Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review February 16,1985
Mallory K. MillenderEditor-Publisher
Paul Walker Assistant to the Publisher
Georgene Hatcher-Seabrook'•••' general Manager
Rev. R.E. Donaiasoi 4 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. Been Buchananrashion & Beauty Editor
Linda Starks-Andrews Keporter
Roosevelt Green Columnist
Al Irby ; Columnist
Philip Waring Columnist
Marva Stewart Columnist
George Bailey....,Sports Writer
Carl McCoyEditorial Cartoonist
Olando HamlettPhotographer
Roscoe Williams t .Photographer
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Walking With Dignity
South Africa grudgingly
gives an inch
By Al Irby
President Peter Botha dropped
once and for all the notion that all
of South Africa’s Black majority
F *
can be accom- |
modated polit- I
cally in the I
tribal “homel- I
ands”. |
And Mr. I
Botha has in- |
vited certain '
Blacks to take E
part in informal talks aimed at
developing “mutually acceptable’’
political institutions for non
homeland Blacks. Botha’s speech
at the opening Parliament ap
peared to mark a significant shift
in several of the basic tenents of
apartheid. But there has been a
mixed reaction from government
opponents.
Many Blacks have rejected
Botha’s proposals as a new tactic
for an old end. Black
organizations say Botha is still
trying to fragment Blacks
politically in order to perpetuate
white dominance. Certain of the
government’s white opponents
responded more favorably to
Botha’s speech. Frederick van Zyl
Slabbert leader of the opposition
Progressive Federal Party, said
while Botha’s pronouncements
were “tentative and cautious,”
they also represented a “departure
from traditional Nationalist
dogma.” Naturally, the United
State Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Frank Wisner, visiting
Zambia, welcomed Botha’s
speech.
Botha’s new proposals are in
keeping with his established style
of leadership. He has jettisoned in
the past several apartheid sacred
cows. But he has yet to convinve
the country’s non whites that these
changes—despite their ideological
importance to whites —are
anything more than tactical
maneuvers for ensuring continued
white control of the country.
Botha and his fellow Affrikan
ners once held that all of South
Africa’s 22 million Blacks would
one day end up in the 10 tribal
hotnelands. Blacks would have
political rights in the homelands
hut not in the central government
of South Africa, It became clear
over time that all Blacks would
never reside in the homelands,
(there are more Blacks than whites
in the major cities like Johan
nesburg.) But the government still
insisted urban Blacks would only
have a political say beyond the
local level in their “homelands”.
Now Botha has announced that
Black communities outside the
“homelands” will be treated
politically as entities in their own
right and that they must be gran
ted political participation at
“higher levels.”
But this does not necessarily
mean Blacks will gain any power
at the central-government level
over the country as a whole. Botha
said what was envisioned was an
institution at a higher level
whereby Blacks could decide their
“own affairs”—meaning matters
relating only to Blacks.
This could imply that urban
Black communities will in effect be
elevated to the status of mini
homelands, a development that
would not placate Black demands
for political power in governing
the country. Pretora’s political
Page 4
blueprint for the homelands is that
they can have autonomy to rule
themselves.
But when it comes to the
“common interests” of all South
Africa, the homelands have no
real power and can only consult
with the white-dominated central
government. At this stage Botha’s
plan seems to envision a similar
role for urban Blacks.
In his speech, Botha also hinted
at some changes in policies that ef
fect the day-to-day lives of Blacks.
Botha said he was ready to grant
freehold property rights to urban
Blacks. Whites have always been
reluctant to grant Blacks property
rights since it implied their per
manence in areas outside the hated
homelands.
Botha announced the gover
nment was investigating how to
“eliminate negative and
discrimatory aspects” of the in
flux-control measures that
stringently regulate Black travel
and access to jobs. He promised
changes in the policy of resettling
Blacks from white areas to hte
homelands “to the great satisfac
tion of all those concern.”
Botha also said new attention
was being given to Black citizen
ship. The heavy emphasis of
Botha’s speech on Biack affairs is
a clear signal to many analysts that
the South African government is
becoming sensitive to the ac
celerating disinvestment campaign
in the United States.
To Be Equal
By John E. Jacob
Computers are fast becoming
part of our daily life and people
who don’t achieve a measure of
computer liter-,
acy are likely
to lose their|
chance for the
jobs of hte
future. Many
new jobs
demand famil
iarity with
1 I
computers, as do many traditional
jobs, with the spread of com
puterized manufacturing process.
But too many of our young people
haven’t received the education they
need to make it in toaday’s
economy, much less tomorrow’s.
With high dropout rates and
widespread functional illiteracy,
Going
Honoring Augusta’s history with Dent memorial
by Philip Waring
Thanks to the many friends who
contacted me during my recent
illness indicating they had missed
my column.
There are
many splendid F
happenings in
action in J «
Augusta duri- l
ing the 1985 1/ * .Jf
Black History
month. A W *
major thrust of
this column, however, is a
suggestion on one way to remem
ber the two Dents’s both Richard
and B.L.
My working, residence and
visiting in more than 30 cities in
five states has convinced me that
there is a real problem centering
they've deregulated everything
ELSE... VJHY CAN'T THEY DEREGULATE
POVERTY?
tSLACkt RESOURCES iUC.
View from Capitol Hill
Presidental budget without a heart
By Gus Savage
The president’s proposed federal
budget for 1986 is a discal and
ethical monstrosity not likely.to
survive thel
major surgery
scheduled for
it in Congress. I
This is not I
surprising sin-1
ce it was con-1
ceived byd
morally retar- *
ded parents
and born without a heart. Con
sequently, it does not understand
the needs of, and its benefits don’t
circulate to the vital working class,
Black, and young parts of the
American body politic.
Therefore, I shall write against
it, broadcast against it, and speak
against it to the public-and debate,
against it, lobby against it, and
vote against it in Congress.
Specifically, I strongly oppose
all three main aspects of Reagan’s
budget proposal:
First of all, I oppose his
proposal to decrease the amount to
be spent on all America’s domestic
needs by some s4l Vi billion, in
cluding sl6 billion from vital
social services, jobs, income
Sharing the high tech future
those young people will face a
world that demands new skills and
knowledge. Computer expertise
also requires a strong background
in math, and the Black student at
trition rate in high school math is
astronomical.
This does not have to be Black
students can excel in math, as
demonstrated by the experience of
the Professional Development
Program of the University of
California at Berkeley. The
program’s director, Dr. Robert E.
Fullilove 111, authored the article
on Modern Technology and Urban
Schools in the National Urban
League’s State of Black America
report, on which this column is
based.
The key to ensuring equal access
to the high tech future for Black
youth lies in better math and com
puter science programs in the
around the lack of public statures
memorials, markers and plaques
about Black Americans.
We have two splendid
Augustans who have passed during
the past three years. They should
not be forgotten. Their good
works and numerous positive con
tributions should be visually
retained.
We would suggest that twin
bronze plaques be errected at the
corner of Pine St. and Laney-
Walker Blvd. This would : 1) Be in
the heart of the Black Community
2) Serve as a visible role model to
thousands of young people with
visable messages for many years to
come 3) They would be located but
a scant few feet from where these
two business-political leaders built
two of the most significant Black
security, education, student loans,
and housing programs. These cuts
are bone braking because, as you
know, these programs had already
been cut to the bone during
Reagan’s first term in office. Fur
thermore, Reagan seeks to abolish
the Small Business Ad
ministration, mass transit aid, and
Urban Development Action Gran
ts.
Secondly, despite these unfair
cuts, the proposed budget still
would increase by SIBO billion the
federal debt, which already ex
ceeds $1.5 trillion and for which he
would pay in interest alone, in
1986, $142/2 billion, the third
largest component in the budget.
Incidentally, the proposed 1986
deficit is approximately the same
as the last recorded deficit, $lB6
billion for fiscal 1984, not a reduc
tion.
Thirdly, this deficit would be
due to Reagan’s proposed whop
ping $32 billion increased in our
present record-high spending tor
war preparatons, which I most
strongly oppose. His proposed
$286 billion in outlays for so-called
defense in 1986 amounts to almost
schools. Federal statistics cited by
Dr. Fullilove strongly suggest that
Black students are not getting the
maximum, positive exposure to
computers.
He finds a “stark difference” in
computer use between
predominately majority schools
and predominately minority ones.
Only about a third of urban
have computers, and those
that do use them in ways that may
place their students at a disadvan
tage when they compete for
the jobs of the future.
Urban schools are far more
likely to use their microcomputers
for compensatory or remedial
work and for basic academic skills
instruction than either rural or
suburban schools. And nupils in
predominately minority schools
get only about half the computer
use time that students in
business firms of their kind in the
nation and tourists and vistors
coming into Augusta would stop
and read about our first Black
City Councilman and his brother,
our first Black state representative
of this century.
In some instances the naming of
a street would not at all adequately
portray what I am suggesting.
This proposal should not entail a
great deal of expense. This impor
tant matter should lie directly
with the Dent relatives and could
easily be accomodated from the
estates of both men whose hard
work and astute business acumen
left both in comfortable circum
stances.
Many families around the nation
do this kind of thing for their loved
ones. May I suggest that the Dent
one-third of his total proposed
budget of $974 billion in outlays.
This defense component even ex
ceeds the amount budgeted for
social security and medicare. It is
the largest spending category in the
proposed budget, $313 billion in
expected outlays plus contracting
authority for later payment. The
total budget authority is $1.06
trillion.
In other words, for 1986,
Reagan proposed to spend more
than half of the anticipated federal
revenue of about SBOO billion for
his so-callled defense program plus
interest payments to the wealthy
on the debt this program causes.
Moreover, the actual 1986 deficit
that Reagan’s budget would create
could be much higher than his
estimate if unemployment, in
flation, or interest rates rise during
the year, as they very well might.
Finally, just let me translate this
into local terms. Take the City of
Chicago, for example. Reagan’s
proposal could result in Chicago
losing more half its present
$446 million in federal aid for
housing, mass transportation,
sewers and sanitation, urban and
predominately white working class
schools do, despite the similarities
in student backgrounds.
Only 14 percent of students in
predominately minority elemen
tary schools get time on com
puters, compared to almost half
the students in schools in affluent
districts.
Working class white elementary
schools tend to focus their com
puter time on their best students
while predominately Black schools
tare far more likely to give the
limited computer time to their
below-average students.
That means the students most,
likely to benefit from more advan
ced computer skills in
predominately Black schools are
denied the experience, while their
white peers in low income
predominately white schools get
the skills they will then use in
family give this their con
sideration. Also invite Dr. Ike
Washington to serve as coor
dinator. Dr. Ike was a life-long
friend and Walker Baptist Institute
and Paine College schoolmate of
both.
This project is most important
for the future historical presevaton
of the rich contribution made to
the Augusta community by
Richard and B.L.
It would be possible for the
proper unveiling in connection
with the vast city-wide 250th an
niversary of Augusta.
The year 1985 should also mark
movement by the Dr. S. S. John
son Memorial Committe geared to
place a bronze plaque in a small
land wedge at Twiggs, Ninth and
community development, and
other such programs.
He proposes to deeply cut this
amount while supporting El
Salvador’s uncontrolled and brutal
military establishment with twice
as much aid as he has proposed for
Chicago. Furthermore, he
proposes sharply increasing aid to
Israel to $3.1 billion—that equals
SB/2 of your tax dollars each day
of the year—four times the total
present federal aid to Chicago.. In
cidentally, El Salvador, Israel, and
Chicago each has about the same
number of citizens.
This budget illustarates the lop
sided priorities of a reactionary
Reagan administration that con
tinues to punish the hungry and
homeless, the unemployed, our
students, and small businesses that
provide the greatest number of
new jobs.
Reagan’s proposed budget will
have a devastating effect on the
economic well-being of all cities
and states because any decrease*in
federal aid requires a reduction in
public services or increase in local
and state taxes to compensate for
the loss of revenue.
more advanced computer work in
high school, and in advancing on
to college and the prime job
market.
This is not to suggest that below
average students don’t benefit
from the remedial work and the
drilling in basic skills that com
puters can provide. But it does im
ply that the students who can
benefit most from computer train
ing aren’t getting it.
With the student-computer ratio
standing at 233-1 in predominately
Black elementary schools and only
183-1 in white ones, there is clearly
a need for more widespread ac
cessibility of computers for schools
in minority neighborhoods.
But as important is the need to
reassess how those computers are
used, and to equip Black
youngsters with the math and
computer skills they need for the
jobs of the future.
Wrightsboro Rd. It will
memorialize the late Dr. S.S.
Johnson, physican, banker and
educator and his family who have
lived and operated various
business operations in this section
of Turpin Hill.
These businesses have been in
operation since the Civil War.
Joseph Goudy is Committee
chairman with Doctors I.E.
Washington and J.E. Carter, Jr.
are honorary co-chairmans.
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THE
NAACP