Newspaper Page Text
Augusta Ncms-iKpwiu
Vol. 4
Halt Consolidation May
Suit By Blacks Effort
The News-Review learned
this week that a group of
Blacks plan to file suit to
prevent the merger of the city
and county governments. A
referendum on the merger is
scheduled for May 14th.
Attorney John H. Ruffin
said the group is filing the suit
FRANK YERBY
Blacks Voice Opposition To
New Government Proposal
At the last announced
meeting of the Augusta-Rich
mond County Charter
Commission Monday night, a
largely Black audience
expressed fears that their vote
would be diluted under the
proposed new government.
The Charter Commission
issue was sidetracked early in
the meeting, when those
present began asking questions
about the May 14 referendum
and the proposed new
government.
One man likened the
referendum to “giving a man a
blank check and telling him to
go down to the bank and fill it
He said no one knows what
the 18 commission members
and the mayor-chairman are
going to come up with if the
referendum is passed.
Charter Commission
member, and chairman of the
night’s meeting, James Hinton,
said the referendum would not
necessarily be a blank check,
because the new commissioners
would have the Charter
Commission study made
available to them.
The main concern of most
of those present was the idea
that “people are voting on
something they will have no
say in,” as one man said.
Hinton said there are some
Black members on the Charter
Commission to provide input
from the Black community.
Those present said there was
not enough representation.
“The main thing Negroes are
objecting to is losing their
voting strength,” another man
said.
He mentioned the present
voting districts and the fact
that they appeared to be drawn
for the express purpose of
putting all the Blacks in the
community in one district,
instead of allowing them to
spread through several districts,
thus giving them die possibility
of more Black representation.
Hinton held on, citing his
presence as chairman, from
I NATIONAL BLACK NEWS BfcfWlC*
MEMBER
because it feels that the
proposed consolidation will
unfairly dilute Black voting
strength here. Ruffin said he
expects to file suit Thursday.
The attorney also revealed
that the Justice Department
has announced that the
consolidation proposal is in
Novelist Frank Yerby To
Visit Augusta In May
World renowned novelist
Frank G. Yerby will be in
Augusta on May 19th,
according to an aunt of the
novelist, Mrs. A.B. Bampfield.
Mrs. Bampfield said Yerby
wrote her a letter last week
saying that he would be here.
Yerby, an Augusta native and
Paine College graduate, now
makes his home in Spain.
Other local relatives include,
Timothy Yerby, Harrison
Yerby, and Rufus Lowe, all
cousins of the author.
Yerby has two brothers;
Paul, a pharmaceutical doctor
in Detroit, and Alonzo, who
giving his opinion on the value
of the referendum for Black
citizens.
Another Charter
Commission member, Joseph
Jones, said the referendum
“was not in the interest of the
Black community. Only two
representatives out of 19 are
guaranteed and two out of 19
is not very good.
“We’re talking about coming
into a system not as good as
the one we’re under now.”
Another man said, “they tell
us not to do things based on
race yet they turn around and
do them to us.”
Still another remarked,
“They had better get this
(voter representation)
straightened out before coming
to the Black community and
asking for our support to cut
Sheriff Anderson Mum On
Gambling Raid - Fears
Pre-Trial Publicity
By R.L. Oliver
Citing fears of pretrial
publicity, Richmond County
Sheriff William (Bill) Anderson
refused to release the names of
60 persons arrested in a raid ona
gambling house on Old
Savannah Road, early Saturday
morning.
“We’ve had people all over
us before on pretrial publicity.
This is a state case made by the
Georgia Bureau of
Investigation (GBI), I leave it
up to them to release any
names,” Anderson said.
Two persons were charged
with running a gambling house,
and about $45,000 was seized
during the raid by the GBI.
Others arrested in the raid
P.O. Box 953
violation of Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 in
that the proposal has not been
sent to the United States
District Court for the District
of Columbia judicial review, or
to the Attorney General for
administrative review.
Assistant Attorney General
teaches medicine at Harvard
University. Yerby’s oldest son
lives in California.
Asked when Yerby was last
in Augusta, Mrs. Bampfield
replied, “He hasn't been here
in years.”
A profilic writer, Yerby has
a new book, published this
month entitled “VOYAGE
UNPLANNED”.
Last fall, he donated a
prized collection of his
manuscripts to Paine College.
Yerby was bom in Augusta
in 1916. Following graduation
at Haines Institute, entered
Paine College in Sept. 1933,
our own throat.”
State Rep. Matthew W.
Mulherin (District 81) tried to
explain the delegation’s actions
in passing House Bill 2062
(new government).
“We felt,” he said, “city
residents were paying double.”
He said the county collects
taxes for the Sheriff’s
Department and the Roads and
Bridges Department (about
$2.5 million he said).
“You and I pay for it and
we don’t get a penny out of it.
We felt that we have got to
combine these services and this
was away,” he added.
Jones tried to sum up the
input from the night’s meeting
by saying the Charter
Commission members should
be aware of one word,
“participation.”
were charged with frequenting
a gambling house.
The raid was conducted by
GBI agents, members of the
Sheriffs Department, and
several FBI agents who went
along as observers. It has been
reported Anderson invited the
GBI to assist him during the
Masters Tournament because
he felt gambling and
prostitution would be on the
increase.
A spokesman for the FBI
said Monday that they had
received a report there would
be gambling in Augusta during
the golf tournament, and “We
are checking out to see if there
has been a violation of
interstate gambling laws.”
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
for the Civil Rights Division J.
Stanley Pottinger wrote a letter
(April 8) to State Attorney
General Arthur Bolton stating
that changes which “affect
voting are unenforceable unless
and until preclearance
requirements of Section 5 have
been met.
graduating third in his class in
1937.
It was during his student
days at Paine that he penned
the words to the often sung
and cherished Paine Hymn
which was set to music by
Mark Fax, then director of
music at the college.
Yerby wrote one novel a
year for fifteen successive
years, amassed 21 million sales
for his twenty-one best sellers.
He had three of his novels
made into successful movies.
His books have been
translated into 12 languages.
ROSCOE WILLIAMS
Williams
Appointed
To HRC
Roscoe Williams was
appointed to the
Augusta-Richmond County
Human Relations Commission,
by the Augusta City Council
Monday, to fill the seat of the
late Dr. Lucius Pitts, former
Paine College president.
Williams was nominated to
the post by Mayor Lewis A.
Newman on the
recommendation of the
commission chairman John
Radeck and commission
director Charles Walker.
A 1958 graduate of Paine
College, Williams also holds a
masters degree from Fisk
University and has done
further study at Northwestern
University, Evanston, 111.
He has taught biology,
chemistry, physics and Russian
in the Richmond County
school system. He is currently
serving as assistant dean of
students at Augusta College.
Williams is married to the
former Bertha Carter and is the
father of two children,
Thaydra and Roscoe, Jr.
His appointment is effective
immediately.
Augusta, Georgia
JAMES BROWN
James Brown Civil Rights Charges Against
Knoxville Dropped - Police Charges Pending
Soul singer James Brown’s
civil rights suit against the city
of Knoxville, Tenn, was
dismissed by U.S. District
Court Judge Robert L. Taylor
Monday.
The action was taken by
Judge Taylor after he
determined from testimony
that the city, its agencies and
administration were not
directly involved in the
incident, and “could not be
judged guilty of any civil rights
violations in the matter.”
However, the police officers
involved in the suit are still
facing charges in the violation
of the civil rights of Brown and
two associates, Bobby Dyers
and Freddie Holmes.
Richmond Count) Sheriff Denies Nasty Treatment Charges
Richmond County Sheriff
William “Bill” Anderson denies
he is guilty of the “nasty
treatment” charges filed
against him with the
Augusta-Richmond County
Human Relations Commission.
According to Anderson, he
did witness an incident that
occured at the Krispy Kreme
shop on Gordon Highway
Sunday March 16th, as he and
his family were driving. “I
s -J? A ’ woL- -SMB
a
I Wlfola HR
i w HUPP
(L-R) Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Dent, Dr. I.E. Washington, John W.
Dent, Dr. Justine Washington and Father Bruce Williamson.
Drs. I.E. and Justine Washington (center) were the godparents
of John Westley Dent in 1945 when he was christened at St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church.
Thirty years ago Drs. I.E.
and Justine Washington were
the godparents of John W.
Dent, Jr. when he was
christined at St. Mary’s
Episcopal Church. On Easter
Sunday of this year they were
the godparents of John’s
daughter, Dina Delores, who
was also christined at St.
Brown and associates filed
suit against the city and several
police officers in connection
with an alleged beating of the
trio by Knoxville Police in Dec.
1972. In the suit Brown claims
that following a concert in
Knoxville he was talking to a
racially mixed group of
teenagers about drug abuse, the
value of education and
patriotism in America, when he
was rudely told to move out of
the area by several policemen.
The suit said when he (Brown)
questioned the policemen’s
motives, he and his associates
were attacked and beaten.
The police officers being
tried in the case are Phillip
Bowling - who has been
went over to Mrs. Davis’ car
and told her that I was the
sheriff of Richmond County to
roll down her window.
However, “I noticed that she
appeared scared, so I presented
my identification and asked
her to roll her window down
and explain what was going on.
1 never got nasty or did I see a
gun as was reported,”
Anderson said.
A complaint was filed with
Christening Scene Repeated 30 Years Later
Mary’s.
The Dents now make their
home in Philadelphia, Pa.
Gathered here from
Philadelphia were the children
of Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Dent, Sr.
to witness the ceremony: Dr.
and Mrs. W.L. Dent; Mr. and
Mrs. B.J. Dent and daughter
Bonita; Mr. and Mrs. R.A. Doit
April 18, 1974 No. 5
transfered from the police
department to that city’s fire
department - Kenneth Sloan,
Davis McGoldrick, Kenneth
Bowman and Ed Cummings.
According to Radio Station
WJBE in Knoxville, Bowling
was suspended from the police
force there in Octorber, 1972,
for allegedly beating a suspect
he arrested with a
walkie-talkie.
Those defendants dismissed
in the case were Mayor Cariye
Testerman, Safety Director
Dwayne Ausetts, Police Chief
Joe Fowler, Civil Service
Secretary Preston V. Phelps
and Capt. Charles Patty, all of
Knoxville.
HRC by Mrs. Elaine Davis an
Augusta Black woman, who
charged Anderson with unfair
treatment and “very nasty”
treatment.
Mrs. Davis, at Apt. 10F
Amsterdam Dr., told the
News-Review that she was the
object of profanity and a
woman making obscene
gestures as she left the
doughnut shop on Gordon
Highway. She further charged
L J
M
Sunday, the Washington's were godparents of John’s daughter,
Dina Delores, at the same church. Pictured here are (L-R) the
Washingtons, Mrs. Rachael Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs. John W. Dent
with daughter, and Father Berlin.
and son, Richard, 111, and
daughter, Jennifer; Mr. and
Mrs. J.W. Dent and daughter
Dina Delores.
The Dent’s youngest
daughter, Wilhemina Yvonne,
and her husband, Lewis P.
Emory, who live here were also
present.
A daughter, Lillian Louise
Aaron's Fete
Marred by
refusal to pause
for Dr. King
Page 6
Masters Visitors
Robbed Page 2
$900.00 Worth
of tires stolen
Page 2
20
Local Black
Viewpoints On
Masters Aired
In National
Magazine
The April 15th issue of
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
magazine quote several
Augusta Blacks’ viewpoints on
the Masters Golf Tournament.
Among those quoted in
the national magazine are City
Councilwoman Carrie J. Mays,
educator James Dunn, The
News-Review and The Mirror
News.
The comments appear in an
article entitled “A Town’s
View of the Affair.”
that as she turned into Barton
Chapel Rd., a green car pulled
up beside her and that the
sheriff pulled up beside her and
asked to see “something with
her name on it.”
Mrs. Davis also told the
News-Review that the woman
had told the sheriff that
someone in her auto pointed a
gun at them.
However a search by the
sheriff produced no gun.
Harley of Chicago, was unable
to attend.
Other Augusta relatives in
attendance included an aunt,
Miss L.E. Dent, State
Representative Richard A.
Dent and City Councilman
Benjamin Dent, uncles of the
Dent children.
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