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The Augusta News-Review - September 6, 1980
JKuguda
(USPS 887 820)
Mallory K. Millender Editor-Publisher
Paul D. Walker Special Assistant to the Publisher
Frank Bowman Director of Special Projects
Ms. Fannie FlonoNews-Editor
Rev. R.E. Donaldson ... .Religion Editor
Ms. Marye M. James Advertising 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
Grady Abrams Columnist
Roscoe Williams Photographer
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“You can write some things in the sky,
and some people still will not see it.” This
quotation, made by Mayor “Pop”
Newman about the Sand Hill
Neighborhood Association, is the best
legacy he could leave the black
community; and it will do well if blacks
will remember it when he or those like
him run for office again.
The Mayor’s comment reminds me of
the mayoral election of ’72, when I
offered my candidacy, and when 1 tried
to write some things in the sky for black
people in Augusta about him. But who
saw it? Who listened? For two and one
half years I had served on Council with
Newman, and knew him not to be
sensitive to the needs of blacks. This was
one reason why I ran against him.
But would you believe that during that
’72 campaign I was not able to get one
black organization, not one black
politician, not one black minister to stand
up for me? All odds were against me. In
fact, my campaign manager ran off with
the funds I had raised; James Brown, soul
brother number one, for whom I had
worked, used his radio station to publicly
endorse Newman against my candidacy;
Rev. Arthur D. Sims, during his Sunday
morning worship service, broadcast on
Brown’s radio station, said my morals
were too low to become Mayor of
Augusta; out of the four blacks who sat
on Council at the time, none endorsed
me. It seemed that all blacks had turned
Youngsters need elders’ help
in battling today’s problems
By Euia M. Garnett Kirk
The young people of today are our
future, the old is our past, by the year
2000, will our future come to pass? These
are the questions we need to ask
ourselves, concerning our teenagers, for
with the drugs and sex in our schools
today. We, as parents, need to question
what needs to be done to control teenage
pregnancy, drug addiction and where the
underlying problem lies.
I’ve been a substitute teacher for the
past five years, and I’ve taught mainly on
the high school level, and have been
exposed to some of these problems.
There was a situation where a student was
asked to take her seat, and she replied,
“I’m grown, and you don’t tell me what
to do! I have two kids (17-yr.-old talking)
and a husband. I make house notes just
like you.”
How would you handle this problem?
Would you talk to the student as a
student? What disciplinary action would
you take?
Another situation was when a student
was asked why she was late for class. The
student replied, “why? I don’t think
that’s none of your damn business” and
she mumbled under her breath, “stupid
bitch”. So I took her to the office to be
disciplined, and to my surprise it was her
word against mine.
Again, would you have overlooked her
statement? Who do you fault? The lack
of discipline taken against a student is
one of me main problems in our schools
today. “Students’ rights,” so they say,
but what gives the student the right to be
disrepectfui to the teacher or anyone who
is their elder? Were W stffl Innocenf
students who want to learn, and are free
from drug* and sex, but by being exposed
Think about it
Nine years of
what we deserve
By Grady Abrams
against me, with the exception of 411
faithful voters who voted for me, against
the 4128 cast for Lewis “Pop” Newman -
the same man who occupies the mayor’s
seat today.
I had known all along that I was not
very popular with city officials and
pro-establishment people. But what I did
not know was that blacks would desert
me in times of trouble. They did. They
did it when I went to jail in ’7l on armed
robbery and aggravated assault charges,
although I was completely exonerated by
a jury; they did it during the three years
following the trial when 1 couldn’t find
employment in any area of work in this
city. But to this day, I have never
deserted them, and never will, even
though the wounds and pains were deep
and some of the scars are still present.
God delivered me. He was my refuge in
times of trouble.
And I hate to say it, but, in away,
blacks have gotten what they deserve
from Newman’s Administration. He
wrote it in the sky in ’72, and they still
didn’t see it. So, at this date the only
good thing blacks can say about
Newman’s nine years in office, as mayor,
is that he doesn’t have but one year to go.
And I advise the residents of Sand Hill
not to use up all their energies fighting a
lame duck. Just make sure another “Pop”
Newman doesn’t replace him come ’Bl.
You have the power to see to it. Think
about it.
to these surroundings they, too, might
fall in with the crowd.
I must add that the quality of teachers
seems to be decreasing over the years, as
well as discipline. There are still the
faithful few, who are not in it just for the
money. Giving a child a grade is not
teaching, especially when he hasn’t
earned it. The reading ability of a twelfth
grade class, is that supposed to be on the
first grade level? Is this to be our
tomorrow?
Some students have the feeling that the
world owes them a living, and someday
they will be the recipient of “something
for nothing,” they have somewhat of a
hazy, unchallengable, unnamed goal or
purpose in life. They fail to go the extra
mile, or believe whatever they can
conceive, they will achieve. Honesty, and
a purpose in life, is something
meaningless to many students, they come
to school only because society requires
them to.
I believe that if a student learns to
control his emotions instead of jumping
to conclusions, and offers some gratitude
for the good things that comes his way,
he can then define his goals in life, with
the help of his teacher, and his parents.
If we sit around and wait for
opportunities to educate our children,
and stand by our dreams and desires for a
better education, when our hopes die,
don’t expect a good education to attend
the funeral or stand by our side. We need
to help rid our children of the other
person, for their finest self can help them
conquer a goal in life. Teach them to
work for what they want, refuse to give
them a hand-out, stop blaming everyone
else but yourself, for there to no such
thing aa failure until you have accepted it
as such.
Page 4
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THE FACE OF NOVEMBER
As a consumate and unabashed
Augustaphile, I’ve been pleased with
recent plans to identify and highlight
Augusta Black History. Although with
the large black universities like an Atlanta
or Washington, or big business firms
found in Chicago and New York, our
hometown has a past history which is rich
and unique. We should be proud of it. It
will show how “Black Helped Build
Augusta”.
Historic Augusta, Inc. has secured
government and other funding to
significant advance this work along
several fronts. Earlier this summer it
brought in Richard Dozier, famed
Tuskegee architect. His very meaningful
work helped identify and highlight black
historic physical structures - churches,
schools, homes, buildings, cemetary sites,
etc. His work may now position them for
placement onto the National Historic
Register.
Now comes announcement from
Historic Augusta, Inc. of the appointment
of Carl L. McCoy to give full time
professional leadership on a one-year
project to collect and catalogue various
facets of black history here. Hopefully,
states Ms. Lee Ann Swann, this may
result in publication of a book. Let’s all
give Mr. McCoy and his associates full
cooperation and help in this important
task. May we all share our papers, open
trunks and go into our attics for old
church, school and civic programs, etc.
Remember “you can’t take them with
you”. Information from these materials,
however, may result in important
information which would be of great
benefit to our race and city.
OUR HEARTLAND
It is noted that the Laney-Walker
neighborhood (Wrightsboro to Walton
Way and railroad tracks east to the city
limits) will be examined and nominated
for the National Register of Historic
Places. This is very good because lots of
positive happenings and institutions are
to be remembered currently in the past
and present. Laney-Walker (old Gwinnett
Street) is Black Augusta’s “Heartland”.
Today we see the beautiful Ervin Towers,
Friendship Baptist Church, Laney High
Realestate Vs. Dow Jones
When we compare the results over the
past 20 years between stock market
profits and real estate increases, we’ll see
quite a dramatic difference in dollars.
In the decade from January 1960 to
January 1970, the Dow Jones Industrial
average jumped from 688 to 800 - an
increase of 16 percent in ten years.
During the same ten-year period, the
median home price increased from
$18,307 to $27,022 - an appreciation of
48 percent or triple the Dow.
By January 1980 the Dow Jones
Going Places
Black history
forward movement
.By Philip Waring
School (and grave site of Dr. Laney), the
A.R. Johnson School, Strother Home for
the Aged, Wallace Branch Library,
Tabernacle Baptist Church, the CSRA
Business League, Luvenia’s Beauty
School, home office of Pilgrim Health
and Life Insurance Company, the
beautiful Wallace office building, St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church, the Georgia
Railroad Bank branch office, R.A. Dent
and B.L. Dent retail stores, the
Immaculate Conception School and
Community Service Center, the Masonic
Temple and many more business firms
going eastward.
This sector also contains many
churches such as: Trinity CME, Bethel
AME, Macedonia Baptist, Harmony
Baptist, Mt. Calvary Baptist, St. Marks
United Methodist Church, Crawford
Baptist, Antioch Baptist, Gethsemane
Baptist and others. This has the largest
number of churches and membership of
any other single Augusta black
neighborhood.
BEAUTIFY THIS BOULEVARD
Yes, this is one of the most vital
thoroughfares in our community coupled
with great business, educational and
cultural links. It has a great future. The
Laney-Walker Museum is making plans.
The new M.M. Scott housing will open
soon on lower Laney-Walker Blvd.
Tabernacle Baptist Church has already
spent over $600,000 in physical
improvements. And we heard that Pilgrim
was discussing some kind of beauty
treatment. What we really need, however,
on our great boulevard is trees, flowers
and shrubbery. Many private homes have
been upgraded and improved, others need
repair or to come down.
As an example, there is an old
abandoned barber shop building on
Twelfth Street across from St. Mary’s.
Just this year this church has spent over
$3,000 in improvements. And since
returning from Philadelphia for
retirement Joseph Gaudy has spent
several thousands in upgrading of his
family home nearby. That old vacant
building must be repaired or demolished.
The beautification and restoration of the
Laney-Walker neighborhood must
proceed. More on this later.
average still sat at the 838 level for a
20-year appreciation of 22% while home
prices continued to increase faster than
the cost of living to $56,300 - up 300%
since 1960. Today, the Dow Jones is far
below its peak (it reached 1,000 in Spring
of 1977) while home prices keep rising
faster than the cost of living.
No matter how you slice the cake, an
investment in real estate over the past 20
yean has proven to far outstrip any stock
market increase. And the trend to
widening in favor of real estate.
Walking with dignity
I OH
The Republican standard-beard! has
now embraced the evangelical
right-wingers. He gave a rousing address
to their group in Dallas, Texas last week.
They endorsed him and tied their
dogmatic theology to the political
hardcore of Reagan’s stone-rock
philosophy. The notorious Ku Klux Klan
has already latched on to the Reagan's
obduracy.
SO-CALLED MORAL MAJORITY
The pastor of the semi-electronic
Thomas Road Baptist Church of
Lynchburg, Virginia has become the
“high Preist” of this Evangelical Crusade
to put Reagan in the White House come
next November. Jerry FalweU, the pastor
in question, has declared war upon
everything moderate and liberal, both
secular and religious. Falwell and his
“Holier-Than-Thou” bunch maybe in
danger of losing their tax-exempt status
but that's not worrying him. That was
Falwell and thousands of his
conservatives that cheered Reagan so
vociferously.
BLACKS HAD BETTER BEWARE
Blacks that have been talking tough
about not voting for Jimmy Carter had
better think it over, because an ominous
force is forming on the far-right Now,
without being aware of it many black
Christians are interpreting the scriptures
just like these right-winged evangelicals.
Jesus's method was not to argue or
contend, but to hold up before his
hearers the ideal of goodness and
character in all its beauty and power. He
made goodness so vivid before the eyes
that men wanted to become good. He
made God so real before the conscience
that men hated their old manner of life.
The Master’s mode of teaching was
picturesque, not literal. “Without a
parable spake he not unto them,” says
Mark. Yet how many black Christians
refuse to recognize this, and instead of
seeking the thought behind the vivid,,
picturesque expression, have insisted on
an exact obedience to the letter of the
command. When black people elect to
follow this premise of understanding the
Bible; they fall right in the theological
trap that the evangelicals use to justify
anything they desire, even the KKK and
segregation. They also contend that
Ku Klux Klan activities grew
during civil rights movement
By Howard J. Jones
As the Civil Rights movement grew
during the 50s, so did the almost frantic
activities of tire Kleagles (organizers of
KKK groups). The activities of these
Klansmen sometime made the six o’clock
news. Because of the type of climate of
opinion the Klan helped to create, if they
did not do the dirty work, other members
of the wlute community felt compelled
to give them assistance.
Therefore, a Medgar Evers could be
gunned down in Mississippi; a James
Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael
Schwerner could be viciously murdered in
Philadelphia, Mississippi; four innocent
children might be slaughtered in the 1963
bombing of the 16th Street Baptist
Church in Birmingham; and a Violla
Liuozza might be gunned down on an
Alabama Highway.
But others of the Klan’s doings did not
make the news, and quite often these
were vicious and openly coward activities.
One such incident took place in
September, 1957 near Birmingham, when
the Klan was testing one of its members
to see if he was worthy to be raised to a
captaincy. The victim was a black man,
Judge Aaron.
His only crime was he was black. Six
Klansmen snatched him off the streets
(keeping alive a tradition of not taking on
Parents deserve praise for
keeping school open
Dear Editor:
I would like to offer my
congratulations to the Hyde Park
community on the recent ‘people’s
victory’ in the case of the Clara Jenkins
Elementary School. The people,
determined to struggle for their rights,
had the courage and foresight to standup
to the Richmond County Board of
Education and say no to the doting of
Jenkins, a much needed center of learning
News deadline is
on Wednesdays
Please, no exceptions
Evangelists back
republican ideas
By Al Irby.
blacks were created as inferiors.
CRITICISM RUNS DEEP
The statute of Falwell criticism
includes the National Council of
Churches, the famed California clergyman
Dr. Robert Schuller of the “Hour of
Power” religious TV program, and Dr.
Everett C. Parker of the United Church of
Christ. Dr. Schuller says he is very much
opposed to using a religious power base
for political purposes.
Others see the dangers in Falwell
mixing politics and religion. It’s always
dangerous when partisan religion
attempts to dabble in secular government.
FalweU and his ultra-fundamentalism
preaches some good sense; for instance,
he contends that the United States has
ceased to be good.
The turning point was 1973. That was
the year tire U.S. Supreme Court legalized
no-therapeutic abortions.
Dr. FalweU rages about modern-day
sins and immorality, but Bibical times
had its low-life also. My only concern is
that black people wUI be informed about
this matter, so they shaU know what is
happening in politics and religions.
Incidents like these we hope will
enlighten blacks how to be better
informed Christians, and learn the true
tenets of which the Master taught when
he was here on earth.
STUDY OURSELVES
If we are determined to emulate our
Master, let us strive and pray to
understand his teachings. Jesus used vivid
phrases to startle men and pictures to
make them see. Men have too often lost
the true meaning of his teaching by
turning it into dull prose. They declare
we must be loyal to the word of Jesus
and so take it letter by letter. But where
is the Christian who hates his father and
mother (Luke 14-26); who cuts off his
right hand, or plucks out his right eye?
(Matt. 5,29,30). And what shall we do
when he tells us at one time to let our
light shine, and a little later that we are
not' to let the right hand know what the
left hand does? Or again when he says
“Peace I leave with you", and then, “1
came not to bring peace, but a sword”.
We must study his word in the spirit, no
other way.
black people on a one-to-one basis) and
into the car of Klansmen captaincy
candidate Bart Floyd.
Aaron was taken to “the slaughter
pen.” Here, according to James Graham
Cook, in sort of a homosexual act, Aaron
“was forced to get out of his clothes and
kneel before the six Klansmen. After
beating him and kicking him for a
time-and asking him more
“race-problem” questions which the
uneducated Negro did not
underttand-the Klansmen knocked him
unconscious.
Thereupon Exalted Cyclops Joe
Pritchett turned to Captain-candidate
Bart Floyd and commanded:
“ ‘Do your duty’.”
“And then Bart Floyd did a most
extraordinary thing.
"With one of the razor blades he
castrated the Negro.”
To make Aaron suffer tlie more-so,
turpentine was then poured over his
wound. Such acts are very reminiscient of
the horse-whipping the given slave and
then rubbing salt into the welts which
would sometime swell to more than an
inch.
That was then, and this is now.
and hope for the community.
I pray that this community’s leadership
will inspire others in our area to face
head-on the system and its stooges. The
people of the Hyde Park community
demonstrated what can and what will
happen when communities pull together.
Work for the race!!
Randy Gunter
627 Aiken Street
Augusta, Georgia 30901