Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Reujew
1 '
Volume 5
Black Muslims Accepting White
Members - Say Policy Isn’t New
In what is generally regarded
as a major shift in policy and
philosophy, whites, long
considered as “devils” by Black
“VMuslims, are now able to
/become members of the
s religion founded on the
separation of the races.
Askia Muhammad, editor of'
MUHAMMAD SPEAKS told
The News-Review by telephone
Tuesday that the Muslims have
never excluded people from
believing in the religion of
Islam because of race. “Whites
excluded themselves from our
Dr. Buffington Is News-Review’s
Citizen Os The Year
by Mallory K. Millender
The News-Review’s Citizen
of the Year Award goes to Dr.
W.L. Buffington, a man who
dedicated his life to
establishing libraries for Blacks
in rural communities.
Dr. Buffington is a white
man, bom in rural South
Carolina. He was inspired as a
boy by a Black school teacher,
Eury Simpkins, whose route to
the rural Black school took
him pass young Buffington’s
house twice a day. When
Buffington was old enough to
go to school, Simpkins began
sharing his books with the
youth. Their friendship grew
with the years.
In later years when Blacks in
the community got a new
school, Simpkins invited
Buffington to the dedication.
I , Buffington was struck by the
V'act that the school had no
books.
He went home that night
and, with his last dime, wrote
five letters. He asked the five
people to whom he wrote to
send books for Mr. Simpkin’s
school.
“If you can’t spare a book,”
he wrote, “please send me
Black Leaders Targets Os Smear
People of goodwill throughout the CSRA should be
outraged at the attacks made against County
Commissioner Edward Mclntyre via the Bel Air Hills
controversy. We have talked with the county attorney
and he has assured us that everything connected with
the improvements made in Bel Air Hills was not only
legitimate, but was carried out as it should have been.
' The one exception dealt vith the city engineer who
has been reprimanded.
But in almost all statements made concerning this
matter, the press is careful to point out that Mclntyre
owns property in Bel Air. What they usually don't point
out is that Mclntyre’s property is not on the recently
paved streets in the subdivision, and that the
recreational improvements in Bel Air were done by
former Commissioner Madison Woo.
It is important to recognize that many people
deliberately try to destroy leaders, particularly Black
leaders, with damaging publicity, knowing all the time
, that the charges are not true.
Mclntyre is in Hawaii now with his wife attending the
convention of the National Association of County
Commissioners. These conventions are essential if one is
to grow and become more effective. We congratulate
him for taking the trip at his own expense (nearly
$1,300) particularly when many are trying to suggest
misuse of public funds.
But Mclntyre is not alone. Similar attacks are being
made on Black leaders all over the country.
We believe that the following article by FOCUS
magazine President Eddie N. Williams will help put this
meetings. We never dosed
them out. They dosed us out,”
he said.
The softening of the Black
separatist philosophy had been
coming for several years. Last
year, the designation “white
devils” was dropped quietly.
The official announcement
came yesterday at a rally here
marked by die first public
appearance of Wallace D.
Muhammad the new spiritual
leader of the religion, known
by its members as the Nation
of Islam, Mr. Muhammad, 42
- £
\ 1
DR. W.L. BUFFINGTON
another two-cent stamp so I
can appeal to someone else.”
Four of the people ignored
the appeal; but the fifth sent
more than a thousand books -
boxes of books, barrels of
P. O. Box 953
year old succeeded his father,
Elijah Muhammad, who led the
religion for more than 40 years
until his death at 77 in
February.
The new leadership also
made the first public disclosure
on the Muslims’ financial
affairs. While no mention was
made of total holdings, Mr.
Muhammad said that a major
source of income was a $22
million fish import business.
He said the religion also had
$14.5 million in real estate
holdings in Chicago and $6.2
books - fiction, school books,
biographies - all sorts of
books.
But now there was another
problem. They needed some
place to put the books. People
Editorial
point in perspective:
A new entry has been added to the already
overcrowded “worry list’’ of Black leaders throughout
America. It relates to what many describe as a growing
pattern of assaults on the integrity of Black political
leaders through legal and extra-legal means. The worry is
that such harrassment is racist in origin and is aimed at
discrediting and immobilizing a growing cadre of
powerful leaders.
What gives rise to such dark suspicion at the very time
when Blacks are making significant strides in the
political arena. Here are a few of the notions most
frequently advanced:
1. With the increase in the number of Black officials,
there also appear to be more (how many, nobody knows
yet) reports of indictments and other legal charges
brought against these officials. More often than not,
however, charges have been dropped or individuals have
been acquitted. The concern is not one of trying to
defend convicted criminals. Rather, it is with the
tendency in some quarters to stigmatize all Black
officials because of the alleged wrong-doing of a few.
2. We also read and hear more about confrontations
between Black officials (especially mayors) and
powerful white interest groups in their communities.
This phenonmenon may be caused by local responses to
the national economic crisis or to Watergate; and,
indeed, it may affect all elected officials. What is clear,
however, is that a conspicuous number of Blacks are
involved in such confrontations, and they are widely
See “BLACK LEADERS” on Page 4
AN OPEN FORUM FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE
million in farmland.
Further, Mr. Muhammad
said that the Muslims
employed 1,000 persons in
1974 with a payroll of $1.3
million, and paid $1 million in
corporate taxes. He also said
that attendance at the 50
mosques across the country
totaled 750,000, with 39,000
new Muslims registered since
February.
MATTER OF MATURITY
Regarding the policy on
whites, Mr. Muhammad said
that if whites could mature, so
could Blacks, and that if whites
respected Blacks, so could
Blacks respect whites.
His brother, Nathaniel
Muhammad, minister of the
mosque in Kansas City, Mo.,
made the comment about the
eventual admission of whites to
the religion, discarding the old
philosophy with the comment,
“What was taught yesterday
was yesterday message.”
“Now we are evolving to
where the nation will be ope*;,
to ali without regard to race,
color or creed,” he said before
some 20,000 Muslims at
McCormick Place, a convention
center on the near South Side
at Lake Michigan. “There will
be no such category as a white
Muslim or Black Muslim. All
will be Muslims. All children of
God.”
The shift in attitude
represents the most dramatic
change so far in the religion
that was criticized severely
because of its racial beliefs.
donated logs, and a log cabin
was built to house the books.
The “library” which was called
the “Faith Cabin Library” was
dedicated on the last day of
December, 1932.
Twenty-six more “Faith
Cabin” libraries were
established while Buffington
was completing his education.
Newspapers and magazines
carried articles about his work.
He appeared on a national
radio program. The project
Augusta, Georgia
Over the years, those beliefs
were the direct antithesis of
the philosophy of major
organizations in the Black
community, such as the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People and the National Urban
League, and they led to clashes
between Muslims and leaders
and followers of the other
groups.
The rally was also addressed
by Abdul Haleem Farrakhan,
minister of the Harlem
Mosque, who was previously
known as Louis Farrakhan. Mr.
Farrakhan denied that there
was a power struggle within the
religion or that he was vying
for leadership, as reported in a
recent magazine article.
“There is hot even a ripple
of discord in the nation,” he
said. “We are all happy over
the emergency of the
Honorable Wallace
Muhammad. Our enemies just
can’t stand to see a smooth
transition.
“No ill winds will ruffle the
shades of this divine nation. No
one among us is high enough to
tie the shoelaces of Wallace,”
he continued.
Mr. Farrakhan is being
transferred from his strong base
in New York to Chicago, a
move that some observers have
viewed as a step down. The
popular Muslim had served as a
national spokesman for Elijah
Muhammad, but the new
leadership was wary of that
popularity, sources reported.
gained more friends. Books
continued to pour in. By 1959,
Buffington had established
ninety eight libraries.
In an article on Buffington’s
work, Mrs. Emma C.W. Gray
wrote: “Buffington’s dream is
that some day every rural
Negro school will have a
library. And the people all over
our land are helping to make
that dream come true.”
The Rev. Dr. Buffington
spent his professional life
preaching in rural communities
and teaching in Black colleges.
He taught at Benedict College
in Columbia, S.C. And this
year, he retired from the
faculty of Paine College. He
taught at Paine College for
thirty one years.
Carrie Mays
Opposes
Straw Vote
Last Tuesday,
Councilwoman Carrie Mays
withdrew her endorsement for
a straw vote on the proposed
coliseum after carefully
reviewing the plans, research,
and studies and knowing of the
financial assistance to this
project.
Mrs. Mays stated that it was
regrettable that the citizens did
not have the right to vote on
an issue of its magnitude but
further stated that in the
construction phase many
people will be employed and
that the coliseum will bring
hundreds to Augusta and the
downtown area.
Mrs. Mays further stated
that she didn’t agree with every
decision of the Coliseum
Authority but felt that
continued bickering would
delay needed programs.
The councilwoman said that
the beer and motel tax would
June 19, 1975 No. 13
f ’ '
I I .
*£ ‘ * | '7*
5 , fl ,r|
-
Photo by Frank Bowman
TRYONE BROOKS HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE.
Blacks Organize Coalition,
Will Present Manifesto
Some 50 Black leaders
representing a
cross-section of the Black
community met at Bethel
A.M.E. Church Wednesday
night and formed the
Martin Luther King Jr.
Survival Coalition to
broaden the efforts of “We
Want Our Share” in
seeking more jobs for
Blacks and other demands.
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
Judge Considering 4 Black
Police Hired For Every White
City Attorney Samuel F.
McGuire in a letter to the Civil
Service Commission indicated
that federal Judge Anthony
Alaimo is considering ordering
perferential hiring on a 4-1
ratio if the city does not
voluntarily adopt a 3-1
preferential hiring policy. He
further indicated that the
Judge wants minority
cover the construction cost and
the operation cost would be
self supported according to
cities that have coliseum
facilities.
Rev. Hamilton
Earns Doctorate
The Rev. C.S. Hamilton,
pastor of Tabernacle Baptist
Church, recently received the
doctor of ministry degree from
Colgate Rochester Seminary.
He was one of 19 Black
ministers to receive the degree
from the institution.
Each one of the 19 clerics
completed doctoral
dissertations exploring facets
of the Black church, which has
a history rich in oral traditions,
but heretofore, not fully
represented in print.
As part of the three-year
program, the Martin Luther
King Fellows took time off
from their pastoral duties to
trace the living heritage of the
Black church in the African
nations of Ghana and Nigeria,
in the West Indies and the Sea
Islands located off the coast of
Georgia.
President Dr. Ralph
Abernathy was to have
met with the group but
was stricken with an
apparent virus and was not
able to attend. Tyrone
Brooks, SCLC
communications director,
substituted for Dr.
Abernathy.
The Rev. Michael
McCoy, chairman of “We
Want Our Share”, was
elected temporary
representation on the police
department at 40 percent.
Minorities constitute 25 per
cent of the department’s
manpower now.
The judge ordered that
Black Affirmative Action
Officer Hansel Johnson have
full responsibility for preparing
a standard eligibility list for
hiring, and ordered further that
Black Mayor
"Crashed” KKK Rally
NATCHEZ, MISS. - Fayette
Mayor Charles Evers claims he
once put on a bedsheet and
“crashed” a Ku Klux Klan
rally.
He told a rock concert
crowd during the third annual
“Mississippi Homecoming”
that he attended the secret
Klan function in the woods
near Natchez. He did not say
when the infiltration of the
anti-Black group occurred.
The Mississippi Homecomings
were initiated in 1973 to
commemorate the 10th
anniversary of the slaying of
his brother Medgar Evers, the
state field director for the
NAACP in Mississippi.
Mayor Evers, who returned
to Mississippi himself shortly
after snipers killed his brother,
introduced two KKK officials
at the concert He said their
presence showed how far the
state had come in racial
chairman of the coalition
and the Rev. Frank
Williams was elected vice
chairman. The group plans
to develop a manisfesto
and present a sweeping list
of grievances to be
presented to the chamber
of commerce and local
officials.
If a favorable response
does not result, SCLC will
declare non-violent
warfare, Brooks said.
any eligible person must be
notified in writing.
In November of 1973, Judge
Alaimo ordered a 1-1 Black to
white hiring policy but found
that policy had little affect in
bringing the police department
to reflect the 50-50 racial
composition of the city
population.
progress in the past decade.
“I think this is the biggest
turnout we’ve ever had,” he
said. Some 2,000 persons
attended the rock concert
which climaxed the three-day
homecoming celebration.
Lee Elder
Defended
By Minister
The Rev. Nathaniel Irvin
informed the New-Review that
Lee Elder indeed did not spend
all of his evening socializing
while he was in Augusta for
Master’s Week. Elder attended
church at the Greater Mt
Canaan Baptist Church on
Thursday night of Masters
Week.
The Rev. Irvin is pastor of
Greater Mt. Canaan.
2W