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The Augusta News-Review (USPS 887 820) - June 9, 1979 -
Mallory K. Millender Editor-Publisher
J. Philip Waring Vice President for Research and Development
Paul D. Walker Special Assistant to the Publisher
Frank Bowman Acting Advertising Manager
Harvey Harrison Sales Representative
Mrs. Kathleen Collins Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Mary Gordon Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson Church Coordinator
Ms. Barbara Gordonßurke County Correspondent
Mrs. Clara West McDuffie County Correspondent
Davis DupreeSports Editor
Mrs. Been Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor
Roosevelt GreenColuimist
Al IrbyColumnist
Mrs. Marian Waring Columnist
Michael Carr Chief Photographer
Sterling Wimberly Photographer
Roscoe Williams.’TV..Photographer
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Mailing Address
Box 953 - Augusta, Ga. - Phone 722-4555 llLl ft
/V AMAUMMIUSW® Pa ' d AugUSta Ga I]L
jfc -fr PUBUSNCM, INC.
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Paine College
7 helped bring about
social change
1 ;ist week it was all about Dr. Lucy C.
Laney anil how hei lot thrightncss on
lacial equality helped to properly
motivate many generations of Haines
students. Hits week as graduation
appioaches. it is all about Paine Collcgc-a
short highlight on how sonic of its
graduates and students helped bring
about first class citizenship here and
around the nation.
Dining my freshman year at Paine,
1936-37. there was an excellent NAACP
college chapter which afforded my lust
contact which has continued lor 42 years
with the association.
One thrust of this column is to
examine some of the race relations
accomplished of a lew Paine students and
graduates since the Biown decisions. First
anil foremost is elder statesman Dr.
Channing 11. Tobias, Paine graduate,
teachei, and long-time trustee.
A Spingharn recipient, he was national
NAACP chairperson during the
immediate Brown decision era. He
worked very hard with various proposals
to Southern governors and school boards
for high-level planning and action to
avoid violence in school integration.
Unfortunately. Gov. George Wallace and
others of his ilk skuttled Dr. Tobias’
constructive proposals.
Till SAGA OF “BROTHE R LUCIOUS’’
Let’s not forget former Paine graduate
and president, the late Dr. Lucious Pitts.
“Brother Lucious" was the hard-driving
executive secretary of the black Georgia
Teacher and Educational Association
during 1956-61. Despite many racial
barriers his skill and courage helped get
many new and belter deals for black
teachers throughout the state (this was
prior to integration of the two
associations).
Paine students Sylvia Ryce, William
Didley and others gave splendid direct
leadership to a well-planned and
non-violent campaign to integrate eating
places, public transit, public library, etc.
Needless to say, they were arrested and
taken to jail. Liter, the NAACP and
SCLC entered the case and it eventually
was resolved with public places being
opened. Let’s not forget this direct
leadership. It was in the early 19605.
Although an extremely modest person,
the Augusta community is in wide
agreement of the solid worth of Mallory
Millender and the Augusta News-Review
since 1971. The paper has been the real
cutting edge for democracy and racial
equality.
DAN COLLINS OUT FRONT
Dr. Dan Collins, current Paine trustee
chairman, has been president of both the
San Francisco NAACP and Urban League.
As member of the California State Board
of Education he used leadership to help
bring about change in this
multi-populated state. As a long-time
senior officer of the National Urban
League he helped it expand with many
useful programs in employment, housing,
education and race relations.
Nub of the this column, however, is
about Paine graduate Dr. Charles G.
Gomillion. This is an excerpt from the
Lee County (Tuskeegee, Ala.) daily
Bulletin written when he was honored in
that community where he worked for
many years.
GOMILLION INSPIRING EXAMPLE
By Neil 0. Davis
The insights of history will be required
to access adequately the contributions of
Dr. Charles G. Gomillion to
democratizing Alabama political, social
and economic institutions and practices.
An inadequate but impressive effort at
stating what the retired Tuskegee
educator has accom n lished was contained
in speeches honoring him last Sunday
when a community building in the Macon
County town was named for him.
Probably no person in Alabama was as
maligned in those early days of the civil
Going places
h Phil Waring
rights movement as was Charles
Gomillion. Because he chose not to take
humiliation and abuse of his fellow black
citizens without protest and resistance, he
was painted as a dangerous, left-wing
firebrand.
No portrait of the man could have
been further from (ruth. He was and is
wise, tolerant and composed. In the lace
of taunts and threats he kept his head and
plowed on ahead. He was determined,
and it was that quality, plus tremendous
moral courage and conviction, that finally
brought victory to his cause.
In retrospect what Dr. Gomillion
sought was modest. He insisted that the
franchise be extended to all qualified
citizens. The board of voter registrars in
Macon County refused to register blacks,
even including Ph.D and M.D. degree
holders at Tuskegee Institute and
Veterans Administration Hospital there.
But it was not just those privileged voter
applicants he worked to get on the poll
lists; he claimed, and rightly so, that
every literate person who met the
qualifications that applied to white
citizens applied in like manner to black
citizens.
Then, after Dr. Gomillion’s efforts in
the courts brought the voting privilege to
his people, came the infamous
gerrymandering of black districts. In the
now historic Gomillion vs. Lightfoot
federal court decision the gerrymandering
was struck down and blacks became a
party to political decision-making in
Tuskegee and Macon County.
He never countenanced violence
although the temptation to strike back
with physical force must at times have
been almost consuming. Rejecting the
urging of those less dedicated to peaceful
change. Dr. Gomillion kept plugging away
through the established courts system,
saying all the* while that was the
American way.
I had admired him and had swapped
letters with him over a period of years,
starting when he was trying to scrape
together enough money to get started in
Ph. D. studies, but I did not really know
him until after The Bulletin bought The
Tuskegee News. In the 11 years 1 went
back and forth to Tuskegee to oversee
The News operation I often sought him
out as a source of background and
understanding of events that were
transpiring. I found him approachable,
although I’d been told he was not, and
always helpful.
What impressed me most was the spirit
of the man. He never exhibited bitterness
although I knew he had cause aplenty to
be bitter. Nor was he carping or
complaining. 1 was continually amazed at
his forebearance and patience.
Perhaps the secret of Dr. Gomillion’s
character and philosophy is contained in
brief remarks he made at the i ceremony
honoring him. He said, in part, “...the
best is yet to be. It cannot come by itself
alone. It can be ahead of us only if we
work diligently and unselfishly to make
the future better." Then he added that
people should strive to give more than
they consume, and reminded that “from
him who hath much, much is expected.”
Dr. Gomillion does not wear his faith
on his sleeve but he is a deeply religious
man. It was interesting in the days when
he worked through the Tuskegee Civic
Association, which he and a small but
hardy band of fellow blacks organized,
that meetings to discuss court moves and
to rally flagging spirits always were held
in a religious context. I can see him
now-this fine-looking, gray-maned
man-arising in front of a church sanctuary
to start a meeting with arms raised to lead
in singing “Amazing Grace.”
He has been honored in many places
for his significant contributions in
education (he is a brilliant sociologist),
civil rights and political affairs but one
can guess that none of the honors means
more to him that that accorded him
Sunday by fellow Tuskegeeans both
black and white. Although he now lives in
retirement in Washington, D.C., unless 1
miss my guess Charles Gomillion’s heart
still is in Tuskegee. Even in the days when
Page 2
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©1979 BLACX- Resources (fie.
THE MAGIC CARPET
Walking with dignity
Black and white women had different
hopes, frustrations and concerns. One ot
the most often cited failures of the
feminist movement is its inability to
involve black women in meaningful
numbers. But this lailure has at least
shown that racism makes the concerns ot
black women different from those of
white women. The most telling proof is
the overt disdain of many black women
for feminism. Michele Wallace, in her
book “Black Macho and the Myth of the
Superwoman" (Dial Press $7.95), sums
up the crux of the difference.
Ms. Wallace's book is a decade ahead of
white thought concerning black women.
“Before black women or white women
said a word there was a basic
communication gap between them on this
subject of work. When the middle-class
white woman said. ‘1 want to work, in her
head was a desk in the executive suite,
while the black woman saw a bin of dirty
clothes, someone else’s dirty clothes.”
She adds, “When the white woman said
“Work” The black woman said no thanks.
I’ve already got more of that than 1 can
use.” Miss Wallace’s book, which was
excerpted in the January issue of Ms.
Magazine, is being heralded as the first
major manifesto of black feminism. Ms.
editor Gloria Steinem praised it with this
observation: “What ‘Sexual Politics' was
to the seventies, Michele Wallace's book
could be to the eighties. She crosses the
sex/race barrier to make every reader
understand the political and intimate
truths of growing up black and female in
America."
AN INTELLECTUAL BLACK FAMILY
The 27-year-old author comes from a
third generation Harlem family. Her
mother is the well-known painter. Faith
Ringgold and her late father. Earl
Wallace, was a classical and jazz pianist.
Miss Wallace studied at Howard
University and at the City College of New
York, taught Journalism at New York
University, and worked tor Newsweek
Magazine. She has been researching her
book for the past 10 years. In her book
Miss Wallace analyzes the myths about
black men and black women. The idea of
the black macho male grew out of racism,
she explained.
RACISM RESULT OF ‘ECONOMIC NEED’
“Racism developed out of an economic
need for blacks to perform most of the
he was a national figure he focused his
chief attention and efforts on improving
life in Tuskegee and Macon County.
As white banker J. Allan Parker said at
the Sunday cererqpny. Dr. Gomillion
became great “by*' blazing trails to
freedom, by building opportunities for
his people. He was not content with the
Jfc-, -jwKy
Broccoli is one of the best sources of vitamins, iron, potassium and riboflavin and it has
very few calories.
Has black
feminism failed?
Bv Al Irbv
low-paid labor in this country,” she said,
adding that whites couldn’t get rid of the
blacks after slavery, so they perpetuated
the myth of inferiority. Behind the black
macho stereotype was the white man s
fear of the black man’s sexuality,
according to Miss Wallace. “Both white
and black men can create families and
armies, and this is the nature of patriarchal
competition,” she maintained, adding
that sexual fear is also a result of slavery
times when blacks were used as breeders.
The black man has reacted by using his
sexuality as a weapon, according to Miss
Wallace, and by rejecting the black
woman in favor of the ultimate status
symbol, the white ‘chick’.
“Black Macho and the myth of the
white Superwoman” suggests that
perhaps the single most important reason
the Black Movement did not work was
that black men did not realize they could
not wage struggle without the lull
involvement of his black women.”
SUPERWOMAN MYTH DEBUNKED
And what of the women? In the
second half of the book Miss Wallace
debunks the myth of the so-called white
superwoman, the stereotypical black
woman who has emasculated the runaway
black man by taking his job and running
his household. The fallacy, as Miss
Wallace sees it. is that the black woman is
neither a superwoman nor the source of
the black man's problem. She, like him, is
a victim of the distorted images generated
by white racism.
Miss Wallace berates the black man tor
“opportunism” that seduced him into
rejecting the black woman. She urges the
black woman to “get the tools to provide
for the family and put an end to weeping
and whining about not being capable.
"The world is becoming a place where
men can’t provide for and protect women
anyway." she vvrites. She adds, “give the
black women the self-respect to do the
job that needs to be done and out of that
will come respect for matriarchy. Out ot
respect comes love, and so does power.’
Miss Wallace maintains that the
salvation of black people lies in their
commitment to black culture and the
black race, which will make the black
man’s return to the family inevitable and
provide the impetus for the long-awaited
black feminist movement. Black men
should read Miss Wallace’s book, because
1 believe the little lady has a complex.
darkness but went about lighting
candles.”
I am indebted to him for inspiring
example and for helping me to
understand our region’s and our nation’s
most vexing and challenging problem in
human relations.
The blackside of Washington
X
Although President Carter has set a
record in the appointment and promotion
of black federal judges, he may fail in his
own state of Georgia.
There able, highly respected John H.
Ruffin, Jr., a Howard University law
school graduate, is on the list of
prospective nominees for a district
judgeship, but black Georgians are saying
he may be bypassed in favor of the son of
a rich contributor to Sen. Sam Nunn's
campaigns.
Here’s Carter's promising record: From
the South, he has appointed Joseph
Hatchett of Florida to the Circuit Court
of Appeals, and Gabriel McDonald of
Texas and Robert Collins of Louisiana to
the Federal District Court.
From legal talent from outside the
South, he has elevated A. Leon
Higginbotham, Jr., and Damon J. Keith
to the Circuit Court of Appeals; named
Theodore McMillian and Antalya Kearse
of New York to that body, and
announced his intentions to appoint
Nathaniel Jones of the NAACP also to
the second level judiciary.
To the Federal District Court, the
President has named the following
non-Southerners; Julian Cook and Ms.
Anna Diggs Taylor of Michigan, Ms. Mary
Johnson Lowe of New York, David
Nelson of Massachusetts, John Penn of
D.C., Paul Simmons of Pennsylvania, and
Jack Tanner of Washington state.
It would be sad to see campaign funds
for Senator Nunn subvert President
Carter’s efforts to appoint a black federal
judge from Georgia.
COMING HERE TO LIVE?
If you are coming to Washington to
live, here are a few suggestions: Be sure to
fold your house up and put it in your
pocket along with your job and a taxi
cab.
You see a rented apartment is hard to
A
On Tuesday, May 8, I stopped by
Dawson’s Funderal Home in Atlanta to
pay tribute to Bill Lucas. The crowd was
so great at six o’clock in the afternoon
that I had to wait 40 minutes before I
could get in to view the body. Os course,
some of this time was due to the fact that
we had to wait on the family of Mr.
Lucas to go in and view the body first.
Even at that, Mrs. Dawson had to lead me
in the back way so that 1 and a friend of
mine could see the body, which made it
possible for us to make another
engagement.
1 thought about it during the night and
could not help but remark to myself that
here is a man who is bringing to Atlanta
representatives of the entire baseball
world - all coming to Atlanta and to a
small Georgia town were he will he
buried, giving distinction to that little
corner of Georgia which nobody else has
ever given to that town.
But the most remarkabe thing about all
of this grief over Bill Lucus is the suggestion
that we raise a scholarship fund in
memory of Bill Lucas at Florida
Agricultural and Mechanical University. If
I had the money, I would give a minimum
of SIOOO, but I have to settle for SIOO
which I am sending to help kick off this
campaign. I hope the fans and the
baseball clubs will give not as little as
they can but as much as they can. If we
are going to honor this man, let us do it
in a big way, away commensurate with
the greatness of the man. The people are
mourning the death of Bill Lucas not
judgeship fail?
Bv Sherman Briscoe. NNPA
My View
By Benjamin E. Mays
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ADDRESS
CITY
One Year in County W-00
One Year Out of County .... 19.00
Will Carter’s
come by, since owners are converting
their buildings into condominia and
selling them at highly inflated prices. It
takes $6,000 to SIO,OOO to make the
downpayment. And with redlining
prevalent, finding a bank or a building
loan to pick up your mortgage will not be
easy.
Now about your job. If you are a man
without top skills, forget it. But if you
are a woman, skilled or not, there’s a
chance you’ll run into a high Federal or
District official who is looking for a
playmate. You and he might make a deal
(a job in exchange for sex) if the price is
right.
Regarding the taxi cab, if you plan to
ride in one, you’d better bring it with
you. This is especially true at night, since
so many black cabbies have been killed
and robbed by their own folks.
Almost forgot about the front door. If
you want one of those, you’d better put
yours in your suitcase. The housing they
are building now has no front doors, only
back doors opening on to a court or an
alley.
Remember the old days in the South
when white folks’ homes had no front
doors for Colored?
25 YEARS AFTER 1954
To mark the 25th anniversary of the
1954 school desegregation decision
(Brown v. Topeka Board of Education),
President Carter held a reception in the
White House on May 17th. More than
400 blacks and about 100 whites heard
the President review the old days and
discuss the promise of tire future.
But for the Washington Post, this
important gathering and celebration
meant practically NOTHING. The paper,
in effect, IGNORED it. This would seem
to mean that the Post is either against
Carter, or it is unwilling to promote the
full achievement of school desegregation.
In memory
of Bill Lucas
because he died young, in his early 40 s,
but because he was a good man and the
people loved him. 1 saw people coming
out of Dawson’s - men and women -
crying. It was sad to see this but 1 was
thrilled to see it.
1 have another observation to make
about Bill Lucas. When old men die, 1 feel
that they have had the chance to make
their contribution to the world... But
when Bill Lucas dies, 1 feel that he has
been cheated and the world has been
cheated. And yet, I remember my own
philosophy on this: It is not how long
one lives but how well. Martin Luther
King Jr. was assassinated at 39, very close
to Bill Lucas’s age; Jesus Christ was
crucified at 33 and the world will never
be the same because Jesus lived. And life
in America will never be the same because
Martin Luther King Jr. lived. Let us rally
to this great cause.
We have the Hall of Fame for artists
and baseball players; we have the Hall of
Fame for great Americans; we have the
Nobel Peace Prize for men who give their
lives in the interest of peace, and Nobel
Prizes for men of Science; we have a
Rhodes Scholar program; we spend
millions and billions of dollars
perpetuating the lives of great men in
history. All governments and all
universities immortalize their heroes. Let
us immortalize the name of Bill Lucas so
that he will live in the hearts of every
youth who graduates from Florida A&M
University.