Newspaper Page Text
Jessye Norman
to perform
in Augusta
Page 1
Amuwtu •Nnufi-Iteutw
VOLUME 14 NUMBER 33
The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
by Dr. Richard Mordi
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
belonged to that category of heroes
about whom it is impossible to
write without personalizing your
account because he practically left
no one untouched. He spoke not
only to the majority and minority
groups in American society, but to
the wider world as well.
The upper and middle classes of
American society (preponderantly
Caucasians) have a dispropor
tionately large input in the
legislative process that shape the
laws of this land.
To them, King left a moral
message: they (the majority
group) must not disassociate them
selves from the unpleasant out
comes of the prevailing laws to
level, for instance, the problem of
inadequate urban housing, ob
stacles to equal access to career jobs
and a skewed judicial system on
the victim« of these conditions,he
manitained, was morally
dishonest.
Without moral reformation
among the power holders, true
justice would remain an illusion
and there would be neither
domestic racial harmony nor
respect for America abroad.
To Black America, the thrust of
King’s message is threefold. First,
the youths and everyone alike
should be prepared to take advan
tage of the opportunities opened
up by the civil rights’ successes. In
a .speech on “Remaining Awake
Through A Revolution,” King
noted the improving fortunes
(though slowly) of Black
Americans. Doors closed to earlier
generations were now opening.
But people were intellectually,
emotionally and phsycially un
prepared for the new oppor
tunities. The midnight oil was not
being burnt by students in their
quest for academic excellence.
Jackson announces plans for protest
on Inauguration Day
WASHINGTON The Rev.
Jesse Jackson says he is organizing
nationwide protests against unem
ployment and povert., including a
rally outside the White House two
days before President Reagan
takes his second oath of office.
■ ■ ■
■ ■
" c: • ■ s' ■ afc*
■i ■ T
■- ’ 1
■a -- ■. **“s*?)? -st'
■
. .. ■
- '
. ’S ■ ' .. S-5
- .. . ■
-
■ « - -- * ’# «■“ -#«vs x'fiyllSfe
■ ■ '
f*' , ’ i
1 M ° . *-.
;■> • . , '
U4C;’" .>’
fc;.' .; • ? '•>R?*S«*. < <S. S3*-
**«» '■' ■*•
The Legacy of
Martin Luther King
Page 1
The United States was a com
petitive society in which efficiency
and productivity hold away. Here,
everyone is literally held respon
sible for his or her fortune. To the
extent that race and gender permit
ted, hard working persons suc
ceeded while the indolent failed.
“There is nothing more tragic,” he
aptly observed, “than to sleep
through a revolution of social
change.” Those without
marketable skills are definitely
sleeping through a revolution.
The second thrust of King’s
message is that each of us should
strive to be a star in his or her
chosen field. Nothing typified Kings
personal philosophy and ideals as
this injunction.
Here, he expressly asked people
to strive for the top through
duality and excellent performance.
“We must set out to do a good
job,” he advised, “and do it so
well that the living, the dead and
the unborn couldn’t do it any bet
ter. If you are a street sweeper,
sweep streets like Michaelangelo
painted pictures, sweep streets like
Beethoven composed music; sweep
streets like Shakespeare wrote
poetry; sweep streets so well that
all the host of heaven and earth
will have to pause and say, here lies
a great street sweeper who did his
job well.”
The third thrust of King’s
message is that the fight against
racial evil must continue until
justice is uninstitutionalized.
Racism, according to his speeches,
has two notions.
The first flows from the need for
some materialisticaly-minded
dominant individuals, group or
races to feel important and lead the
parade of life. He called this
phenomenon, the drum-major in
stinct-an insatiable desire tor
group supremacy. It leads to
cleavage in the kindredness of man
and intergroup animosity. Unles
“This administration has
refused to see the growth of pover
ty as a serious problem tor our
nation, ” Jackson said last week.
“It has, instead, pitched its
policies toward the rich.”
combated, it will, sooner or later,
put an end to mankind through “a
colossal contest for supremacy
between.” In short, a thermo
nuclear war.
Hence he urged, “We must con
tinue to affirm the immorality of
racial segregation.” The second
component of racism is predicated
on the fact that the quality of some
people’s goods and services is in
ferior to those of others. For lack
of a more adequate phrase, let us
call this phenomenon—objective
racism.
Unlike ascriptive racism (or the
drum-major instinct), objective
racism can be attacked and even
tually eliminated. It was the need
for a drastic improvement in
quality that animated King’s call
for hard work and excellence. “If
a man can write a better book,”
King paraphrased Ralph Waldo
Jessye Norman to perform
in Augusta
♦SJ • »'.>• •
b £ » '
m **" • Xj
Jessye Norman
Jackson, joined, by Rep. Ron
Dellums D-Calif., District of
Columbia, Mayor Marion Barry
and local labor leaders, announced
plans for nationwide demon
strations Jan 18 in industrial cities
hard-hit by unemployment.
Hall of Fame
enshrines ;
new lege :
Page 6 j
January 12,1985
Emerson, “or preach a better ser
mon, or make a better mouse-trap
than his neighbor, even if he built
his house in the woods, the world
will make a beaten path to his
door.” Racism comes into the
foreground only when cultural
quality is deficient.
Besides the majority and
minority groups in America, King
also left mankind a legacy. A close
look at his personal philosophy
and style will not only uncover the
substance of this legacy but also
enable us to understand why he
succeeded (despite awesome ob
stacles) in his crusade against racial
injustice.
King’s philosophy combined the
powerful elements of love, self
control and a scrupulous use of the
opportunity to lead. With an
enlightened mind and a value
See Dr. King page 6
'Augusta native Jessye Norman
will sing at President Reagan’s
inauguration Jan. 21, then fly to
Augusta to do a benefit concert at
Paine College the same evening.
The Dance Theatre of Harlem
will appear with Ms. Norman at
Paine College.
The concert was originally
scheduled for the Martin Luther
King Chapel at Morehouse College
in Atlanta.
A reception will follow at the
home of President and Mrs.
William H. Harris.
The concert will be held in the
Gilbert-Lambuth Chapel at 8 p.m..
Ticket prices will remain un
changed, S3O for the concert and
SSO for the concert and reception.
Another protest has been
scheduled for Jan. 19, two days
before Reagan’s inauguration,
across from the White House, the
former Democratic presidential
candidate said.
Jackson said his national Rain
bow Coalition also will lobby
Congress to resist cuts in domestic
spending pronosed by Reagan.
Blaming “slave labor” in South
Africa for a loss of jobs in
America’s steel and mining in
dustries, Jackson said Reagan ad
ministration’s policies are en
couraging U.S. firms to do
business in the white-ruled nation.
“Where white and Hispanic
copper miners in Arizona are
struggling for $9 per hour, they are
losing their jobs to slaves in South
Africa working for 37 cents per
hour,” he told reporters at the
Shiloh Baptist Church.
Jackson praised the recent series
of South African Embassy demon
strations against that country’s
system of racial separation known
as apartheid.
“The new visibility being given
to apartheid has allowed a volcano
to explode. Ana now we see tne up
of the iceberg as we develop a solid
policy against South Africa,” he
said.
Jackson said he plans to travel
to South Africa to visit Nobel
Peace Prize recipient Bishop
Desmond Tutu in February and is
scheduled to meet with Pope John
Paul 11 to ask for more help in
protesting South African policies.
I UNCF raises
J ,1,0.1 million for
"jges
IL.
Less than 75 percent Advertising
Let fairness prevail
We believe that Mayor
Charles A. DeVaney has
a bound duty to appoint
a Black to fill his unex
pired term on City Coun
cil.
DeVaney must know
that the First Ward,
which he represented un
til being sworn in as
mayor this week, has
been 60 percent Black or
better for decades. He
must also know that no
Black has ever been elec
ted to represent that
ward. It is the only
predominantly Black
ward that has never had
Black representation on
City Council.
The appointment of a
Black to represent that
ward would be proper
based on the simple
majority Black
composition of that
ward. But given the
historical denial of
representation, then the
appointment of a Black
becomes imperative.
The intensity of the
Black community’s desire
for Black representation
can be seen in the fact
that Black City Coun
cilman Willie Mays beat
DeVaney in the First
Ward in the October
mayoral election. And
Mays does not live in the
First Ward, while
DeVaney does.
The point could be
taken even further when
one considers that in the
Black community Mays
DeVaney sworn in as
Augusta’s 65th mayor
by Linda Starks-Andrews
The inauguration of Charles
DeVaney as the mayor of Auguta
brought to an end a chapter in the
city’s history which reached a peak
last April 28 with the resignation
of former Mayor Edward M.
Mclntyre.
DeVaney was appointed by the
City Council as mayor pro tern to
serve the remainder of Mclntyre’s
term.
DeVaney was elected without
a run off, defeating councilmem
bers Willie Mays, and Inez Wylds
and former councilman J. W.
Spence.
V.
“I am sure that the Savannah
River is not so wide that we cannot
cross it together,” DeVaney said,
as he presided over the City Coun
cils first regular meeting of 1985
[Don’t forget to turn on your i
headlights Jan. 15 in honor of*
tMgrtjn Luthej King Day i
Editorial
trounced DeVaney and
the other two mayoral
candidates by carrying 72
percent of the vote.
It is no mystery why no
Black has ever been elec
ted in the First Ward. It is
because of the at-large
voting sytem in the city.
It is the same system
that kept Blacks in Burke
county with no represen
tation. And since the
Supreme Court struck
down at-large voting in
Burke County, its gover
ning body now has a
Black majority.
The mayor can no
longer hide behind
“color-blindness” in his
appointments. To ignore
the deliberate, historical
discrimination is to per
petuate the racism that
has blinded this country
and robbed it of the con
tributions of its excluded
citizens.
The mayor has an op
portunity to make a selec
tion that is truly represen
tative of the majority of
the people of the First
Ward or he can continue
to deny them represen
tation.
We hope that the
mayor will move in the
interest of fairness and
the well-being of all of
the citizens of this com
munity, partculrly those
who have been denied the
most —the majority of
the residents of the First
Ward.
which began immediately
following the inauguration.
Delivering the traditional State
of the City address, DeVaney
said, “The time is right, the cir
cumstances are right, the spirit is
right for this city to move for
ward”.
DeVaney added, that the leaders
of Augusta must “grasp the
initiative and put behind us any
and all selfish interests than can so
easily cause progress to come to a
swift halt”.
During the meeting, Carl C.
Brown was reappointed as judge
of the Recorder’s Court.
Brown, a local lawyer, was first
appointed judge under the Mcln
tyre administration three year ago.
DeVaney concluded the meeting
telling City Council, “While I feel
that 1984 was a good year for our
city, there is much work that
remains for our future”
30C