Newspaper Page Text
Judge demands
school board
keep school open
Page 1
Vol 10 No. 14
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Photo by Jacob Crawford
BREAKFAST is served at Clara Jenkins Elementary School
Federal judge prohibits
closing Jenkins School
By Fannie Flono
Parents who banded
together to stop the closing of
their neighborhood school,
Clara E. Jenkins Elementary
School, have done just that.
With the help of their
attorney, John Ruffin, the
parents will be able to see their
children off to Jenkins for
another year and probablv for
many years to come,according
to the tone of a federal judge s
order which halted the
Richmond County School
Board’s attempt to close the
school.
Judge Dudley Bowen said
last Friday in a public hearing
that the school was a positive
influence in the community
and is one of the few signs of
governmental presence or
interest in the Hyde Park area.
School officials had sought
to close the school at the end
of the past school term with
student enrollment being
consolidated with James L.
Jackson urges boxing champ to
withdraw from October bout
Washington, D.C.-Rev. Jesse
Jackson, President of PUSH,
has urged World Boxing
Association heavyweight
champion Mike Weaver to
“withdraw immediately” from
the planned title fight against
South African Genie Coetzee
in Botswana, South Africa, on
October 25.
In a telegram sent to Weaver
this week, through the fighter’s
manager, Don Manuel, Rev.
Jackson said: “I appeal to you
not to fight South African
heavyweight Gerrie Coetzee in
South Africa or anywhere else
on October 25th as long as the
white minority government of
four million continues its
practice of apartheid and the
denial of basic human rights
and dignity to its 21 million
Black and mixed-race citizens.
Do not be deceived; South
Africa is using sports as a
propaganda weapon in an
attempt to gain an
international face-lift, world
recognition and acceptance,
and as a cover for its crime
against humanity.
“By fighting Gerrie
Coetzee,” Jackson told Weaver,
“you are aiding the continued
oppression of your Black
brothers and sisters. As recent
racial disturbances in South
Africa make clear, Blacks and
mixed-race people there are
Aityitsta Nruui-ißenjeut
Fleming Elementary School.
School superintendent
William Oellerich had said that
school enrollment had declined
and that the cost of running
the facility was prohibitive.
More than $150,000 would be
saved through consolidation,
officials said.
Parents in the neighborhood
objected and attorney John
Ruffin filed a petition asking
that a temporary injunction be
levied to prevent the closing.
Ruffin said the closing was
in violation of a 1964 school
desegregation order.
Hurriedly, the school board
scheduled a series of meetings
last week to work out a
solution to the Jenkins school
controversy in order to avoid a
possible appeal by Ruffin if the
judge ruled in favor of closing.
School Board Attorney
Leonard 0. Fletcher, who had
indicated to the board before
the hearing that the judge
would probably rule in favor of
the school board, said that if
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Jesse Jackson
' dissatisfied with the state of
affairs and are struggling
heroically against a vicious and
violent oppressor.
“I, along with most Black
Americans and concerned
people of goodwill everywhere,
urge you to withdraw from this
fight immediately and thus
strike a blow for freedom and
dignity. I would like to talk
with you at your earliest
convenience,” Jackson
concluded.
Nancy Wilson
to appear
in Augusta
Page 6
there was an appeal to the sth
Circuit Court there was a
possibility that the judge
would rule that all one-race
schools in .the county be
eliminated to render full
compliance with the 1964
court order.
Including two magnet
schools A.R. Johnson and C.T.
Walker, there are eight one-race
schools (so defined by having
less than an 80-20 ratio of both
races in the school).
The others are Lucy Laney
(five percent white), Westside
(82 percent white), Sand Bar
Ferry Elementary (two percent
white), John M. Tutt Junior
High (89 percent white), Roy
E. Rollins (89 percent white),
Sand Bar Ferry Middle (six
percent white), Warren Road
Elementary (96 percent white),
Levi White Elementary (16
percent white) and W. H.
Hornsby (no white).
Fletcher said if there was
such an appeal, the judge might
order immediate compliance
Also critizing the fight was
Muhammad Ali, who said, “1
protest the scheduled
heavyweight championship
fight in South Africa between
WBA champion Mike Weaver
and Gerrie Coetzee. There
seems to be a plot to
manipulate this title into the
hands of a South African.
Gerrie Coetzzee is the same
man that John Tate beat to
win the title.”
Muhammad Ali explained,
“In speaking out together
against the exploitation and
genocide of Blacks in South
Africa and demanding the
withdrawal of any
participation by Black
Americans in any such
championship boxing event, we
are striking a blow against
injustice, oppression and
persecution that will be heard
around the world.
“In my travels around the
world,” Muhammad Ali said,
“I have learned that you
cannot isolate yourself from
the problems of the people. I
have always been a people’s
champion and will fight tor
their rights in and out of the
ring. Apartheid is deplorable. It
is an unjustifiable and
repugnant system. It
constitutes an affront to the
dignity of men-of those who
are its victims- and is a flagrant
August 23,1980
and cause considerable
problems for the school
system.
One school board member
said the plaintiffs (for whom
Ruffin filed the original school
desgegation suit) are “literally
holding an ax over our head
until the system is unitary (free
of all one-race schools).”
School officials offered to
make Jenkins a kindergarten in
an attempt to placate the
parents and keep the school
open. The school would have
housed the Jenkins
kindergarteners and an
expected overflow from other
schools.
Ruffin reportedly said that
solution was not suitable.
Judge Bowen called for an
informal conference with the
two lawyers and last Friday for
the hearing where he rendered
his decision.
Jenkins, with grades
kindergarten through three,
will remain as it was last year.
violation of fundame: <■ a’
human decency. White South
Africa’s insensitivity to tire
plight of Black South Africans
demands that all people of
goodwill speak out against
Mike Weaver going to South
Africa and being exploited.”
Muhammad Ali is in training
for an Oct. 2 World Boxing
Council heavyweight title fight
against WBC champion Larry
Holmes.
In commenting on the
Weaver-Coetzee fight, Holmes
asked, “What is the difference
between Russia and South
Africa? If it is fitting for our
young amateur athletes to
boycott the Olympics in
protest against the oppression
of the Russians, then any
American athlete of conscience
must give his support morally,
and indeed, to his struggling
brothers and sisters of South
Africa.
“Blacks in South Africa
believe that even by agreeing to
fight in South Africa, Black
Americans give credibility to
the white authority which
discriminates against them,”
Holmes said. “As I have
continuously said, 1 am against
a country that will strip a
Black athlete of his pride and
dignity by making him an
‘honorary white’ just to exploit
his athletic skills.”
Jury lif
discriminate
against blacks
Page 1
Jury selection
discriminatory
in Screven County
A federal judge has declared
the Screven County grand jury
and traverse jury lists to be
unconstitutional and
discriminatory.
In an action handed down
August 7, Judge B. Avant
Edenfield, Southern district of
Georgia, U.S. District County
in Savannah “permanently
enjoined and restrained (the
Screven County Jury
Commissioners and the Clerk
of the Jury Commission) from
discriminating on the basis of
race or sex against adult black
and adult female residents of
Screven County, Ga. in
carrying out the functions of
the Screven County Jury
Commission and, more
specifically, in preparing and
revising the grand and traverse
jury lists for Screven County.”
The suit was filed in January
by Georgia Legal Services
attorneys in the Waynesboro
regional office on behalf of
Mamie L. Gibbons, Adam
Coles, Maggie Coles and Mary
L. Bryant and others “similarly
situated.”
Judge Edenfield also ordered
that Screven County officials
shall no later than August 30
“establish, maintain and
comply” with certain
procedures for preparation and
revision of the jury lists.
Among these procedures are
the following:
’Officials must use the
official registered voters’ list of
Screven County as most
recently revised by county
election officials as the basic
source of names for the lists.
HUD program to aid blacks
By William R. Morris
There’s been nothing like it
since the early 1970 s when the
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development
(HUD) tried a special set-aside
program in the Los Angeles
area to help Black and other
minority housing developers
and contractors get a larger
slice of the government’s
housing action.
Now, after several months
1
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Chandra Jones
Sixteen-year-old Chandra
Jones will be letting someone
else do the cheering for a
change when she goes to
Gainesville, Ga. August 30.
The Richmond Academy
cheerleader will be one of 100
girls vying for the title of the
1980 Miss Georgia Teen.
For Chandra, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Calvin A. Jones,
it’s not exactly a dream come
true.
♦The Jury Commissioners
shall place the voters’ lists in an
identifiable order and then
choose a name from the first
20 names at random.
’Every third name
thereafter will be selected until
there are 1100 names on the
list. No fewer than 1100 names
must remain on the list even
after deletions.
’The proportions of black
persons to white persons and
females to males in tire final
composition after deletions
and additions shall not vary
more than five percent from
the list before deletions and
additions.
’From the traverse lists, the
grand jury list will be made
according to the same
procedure.
’The Clerk of the Jury
Commissioners will maintain
for 10 years a copy of the
voting list used in selecting the
jury.
’For all future grand and
traverse jury lists, the
percentages of blacks should be
within five percent of the
percentage of blacks in the
county according to the 1970
census or the most recent
subsequent decennial United
States census.
’The percentage of women
must meet similar
specifications.
In addition, Judge Edenfield
order that the Screven County
officials listed as defendants in
the suit pay the cost of the
action against them and
attorney’s fees totalling
$2,000.
preparation, HUD has released
a precedent-establishing
Minority Business Enterprise
Program (MBE) to demonstrate
new ways in which monorities
can participate more
effectively in HUD programs -
and develop the capabilities to
become active partners with
others in the nation’s housing
industry.
Just last January President
Carter called on all federal
Residents cheer local youth
seeking Georgia teen title
“No, I never thought about
entering (such a contest),” she
said. Her name was submitted
without her knowledge as
someone who fit the
qualifications. After an
interview with a group of Miss
Georgia Teen judges, she was
selected as one of the 10
district finalists in this area.
Though she hadn’t planned
on being in the contest,
Chandra said she is excited
about the coming events.
“I’m taking modelling
classes and getting help with
my speech. I’m getting a lot of
outside help from people who
have been in pageants before.”
Chandra will be doing a
patriotic speech about the flag
for her talent.
According to the rules of the
contest, contestants must be
between the ages of 14 and 18
and have a “B” or better grade
average in school. They must
also participate in the
Volunteer Service program
giving at least 12 hours of time
to a worthwhile charity or civic
work.
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Page 2
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I Win
Mrs. Georgene Seabrook
Protest urged
Residents of Augusta are
being urged to start a write-in
and phone-in campaign to spur
the city government to hire
more blacks.
In a news release announcing
a press conference next week,
Georgene Hatcher-Seabrook,
president of the Augusta
chapter of the NAACP said the
loci NAACP is “deeply
disappointed with the failure
of the Mayor of Augusta and
the city council to act on the
July 1979 investigative report
of the city of Augusta
Employment Practices.”
The report was prepared by
the Augusta-Richmond County
Human Relations Commission
at a cost of more than $3,100
and publicly released more
than a month ago, she said.
The report showed that out
agencies to initiate actions to
increase business opportunities
for minorities through
government programs. A
month later Housing Secretary
Moon Landrieu directed his
staff to come up with specific
plans to implement the
Presidential directive. The new
program was made official in a
HUD notice to its field offices
in July.
It provides Blacks with the
Chandra is on the board of
directors of the Dependent
Youth Activities at Fort
Benning. There she listens to
teens’ problems and advises
them. She’s also a member of
Junior Achievement, editor of
her school’s annual, a member
of the Student Council, a
member of Who’s Who Among
High School students and
captain of the 24-member
Richmond Academy cheering
squad.
Chandra will probably have
a large cheering section of her
own for the contest. It includes
not only her family and
brother Michael, but
schoolmates and “almost half
of Fort Gordon.”
If she wins in Gainesville,
she has a chance to win the
Miss Teen Pageant in
Albuquerque, New Mexico and
$15,000 in scholarship money.
She would win SISOO for the
state pageant.
The money would come in
handy in her quest to follow in
her uncle’s footsteps and
become a neurosurgeon.
She is being sponsored in the
of 135 persons in city
government making more than
SIO,OOO annually only five
were black.
It also showed that while the
population of Augusta is
50-50, 67 percent of the city
government work force is
white; and the average salary
for white males was $9,203,
$7,235 for black males, $6,730
for black females and $7,803
for white females.
According to the NAACP
official, when the report was
made to the mayor, the
NAACP requested that the
city’s affirmative action
committee be reorganized and
that a city-wide affirmative
action program be organized.
Ms. Seabrook said tire civil
rights group has heard noting
from the mayor.
opportunity to obtain Sectio
8 Housing Assistance fund
that have been reserved for thi
program, and for them t
negotiate the purchase o
rental housing projects owne
by HUD. This demonstration i
limited to bonafid
minority-owned businesse;
Proposals will be invited t
construct or substantial!
rehabilitate housing so
occupancy by lower- incom
persons.
contest by Brooks Clothing,
Mandinka, the
Non-Commissioned Officers
Association, Stroklin Temple
No. 22, Mrs. Lucille Jackson,
and Sgt. Walter Lotharp.
Economist
to speak
lhe Central Savannah
River Area Planning and
Development Commission will
host its 19th annual meeting
on Thursday, August 21 at
7:30 p.m. at the convention
center of the Augusta Hilton in
Augusta, Georgia.
Dr. Andrew Brimmer,
nationally recognized
economist, president of
Brimmer & Co., Inc., and a
member of President Carter’s
commission on executive
exchange, will be guest
speaker.
The public is invited. Tickets
are available at the CSRA
Planning and Development
Commission, 2123 Wrightsboro
Road, Augusta, Georgia.
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