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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