Newspaper Page Text
8A
OCTOBER 11, 2001
In redistricting,
home rule should rule
It is sad that a group of
businesspeople as sea
soned and well-intentioned
as the Committee for
Progress would take it
upon themselves to draw
up redistricting maps with
zero input from the com
munities whose bound
aries they are altering.
And with zero input from
area blacks or Democrats.
One of the very reasons
that such hard feelings
exist in Augusta-Rich
mond County is that things
are done behind closed
doors with no attempt at
communication. Basic
Politics 101 would tell you
that the first thing you do
in such a situation is to get
the input of the local offi
cials who actually know
the area you’re dealing
with. We taik about diver
sity all day long in Au
gusta, then agroup of white
business people maps out
the city without so much
as inviting an African
American or a Democrat
Support area youth,
support the CSRA Classic
~ If you want to do some
thing good for the youth of
Augusta...and have a whole
lot of fun while you’re do
ing it...you’ll have a great
chance the weekend of the
20th. We’re talking food,
formal wear and ... yes!
Football!
That’s right, folks, it is
time once again to come
out and take advantage of
this once-a-year opportu
nity to see some Augusta
gridiron action at the col
lege level, something that
was amere dream this time
nine years ago when two
neighbors were shooting
the breeze on the back of a
truck. But those neighbors
happened to be state Sena
tor Charles Walker and
high school football coach
John Flynn. So the deed
got done.
Now it’s time for you to
do your part. Come on out
and see the Morris Brown
Wolverines bare teeth and
claws at the Savannah
State Tigers, 2 p.m. Satur
day, Oct. 20. But that’s
Augusta
- Focus
Since 1981
A Walker Group
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1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
Sales/Admin.
Tonya Evans
Jerome Turner
Production/Graphics
Dennis Williams
Samuel Daniels
William Lucas
i
AUGUSTAFOCUS
to participate in the pro
cess, and comes asking
for credibility? That is
just plain ridiculous.
Such tactics will serve
only to strain relations
between blacks and
whites in Augusta. The
appropriate action would
have been to allow the
representatives of those
areas to draw up a redis
tricting plan, with the
Citizens for Progress
making recommenda
tions — not the other way
around.
The proposal currently
on the table takes a posi
tion favoring Republi
cans, and should be re
jected out-of-hand, so
that the Augusta-Rich
mond County Commis
sion, a racially balanced
body, can start over from
scratch to create a plan
that will reflect the needs
of the entire community
and show its richness in
diversity.
not all. Events begin at |
noon on Thursday and |
don’t end until late Sat
urday night. |
Support this and you
are supporting the CSRA |
Classic Scholarship |
Fund awarded annually ‘
to deserving students of
the area; the CSRA Clas- |
sic Historical Black Col
lege Foundation which
awards funds to the his- |
torically black institu- |
tions participating in the i
Classic weekend; the
Classic Grant Founda- |
tion, which awards to lo- |
cal social organizations
such as the 100 Black
Men of Augusta and
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving; and CSRA Clas
sic Training and Devel
opment Program which
is a series of workshops,
seminars and qne-on-one |
sessions designed to edu- |
cationally, culturally
and socially enhance the |
lives of its participants.
See you there.
®
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
News/Features
RhondadJones
Copy Desk
Lillian Wan
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TO BE EQUAL By Hugh B. Price
Rebuild the social safety net
he United States is now
in a two-front war.
Thefirst,the most dan
gerous, is the military
revaliation President Bush has
justifiably launched against
those responsible for the at
tackson the World Trade Cen
ter and the Pentagon last
month.
But there is a second front
to this war that also needs our
utmost attention. That front
involves redressing the bat
tering the American economy
hastaken since the September
11 attacks. ’
The impact has been stun
ning. Thebattered stock mar
ket has lost more than $1 tril
lion of its wealth, states’ cur
rent revenues and revenue
projections havefallen sharply,
and layoffs by the thousands
continue to surge through the
workplace. Those job losses
have struck hardest at those
in the low wage sectors —
restaurant workers, taxidriv
ers, baggage handlers and
other front-line airport per
sonnel, and hotel workersand
othersconnectedin some way
to businesses that depend on
GUEST COMMENTARY By Rev. Dr.
Uniting to help
n September 11, our
nation changed for
ever. The planes
smashing into the
World Trade Center and the
Pentagon killed and injured
thousands, while shattering
our comfort zone— that sense
of security we enjoyed as citi
zens of the earth’s most pow
erful nation.
Slowly, we areregainingour
stride. American flags are fly
ing in neighborhoods from
Harlem to Beverly Hills.
Americansare findingstrength
by embracing their neighbors,
and co-workers. We are sud
denly not a nation of self-in
dulgent, but a nation of people
working together to protect
our loved ones and our way of
life.
If any good can come from
the enormous painand suffer
ing our nation has endured,
let it be a legacy of reaching
out to those who need help in
our society. In communities
across the country, there are
people, some of them elderly,
some of them disabled, some of
them indigent, who lost their
sense of security long before
those planes struck.
It is unfortunate that many
African Americans havearela
tive, a friend or a neighbor
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tourism and business travel.
There’s little doubt that the
nation’s unemployment rate
is now higher than the 4.9
percent it registered in early
September before the attacks.
Thecascading economicbad
news has pushed the Confer
ence Board’s consumer confi
denceindexdownbymorethan
16 'points to 97.6, a drop ri
valed only by declines seen
during the 1974 Arab oil em
bargoand the 1987 stock mar
ket crash.
To make matters worse,
looming next year are the Con
gressionally-imposed deadlines
for moving people off the wel
fare rolls. A study by the
federal Department of Health
and Human Services provides
cause for significant concern:
it found that in the six months
ending last March, 18 states
reported increases in their
number of welfare recipients.
Overwhelmingly, most of the
2.5 million adults who’ve left
the welfare rolls since 1996
hold the low-skilled positions
which are the first to go in an
economic downturn. This
worrisome signal came, of
who can’t physically get to a
doctor’sappointment, or can’t
get to the store to buy bread
and milk or just need someone
to help them up a flight of
stairs. One of the untold, and
often forgotten stories in mi
nority communities are people
who need a little help just to
get on with their lives or just a
little help to stay in their own
homes as long as possible. We
need a renewed commitment
to help them.
At this time of national
mourning, we should reach
out toour neighbors who need
alittle help, reach out to make
their lives more meaningful.
Now that we have received a
jolt, one that rattled our very
way of life, is there a better
way torespond than by reach
ing out and helping those who
arejolted everyday? Let’sband
together and ease their pain.
There are many avenues
available to provide this help.
In 1989, 1 wasamonga group
of four citizens who founded a
program called Reaching Out
to Senior Adults (ROSA) in
Atlanta. We approached seven
ministers with our dream of
improving the quality of life
for seniors in our community
throughavolunteer caregiving
course, before the continuing
economic downturns of last
summer and recent weeks.
In other words, the worry
expressed in the 1990 s when
Congress and the Clinton ad
ministration touted their ver
sion of welfare reform about
havingadequate safeguards for
the needy inasouringeconomy
looks to be moving to the cen
ter of the serious economic
issues America will have to
confront.
That means that America
must make sure that an ad
equate safety net does exist,
especially for those with the
least skills and the least re
sources.
The economic stimulus pack
age President Bush unveiled
last week, asking Congress to
authorize S6O to $75 billion of
additional emergency spend
ing (in addition to the S4O
billion aid package and the sls
billion airline industry bailout
approved earlier) is a good
starting point. Congress
should attend to it speedily.
Among other proposals, the
Bush plan provides additional
funds for state unemployment
Normal L. Phillips
those
program. Today, ROSAis sup
ported by 30 interdenomina
tional churches, 200 volun
teers and 50 federal, state and
local agencies. We havebuilt a
support network that reaches
17,000 seniors. Webringadash
of joy and fulfillment to their
lives.
A key sponsor and financial
supporter has been the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation’s
Faith in Action program. Since
1983, Faith in Action has qui
etly established 1,000 volun
teer caregiving networks all
across the country. Congrega
tions of alldenominations and
faiths have banded together
and built volunteer networks
that have helped more than 10
million people in need.
Through its research and
experiences, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation has de
termined that there is a criti
cal need for more volunteer
caregiving networks in minor
ity communities. This year,
the Foundation announced
that it will spend SIOO million
to create an additional 2,000
volunteer care networks, with
aspecial emphasis on starting
programsin minority commu
nities across the country.
Thisis a tremendous oppor
tunity to improve the quality
in need
benefits, and Treasury Secre
tary Paul H. O’Neill said the
administration, tocomplement
its proposal of additional tax
cuts, would consider a one
time federal rebate to the more
than 34 million low-and mod
erate-income households
which earned too little to
qualify for the rebate checks
sent out this summer.
Butrebuilding the safety net
requires additional measures,
too, in order that we recon
struct its original economic
purpose of offsetting economic
shocks by automatically sup
porting demand when the
economy slows.
For example, wemust fixthe
unemployment insurance sys
tem that was distorted by
changes states made during
the 1980 s recession. Now as
tonishingly, less than oné
third of unemployed workers
get benefits. More states mugt
follow the lead of those 12
which have created alternate
earnings-base periods to in
crease the eligibility of low
wage and part-time workers
See REBUILD, 9A
of life in our communities. We
need for churches and civie
groups to contact Faith ih
Action at 1-800-324-8411, and
apply for grants that will help
get their programs startem
And, more importantly, we
need for citizens to become
active volunteers. It may be
for one hour a week, but every
moment of your time can be
come hours of joy for somedne
else. \
Everyone is soul-searching
after this devastating tragedy.
Many have lost loved ones,
relatives or friends. Their
memories remain with us. So
will the American spirit. Our
faith is strong, undaunted z
this event. It has awaken
our passion for our nation, f¢r
our families, and for our neigh
bors. Let’s act on that p
sion. We will show the wom
that Americaattacked eme:
even stronger. Let’sreach oyt
a helping hand to those who
need it most. '
Rev. Dr. Normal Phillips E'c
the co-founder and director ff
caregiving ministries for
Reaching Outto-Senior Adu
andthe founder of A New Thinj
Ministry in Atlanta. Cont
her at (404) 212-7900 ér
www.anewthing.org. ;