Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review - January 19, 1978 -
America heading into new cycle of racism?
By Joel Dreyfuss
Pacific News Service
Joel Dreyfuss, formerly a
staff reporter for the New
York Post and Washington
Post, is a member of PNS’
Foundation-funded task force
of scholars and journalists on
inner cities.
Now that the victories of the
civil rights movement have
become history, there is a
growing fear among Blacks that
racism is again taking hold in
America. The revival is seen by
many as more subtle and
elusive than in the past, and
thus harder to fight, because a
majority of white Americans,
supported by an influential
body of intellectuals, denies it
is real.
“Racism is alive and well,”
says Dr. Price Cobb, a Black
psychiatrist and co-author of
the best-seller Black Rage.
“You run into good,
well-motivated people who
think they are fair, who feel
they have turned around from
attitudes and beliefs they grew
up with. But they continue to
view Blacks in a deficit model:
‘less than,’ ‘not as good as,’ ‘if
we could only do
such-and-such to bring them up
to speed.’”
The notion that racism is no
longer a significant force in
America is implicit in the work
of Nathan Glazer, one of the
leading intellectual champions
of neoconservatism. In his
book ‘‘Affirmative
Discrimination,” Glazer
announces that racism has been
defeated and 'alls on the
courts to withdraw from the
battle for equal opportunity so
“the forces of political
democracy in a pluralistic
society can do their proper
work.”
The concept is attractive if
J. E. (JIM) PIERCE, SR.
WU NO FAULT INSURANCE
' • 1901 Walton Way
jy Phone: 404-733-0887
Res: 404-736-5610
■BbJMHI B J NATIONWIDE
insurance
“Nationwide is on your side”
WILKINSON RD. NEXT TO WICKS 733-1095 Single Original Color
— 569.88 1
Cherokee Gun I CITIZENS LOAN
& Pawn Shop COMPANY, me.
1 jaßyT 412 ninth street
DONALD 72 2-2930 ■tkJwi
FINLEY gTh street SIGNATURE - AUTO - LOANS
C. H. Finley 722-0012 Phone 724-7457
DOWNTOWN
EILBERT 1 ? h 7 7 b 2 r x 2 st
co mp Li t e
HOME FURNISHINGS
APARTMENTS
ST. JOHN TOWERS
w ■■ f 724 Greene Street
I MM I Retirement Apartments Without
buMMIJ Problems of Living Alone
EQUAL HOUSING Independent Security, Good Food
OPPORTUNITY ! Section 8 Assistance Available
Equal Housing Opportunity Owner
NIW BRICK HOMES!
IN GUNN HILLSI
• Close to Fort • Air Condition
• $26,200 - S2B, 900 • 3 Bed Rooms
• 100% V. A. Loans • Screen Porches
• Gas Heat • Fire Places
• Car Ports • Plush Carpet
• Walk to School • Great Rooms
Johnson & Austin
869 Broad Street Realty Company Phone 724-9667
THE BEST
w YEAR YET I
PONTIAC MASTER
11th at TELFAIR
you believe that race is now a
benign factor. But many Blacks
see signs of just the opposite:
signs in unemployment and
income statistics, in surveys of
white racial attitudes, or in the
portrayal of Blacks in the
popular media.
A Louis Harris survey last
summer reported that “a
majority of Blacks feel
discriminated against while a
majority of whites feel Blacks
are not.”
“Much of what passes for
benign race relations,” says Dr.
Cobb, “is some kind of social
comfort on the part of whites
who are dealing with Blacks.
There are many whites who
can be comfortable with Blacks
socially but who don’t have
any idea of the depth and
degree of their remaining
negative assumptions about
people who are different.”
The white complacency goes
back to the period following
the death of Dr. Martin Luther
King, when the Nixonian ethic
of law and order submerged
the race debate. Edward C.
Banfield, a Nixon urban affairs
advisor, provided an
intellectual rationale for
dismissing the race issue in his
1970 book The Lnheavenly
City.
“The lower class individual
lives in the slum and sees little
or no reason to complain,”
wrote Banfield. “Features that
make the slum repellent to
toehrs actually please him.”
Banfield's attitude has
become widespread today,
according to Stanford
University sociologist Seymour
Martin Lipset, another
neo-conservative.
Most whites, says Lipset,
“accept the reality of at least
some racial discrimination but
see Black problems as
stemming essentially from the
moral failings of individuals.”
Page 2
In other words, the old
stereotype of the lazy and
shiftless Black persists. At the
same time, fully 55 per cent of
white Americans feel Blacks
have “moved too fast” in their
struggle for equality, according
to a 1977 Harris poll.
Syndicated columnist Bob
Greene reports that the use of
the word “nigger” has regained
prominence. “The word is
popping up more and more in
polite company as well as
among people who used it all
along,” he says. “It probably
means that we’re on our way
into a new cycle of racism in
America...”
Recently, Atlanta
businessman J.B. Fuqua, chief
executive of Fuqua Industries
and a friend of President
Carter, exposed a slight
variation of the neo-conser
vative theology. Fuqua told
New York magazine writer Dan
Dorfman that Blacks are the
“least capable of producing in
today’s society. You park a
certain percentage of them -
like antiquated machinery
(which you depreciate) - and
you support them through
welfare... which we’re doing.
(Blacks) say they haven’t had
the opportunities, but that
doesn’t change things. The fact
is many are not productive...
they’re just not as skillful as
the whites...”
The subtle message of
Fuqua’s not-so-subtle words is
that racism is no longer to
blame for the condition of
Blacks. Blacks are poor because
they are incapable of being
anything else, he seems to say.
(Fuqua has denied that
interpretation and said
Dorfman misunderstood or
deliberately distorted what he
said, News-Review Jan. 5).
The complexity of this “new
racism,” as some have called it.
House Hunting??
CALL
Jack Bowles
Real Estate Co.
SALES - RENTALS - TRADES
“28 Years Service with Confidence"
Call Anytime Meadowbrook Dr, Oilice
Hwy. 1 Office 793-7881 790 7000
798-1552.
Maxwell
TWO AUGUSTA LOCATIONS
Downtown
933 Broad 722-5526
Gordon Hwy.
Kmart Plaza 798-7900,
IDEAL CLEANERS
8* LAUNDRY
Phone 279-9905
/ Georgia Ave.
North Augusta, S.C.
DIXIE FINANCE CO.
LOANS ON SIGNATURE
FURNITURE - AUTO
402 NINTH STREET
PHONE 724-0312
OFFICE HOURS 8 30 TO 600
MAJKWELL HOUSE
PHARMACY
Low Priced Prescriptions
Health Foods
' Free Delivery
722-4695
was cited in a September 1977
report by the U.S. Civil Rights
Commission. It noted that
“...more subtle forms of
discrimination continue to
materialize requiring ever more
stringent enforcement to
ensure complaince with the
law.”
One example of this new
subtlety may be found in
sports, an area viewed by many
Americans as the greatest
example of equal opportunity.
After analyzing 12 National
Football League games on the
three major television
networks, psychologist
Raymond E. Rainville of the
State University of New York
in Oneonta found that the
announcers subjected Black
athletes to more negative
comments about their talents,
abilities and motivation. He
concluded that the announcers
were “building a positive
reputation for white players
and a comparatively negative
reputation for Black players.”
And there are other
examples. Most of the dozens
of Black studies programs that
sprang up in the 1960 s are
gone today, the victims of
underfunding and general
neglect. Few books or articles
by Black authors are published
today, and since the demise of
“blaxploitation,” the film
industry has reverted to the
lily-white look of the 19505.
Major box office hits give
little evidence of a movement
toward Glazer’s “pluralistic
society.” In “Star Wars,”
“Annie Hall,” “The Deep" and
other major films, Blacks are
either excluded or limited to
villainous roles.
And despite the success of
See “RACISM”
Page 3
WALLACE’S
REAL ESTATE
1132 GWINNETT
722-8838
GEORGE SWEENEY
WATCH d~
REPAIR
120 Sth STREET VtZ
7 22 2934
JOHANNSEN’S
Trophies
Engravers
•' Sporting Goods
Shoes the Champs Wear
Adidas Puma Pro-Ked
Wilson Converse All-Stars
Riddell
IJCHECK OUR PRICES FIRST
FLOOR COVERING BY
@rmstronc
BEST QUALITY
BEST SERVICE
Carpets, tile, vinyl, linoleum)
asphalt
fc. A. LEM
Floor Coveting Contractors
1120 Pine St. 724-2182
*' • ' ■■■"* &■
■ /111 In
‘ KI ’ft i
.. .ill
I 4 i - I
TL n” y ■r
BLACK LEADERS WITH PRESIDENT CARTER -
Six Black leaders held a private meeting in the White
House with President Carter on Thursday, Jan. 12.
Left to right are: Benjamin Hooks, head of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP); M. Carl Holman, National Urban
Black Press honors Humphrey
lobx x.' (Ort - luM i r’ft IMO
X*' # W ' A
jjjF Hr ’ t> i * W
■■b * J ,jl|h SSLjBk ■ nil!
■s \ II * / \ Ml *1
k..* * J '
K J 4 " ’
Ofield Dukes (left) accepts Humanitarian Award for
Sen. Hubert Humphrey Friday night in Miami at the
National Newspaper Publishers Mid-winter Workshop.
Others on the dais include Ben Brown, vice chairman
Humphrey gets Ist
Walter White Award
NEW YORK - The first
Annual Walter White Award
was presented to the late Sen.
Hubert Horatio Humphrey for
his historical contributions to
Newsboys
and
Distributors
Wanted
CALL THE
AUGUSTA NEW—REVIEW
7224555
T I L E’l
11 *? st*;: 1
Baths, Kitchens, xtZ
rfIUES raani nnvS .
Dens, Foyers,| / >
** l * w **
Porches & Patios
•51.42 htoritin
Os COM Tl Vf-IMKH T-DOMES TIC
HOLMESTILE
1665 OLIVE'RD. 733-1116
rrrrzLEizLLLij-ix
PAD DI CORNER Sth ttLIS
LArnl 7224507
,£X. CINEMA
Teenagers Do In Their
Spare Time?
..Answers the
Question
Introducing .Aj
MARILYN ZUKOR & '
JU LLITTE ORWHI
Writ Teri, Produced amj
D i rec ted
By STEVE BROWN
Eistmintfligr n»t»<nxjl
B 2nd FEATURE •
civil rights at the NAACP
Annual Fellowship dinner on
Sunday, Jan. 8.
Mr. Humphrey, who was
represented by his sister, Mrs.
Francis Howard, was given the
annual NAACP honor for his
years of support to the civil
rights struggle and the NAACP.
The award highlighted his
“unremitting crusade against
poverty, bigotry and
discrimination” which “has
helped renew the fiber of the
democratic ethic upon which
this nation stands.”
The award was presented at
the banquet which was also a
special tribute to Benjamin L.
Hooks, executive director, who
took over the job that Walter
White once had. Mr. White was
executive secretary, the old
title, from 1931 until his death
on March 21, 1955, when he
was succeeded by Roy Wilkins.
It was presented by William
H. Oliver, a member of the
board of directors and a vice
president of the NAACP. Also
participating in the
presentation was Walter
White’s daughter, Miss Jane
White.
What Arabs fear in Begin peace plan
By lan Lustick
Pacific News Service
lan Lustick is assistant
professor of government at
Dartmouth, where he
specializes in Mideast affairs.
He is author of an upcoming
book on Arabs in Israel.
Now that Israel and Egypt
have apparently agreed on
Israeli withdrawal from most
of the Sinai and on
Demilitarization of the
peninsula, the far more
difficult problem of the
occupied West Bank and the
Gaza Strip looms as the key
obstacle to lasting peace in the
Mideast.
If Anwar Sadat means what
Coalition; U.S. Rep. Parren Mitchell, Chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus; President Carter; Vernon
Jordan, director, National Urban League; Richard
Hatcher, Mayor, Gary, Indiana, and president of he
Democratic Mayors Association, and Jesse Hill, Atlanta
businessman.
of the Democratic National Committee; William Brock,
Republican Party chairman; Ms. Martha Mitchell, special
assistant to President Carter; and Clifford Alexander,
Secretary of the Army. Photo by Mallory Millender
Mrs. Wilson re-elected
NAACP chairman
NEW YORK - The NAACP
National Board of Directors
voted on Monday to re-elect
Mrs. Margaret Bush Wilson of
St. Louis, Mo., as chairman and
Dr. W. Montague Cobb of
Washington as president of the
Association. The election,
which occurs annually, were
unanimous.
Also re-elected as national
officers were Jesse H. Turner,
Sr., of Memphis, treasurer; Dr.
Harry J. Greene of
Philadelphia, Pa., assistant
treasurer; Executive Director
Benjamin L. Hooks as
secretary; and, as vice
presidents; Silas Craft of Silver
Spring, Md., Max Delson, New
York, Lucien Holman,
Chicago, William H. Oliver of
Detroit, Mrs. Irene H. Smith of
Wenonah, N.J. and Bishop
William M. Smith of Mobile,
Ala.
The Board also approved the
report of the Annual Elections
Committee which
he says, no peace agreement
between Egypt and Israel can
be implemented until the
future of these areas is
determined to the satisfaction
of Egypt and other Arab
moderates. And not just the
radicals of the Arab world but
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan
and the local Palestinian
population have rejected Israeli
Prime Minister Menachem
Begin’s plan for “self-rule” in
these territories..
Begin’s plan would permit
Palestinian Arabs internal
administrative control in most
of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, though Israel would
retain troops and settlements
there.
While Begin’s proposal does
recommended the at-large
election of Mrs. Wilson, James
Kemp of Chicago, Joseph L.
Raugh of Washington, Wendell
Erwin of Cleveland, William
Pickens 111 of New York and
Mr. Delson. They were
re-elected for three year terms.
The Board also elected on its
own as members Tom Turner,
Dr. James McClendon, both of
Detroit, Mrs. Enolia McMillan
of Baltimore, Mrs. Jeanette
Strong of Gary, Ind., Dr.
William Gibson of Greenville,
S.C., and William Pollard of
Washington.
Mrs. McMillan and Dr.
Gibson were elected to the
Board for the first time, whDe
the others were re-elected. Dr.
Gibson is president of the
South Carolina State
Conference of NAACP
Branches and a NAACP Golden
Heritage Life Member. Mrs.
McMillan is President of the
Baltimore NAACP branch and
a veteran civil rights activist.
represent an apparent shift
from sovereignty over these
areas, the moderate Arabs fear
that such “self-rule” in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip
would be esentially
meaningless. Besides then
obvious fear about Israeli
troops and settlements there,
three significant but
little-reported factors also
underlie their opposition:
* Much of the land in
certain areas of the West Bank
and Gaza has been brought up
for development and
settlement by the Israelis;
* Arab imigration from the
See “ARABS”
Page 5