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The Augusta News-Review - March 1, 1973,
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11 Jby Al Irby y? I
STREET CORNER RESEARCH GIVES THE WHITE PRESS
AND LIBERALS A FALSE CONCEPTION ABOUT BLACK
PEOPLE AND THEY JUMP TO A BIAS CONCLUSION THAT
HAS CREATED MANY MYTHS ABOUT THE BLACK
POPULATION. THIS GROSS SOPHISTRY HAS POISONED
THE MINDS OF MANY WHITES TOWARD BLACKS.
There is a well known adage that says in substance: We hurt or
destroy the ones or things we love. There is no place where this
proverb applies better than with the two most ardent supporters
of black aspiration - white liberals and the news media. These
two important segments of our culture with their erroreous
efforts have embodied a series of adverse myth against the group,
that they outwardly seek to help.
They have wearied the blacks with their “street-corner
research” and senseless statistics of them. Most of the policies
toward blacks have revolved around a social theological untruth.
One of the most damaging myths deals with a in-built class
structure within the group; middle-class “Negroes” and the “Real
Blacks.”
The middle class Negro supposedly has lost his true identity on
the periphery of the white man’s mainstream, and has no concern
for his people. According to this hypothesis, the so-called
middle-class Negro does well on the white man’s tasks, because he
is for real a black-white person. Given the opportunity he will
pursue his own narrow self interest, rather than seeking the
advancement of his race.
STREET CORNER RESEARCH DISCRIMINATES AGAINST
THOSE BLACKS THAT WORK AND LEAD A DECENT LIFE
IN FAVOR OF THOSE ON THEIR RACE WHO MAKE NOISE
AND NOTORIETY.
“On the other hand the “real black” is proud of his identity
and is committed to the advancement to black people. He is too
steeped in his own culture to score well on white, culturally
biased tests, but he has real abilities, that he will use in service to
his race.”
KILLING US SOFTLY- This false dichotomy is the well
known plantation technique, that has always kept fighting among
themselves. This biased view suggests that any program that really
elects to help black people should concentrate on what some
whites call authentic ghetto-blacks, conceived by a white myth.
Some whites assume these fallacious conclusions for real; an
example, they assume that all bright and responsible blacks are
from middle-class backgrounds. The blacks in America are like
any other groups, some are good, and some are bad; but there is a
myth, that would put them in two groups. One having all the
brains and the other having all the moral purity.
Only a look at the facts, and the mechanics of myth making
can show how completely absurd these misconceptions are.
DE-MYTHING - Only a very small percentage of the black
population is really middle-class in the sense of being doctors,
lawyers or other big earning groups. There are almost no
upper-class in the sense of having great hereditary wealth. Most
black persons are not poverty-stricken, either. The myth
concentrates on the minority of blacksand ignores the fact that
most blacks are working-class people. They are employed at jobs
ranging from low-paying, unskilled labor to moderately
prosperous occupations that require high skill, experience, and
college education.
The so-called black-power that has emerged in the press is
shared by very few black persons.
BAYARD RUSTIN POINTS OUT A FEW OF THE ABSTRACT
ABSURDITY OF THE AMERICAN NEWS MEDIA TOWARD
MYTHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE.
Bayard Rustin, the well known Civil Rights leader made this
enlightening observation: “The amount of publicity given to a
black group has varied in reverse proportion to its size. Thus, if
the NAACP has 400 times more members than the Black
Panthers, the Panthers will receive 400 times more publicity than
the NAACP.” Rustin’s estimate is accurate of what is observed
empirically. Here are some important reasons why it is so. The
news media, and the well-meaning white liberals, tend to festure
the unusual and to overlook the basic facts of life among black
Americans.
(1) Most blacks are not on welfare, and most people on welfare
are not blacks. (2) Most black families have both parents present,
and have incomes above the official poverty level. (3)
Organizations such as the NAACP and leaders such as the late Dr.
Martin Luther King, have had many times more supporters than
various extremist groups or their highly publicized spokesmen.
None of this implies that all is well. It does imply that they are
far more interested in forcing improvements than in harboring
revelationic visions or consoling themselves with mysticism.
White liberals have been particularly susceptible to the idea
that there is such a thing as black philosophy and that militant
black leaders have it. Some white liberals are romantics of a sort
who regard every fringe as a vanguard. Some are cynical
pragmatists who give the oil to the squeaking wheel as a tactical
measure to minimize administration’s headaches. Some of these
whites are simply lazy, and think of black people in terms of the
noise-makers, instead of taking the trouble to understand a very
complex problem.
There are certainly built-in biases toward the black community
in these street centered social research, as well as in news
gathering. The first is the lure of the unusual or the pathological,
both in terms of its inherent interest and its potential benefit to
the researchers. No sociologist or author are going to make a
reputation or earn a dime writing about black people, that go to
work every day, pay their debts, and school their children.
Another tactical error made by researchers is the fact that they
do their researching in the daytime; when the solid blacks are
working. They talk to the unemployed, the loafers and the
pool-hall sharks, then they hurry to their typewriters to draw
word-pictures, that really portray an utter fallacious picture.
( A THOUGHT ON THE LOCAL HORIZON )
A bouquet of roses to Miss Evelyn Gilbert of 722 Fleming
Avenue, for her courageous and perspicacious letter to the
Chronicle, last Sunday concerning Lendell Hunter. This indignant
lady in a highly intelligent way, solidly told it like it is.
DR. NELSON SMITH, OF THE NEW PILGRIM BAPTIST
CHURCH, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, HAS BEEN
EXPOUNDING THE “BLESSED EVANGEL” IN ALL OF ITS
GRANDEUR, THIS WEEK AT TABERNACLE. HOPE SOME
OF MY READERS WERE EXPOSED.
Page 4
I Speaking |
I From |
ÜBft Athens |
* ft
Roosevelt Green, Jr.
A number of situations in Augusta and Athens are disturbing
to this writer at the moment. It seems that the problems of
Blacks in both communities are worsened by inept and racist
white public officials. When will they ever learn that Black people
are not playing the fool role any longer.
Presently, there is a big manhunt for a Black criminal fugitive
in Augusta, Ga. A five thousand ($5,000) dollars reward has been
posted for his capture. White police and other officials have asked
the local Black leaders to assist them in this vendetta. Once he is
captured, the fugitive is supposed to be transferred to some
correctional institution or tried for additional crimes. White
citizens and some Blacks are reportedly buying small weapons or
hand guns because of fears of this one Black man.
However, it should be noted that if that young Black man had
been white, he would have probably been recommended for
psychiatric care. Also, the Black community has never been asked
to assist in the capture of a white criminal offender on this level
in the past. This coupled with the nature of some of his alleged
offenses creates great fear in the minds of white males in veiw of
sex and racism. It is a wonder those public officials have not
offered a million dollars for the capture of that young Black
brother. Let us all hope that he does not get killed on sight by
trigger happy white policemen or citizens.
Speaking of policemen, it is quite upsetting and enraging for
this writer to observe policemen patroling the Black Community
with rifles and shotguns clearly visible in their patrol cars. The
open display of weapons is obviously designed to strike fear in
the hearts of the Black citizens whose communities are overly
patrolled and underprotected by local policemen in both Augusta
and Athens. This writer has observed white policemen jumping
out of patrol cars with their shotguns or rifles drawn in a
menacing manner. It does not take much imagination to conclude
that white policemen will not be dealt with justly if they shoot or
“beat up” Black citizens. Police brutality is a common
phenomenon in Black communities across this country. White
citizens who are usually treated fairly by their white policemen
feel and believe that the charge of police brutality is a false issue.
The thing that is equally disturbing is that Black and white
leadership is not in honest communication with each other, in
Athens or Augusta. Augusta has some good Black leadership but
Athens is at a great disadvantage because of poor to no
leadership. It is interesting to see white leaders in both
communities select the Black leaders that are “safe” or generally
passive and who are not respected by Black people in general in
order to foster a sense of false community harmony. True, Black
leaders are willing to deal with the basic community issues but
white leaders prefer to play “games” or “tricks” rather than
“coming to grips” with Black and white problems.
The white leadership in Augusta is notorious for racism in
general and for buying off or co-opting some “safe” Black
leaders. Augusta is virtually an armed camp with both Blacks and
whites buying weapons daily on a large scale basis. The town is
like a powder keg that could erupt into violence at any time.
Since whites are in the majority and control the power it is they
who should lead the way in defusing Augusta. Instead, all one
gets is silence from the whites in Augusta who should come
forward to deal honestly and courageously with community
problems. Perhaps the concerned white citizens are afraid of their
white peers and will therefore wait until another violent
community crisis before taking their necessary positions on basic
issues.
The report of the National Urban League who studied Augusta
after the May 11, 1970 civil disorders has meant practically
nothing to white leaders and the white community. Employment
discrimination is greater than ever in Augusta. One only has to
look at some of the major employers of Augusta to see few, if
any Blacks in key positions. The most common lie to say
“qualified” Blacks cannot be found. Some of the major
industries, hospitals, educational institutions, and the local Army
facility have virtually lily white non-menial and upper level
positions. Blacks in Augusta must organize and begin to deal
consistently with the previously named centers of racial
discrimination.
White preachers or ministers in both Athens and Augusta are
generally more concerned about saving souls than bodies. The
Christian Gospel is not really preached or practiced by those
oracles of chloroform sermons. One well known white minister
who heads one of the leading churches had an anti-busing sticker
on his car. He is also preaching each week to a lily white
congregation where only invited Blacks are allowed to worship. It
would be wonderful if we had some white Jeremiahs and Ezekiels
to come forward in Augusta. Some of the white churches even
have private schools for the white children of parents who oppose
school desegregation.
Athens is a peculiar community. It was only recently that the
Mayor and City Council of Athens rejected an annexation bid on
the part of a local Black community area. The Black population
of Athens would have increased from ten (10%) per cent to
twenty (20%) per cent if that annexation bid had succeeded.
It is often amusing for this writer and some of his Black or
white friends to enter a number of local restaurants. We are
nearly always “celebrities” in that we are the main attraction in
any eating establishment until we leave. Also, most of the whites
seated around us at any given time will suddenly leave. Black
people must be powerful if they can “thin out” a restaurant here
at will or non-will. All of this is strange when one recalls the fact
that the desegregation of most public facilities is “Old Hat” at
this time.
Beyond the Athens and Augusta “jive” is the returning
prisoneers of war issue. White newspapers and other media waste
no time in blowing this matter out of proportion. The sympathy
and empathy of the American people is played upon to the
extreme so that other more vital domestic issues areoverlooked. It
should help any Black P.O.W. to be patriotic in Augusta once he
learns that local white parents are opposed to school
desegregation and do not want their white children to attend
school with his children.
It is imperative and utterly necessary for draft dodgers and
military deserters to be granted amnesty if America is to begin to
heal her internal war wounds. Each president in the past has
granted amnesty to those men who fall in the above category and
it is necessary for the current president to do the same. This is a
burning issue for white super patriots but they must remember
that the Viet Nam or Indo-China War is an illegal and immoral
war. Congress has never declared war as our United States
Constitution requires. Something must be worked out for those
men who did not want to die in Viet Nam for nothing.
Finally, the P.O.W. issue is blown out of proportion so that
|pGOING~
II PLACES f - Os
I' ’ I
A With Philip Waring
?
Material for today’s column is
from the Chicago Defender and
points to two very important
events.
POVERTY PROGRAMS AXED
President Nixon’s mammoth economic retrenchment is causing
much anxiety among the masses of the people, especially those
who voted for his second term at the White House. His proposal
fiscal budget calls for dismantling of the social agencies created
by Kennedy and Johnson to allay the ravages of poverty and to
instill faith in the American system of government.
One of the large components that the Nixon axe is chopping
off is the Office of Economic Opportunity which the late Pres.
Johnson established to fight poverty and to bring the masses of
the American people into the stream of the Great Society. That
isn’t all. The Job Corps which provided much needed experience
for the nation’s youth is to be eliminated. To be demolished also
are the Model Cities program, Urban Renewal. The funding of
health, housing, education and other social programs will be
drastically cut.
More than 900 community action agencies scattered across the
country will be ended as far as federal support is concerned.
Community action was the focus of the Johnson Administration s
war on poverty. The agencies Mr. Nixon is abolishing have a wide
range of activities and programs for the poor, the blacks
particularly in urban and rural settings and were intended to
speak for the poor before public bodies in the public arena.
Mr. Nixon also plans to abolish the Office of Science and
Technology. That plan is under sharp criticism from the
Federation of American Scientists which issued a statement
saying that scientist in the Nixon Administration were being
reduced to “a lesser and more subordinate role.”
There you have the full spectrum of the Administration’s plan
to back away from its responsibility in areas vital to the masses of
the people and to the national interest. That’s how Mr. Nixon is
interpreting the mandate the voters gave him in November.
THE BLACK CAUCUS
By a unanimous vote, Rep. Louis Stokes has been re-elected
chairman of the Congressional Caucus. The Caucus’s numerical
strength has increased slightly by the addition of three new
members elected last November. They are Rep. Yvonne Burke of
California, Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas, and Rep. Andrew
Young of Georgia.
The new members are astute political tacticians who should
steer the Caucus into effective channels of useful actions. With
the appointment of Dr. A.A. Adair as the group’s executive
director, the Caucus, no doubt, will be in a position to devise the
right strategy for appropriate concentration of its power.
Morgan State College in Baltimore. He is a very able man who
can do much toward the development of an incisive program of
positive action on a national scale. The Black Caucus has the
potential of being the leading Black sector in American politics.
To do so, however, it must have unity of purpose, unity of action
and it must be consistent.
' LETTERS TO EDITOR |
WHY ALTO?
Editor, The Chronicle
Your editorial asks why
Alto? I, a black citizen of
Georgia also ask why Alto.
You suggest that a
maximum-security institution
would seem indicated. I suggest
that a mental institution would
have been the only true form
of justice. I further suggest that
if Lendell Hunter is guilty of
the crimes for which he was
convicted that he is obviously
sick, and that the psychiatrist
who declared him otherwise is
either mistaken, incompetent,
or prejudiced. I moreover
suggest that if Hunter had been
institutionalized for his mental
disorder he would be receiving
treatment instead of becoming
the victime of a massive
manhunt. If he is guilty of the
death of Mrs. D’Quosie, then I
suggest that all persons who
contributed to his sentence to
prison instead of a mental
institution are equally as guilty
for her death. The psychiatrist,
the prosecutor, the local law
enforcement officers and the
judge must realize that had
justice prevailed the present
situation could have been
avoided. Finally, I suggest that
if Lendell Hunter had been a
white youth he never would
have seen Alto. His sentence
would have been Milledgeville.
Augustans, again you have
sown injustice and your are
reaping terror. Even in your
search for this young man you
show no compassion. Why not
issue a plea to Hunter to turn
himself in? Why not seek the
assistance of his family in
Americans will continue to overlook the domestic crises of our
times. The president is busy destroying social service programs for
the poor, the ethnic minorities, and others under the guise of
revenue sharing. America must come to her senses and develop an
adequate system of care that insures social welfare progress. Our
capitalistic system was built on the backs of Black slaves and now
our white Americans are causing the children of those slaves to
suffer “now more than ever.”
Peace Beyone Power
asking him to surrender? Is it
Hunter that you want or
Hunter’s life? The big guns and
multitude of policemen
indicate that you seek to kill
rather than arrest. Augusta is
guilty of injustice and the
confinement of Hunter to
Alto, Reidsville or Atlanta will
not change that fact.
Sincerely Yours,
Evelyn Gilbert
722 Fleming Ave.
Augusta, Ga.
Editors Note: The above letter
was addressed to the Augusta
Chronicle-Herald with a carbon
copy sent to the News-Review.
APPRECIATES COVERAGE
Dear Editor:
We at Augusta Opportunities
Industrialization Center Inc.,
are deeply appreciative of the
fine coverage that your paper
has given our program. We are
especially grateful to Mr. Bob
Oliver for his fine story on OIC
in your recent edition.
Manpower Programs are going
through some trying time in
light of the present
administration’s austerity
program.
We will need the help of the
total community if the very
important work of OIC and
other social services programs
are to continue in the Augusta
area. It will be supporters like
you that will insure the
continuation of our program.
Thank You,
Chester R. Trower
Augusta Opportunities
Industrialization Program
TO BE
EQUAL /IW A
...—*
Verno" E. Jordan, Jr. b
OEO GETS THE AXE
The office of Economic Opportunity is having a particularly
messy death. Once the cutting-edge of the federal War on
Poverty, it has been lingering in a half-life for the past few years.
Now the official executioners have descended upon it, hacking
away with axes at what was once the sole hope of the poor.
Launched with fanfare and high hopes, OEO became a victim
of budget-cutting to help finance the war in Vietnam. Currently,
it is funded at much less than half of its former budget and many
of its best programs have been spun off to other Departments.
That was part of the original idea behind OEO - that the agency
would conduct experimental programs not likely to be started by
entrenched bureaucracies in other Departments.
But once gone, no new experimental programs were placed
under the OEO unbrella. And regular attempts to undermine
programs like Legal Service to the poor and community action
programs were made. The Administration announced it will
totally dismantle OEO, and that it will throw the community
actions programs (CAP) to the mercy of local governments.
Although more whites than blacks benefitted from its
programs, OEO’s guiding concept of “maximum feasible
participation” marked the first time black people have become
directly involved in participatory democracy in great numbers.
For the first time black people who were poor sat on
decision-making boards and took part in making decisions on
policy and delivery of services by a government agency.
And such participation also marked the first time white
businessmen, who also sat on CAP boards and boards of other
OEO programs, dealth with black people as peers. Many bankers
and Chamber of Commerce leaders had the salutary experience of
learning first-hand about the problems of the poor, and of seeing
for themselves what a huge, previously untapped pool of
leadership was contained in the ghettos of America.
Especially in the CAP agencies, one could see the emergency of
grass-roots leadership among people who might otherwise have
simply given up on a system that stacked the deck against them.
These programs gave poor people a sense of dealing with their
own problems and a control over their own destinies that cannot
be replaced.
The official line is that such programs aren’t working, but an
official of OEO report that was leaked to the press after it was
suppressed, documents the success of the nearly 1,000 CAP
agenciesaroundthecountry. It proves the program is working and
ought to be retained.
Even on the cost-benefit scale so revered by budget-cutting
management analysts, the relatively inexperienced anti-poverty
programs compare favorable with many ventures in private
industry and are proven to be far ahead of many big corporations
who exist only because of government subsidies costing far more
than the small outlay for OEO.
One of the myths propounded recently is that OEO hasn’t
helped the poor but that it has given jobs to middle class blacks.
That statement is wrong because most higher-level employees of
the agency are white; because half of the people hired by CAP
agencies were poor when they were hired and even now average
only $5,200 per year, and because black professionals have a
good claim to government jobs as have whites, especially in
programs that bring services to the black community. This myth
has been used to provide a rationale for ending OEO and for
driving a wedge into the black community.
The end of OEO will mean more than the loss of some
programs and the redistribution of others. It will mean that the
only institutionalized voice of the poor people will have been
abolished. And it will stand as a symbol of the federal
government’s indifference to minorities and to poor people.
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Phone - Res. 736-5538 Bus. 722-0809
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