUS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
AR
Ol 3 ichment
here are a number of reasons why
I African-Americans should look for
ward to the 1996 Summer Olympic
Games in Atlanta. We can focus on eco
nomic opportunity and cultural opportuni
ty. Both are needed by all people, but those
of color can certainly benefit this time
around.
It takes' more of an effort to share “the
pot.” It is not all that important whether
the initiative is of governmental origin.
The important factor must be in allowing
entrepreneurial access to all who seek it.
The “hand out” need only be a welcoming
gesture. What could be more democratic?
The opportunity to make money is there,
from the sidewalk vendor to the small
businesstothelarge operation. The South
east, the South, the Nation, the World; all
surely with a large enough population of
African-AMericans to take full advantage.
The drive has to come from within. Now
is the time to prepare and to plan. It can
and should take place in churches, busi
ness groups, African-American colleges and
universities, in casual conversation. We
have too often made the mistake of keeping
our economic hopes too much to ourselves.
A few people have succeeded; a few busi
nesses have succeeded. We require more
than that to succeed. We should know that
the time is right, that we need only the
right project. The Olympic Games are a
once-in-a-lifetime project, but it can mean
so much to our economic life as a people, in
whole andin part. African-Americans must
have that understanding.
What we should also understand and
know as we view the participantsin the’96
Olympic Games is that the majority of the
world’s population is “of color.” We do not
need to wait every four years to note that
fact. Our history books may have obscured
it and our media may have ignored it;
however, the obvious can never be com
pletely hidden. For those of us not privi
leged to be world travelers, what an oppor
tunity to learn it will be, if only we will.
The people so damaged in their history
and heritage, African Americans, stand to
gain the most with exposure to the rich
beauty of our African creed or any of the
Since 1981
A Walker Group Publication
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
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QAE
IS
"Now that the November
elections have passed, with
fairly good turnouts, let’s all join
hands and move forward to
gether and, with this new gov
ernment, work together for
Georgia’s second largest and
highly historic city,” suggests
columnist J. Philip Waring.
say “yes” to the candidacy and “yes” on a
new third party. That will give ample time
for “Slick Willie” Clinton to start other
maneuvers to save Medicare, Social Secu
rity and similar programs from being swept
past the so-called safety net and eventual
ly down the drain. What do you think?
Both Ebony and Focus contain good
features
Did you get the 50th anniversary copy of
Ebony and last week’s copy of the Novem
ber 2-8 edition of the Augusta Focus? The
Focus spotlighted its publisher, staff work
ers, volunteers, founding advisors and
much more. It will include some exciting
additional writers from afar. Last weeks
edition also contained a most intriguing
account of Dr. Vivian U. Robinson’s recent
trip to the U.N. meeting in China. Ebony
and Augusta Focus are also good bets for
Christmas gifts.
"What we should also under
stand and know as we view the
participants in the ‘96 Olympic
Games is that the majority of the
world’s population is ‘of color,””
says Lawrence Harrison. "We
do not need to wait every four
years to note that fact. Our
history books may have ob
scured it and our media may
have ignored it; however, the
obvious can never be com
pletely hidden.”
majestic factors of this Earth that is not
European. It will not be diminishing any
one group, but it will be acknowledging
that we all can be great. Who can say that
African-Americans as a group knew that
all along? One summer will not change
everyone and one event may not matter to
many minds that have been conditioned
over hundreds of years, but if just a few are
opened, if just a few young ones can see the
light, it would have been worthwhile; worth
while not to any one people, simply to all
people.
It will be not whojumps the highest, runs
the fastest, or which team wins at what
game; it will be in how we see each other in
commonalty. Granted, we have not done
that nationally anywhere in the world. The
essential hopeis that we can dosowhenthe
stage is the whole world. Do we really have
any other choice? When one part of the
whole seeks to destroy another part of the
whole, the only result is that the whole is
weakened and limited. Our legacy must
changed from our doves of peace and unity
being killed and our hawks of war and
separation being glorified and extended. It
has not served us very well. A season of
playing games will not cure us but, if weare
lucky, it will offer us a Divine hope and ease
our collective conscience. It is the best we
can ask for.
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
Dot T. Ealy
Marketing Director
Rhonda Jones
Copy Editor
Rhonda Y. Maree
Reporter
Derick Wells
Art Director
Lillian Wan
Layout /Graphics Specialist
Sheila Jones
Office Manager/ Sales Rep.
Jimmy Carter
Circulation / Photography
Editorial
he topic of race rela-
I tions is on everyone’s
lips for the moment.
It is a time when a million
African-American men send
the signal that they will not
sitidly by and be stereotyped,
written off and forgotten.
Thanks to the O.J.
Simpson Case, it is a time
whenmillions of white Amer
icansare confronted with our
nation’sdiffering perceptions
about the criminal justice
system. Itis a time when a
horribly misleading, inaccu
rate, but brilliantly written
and dangerous book pro
nouncing the end of racism
gets great media coverage,
while a powerfully moving,
insightful and frightening
book on poor children of color
living in the South Bronx
gets little, if any, note.
Eventsofthe autumn have
‘made race relations, racism
and racial justice the issue of
the moment. But the more
important question for the
national conversation is not
whether race is the issue of
the moment, but whether it
will be the issue of the rest of
the century. Assome clamor
for a 1990’s Kerner Commis
sion study on race in Ameri
ca even though the 1968 re
porthasbeenall butignored,
the more important matter
for our nation is what we
plan to do about the educa
tional inequities, about the
Madia ohecessd with hlack nsse
America’s media is politi
cally obsessed with black
men. first was O.J. Simpson.
Next was Minister Louis
Farrakhan. Now, it's Gener
al Colin Powell. Why? Be
cause beyond the sensation
alism that the media has
generated, each of these fig
ures has revealed profound
and intensifying national
antagonisms. Mr. Simpson’s
trial uncovered that the
chasm between black and
white America is more cav
ernous than most anyone
(white) was willing to admit.
Minister Farrakhan’s elec
trifying Million Man March
revealed that Black America
is standing at the edge of
that precipice, unsure about
whether and how to try to
crossoverit. The prospective
presidential run by Mr.
Powell has the political pro
fessionals in an uproar over
the impact his candidacy
might have on an unstable
political structure which is
already deeply unpopular
with the voters. And they
have yet really consider the
potential political clout that
his entry into the race could
confer on Black voters.
Does this mean that
Powell, should hebecomethe
Republican nominee, would
realignthe Black voter tothe
G.O.P.?Notnecessarily. The
Republican Party has noth
ing to offer African Ameri
cans, even with Powell on
the ticket. The impact of a
Powell candidacy will be far
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B N o DR A R
BY BORGMAN FOR THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
Race relations takes front seat
"Thanks to the O.J. Simpson Case, it is a
time when millions of white Americans are
confronted with our nation’s differing per
ceptions about the criminal justice system,”
notes Bernice Powell Jackson. "It is a fime
when a horribly misleading, inaccurate, but
brilliantly written and dangerous book pro
nouncing the end of racism gets great
media coverage, while a powerfully mov
ing. insightful and frightening book on poor
children of color living in the South Bronx
gets little, if any, note.”
housing segregation, about
the lack of economic devel
opment in communities of
color that we already know
exist across this nation
The most important ques
tion is not what are we say
ing about race relations and
racial justice, but what are
we going to do about the fact
that we are still twonations,
separate and unequal.
Evenaslwrite this, I have
a telephone message from a
graduate student suffering
from racism on her campus.
When I call back, I hear the
same story I heard from an
other African-American
woman on the same campus
last year — a story of misun
derstanding, a story of pain
and a story of a deep gulf
even among our young peo
ple. Racismis alive and well
"Mr. Powell has the political professionals
in an uproar over the impact his candidacy
might have on an unstable political struc
ture which is already deeply unpopular with
the voters. And they have yet really consid
e the potential political clout that his entry
info the race could confer on Black voters,”
observes Jacqueline Salit.
more complicated than a
mereintra-two party switch.
How so?
First, the rumored pros
pects for an independent bid
for the presidency by Powell
now seem dim. If hehad gone
the independent road, he
certainly would have pulled
millions of African Ameri
can voters out of a 60-year
“bad marriage” to the Demo
cratic Party and into a new
partnership with he white
center. (If you don’t think it
was a bad marriage, take
another look at the Million
Man March. It was the fail
ure of the liberal Democrats
to deliver on their promise to
end poverty and racism that
brought Minister Farrakhan
and a million black men to
the edge of that precipice.
That’s why the Minister
called on Black America to
politically reshape itself as
an independent third force.)
But even the Republican
route promises to reshape
politics-as-we-know-it. If
Powell runs and wins as a
Republican hewillinthelong
in America, and perhaps
even growing.
What are we as individu
als prepared to do about it?
What are we as parts of insti
tutions prepared to do about
it? How can we really wres
tle with this demon which so
few want to admit still lurks
beneath both public and pri
vate relationships?
One group has taken up
the challenge. Iris Filmsisa
Berkeley, California based
group which has produced a
series of videotapes showing
reallife college students talk
ing about race and confront
ing their own race-related
beliefs and practices. Called
“Skin Deep and Talking
About Race,” these tapes
show the students dealing
honestly and openly and
sometimes painfully with
run,ifnotthe shortrun, split
the party. No less an expert
onintra-Republican warfare
than Pat Buchananhas fore
cast it. And some scenarios
suggest that his description
may bea prescription aswell.
Consider this.
Colin Powell enters the
Republican Party primary
and by March 7, the date of
the New York contest, it is
crystal clear that he will be
thenominee. Pat Buchanan,
with he political and finan
cial support of the Christian
Coalition abandons his Re
publican run and hurriedly
assembles an independent
bid. With a lot of money and
a riled-up Republican right
wing, he can assess all 50
ballots, switch his primary
matching funds eligibility
over to his third party run,
and stay in the game big
time.
Meanwhile, the new Inde
pendent Party (known as
Reform in some states) cata
lyzed and funded by Ross
Perot, has been creating a
new party infrastructure
~
each other during a week
end retreat. It is accompat
nied by a workbook facilita
tion guide which has been
put together by a number of
college educators and which
can be used in showing the
films to other groups. 8
If our colleges and univery
sities produce the next gen
eration of leaders for our
nation, then no student
should be able to graduate
from college or from gradus
ate school without having
had such an educational ex+
perience. No business lead:
er, no educator, no clergy
person, no scientist, no art
ist, no government leader
no community leader of the
21st century should havé
graduated from college with:
out having had to examine
the impact of race on thein
own experience and outlaok;
Only if our colleges and
universities take this chal4
lenge seriously can our na
tion be prepared for the next;
century — a century where
there will be no racial/ethnic
majority in this nationi
W.E.B. Dußois predicted
thatrace would be the signife
icant issue for our natior’
during this century. Only if
our nation’s future leaders;
are prepared to deal with it;
in the next generation can;
we really hope to deal with
race relations and racial jus-,
tice during the next one. -
which will be prepared to
choose an independent pres<
idential candidate atamega+
Town Hall meeting-style!
national convention in Aub
gust. Faced with he prospect
of aliberal-moderate Repub-'-
lican deserted by 45% of the
party, a respectable right
wing populist independent
and Bill Clinton, the Pero
party chooses a ticket aime
at grabbing white populis
pro-independent Republi
cans, white independents
who want to build a broad
based third party thatisnon
ideological, and African
Americans and other voters
from the Democratic Party’s
liberal wing who feel be
trayed by liberalism and who
think Bill Clinton is a loser.
Maybe that ticket is Lowell
Weicker and Ross Perot.
Maybeit’s Weicker and Jesse
Jackson. Or maybe it’s Jack
son/Perot.
Inanyevent, this four-way
race has the political profes
sionalsreeling. The two-par
ty system as we know it is
way off the map. Everybody
wants the Black vote, be
cause with white America _
split four ways, Black Amer- |
ica becomes the deciding sac- |
tor. No wonder the national |
obsessiorl is with racial is- |
sues. they are on the cutting |
edge of the country’s politi- |
cal future. 5
Jacqueline Salit is a polit- |
ical consultant for indepen
dent candidacies and par- |
ties. o