Newspaper Page Text
10A
August 26, 2004
Budget :
Continued from page 3A
should be complete in
three weeks, he said.
Housing needs have
grown with the universi
ty’s enrollment. This
year’s freshman class has
300 more students than
last year’s, Smalls said.
The university will have
Civil Rights : SCLC not considered a ‘critical player
Continued from page 3A
group’s work has been sig
nificantly scaled down
since its heyday.
“I don’t think the SCLC
is viewed as a critical play
er like it was in the past,”
said Charles E. Jones, chair
of the African American
Studies department ar
Georgia State University.
“When you ask what they
hang their hat on these last
few years, I'm kind of ar a
loss to identify the major
activities and programs.”
While its members seem
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5.C. State officials say housing needs have grown
to spend about $1.6 mil
lion to house students at
off-campus apartments
because the university is
about 300 beds short,
Washington said.
Washington said the
university is not request
ing any money from the
state for the project to
to agree on its goals —
many cite the need to
attract more young people
to the aging organization
and better address poverty,
health care and education
al issues —they clearly dif
fer on what problems need
fixing.
The SCLC would not
disclose how many mem
bers it has, but Brooks put
the number at about
100,000, down from the
500,000 at its peak.
Fundraising has been a
major challenge for a
group that advocates for
Hope to see you there!
construct apartment-style
housing for 750 students.
The university plans to
use a U.S. Department of
Education program that
lends money to histori
cally black colleges and
universities for dorms
and other needs. Student
housing fees would repay
the poor, Shuttlesworth
said. He believes more
people would contribute
“if they realized the value
SCLC had to the country”
in terms of its historic
achievements.
But Abernathy, whose
father, Ralph David Aber
nathy Sr., co-founded the
group with King in 1957,
said its leaders have grown
complacent and have done
little to push it into the
21st century. He stressed
the need to redefine the
group’s role in a post-civil
rights era in which racism
is more subtle and the
minority population s
more diverse.
“Until those persons
decide to allow a progres
sive change of the guard,
the organization will con
tinue to be stagnant and
out of touch with the
issues,” he said.
Many of the SCLC’s
best-known supporters
Voter Black males among apet groupof dienfranchised ot
L
i 5551
ol ] i
Continued from page 8A
Vermont) and the Dis
trict of Columbia, pris
oners cannot vote, in 35
states felons on probation
or parole are disenfran
chised, and in 14 states a
felony conviction can
result in a lifetime ban
long after the completion of a
sentence.”
According to the Wash
ington-based policy insti
tute, 1.4 million African-
American men -13 per
cent of all black men -
AUGUSTA FOCUS
the loan, Washington
said.
Eckstrom said the uni
versity cannot guarantee
it will be able to repay
initial borrowing of $25
million.
Washington said the
university’s finance
department has worked
have distanced themselves
from the group, including
King’s widow and former
board member, Corerta
Scott King, and former
United Nations ambassa
dor and SCLC executive
director Andrew Young,
who has publicly criticized
the board leadership.
Brooks and others focus
much of the blame on
board chairman Claud
Young, who often clashed
with former president
Martin Luther King 111 -
eventually leading to
King’s resignation last
November — and has led
the board in suing another
past president and co
founder, Joseph Lowery,
over a financial dispute.
Lowery said such public
battles have distracted the
group’s leaders from doing
any real work and “called
to question their judg
ment, their priorities.”
“The world’s on fire, and
are disfranchised, a rate
that is seven times the
national average. In six
states, one of every four
black men is permanently
disenfranchised.
Alabama, Florida, lowa,
Kentucky, Mississippi,
Nevada, Tennessee (prior
to 1986), Virginia, Wash
ington (prior to 1984),
and Wyoming perma
nently disenfranchise
felons unless they are
granted clemency. Ari
zona and Maryland per
manently bar only certain
felons.
Rard since 2002 to clean
up past problems. He
thinks housing revenue
will be adequate to pay
off the debt, provided the
university continues to
grow its enrollment.
“Our debt to income
ratio is very, very strong,”
Washington said. “We
they're engaged in internal
fighting,” he said.
Brooks said “the best
thing that could to happen
to the SCLC would be for
Dr. Claud Young to
resign.”
Young simply dismissed
his critics as “outsiders”
who have contributed little
to the organization in
recent years.
“No one can tell anyone
that the board has stopped
them from doing anything,”
said Young, adding that he
would step down if the
board asked him to.
Shuttlesworth, whose
work in Birmingham, Ala.,
in the 1950 s and ‘6os was
crucial to the movement,
said Abernathy and his sup
porters simply were trying to
orchestrate a takeover that
would only end up destroy
ing the organization.
“I have no problem with
having zeal to become presi
dent of the SCLC, bur there
is a right way and a wrong
The Democratic Party
is in a quandary on this
issue. It realizes that it is
the likely beneficiary of
the ex-felon vote yert fear
being attacked by Repub
licans for being soft on
crime.
Those fears are not
being raised in Nashville.
The NAACP is being
joined by the League of
Women Voters, the Inter
denominational Minis
ters Fellowship, 100
Black Women of
Nashville, the National of
Islam local mosque,
have v‘e'rly moderate
amount of debt outstand
ing. It’s only about $8
million, which is pretty
darn good for a universi
ty of our size. We're not
in default on a penny of
the outstanding debt.”
way to do it,” he said.
Still, Abernathy said he
hasn't given up on the presi
dency, which he called his
“birthright.”
“Some believe it's dead,
others believe it’s on life sup
port ... I believe the organi
zation can be reborn again
and be a viable organization
to address the issues of
today,” said Abernathy, who
was released from prison last
October after a 1999 convic
tion for filing false expense
reports as a Georgia state
senator and a subsequent
parole violation.
Brooks agreed that the
group still is relevant in
today’s political and social
landscape but urged its lead
ers not to stray from King’s
spirit of grassroots activism.
“If SCLC is not going to
hold true to its mission of
organization, it should dis
band,” he said. “We have a
unique responsibility, and
we have to live up to that
responsibility or else.”
Alpha Kappa Alpha, Phi
Beta Sigma and the
Nashville Peace and Jus
tice Center.
The Nashville coalition
recognizes what everyone
needs to understand:
most people serving time
in prison will get out at
some point. And we have
a better chance of turning
them into productive cit
izens if they are no longer
barred from obtaining
trade licenses, are not dis
criminated against in
employment and are not
deprived of the right to
vote.
What’s unusual about
the Nashville movement
is that they've enlisted the
help of the Davidson
County Election Com
mission to register the
former felons. Conse
quently, after the rally in
Nashville, former felons
will be able to go inside
the NAACP office, where
they will be met by regis
trars from the Election
Commission.
These two simple steps
— publicizing the name of
non-voters and creating a
local movement to regis
ter former felons en
masse — could mean the
difference in who gets
elected president in
November. Who is will
ing to take me up on
these proposals?
George E. Curry is edi
tor-in-chief of the NNPA
News Service and Black-
PressUSA.com. His most
recent book is “The Best of
Emerge Magazine,” an
anthology published by
Ballantine Books. Currys
weekly radio commentary
is syndicated by Capitol
Radio News Service
(301/588-1993). He can
be reached through his web
site, georgecurry.com.