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The Augusta News-Review October 22,1983 Mallory K'. MillenderEditor-Publisher Paul Walker Assistant to the Publisher Wanda Johnson General Manager/Advertising Dir. Diane CarswellCirculation Manager Yvonne Dayßeporter Rev. R.E. Donaldson Religion 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 GreenlColumnist Al i r byColumnist Philip Waring Columnist Marva Stewart Columnist George Bailey Sports Writer Carl McCoyEditorial Cartoonist Olando Hamlett Photographer Roscoe Williams • Photographer "THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW (USPS 887 820) is published weekly for sll per year in the county and sl2 per year out of th< county. Second-class postage paid at Augusta, Ga. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW, ?,€>. Box 2123, Augusta, Ga. 30903-2123.” AMALGAMATED Nationl Advert Hag Repmeatative PUBLISHERS. INC. * Pennywise, dollar foolish The Richmond County Board of Education is repor tedly considering requiring principals to run their school as if they were a business and firing those principals who, after crash course in business principles, don’t measure up. This absurdity comes on the heals of having large numbers of teachers teaching out of their fields, all in the name of a balanced budget. Georgia students ranked 49th on recent Scholastic Ap titude Tests. And Richmond County schools are all showing a decline in their test scores. Small wonder. It is time that somebody rebelled against the ’‘tax The Mayor Comments Citifest to be exciting by Edward M. Mclntyre In our city we can be proud of the many people who sponsor and work so un- 1 selfishly for worthwhile con- cems. Sometimes we do not equate fun and ex citement with W charitable even ts, but the up coming Citifest promises not only to provide fun and excitement for those attending, but also away of giving to others who are perhaps less fortunate. Bankers First and WAGT have planned all kinds of events and special guests for every member of the family. NBC’s Smurf will be on hand Civil Rights Journal The dogs of war by Dr. Charles E. Cobb The Reagan administration, is slowly but surely setting the stage for a major Central Ameri- ' can conflict. gH / The president I'3 has resorted to M “gunboat diplo- I ■ macy” and has dispatched a |mK., „ naval task for- '/ ce and carrier ■HHHHHSP battle group to the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. •These so-called “maneuvers” are undoubtedly designed to demonstrate the power of the United States military. This hard line policy toward Nicaragua’s Sandinista government only in creases the risk of all out war. Many of the president’s critics have been openly predicting a U.S. supported invasion of Nicaragua from Honduras. Was could also start if Nicaragua invaded Hon duras. But in either case the United States would be directly involved. U.S. involvement in the region Page 4 cap” mentality that forces teachers into areas for which they are not trained, and for ces principals into trying to be businessmen —for which they are not trained —and students into schools where the education is getting wor se and worse. It is time to put a stop to selfishness under the guise of “fiscal responsibility” and realize that a quality education is worth paying for. We should be spending more on education, not less. And we ought to stop letting selfish conservatives deprive our children of a quality education. along with Augusta’s Elbo the Clown. The children will not want to miss them. There will be coun try-western music and bands from local high schools for your listening pleasure. For those of you who like arts and crafts, there will be plenty for you to browse through. If you en joy seeing people kick up their heels, come see the doggers per form on Broad Street. I understand there will be lots of good southern barbeque and loads of the all-time favorite American hot dog to satisfy hungry ap petites. The Citifest will be on Oct. 21. Bring your family and friends downtown to .the 900 block of Broad Street between noon and 7 p.m. and share in downtown’s new excitement. has included the providing of arms to the “contras” an insurgent group that included many elements of the old oppressive Somoza government which was overthrown in 1979 by the Sandinistas. It is no military secret that Hon duran troops could not resist an all out war without American sup port. Depending on the extent of U.S. involvement in such a war and the threat to Nicaragua, Cuba would almost certainly be drawn into the conflict. This would naturally raise the question of Soviet involvement. The policy being pursued by the president is very risky. What is the goal that the administration is trying to achieve? Can it be the ceasing of the flow of arms into El Salvador? Or is the goal to force the Sandinistas into a more pro- U.S. position? Or is it the actual overthrow of the regime? Certainly military attacks will only exacerbate these issues. The American people must ask them selves, are the gains of military ac tion as opposed to diplomacy wor th the obvious risks? THE GOOD NEWS IS "AMERICA IS 014 JB» KSSEEI THEMENDT 3R &UACK- yzssoogces iMC. To Ite Equal A program to end poverty by John E. Jacob It’s not my business to tell Ronald Reagan how he can be re but there’s no ' harm in giving some simple advice that ■ would do the trick. Moreover, I it’s free ad vice—no need to pay high priced, high-powered political con sultants. I’m under no illusions that he’ll take my advice. But if he does, he can demonstrate he has the flexibility necessary to national leadership in these perilous times, and that he truly cares about creating opportunities, as he claims he does. In order to guarantee re-election in 1984, the President will have to win or neutralize the votes of minorities and the poor; votes now beyond his reach. And he’ll have to do something drastic about the image of meanness his Ad ministration has earned through its harsh policies toward the poor—an image that will cost votes among many decent people not personally affected by those policies. What I’m suggesting is that the President come out strongly for a national income maintenance policy that would guarantee a minimum income floor beneath every family. An income maintenance system would be based on a refundable credit income tax. In one stroke, Going Places Should Jesse run? by Philip Waring One of the most interesting questions on whether Jesse Jackson should I run for president. This will be the first of several M columns I shall devote to this | . .. question. Rev. Jackson H W Mi has been on the front page of Time and Jet magazines. He has been featured in the N.Y. Times, Atlanta Constitution and Washington Post, and interviewed on all of the networks, both television and radio. He has met with seven Southern governors in cluding Gov. George Wallace when he spoke before the Alabama state legislature. Former president Jimmy Carter and vice president Mondale, on separate occasions have said if Jesse is not shooting for a third party project, let him run for the Democratic nomination like any other candidate. Jackson recently received a leave of- absence as president of Operation PUSH to further pursue “presidential possibilities,” etc. we could replace an ineffective, inefficient welfare system and rationalize a tax system riddled with loopholes and special interest favors. It would work like this: the government would make a basic annual grant to everyone in the form of a tax credit. Those above a set income line, which should be a bit over the poverty line, would have the grant taxed away from them on a sliding scale. So the poor would keep all of the grant, moderate income people would keep some of it, and the affluent none of it. A credit income tax would do a number of very important things. First, it would wipe out poverty since the grant would be enough to lift people above the poverty line. Second, it would help moderate income families to make ends meet, since they’d get to keep part of the grant. Third, it would encourage work effort since the grant would only be taxed away on a sliding scale. Under the present system, welfare grants are cut by the amount ear ned and it often pays not to work at all. Fourth, it would help make the tax system fair—something everyone agrees it is not, with moderate income families now paying roughly the same rates as do the affluent who take advan tage of numerous loopholes. Finally, it would revitalize the economy. By infusing dollars into the pockets of poor and moderate income families, increased demand for goods would get our factories humming again. They feel Jesse could stir interest in millions of people. A large segment of successful political figures, however, wage a word of caution, feeling that the delegate votes are not there. Num bering among these are Mayors But ch Mortal of New Orleans, Tom Bradley of Los Angeles, Coleman Young of Detroit, Richard Arrington of Birmingham, Harold Washington of Chicago and An drew Young of Atlanta. The Congressional Black Caucus is split with most of them urging caution while Congressmen Delums and Fauntroy join in with AME Bishop Brookins in saying: “If not Jesse, who?” and “If not now, when?”. There’s a vast split among various local, state and other political leaders, according to the Joint Center for Political Studies and other groups. Heads of the NAACP, Urban League and SCLC have urged caution. As we write this column, the front page of the Atlanta Con stitution has a photo and feature story on Mayor Andrew Young’s recent speech at the Hungry Club there. Young praised Jackson as a friend who had accomplished much to better the Black com- Now, how can a conservative President support such a plan? Easy. This income maintenance program is a conservative plan en dorsed by conservatives who dislike government interference in private lives as characterized by the workings of means tests and welfare bureaucracies. The leading conservative economist today, Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman has writ ten: “We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehen sive program of income sup plements in cash—a negative in come tax. It would provide an assured minimun to all persons in need, regardless of the reasons for their need.” How about costs? Well, that depends on the level set for the basic grant and the tax rate. But it would be reasonable to expect a net cost of around $25 billion above the present tab for welfare programs and food stamps. And let’s remember, the income maintenance program would reach all in need while today’s piecemeal system doesn’t give one dime to about half of the poor and misses virtually all of the near-poor. A self-professed conservative, the President can easily back a conservative program that aids the poor, makes the system fair, en courages work, and doesn’t require a new bureaucracy. I’m sure that an income main tenance plan isn’t part of the game plan his staff is preparing for the re-election campaign, but if the President wants another four years at the helm, it ought to be. munity during the past twenty years and upheld his right to seek the nomination. But the former U.N. Am bassador, who has marched and gone to jail with Jesse during the civil rights campaigns of the six ties, pointed out that in his opinion the mathematics would indicate that Jackson might get only 100 delegates out of 3,000. (Earlier, the Joint Center said that his maximum would be around 300 out of some 3,400 Democratic delegates at the convention.) Mayor Young praised Jackson’s efforts as a ‘lighting rod” to get hundreds of thousands of Blacks to register and run for public of fice. Jesse has come up with a phrase which will grow and stand in the race and political scene: “Run for office, you may win. If you don’t run, you and yours will remain losers.” Jesse has a new national cam paign committee headed by Mayor Dick Hatcher of Gary, Indiana. They’ve been mailed out, so I am told, thousands of appeal letters: “Give a Jackson for a Jackson.” Former President Andrew Jackson’s pic ture is on a twenty dollar bill. Whatever do you, dear readers, think about this entire matter. Walking With Dignity Biko ’s girl friend impressive by A] Irby Dr. Mamphela Ramphele has turned her political “wilderness” Hinto a well trended “gar den.” Even the South African government, which banned and banished her to the nor thern rural district in 1977, must be privately impressed by her success in helping that impoverished Black community lift itself by its boot straps. Dr. Ramphele was the girlfriend and political associate of “Black Consciousness” leader Steve Biko. In the year he died in police custody, a massive government crackdown on the Black Con sciousness Movement resulted in Dr. Ramphele being banished to Tzaneen, far from King William’s Town, where she and Biko had been most active. She is also banned, meaning she must get a permit to leave the Lenyenye township where she is assigned to live, and she cannot be quoted by the press. The gover nment is not obliged to give reasons for her banning, which was.extended last year to 1984. Blacks in Lenyenye and the surrounding area might be secretly pleased that Dr. Ramphele is being forced to stay on. She has founded a thriving community health cen ter, which is proving to be vital as this area faces a bleak winter of in sufficient food due to drought. The Ithuseng (help yourself) community health center is em bued with the spirit of Black Con sciousness. And although none of its projects are of political nature, the overall success of Ithuseng points to the continuing influence of Black Consciousness, long after its force as a Black political movement has waned. (The ascen dant Black political force now is the externally based African National Congress.) The philosophy of Black Con sciousness, articulated forcefully by Biko, emphasizes Black (non white) self-reliance and self respect. It excludes involvement by whites, but adherents claim that is due not to an anti-white bias, but to recognition that Blacks must achieve their own “liberation.” That spirit of self-reliance is strong in Ithuseng. It runs a num ber of self-help projects in Lenyenye and the surrounding Black villages, including literacy classes, a child-care center, and the promotion of cottage industries and local gardening to provide local sources of revenue. When Dr. Ramphele arrived in Lenyenye in 1977, close friends said she felt “anger, and some more anger” at her own banning, followed by the death of Biko, the father of her young son, Hlumelo. (Hlumelo reminds his mother to get a legal permit when she leaves the area, because his father’s arrest and subsequent death stemmed from his violating provisions of his banning.) But close associates say Dr. Ramphele soon told herself, “As long as I am here, I might as well do something positive.” There was much to be done. The government health clinic for Lenyenye’s population of 10,000 was small, with a staff of only two nurses. Dr. Ramphele, a medical doctor, set out to build a new clinic, raising private donations of about SBO,OOO. Ithuseng takes care of some 40 to 80 calls per day from local residents. Although Dr. Ramphele’s opposition to the government remains as deep as ever, her anger has been replaced with a positive, ebullient attitude. She appears even to have won respect from her legal overseers. Initially, close associates say, the police used to threaten patients who came to Dr. Ramphele. That harassment has stopped. The good lady-doctor was initially assigned to live in a run-down four-room house that friends say was “not fit for human habitation.” Dr. Ram phele protested to the magistrate, and she was given a new home—one several being built to house the local police force. At present Dr. Ramphele’s biggest concern is the devastating drought that threatens huge foot shortages in her district.