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The Augusta News-Review January 9,1981
The Augusta News-Review
Mallory K. MillenderEditor Publisher
Paul D. Walker Special Assistant to the Publisher
Barbara Gordon Advertising Dir./Gen. Manager
Elizabeth Nelson Administrative Assistant
-Harvey Harrison. Circulation Manager
Rev. R.E. Donaldson .Religion Editor
Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson ‘ Church Coordinator
Charles 8ea1e.’.... Jenkins County Correspondent
Mrs. Fannie Johnson Aiken County Correspondent
Mrs. Clara WestMcDuffie County Correspondent
Mrs. Ileen Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor
Roosevelt Green Columnist
A] IrbyColumnist
Barbara MotonColumnist
Mrs. Marian Watirix Columnist
Philip Waring Columnist
Carl McCoy. Editorial Cartoonist
David Duoree. .7Sports Editor
Robert Caidwell Sports Reporter
Danny Bentley Photograpner
Olando Hamlett Photographer
Melvin Heath Photographer
Roscoe Williams Photographer
Mailing Address
Box 953 (USPS 887 82O)-Augusta, Ga.
Phone(4o4) 722-4555
Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30903
Published Weekly
AMALGAMATED
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Tony Brown’s Journal
Desegrated ignorance
—a waste
by Tony Brown
“She must be white,” my
friend said about The
Washington Post writer, Leslie
Berger.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I
replied.
At one time, you could
distinguish a white racist idea as
belonging to a white racist. No
longer.
Although the equality of races
was never achieved, the
desegration of ignorance has cer
tainly become a reality.
A black Communist-front
organization-sponsored teacher,
tucked away safely from the
economic horrors of black reality
at an Ivy League university, rants
incessantly in his “Disinfor
mation” columns about the fight
to save black colleges as a return
to separate, but equal.
A black writer for a weekly
newspaper in South Carolina
laughed himself
the
movement to save
black colleges.
“Save them? Save
them from
what?” he wan
ted to know. The
threat of losing
them, he added,
was more of a figment of Tony
Brown’s imagination than
reality.
Os course, there is the now
infamous statement made by a
leading Negro integrationist
Kenneth Clark: “Black colleges
perpetuate inferior academic
Affirmative Action
Boycott and the lesson of Sambo’s
by Gerald Horne
“Little Black Sambo” is one of
the more enduring racist insults
and stereotypes. It recalls the not
too distant history when this
character and others designed to
foster deprecation of Afro-
Americans and self-hatred the
origins of this initially literary
character in the bloody history of
colonialism is well documented.
Thus when a nationwide chain
of fast-food restaurants opened
up some years back with the in
delicate name of “Sambo’s,”
blacks and their allies were un
derstandably enraged.
Thus owners tried to palm off
this atrocious insult by alleging
ingeneously that the name had
nothing to do with the “Little
Black Sambo” of historical in
famy but was merely an artful
combination of their names.
Skepticism and disbelief
greeted this assertion and anger
was not assuaged when it was
found that the decor of
restaurants was straight from the
pages of the original racist tale.
Like most fast-food restauran
ts, “Sambo’s” had to have a hefty
profit margin in the black com;
If th* MHrtWt IIHf WM trt
Page 4
standards for black students and
award Jim Crow degrees that do
not meet the standards of the
average traditionally white
colleges.”
What all of the aforemen
tioned have in common is a lack
of knowledge of the facts and ,
perhaps, some prejudice towards
the issue. Successfully, in their
minds they have confused sur
vival with oppression.
They were joined recently by
another colleague in misinfor
mation: Leslie Berger. Under the
guise of a “TV Preview,” this
Washington Post writer delivered
a political diatribe on separate,
but equal.
The object of the attack was a
very fine film, produced by
Dewart, Inc. for WDVM-TV, the
local Washington, D.C. CBS af
filiate. Called “A Mind 15...,”
Carol Randolph skillfully escor
ted the ideas of excellence and
pride on Atlanta’s black college
campuses.
One of the media’s most com
mitted and consistent black jour
nalists, Randolph, was at her
best, interviewing educators and
students on black college cam
puses. As any normal person,
who knows what outstanding
scholarship is taking place there,
would expect, the students ap
preciated their colleges.
One Morehouse (Martin
Luther King’s alma mater)
student turned down the oppor-
Continued on page 5
be respectable. “McDonald’s,”
“Kentucky Fried Chicken,”
“Burger King,” etc. were clear
evidence of this.
The wall Street firm, City In
vesting Company, which con
trolled 34 percent of “Sambo’s”
stock, must have known this
their market research could not
have been that bad-and, thus, it
must have been assumed that
blacks were so dumb or filled
with self-hatred that they would
patronize a joint where spit was
spewed in their eyes. They were
wrong.
A boycott, supported in
massive numbers amongst
blacks, dogged “Sambo’s” every
move. The NAACP and blacks in
New England played a key role.
Now, the financial pages
report that the once proud
“Sambo’s” is on the verge of
bankruptcy. Trading in their
shares, which closed recently at a
laughable IJ/41 J /4 was halted recently
after a federal grand jury indicted
two former officials and three
executives of the corporation on
charges of fraud.
Once, there were 1,114 “Sam
bo’s” in 47 states. In November,
1981 alone, 447 of these shops
witrt eloped: In a Beene straight
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Speaking Out
The right to life for the living
by Roosevelt Green
The right to life movement
would be funny if it were not so
sad. It is a movement known for
its fanatical zeal allegedly on
behalf of unborn children.
The question of when human
life begins reaches
unclear propor
tions in the hands
of this anti-abor
tion extremism.
No questions or
concerns are ever BKCSMh
raised about the
quality of life for
those who are
born, or for those living in
poverty and discrimination.
Walking With Dignity
Namibia struggle continues
by Al Irby
Namibia has one more safari
on the move for peace. A deter
mined diplomatic group is
traveling throughout Africa to
win friends and influence people
for a current Namibian plan for
independence. All sides now want
a settlement, according to the
United States Department, whose
Assistant Secretary Chester
Crocker was given fresh assuran
ces by South African officials. It
is important that such mutual
resolve not be undercut by newly
from Hollywood, many of these
restaurants were shut so abruptly
that reportedly customers were
told to wolf down their meals and
depart quickly so the padlocks
could be latched.
‘Sambo’s” began began losing
money steadily as of late 1978,
when the boycott was heating up.
Make no mistake that the case
of “Sambo’s” will be studied in
tently at Harvard Business
School and others, and the
racism exemplified by this com
pany and the furor it unleashed
amongst blacks will be lesson
numero uno in how not to
augment the bottom line.
Undoubtedly, Coca-Cola
heard this shot over the bow. As
the press has trumpeted,
Operation PUSH, led by Rev.
Jesse Jackson, recently
negotiated a wide-ranging set
tlement with this Atlanta based
trans-national corporation.
Rev. Jackson alleged that Coke
had no blacks among its board of
directors, no blacks among its
550 bottler franchisers and no
wholesalerships among 4,000.
Advertising in the black press was
described as “an insult.”
When negotiations slowed, a
month-long boycott was called
The movement has no regard
for the rights of women to take
responsibility for their decision in
this regard. It also supports ef
forts to enact a constitutional
amendment which would be an
attempt to legislate morality. The
same zealots claim morality can
not be legislated in other areas
relative to racism and
discrimination.
The right to lifers are largely a
one issue group that is well finan
ced and organized for political
influence. There is a real danger
to American democracy when any
group confines itself to one issue.
Liberal and human politicians are
targeted for defeat if they do not
subscribe to this issue.
It is no mystery that the right-
reported vows from South
Africa’s far right-wing to prevent
accord.
Hope for avoiding endless
repetition of Pretoria’s own
stonewalling tactics lies in recent
impressions left
by Prime Minister
Botha. He repor- ■!?''
tedly indicated ■||» w
that the present ■
plan for Namibia
(South-West Afri
ca) was the final ■||||j
option when
met with friendly
from July 10 to August 10, 1981.
Coke must have gotten the
message because shortly thereaf
ter the 8-point settlement was an
nounced.
The agreement attempts to
redress the inequities and ranges
from adding more black board
members, managers and blue
collar workers to putting more
money in black banks and more
ads in black newspapers.
Time will tell if this precedent
shattering pact will be honored,
but it obviously provides a model
for other interested organizations
to emulate.
Corporations that dip heavily
into the $l4O billion black market
are obvious targets:certain men
thol cigarette makers, other food
concerns, Big Oil, etc. have been
targeted allegedly. Operation
PUSH is now trying to extend
their Coke pact to 7-up’s and
Royal Crown.
The boycott is a mighty, time
tested weapon. The 1955 bus
Doycott in Montgomery is seen by
many as inaugurating the modern
civil rights movement and
catapulting Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and Rosa Parks into
prominence, Boycotts have been
to-lifers are also against school
busing in the limited instances
when busing is used to achieve
racial desegregation.
A true right to life movement
would concern itself with capital
punishment, hunger, poverty,
racism and equal education for
all. The quality of life after birth
deserves as much attention as life
after death receives in this home
of the brave and free.
What about the right to life of
the Haitian refugees who die
trying to reach the shores of this
religious democracy? What about
the right to life of men and
women on death row because
they could not afford adequate
legal assistance? What about the
right to life of Black South
political leaders in the land his
government has long ruled in
defiance of the United Nations.
By joining in the revived
momentum for progress, he
could challenge those who
question how far he will go
beyond lip service in the face of
political risk at home. He could
also belie the doubts of those who
believe the Reagan ad
ministration’s relatively soft line
on South Africa encourages the
status quo by providing no
reason for Pretoria to think that
it would gain by changing.
particularly effective in the Deep
South, where the majority of
blacks still reside in the eleven
states of the Old Confederacy.
This is why a case originating
in Port Gibson, Mississippi that
has winded its way slowly to the
U.S. Supremme Court has attrac
ted great interest in the business
community and among organized
labor but little mention in the
press.
In 1966 Port Gibson and
surrounding Claiborne County,
although 75 percent of the county
was black, had a lily-white city
government, Main Street
businesses not only objected to
hiring blacks but rude insult of
ten greet black customers;
schools were “separate an
unequal.”
At that juncture, local blacks
and the NAACP launched a
boycott that engulfed white
businesses. In 1976 white mer
chants won a whopping $1.25
million judgement against the
boycott leaders that threatened to
bankrupt the NAACP.
With help of the AFL-CIO and
other allies, the NAACP was able
to mount an appeal. Organized
labor recoiled in anger at the
lower eourt’s ruling that line* the
Africans in the most
dehumanizing country on the
face of the earth?
A bottom line to this whole
discussion is that the wealthy will
always obtain abortions while the
poor get more children. To be
sure, broader planned paren
thood and sex education deserve
greater support from all of us.
Such support would lead to lower
abortion rates.
Another botton line is seen in
how easy white conservatives can
induce “shuffling and grinning
Negroes” to join their ranks.
Self-respecting Blacks must study
the issues and not be misled by
whites who use religion for op
pression and abuse of con
stitutional rights.
HARAMBEE!!!!!!!
On the latter point a United
States’ argument is that South
Africa does have an incentive to
pursue the present plan in the
knowledge that it will never have
a better one. To make the plan
more acceptable, the so-called
contact group of five Western
nations had added the concept of
“constitutional principles” on
which all parties would agree
before the free elections man
dated by the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 435.
Continued on page 5
merchants supposedly had no say
in the granting or with-holding of
the civil rights sought that the
boycott was “secondary” and ,
therefore, illegal. The “illegality
of secondary boycotts has ham
strung labor, as evidenced most
recently by its use to prevent
unions from to the aid of PAT
CO—the professional air traffic
controllers.
But Port Gibson was a signal
and a reawakening to other
blacks that with-holding of
patronage is a powerful tool that
can bring the most mighty giant
to his knees.
The National Organization for
Women and the American Civil
Liberties Union are filing friend
of-the-court briefs with the U.S.
Supreme Court.
But others beside NOW and
ACLU must come to the
NAACP’s defense. If this case is
lost, then a return to a replica of
the ante-bellum days of
“moonlight and magnolias” may
not be far behind. If there is a
lesson of “Sambo’s it must be
that the boycott weapon must be
extended, not restricted.