Newspaper Page Text
ETUTERTT P J
i : : é <._‘m :
; - " ST :
S ona b Page 3
Showdown expected in
civic center GM choice
B The next civic center general man
ager is expected to win by a razor-thin
margin. All of the candidates have
favorably impressed the Coliseum Au
thority Board, but acting general man
ager Linda Roberts may be the candi
‘date to beat.
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
For months now the com
munity has been clamoring
for the selection of a perma
nent general managertorun
Newspaper study reveals:
Blacks pay higher
home insurance
_ ATLANTA
(AP) Black homeowners
in Atlanta pay twice as
much in some cases to in
sure their homes as do
homeowners in the sub
urbs, according to a pub
lished report.
The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution reported in
Sunday’s editions that its
study of insurance rates
also showed that the up
scale, mostly white en
clavesofnortheast Atlanta
often get price breaks that
equally well-to-do black
neighborhoods don’t re
ceive.
The report said a house
with standard coverage in
Gwinnett County will cost
$349 a year with one com
pany, while the same com
pany charges $705 for the
INSIDE
- %a 0
. T
.¥ ; .
i b i b
L A . i
b e 7 § i B
N L
G :
/‘3% = ‘v
o -00
N W
‘Jubilaeus’ unvelled. See Artßeat, .8
m' . ynl
ee e i
M World/National News ........ccccceveininnnn 2
M Local/Regional News ...........cccovverennen. 3
B POODIE. oo orireiastonsmsiniporssassssusassiods &
DAR . s cannataivs B R
MBS ol ey B
B A Clonelrßook il i msiinigareny B
B BDOLEBLii..o. viccinersssoinnspisivposnevsisasiuiintn I
B Church News ........cccccnvvensevassucsiencnnes 14
B L isiniiivsperabsininiin S
B Classifieds ........c.ccooeivscsenisisnnisenes 20-21
Analysis and
Interpretation
the civic-center complex. A
selection is at hand. Three
finalists have been inter
viewed and on July 16 one
will become the new general
“It’s obvious that minorities pay
more to insure their homes, and
just because insurance companies
have always done business this
way isn’t good enough anymore.”
— Lyndon Wade, president of the
Atlanta Urban League.
same house in a black At
lanta neighborhood.
“It’s obvious that minori
ties pay more to insure their
homes, and just because
insurance companies have
always done business this
way isn’t good enough any
more,” said Lyndon Wade,
president of the Atlanta
Urban League.
Insurance companies say
they charge morein the city
because it costs more to op
~ JULY 4 -10,1996 VOL. XVN0.758
- Augqusta
o Mflflawsususmis*:mfit b
manager.
Ironically, whether or not
a selection will actually be
made hinges on the actions
of Coliseum Authority chair
man William Calhoun.
Sources close to the Author
ity are saying that none of
the three candidates have a
lock on the job, but that
whether or not Mr. Calhoun
votes could have a bearing
on the outcome.
Here’s the scenario that’s
being discussed behind
closed doors by those close to
the civic-center issue. Ofthe
threecandidates, Linda Rob
erts, actinggeneral manager,
erate there, due to more
crime, more fires and
more risks.
The report was based
on information filed by
insurers with the state.
1t showed, for example,
that Allstate’s rate for a
$125,000 brick home
ranged from $349-$399
in portions of Cobb,
Gwinnett, DeKalb and
See INSURANCE, page 2
RACE MATTERS
The outrage, terror and talk of fire
Despite declarations of sorrow and distance from the acts of church burnings and the offer from a few whites
to help rebuild a few structures, there is a long-overdue need to confront a systemic and pervasive racism.
By Maulana Karenga
Special to AUGUSTA FOCUS
Discussing unspeakable acts
of horror and revulsion is al
ways difficult, This is so not
only because we often lack ad
equate words to describe them,
but alsobecause weoftenlack a
clear understanding of their
nature, motivation and mean
ing. The 18-month-long spate
of black church burnings pre
sents us with such a case and
with the painful and urgent
challenge to define it and put a
quick and decisive end to it.
An initial problem of discus
sion, after the shock and out
rage, is the difficulty of discuss
ing the experiences of people of
color in appropriate and dig
nity-affirming terms in a ra
ciallyhierarchical society. Both
the media and academy seem
unequipped to discuss the ex
periences and aspirations of
people of color in terms that
would reflect an equality of sta
tus and worthiness of equal re
gard.
Thus, the ethical issues in
volved are reduced to declara-
has the best chance of being
selected. While all three of
the candidates are qualified,
according to several of the
Coliseum Authority mem
bers who were polled, none
stand head and shoulders
above the field. Ms. Roberts
has favorably impressed a
significant number of Coli
seum Authority members
and has broad public sup
port despite distorted media
coverage.
“I could work with any of
the candidates,” said Author
ity member Joe Scott. “The
big problem is the board
members. I'm not sure the
Hart asks why only
she was targeted
Danielle Robinson
AUGUSTA FOCUS News Intern
AUGUSTA
Five Superior Court
judges on the Augusta Ju
dicial Circuit are up for re
election. Judge Bettieanne
C. Hart is the only one run
ning opposed, and she won
ders why.
As the only female and
only African American on
the bench, Judge Hart says
her opponents see her as
vulnerable.
“There is a feeling that
the black community would
notcomeoutandvote,” says
Hart, “and that the citizens
are not sensitive enough to
family issues.”
Unlike her opponents, the
Spelman College alumna
says she has a keen interest
in her job in the domestic
relations division of the
court circuit and believes
The burning
i\ of African
' " hasalong
genealogy
\) in US. history.
ORI
tions of sorrow and distance
from the acts; the political is
sues to a few whites helping to
rebuild a few physical struc
tures rather than the overdue
need to confront a systemic
racism which breeds the worst
of human thoughts and acts.
In spite of the tendency, and
for some the need, to deny the
racist aspect of the burnings,
this recognition is central to
understanding them. The
burnings then are first of all
acts of racism, as surely as the
burning of a synagogue would
be considered an anti-Jewish
act. This is evidenced not only
others feel that way.”
“The candidates are all
good,” said Board member
Ernie Bowman. “They all
work in facilities that are in
some way subsidized by lo
cal tax revenues.”
Authority member B.d.
Blackwood agreed that the
interviews went well, but
would not comment beyond
that.
Two schools of thought
seem to be prevalent. One
school supports Roberts be
cause she has the same
qualifications as the other
See COLISEUM, page 3
s
Judge Bettieanne Hart:
“There is a feeling that
the black community
would not come out and
vote.”
family court is a serious re
sponsibility.
She also says that, as an
African American, she can
See HART, page 3
in the fact that virtually all the
churches burned are black and
virtually all those arrested in
these cases are white and in at
least two cases in South Caro
lina, those arrested are linked
to a white racist group, but also
in the reality of a political cul
ture which is significantly de
fined by its history of racial
domination.
In fact, the burning of Afri
canchurches has alonggeneal
ogy in U.S. history. From its
inception, the independent Af
rican church which was insti
tutionalized in 1792 with the
founding of the African Meth-
“im““ IR,
ONSMART
Sports
Commentary
With An Attitude
See Page 12
Larke excels
in first 90 days
M With his new management team in
place, the new superintendent is ready
to tackle significant challenges.
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
With anew teamin place,
Richmond County Superin
tendent of Schools Charles
Larke is ready to make a
difference.
The most noticeable
change is probably the re
vamping cf personnel, with
the appointment of“a whole
slew of”( 11) new principals,
seven assistant principals
and five department heads:
Ex-principal Gene Sullivan
has been appointed deputy
superintendent; Virginia
Bradshaw is assistant su
perintendent for instruc
tion; Jacqueline Young is
director of vocational edu
cation; Carol Taylor is di
rector of education and me
dia technology and Julia
Empink is the assistant di
rector of personnel. In June
Cpt. Mike Farrell, from
Burke County, was named
directorofpublicsafety, and
will begin work July 15. Dr.
Larke is excited about his
new staff. “Today’s the first
day I’ve had a full team on
board,” he said Monday.
He has plans to tighten
school board policy as well,
with a zero-tolerance rule
for those possessing illegal
drugs, which he expects the
school board to pass in Au
gust. “Ifanyone is caught at
school (for possession) they
will be immediately as
signed to the alternative
center for 20 days.”
In April, the Board de
cided to have teachers work
onsite foreight hours a day,
instead of the former seven
hours and 15 minutes. Dr.
Larke feelsa longer day will
provide more time for staff
odist Episcopal Church, came
under attack. By 1829 in Cin
cinnati, the first African church
was burned. And these
burnings continued through
every period in black history —
from the Holocaust of Enslave
ment through Reconstruction,
Jim Crow, and the Freedom
Struggle of the ’6os to the
present. They had their begin
nings in the North where “the
visible” black church first be
gan and then moved to the
South after emancipation.
These arguments for a non
racial and non-racist motiva
tion conveniently forget that
nothing comes into being by
itself, that events always un
fold and acquire momentum
and meaning in a definite con
text. Thus, in the context of a
racially punitive culture in
which whites are consistently
taught toidentify, condemn and
despise Africans and other
people of color as a central, if
not the fundamental, source of
their social and personal prob
lems, one must rationally ex
pect racially motivated acts
against them. Therefore, even
BULK RATE
.S. POSTAGE
PAID
NO. 302
JGUSTA,GA
¢ O own .AR 3SR
Y 7 "
di
,/,1,.
[
P ;
Tl
Supt. Charles Larke
development and improve
instruction.
Then there is the matter
of the dress code, for teach
ers as well as for students.
School Board attorney
Pete Fletcher, Dr. Larke
said, is busy tightening the
language of the teacher
dress code so that it will be
“more specific about what’s
appropriate.” .
He also plans to “pilot
uniforms” in three schools
next year: Barton Chapel
Elementary, A. Brian Merry
Elementary and Glenn Hills
Middle School.
Some other accomplish
ments, made while Dr.
Larke was interim superin
tendent, include adoption of
traditional instruction
methods, while making
whole language resources
available to teachers as a
supplement; “outlawing”
the possession of beepers
and cellular phones in the
classroom and providing
night classes for high school
dropouts and those who
need more credits for gradu
ation.
“I see those things as an
interruption toinstruction,”
See LARKE, page 3
the white man who says he
burned the black church not
out of racial malice but per
sonal anger at a black man
does not and cannot explain
why he burned the communal
symbol and not a personal
piece of the black man’s prop
erty. And the young white girl
claiming antireligious rather
than racial motive for her
burning, cannot explain how
and why she chose to burn a
black church rather than a
white church or a white syna
gogue:.
Even the talk of conspiracy
or copy-cat burnings tends to
hide the systemic ground of
racial motivation. Certainly,
itwould beeasier for the domi
nant society to discover and
then distance itself from a
group of early-man types who
are unable to adjust to mod
ern moral life and continue to
practice social savagery. Then
itcould keepits self-congratu
latory illusion of having de
veloped beyond the social and
See BURNINGS, page 9
