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A Closer Look
REPARATIONS Part I 1 ‘
Who lied to you to you and told you,
you don’t owe African Americans?
am often reminded by
many of my friends that
theydidn’t ownslaves. I
quicklyremind them that lam
not aslave, and I am not their
slave but the system that pro
duced us still benefits them.
Many Americans have been
told that they shouldn’t be
held responsible for what they
claimtheirancestorsdid. They
fail to acknowledge that they
are the benefactors of their
history, and it is the present
that we must deal with, while
not ignoring what brought us
here. To put in the words of
my upbringing, “You still
gettin’ paid!”
Reparations are about de
stroying theideology that rac
ismdied in the 1960 s after the
brutal assassination of Rev.
Martin L. King Jr. Repara
tions are about attacking the
myth of reverse discrimina
tion. Reparations are about
exposing the American delu
sion that somehow we have
overcome because we came
over. The face lift of desegre
LETTERS
Black on black homicide can’t be ignored
Since 1992, we have watched
homicidesdecreaseeachyearin
Augusta, but what has not
changed is the disproportion
atenumber ofblacks whodieas
the result of violence.
TheFebruary3article “Map
ping 2001 homicides” left me
hurt and frustrated. The ar
ticle addressed the issue of age
and gender, but the issue of
race was ignored. What was
painfully obvious to me was,
that black on black homicide is
a threat to African Americans
in Augusta.
I did an indepth breakdown
of2ool homicides, and the pat
terns were disturbing to me.
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in the ¢
By The Rev. Dr. .
Ralph C. Watkins o
gation never reversed the
power that whiteshave always
held in America, and continue
to hold.
America is quick to point
out the African Americans who
have fought against the odds
and eked out some measure of
success. Those who survive
racism to eke some form of
successare the exceptionsthat
prove the rule. Those who
makearen’t any different from
the millions of our brothers
and sisters who don’t makeit.
Those who fall victim to this
vicious system have the same
dreams and aspirations as
those who make it, but the
systemic forces that fight
against them have proven in
surmountable. The long his
tory, and present manifesta
Sixty-eight percent black, 63
percentmale, 53 percent died as
aresult of gun violence, and 53
percent werebelow the age of 30
years old. African Americans
are six times more likély to be
murdered than whites. Homi
cides account for more deaths
of black men ages 25-44 than
does heart disease, cancer or
diabetes.
Theissueofgender and age of
victims are important, but we
cannot continuetoignoreblack
on black homicide. Ifthe prob
lem is ignored it will not go
away.
Blackleaders, thisisour war,
and we must stay on the battle
Black church history data is important to the completion
of the Black History Timeline utilized by Augusta Focus
readers. Please be sure to fax a copy of your church
history to (706) 724-8432, Attn.: Lillian.
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tions of systemicracism fights
against their success while si
multaneously showing privi
lege and favor to their white
counterparts who succeed at
higher rates. Whites aren’t
more qualified, they aren’t
brighter, and they don’t work
harder than African Ameri
cans, they simply benefit from
a world system that favors
white over black.
One of the sticking pointsin
the 21* century movement for
civil rights willbe undoing the
ideology that whites have re
ceived that makes them be
lievetheliethat they are some
howbetterthan African Ameri
cansand that they have earned
what they have. They ignore
the unjust enrichment and
benefits they automatically
receive as part of white privi
lege. They fail to realize the
historical legacy that affords
them their contemporary level
of success.
Reparations are about un
doing the mis-education of
field, armed with courage,
truth, persistence and faith.
Voting, economic empower
ment, and the removal of the
confederate flag are all impor
tant issues, issues that we all
must be concerned about, but
we must address the leading
cause of death of African Ameri
cans.
I disagree with those who
said that murders are unpre
dictable and cannot be pre
vented. The fact that black on
black homicides are down from
10 years ago reinforces my be
lief that homicides can be pre
vented. In 1991 in Augusta, 66
homicides were black on black
white folk! It is not simply
about money. When African
Americans get financial re
dress, if white Americans are
still held hostage to mis-edu
cation we would have not had
fully succeeded in this move
ment. We must work to free
our white brothers and sisters
from their false sense of supe
riority and self-righteousness.
Reparations must be about
righting history in our schools
and teaching the truth to all
students so they will under
stand what this debt is about.
Reparations are about teach
ingthetruthsothatintheend
wecan bereconciled as Ameri
cans across racial lines as
brothers and sisters, with lib
erty and justice for all.
Who was it that said, “You
shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free?”
Dr. Watkins is a professor of
sociology at Augusta State
University and can be reached
at (706) 737-1735 or e-mail:
rwatkins@aug.edu.
and in 2001 in Augusta, 13
homicides were black on black.
Barbara Thurmond
Augusta, Ga.
Note: The writer is the co
founderof Blacks Against Black
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AUGUSTA FOCUS
Louima case
From page 4A
Intelligent people would be
right to think that the assault
of Abner Louima, in its bra
zen, racially motivated sadism
by one police officer and in the
conspiracy of other police of
ficers to obstruct justice, has
struck at the very heart of the
black community’s relation
ship with police everywhere—
and with the American nation
itself.
For, the barbaric assault on
Mr. Louima was amodern day
lynching, with all the wither
ing humiliation and physical
danger that characterized that
once common crime. The dif
ference this time is the victim
lived to tell about it.
That a full measure of jus
tice in this case has not been
Juvenile justice
From page 4A
Jjuvenilejustice systemin the
first place. I hope you will
call us about the One
Church... Ten Families Pro
gram and help us give our
children hope by supporting
the Act to Leave No Child
Behind (S. 940/H.R. 1990).
(To learn more about the
Sponsored by Gambro Healthcare
Augusta Focus: 20 years
- of a good read.
MARCH 7, 2002
reached only underscores —
again —the point criminolo
gist Christopher E. Stone, of
the Vera Institute of Criminal
Justice, made in an essay in
“The State of Black America
1996.”
Stone wrote that “African
Americansfaceaparadoxwhen
it comes to crime and justice.
Asagroup, African Americans
suffer severely from crime in
their communities. Yet, they
have learned, justifiably, to
mistrust the government in
stitutions charged with fight
ing crime.”
Can those who seek justice
trust the institutions of gov
ernment to see to it that jus
tice will be done in the case of
the assault against Abner
Louima?
Hugh B. Priceispresidentof
the National Urban League.
Movement and the Act to
Leave No Child Behind and
what you can do, call 1-800-
CDF-1200 or visit
www.childrensdefense.org.)
Marian Wright Edelman is
president of the Children’s
Defense Fund (CDF), which
coordinates the Black Com
munity Crusade for Children
(BCCC).CDF’s mission is to
Leave No Child Behind.
5A