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The Augusta News-Review - January 23, 1975 -
■Walking ■
■ WiL ■
■ Dignity ■
■II bv Al Irby
YOU HAD BETTER KNOW WHOSE TOES TO STEP ON
John Swint, a member of a local assessory board must be given
extra accolade for standing up to those county commissioners
who are out to get the chief tax appraiser’s scalp, without telling
the public the reason for their sadistic ferocity Isn’t he is stepping
on toes that have been fudging on their taxes heretofore? The
political hounds have laid down an ultimatum, so when you will
be reading this, Mr. Scott Jackson maybe hanging high and dry.
He has already been called controversial, by the Augusta
Chronicle, but they said that of Jesus also.
NATE SHAW, THE 20TH CENTURY NAT. TURNER
JOINED FREDERICK DOUGLAS, BEN FRANKLIN, BOOKER
T. WASHINGTON, HENRY ADAMS AND THEODORE
DREISER IN THEIR EXCLUSIVE GREATNESS OF
AMERICAN BIOGRAPHIES. SHAW JOINS THIS SMALL
GROUP OF GREATS WHILE ENHANCING IT WITH BLACK
COURAGE THAT IS UNFETTERED, AND UNBOWED.
But what really lifted this Alabama sharecropper to the height
of raw courageous greatness that Nate tells about, the inhumanity
of his days, and the hellishness in which Black people had to
endure? A whole dark way of life in America is painted by the
experience of one Black man who would not let his soul be
broken by Alabama white night-riders and official bigots. Nate
Shaw, who died last year at the age of 88, was an illiterate Black
tenant cotton farmer in east-central Alabama. He tells what it is
all about to grow up in an ex-slave culture, especially when your
roots were on the side of the slaves.
Shaw, like thousands of Southern Blacks, knew life was
injurious to him and displeasing to God. When the great
depression hit the South, because of the boll-wevil Nate, weary of
accumulated indignities, threw his cautious nature to the wind
and joined the Alabama Sharecropper Union to figlit to the bitter
end for his livelihood, and to protect the other poor cotton
farmers. Acting in behalf of another Black from seizure by white
deputy sheriffs, he was shot and he fired back. He was hunted
down and jailed for twelve years and after having served every
day of his sentence rather than betray his friends, came out
unblemished to begin all over again as a mule farmer in the days
of the tractors.
Nate Shaw was discovered by luck after all those terrible years
for him. Five years ago, a young white Amherst graduate was in
Tukabahcee County, Alabama and sought out Show as a survivor
of the Sharecropper’s Union. This young white immediately
asked the operative question, “Why did you join the union?” and
it set off an eight hour response that began,” I was haulin a load
of hay out of Apafaiya one day ” Theodore Rosengarten was
the name of the young Amherst graduate who returned to Nate’s
shack with a tape recorder and over two years and the gentlest of
prodding, Nate Shaw poured out his heart and wounded soul as if
he had been waiting all his life for someone to tell it to.
The old boy was quite a story-teller, his rememberances were
sharp and detailed, copious and anecodotal; they were recited in
bardic tones without affection or self-pity or special pleading but
rather with pride and a sense of selfhood and identity. Later
Rosengarten edited the transcripts of the tapes, he also put
Shaw’s story into an ordered time sequence. In fear of white
reprisals against Blacks that had secretly took a part in the old
Sharecropper Union, Nate used made up names in his story. What
this says about our free society even here in 1975; when some
bigot-historians attempt to glorify slavery.
But nothing can erode the spirit of men like Nate Shaw and
millions of other Blacks, who vow that this is God’s world, and
the spirit of Nate Shaw and Nat Turner march onward with souls
aflame. Just listen to Nate Shaw as he confronts a group of white
deputy sheriffs in 1932. “1 just stood right on and I was standin
alone. I seed there was weak spots in them men and there was bad
acts comin up, but 1 didn’t run a step. I didn't think about gettin
shot and I didn’t think about not gettin shot.” He continued: ”1
thought this: A organization is a organization and if I don’t mean
nothing by join I ought to keep out of it. But I’m sworn to stand
up for all the poor colored and white farmers, if they’s takin a
notion to join-I’ve got to do it.” Listen what inner-strength this
uncouth Black Alabamian portrayed as he was leaving prison:
“Well, sir my sentence is nearly up, 12 long years, and I’ll be goin
home a free man, thoroughly free. That’s the day I’m looking to.
Yesterday don’t count with me, today don’t count in away of
speakin.”
In another breath, Shaw exemplifies his understanding for
justice: “When I jumped up and fought the laws, that mint me
with the white people in this county. They gived me just as bad a
name as they could give me; talked it around that I was
quick-tempered or get some sort of temper when you know you
livin in a bad country.” Here in 1974 a leading Eastern magazine
made this glowing statement about Black Alabama Sharecropper,
whose head was bloody, but unbowed: “Unlettered but wise and
sophisticated, unschooled but learned, Nate Shaw was a whole
man, unquenchable, indomitable, unbeatable.”
Black college students should by all means read-THE LIFE OF
NATE SHAW, CAPTIONED, “ALL GOD’S DANGERS BY
THEODORE ROSENGARTEN, 551 pages, Knopf S 10.00
(MORE ON NATE SHAW NEXT WEEK)
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j THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW
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■ With Philip Waring
NEW NAACP CHAIRPERSON TOPFLIGHT LEADER
A recent NEWS-REVIEW editorial pointed out that the “Old
Workhorse” - Bishop S.G. Spottswood, longtime chairman of the
NAACP Board, passed recently. It raised the question as to who
would be the key volunteer leader of the nation’s greatest civil
rights group.
The question was answered recently with the selection ot
Attorney Margaret Bush Wilson, an outstanding St. Louis lawyer,
housing specialist, who has won her spurs in different local,
regional and national assignments. Mrs. Wilson and 1 have worked
closely together since 1 Bishopl Cadigan of Missouri appointed the
two of us as his representatives to a national Episcopal race
relations position some ten years ago.
She has a solid background of training, experience, ability and
courage under her belt. The first Black woman to run for
Congress in St. Louis, she has been on NAACP legal teams which
won significant legal victories in this state. Mrs. Wilson has been a
member of the Wilkins-Spottswood NAACP team for several
years and I’d say to Rev. Hamilton and Jack Ruffin that the
Association is in very good hands indeed. She also brings
intelligence, good looks and guts into this slot. Her son is now a
second year law student at Harvard.
Mclntyre election brought credit to augusta
We are unable to find sufficient praise on the recent election of
Ed Mclntyre as chairman of the Richmond County Board of
Commissioners. It reflects great credit on his fellow
commissioners, the people of Richmond County and was well
deserved.
There are national awards for outstanding leadership in
government. I surely hope that Augustans will submit his name in
nomination. His civic and governmental feats and achievements
have been many. In a few short years this young man has really
achieved the status of a statesman.
As this was a history-making break through, let’s hope that
some sources in Augusta-Richmond County will forward this
information out around the nation so America will learn about
this wonderful event. (If we had an Urban League this mission
could be used for this mission). As Augusta’s “Number One
Booster Away From Home”, I am always interested in seeing
good publicity about our assets and progress. More about the
Mclntyre election in another column. In the meanw .ile let’s let
API, UPI, Jet, the Stengacke network and other media “do their
thing” about our Ed Mclntyre.
NNPA MEETING IN WASHINGTON D C.
Publishers will be in session at Washington, D.C. (They will also
hear about our NEWS-REVIEW’S “Blacks Who Helped Build
Augusta” project which is a “first” and should spill over to other
Black papers). The Black Press in the Midwife of Black History.
BLACK CONGRESS MEMBERS WORK TO STEM DEPRESSION
This article written by Congressman Bill Clay of St. Louis
Highlights.
WASHINGTON REPORT: “CONGRESS SET TO
ACT ON EMERGENCY JOBS ACT”
The latest unemployment figures for November have now been
issued by the Department of Labor. Grim though the present
picture is, it is necessary to add that the present prospects for the
future are even more grim. The Chairman of the Council of
Economic Advisors has predicted a substantial increase in the
unemployment rate by Spring and economists differ only on the
extent of the deterioration that lies ahead.
The November figures show a rise in the nation’s
unemployment rate from 6% in the previous month to 6.5%
which represents its highest level since October, 1961. The
number of persons now unemployed reached nearly 6 million
which, is up 460,000 from October. Among those hardest hit are
minorities. While the national figure is 6.5%, unemployment for
Black workers is 11.7% and teenage Black unemployment is an
astounding 37.4% when compared to the overall teenage rate of
17.3%.
As a direct outgrowth of this deteriorating economic situation
the House Education and Labor Committee on which I serve, has
reported out the Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance
Act. There is a broad consensus among economists that public
service employment is an effective tool for creating jobs with a
minimal impact on inflation. In addition, this program can be
quickly mounted and provides significant additions both to
employment and needed public services. The net cost of a public
service employment program is substantially less than the
expenditures made for it because of the large offsetting savings in
unemployment compensation, food stamps and welfare payments
and because of increases in tax.
The Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act, as
reported out. has a two-pronged approach. Title I will provide for
a large scale expansion of the public service employment program
that is already operating under the Comprehensive Employment
and Training Act. It authorizes $2 billion for Fiscal Year 1975
sufficeint to fund about 300,000 jobs. Title II provides cash
benefits under current law and for those who are not eligible for
these benefits because their employment is excluded under the
unemployment insurance law of their state. Prompt action to
provide at least a reasonable measure of income maintenance is
required to avoid further spreading of the ripple effects of
unemployment and to help cushion the shock of unemployment.
The estimated cost for Title II is expected to be about $1.2
billion. The total cost authorized by this Act as envisioned by the
Committee should be approximately $3.2 billion.
The Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act is a
step in the right direction to deal with the economic crisis we find
ourselves in. The Congress is expected to move quickly on its
passage.
LETTER™ EDITOR
Disappointed In Police
Department And Mayor’s
Treatment Os Blacks
Dear Editor:
Our recent visit to the city
jail was one in which I wish all
citizens, especially from the
Black community, could have
participated.
We were received with a
cordial welcome, I must not
hesitate to say. During our
question and answer session
and a tour throughout the
various departments, I was
pleased to know we have one
of the best mechanically
equipped departments in the
state.
However, from a closer
analysis, it forces me to admit
much was left to be desired. 1
was dissappointed to see so few
Black faces within the enternal
structure. We must accept the
fact that the tragedy of our
exodus as Black people has not
yetbeendissolved. Too long we
have cherished hopes and
dreams without moving to
make them a reality. If the
percentage of crime or arrest in
any given area in Augusta is as
we were informed -- 60.85%
Black over against 39.15%
white, one could hereby equate
this with the employment ratio
in the Augusta Police
department.
On the other hand if
officials and citizens of our
town and community look at
TOBE
EQUAL
By / wJpjjL K /
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. •/
REVENUE SHARING’S FUTURE
That grandest of all boondoggles, the general revenue sharing
program, is scheduled to expire at the end of 1976 and a massive
lobbying campaign is already under way to extend the program as
well as to increase the money for it.
The present program spreads over S3O billion to state and local
governments with a minimum of restrictions over a five-year
period. Its supporters are trying to get that extended through
1982, and want the kitty sweetened to a total of S4O billion.
Not surprisingly, one of the key backers of the lobbying effort
is the National League of Cities, whose convention I attended last
month. Most of the mayors and city officials I met there insisted
on the need for an extended program, while at the same time
refusing to pass a resolution urging use of revenue sharing money
for social service programs.
Therein lies the reason why the general revenue sharing
program should be scrapped. It amounts to a deficit-ridden
Martin
c King ‘Jr?
A Man of
His Time
and A
Man Ahead
of His lime
this realistically we must ask
ourselves why.
Are all crimes committted
with criminal intent? What
percentage of these crimes are
committed for human survival,
or by those who wish to
release themselves 'from a
camouflaged cast system. Are
we helping people by arresting
them? Or only arresting them to
keep from helping them? We
must learn to quickly
distinguish the difference
between a small minority in
key or decision-making
positions and fair
representation in
decision-making positions.
We also must be aware of
city officials who we have
supported, who promised when
such positions were available
they would appoint more
Blacks to these positions to
help alleviate the shameful
Black minority now existing.
Yet when the opportunity
presents itself they wash their
hands as Pilate. When election
time comes, we must let them
know the blood is still there.
Who knows, maybe there IS a
Maynard Jackson in Augusta.
Too long we have cherished
hopes without moving to make
them a reality.
Rev. R.A. Donaldson, pastor
Antioch Baptist Church.
federal government shoveling money taken from federal social
service programs into localities that use them to cut local taxes
and to beef up police forces. The program thus far amounts to a-*
waste of scarce resources.
General revenue sharing was supposed to do several things. It
was supposed to put additional monies into the cities; it was
supposed to encourage local governments to put money into
priority areas, and it was supposed to increase local citizen
participation in government decisions.
It has accomplished none of those goals.
For every federal dollar under revenue sharing going into the
cities, another dollar was taken away in the form of cuts in
federal social service programs, so the money was not “new” or
additional funds, it was just recycled cash.
The money has not gone into priority areas. The poor and the
aged have received only a tiny fraction of the funds, while the
bulk of the money has gone into uses that ought to be funded
through local taxes, if at all.
And the much vaunted “citizen participation” that was
supposed to “bring government closer to the people” hasn’t
materialized. Not only has there been little citizen consultation
on local use of revenue sharing funds, but there appears to have
been considerable violation of the civil rights provisions of the
law.
The city of Chicago enjoyed the dubious honor of being the
first city to have its revenue sharing funds suspended because it is
charged with using them in a discriminatory fashion. Other cities
are lining up for similar court actions.
Anyone who still clings to delusions that the masses of local
governmental units are more capable of spending federal money
than the federal government is, ought to look at the scandal of
the national public service employment program funded through
local governmental hiring.
Although Congress appropriated enough money to hire well
over 100,000 people last year, far fewer were actually put on
payrolls or given training. New York City,for example, hired only
a fourth of the unemployed it was entitled to hire and provided
services to about half of its entitlement.
All this at a time of sky-rocketing joblessness and increased
need! Some local officials have given the incredible explanation
that they did not hire people under the program because it was a
temporary program and they’d just have to fire them later on.
But the whole point of the program is that it is an emergency
temporary work-relief measure!
I can understand why mayors want continuation of revenue
sharing. Most cities are in such financial bind that any money
from any source would be welcomed. But the record does not
justify continuation, much less a funding incase, in the general
revenue sharing program.
It is an inefficient means of distributing scarce resources and it
impedes the necessary setting of national priorities, including the
revitalization of the cities. It only encourages continued neglect
of the poor. That S4O billion could be better used in federal
programs aimed at reducing poverty and improving the quality of
life for all.
Speaking
h Out
Roosevelt Green, Jr.
The late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the
greatest men this country has ever known, or may get to know.
He gave his life believing in a community where men and women
would be brothers and sisters regardless of skin color, creed or
national origin. He had a profound faith in the so-called American
dream and in the protenial of Blacks and whites transcending
prejudice and hatred.
Brother King did not let his many achievements and awards
sway him from his basic commitment to God and humanity. He
identified with the lowly and the high and brought them together
for common goals and ideals. He used his education and skills
forthegood of all rather than the selfish accumulation of
creature comforts.
Race, color and class were all superficial labels to him as he
ordered the only real moral leadership this country has yet
experienced. His campaigns for civil disobedience against unjust
laws and “ways of life” were never compromised. His consistent
approach of non-cooperation with evil brought out the best and
the worse in Blacks and whites. The majority of both groups
respected and loved him as shown in several ways.
HeYreed BScksfrom a historical and psychological fear of death
and physical abuse. He showed us that there is a higher moral law
in the universe and that every really humane person should have
some cause that is worth dying to achieve. In other words, Bro.
King rekindled the fire of liberation by any means necessary in
the hearts of Black people. Nonviolence was his strategy of choice
but who among us can really define what is violence and
nonviolence?
Is there a difference between the violence of the oppressor over
against that of the oppressed? Can we say that the hunger and
starvation of millions of people in this and other countries is not
violence?
The great apostle of nonviolence in this country also freed
many whites, at least on a temporary basis, from their prejudice
long enough to perform sacrificial acts for justice and democracy.
What are those same whites doing now - especially the ones from
the North who came South? Has the white liberal gotten off the
freedom train since the struggle has taken longer than he or she
thought? Is the heat of the kitchen too hot?
Bro. King left a legacy for those Blacks and non-Blacks who
believe as he believed in a beloved community that transcends
racism and prejudice. The basis of that legacy is the need for
more white and Black radicals rather than liberals.
Racism, injustice, oppression and suppression represents a hot
stove in a democracy. No one can be conservative about getting
off a hot stove. Neither can one get off the stove in a moderate
fashion. The liberal wants to get off the stove but he or she is
unwilling to work on the temperature or heat of the stove past a
certain comfortable and convenient point. The radical gets off the
stove quickly and works until the hot stove is productive or
destroyed.
We need Blacks and whites in the radical mold of Nat Turner,
John Brown, Martin L. King, Jr. and Saul Alinsky. Bro. King was
no ivory tower preacher for he suffered and died for eternal
truth. Too many of us who can see the need to transform the
very structure of this ungodly and degenerate society are caught
up in the paralysis of analysis. Arm chair liberals, rocking chair
moderates, and folding chair conservatives need to stand up as
King did without being so quick to settle for a false sense of
peace and security.
Bro. King was not only a national hero but an international
one. We would do well to study his life and thought for he was
not only a good social activist but a true scholar in many ways.
His.birthday should be made a national holiday this year. The
Congress of the United States should stop its’ shucking and jiving
long enough to honor one of the few persons who really believed
in the massess rather than classes.
Words cannot really express all I would like to say about this
great Black leader. I hope Blacks will honor him and other great
Black leaders irregardless of whether non-Blacks do so or not. We
must declare our own national holidays and observe them in our
own ways.
However, men like Bro. King must not only be given dramatic
lip service but their ideas and paths must be followed if Black
liberation is to become a reality. Anyone can observe a holiday
but it takes strong commitmennts to make dreams a reality.
Harambee!!!!!!