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PAGE 10A
- FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Wednesday, February 4,1998
Opinion
Will Jesse’s House be the
next beneficiary of giving
nature of this community?
The Forsyth County business and industrial community as
well as individuals and civic clubs are almost always
eager to help a worthy cause, especially when children
are involved. And it’s hoped by local organizers that
Jesse’s House will get its needed assistance.
One example of this community helping out was this fall’s incident
when the Harley Davidson - part of a South Forsyth High School
Band Boosters’ fund-raising effort - was stolen while being stored at
someone’s home.
After hearing the group’s plight and learning new band uniforms
would likely go unbought since funds would go to reimburse the
fundraiser so that the bike could be given away at the auction as
planned, the local citizenry responded.
Some gave a dollar or two, others gave $5 or $lO, while big busi
ness - one in particular - opened its checkbook and really rallied to
save the day.
The community’s commitment to helping others was also recently
shown in the over-the-top fundraising for the United Way of Forsyth
County.
Another example of giving is the donated use of the house from
Georgia Professional Sprinkler Systems owner Larry Morris.
Recently, the board of directors for the local youth shelter, named
Jesse’s House, came forward to let the community know how much
has been done thus far in readying the temporary shelter for girls ages
12-18.
“We are at a crucial juncture,” said Coda Alfrey, president of the
board of directors. “We will do this and this community can make it
happen.”
The key to doing that is the raising of SIO,OOO which is keeping
Jesse’s House from opening its doors. The only work which remains is
refurbishing project which needs skilled labor. While much of the con
struction material required has been obtained, the project still lacks the
labor to complete the remodeling work, say board members, who have
made the decision to hire the skilled labor necessary.
“In terms of dollars, this community has donated $17,000 worth of
materials and services to the refurbishing of Jesse’s House,” said Reba
Foster, construction coordinator. “But right now, we need the financial
resources to pay for the labor necessary.”
Checks for the Jesse’s House refurbishing effort can be made
payable to: The Forsyth County Youth Shelter and mailed to Ken
Rogers, CPA, 3148 Tribble Gap Road, Cumming, Ga. 30040. For
additional information about the shelter, call Heike McMillan at (770)
277-9380.
Committed together, a little can go a long way in helping Jesse’s
House accomplish it mission to give temporary shelter for girls who
need such a caring place.
Letter policy
Do you agree? Do you disagree? The Forsyth County News welcomes
letters on current events and issues of the day. The following is the let
ter policy of the Forsyth County News:
Letters must be signed. For verification purposes the street address
and telephone number should be included on the letter but will be with
held from publication. Neither will this information be available to the
public. Hie Forsyth County News reserves the right to edit letters accord
ing to length when necessary. There is a 350 word limit
Mail letters to:
Forsyth County News
P.O. Box 210
Cumming, Ga 30028
or hand deliver letters to the business office, 302 Old Buford Road.
Letters unsigned and incorrectly identified will be withheld.
CARTOONISTS' VIEWS ON THE NEWS
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Race and changing times
When Mike Bowers resigned last year
as attorney general, several officials in
state government sighed with relief.
Bowers was close to making a nuisance of
himself.
He had written stern letters to the
University System and the state
Department of Transportation, advising
those agencies they could not use race as
a factor in determining contracts, employ
ment or anything else. He ordered the
University System to explain precisely
how it used race to “promote diversity” in
enrollment.
Before the race issue reached the boil
ing point, Bowers was gone, promising to
resurrect the debate if he became gover
nor.
News of Bowers’ personal transgres
sions all but erased from public memory
Bowers’ determination to end what he
believed was the unconstitutional use of
racial preferences in how state govern
ment spends taxpayer dollars.
Now, the explosive issue of racial
favoritism, known in government double
speak as “affirmative action,” has cropped
up again in the General Assembly.
House Minority Whip Earl Ehrhart, R-
Powder Springs, is demanding a hearing
on his bill to end affirmative action in
state agencies.
The House Democratic leadership
grudgingly agreed to let the Republican’s
bill come to vote in the Judiciary
Committee. Leaders of the NAACP and
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference kept the phone lines hot over
the weekend, making sure Democrats held
fast in their opposition to Ehrhart’s legis
lation.
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Shipp
Ehrhart knows the Democratic-con
trolled Georgia House will not finally
approve his bill, not in this election-year
session nor in any year as long as Speaker
Tom Murphy can wield a gavel and flex
his political muscle.
Democrats are preparing a tepid sub
stitute for Ehrhart’s proposal. The new
measure will restate recent court opinions
and do little else, except put the issue to
rest for at least another year. The bill is
being written behind closed doors to sat
isfy both rural white Democrats and the
Legislative Black Caucus, which means it
will be a waste of paper and an exercise in
tightrope walking.
Murphy and the Democrats, especially
those running for governor and other high
offices, hope the race issue will vanish
from the headlines once Ehrhart’s legisla
tion is given a proper burial. They are kid
ding themselves.
Even if affirmative action drops off
this year’s legislative calendar, it will
remain alive and stirring on the court
dockets.
Federal Judge Julie Carnes is hearing a
lawsuit brought by Pryor Tire Co. of
Atlanta, claiming it could not get govern-
ment contracts because it was not a
minority firm.
The Atlanta media have given only
passing notice to the Pryor Tire case, but
legal authorities say it contains the seeds
for reigniting the national controversy
over quotas and set-asides.
In Georgia and other parts of the
South, affirmative action is becoming the
litmus-test issue for Democrats and
Republicans.
It threatens in the coming years to
divide the political parties along racial
lines, with the suburban-based GOP
becoming The White Party.
That is too bad. It also is ironic.
Thirty-five years ago, some prayed pub
licly for a Southland in which individual
achievement would be based on talent,
character and energy, where race would
play no part. People who articulated that
wish were called liberals or communists
or worse. Usually, they were simply
Democrats.
Remember Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.’s words from 1963: “I have a dream
that my four little children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by
the content of their character.”
Today, people who espouse that identi
cal view are frequently labeled conserva
tives or racists or worse. In fact, they are
often Republicans.
Bill Shipp is editor of Bill Shipp’s
Georgia, a weekly newsletter on govern
ment and business. He can be reached at
P.O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, Ga. 30144
or by calling (770) 422-2543, e-mail:
bshipp@bellsouth.net, Web address:
http://www.billshipp. com..