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T 1,11 ' »*—— The Augusta News-Review Mallory K. Millender... Editor-Publisher Paul D. Walker Special 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 t ,. Church Coordinator Mrs. Fannie Johnson Correspondent 'Mrs. Clara West... McDuffie County Corresponsent David Dupree,¥orts Editor Mrs. Been Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor Roosevelt Green Columnist Al Irby Columnist Mrs. Marian Waring Columnist Philip Waring Columnist Grady Abrams Editorial Cartoonist. Columnist Roscoe Williams Photographer Mailing Address Box 953 (USPS 887 820)- Augusta, Gn. Phone (404) 722-4555 Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30903 Published Weekly jnBlV AMALGAMATED InJ PUBLISHERS, INC. NadMal ASwrtkbu Affirmative Action By Gerald Home Reagan Has Foreign Policy With South Africa Many ctitics erf the Reagan Administration have alleged that "it has no foreign policy. But as far as apartheid South Africa goes, it seems that Reagan’s policy is all too clear. Consider the following: Item: On March 13th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick met with five leading South African military officials in open contravention of stated U.S. policy. Observers recall that when a similar meetmg took place between Andrew Young and a PLO official, tie Carter Administration official «»'M(as sacked immediately. Item: When the issue of comprehensive sanctions against Pretoria arose recently in the U.N., Ambassador Kirkpatrick exercised the U.S. "veto.” Item: On May 14 Secretary of State Alexander Haig engaged in intensive talks in Washington with South Africa’s Foreign Minister Roelof (Bik) Botha. Haig called for a “new beginning of mutual trust 'and confidence between the U.S. and South Africa, old friends who are getting together again... South Africa can rely on (the U. 5.)...” Earlier, President Reagan had praised South Africa as an “ally” that had stood by the U.S. in past wars, despite the fact that the present leadership there had been interned during World War II because of explicit Nazi sympathies. Item: The State Department has approved the visit of the South African rugby team, the Springboks, for a series of games in Chicago, Albany and New York in September. African nations, led by Nigeria, have raised the specter of a boycott of the 1984 Olympics scheduled for Los Angeles. Item: The Organization of African Unity (OAU) at its most recent meeting in Nairobi- condemned the Reagan Administration for stalling on a settlement in Namibia (Southwest Africa) and collaborating with South Africa against the authentic representative erf the Namibian people— SWAPO (Southwest Africa Peoples Organization). Item: The Reagan Administration has come out strongly for repeal erf the “Clark Amendment” in an effort to destabilize the government erf Angola. a prime supporter of SWAPO . Item: The Washington based Black lobbying group Trans Africa released a series of internal State Department memos that document in detail the U.S. - South Africa attempt to prevent SWAPO coming to power and maintaining Pretoria's illegal occupation erf Namibia. Page 4 maneuverings are merely ~ the tip erf the iceberg. The U.S. transnational corporations-General Motors, Ford, Firestone, etc... while shutting down plants in the U.S. have been moving operations in droves to South Africa to take advantage erf the cheap Black labor there. U.S. corpcrate investment in the land of apartheid has been growing at an astonishing 25 percent per year, the most rapid rate of any U.S. foreign investment. Hundreds of U.S. monopolies have found a home in South Africa and right now the U.S. continues to be Pretoria’s largest trading partner, exporting the tune of $2.5 billion and importing $3.3 billion. . The OAU countries, Nigeria in particular, have expressed a growing concern about the direction of Reagan policy toward South Africa. In a recent New York Times interview, Dr. Chuka Okadigbu, senior political advisor to President Shenu Shagair, said Nigeria had not excluded its "oil weapon” against the U.S. Nigeria’s trade alone dwarfs the amount of commerce done with South Africa and the U.S. investment in the oil industry of Gabon, Cameroon and other West African nations is rising daily, along with dependence on this source. Nigeria supplies about 13.5 percent of U.S. oil imports and ranks second to Saudi Arabia among foreign oil sources. The importance of Nigerian oil to the U.S. economy is magnified by the fact h that their crude is “sweet oil,” which, unlike oil from the Persian uGulf, is largely light, low in sulfur and ideally suited for refining into gasoline. In short, the volume erf U.S. trade with Nigeria is twice as big as U.S. trade with South Africa. Last year the U.S. exported goods worth $1.49 billion to Nigeria but imported goods valued at $10.95 billion mostly oil--leaving a staggering $9 billion deficit. Nigeria’s threat to use the ‘oil weapon' should not be considered idle and rhetorical. The British Petroleum Company was banned from operating in Nigeria and had its Nigerian assets nationalized in 1979 on the ground that it had been selling oil to South Africa. Dr. Okadigbu, barely concealing his anger, described Reagan Administration policy as “retrogressive” and expressed particular disquiet about the proposed tour of the South African rugby team. A ban on U.S. athletes at international sporting events would be "a step in the right direction,” he declared J A Y I ] / / ' ' ! | Ldj I AM ARE. MY • |V£ TAKE FROM THE Pooß Tb THE RfcH. Going Places By Philip Waring Mayor Young Saves Detroit I have a warm spot for American cities. Although they are headquarters for our banking, finance, government, health care, education, entertainment and culture, they have experienced over the past 25 years large outflights of business, industry, retail trade and whites, etc. This has left many problems for hard working mayors and municipal staffers in keeping head above water. Let’s look at Detroit, our fifth largest city, which was destined for bankruptcy, so they predicted, "Heck no,” said its gutsy mayor, Coleman Young. This column will highlight how his leadership, one short year helped rescue the "Motor City.” What were its major problems? There were many: (1) Its auto industry misqued in not designing smaller and more efficient cars, being overtaken by foreign imports, (2) millions in tax dollars were lost to Detroit and (3) many industries moved either overseas or to the Sun Belt. Detroit was faced with a $l9O million deficit. What did Coleman Young, former World War II air force hero and state senator, do at this juncture? (1) In a super effort, honed by his own years in the Michigan legislature, he persuaded that body to enact a new law which would allow Detroit to expand its city income tax, (2) Mayor Young then sold the city electorate in approving a raise in their individual city income taxes, (3) The next * feat was almost an impossibility. The municipal workers and their unions, despite great reluctance, voted to freeze their own salaries. Who has ever heard of municipal workers and their union agreeing on this? And (5) he was successful in getting ten cf Detroit's largest banks to loan and help underwrite There has been growing concern and action in this country about the content of Reagan's. policy. The Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade UnionistsOhas initiated a South African Support Project to support progressive faces there politically and materially. They have rallied around the case of 71-year dd Oscar Mpetha, who has been detained since last August at Capetown Prison long-range financing. Thus, it should be noted that Coleman Young achieved the impassible through guts, leadership and ability to generate reason and cooperation among individuals and A new chapter in the annals of political and municipal case history has been written. His job was much tougher than New York’s or Cleveland’s which faced similar problems. And it is good to note that Mayor Young was the recipient of the Spingarm Medal for 1981. Last year this column pushed for Maynard Jackson, to no avail. Another Look At The HRC Audit While this is public knowledge and well may be "old hat,” I still would like to comment: Last month I was invited as a press representative to attend a Human Relations Commission board meeting. Here were some of the highlights: (1) The HRC said that their ongoing fiscal records had been regularly submitted to the city-county government for inspection, (2) Their special EEOC account had been properly audited by an outside firm and was later submitted to city-county government for inspection, (3) Their fiscal records and files had been open, ready and made available to the county auditor. Several board members said that they had inspected this. (4) One board member who, was an accountant said that he had inspected the full package, found the accounts in good order and "Clean as a hound’s tooth.” Members pointed out that the public must be aware that even after an audit there could be critism as to methods or philosophy used. This is a difference often found between and among auditors, accountants and even CPA's all over the land. regime calls the "Terrorism Act.” He and other labor leaders were arrested after strikes in the industrialized Capetown area threatened to shut down several plants. Mpetha is also the former leader of the Capetown branch of the African National Congress (ANC) -the spearhead of the liberation tnovement and is suffering acute harassment because of this. Transafrica is Walking With Dignity By Al Irby U.S. Reaction Gives Joy To South Africa This column pointed out last week that South Africa was on a war rampage against Namibia's freedom fighters. That action was naturally a prelude to the raid on Angola. The South Africans contend that their operations are routine and needed to counter a larger buildup of forces by the South West Africa’s People’s Organization (SWAPO). That mushy jive may be true, but the obvious point is that the only way to stop the fighting across the Angolan borader is to bring about an internationally acceptable political soluti on in Namibia. The SWAPO insurgents are fighting for the independence of their country and are not going to give up until that goal is achieved-anymore than did the freedom fighters in the Zimbabwe struggle. However high its losses, SWAPO has manged to keep replenishing its forces, and will go on doing so. Cuban Troops Maybe The Ace In The Hole The South African action is regrettable in another respect. Besides perhaps driving Black African leaders to turn toward, the Communist bloc and also making the Cuban troops more relative to the issue, Angola most certainly will not ask the Cubans to leave under the present condition. And a settlement of the Namibia problem willnot be reached without Angola’s cooperation. In fact one of the most , hopeful developments under the Carter Administration was Angola's acceptance of the idea of a demilitarized zone along its frontier. But the heightened fighting now would rule out Angolan agreement to such a plan. The question the world asks, (with the exception of Reagan administration,) is whether the government of Pieter Botha and his apartheid gang is really prepared to give Namibia its independence as called Sundays,” which began June 14. On these Sundays, churches will post detailed signs describing the ravages of apartheid and attempt to educate their membership about South Africa and how events there affect us here. Across the country there are numerous committees and persons of goodwill campaigning against apartheid, the vicious system of for by ail freedom-loving people Worldwide. For years, the South African “Bully Boys” have stalled on the proposal for "free and fair elections," supposedly worked out by the five major Western powers. Then President Reagan and his aides hunched a new initiative on Namibia, and it looked for awhile as if the plan, - despite misgivings in the West, had a sympathetic ear in Pretoria. But that initiative, too, has disappeared, or was it just a fake-belief in the first place? The raid on Angola was blue-printed with the rash of visiting South African officials to Washington and New York Haig and the other top Reagan people gave the Pretorian gang the green light for a massive invasion on Angola. The Veto by The United States Last Week Enhanced Russia .... The veto in the United Nations upholding South Africa's incursion into Angola, made the Soviet, Union the champion of Africa and the entire Third World. Leading West European governments have begun acting., in concert to secure the rapid withdrawal of South African forces from Angola and relaunch diplomatic moves to speed the independence process in Namibia. After initial hesitation while they tried to determine the scale an and nature of South Africa’s brutal military drive into Angola. Britain, West Germany, and France strongly condemned it as a threat to the stability of southern Africa. Proud of Angolan Raid The first thing most whites in Cape Town and other urban sections in South Africa gained from television, radio, and their newspaper; reports is the comfroting reassurance that their Army and Air Force can overwhelm any other force anywhere near the country’s border. illegally in South Africa. This is nothing new. During the Cdd War Paul Robeson and W.E. B. Dußob faced severe government persecution because the aganization they led, the Council on African Affairs, which was a relentless critic of the cozy relationship between Washington and Pretoria. Even before this, at the turn of the century, Afro-Americans responded in masse to the call of John Dube, a Black South i.vnlv.d tn Speaking Out By Roosevelt Green Replace Protest With Planning We, as you well know, are living in critical economic times. And conditions will worsen before they get better. What can those of us who care do about the poor and oppressed humans in America and the world? One could begin by recognizing that the rich and super-rich are taking America down easy street which is paved with simple answers to complex social problems. Bankers, big oil, utility companies and big business in general are serenading the president to the tune of profit, tax cuts, and the social programs blues. It is an insensitive fox trot to a disco sound of the aged, the poor and Blacks. Rather than bed-time for a monkey named Bonzo, it is bedtime for democracy, human rights and human compassion. The "milk of human kindness" is being exchnaged for the bananas of profits and pretense. A second step requires preparation for economic difficulties and social unrest. Each of use may have to learn to become more individually and collectiviely self-reliant. We will always need a strong federal helping hand that we should not permit becoming a crutch. As for the social unrest that is sure to come when hunger pains and joblessness trickle down to Subscribe To The Augusta Naus-Hteuteuj campaigning in this country against his government’s racist policies. Yet, anti-apartheid organizers have long felt the need to come together under one roof, confer and plot a co-ordinated, national campaign against U.S. South Africa coUaboration a need urgently felt in light of the dangerous turn of Reagan Administration foreign policy. Cnsss eq neatly, Coretta Scott King, Ossie Davis, A* rnalMm rtl Rlarlr Ttade the economically disadvantaged, the scenario now appearing in England will show up cm the American stage. The only difference will be the assortment of characters in a different cast on a similar stage. More policemen with military hardware and ...the building erf more prisons is the simple answer of the misguided human misles we call the rich and super rich. Violence is certainly not the answer for the oppressor or the oppressed. But it seems always to be their response to unfavorable conditions. Becoming informed consumers who are aware of potical and economic forces shaping our times is another alternative. It is useful to recognize that the drama currently unfolding on the stage of America will not last always. The ball will bounce back in another direction once the current crop of mis leaders have reaped their due harvest of economic failures. While we wait for the "great bedtime” to produce the coming "Awakening” it would help if Black leaders, concerned members of all political parties, and the “enlightened minority” would substitute protest for planning, rhetoric for realism, and tearful operas for organzing. Harambee!!!! Unfasfets, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, leese Jackson's Operation PUSH, Randall Robinson of Tren* Africa. a host of religious and trade union organizations and numerous prominent personalities have issued a call for a massive “Conference In Solidarity with the Liberation Struggles of the Peoples of South. Africa” to take place October 9-11, 1981 at New York Chy’s Riverside Church.