Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, January 18, 1996, Image 8

Augusta focus., January 18, 1996, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page Text8 January 18, 1996 The fightihg spirit of this gentle lady will be missed We are saddened at the news of the death of former Congresswom an Barbara Jordan. The cause for human progress and civil rights will miss a stalwart com petitor. What follows is a state ment by Democratic National Chairman Chris Doss and Na tional Democratic Chairman Don Fowler on the death of Ms. Jor dan: The Democratic Party mourns the loss of one of the nation’s premier public servants. Known for her eloquent oratorical skills, Congresswoman Jordan was one of the first African American law makers elected to Congress from the South since Reconstruction. Her service to the Democratic Party was faithful and undying, beginning in 1960 in the Kennedy-Johnson campaign where she licked stamps and ad dressed envelopes. She champi oned the interests not just of Tex ans but of all Americans from the state legislature to the halls of Congress. Congresswoman Jordan never failed to inspire; her unshakable faith in the Constitution raised the conscience of the nation dur- Congratulations to Melvyn J. Williams The recent election of Floyd Adamsin Savannahis anindica tion of the clout being wielded by black publishers of weekly news papers. A couple of weeksbefore Adams was sworn in, Williams, publish er of the Macon Courier, a black weekly, was sworn in as a mem ber of the Macon City Council. Williams s past First Vice Pres ident and board member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Williams was able to put to gether a coalition of Republicans and Democrats and black and white voters to lead a field of Democrats in capturing 69 per cent of the vote in his first effort toserve on the Macon City Coun cil. AugustalFOCUS Since 1981 A Walker Group Publication 1143 Laney Walker Blvd. AUGUSTA FOCUS N ingthe Watergate hearings when she declared, ‘My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is com plete; it is total.’ Congresswoman Jordan, the gentle lady from Texas, was a moral compass to our nation, a powerful embodiment of our greatest traditions and our deep est aspirations. Her powerful presence and towering intellect made a lasting impression on all of us. Who can forget her stirring keynote address at the 1976 Dem ocratic National Convention and herrepeat performance some six teen years later when she chal lenged delegates and the nation: ‘We need to change the decaying inner cities from decay to places where hope lives.’ Later this year, Democrats will gather in Chicago to rededicate ourselves to the purposes of jus tice to which Barbara Jordan dedicated herselfthroughout her life. There will be an empty spot ! in the United Center where Con- | gresswoman Jordan should be, | but a fullness in our hearts be- | cause her memory is always with | us. | The nation’s eyes were focused on Macon when a band of local citizens, primarily Republicans, sought to unseat the Democrati cally-controlled Macon City Council. The front-page articles in national newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal, predict ed that the effort supported by House Speaker Newt Gingrich and party-line Republicansinthe state would profoundly change politics in Georgia. While Republican campaign contributions came from across the nation, and in support of the effort to capture control of the city government in Macon, the fourteen Democratically-held seats on the fifteen person board remained virtually intact. - 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 GOING PLACES By J. Philip Waring ’ Clinton visit to state, Brown funeral cap busy MLK week s many things were happening A during a busy mid-January, we had to suddenly switch the stance of Going Places. When a president of the United States visits one’s state, basic ethics and courte sy demand due respect and attention be accorded. His name may be Nixon, Bush or Clinton. Earlier this week President Clinton visited Atlanta. His purpose for coming included an inspection of the major sites of the centennial of the Olympics, which will be a mere seven months from now. (Incidentally, over one billion dollars, in cluding some federal funds, have been used to virtually rebuild this city.) Still another goal was to meet and dialogue with Olympics president Billy Payne. ' Yet another purpose was to visit Ebenezer Baptist Church — where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached —speak from its pulpit, and meet Dr. King’s fam ily and friends. This was business, and within proper scope of a president’s ordi THIS WAY FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT By Dr. Lenora Fulani Why the white independent needs the black voter in ’96 uch is being written these days M about the new constituency in American politics —the white independent. Some call this constitu ency the moderate middle. Others call it the radical center. Still others identi fy a split in which wealthier whites are the moderate middle and more blue collar whites are the radical center. But, whichever it is, the white independent voter now numbered at 25% and 35% of the electorate is the most sought after voterin America. The Republicans tried to coopt them in 1994 with a pro-term limits, pro-political and fiscal reform program, much of which has been aban doned by the Contract with America in favor of traditional GOP budget cuts. The Democrats thought their control of Congress was so strong, that they never bothered to figure out how to appeal to the independent, and so the Republi cans pulled the rug right out from under them. That is why a national panic has now seized the Democratic Party, and 15 Democratic members of the House and eight Democratic memb sos the Senate have announced thei retire ment this year, almost twice as many retirements as the Republicans. Independent white voters are the big wild card. Everyone wants them. But what do they want? How does that new independent bloc most influence Amer ican politics? How do the white inde pendents, the moderate middle, the rad ical center, go beyond being merely the swing vote between the corrupt and discredited Republican and Democratic Parties to having the numbers to be come a bona fide majoritarian force for grassroots democracy, for taking con trol of a government that is supposed to belong to the American people, but doesn’t? How can white independent voters create a coalition to empower themselves? By hooking up with us. Whatever you may have thought about | GOVERNMENTQFICESIADLOCKED | 5 - O T RS : :,'; h-“-:;‘.“—‘{' s ¥ o mMAII’BE 'Té A 8 B | / TIME WE | i i 5 il N B /) = CHANGE . g | (, OUR IMAGE. i/ ; i B 2 g ”ﬂ' . —— : A\ & e . T ‘f E%gl - il {::;, el | \ oz / Y/ F AL TV dA o, S g Ty A e ; BY PETERS FOR TI';E DAYTON DAILY NEWS, OHIO nary outlets. But comic and activist Dick Gregory may have motivated the audience to turn this visit into a partisan political rally with sudden vigorous shouts of “Four more years!” None of the White House staffers looked worried or jumped up in angry words to say, “Please, please stop friends; stop your heartfelt rally and feel ings on this subject.” There were all kinds of wonderful pho tosin the national press and on television of this handsome president’s unerring and timely Atlanta visit, Newt Gingrich notwithstanding. During the past week I had the good fortune to parti-ciﬂtev in ‘seVeral ,;gﬁnfé: Martin Luther King programs in ‘the Augusta area. They included (1) the an nual Veterans’ Administration program, with my friend Dr. Leslie Pollard of Paine College delivering atimely, smooth-paced address to a standing-room crowd; (2) the yearly NAACP King Day Parade; (3) the annual Augusta College program featur The bottom line is this: the independent white center needs Blacks in order to go somewhere. Blacks need the independent white center in order to have somewhere to go. General Colin Powell and his now-de funct presidential candidacy, he made a most perceptive observation when he said of Black America’s relationship to the Democrats, I think it is in the inter est of the country, and in the interest of African Americans, to have that hold shaken loose, so that African Ameri cans have a greater choice and can pick from more than one option to satisfy their political needs, and to make sure their needs are taken care of. General Powell was undoubtedly thinking that the Republican Party would be that option. Of course, without him as the candidate, the prospects for pulling the Black vote to the GOP are scant, even with a Powell endorsement of the even tual Republican nominee. But Powell is quite correct in identify ing that it would be in the interests of Black people and of the country for us to have more options. Black sentiment in favor of a third party has been visible for over a decade. After Jesse Jackson’s first run for the presidency in 1984, a poll conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan showed that 57% of Blacks who had voted later for Rev. Jackson would have voted for him if he had run as an independent. Ten years later, those statistics matured into the 1994 polls which showed that 57% of African Americans favored the creation ing the presidents of AC, Paine College, and the Medical College of Georgia; (4) the 22nd NAACP Martin Luther King Freedom Fund Dinner with Dr. William Gibson as speaker to a standing-room only audience. The Adrienne Brown funeral Lastly, I attended the funeral of Adrienne Brown with almost 1,000 peo ple, white and black, from all over the nation, at the Imperial Theatre. The af fair was supervised by Charles Reid Me morial Mortuary. This massive service was handled with smoothness, pride and dignity. It moved with pomp and circum stance, in the tradition and music of old “time Southern black Baptist funerals. James Brown, weeping, shook hands and personally greeted many attendees right after the funeral. Much praise was heaped on Adrienne’s many good works, especially how she recarpeted the front of Trinity CME Church and bought uniforms for the youth baseball team. God bless you, Adrienne. of a third party. Add to those statistics Minister Louis Farrakhan’s enthusiastic call to the Million Man March and all Black Amer icans to create an independent third force, and we have a situation where Black voters are ready to establish our selves in a new political alliance. But can Black voters and white inde pendents become real partners? Many ofthose radical centrists who supported Ross Perot in 1992 did so as a way to attack the relentless growth of big gov ernment and big deficits that were fund ing massive programs that did little to develop the nation. Among African Americans, Latinos, gays and other tra ditionally pro-big government constitu encies, an approach which replaces the 30-year pattern of blatantly politicized spending (the Democratic Party used the War on Poverty to install a highly controlled patronage infrastructure, not to end poverty) with direct citizens de mocracy has considerable appeal. You may have seen the C-SPAN broadcast of the independent Patriot Party conven tionin Minneapolislast spring, at which I'told the Black delegates gathered that I'would not return to the African-Amer ican community with the traditional promises ofgovernment-funded jobs and teen-pregnancy programs, but with a plan to restructure the political process toempower them and all Americans. In return, I said, I needed a clear state ment from the white delegates that the Black community would not only be welcome, but would be sought after by the Party. Both Blacks and whites were enormously supportive of what I had to say. The bottom line is this: the indepen dent white center needs Blacks in order to go somewhere. Blacks need the inde pendent white center in order to have somewhere to go.