Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, May 30, 1996, Image 2

Augusta focus., May 30, 1996, Page 2, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2 May 30, 1996 AUGUSTA FOCUS World View S B R R T B e e Guyana citizens unite in symbolic act favoring improved race relations GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) In an attempt to ease ra cial tension in this former British colony, thousands of Guyanese lined the streets joining hands with neighbors in a peaceful act calling for racial unity. Although noracial riots between the rival East Indian and Afro communities have broken out in nearly 30 years, citizens have been wary if increased tensions, espe cially after the 1992 election vic tory by the Indian-dominated People Progressive Party. Race riots between the two groups in the 19605, which re sulted in more than 150 dead and led to massive migration to Brit ain, left a scar that has not easily healed. Racial disputes at sports venues or bars are still fairly com- BWIA puliout threatens Grenada’s tourism industry ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP)Grenada’s struggling tour ism industry is bracing for an otherblow -the pullout of another airline from its market. Last month Carib Express, a commuter airline shut down, but over the weekend, British West Indies Airways, better known as BWIA, will suspendall of its flights to Grenada by the end of June as part of a cost-cutting plan. Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, under whose tenure the tourism industry has nose-dived due to, among other things, accused BWIA officials of being “near sighted”in trying tosolveits fiscal problems. “The answer is not to cut back : iy < Ciim R G N Y " en N / i 3’s“»* , ! N N o e R B iR O O bl / B - we’re . RN | ‘ iR e G S you. (é“ g T\ At Georgia Power, our commitment ﬁ X is to keep the electricity on, every i A T\ | { day ~ . So if a storm or other emergency %); «, causes a power outage, our repair i o ] crews work as quickly as they can to | S ey restore everybody's power. l o We follow a restoration plan that gives P S APR R G R R ATt e . & B N\ ERGER Vel . o ~ First, we restore hospitals, nursing homes : . e : e ; o : : -7 and other emergency services, such as fire o i . and police stations. We give special atten . e o BRI RV (ol TR Mol (ot oz Ucße Tl 115 . W%” support needs. Next we focus on repairs that ' ‘. / will restore service to the greatest pumber of - } S ‘ g customers at one time. We continue repairs S until power is restored to evéryone. T We would like' to restore everybody's power @ immediately. But until we can, we'll be out there : working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So if your power goes out or if you have questions e about your service, please call us at 404-325-4001 ey or 1-800-870-3942, day or night. We’re On For You. . g We Sell Efficiency. ; : Ao Equal Opportunity Employer, . Help celebrate Augusta’s 260th anniversary. Attend the program at St. Paul’s on Thursday, June 6. mon. Upon his election in 1992, President Cheddi Jagan ap pointed a committee to study race relations problems. Sunday’s hand-holding act, dubbed as “Hands Uniting Guyana,” sparked promises of committee report be ing filed for parliamentary con sideration “in the coming months.” Meanwhile, thousands joined hands in downtown Georgetown Sunday - which coincided with the celebration of the 30th anni versary of Guyana’sindependence -tomark the start ofa “new erain a tension-less country.” “The mood I am in today, I will joining hands with anybody,” Shiela Singh, a downtown sales clerk. “Thope this spiritis notonly for today.” and get out. The answer is to get moreinvolved in terms of market ing and other aspects of tourism development,” Mitchell said. Mitchell vowed to seek another solution. Grenada’s economy has hit sev eral potholes over the last six months. A mealy-bug infestation threatened its banana and nutmeg crops and last year’s active hurri cane season resulted in a lower than-usual winter tourism season. BWIA vice-president Dennis Philbert said BWIA was refocus ing its schedule in favor of longer flightstoyield to Leeward Islands Air Transport, known as LIAT, to travel the shorter island-hopping routes. : Jackson Lee encourages efforts to solve recent African-American church fires By Timothy Cox AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer While the federal government’s efforts to solve a string of un solved church fires took new di rectionsin the past couple weeks, so did the career of a Congress woman from Texas. Like her predecessor and fellow Texan the late Barbara Jordan, U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jack son Lee was quite the orator during May 21 House Judiciary hearings. The discussion centered on determining whether federal and state law enforcement is doing an adequate job in solving an increasing number of arson at tacks on African-American churches. The untold story at the hear ings was the impact two African- American congresswomen hadon ensuring conversation during the hearings didn’t border on rheto ric and stayed focused on solving the mysterious crimes. While Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is a senior stateswoman and has Schools play catch-up in South Carolina From page one tending a missionary school near Peak, said blacks could get a de cent education. “I guess for the length of time they had, they did very well,” she says, remembering that black schools often had shorter school days and school years. Bolden attended Columbia’s Booker T. Washington High l .-.‘l.‘ o | \ | | : é ” e S ik P ! \ et Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) appears to be on track for a successful political career. earned a reputation for not biting hertongue, thesurprisecamein the form of Ms. Jackson Lee. Outside the(D.C.) Beltway and her constituency in Houston, the former Houston City council woman is virtually unknown. School but had to leave the state to receive a degree in library sci ence. The only South Carolina college that offered such courses was Winthrop, and it was for white women only. Experts sayeducationisn’t the only area that still needs work. One hundred years ago, blacks began to lose their electoral edge in South Carolina. Black law makers elected after Reconstruc tion were dwindling. Through the years, white-only REPAIR YOUR CREDIT SLOW CREDIT sNO CREDIT BANKRUPTCY » DIVORCE REPOSSESSION ' WE CAN HELP! CALL JOHN DUFFY ON OUR CREDIT 'HOTLINE TODAY! 736-5500 JAUGUSTA R MITSUBISHI eR et NERENCY MALL However, after last week’s per formance which aired nationally on C-Span2, it’s almost certain she’ll remain in the forefront for many years to come. During a heated portion of the hearings, both congresswomen seemingly tag-teamed represen tatives from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Representative Jackson Lee prefaced her statements by say ing the only difference in the Waco (Texas) hearings and the church fire proceedings was that no one was crying at these hear ings. “That is, not yet,” she said. “I want to make sure that ev eryone realizes how serious this is. My churches are being de stroyed. Burned churches, burned history. “The emotion is that [ am in panic that we have your limited attention.” She said she didn’t want to wake up and find “a bloody mess,” before the arsons were solved. primaries and political parties that catered to whites caused blacks tolose politically. Even as late as the 19205, blacks weren’t allowed to walk across the State house grounds. Black legislators returned to the Legislature in 1971. The state’s first black congressman came two decades later. Rather than describing legis lation in racial terms, Hill says politicians talk about class. Because blacks often are poorer Congresswoman Jackson Lee was elected to the 104th Congress in 1994 and represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas. She has a juris doctorate from the Virginia School of Law and an undergraduate degree in po litical science from Yale. She serves on the judiciary committee’s crimesubcommittee. The hearings were structured to decide whether the federal gov ernment and state agencies are workingsufficiently toarrestthose responsible for a growing number of church fires in the U.S. At least 13 such arsons have been reported in South Carolina. Locally, three churches were torchedin Barnwell, S.C. on April 13. Noarrests havebeen made in those cases. The judiciary committee ques tioned a panel that includes Deval Patrick, deputy attorney general; Tron Brekke, chief, FBI Civil Rights Programs; John MaGaw, director, Bureau of ATF and Robert Stewart, chiefof State Law Enforcement Division(S.C.). than whites — 8.5 percent of whites are poor, compared with 31.4 percent of blacks — bills on educational equity and social welfare spending can carrysubtle racial subtexts, Hill says. Bill Dufford, a retired educa tor who worked to smooth inte gration during the 19605, says everyone must understand past inequalities. “We're first going to have to sit down and deal with history,” Dufford says.