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VOLUME 18 NUMBER 917
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Actress Halle Berry, who plays the title role in
the upcoming HBO Pictures biographical
drama “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,”
gestures during a recent interview, in Pasa
Probe of Tulsa race riot
seeks to uncover atrocities
BMSurvivors listen as
historian details 1921
race riot. Investigators
will search for mass
graves.
By Kelly Kurt
Associated Press Writer
e TULSA, Okla.
. A commission investigating the
destruction of Tulsa’s black busi
ness district in 1921 has given the
go-ahead for archaeologists to dig
in a search for mass graves.
The Tulsa Race Riot Commis
sion approved a plan Monday to
excavate samples of artifacts or
remains from a spotin a downtown
cemeterywherewitnesses and tests
indicate possible burial sites. The
city also must approve any excava
tion.
“Psychologically there’s some fi
nality to finding remains and say
ing, ‘Yes, this really happened,”
commission chairman Bob
Blackburnsaid.
The commission is trying to un
ravel the mystery of one of the
nation’s worst incidents of racial
violence. InJanuary, it must make
a recommendation to lawmakers
on whether reparations are owed.
The existence of mass graves is
just one disputed issue. The panel
isstill working to assess blame and
determine how law enforcement
officials played a role in the attack
thatisnow believed tohave claimed
asmany as 300 lives, mostly blacks.
. The city acknowledged the riot’s
anniversary for the first time in
1996. State Rep. Don Ross, whose.
legislation led to the commission’s
creationin 1997, said the group had
yet to hear why a “conspiracy of
silence” had prevented full disclo
sure until now.
' “The business community, the
political community and the media
fion,apired to keep quiet,” he said.
‘lt is significant, I think, that the
cover-up is exposed.”
- On Monday, survivors of the riot
simply listened as historian Scott
Ellsworth described how the inci-
South Carolina Residents protest takeover Page 3A
World News S. African women battle abuse Page 2A
Seving Metrolpoliumn g&u%!an@uund the Cemrapuvurg RyAreuS
dena, Calif. Berry also produced the feature
about Dandridge, the first black woman ever
nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
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Tulsa Race Riot survivor Joyce Walker Hill, 90, of Kansas City,
left, listens to remarks during a meeting of the Tulsa Race Riot
Commiittee in Tulsa, Okla., Monday, Aug. 9, 1999. Seated next
to Hill are relatives Olene Walker Washington, center, and
Cheryl Silvers. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Stephen Holman
dent began on May 31, 1921.
The fighting, Ellsworth said,
started when a white lynch mob
clashed with a group ofblack World
War I veterans who had come to
the courthouse offering to protect
the mob’sintended target —a black
man being held for the assault of a
white woman. The woman later
declined to press charges.
“A struggle ensues, a shot goes
off and the race riot is on,” said
Ellsworth, who has written a book
on the riot,
More than 60 known survivors
were invited to testify Monday but
the five who came had videotaped
their statements and chose not to
speak.
Ellsworth described how asmany
as 10,000 white men and boys gath
ered at for an attack on the black
community the morning after the
riot began. Police officers and the
local unit of the National Guard
also joined in the burning of 35
blocks of the once-thriving black
business district, he said.
Survivor George Monroe nodded
as Ellsworth related his story of
hiding under a bed as a white rioter
AUGUST 12 - 18, 1999
set the home on fire. The man
stepped on the 5-year-old’s fingers
and Monroe’s sister stifled his cry
with her hand.
Ellsworth spoke of whites attack
ing with machine guns, burning a
black church erroneously thought to
hold an arsenal and of airplanes that
fired down on those who fled.
His testimony stunned 90-year
old Joyce Walker Hill, who heard
for the first time the extent of the
attack by white mobs that forced
her family to flee their home.
“All I knew is that we werein it,”
said the Kansas City, Kan.,woman,
who was 11 when whites torched
her black neighborhood.
John Hope Franklin, head of
President Clinton’s national advi
soryboard on race, wasjust 6 when
word of the riot arrived at hishome
in Rentiesville.
“I knew from my mother’s counte
nance that the news was not good,”
Franklin told the commission.
Franklin’s father, a lawyer, lost
everything except the clothes he
was wearing. He later helped de
feat a city ordinance that ham
pered efforts by blacks to rebuild.
Mack defends
housing efforts
By Timothy Cox g
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Mayor Bob Young fully supports a
new organization he feels will be
successful in generating housing
starts and retail development in in
ner city Augusta.
Question is: If the newly formed
Augusta Neighborhood Improve
ment Corporation (A-NlC)canimple
menttheirmissiongoals,thenwhat'’s
thefuturehold forthe county’s Hous
ing and Neighborhood Development
department?
In fact, speculative talk has ema
nated suggestingthat the creation of
A-NIC could spell the demise of the
county’s Housing and Neighborhood
section - a department managed by
Keven Mack. The already existing
organization seemingly has objec
tivesthatare similarin scopewith A-
NlC'’s role.
Furthermore, if A-NIC is here,
then does that mean Mack’s man
agement duties could be coming to a
close?
Whenthisquestion was presented
to Mayor Young, the first-term city
leader refrained from cémment,
based on what he describes as not
knowing what has “previously been
discussed” by other parties.
When informed that critics have
suggested hisdepartment(underhis
leadership) has virtually been inef
fectivein developingnew housingfor
low- to middle-income: neighbor
hoods, Mack struck back.
“I disagree. We have probably re
habilitated more houses than any
city our size (in the Southeast),” he
said. “The inner city has been ne
glected for so long, it’s unfair for
anybody to say it’s my fault. They
expect me to fix this situation in less
Peach Care program offers heip
to middle-income families
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Three months ago, Lisa Wash
ington had no health insurance,
and could not afford treatment
that could have meant the differ
ence between walking and paraly
sis for her six year old son Ishmael.
The child suffers from a nerve
disorder called Neurofibromato
sis. Before Peach Care his mother
couldn’t have even taken him to
the hospital for a flu shot. Inthree
months, he’ll go to the Medical
College of Georgia to see a special
ist for his biannual check-up, and
follow up care for an operation.
Ishmael’s mother worksin a Pedi
atrics office.
“This program has really given
me peace of mind,” commented
Miss Washington. “When you
have children, medical coverage
is really a demand.”
Going without adequate
healthcare is nothing new to
middle income parents in Geor
gia. Last year approximately
300,000 of Georgia’s children went
uninsured. Today federal and
state funded programs like
Peach Care for kids are attempt
ing to cut that statistic almost in
half. Likelshmael, approximately
40,000 more children in Georgia,
along with their parents, can rest
easy knowing that if anything
happens their needs will be cov
ered. ;
In Richmond County alone, al-
. -
Mack: “It's unfair to say it's
my fault.” Augusta Focus File Photo
than two years?”
Mack assumed his current job in
November 1997. Heformerlyheaded
the economic development depart
ment for the City of Augusta prior to
consolidationwiththecountyinJanu
ary 1996.
Meanwhile,A-NlC’s proposed role
issteadily gainingpopularitynotonly
with community grass root groups,
but with federal, state and local poli
ticians. Thanks to a comprehensive
public relations campaign led by
Mayor Young, revitalizing Augusta’s
inner city is fast becoming a realistic
venture. With A-NIC at the helm,
thefirstphaseofrehabilitatinginner
city neighborhoods will start around
Laney-Walker and James Brown
boulevards. The new group plans to
rid the city of dilapidated housing
while developing commercial and
retail opportunities, said the mayor.
While the rallying cry to recon
struct the city’s historical core has
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Dr. Davidson Freeman is one of many local physicians who
treat children under the state’s new Peach Care program. Photo
by Charles Jones
most 800 children have enrolled
in the Peach Care program, since
it started in January of this year.
It is designed to cover children
whose parents, like Miss Wash
ington, are caught in the middle
— they make too much for Medic
aid, but too little to afford high
priced health insurance. -
Though the program does not
target African-Americans solely,
administrators say reaching the
minority community is a top pri
ority.
“Weknow this program hasbeen
50 CENTS
Cloudy, hot
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NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA
been generally welcomed, in other
respects, questions still remain why
hasittaken so long for revitalization
efforts to take shape and finally be
considered on a serious level.
On the surface, one may surmise
that because Mayor Young is new
and wants to make a quick impres
sion on his inner-city constituents —
perhaps, thisis the reason whv such
actions have finally come to fruition.
Perhaps. '
Whenquestioned whether A-NlC’s
objectives will, at the very least,
overlapwith Mack’s department and
its duties, the mayor was quick o
defend A-NlC's existence.
“Not at all,” said the former televi
sion reporter in responding to sug
gestionsthat A-NIC couldfind them
selvesinaredundantrole.“Theylibe
able to do the housing work better
than we can. You give A-NIC $1
million, they canleveragethatmoney
withtheprivatesectorand mivcinize
tax monies.”
Ultimately, said the mayor. he
envisions moving personnel from
Mack’s department to assist A-NIC.
“You'dthenhaveexperienced pecple
withhousingbackground(in A-NJC),”
he explained. Thie mayor added that
remainingmembersin Mack'sgroup
would remain intact, while continu
ingtowork on different projectsfrom
acompliance standpoint.
But Mack said he’s still not sure
how his role fits with A-NlC’s objec
tives.
“Ireallydon’t know. Welisit down
with A-NIC and find out what role
they plan to take.” Mack revesnied he
has concerns hed like to address
with the new group. Primarily, he
said, on whether low-income resi
dentswillbeincluded in the decision-
See HOUSING, page 3A
helpful to the African-American
community,” said Shirl Ellis,
Georgia Program policy director.
“As an African American, I know
there are many peoplein our com
munity that are in need.”
Ofthe 40,000 children now cov
ered under the plan, nearly 30
percent of them are from the Afri
can-American community. State
administrators have conducted"
outreach programs, and dissemi
nated information during annual
See PEACHCARE, page 12A