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The Augusta News-Review January 8,1983 The Augusta News-Review (usps 887 820) Mallory K. MillenderEditor Publisher Paul Walker Assistant to the Publisher Barbara Gordon Advertising Dir/Gen. Manager Wanda Johnson Administrative Assistant Alfredia Rodd Sales Representative Yvonne Day Reporter Rev. R.E. Donaldsonßeligion Editor Mrs. Geneva Y. Gibson Church Coordinator Charles Beale Jenkins County Correspondent Mrs. Fannie Johnson Aiken County Correspondent Mrs. Clara WestMcDuffie County Correspondent Mrs. Ileen Buchanan Fashion & Beauty Editor Roosevelt Green. Columnist Al IrbyColumnist Philip Waring Columnist Marva Stewart Columnist Carl McCoyEditorial Cartoonist Olando HamlettPhotographer Roscoe Williams Photographer Mailing Address Box 2123 - amalgamated Augusta, Ga. 30903-2123 publishers, inc. Second Class Postage Paid jZaZL Published Weekly " T National Advertising Representative Speaking Out Black struggle beneficial to all by Roosevelt Green Jr. The black civil rights movement of the 1960 s was and is a great thing for America, and blacks in particular. The measured sue- cess of blacks / in this effort f has caused 9 some whites to realize that they, too, are not free of cer tain repressions and op pressions. The women’s rights as well as other ethnic and racial minorities’ movements all owe a debt to the struggles of blacks. Still, no group wants to really identify with blacks and their ongoing battle with racism and discrimination. The significant gains of blacks during the 1960’s are now threatened by a national climate characterized by anti-black at titudes and behaviors. We are still the last hired and the first fired during this economic recession, which one could also call another major depression. Last hired blacks who owe their progress to affirmative action programs of the public and private sectors of this society must now watch the erosion of gains through disastrious federal economic policies, and job systems geared to worker seniority. It is seniority not merit that will insure many jobs of white employees. As Dr. Benjamin E. Mays often says, he who enters the race late must run twice as hard to stay in the race. Although hard work has not really paid off for black slaves ahd their ancestors, it is still necessary that blacks work even harder to compete in the American mainstream. The civil rights movement was an indicator that blacks want a piece of the economic rock, a chance for racial equality, and Civil Rights Journal New Year resolution for the poor, unemployed, hungry by Charles E. Cobb The time has again arrived for many Americans to begin for mulating New Year’s resolut- ions. The majority the promises we make to ourselves nor- B mally last I through the Pjßr month Jj- January and ~ then slowly become forgotten as we return to business as usual. However, this year not as many of us will be returning to business as usual simply because there is less business to which we can return. The abysmal economic circum stances in which the nation and the Page 4 racial pride. Many blacks have taken advantage of the many op portunities newly available to us. But what about those, who through the fault of others or of themselves, failed to take advan tage of the dawning of a new day? As economic hard times inflict whites as well as blacks, there is very little concern about the welfare of blacks, poor whites, and other minorities. During times of prosperity and plenty, white liberals were a dime a dozen. Although few whites admit voting for the current president, most now call themselves “conser vatives,” or the “new right.” It is difficult to understand how anybody one to two pay checks from poverty and welfare eligibility can be a conservative. A conservative should have something to conserve beside skin color and prejudice, and the wall between him or her, the black, and poor. The new right is simply “old bigotry” parading under a new banner. Since we are back to times of racial relations similar to the 1950 s and before, it is time to launch another great drive for political, economic, and educational equality. This time a quest to “intergrate” with whites must take a back seat to interac tion with economic and political power. Meaning, we now understand that whites define intergration as the loss of black identity coupled with their rejection of black power in a society dominated by white power. Must the new drive for black progress once again be left up to idealism of black youth and a new form of sit-in movement. The new drive calls for study ins, work-ins, computer-ins, vote ins and outs, build-ins, invest-ins, business-ins, preach-ins, teach-ins, church or temple-ins, and stand-, ins until the victory is a reality rather than a dream. Right? world are currently embroiled does not lead one to a sense of hope. It is a popular belief that things will get worse before they get better, in spite of the most glowing promises of recovery. 1983 resolutions will certainly take on a deeper sense of reality reflecting the kind of desperate straits in which most of us find ourselves. What will be the resolution of the unemployed, the poor and the hungry? How will they resolve to better their condition? What will be the resolution of the new Congress entrusted with the nation’s growth and security? I actually sense a kind of fear or trepidation on the part of the American people as to what 1983 see Journal page 5 V \ I /I II so* OJ BLACK RESOURCES INC. To Be Equal End of a hard year by John E. Jacob Not many people will be sorry to see 1982 fade away into history’s dustbin. It’s been a bad year, a year of economic Depression and polarization. The unemployment figures went to nearly eleven fl : percent by year- 1 end. Several I million people were added to ■ the poverty fl rolls. Business I and personal I bankruptcies mounted. The impact of the budget cuts meant terrible suffering for millions of people who are poor or near-poor, as their so-called safety net was torn to pieces. The lethal combination of the budget cuts and tax cuts tilted toward the affluent meant the reversal of the trend toward reducing income inequality. The net effect of national policies was to transfer income from low in come families to the highest in come groups. Given all this, and the many other indicators of the unfairness and hardship inflicted on Americans over the past year, it may seem perverse to look for the year’s bright spots. But I think we should, for the alternatives is to give way to despair and hopelessness. Besides, there were some in dications in 1982 of anew realism taking root among many Americans who are repelled by the direction in which our nation is Going Places mounted. Black dean at Princeton by Phil Waring The Rev. Eugene Y. Lowe Jr. has just been appointed Princeton University’s dean of student W affairs and also W*. associate dean r |B| of the college. ■ " « Princeton ' JmL president W.G. Bowen said this IK was an SI “historic first” in the institution’s 237-year-old history. Rev. Lowe’s father is from Augusta, and the 33-year-old minister is a native of New York City, but has visited Augusta relatives. A 1971 Princeton honor graduate, he worked with the Chase-Manhattan bank from 1973 to 1978, rising to a vice presidency where he helped establish and direct a division on corporate responsibility. Later, however, he decided to enter the ministry and was or dained an Episcopal priest. Now an assistant rector at a New York City Episcopal church, he is com- moving. In January, I wrote that for “all who are concerned with the terrible pressures placed on poor people, 1982 will be the time to take off the gloves and come out swinging against further attempts to weaken the weak. We must build coalitions to protect the interests of the forgotten and neglected.” That is just what did happen in 1982. Or at least, that is what began to happen. Some attemptes to go after programs for the poor were beaten back. The coalitions concerned with justice and equity were more successful than they were in 1981, when the New Right steamroller was everything in sight. By the end of the year,those coalitions were beginning to win some victories. For the first time, the swollen Pentagon budget came under fire. The MX missile and other costly new weapons systems were attacked by a coalition of businessmen against larger budget deficits, military experts against useless and dangerous weapons systems, and citizens who rightly say military waste as taking milk from babies as nutrition programs were cut to feed the Pentagon. When the year started, public opinion was against federal jobs programs and for steps to cut in flation. After a year of crunching interest rates and Depression, opinions changed. The Federal Reserve backed off from its ruinous monetary policies and as a result interest rates are coming down. Polls of business leaders indicate inflation isn’t a worry anymore and that unem- pleting work on his doctoral disser tation from Union Theological Seminary in New York where he has already earned two master’s degrees. At Princeton, he also will be on the teaching staff of the Religious Department. His father, a top-flight New York human services professional, was one of the co-founders of Augusta’s Community Forum during the mid-19305. This group helped form the Community Library. Father Lowe’s uncle, Rufus J. Lowe, is a long-time human service staffer with the Richmond County government. Job Bias Cases On The Move My files on race relations and employment continue to fill up with recent newspaper clippings. In New Orleans a federal judge has ordered a large commercial bank into trial on a job discrimination charge, while in Alabama, another federal court has ordered Bir mingham and six adjacent cities to immediately move to upgrade and ployment is the number one problem. At the start of the year, federal job creation programs were dead; by the end of the year, Congress was considering a number of job programs including one backed by an Administration that persistently denied the need for “make-work” programs. Perhaps the most significant event of the year was the election that amounted to a rejection of national economic policies. .Urged to “stay the course,” voters clearly indicated they wanted to change course. They voted for more gover nment intervention in the economy, for jobs programs, and for protecting the safety net social insurance programs from further cuts. They also rejected the New Right ideologues who think that banning abortions is more impor tant than feeding hungry children and praying in school more impor tant than learning basic skills. The Moral Majority and “social issues” supporters of the New Right found themselves frozen out of the power they thought was theirs. Now it looks as though they face a decline—none too soon for the good of the country. Now none of this adds up to reason for rejoicing. Let’s face it—l9B2 was an awful year that bled a lot of people. But as it ends, we can stand back take stock, and see the seeds of a new realism that may help us out of the morass. It is as important to nurture these slim seeds of change as it is to bewail the current situation. employ blacks in their municipal government. Here in Georgia a federal judge has opened doors for over 1,000 current and former black em ployees to seek legal relief from past discrimination in employment and promotions at the state Mental Health Center and Hospital in Milledgeville. Up in Atlanta, several hundred past and present employees have filed charges with the federal Fair Employment Practice Commission (FEPC) to hear charges of past and current job bias at Rich’s depar tment stores. Over at Fort Stevens, adjacent to Savannah, the FEPC will hear individual and group action cases of job discrimination among civilian employees at the giant tax supported military base. One may hear complaints of “heavy handed force” by the federal government, but the NAACP, SCLC, ACLU, Urban League and Southern Regional Council will tell you that there are virtually hundreds of job Walking With Dignity Dr. Love believed in schools by Al Irby Dr. Ruth B. Love, Chicago’s black superintendent of schools, believes the in ner-city schools can be revived. ftW Do th e -1 nation ’ s hig city schools— filled with F disproportion ate numbers of Up ,3*"'o economically disadvantaged and minority youngsters—face an insurmoun table educational challenge? Ms. Love, the dynamic brown-lady pedagogue, says n o. “I believe an urban renaissance in public education is possible, and I think we know how to do it,” she insists. “I am as convinced as I am of anything that you can make a dif ference by zeroing in on standar ds.” The one crucial ingredient, in her progressive view, is deter mination. “I don’t think we can have a renaissance unless the climate is such that people see a need for it, and are excited about it,” she says. “I hope I’m wrong, but I sense there may not be a clear philosophical understanding these days of what public education is all about.” The articulate lady continues to cogitate verbally, “I sense a kind of elitist attitude and a pull yourself-up-by your-bootstraps philosophy when you have no boots. It’s almost as if they’re saying, ‘Educate yourselves’ or ‘lf you don’t have an education, it’s too bad.’ “But this society is only as strong as its public schools. You cannot say you’re going to educate just some of the people, that these people are going to have a chance, but you’re not. That’s fodder for revolution. That’s why we have them (public schools).” This year, as most recent years, Chicago’s public schools opened in the midst of a last-minute fisca crisis. But Dr. Love stresses that she is talking more about “will” than about money. At issue, she says, is an apparently widespread loss of confidence in the public schools’ ability to do the job. This lady Ph.D. views the sup port for President Reagan’s tuition tax credit proposal, aimed at helping parents of private and parochial school students, as one more sign of this/Dr. Love, who came to Chicago in March 1981, after six years as superintendent of schools in Oakland, Calif., blames both public pressure on the schools and educators themselves for let ting standards for academics and marketable skills slip in recent years. “I think for a couple of decades we did lower the standar ds—there’s no doubt about it,” she says. “I really believe the disciples of John Dewey misunderstood hi: mission and got us on a path ol false progressive education that didn’t stress real basic education tel the extent I think he intended. A® the same time the public wal saying, ‘You’re pressuring th! students too much.’ The net result was to give excuses to people wh® didn’t want to see public education succeed.” Dr. Love puts a premium on act countability and progress in th! classroom. Standardized tests! dropped in the Chicago school! since 1975, have been resumed! Specific goals—on everythin! from academic progress to im! proved attendance and reduce! vandalism —are stated frequently and assessed at year’s end. A new “high school renaissai! ce” program she is launching new fall is aimed at stepping up basfl skill achievement by adding moifi reading and math specialists. < This learned lady would like tl see urban schools strip away son® of the many extra duties they’w been handed since the mid-1940’1 “Schools have been far too williifl to accept total responsibility f<H solving everybody’s problem, thl must be stopped,” she says. | discrimination cases waiting in tfl wings in many states and cities. Vfl must keep alert and informed fl supporting our Black Presl NAACP, etc. I