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chapter seeks
ouster of prez
M Power struggle between
president and his detractors
leads to leadership crisis in
Augusta branch.
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
"AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
s AUGUSTA
Local NAACP president Tom Edwards no
longer gets the mail t})at goes to the branch post
office box; his key no longer fits the lock. Nor can
he enter the branch office. That lock has been
changed also. ;
On August 19, Nélson Rivers, Southeastern
representative of the NAACP, was in Augusta
to investigate a formal complaint against the
president. Allin all, Edwards’first 15 months as
head of the Augusta-area branch has not been
conducive to rancc;’r-free leadership.
The latest in a’series of disagreements be
tween Edwards and some members of his execu
tive board centers around the location of the
organization’s headquarters. Their most recent
landlord, Tabernacle Baptist Church, notified
the branch they should begin looking for new
headquarters because they needed the space to
expand their own services.
According to Mr, Edwards, the location of the
headquarters remains at the Laney-Walker site
above the church’s daycare facility where it has
been located for the past several years. But
recently, the location has been moved to prop
erty owned by Paine College several blocks to
the west, also on Laney-Walker Blvd. According
to Mr. Edwards, the move was not authorized,
nor was it sanctioned by the national headquar
ters.
“I didn’t approve of the new location, so I
réfused to sign the lease,” Mr. Edwards said.
“Aecording to the national office, the contract
1@ to be drawn up a certain way or else they, or
IBould be held liable if something went wrong.”
“But other members circumvented Mr.
Edwards and relocated the headquarters any
way.
=“Moving the headquarters cannot be done
without a vote from the general membership,”
Mr. Edwards said. “Mr. Rivers told them that
when he met with them.”
§Most of the organization’s equipment and
supplies, however, remain in the new location.
But legally, the headquarters location has not
éanged,, according to Mr. Edwards, who does
lot have a key for eitherlocation. He discovered
see NAACP, page 3
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'AUG. 29 - SEPT. 4, 1996 VOL. XV NO. 766
| ~ METRO AUGUSTA'S FINEST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ]
Blacks and golf
For the masses of African Americans, golf has been
a white man’s leisure activity. Have times changed?
i e S ey
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TIGER WOODS became the only golfer
ever to win six straight amateur titles.
Woods, of Afro-Asian lineage, has
marketeers drooling over the possibility
of nontraditional avenues. AP Photo / Jack Smith
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Sunday, August 25 might
have been the pivotal day for
the futureofblacksinthe sport
of professional golf. Never be
forein the history ofthatsport
have two blacks sat atop the
staidgolfworld withinasingle
24-hour span.
Capturing the lion’s share
of the headlines and the ink
on that day was Eldrick “Ti
ger” Woods, 20, the golfing
phenomenon from Southern
California. All Woods did was
win an unprecedented third
straight U.S. Amateur Cham
pionship. No one — not
Nicklaus, not Palmer, Hogan,
nor Snead — had done that
before.
Long-ball hitting Jim Dent,
Farrakhan takes steps to
accept $1 billion Libyan gift
B Money would be
spent to mobilize
American black voters
and bolster economic
strength.
Jim Drinkard
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
WASHINGTON
Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan is seeking the
government’s permission to ac
cept $1 billion from Libya’s
Moammar Gadhafi, a gift he
says would be used to mobilize
American black voters and bol
ster their economic strength.
Farrakhan formally applied
last week to the Treasury
Department’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control, asking that he
be allowed to accept the pledged
money as a humanitarian ges
ture, said a federal official who
spoke only on condition of ano
nymity.
Because of its links to terror
ism, Libya for years has been
under U.S. sanctions that bar
most business transactions be
FoLS
57, of Augusta pocketed
$120,000 to boost his Senior
Tour prize money to $4.7 mil
lionon that day. It was his 10th
Senior PGA Tour victory gince
joining the circuit in 1989.
While the victories of both
Dent and Woods were remark
able in their respective fields,
the absence of non-white play
ers in the regular PGA tour
underscores the social and eco
nomic factors that tend to in
hibit the production of quality
non-white golfers at all levels.
Neither Woods nor Dent com
pete among the professional
elite of the sport. For Woods, at
least, that is about to change.
The amateur champ announced
this week that he will begin
playingasa professional almost
at once.
The dearth of black golfers
among the ranks of the world’s
«4{ Y
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Minister Louis Farrakhan
of the Nation of islam has
formally asked U.S.
government to permit him
to accept gift from Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi.
tween the two countries and
limit travel.
The donation from Gadhafi
was pledged during a visit to
Libya as part of Farrakhan’s
foreign tourlast January, which
also included stops in Iran, Ni
geria and Sudan.
In addition, Farrakhan needs
separate approval for an up
coming trip to Libya to receive
a $250,000 humanitarian
award Gadhafi donates each
year. ;
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JIM DENT of Augusta did not begin to
earn millions from golf until he joined
the PGA Senior Tour. Like many pro
golfers his age, he got his start in the
caddy shack. AP Photo/ Jim Rogash
V¥ Did Tiger Woods
do the right thing
by turning pro? Will
he be able to deliver
on the demanding
PGA circuit among
the world’s finest
golfers?
Check out “Time Out
With Tony C.” — p. 12
best players speaks volumes:
ofthe legacy of U.S. classand .
caste discrimination. While:
U.S. Open golf champion--
ships have been recorded as:
farback as 1903,and the PGA .
Championships date back to.
See BLACK GOLF, page 12!
An Associated Press reporter
who went to the Nation of
Islam’s Chicago headquarters
seeking comment was turned
away by staff members, who
said spokesman James
Muhammed was too busy to
talk. Telephone calls to the
religious organization were not
returned.
Farrakhan, organizer of last
year’s Million Man March in
Washington, hassaid he would
use the money to promote eco
nomic opportunity for blacks
by building schools and facto
ries, and for charitable pur
poses. A
During his meeting with
Gadhafi, the two men also dis
cussed how to increase the in
fluence of U.S. minorities in
this election year and agreed
to work together to mobilize
“oppressed minorities to play
a significant )‘&e?in American
political life,” Libya’s official
news agency repogted.
Gadhafi said then that after
years of confronting the United
States from outside, the plan
would provide “a loophole to
See FARRAKHAN, page 2
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Sexual assault
shocks quiet
subdivision
B Residents call
for increased
surveillance;
police say they
need more men.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Residents of a middle
class Augusta subdivision
are stunned by the reported
rape of one of their neigh
bors.
Some female residents
who live on Ridgewood
Drive, the location where
the August 24 rape was re
ported, have called for more
police presence in the wake
of the sexual attack.
According to longtime
Ridgewood Drive resident
Brenda McKinnie, age 40,
the street has already had
itsshare of burglary-related
problems.
“Last year, four houses
were broken into on our
street,” Ms. McKinnie said.
“I'm really shocked to hear
about the rape. There are
times when I like to walk
alone, at night. I won’t be
doing that anytime soon,”
she said. “I just don’t see
enough police around here.”
Mary Elizabeth Cason, 56,
is one of the burglary vic
tims from a year ago Ms.
McKinnie spoke of. Ms.
Casonwas at home the night
the burglary occurred.
“l heard a noise, came
down the hall and I saw a
man standing in my front
door. He told me not to move,
or he would shoot. He took
the VCR. That was it,” she
said. She described her at
tacker asablack maleinhis
30s. Ridgewood Drive is lo
cated just off Wrightsboro
Road, about five minutes
Club that refused
service to blacks
loses liquor license
WHEELING, W.Va.
(AP) The owner of a night
club that refused to serve a
black trooper and black
state liquor inspector will
surrender his liquor license,
state officials said Thurs
day.
The settlements with the
Silver Rail Cluband another
bar that served alcohol to
16 minors were reached af
tertwodays of negotiations,
said Jeff Blaydes, assistant
state attorney general.
The Silver Rail Club was
given until Sept. 16 to wrap
up business before surren
dering its license, Blaydes
said.
An investigation was
launched after ablack state
trooper and a white law en
forcement companion en
tered the club in June, said
Rick Atkinson, commis
sioner of the state Alcohol
Beverage Control Commis
sion.
Trooper Dionn Jones’
companion was served with
out any question. Jones,
from the Augusta Mall.
Sheriff Charles Webster
of the Richmond County
Sheriffs Department ad
mits more presence is
needed.
“We try to give the people
as much coverage as pos
sible, but we’re under
staffed. There’s no doubt
about it.”
The latest incident, which
has unnerved Ridgewood
Drive residents, is the re
ported sexual attack of a
25-year-old woman.
““We try to give the
people as much
coverage as pos
sible, but we're
understaffed.
There’s no doubt
about it.”
— Sheriff Charlie
Webster
According to Richmond
County Sheriff's Depart
ment records, the woman
reported the rape at ap
proximately 3 p.m., Satur
day.
Authorities are continu
ing a manhunt in search of
a the suspected rapist.
The victim, who lives on
the 1400 block of Ridgewood
Drive, identified her at
tacker as a tall, black male.
No other details were of
fered, records showed.
According to Richmond
County Sheriff's Depart
ment Investigator Wayne
Buntin, “He (suspect) prob
ably thought the home was
stillvacant and had planned
to burglarize the home.”
Upon returning home, she
apparently interrupted the
burglary in progress, the in
vestigator said.
See RAPE, page 3
whoentered later, allegedly
wasrefused service because
he did not have a member
ship card, Atkinson said.
Liquor inspectors subse
quently ran an undercover
investigation in which two
white inspectors were
served, Atkinson said. A
black inspector who entered
later wastold he had toleave
and return when the owner
was on the premises to see
about obtaining a member
ship card, Atkinson said.
Underthe settlement, the
owner will likely be able to
reapply for a liquor license
in 18 months, compared
with five years if there had
been a hearing, Atkinson
said.
Atkinson said he was
happy with the settlement
because the state avoided
the expense and time of a
formal hearing.
Brian Moore, owner of the
Silver Rail Club, did notim
mediately return a message
left at the club Thursday.