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The Augusta News-Review - May 1, 1975 -
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by Al Irby
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(NOTHING MORE COMPLETELY BAFFLES ONE WHO IS
FULL OF TRICKS AND DUPLICITY THAN
STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS AND SIMPLE HONESTY.)
This columnist wonders if many Blacks knew that Public
Safety Commissioner, Reginald Eaves, the top man of the great
Atlanta Police Department was almost inveigled out of office
recently by a group of nefarious so-called Black leaders led by
white super-liberal Wyche Fowler, city council president. It’s the
same old story, some Blacks would sell out their grandmother for
a price, but this trick is the kiss of death for Fowler’s ambition to
become Mayor of Atlanta. The Black voters will see to that.
NIGERIA, ONE OF THE LARGER MEMBERS OF THE
POWERFUL “THIRD WORLD” CONGLOMERATE IS THE
SUBJECT OF THE CURRENT CULLUM VISITING SCHOLARS
THIS YEAR AT AUGUSTA COLLEGE. THE FIRST
LECTURER WAS DR. BONIFACE OBICHERE FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGLES (UCLA).
The scholarly Nigerian gave a comprehensive word picture of
his nation’s struggle for independence. The life-style is solid
English, from the Oxford brogue to the dangling swagger-sticks.
Dr. Obichere belittled the ballot as an instrument to deceive the
populace. With the small voting turn-outs we are witnessing here
in America, maybe we are coming around to the same dilema.
The learned Dr. Obichere told of Nigeria’s battle royal with the
British scavengers for natural resources that rightly belonged to
the Nigerians. But even as the nation was homing, rebellion was
stamped in the heart of the natives and the women of this vast
African nation were in the forefront propagating the uprising. It
was also pointed out that, if a civilian government was to rule
today, “Biafra would look like child’s play compared to the
conflict that would develop.” Dr. Obichere is a native Biafran and
portrays the natural intelligence that the Ibo tribes are noted for.
Early in the 1950’s England instituted direct rule; an
innovation aimed at solving the problems it ran into in governing
its colonies. But in truth this indirect concept lulled the people to
sleep in reference to their basic freedom. It made them feel like
most Blacks in America, after their partial advancement after the
Civil Rights laws were passed. In 1951, a new constitution was
granted but Nigerian minority groups pressed hard for first-class
recognition. In 1953, regions were created for such minorities,
laying the ground work for the establishment of a tighter “caste
system.” But the emerging THIRD WORLD concept may change
this method of racial inertia.
Many persons in the United States are still in the dark, as to
just what is the much talked of THIRD WORLD. We will in a
limited way try to explain this new conglomerate of nations that
pledge themselves to rule their own destinies and especially their
resources. In certain committees of the United Nations they are
in command and the big powers must situp and listen to them.
The reactionary factions in the U.S. are screaming for these
countries to get out of the World Organization, but wiser heads
realize that would be a calamity.
WHAT IS THE THIRD WORLD?
First, it is not an organization in the classical sense of the
word. There are no dues to pay, no formal membership roll; it
depends upon its majority rights, and brother, they are using that
with expert authority. The THIRD WORLD nations were
previously the “have not” governments still underdeveloped; that
did not see eye to eye with non-Communist nor the Communist
worlds. Until recently, they did not have much clout in
international affairs, but that docile condition has changed. A
glaring example is the oil producing countries, all of them are
listed in the Third World column. Yet many of them compose a
powerful cartel with the ability to raise oil prices on the so-called
rich nations. They also can reduce the flow of that precious
petroleum. The merging nations are tightening the screws on
other strategic materials, such as bauxite, copper, sugar and
coffee.
EXERCISING MAJORITY RIGHTS, SOMETIMES CAN BE
WRONG, BUT IN THE CASE THE THIRD WORLD IS
RIGHT-Getting back to the power of numbers. The United
Nation General Assembly is completely under the control of this
world body. Another way to put it; The Third World in general is
the Southern half of the Earth pitted against the richer Northern
half. If one looks closely, there will emerge a racial inference-the
darker skinned peoples getting together demanding economic
justice from the rich white population.
THE UNITED STATES IS THE CHIEF TARGET OF THE
THIRD WORLD-next in priority are Western Europe and Japan.
Russia tries to lay claim to strong ties to members of the Third
World, but most of the members look upon the Soviet Union as
just another rich superpower. Red China declares it will never
become a superpower, and declares its allegiance to the
underprivileged all over the world. The nations of the Third
World are aware of just how little they really have in comparison
to the two other worlds. ONce they were not hip to that fact.
Today they are far more educated about economics and
sharing the wealth, especially of their natural resources, which
they have been cheated out of. During the Ist session of the
Assembly, a Mexican-sponsored economic charter which included
approval of foreign owned property subject only to domestic laws
was passed by 115 votes to 6, with 10 abstentions. This is an
example of die power of Third World nations. The world is
changing fast, and so must the United States policy, for moral
and economic reasons, because the newly formed Third World
truly means business. The have nots want their share of the
“Good Life”.
THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
Mallory K. MillenderEditor and Publisher
Audrey Frazier Society Editor
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Page 4
It is hard for individuals to admit that they
made a mistake. It is harder for nations to
admit it. It is hard when we have evidence to
justify our admitting that we chose the wrong
course. It is plain for everyone to know that we
made a grave mistake when we sent our soldiers
into Vietnam, beginning with John Kennedy
continuing during Johnson’s administration and
aon into Nixon’s.
I hate war and I am not optimistic about
man ever becoming civilized enough to abolish
it. I am inclined now to believe however that if
we are going to fight, we should fight to win.
Why we dragged along for ten years in Vietnam, no one can
guess with precision. The consequences we all know:
$150,000,000,000 spent, 55,000 American dead, thousands
physically incapacitated for life to say nothing of the toll the war
took in South Vietnam and Cambodia.
Our leaders in the administrations have not admitted that we
made a mistake when we went into Vietnam. It was a mistake for
President Eisenhower who sent aid there as early as 1954.
A few people like Senator Fulbright has courage enough to call
it a blunder when we went to Vietnam. He has been consistent in
this. I believe Senator Humphrey has called the war a terrible
mistake. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the Vietnam war a
ADDED INGREDIENT ... 41% OF BLACK YOUTH WITHOUT JOBS
It’s Hard To Say'We Made A Mistake’
By Benjamin E. Mays
L /F
IT’S THAT TIME
OF YEAR AGAIN!
Taxes! Taxes! Taxes! What can you say
about them other than they hurt and they
have to be paid.
It’s not enough that your pocket book is
looking just about like the Sahara Desert
and all signs show that a dust storm may
be moving in to stay.
Thank God Christmas comes but once a
year. Unfortunately that’s before taxes are
due and you've already bought or commit
ted your next two pay checks to a 100-
man battallion of Big Jim’s and a 50-car
fleet of customized Evil Knivel stunt cars.
Too bad the timing isn’t better. At
least if taxes came earlier or Christmas
came later, you might know the odds on
your ending in the poor house by January
1.
But this is the traditional smiling face
empty pocket book time of year and most
of us anticipate the holiday season and the
new year with some reservations at best
What it all boils down to is planning.
Not just planning for Christmas but finan
cial planning which includes tax plan
ning.
To the average person, financial plan
ning represents a complex system of invest
ment in stocks and bonds or the ownership
of large amounts of personal property in
land or money reserves.
That is precisely what I'm NOT talking
about. What I do mean is planning so that
at the end of every pay day you are not
looking at a high stack of bills and obliga
tions and a much lower stack of money to
attack them with.
I'm talking about that family man or
woman who either together or individually
makes what can be a living wage but must
hold their breath in hopes that the unex
pected does not occur. That would be like
THE BLACK PRESS-
OU R FREEDOM DEPENDS ON IT!
in
MAYS
. . .DOWN
TO
BUSINESS
DR. BERKELEY G. BURRELL
President, National Business League
the family car conking out or the TV or
something else going on the blink just when
there’s no money for emergencies, much
less necessities.
That also applies to the young profes
sional who doesn’t understand why other
people can fly around the country for fun,
while making the same salary, and they are
grounded because they don’t have the cash
or the almighty plastic money card be
cause their credit rating is shot. Planning is
for those people whose money is always
shorter than their month.
What all of these people are lacking is
a consistent flow of cash. That means the
amount of spendable money as it relates
to their ability to cover obligations with
their actual income.
Here is where planning makes a differ
ence between the have’s and the have-not’s.
If you know that you must pay personal
property tax, personal income tax, or for
that matter, any obligation that will reduce
the amount of cash that is available for
you to spend . . . you plan to be minus that
money.
A good example of simple financial plan
ning is the now popular Christmas Club ac
counts. The same theory can be used with
a lot of other needs and necessities.
If you can project the amount of money
you expect to make next year, it is a sim
ple process to estimate what taxes will be
drawn against that income. Just plan not
to spend that money.
Fortunately we have growing numbers
of skilled Black public accountants who
can assist us in this type of financial plan
ning. But what every individual and par
ticularly small business men and women
should be sensitive to is the need for finan
cial planning and the knowledge that that
process does not just apply to the wealthy
or big business.
If we plan to survive “that time of year’’
financial planning should be the first step
we take in getting down to busineti.
catastrophe at the risk of losing millions of followers.
But by and large people admit in private that we gained
nothing in that war but few will say it in public. Maybe nations
are too proud to admit to the world that they have made such
tragic blunders. Or it may be that nations set themselves up as
gods and gods can do no wrong.
1 suppose President Ford cannot afford to admit that his
predecessor in the presidency led the nation down the wrong
path. Maybe he cannot admit it because of what such an
admission would mean to the nations we have committed to assist
if attacked by Communists; or maybe he fears the nations will
consider us weak and order us to take our military bases out.
After all, we are a world power and world powers make no such
admission.
I am sure those who fought and achieved the May 17, 1975
Decision of the United Supreme Court would hardly admit that
the methods of implementing that decision might have been
spelled out so that the impression would not have been gained
that the integration of public schools means that Black students
must always go to white schools and not whites to Black schools.
My father was an exception. When he was approaching 80, he
lived with me for a while in Washington. Seeing what 1 was doing
evidently pleased him. One day he admitted he was wrong in
opposing my getting my education. He said he thought he was
right. To admit that did his soul good and mine too.
Letters
To The
Editor
Mclntyre,
Commisioners,
Supported
Dear Editor:
The charges brought against
the county commission by the
Richmond County Property
Owners Association are totally
out of context, and are
without evidence to bear out
what the situation really is in
Belair Hills Estates.
We stand behind the
Honorable Edward M.
Mclntyre, chairman of the
Richmond County Board of
Commissioners and the other
county commissioners in the
past actions taken in behalf of
work done in this area by the
county, on behalf of the
taxpaying citizens who live
here.
The records clearly show
that all work done on streets
was initiated solely on the part
of the property and home
owners of Belair Hills Estates,
who signed petitions legally,
and presented same to the
county engineer (p and
subsequently to the county
commisioners. These steps are
necessary and follow the
orderly process for such action
by the county as set forth by
the board of commissioners.
The records also show tnar
the streets involved were
deeded over to Richmond
County once they were cleared
and/opened and were accepted
by the board of
commissioners. Thus,
Richmond County in this
acceptance, became responsible
for the maintenance of these
streets. The paving of die
streets by the county was done
on a one-third, two-thirds
basis. Two-thirds of the cost
paid by the residents and
one-third by the county. This
has to be approved by die
county before implementation
and was done so by the Board
of commissioners. The streets
paved under this plan are
Barren Street from Grape
CAST VWHf
TO BE QsSg|
EQUAL jf3g
-
BY VERNON E. JORDAN, JR.
VOTING RIGHTS ACTION DUE
One of the most important pieces of legislation in recent
history, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is due to expire this
August. The Act, which runs for five years, was extended in 1970
over the opposition of the Nixon Administration, and the
Congress is now considering another extension.
In contrast to earlier struggles, there is now broad
Congressional support for a simple extension of the Act which
has been responsible for the enfranchisement of Black voters in
many parts of the South.
The record of the Act’s success is stunning. In 1965, there were
only about 72 Black elected officials in all eleven southern states;
today there are over 1000 in just the seven states covered by the
Act.
The enormous increase in Black voting in those states and the
big jump in Black elected officials tends to lull some people into
thinking the Act is no longer needed. But the facts are otherwise.
The Black registration figures are still too low and would trend
even lower without federal protection from the intimidation,
harassment and legal obstacles that would be sure to be instituted
on (he state and local levels.
And Blacks are still far underrepresented among southern
officeholders. The Joint Center for Political Studies estimates
that although the Black population in the seven affected states
ranges from 18.5 to 36 percent of their populations, Blacks are
only two to four percent of elected officials. There is a Black
official for every 10,000 Black people, but there are 16 white
officials for every 10,000 whites.
So while gains - important ones - have been made, they can
only continue under the umbrella of federal protection and
extension of the Act. It is vitally important to prevent any
weakening of the Act’s provisions. Talk of allowing literacy tests,
for example, would only open the door to discriminatory use of
such tests to get Blacks off the voting rolls.
Two questions under debate concern the length of the Act’s
extension and whether it should be expanded to include
southwestern states with large Mexican-American populations.
A simple five-year extension of the Act would only mean the
whole battle would have to be fought again in 1980. A ten-year
extension, which would carry the Act past the 1980 Census and
the redistricting that always follows the Census, is important. The
ten-year period is also needed to establish and institutionalize a
Black voting tradition in the South too strong to be tampered
with.
The second issue, that of extending the Act to states with
significant numbers of Spanish-speaking citizens, is also
important.
A title ought to be added to the Act preventing the apparent
discrimination faced by Mexican-Americans in the exercise of
their voting rights. Reminiscent of traditional southern actions
against Blacks who tried to register to vote, there have been
instances of economic pressures, such as threats of firing, used
against Chicanos.
Extending the Act to cover the southwest would mean that in
places where there is low participation of Spanish-speaking people
in elections, federal registrars would be empowered to Tegister
voters, and the Justice Department would go over local voting
laws to weed out discriminatory ones.
A separate title of the Voting Rights Act covering the
southwest would extend federal protection of voting rights to
non-English speaking minorities.
The ten years of the Act’s history have proved its usefulness.
They’ve also proved that there is still a long way to go before the
right to vote is freely and fairly enjoyed by all of our citizens on
an equal basis.
Waiting in the wings are the dark forces of the past who would
step into the breach and replace the present Act with the old
system of local control of voting, a system that effectively kept
the vote in white hands only. So this summer will provide a
crucial test of whether the hard-won political rights of minorities
will be continued.
Avenue to Avalon Avenue,
Scott Street from Avalon to
Orange Avenue, and Avalon
Avenue from Grape Avenue to
Scott Street. Streets paid for
totally by the residents are
Flagler Road from Grape
Avenue to Powell Road, Grape
Avenue from Avalon to end of
property line east. Avalon
Avenue from Flagler Road to
Grape Avenue was paved by
Pioneers, Inc.
The ten acres mentioned by
the Richmond County
Property Owners as being
private property, is false. This
land was given (deeded) by
Pioneers, Inc. to Richmond
County in 1970 and accepted
by the County in 1971. It is
now the property of Richmond
County and the recreational
facilities developed there are
part of the 1972 Richmond
County Master Recreation
MAYOR SET RECORD
STRAIGHT ON REV. SHAW
Dear Editor:
Noting Reverend Shaw’s
statements in your April 10
issue of the Augusta
News-Review, I feel that I
should set the record straight.
No one in the Black
community urged me not to
name Rev. Shaw to the council
seat. I got many letters and
calls from Blacks and whites
highly recommending him. No
one questioned his character.
I asked a dozen or so Black
leaders to give me their first,
second and third choices, as it
was natural to have different
opinions. Rev. Shaw was first
choice of at least , one of the
people he criticized in the
article.
Mr. Butler was the
overwhelming choice when all
were considered.
I regret that Rev. Shaw got
some wrong information and
want to assure him that all of
the people he mentioned spoke
highly of him.
Sincerely,
Lewis A. Newman
Mayor
plan. These facilities are now
being used by the citizens of
Richmond County.
The insinuation of Mr.
Mclntyre’s ownership of
property in this area, brought
favors to the community, is
completely false. This
organization, which represents
all the residents of Belair Hills
Estates, believes the Richmond
County Property Owners
Association owes an apology to
Mr. Mclntyre, the County
Commission, Pioneers, Inc.,
and the residents of Belair Hills
Estates for the false statements
made concerning County
activities in Belair Hills Estates.
Respectfully,
The Belair Hills Association
James E. Carter, 111 - Pres.
Harvey Johnson - V. Pres.
Leo Jackson - Secretary •
Leroy Allen - Treasurer
■gL ? A
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NOW, HEAR THIS!
I
give to the
March
of Dimes