Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review - August 1,19X1-1
The Augusta News-Review
Mallory K Millender Editor Publisher
Paul D. W alkerSpecial Assistant to the Publisher
Barbara Gordon Sales Representative
Rev. R E. Donaldson. Religion Editor
Harvey Harrison Circulation Manager
Mrs. Rhonda Brown Sales Representative
Mrs. Mary Gordon Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson Church Coordinator
Mrs. Fannie Johnson Aiken County Correspondent
Mrs. Clara WestMcDuffie County Corresponsent
David Dupree Sports Editor
Mrs. Been Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor
Roosevelt Green Columnist
Al Irby• Columnist
Mrs. Marian Waring Columnist
Philip W'aringColumnist
Grady Abrams Editorial Cartoonist, Columnist
Roscoe Williams Photographer
Mailing .Address
Box 953 (L’SPS 887 820)- Augusta, Ga.
Phone 1404) 722-4555
Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30903
Published Weekly
/M| AMALGAMATED ZX_
VjlflSQ Pl JBIJSHERS, INC. X
Nilloml Aavertrißi Rt*na«ulln
Enough Is Enough!
Continued From Page 1
from all live commissioners opponents, are s< bad that
for every dollar witheld we have to stay Lome
from HRC, even if their rather than vote for either.
Why Non-Voti
We regret very much
that City Councilman 1. E.
Washington used his
political office to deny the
will of an overwhelming
majority of the people in
the Steed Street area who
expressed their desire for a
rezoning change that would
ha' allowed a young man
whew up in the same
net; trhood to operate a
grocery store, which would
also .11 beer and wine.
Dr. Washing ton
recommended that the
Planning and Zoning
Commissioner, of which he
is a member, deny the
request in spite of the fact
that the stere owner, James
Riles, had signatures of 69
people from the
neighborhood who
supported the rezoning
change. Eight of those
persons appeared at the
meeting including three
that were 68 years of age
or older and desired a store
in the neighborhood within
walking distance.
Only four persons
opposed the rezoning,
including Dr. Washington’s
wife, school board member
Dr. Justine Washington.
Nevertheless, with
Councilman Washington’s
help, the will of the four
carried more weight than
the 69 who wanted the
rezoning change. The
Planning Commssion voted
to recommend that the city
council deny the request.
What was worse was
that Dr. Washington sought
to discount the signatures
by saying that 71 percent
were non-voters and that
and that 65 percent are
renters Dr. Washington’s
actions present a prime
example of why we have so
many non-voters. Non
voters continually ask,
“Why should I vote?
They're going to do what
they want to anyway.” How
do you answer them, Dr.
Washington? It doesn’t
matter that they have 69
Going Places
By Philip Waring
Push For Political Research
It was recently
announced that the
Rockfeller Foundation had
awarded a $500,000 grant
to the Joint Center for
Political Studies in
Washington, D.C. Dr.
Eddie Williams, staff
director, said that the funds
would be used to help the
agency become a' public
policy research institution
focusing on the interests of
Black Americans.
The three-year grant
will help the Joint Center
chart a new course. Since it
was founded in 1970. it has
served the needs of Black
elected officials through a
variety of programs,
Ualnlrtg and
Page 4
ers Don’t Vote
supporters to your four, you
are going to do what you
want, aren't you? You’ve
already answered that.
Because people don’t
vote does not mean that
they don’t have rights.
They have the right to vote
and they have the right not
to vote. To go and vote for
people who are
unresponsive to their needs
is a waste of their time and
a sign of their intelligence.
Even more indefensible
is Dr. Washington’s
comment that most 65
percent of the people
signing the petition are
renters. How can we as
Black people penalize other
Blacks for being poor?
Even Dr. Washington's
explanation that he meant
that renters usually don’t
take care of property, is an
unsatisfactory explanation.
The fact that they
signed the petition is a
refutation to any charge
that they are apathetic.
They will participate in
government if they feel
there is a reason to
participate.
James Riles, one of 12
children, grew up around
the same store that he now’
owns. He provided them
with a reason to be
involved and to cast their
vote.
Riles has another
business and acquired other
pieces of property in the
area and is a legitimate
success story in his
neighborhood. Those so
called non-voters were
VOTING for him.
We hope that
Councilman Washington
will see his error and
correct it. And we hope
that the people he called
non-voters will see the need
to vote against people who
don’t serve their interest
just as they have
demonstrated their
willingness to vote for
people who do.
technical assistance, data
gathering, and voter
participation drives.
NEW PLANNING
APPROACH
.... In the 1980 s, the
center believes it can best
serve the Black political
community by concentrating
on research and public
policy analysis. Immediate
plans include the creation
of research advisory
committess, the
appointment of adjunct
fellows and professors at
colleges and universities
around the nation, the
expansion of research
already in program and the
publlaailM* of annual
DEPARTMENT
OF
HEALTH & HUMAN
SERVICES
.
ML .
I I 1
® l9Bl
3J2-.
BUACK R6SOURCBS INC
Tony Brown’s
Journal
Journalist Says NAACP
Out Os Touch
If a curve is the
longest distance between
two points, that’s what the
national NAACP leaders
threw President Ronald
Regan at their 72d annual
meeting in Denver recently.
The philosophical
difference in social
spending between President
Reagan and the NAACP
heads was generally
understood, as was the
thrust of his speech, prior
to the President’s
appearance. NAACP
chairman Margaret Bush
Wilson and Executive
Director Benjamin Hooks
had met amicably with the
President at the White
House the week before.
But on the day of the
President’s appearance,
Hooks gave the first hint of
a surprising hardball
attitude when he predicted
that Reagan would not get
a standing ovation. Mrs.
Wilson, in the ultimate
condemnation, said that
Reagan was reviving “war,
pestilence, famine and
death” with his budget
cuts. Then Mrs. Wilson
primed the crowd of 5,000
with more uncivil behavior
and something more than a
wrist slap when she
reviews of the federal
budget in light erf minority
concerns.
Dr. Williams said that
motivation is the same as
that which led to the
creation of the Brookings
Institute, the American
Enterprise Institute, and
the Heritage Foundation,
among other think tanks, it
would also provide a forum
for the discussion and
critical analysis of national
policies, with the Joint
Center’s goal as
highlighting the Black
perspective.
FACT FINDING
INFFATTVE
.... Continuing, Dr.
Williams said “Blacks have
lost the initiative in shaping
national debate on issues of
major importance to us,
such as education and
equal employment
opportunities. Williams
said “Unless we can make
clear the effects of public
policies on Blacks and other
minorltlai, we will not be
introduced Reagan with a
disclaimer: "The NAACP
does not necessarily
subscribe to the views
which are about to be
expressed."
Although the President
grinned and waved to the
crowd, his face reddened.
Nancy Reagan stared
straight ahead in
unmistakeable displeasure
as the crowd guffawed.
Media’s projection of this
ordeal of a rejected
president and an insulted
First Lady made, before
Reagan spoke, a loser of
the cause of the minority
poor. And the extent to
which America perceives
the leaders erf the NAACP
as representing all Black
people is the extent to
which the cause of Black
people has been harmed.
Without this raucous
overkill, however, it is a
fact that the majority of
Black America either
disapproves of or is
skeptical of Reagan’s
budget cuts and the lack erf
specific proposals to help
Blacks who willl lose
benefits Because of
cutbacks in federal
programs.
His administration's
able to regain that
initiative. And Blacks must
take a greater role in
formulating creative
alternatives to policies that
harm minorities.”
URBAN LEAGUE
OPPOSES REAGAN
. . . . Vernon Jordan
received several standing
ovations at the recent
National Urban League
conference as he assailed
the Reagan policies. He
called them a “clear and
present danger” to Blacks
and other minorities and
would greatly expand class
and racial segregation in
the nation. Over 12,000
persons, the largest race
relations forum in the
nation, were in attendance.
Vice President Bush took
issue with Jordan and other
speakers who called the
administration
compassionless and a
throw back to the days of
Herbert Hoove*.
attitude towards affirmative
action, his developing
policy towards apartheid in
South Africa and his
reluctance to support an
extension of the 1965
Voting Rights Act are
liabilities with the nation’s
Blacks.
It’s my guess that the
violently rude staging of
the President’s speech was
not precipitated so much
out of a genuine and
absolute concern for those
policy areas, but out of the
strong emotional bond that
the NAACP leaders have
with the philosophy of
integration or social-racial
engineering. Reagan will
only succeed with this
group if he uses the federal
treasury to promote racial
assimilation.
Reagan’s stunned
advisors ahd overlooked
these facts and assumed
that a rational attack on
racism, an explanation of
the heavy price that
inflation extracts from the
poor, a promise erf 3 million
new jobs by 1986 and
aiding Black businesses
would communicate an
acceptable policy towards
Black America. But two
miscalculations were
inherent in the White
House thinking.
The NAACP does not
provide, as anticipated, a
representative cross-section,
but an ideologically
segmented group and the
leadership is far to the left
of the fundamentalism of
the nation’s 30 million
Blacks. The victim of the
A View From
Capitol Hill Member of Congress
Second Trip To Africa
In a sense you might
say I will be returning to
heritage when I visit
seven African countries in
August as a member of a
congressional, fact-finding
delegation. I will get a
chance to see firsthand
some of the areas of
growing concern on the
continent. Stops on the tour
are Angola, South Africa,
Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia,
Zimbabwe, And Nigeria.
This will mark my
second trip to the
continent. I first visited
Africa in 1969.
I have been invited to
participate in the 18-day
mission by the
Subcommittee on Africa of
the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. The overall
objective of the minion is
to provide member* with m
failed strategy was the
pragmatic dialogue with
Black America envisioned
by Reagan’s people.
The NAACP has been
the strongest advocate of
farced busing - the issue
that has estranged it from
the majority of Blacks it
professes to speak for. It
-’has. been cool to the
continued existence of
Black colleges.
The President
recognized the value of the
source of over 50 percent of
all Black college graduates
each year, 80 percent of
Black professionals and the
undergraduate source of
over 75 percent erf Blacks
who received their Ph.Ds
from White universities. He
acknowledges the fact that
Blacks attend Black colleges
because of a rich heritage
and free choice.
By contrast, the
NAACP’s Director of
Research, Policy and Plans,
Michael Meyers, a Negro,
wrote earlier: “No matter
what else is taught or how
it is taught, the fact that a
school is segregated
teaches there is a
qualitative difference
between students in ‘Black’
and ’White’ colleges.”
Therefore, the Denver
clash between the NAACP
national leaders and Ronald
Reagan was not racial, but
philosophical.
Next Week: NAACP
Shuns Denver Blacks.
TONY BROWN’S
JOURNAL, the television
series, is shown every
Sunday, on WRDW-TV,
opportunity to familiarize
themselves with some of
the major issues on Africa
which may come before the
Foreign Affairs Committee
and the Congress.
While in South Africa
the 14-member group is
supposed to meet with
Key Black, white, and
colored (persons of mixed
blood) leaders. The
delegation will be
determining with reforms,
if any, have been made in
South Africa’s
segregationist policies; what
reforms are planned;
assessing the labor
situation, specifically the
extent to which American
companies are adhering to
the Sullivan Code and the
attitude of Black workers
toward the presence of U.S.
investment and companies
111 the IMllinfi
Walking With
Dignity
Lady loins The ‘Brethens*
.... Blacks are silent and
waiting on the appointment
of Judge Sandra Day
O’Connor to the High
Court. Black political
observers see the
appointment of a woman
as being on balance and
because of women's
sensitive subjectivity, will
be welcomed by most
Blacks.
The Far-Right Is
.Against Her
....The National Right to
Life Committee, the Moral
Majority and other groups
opposed to abortion are,
indeed. expressing
displeasure with the
selection of the juris lady
from Arizona. But Mrs.
O'Connor is known to be a
fairly d o w n - h o m e
conservative Republican,
and she possesses the
endorsement of a guy who
has long been known as
"Mr. Conservative,"
Senator Barry Goldwater.
Additionally, another
leading conservative and
the Chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, Strom
Thurmond, says," I intend
to support her unless
something comes up." The
lady judge will likely draw
strong conservative and
liberal support from a
broad spectrum.
Judge Her Entire Phllosphy
....The President has said
that he chose Mrs.
O'Connor on the basis of
her overall record. It would
seem that the public,
including most
conservatives, will judge
her accordingly; perhaps
differing with some of the
things she has done, but
deciding that in total she is
an outstanding choice. The
far-right is quite upset with
Reagan for this
appointment. And some of
its grumpy leaders are
talking about leaving the
To Be Equal
By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
Curbing Crime
I suppose it is an
inevitable consequence of
America’s swing to the
right that simplistic hard
line solution to the
problems of crime are back
in vogue.
The hard-liners think a
get-tough approach is all
that’s needed: restoration
of the death penalty for an
ever-growing list of
crimes, long prison
sentences, and harsh
treatment of offenders.
Life isn't so simple
though, and the hard
liners medicine would just
make the sickeness worse.
From all the talk about
how offenders have to be
sent to prison for longer
terms, the hard-liners
neglect the plain fact that
prisons are jammed today
because offenders are being
sentenced to long terms.
Die prison population
is at an all time high of
320,000, a 63 percent rise
in the past ten years. Just’
in the past year; over
30,000 more people have
been placed in prisons- a
ten percent jump in the
total prison population in
just twelve months.
The result is more
overcrowding, not less
crime. We’re shoehorning
people into institutions
meant to hold just a
fraction of their
populations. Federal and
state prisons are about
100,000 people above their
capacity.
A recent Supreme
Court ruling allowing prison
administrators to put two
people into cells meant for
one could worsen even this
serious situation. The
Court’s ruling dealt with a
situation in which 63-sqare
foot cells were involved.
Two people in a cell would
mean each would have little
more than 30 square feet of
space.
But even that is luxury
compared to the many
prisons that herd inmates
into tiny cells, into
dormitories, or even, as in
one Texas prison, into
tents.
Hw tew atwftf h»ve
Reagan camp, takin a walk,
but, like Blacks with the
Democratic Party, they
have no place to go.
Liberals And Blacks
Are Pleased
....At the same time many
liberals leaders are
expressing their pleasure
over the good-lady judge's
appointment, seeing in her
record in the Arizona
legislature and on the
Arizona Court of Appeals
enough evidence that she is
an independent thinker and
a very able and fair person.
Some Blacks are heartened
by reports that Mrs.
O'Connor is opposed to
state aid for private schools
and that she has been
quoted as saying it is
"Clearly unconstitutional."
They conjecture that this is
a person who. as a member
of the Supreme Court,
might find Reagan
sponsored legislation to
provide tax credits for
parents with children in<,
private schools as similarly
unconstitutional.
In sum, the consensus
from President watchers is
that Mr. Reagan has picked
up political ground where
he badly needed it. Many
women, white and Black,
did not like Mr. Reagan’s
opposition to ERA and
abortion. And more
recently, the President has
been heavily criticized even
by Republican women for
not giving them more jobs
in Washington. And finally,
the political pundits are
underscoring the public
acclaim now coming to the
President for fulfilling a
campaign promise. He had
said that he would choose a
woman on the High Court,
in so doing, he
strengthened the public
perception that this is,
indeed, a President who is
keeping his campaign
promises.
consistently ruled that
inhumane conditions
including overcrowding are
unconstitutional. The
Supreme Court’s new ruling
applies only the case under
consideration, so we cannot
leap to the conclusion that
it will endorse primitive
penal conditions.
But in failing to uphold
the principle involved, the
Court may have opened the
door to widespread abuses.
Confronted with pulbic
pressures for more and
longer prison sentences and
the public’s reluctance to
pay for more prisons,
administrators will just
keep cramming more
people into less space.
That is bound to lead
to trouble. Rioting in three
Michigan prisons last May,
and in other places over the
past few years is just the
pointer to the most obvious
possiblity.
Longer terms, prison
overcrowding and
warehousing of people
leads to the reinforcement
of alienation and anger that
trigger crime. The stress,
violence, and arbitrariness
of our prisons brutalize
people.
Oddly enough, Chief
Justice Warren Burger, a
favorite of many hard
line,rs, has pointed out
that, “when a society
places a person behind
walls and bars it has a
moral obligation to take
reasonable steps to try to
work with that person and
render him or her better
equpped to return to a
useful life as a member of
society.”
He urged mandatory
literacy training, expansion
of vocational training, and
equipping inmates with the
skills to get and hold a job
when they are released.
He might have added
the need to remove bars to
ertiployment that prevent
many ex-offenders from
finding work. Since most of
the people sentenced to
prison are young, even a
short term now amounts to
aide sentence of cioeed