Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review - April 12, 1980 -
(Augusta 'Netos-'Retitoto
Mallory K. Millender Editor-Publisher
Paul D. Walker. Special Assistant to the Publisher
Frank Bowman Director of Special Projects
Ms. Fannie FlonoNews-Editor
Billy W. Hobbs Reporter
Ms. Mary BoyntonAdvertising Manager
Harvey Harrison Sales Representative
Mrs. Rhonda Brown Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Mary Gordon Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson Church Coordinator
Mrs. Fannie Johnson Aiken County Correspondent
Mrs. Clara WestMcDuffie County Correspondent
David DupreeSports Editor
Mrs. Deen Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor
Roosevelt Green Columnist
Al IrbyColumnist
Mrs. Marian Waring Columnist
Philip Waring Columnist
Sterling Wimberly:Photographer
Roscoe Williams-Photographer
We cannot be responsible for unsolicited photos, manuscripts, and other materials.
Mailing Address
Box 953 (USPS 887 820) - Augusta, Ga.
Phone (404) 722-4555
Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30903 jj wig |y
AMALGAMATED Ik|b||
fr—“4* FUBLISHIWt, INC.
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Blacks should make a sincere
effort to acquire radio station
WRDW - formerly owned by James
Brown -- and sold last week at a
public auction. The National Bank
of (Georgia bought the station but
has indicated that it does not wish
to keep it.
We are mindful that many blacks
could care less whether the station
is black-owned or not. But one of
the most important elements in our
quest for social and racial equality
is access to and ownership of mass
media.
The situation in Augusta is more
crucial than many people realize.
Not only are we on the verge of
losing WRDW, but the Mirror has
not printed, to our knowledge,
since mid-January. Again, a lot of
people will ask “Who cares?”
The answer is that all of us
should. With all of the faults of our
local black media, they are the
means by which we can
communicate with each other.
Without black-owned and black
Blacks in the 'Bos will have to take a
stand to be among the counted. Our
ballots in the voting booth can change
leadership and legislation both locally and
nationally. Our 1980 Census “ballot”
should be considered equally important -
a vote on decisions which run for a
decade.
Benjamin Hooks, Executive Director of
the NAACP has stated: “The year 1980
will be an especially important year for
black people in the United States. In
November, we will help elect a national
administration. Earlier, in April, we will
have an opportunity to stand up and be
counted in the nation Census - our first
opportunity since 1970.” Why
“opportunity”? And why does an
undercount of blacks in the Census
shortchange all of us?
The final 1980 Census data will
directly affect all of our lives, both
politically and personally. The
Constitution requires a decennial
population count which determines our
voting districts. Seats in the U.S. House
of Representatives and state legislatures
are apportioned according to this count.
According to Vernon Jordan, president of
the National Urban League, “The two
million blacks who were missed in the
1970 Census is equal to the loss of five
Congressional representatives and scores
of local legislators.”
The billions of dollars in state and
federal funds spent each year on social
services are allotted, to a significant
degree, by Census findings. The federal
government alone distributes some SSO
billion annually based on Census figures.
Can we remain shortchanged on programs
that include revenue sharing; economic
development; public safety;
transportation; recreation; community
action; many housing and health projects;
job and job training; Headstart and day
care; drug abuse rehabilitation;
We mean yourself. And a good
way to do it is with the training
your local Army Reserve offers.
There’s Initial Entry (Basic*
Training, to get your body in
shape. And skill training at top
notch Army schools. You’ll gain
valuable job experience in your
skill, too. by working part-time.
You’ll also eam a good extra in
come. For details, contact your
Army Representative, listed in the
Yellow Pages under "Recruiting”
Buy WRDW
Among the counted
DEVELOP
ONE OF TOUR
NEIGHBORHOOD'S
NATURAL RESOURCES.
MEET TODAY’S
ARMY RESERVE.
Page 4
controlled media, we will know
only what other groups choose for
us to know.
It is hard for us to believe that
there are no black people or groups
of black people in this town with
enough money to buy WRDW. The
staff is already in place. All that is
needed is capital and the proper
format.
But one word of caution, to
make that station what you think it
should be is going to be a lot more
difficult than you probably
imagine. The problem is not
figuring out what’s wrong, it’s the
ability to do something about it
after you know what needs to be
done.
Those persons who are
dissatisfied with the quality of
black-owned media are in many
instances justified in feeling that
way. But anybody can criticize. We
challenge you to do something
about it. Seize the reins of control
and make our media what it ought
to be. And we’ll all be in your debt
nutritional projects for infants and
children, youth, and the elderly?
The most devastating fact is that
unrealistic, inaccurate Census results are
the major determinant of these programs
for a full decade before the next count.
Are we willing to delay or destroy these
vital services to our neighbors, our
communities, throughout the ’80s? Can
we afford to shortchange ourselves -
politically or personally?
The Census Bureau has estimated that
some 7.7 percent of black Americans
were not counted in the 1970 Census.
That is some 1.9 million black men,
women and children. Many of those were
the very ones most in need of the services
geared to their numbers. Does this
dramatic undercount indicate ignorance
of the facts, apathy or fear? How can we
change these dismal figures?
On April 1, 1980, census forms will be
received through the mail at
approximately 86 million American
households. The questionnaire answers
will provide Census analysts a social and
economic profile of the nation. The word
must go out that the investment of time
in providing this profile is imperative to
the interests of all of us.
All information gleaned from these
forms is strictly confidential, by law.
Individual information cannot be used by
any other agency or person - the F. 8.1.
or 1.R.5., or locally to police, social
service agencies or a landlord. The word
must go out that no one is penalized for
their participation. Rather, we are all
penalized for non-participation.
Those are the facts. Can we change
them? The ’6os showed that we could
stand up and be counted in the voting
booth. The ’Bos must show that we stood
up to be counted in the 1980 Census -
for our own interests. The word must go
out that we are, as black Americans,
among the counted.
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W Local sickle cell
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Medical journals tell us that the overall
sickle cell situation poses serious health
problems to thousands of people,
especially blacks. About eight percent or
one in twelve black Americans are carriers
of the sickle cell gene, and, therefore,
have the sickle cell trait. About one if
500 to 6000 black Americans is estimated
to have sickle cell anemia. It is good to
point out, however, that our Augusta
based Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
has been hard at work fighting this
disease. Professionals in the field and
governmental experts rate it as one of the
best agencies in the nation.
Last month the Advisory Board of the
Center held its seventh annual dinner
meeting at the Hilton Convention Center.
Several hundred persons present heard
positive reports on the anti-sickle cell
fight being waged by the center and also
by its adjacent Paine College project.
Let’s get behind the anti-sickle cell
campaign because the need for help is
there.
BLACK MAYOR OF FORT VALLEY
Thanks to some important spade work
previously done by its black citizens and
also with the fair rulings by Federal
courts, the situation was finally made
possible for a black to be elected mayor
of this Peach County town. Last week
saw the election of black civic leader,
Rudolph Carson, as mayor by some 165
votes. Again this shows the value of
district voting. Congratulations, Mayor
Carsons!
CONGRATULATIONS DEAN CARTER!
Warm congratulations to Dean James
E. Carter 111, assistant dean and director
of minority affairs at MCG. Jimmy was
recently elected chair of the Southeastern
Region of the National Association of
Medical Minority Educators which
includes 11 states. The matter of
minority inclusion and affirmative action
are solid and actual facts of life in the
huge field of medical education. Jimmy
has also worked very hard in building the
association into a viable and useful tool.
Because of his work assignments, Jimmy
r If ' <
Are you waiting until interest rates
drop before you buy a home? Do you
think that this will save you money? The
home you have your eye on will cost you
more in monthly payments two years
from now -- even if die interest rate drops
one percent.
For example, take a home that costs
SBO,OOO. With a 20 percent
down-payment and financed with a 25
year, 12 percent mortgage, the monthly
payment would be $704.64. But two
years from now, if the price rose at 8
percent per year, the now SBO,OOO home
Going places
By Philip Waring
travels all around this nation. He often
shares his know-how, contacts and
information with Augusta about other
communities. Because of Jimmy and his
low-key and unselfish follow through, we
actually have a better informed
community. May we also congratulate Dr.
James E. Carter Jr. as he enters into his
50 years of continuous dental practice in
Augusta. Let’s get going with that golden
anniversary dinner for this occasion.
W ELL DONE H.G. GAULDEN
Thanks to his son, Jimmy, the recent
funeral of Mr. Herman G. Caulden took
on a new dimension of celebration and
thanks, rather than sadness. A resident of
Augusta since 1918, his was an
outstanding example of professional
leadership with Pilgrim Health and Life
Association. Bethel AME Church, where
he gave all kinds of top service, presented
him with its Christian leadership plaque
for continuous service from 1918 to
1979. In May of 1979, the city of
Augusta proclaimed by its mayor, “H.G.
Gaulden day.” He played a major role
among “Blacks Who Helped Build
Augusta.” Thanks and so long, Mr. H.G.!
WELL DESERVED HONORS
Our warm salutes to Mrs. Georgene
Hatcher Seabrook who was named by the
News-Review as its “Citizen of the Year.”
She also played a major role in the
courageous fight for a Federal judgeship
for Attorney Jack Ruffin. May we also
congratulate both Dean Roscoe Williams
and Coach Henry Daggett. Roscoe was
selected as chair of the Human Relations
Commission. We know that he, Charles
Walker and the board-staff will make for
a good team to face up to the 1980 s and
its many problems to be solved in human
relations. Coach Daggett, now finished
with a brilliant head football coaching
assignment, will continue as T.W. Josey
athletic director.
We will continue our writing on the
Black Press at an early date. In the
meanwhile, let’s all get behind the United
Negro College Fund campaign at Paine
College.
Tax Tip
Interest down -
Cost up
By Bernard Johnson
would likely cost $93,312. If the interest
rate decreased to •11 percent, not only
would the down payment be $2,662
more, but the monthly payment would
increase to $770.39. If the interest rate
stayed at 12 percent, the payment would
come to $821.90.
So, it’s obvious that the overall value
of the home - not the interest rate -
makes the biggest impact on your
monthly payment. Since there is no
indication of property values decreasing,
the moral of the story is - Buy now or
pay more later.
Nil
A modest welfare reform bill has
finally passed the House of
Representatives, and the battle-ground
now shifts to the Senate, where efforts at
reforming a welfare system everyone
agrees is a mess will run into stiff
chailense.
The 1 louse bill falls far short of real
reform. But it does establish a national
minimum payment which would raise
benefits in about fifteen states. The
proposed minimum benefit would be less
than two-thirds of the poverty level.
Less important to the poor, but of
great consequence to Congressmen
running for re-election this year, the bill
also provides some fiscal relief for tire
states.
But the knives are out in the Senate.
Some senators support a different kind of
“reform” -- turning the federal welfare
program over to the states in the form of
block grants.
That would make the present mess
even more unworkable and devastating to
the poor. Welfare is a nation pioblem drat
needs to be resolved on a national basis.
There is already too much state control
of the program, with the result that no
state provides benefits equal to the
poverty line while many keep recipients
on shamefully low benefit schedules.
The reluctance to reform die system
reflects widespread hostility to the poor,
a hostility encouraged by racism. Welfare
is seen as a “black program”
notwithstanding that half of all recipients
are white.
It is widely scorned as a program that
rewards not working, despite the fact that
most recipients are incapable of work.
And with unemployment levels
consistently around the seven million
mark throughout the past several years,
many people still look to a work
requirement for welfare as being
something rational.
The House bill that faces an uncertain
future in the Senate ought to become
law, if only because it represents an
incremental change for the better, but
also because it establishes a long-sought
goal of reform -- establishment of a
Walking with dignity
Mak,. S i
Rhodesian election results have jolted
South Africans out of their apartheid
apathy. White South Africa generally has
reacted with a mixture of thrilled alarm
and horror to the runaway election
victory of Robert Mugabe in
Rhodesia-Zimbabwe. And while cool Mr.
Mugabe’s calm and conciliatory approach
toward Rhodesian whites and his friendly
overtures toward South Africa calmed the
jittery whites considerably, these whites
really have been left probably more
confused than ever.
ZIMBABWE’S ELECTION
The newspapers that support the
Afrikaans National Party have been
thrown into a tumult of verbosity.
Thousands of apprehensive words are
being devoted to the subject, often in
front-page editorials urging the
government to speed up policies that
would give South African blacks a better
deal and consequently “stop the same
thing from happening in South Africa.”
for example, Die Vaderland (the
Fatherland), a leading Afrikaans paper in
Johannesburg, declared on its frong page
that shooting was no answer to South
Africa’s problems and that fighting
between white and black would only
delay things and “make them worse.”
Instead, warned the paper, “West must
not bluff ourselves, we are going to have
to go much further, and much faster than
even the most liberal nationalist thinks...
the key is to declare what we are
prepared to concede and what not. This
itself lies very far from where we stand
politically at present.”
TALKING BLACK TURKEY
This heretofore anti-black newspaper
concludes: “In the meantime we must
stand together and clam must be the
watchword.” In Cape Town, Die Burger,
the granddaddy of Afrikaans apartheid
philosophical newspapers and the
National Party’s official mouthpiece in
Cape Provine, said the first lesson of Mr.
Mugabe’s win was “he who wishes to hold
on to everything runs the risk of losing
everything.” In the light of this
conciliating talk, there is much that has
to be done in South Africa at great speed.
Firstly, they shall have to make urgent
work of giving to persons of color in
To be equal
Welfare system
in need of reform
By Vernon E. Jordan
national minimum benefit.
But it can only be away station on the
road toward total overhaul of the welfare
system.
An alternative to the present system
ought to have several guiding principles,
including universal benefits, federal
administration, a national minimum
benefit, administrative simplicity, and
removal of any stigma attached to
receiving aid.
The best way to achieve such a system
would be dirough a refundable credit
income tax. Everyone would get a basic
grant in the form of a refundable tax
credit.
That credit would be taxed away from
those whose income exceeds a certain
level. For those below that level, the
credit would constitute an income
maintenance program.
In fact, such a system is already in
existence on a small scale, through the
tax credit available to the working poor.
That’s been on the books for several years
now, and has provided modest benefits
without cumbersome administrative
mechanisms or stigmatizing recipients.
Building an income maintenance
feature 'into the tax system would make
aid automatic and do away with the
administrative and policing bureaucracy
that eats up an increasing portion of the
nation’s welfare budget.
It would end the dehumanizing aspects
of a system tha makes poor people grovel
for inadequate benefits and which avoids
assisting many millions of poor
Americans.
A system that is simple, equitable, and
provides help to all in need is the goal
toward which we should be working
Instead, every welfare reform plan
becomes burdened with meaningless,
punitive features, with senseless work
requirements, and with attacks on people
whose poverty is caused by factors
beyond their control.
It’s going to take a long, hard,
educational drive to destroy the myths
about welfare and poverty. In the
meantime, even small changes for the
better should be supported.
Southern Africa
jittery
By Al Irby
South Africa an effective political voice,
including abolishing the horrendous pass
system for colored people. Although the
system for achieveing this humane way of
life for colored people would be
indigenous, there must be no hint that it
could be an attempt to shortchange
people of color in favor of the whites.
MAN OF THE HOUR
The country’s biggest South African
newspaper, Rapport, also makes it clear
that Mr. Mugabe’s win has come as a
tremendou shock. The paper’s political
columnist wrote that the result has left
whites in South Africa running around
confused in all directions and that there is
more than enough reason for alarm. One
reason he explained, was that so few had
anticipated that Mr. Mugabe had such
overwhelming support and that all those
who were supposed to know what was
happening were wrongly informed. South
African whites should also be alarmed,
because of the way it has treated its
non-white people. Wrongdoings alway are
alarming. 20,000 died in the Rhodesian
war, because of the white obstinacy and
shortsightedness. The white minority
dragged Rhodesia deeper and deeper into
the morass when they would not come to
a settlement though settlement terms
were offered frequently. There is also no
doubt that the political shockwaves
caused by Bob Mugabe’s victory, and it
has been an important factor in increasing
the tensions between left and right-wing
apartheid politicians in the National Party
in South Africa.
LOOK TO ZIMBABWE
However, whereas whites have been
considerably shaken up by the Rhodesian
election, black politicians generally have
welcomed it as just one more clear lesson
for the white-ruled South African
government. Dr. Nthato Motiana,
chairman of the important Committee of
Ten in the huge Soweto township near
Johannesburg, said Mr. Mugabe’s victory
would have a “profound impact on South
African blacks and encourage their
struggle for true equality.” However, not
all blacks were particularly excited by the
election. It was not nearly as exciting as
the night Big John* ite beat the white
South African champion Gerrie Coetzee.
That night blacks danced in the street.