Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, December 19, 1996, Image 2

Augusta focus., December 19, 1996, Page 2A, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2A December 19, 1996 AUGUSTA FOCUS World / National View Over 80 die in Somalia fighting {By Haroun Hassan {ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer : MOGADISHU, Somalia . More than 80 people were killed Sunday and dozens ‘wounded, witnesses said, in some of the worst factional fighting in months in the divided Somali capital. i Gunfire and loud explosions continued throughout the day Sunday. i At least 42 people died after three mortar rounds landed on Ghanaian to be proclaimed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be first sub-Saharan African to lead U.N. : UNITED NATIONS ' (AP) Kofi Annan, the next U.N. secretary-general, sayshe’sready to speak directly to Congress to persuade Washington to pay its debts to the organization. Annan, 58, head of U.N. peace keeping, was chosen Friday by the Security Council to succeed Boutros Boutros-Ghali after the United States vetoed a second term for the Egyptian diplomat. . “Thisis an honor not just for my gwn country, Ghana, but also for Africa as a whole,” Annan told “Newshour with Jim Lehrer” on the eve of his proclamation as the seventh U.N. chief. ' The 185-member General As sembly today ratified Annan as the next secretary-general. Ear lier in the day, it approved a reso lution thanking Boutros-Ghali for his service “toward a just a peace ful world.” : During the interview with “Newshour,” Annan described himself as a “a man of results.” %aﬁ,u A E § B S 1 o o : g i : o ; bt 3 Bt e R 5 : ng e . P Ev 55 § L L J s o 4 i r q‘»; g o % R : Y h “':f"‘h“l:""' f o BN e : ‘3 g et rn we i gr,"};\v‘m e L [ Tt A e O ' e e a‘{‘f T e L i e h g 1 # | by gt 0 g ) v L. iR T s L. " - s S {6;' FiR . T il 2 i ‘ o i i 7 ’,‘ 5 ; ‘.VLZ /& o eee g T e - o el e L A 7 L L E i I (g NG {1 P " oo i 1 M e T reut Fashing, dst Flling f'm"!""‘m—i B ¥ -l : i rou [DRINK) < the crowded Bakara market in south Mogadishu in an area con trolled by faction leader Hussein Aidid, according to witnesses. Among the fatalities were 20 women selling jewelry, and most of the others were also civilians. Many of the bodies were muti lated by shrapnel, and the mar ket had pools of blood. At least 150 wounded passersby were taken to nearby hospitals. In an area called Medina, also in south Mogadishu, about 40 people were believed killed in Lowery: Use church burnings to wake up the nation TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) The president of the Southern Christian Leader ship Conference wants to use church burnings as a rallying point to help ease racial ten sions nationally. The Rev. Joseph Lowery said efforts by white churches to help burned black churches rebuild have started the move ment. “Charity — as blessed as it is — is fine, but authentic rec onciliation must embrace jus tice,” Lowery said. “We’ve got to use these church burnings as an opportunity to wake up the nation and to deal proactively” with racial ten sions. Lowery and about 90 whites and blacks from various de nominations gathered to plan ’ a response to the burning of about 152 churches since Janu (o % % Z 7 A s s . 2 5 ] | have a couple . .. 8 8@ . b .. . . L Ak i /,?‘:_ i 4;1”,’%// . R RN MmMiYE:. T R ’/‘ /f{//”/;’? Y i 7 g fighting, said sources at Ali Hassan hospital. Residents con tacted by phone reported that 23 bodiesin the main market street. Among the dead in Medina were seven brothers — aged be tween six months and 14 — who died when a mortarround landed on their house. Their parents were wounded. Mogadishu has been divided since the country and the capital disintegrated into a fiefdom of warring clansin 1991. An Ameri can-led U.N. peacekeeping mis ary 1990. Lowery said economic uncer tainties that have hit middle class whites harder than ever before are fueling racial hostili ties. He said corporate downsizing is “not as disturbing to black folk as it is to whites, because we cut our teeth on hardship. For white people this is a new thing. Those middle-class white males don’t know how to deal with economic uncertainty. But all of a sudden they’re worried if they don’t see theirdaughters going to Vassar.” Recently the Institute on Reli gion and Democracy, a conser vative group based in Washing ton, D.C., criticized the National Council of Churches for exagger ating the church burnings and questioning the use of funds. Lowery said such criticism was motivated by a political agenda: “They’re in the 52nd state, the sion and numerous peace confer ences have failed torestore peace. Many of the deaths Sunday came from shelling after forces loyal to Aidid in weapon mounted trucks attacked sup porters of a rival faction led by Ali Mahdi Mohamed. Aidid’s supporters, who con trol a part of south Mogadishu, have laid siege to Medina, but all previous attempts to dislodge members of Ali Mahdi’s Abgal subclan from the southern dis trict have failed. state of denial. They seem to think that because they’ve not uncovered a national con spiracy that there’s no prob lem.” Representatives of the South ern Baptist Convention — a predominantly white denomi nation — met with members of the black Alabama State Bap tist Convention. The Rev. Tommy Puckett of the SBC told the group that his denomina tion realizes that their recent apology for supporting slavery in the 19th century was only a beginning. “We've got miles to go,” he said. Puckett said the source of racism was deeper than soci etal explanations. “It’s not a social or a cultural problem, it’s a sin problem. When we get our hearts right, we will be " come blind to color.” For a limited time, save an SLEEP SHOP extra 10% on already e Bt B R discounted Sealy Posturepedic @},’% s mattress sets! - ff””é’é”% £Fg eyt Bovwly . - X:&“\ - 3}3 S S )5:;;2&; %:'?-'fii-m._? St G Lol dßvot il o I)%“'*»,\;’ e AR ?i B "G't;“m} N e il . E Rl e ) e e e “Pride of Havertys” $299 Queen set SB9 Twin each piece $139 Full each piece $449 King 3-piece set “Pride of Havertys™ Deluxe Firm $399 Queen set sll9 Twin each piece $169 Full each piece $449 King 3-piece set “Primrose” Plush Firm $499 Queen set $159 Twin each piece $219 Full each piece $699 King 3-piece set 3411 Wrightsboro Road ¢ 738-8217 Mon.-Fri. 10to 9 ¢ Sat. 10to6*Sun. Ito 6 FURNITURE FOR YOUR HOME FOCUS on a great gift! Purchase Augusta Focus for your loved ones! Call (706) 724-785 S to arrange your gift subscription(s). Slavery relics gain in price, popularity From page one Va., bookstore owner denied she had any slavery documents when he asked. Moments later, she invited his white friend into the back room to view records for sale. When asked why she lied, she told Rickman she was embar rassed. “It has always been a problem for black people tobuy slave docu ments. They’re almost always in the hands of white people. They control them, own them and pass them down within families,” said Rickman. Russell Adams, chairman of Howard University’s African- American Studies Program, re called when an acquaintance from a former slave-owning fam ily in Georgia took him aside to show him manacles he kept hid den. “He said, ‘My great-great grandfather used to put these on folks who acted up,” ” Adams said. “Somehow he knew that if he threw them away he’d be do ing something wrong. He thought, ‘I can’t show these be cause folks will misread me, or identify me as somebody who put the cuffs on somebody.’” Slavery memorabilia isn’t found only in the South. The slave trade was big business in 18th century Rhode Island. Local historians say one-fifth of all slaves brought to this coun try were transported on Rhode Island vessels. As many as 60 Rhode Island ships were involved in the trade in the 1700 s; their owners were among the leading merchants of Bristol, Newport and Providence. Before the 1960 s and the civil rights movement, records such as bills of sale or newspaper ads for slave auctions could be found piled in thrift shops and bought for next to nothing. As the movement gained strength, many dealers hid the documents, afraid of being seen = Posturepedic® Support Only From Sealy e e 3;9'5‘ 2 as profiting from racism. Yet they continued to sell the items clan destinely, mainly to whites, col lectors say. “When it was politically sensi tive to go back to the old days in terms of showing things, people were circumspect,” Adams said. “But we're now on a roll in African-American studies. That legitimizes exposure of the docu ments and the prices go up, and when the prices go up, the nerve goes up about exposing these things. They almost want to pub licize it for the highest possible bid.” A slave bill of sale, that 25 yearsago brought about $75, now sells for as much as SBOO, said Frank Wood, an Alexandria, Va., document dealer. Records from an 1859 sale of 436 blacks from two Savannah, Ga., plantations is being sold by Hamden, Conn.-based Mcßlain Books for $4,000, owner Phil Mecßlain said. Many such items remained mostly hidden or dumped care lessly in secondhand shops until Alex Haley published Roots in the 19705, sparking interest in black genealogy, experts say. Also, universities started black studies programs generating new historical research. Demand for memorabilia grew, and the items made their way to galleries and auction houses. Prices skyrocketed. Blockson, who started collect ing in the 19405, lamented the price increase. “It’s hard for the novice collec tor,” he said. “African-Americans can’t compete for so many items. Some feel this is our history be ing taken away. It reminds me of aslave auction of slavery times.” Wood said he understands the frustration. “I get asked a lot of times, ‘What’s a white guy like you do ing with all this history material and slavery material? ” he said. “I tell people that I'm preserving history. It’s a history a lot of people have tried to ignore.” »Free delivery with purchase of a Sealy Posturepedic set *Free removal of old bedding *No Interest, when pald according to tems of the sales Involce. Based on 12-month account. SIOOO minimum purchase. 20% dowi payment required. Subjec! to credit approval, Clearonce merchandise excluded, © Copyright 1996 Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc.