Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review June 25,1983
THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW (Usps 887 820)
Mallory K. MillenderEditor-Publisher
Paul Walker Assistant to the Publisher
Wanda Johnson General Manager/Advertising Dir.
Diane CarswellCirculation Manager
Yvonne Dayßeporter
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
Wilbert Allen Columnist
Roosevelt Green Columnist
Al IrbyColumnist
Philip Waring Columnist
Marva Stewart Columnist
Carl McCoyEditorial Cartoonist
Olando HamlettPhotographer
Roscoe Williams Photographer
, Mailing Address
P.O. Box 2123
Augusta, Ga. 30903-2123
PUBUSHFrs nwr Second Class Posta « e Paid a
pubushers.inc. Published Weekly
National Advertising Representative
Speaking Out
Country neglects
Viet Nam vets
by Roosevelt Green Jr.
The recent Memorial Day ac
tivities forth a painful
reminder that'
I
America neg
lects its Viet
nam War 1
veterans. A
recent news
story indicated
that 750,000 of
those veterans
are unem-i
ployed.
Many of the 8.2 million Vietnam
War veterans are stigmatized
because they served in a most un
popular war. That is most unfor
tunate! Those veterans served their
country and should be accorded
the same benefits as veterans of
other wars, regardless as to how we
feel about that.war.
Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.),
himself a Vietnam veteran, is
strongly urging the current
president to rally behind the 1983
Emergency Vietnam Veterans Job
Training Act. Like most other
greatly needed job legislation for
other unemployed sectors of our
society, this Act is opposed by the
“more profits for the rich”
president.
This bill would aid unemployed
and disabled Vietnam veterans by
providing vocational and on-the
job training for these men and
women serving as scape goats for
an increasingly selfish country.
Reaganomics have adversely affec
ted this group as they have
everyone but the rich and super
rich.
Civil Rights Journal
New Jersey is victim
of environmental negligence
by Dr. Charles E. Cobb
Newark, New Jersey is the
nation’s latest victim of environ-
*■l
mental negli
gence. Dioxin,
one of the
deadliest sub
stances known
to man has
been found in
levels com
parable to
those found in
Times Beach,
Missouri.
The chemical was located
around the premises of the former
Diamond Shamrock Co.,
manufacturer of Agent Orange for
the government from 1966 through
1968. Dioxin is a direct by-product
of Agent Orange.
There is a measure of irony in
the fact that Agent Orange was
used by the U.S. Armed Forces in
Vietnam as a defoliant. Now we
are told by government sources
that while Agent Orange was being
used for the protection of the
nation, its deadly by-product,
dioxin, was killing the nation.
The manufacture and disposal
of industrial toxin waste is the one
problem with which we should all
be concerned.
However, the brunt falls most
Page 4
It is also important not to forget
the veterans who are hapless vic
tims of Agent Orange, a poisonous
chemical sprayed over areas of
Vietnam. The politicians and the
Veterans Administration Hospitals
have shamefully neglected this
problem.
Speaking of the Veterans Ad
ministration Hospitals, it is about
time Blacks headed these facilities,
and they should be included in up
per levels of the administration
and not just at the bottom of the
ladder. I have been informed by
several veterans that these
hospitals are citadels of racism and
and insensitivity to Blacks and
non-white veterans. Too many of
these hospitals are geared to
teaching doctors and not to ren
dering needed services to the
veterans of all wars.
Vietnam-era veterans deserve
our support and compassion. It
would be helpful to write members
of the Congress and the president
about the matter.
It is foolish to neglect and
punish these veterans when the
military-industrial complex is the
system to blame. Politicians get us
into wars but they never lead us in
to battles. Our local Vietnam
veterans’ organizations need our
support.
We should be careful tp learn
from history, for other Vietnams
are right around the corner. It
would be very surprising if our
folksy president does not get us in
to wars in several countries, con
ducted through the discourtesies of
Profit-Mad Big Business in
America.
heavily upon minorities, the
politically unsophisticated and the
uninvolved.
Newark, Times Beach and Love
Canal experiences have had
disastous economic effects. But,
more importantly are the latent
health and environmental effects.
What are we doing to our
children and their children?
Whether the liabilities lie with the
industry and or government is a
question for the courts. However,
there is a clear connection between
the protection of the environment
and our human rights to life.
As a nation we have habitually
awaited tragedy before taking ac
tion. The Three Mile Island
“scare” did more to change the
practices of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission than any
other single event. Will we have to
witness a toxic waste health
epidemic before we begin to take
the issue seriovly?
The story 01 creation tells us that
God created human beings and put
them in charge of the earth. This is
the basis of our responsibility and
the promise to our children.
If the Environmental Protectioni
Agency, industry and the
politicians do not give the kind of
protection guaranteed by the Con
situation then whither shall we
flee?
-• / \ > i
7 \ I
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K Mw
&LACK RESOURCES IMG.
RACE POLITICS
To Be Equal
A sub-minimum wage for youth?
by John E. Jacob
Yet another study has been
published, concluding that the
IB
reason for high
Black youth,
unemp 1 o y
ment is lack of
available jobs.
The Man
power Deve
lopment Re
search Cor
poration gua-
ranteed jobs for 76,000 disadvan
taged youngsters on conditions that
they stay in school. The program was
most successful among Blacks,
who joined the program, stayed on
the job longer and stayed in school
more consistently than whites.
That suggests subsidized jobs,
linking work and school, and
government involvement are key to
solving the crushing level of Black
youth unemployment.
But many think the answer lies
in cutting the minimum wage for
teenagers. That’s always been the
panacea for those with a blind
faith in the workings of the free
market.
In fact, a subminimum wage has
long been in existence—the law
clearly allows some employers in
cluding the most likely to hire
inexperienced young people, such
as small retail establishments, to
pay below the minimum wage.
Despite this, Black youth unem
ployment is at record levels.
Opponents of a youth sub-
Walking With Dignity
Reagan and civil rights
by Al Irby
Two decades after the civil rights
fervor of the 1960 s the United
||H| «*** I
States is still
struggling to
find the way
toward a truly
equal society.
Much pro
gress has been
made. In many
states the
problem of school segregation has
been substantially resolved.
Delaware, Kentucky and Flordia,
for instance, have all increased the
number of Blacks who attend in
tegrated schools by more than 35
percent since the mid-‘6os.
Overall 20 states now have com
pletely integrated schools, accor
ding to a recent study by the
University of Chicago. But there is
still a long way to go.
Studies indicate that the school
systems of many big cities in the
North and East are actually
becoming more segregated. U.S.
residential neighborhoods are
being integrated very slowly,
charges the Citizens’ Commission
on Civil Rights, a private group
whose members include some
Cabinet officers from the
Eisenhower, Johnson and Nixoh
administrations.
And there is still a fundamental
disagreement between many
politicians and citizen groups over
minimum have always based their
position on, among other reasons,
the fear that employers would
“fire the father to hire the son.”
Those fears are realistic, since
the bulk of workers employed at or
below (often illegally) the
minimum, are adults. Unem
ployment would simply be moved
along to older age groups,
especially the vulnerable 21-24
year-olds, whose unemployment
rates are second only to teenage
unemployment rates.
It’s also important to identify
what teenagers one is talking about.
Most who work at the minimum
wage are white youngsters living in
higher income families, while most
of the adults likely to be displaced
are Black adults living in low in
come families.
Advocates of the subminimum
should also note that time and in
flation have already done their job
for them. The minimum wage in
1967 was $1.40 per hour. In 1983
the minimum wage, in 1967
dollars, is only $1.29.
So in real terms, the minimum is
lower than it’s been in 16 years, yet
there hasn’t been any rush by em
ployers to stock up on low-wage
workers.
I find it troubling that the ad
vocates of a youth subminimum
claim so much with so little eviden
ce. Estimates of the number of
youth jobs that might be created
vary so wildly they really amount
to guesses. And the side effects
also unknown. How many adult
what tolls are needed to make jobs,
homes, and schools available to
all. This debate is what lies at the
heart of much of the Reagan ad
ministration’s recent trouble with
minority and civil rights
organizations. The administration
believes society should be “color
blind” —should treat everyone
equally regardless of race.
Use of affirmative action plans
and forced busing, which (a they
say) give preference on the basis of
race, violates the principles of
“colorblindness.” In no instance
should an individual’s rights rise
any higher or fall any lower than
the rights of others because of
race, said Williams Reynolds,
assistant attorney general for civil
rights in a recent speech. (But I
wonder if he or his people had
been enslaved for 200 or more
years).
Civil rights activists and many
members of minority groups, on
the other hand, the U.S. can
not become a truly "colorblind'
society without recompense for the
abominable institution of chattel
slavery. If not affirmative action
or quotas, then some type of
equalization is surely needed.
These remedial actions are
designed to deal with the forces of
institutional discrimination that
are embedded in our society. This
debate over “colorblindness” is a
major reason President Reagan
jobs would be lost? What would be
the impact on Black communities
most vulnerable to labor market
changes?
Nor does the subminimum ad
dress the basic question of the lack
of available jobs at any wage.
And it is silent on the issue of
employer discrimination, despite
considerable evidence that in
dicates many potential employers
are locked into stereotyped at
titudes toward young Blacks and
would not hire them at any wage.
Despite all this uncertainty,
Congress is considering cutting the
minimum wage for teenagers
during the summers months. The
intention is to encourage private
sector job creation, but it would be
a mistake to rush into a change in
laws protecting wages and jobs for
all workers.
However, it may be time for an
experimental program that finally
lays the issue of a subminimum to
rest. The issue itself has become a
barrier to solutions to the problem
of youth unemployment, since the
debate over the minimum wage
helps defeat more comprehensive
and realistic efforts to hire youth.
So a carefully monitored,
limited pilot program designed to
determine the effect of the
minimum wage on youth em
ployment is in order. Instead of
broad changes in the minimum
wage law, a targeted experiment
that answers some of the impor
tant unanswered questions makes a
lot more sense.
fired three members of the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights.
The Civil Rights Commission,
though its members serve at the
pleasure of the President, has
traditionally been a quasi
independent bipartisan agency.
The ousted commissioners—Blan
dina Ramirez, a Hispanic
educator; Mary Frances Berry, an
activist Black, who served in the
education department under
President Carter; and Murray
Saltzman, a Baltimore rab
bi—have been consistently critical
of administration attitudes toward
affirmative action and busing.
Commission Chairman Clarence
Pendleton Jr., a recent Reagan ap
pointee, had earlier this year asked
the President for some conser
vative reinforcements to help carry
out administration civil rights
policies.
“This is clearly an effort to pack
the commission,” says Rep. Julian
Dixon (D) of California, chairman
of the Congressional Black
Caucus. It is a grave mistake and
will seriously impair the com
mission’s role as an independent
voice against discrimination.”
And the belief that racial quotas
are wrong has led the ad
ministration to take highly con
troversial legal stands. Last year,
the Justice Department asked that:
Supreme Court to strike down a
see Reagan, page 5
Going Places
Elders
to be
honored
by Philip Waring
One must describe the
graduation weekend closing out
f r*W . *
&
A
■
■W *
the 101st year
at Paine
College as both
eventful and
elegant. Alum
ni came in
from the West
Coast to
Washington,
D.C. and from Florida to New
England, and points in between.
We shall devote another column
to this wonderful weekend. May
we briefly say “Well Done” to just
three alumni who were cited for
outstanding leadership and service.
They are Mrs. Clara West,
alumni past national president,
Mrs. Ruth Crawford, past
Augusta area president, and Dr.
Charles Gommillion, national
executive secretary, who has
become a legend.
In my annual Paine column, I
ommitted that James E. “Chip”
Carter IV, Paine honor student,
was entering dental school at MCG
in the autumn. Nor did we note
that Dr. Judy Carter was an honor
graduate, former assistant
professor of Education and head
of teacher training. Now armed
with her doctorate from the
University of South Carolina, she
now directs teacher training at
USC at Aiken. Sorry Judy and
“Chip”.
Please put onto your callendar:
Sunday, July 17, 4 p.m. Trinity
C.M.E. Church. The Augusta
Black History Committee will hold
its third induction ceremonies of
some 12 persons into “The Panel
of Distinguished Living Augusta
Elders” Assistant Secretary of State
Curtis Atkinson, will speak.
In addition, there will be special
awards presented to a selected
number of non-elderly individuals
and groups for leadership and ser
vice over the years.
Now back for a look at past
recipients. The committee has
taken great care, in its opinion, to
get a broad spread giving great
weight to civic service as well as
important careers.
The first class included: the Rev.
R.A. Lark, Miss M. Louise Laney,
Dr. Frank Davis, the Rev. M.J.
Whitaker, founder and editor of
the Weekly Review and Mrs. Rosa
Tutt. The newcomer of hometown
retirees award went to Marron D.
Bussey.
Pilgrim Insurance Co. President
W.S. Hornsby Jr., overseas com
bat veterans Bernard Southward
and Horace Dawson Sr., as well as
State Rep. R.A. Dent were
highlighted.
Others were: Dr. J.E. Carter,
past president of both the national
and Georgia dental units. C.O.
Hollis Sr., past president of the
National Insurance Association,
the Rev. Mrs. Essie Mclntyre,
pastor-founder of Good Shephard
Baptist Church, M.M. “Skipper”
Scott, Masonic-Shriner leader Elbert
Blocker, Professor Mattie B. Brax
ton, Mrs. Ruth Crawford, Board
of Education member Dr. Justine
Washington and former Coun
cilman B.L. Dent. The listing en
ded up with S.M. Jenkins, our
only “Retread,” a person who ser
ved in both world wars.
The next roster saw the names
of: former Councilwoman Carrie
Mays, Lt. E.J. Oliver, Sgt. Edwin
Dove, who fought in France
during 1918, Prof. Alice Davis of
Paine and former Pilgrim vice
president, H.R. Scott, and
Thomas Ketch, “Dean of Augusta
Black Funeral Directors.” There
were social activists Addie
Scott Powell and Mary Utley as
well as Mrs. Luvenia Pearson, who
had organized and operated a
major beauty salon and school.
The listing for that year included
retired Police Lt. E.J. Oliver,
Councilman Ike Washington,
George Bryant, Mrs. J.A. Richar
dson, Mrs. Ruby McNatt Scott,
Councilman Bill Baxter, Dr.
Charles Butler, Mrs. Christine
Gardiner and Mrs. Allie Will Gar
diner, who had served over 50
years at Bethlehem Center, as well
as Charles Williams, for 23 years
secretary of the local NAACP.
That year’s roster ended with
Joseph Cherry Goudy, overseas
combat infantry hero.