Newspaper Page Text
Air P ‘’ i,le College Library
<jV ' College Campos
SfemH-niu irdt
Vol. 5
Tornado Rips Through Edgefield’s Black Community
. a \ " A' i
ifk f \ IT ,■ II I J > •<***.■ \, I
IwPMMBH / ■ aU.
-s Sil
■fl .mam
J l«BEL *,. &£&*■-''—
;
-A_"- ----- -
Mrs. Mattie Clay of Edgefield County, S.C. is mighty thankful as she stands in front of her house which suffered only light damage from the tornado which splintered the Black residential area along Highway 25 Nov. 12.
The tornado lifted just as it go to Mrs. Clay’s home, but touched down again destroying her the home of her daughter who lived next door. The entire ordeal lasted less than five minutes. Commenting on the destruction, she said,
“It was a mighty blow by a Mighty Hand.”
'Last Hired, First Fired’
Is Blacks’ Big Problem
Champaign, 111. - “White
people in the United States
have been able to live with high
unemployment because
unemployment is primarily a
Black problem,” says a
University of Michigan law
professor.
Delivering the David C.
Baum Memorial Lectures on
civil liberties and civil rights at
the University of Illinois, Prof.
Harry f. Edwards said
Thursday (Oct 30) that equal
employment opportunities
gains of the past decade are in
danger of being lost due to the
recession of the 19705.
Edwards, a Black and an
authority on labor law, is on
leave from UM during the
current academic year while
serving as visiting professor at
Harvard University.
Edwards said there are no
clear-cut figures comparing
numbers of whites and Blacks
laid off during the 1973-75
recession. But he stressed that
“the rate of unemployment for
Blacks has remained at nearly
twice the rate of white workers
during the entire recession.”
One problem for minorities,
he said, is the “last hired, first
fired” seniority system at
companies, making Blacks
most vulnerable to layoffs.
“If more non-minority
perons had to suffer with
Blacks and with the problem of
unemployment, the problem
might be viewed as a matter of
Theater To Lose'Pearl’
She Wants To Help People
NEW YORK - Entertainer
Pearl Bailey has reaffirmed her
decision to leave the
commercial theater and turn
her life and talents to helping
people in any way she can.
She told a news
conference she does not know
exactly what she will do once
her current revival of “Hello,
Dolly!” completes its
engagements on Broadway and
in Washington.
“I will do anything that God
desires me to,” she said. “I am
a writer. I can scrub floors... I
would do anything that would
help me reach the people ...
Each individual has got to do
something.
“I am leaving the theater.
And isn’t that better than the
theater leaving me?”
“Pearly Mae” made the
News Deadline Mondays-
No Exceptions!
P. O. Box 953
national concern worthy of
some serious remedial actions,”
said Edwards.
Commenting on legal issues,
Edwards noted efforts to
impose a system of “fictional
seniority” for minority
employes, whereby victims of
earlier hiring discrimination
would be granted retroactive
seniority as a safeguard against
layoffs. But the professor said
such* a proposal appears
“doomed” at the U.S. Supreme
Court level.
He said he expects the issue
will be resolved in a case,
Franks vs. Bowman
Transportation Co., which will
be heard this term before the
Supreme Court. In a Court of
Appeals ruling in the Franks
case, the Black plaintiffs,
identified as victims of past
hiring discrimination, were not
awarded retroactive seniority,
according to Edwards.
“Given the present
composition of the Supreme
Court, the uniformity of the
opinions among the three
Courts of Appeal that have this
far dealt with the issue, and the
numerous difficult legal and
moral questions raised by the
problem of ‘fictional seniority’,
it is unlikely that the Supreme
Court will overturn the
precedents,” said Edwards.
The professor noted that
much of the opposition to the
measure has focused on the
claim that many whites may be
surprise announcement of her
withdrawal from commercial
show business at the end of last
Thursday’s triumphant first
night of “Hello, Dolly!”.
She said last Friday she
made the final decision only an
hour before the first night
curtain went up.
Although it had crossed her
mind many times previously
that she might be missing
something in life, she said, she
made her mind up while sitting
alone doing needlepoint in her
dressing room, surrounded by
flowers.
She phoned her husband,
Louis Bellson Jr., with the
news.
“I said, Louis, I’ve got to go.
Then suddenly I got chocked. I
said to Louis, I’m rich I’m not
sad.
AN OPEN FORUM FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE
displaced by the use of
fictional seniority measures.
But. Edwards added, “it is
also more likely that the
political leaders in our system
wiil react quickly to find a
solution to unemployment if a
large segment of the white
population is forced to suffer
without jobs for too long a
period of time.”
Edwards said the problem of
layoffs among Blacks may
persist for some time. “It is
possible,” he said, “that
minority persons will always be
destined to suffer devastating
setbacks during periods of
economic recession until they
get a real foothold in the
employment market in the
country.
“Blacks entering new jobs
must be given time to gain
maturity and experience on
these jobs,” Edwards said.
“They will need real support
from existing power
structures-support that has
often been absent in the
past-and they need adequate,
not grudging and minimal,
training opportunities.
“The level of tolerance for
mistakes by Blacks on 'he job
is often very low,” the
professor pointed out.
“Mistakes by whites are
frequently attributed to
immatirity or inexperience;
mistakes by Blacks are often
attributed to incompetence.”
“What I’m doing is following
the dictates of my heart,” she
told last Friday’s new
conference.
Miss Bailey said she might
like to work at the United
Nations to help people! of the
world reach understanding and
love. She said she mentioned
this to President Ford while
dancing with him at the White
House recently but he made no
committment.
She said she has no intention
of joining any specific group
but will help wherever she can.
She mentioned specifically
the American Heart
Association (she has a history
of heart trouble but insists her
health has nothing to do with
her move) and Goodwill
Industries.
Augusta, Georgia
I I
p .-IB ■ ■ <
■V IWB I <
Johnnie Perry is commended by hospital director Eugene Speer Jr.
Severe Handicap Is No Barrier
Severe handicap is no barrier
for Johnnie William Perry.
Although Perry is blind, he is
performing quite satisfactorily
in the Warehouse Section of
Supply Service, VAH, Augusta.
He is performing such duties
as answering the telephone,
taking messages, and taking
orders for supplies. His
Black Elected Official’s To
Meet In D.C. Dec. 11-13
The Southern Conference of
Black Mayors, Inc. (SCBM), a
nonprofit Atlanta based
organization, is one of the
co-sponsors of the Third
National Institute for Black
Elected Officials’ conference to
be convened in Washington,
D.C. on Dec. 11-13, at the
Sheraton Park Hotel & Motor
Inn. The Institute theme is
“Politics and the Black
Mothers March On Local Officials
I
placement is on a volunteer
basis for a 30-day trial period.
It came about through the
combined efforts of the Hire
■ the Handicapped Program and
the South Carolina
Commission for the Blind. The
S.C. Commission for the Blind
is funding his salary.
Perry is a resident of
Economic Condition.”
The Institute is a
nonpartisan body designed to
provide leadership on the roles,
problems, and opportunities
for Black elected officials.
SCBM’s member mayors
which consist of 76 will join
with some 3,500 other Black
elected officials to address
some of the most vital issues
confronting this country.
WELFARE MOTHERS MARCH IN PROTEST OF WEI/VtFE CUTS
November 27, 1975 No. 34
Graniteville, S.C., a member of
the Valley Fair Baptist Church,
and has two daughters, ages 7
and 9. Pictured left to right:
Thomas I. Barber Jr.,
immediate supervisor, Eugene
E. Speer Jr., hospital director,
Perry, and C.F. Parson, chief,
supply service.
Mayor A.J. Cooper Jr.,
president of SCBM, calls for
the participation and full
support of all Black elected
officials from every level of
government - congressmen,
state legislators, judges,
councilpersons and county
officials. We ask that they join
us in developing linkages,
coalitions and strategies to gain
access to the decision making
councils of this nation.
Mijk t j
H ® I
I j i * ...•'•«'m i I
Photo by Stan Raines
LESS THAN 75% ADVERTISING
Blacks To Honor
Supreme Court
Justice Douglas
Washington, D.C. - The
Capital Press Club has
inaugurated a “First
Amendment Award,”
designating as its first recipient
retired Supreme Court Justice
William 0. Douglas, who will
be honored along with Black
Pioneers during the Club’s 31st
anniversary dinner, Friday
evening, Dec. 5 at the
Shoreham Americana Hotel,
here in the Nation’s Capital.
CPC President Calvin W.
Rolark, publisher-editor of The
Washington Informer, notes
that “Justice Douglas, as a
protector of First Amendment
rights, is in himself, a legal
pioneer. We trust, therefore,
that his health will permit him
to join us when we honor our
Black Pioneers, many of whose
careers have been touched,
directly or indirectly, by this
great American.”
In the areas of politics,
government and the military,
the Club will honor
Congresswoman Shirley
Chisholm, Congressman Walter
E. Fauntroy, Four-Star General
Daniel “Chappie” James, D.C.
Mayor Walter E. Washington,
D.C. City Council Chairman
Sterling Tucker and D.C.
Postmaster William B. Sims, all
“firsts” in their respective
careers.
Roy Wilkins, NAACP
executive director, and James
Nabrit, former president of
Howard University, will be
cited for their efforts in civil
rights and legal education.
QlC’s founder and board
chairman Dr. Leon J. Sullivan
of Philadelphia is being saluted
for his efforts in promoting job
training, and Dr. Roland B.
Scott, head of the Howard
University Center for Sickle
Cell Disease, will be recognized
for his work in sickle cell
research.
Editor-publisher C.A. Scott,
The Atlanta (Ga.) Daily World,
who assisted his brother W.A.
Scott 11, in the founding of the
newspaper, will receive honors
for his guidance of the first
successfid Black daily in the
United States. Attorney Harry
McAlpin, Louisville and D.C.
journalist Alice Dunnigan are
to be cited on having been the
first Blacks to be accredited as
White House correspondents.
Former newspaperman
Malvin Goode, who pioneered
at the American Broadcasting
Company, is also being cited
for his success in the
communications field. CBS
quiz show moderator Adam
Wade, will be honored for his
pioneer effort as a TV
personality. Business
recognition goes to fight
promoter Don King, the first
Black person to arrange world
boxing championship fights in
foreign countries.
D.C. Attorney Wilhelmina
Jackson Rolark,
president-founder, National
Association of Black Women
Attorneys, will be saluted for
having organized NABWA in
1973. In a further recognition
of professional achievement,
Dr. Jeanne Sinkforth,
Washington, D.C. is to be
honored on her recent
appointment as Dean of the
Howard University College of
Dentistry.
Veteran anchorman Max
Robinson, station WTOP-TV,
Washington, D.C. will serve as
toastmaster for the dinner,
which is being chaired by
Patricia Holt. Sherman Briscoe,
NNPA executive director, is
chairman of the Club’s Awards
Committee.
For ticket information,
contact the Capital Press Club,
715 G. St., N.W. Washington,
D.C. 20001. Phone: 628/8338.
20Cw