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NEWS-REVIEW - MAY 13, 1971 - i THE NEWS-REVIEW PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY 930 Gwinnett Street - Augusta, Georgia Mallory K. Millender Editor and Publisher Mailing Address: Box 953 Augusta, Ga. Phone 722-4555 Application to mail at Second Class postage rates is pending at Augusta, Ga. 30901 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Payable in Advance One Year in Richmond $2.50 tax incl. fl One Year elsewhere $3.00 tax inch ] ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 1 Classified Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday J Display Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday Office Hours -10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon. thru. Fri. wwwwwwwwwwwwww PART 7 URBAN LEAGUE REPORT As a community service the News-Review will print the entire text of the report and recommendations of the National Urban League concerning the causes of the events of May 11,1970. It should be made perfectly clear that the text of this report has not been edited or otherwise altered in anyway. Since the report is too lengthy to be printed in one issue, we will print it in a weekly series. We urge you to read it and carefuli consider the information found therein so that we may begin o work seriously toward meaningful progress in race relations and human dignity. Veterans Administration Hospital The Veterans Administration Hospital, quite naturally, does not have a Board of Directors. According to the Veterans Administration’s officials, the staff is 1,800 with 400 blacks. Yet, only two have supervisory positions - one head nurse and one psychiatrist, or. 1 percent of the total staff. Children and Youth Clinic The Children and Youth Clinic is affiliated with the Medical College of Georgia. The clinic is one of sixty pilot programs around the nation. It was funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity under Title V of the Social Security Administration Act. The clinic was started in November, 1966, and it provides services for three federal housing projects: Allen, Gilbert, and Sunset. A total of 1,800 children is served by this clinic. The only qualification for services rendered by this clinic are that a child be a resident of one of the housing projects. Eligible children are provided the services of the clinic from birth through eighteen years of age. At this point, all children served by the clinic are black; however, plans have been projected in the future to add a white housing project -- Homestead Homes. Transportation to the Children and Youth Clinic is provided by the clinic for those who do not live in the immediate area of the facility. There are twenty-four persons on the Board of Directors - fifteen whites and nine blacks. Table 27 shows that of a total staff of seventeen persons only four blacks are employed. TABLE 27 STAFFING PATTERN BY CATEGORY AND RACE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH CLINIC - 1970 POSITION TOTAL NO- BLACK Director • Administrator Chief Project Nurse 1 Chief Social Worker 1 Registered Nurse 1 • Licensed Practical Nurse 3 Junior Social Worker 1 Clerical WOrkers 2 1 Clinical Psychologist 1 Senior Social Worker 1 Nutritionist 1 Laboratory Technician 1 1_ Total 17 4 Os the total staff of seventeen, only four are black, or 4.25 percent, even though the clinic presently serves an all black clientele. Those four blacks are not employed in any administrative positions. ' Planned Parenthood This agency was started in October, 1969, after one year of planning. Funding involves the Office of Economic Opportunity and donations*from the local community on an 80 percent/20 percent arrangement in order given. The breakdown of the 1970 budget is $59,338 from the Office of Economic Opportunity and $8,838 from the local community for a total of $68,176. There is a training program for Family Planning Recruiters. The training is for a five-month period. At the completion of the last training cycle, eleven blacks and three whites were graduated. One-third of the Advisory Board is comprised of lay representatives, doctors, and representatives of low-income groups, respectively. Total membership is twenty-four (nine blacks and fifteen whites). There are four basic staff persons, all of whom are black. Augusta Area Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association The Augusta Area Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association serves Augusta and the surrounding areas. Originally, the Augusta Area Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association was a member of the local United Fund; however, it is now a separate agency whose source of funds is from the sale of Easter Seals. The budget for 1970 is $30,000 The local chapter is governed by thirty-five persons who sit on the Board of Directors. All Board Members are white, though it is interesting to note that according to the Executive Director “....90 percent of our tuberculosis patients going to Battey Stata Hospital are black.”(*7) I Project 506 (Maternal and Infant Care) and Family Planning Project Project 506 and the Family Planning Project are funded through federal, state, and local sources. Project 506 patients come from an eleven-county area. This eleven-county area was characterized in the following manner by Miss Charion Seeger, Chief Social Worker: “...these eleven counties are extremely resource poor. Jobs, | SEE URBAN LEAGUE PAGE 3 PAGE 2 It is indeed important that all citizens of this community consider carefully the proposed charter for unifying the governments of Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia. All of us, without question, favor a more economical government and a government that is responsive to the needs of the people of this community. To this end, we must not only scrutinize the charter itself, but we must, to the fullest extent possible, scrutinize those who play roles which might ultimately lead to positions in the proposed new government. We wish to dissuade any notion that the persons who constitute the Government Study Committee have not done their best. On the contrary, the members should be commended for the time, self-sacrifice and effort they put forward. Very few people can write a charter or a constitution, as history so clearly reveals. The failure of local governments (city and county) is the failure of people. Irrespective of whether unification passes or fails to pass, it is imperative that government become more responsive to the people—that is what government is about—for the people and by the people; that is its raison D’etre. History demonstrates that with the possible exception of the Greek-city states, government has always been controlled by one person, i.e., a king or dictator, or a few persons, i.e., an oligarchy, now political cliques financed by a few wealthy individuals. In light of the fact that the proposed charter is being rushed upon the people so quickly, the power structure is spending enormous sums of money for promoting the charter - the news media have been extremely biased in reporting events, and a public relations firm out of Atlanta has been hired to promote acceptance of the charter. It then becomes more important than ever that the charter (as well as its promoters) be examined with extraordinary care. The charter should be rejected for the following reasons: 1) The Chairman or Mayor has too much authority. It is of no moment to say that his action is subject to the approval of a sixteen-man commission. The present City Council indicates the type of control the Chairman or Mayor would exercise over the commissioners. With his men thoroughly entrenched in the various districts and the power which he has, it would take a political giant to oppose the Chairman or Mayor who has power equal to or in excess of that of the Chairman. The four commissioners who would run at large could be expected to form alliances with the ’Chairman during the election; and if they win, the Chairman already has four votes for any proposal that is submitted to the Commission. (See Charter, Section 4.07) 2) The administrative assistant has entirely too much power and authority to be accountable to the Chairman only. He, along with the Chairman, would form a dual dictatorship where only the Chairman would be answerable to the voters. With Big Money backing the Chairman, the people stand to lose. 3) There is no uniformity of taxation, with the tax burden falling unto those who can least afford it. While the old saying of “pay for what you get” sounds good in a vacuum, when you apply it to the consolidated government, it amounts to penalizing poor people (black and white) for being ghettoized by the moneyed or propertied class. For example, if the Hyde Park area is subsequently made into a special services district, it is plausible that residents who are thrown into the same district would vigorously object because that is the area most in need of services, but can least afford to pay for them. As a result, the area probably would have to suffer without the needed services. This would have the effect of putting a premium on the discrimination of unequal services that have " long plagued this community. LETTER to the EDITOR Dear Sir: RUFFIN VIEWS CONSOLIDATION (See Section 1.03) 4) The charter provides for probability of inequality of services and the discontin uation of services if the commission determines that such services are either obsolete or unnecessary. (See Section 1.04 E and F) 5) Districts can be altered, amended, merged, abolished, etc. Although a public hearing must be held prior to such action being taken, once the decision has been made by the commission, the hearing is simply a perfunctory z, - J ~ 1 A « ~ ~ procedural device superimposed on a previous decision. (See Section 1.07) 6) Double taxation may be imposed as a result of taxes for services and service charges to defray installation costs and operating expenses incurred in furnishing services. (See Section 2.03 (28)) 7) While old employees are to be retained in the new government (irrespective of need), there is nothing to prevent these employees from being dismissed once the new government comes into being. (See Section 3.18) 8) Duly elected commissioners can only deal with the executive branch of the new government, including appointive officers, directors of departments and employees thereof through the Chairman (and presumably through his administrative assistant.) It is ridiculous that duly elected officials are insulated from public employees, which permits the build-up of an untouchable bureaucracy. (See Section 3.19) 9) Any government should have the right to police itself to ascertain whether or not any branch thereof is operating properly. However, the proposed charter provides for inquiries and investigations, subpoena power and the taking of evidence without specifically indicating what is to be done with the evidence or the person against whom the evidence is secured. This means that a person could be subject to both grand jury investigation and an investigation under the new government. The evidence and information secured by such a hearing could be used for political purposes, and presumably one commissioner could call for an investigation although it probably would take a majority of the commission to actually conduct it or cause it to be conducted. If the commission decides to have an investigation, it could be a secret inquisition. (See Sections 3.20 and 3.21) 10) The Personnel Review Board is appointed by the Chairman (8.07), and it has no authority to deal with or otherwise eliminate discrimination based upon race or class. 11) The Recorder should be a full-time employee (since geographical jurisdiction is extended, revenue should increase which could pay his salary), and the assistant recorder should not come from the same law firm as the Recorder. The Recorder should not be permitted to practice law. 12) The proposed government is devoid of power to prohibit discrimination based upon race or class in that no penalities or sanctions are provided. Section 9.09 is a declaration of policy with no corrective provisions. Once the new government takes effect, it will not enact any non-discrimination legislation because the commissioners will be elected from districts rather than by the voters at large. It is significant that a provision was in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Charter which indicated that “Not all members may be of the same race or sex or political party.” Again, with regard to appointments on boards, commissions and authorities, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Charter provided: “In appointing persons to boards, commissions and authorities, the Council shall secure reasonable representation on each board, commission and authority of all sexes, races, income groups, geographic sections of the county and political parties. This section also applies to appointments to Walking with DIGNITY „„„ wl by "GOING L —1 ■■■■■■■■ Al IRBY fcr) *** F Jx (THE TWILIGHT OF THE NEW GENETIC REVOLUTION) PLACES” \ If only man could develop his inner self as he has developed scientifically and technologically, we could experience what Jesus ■ meant when he said, - The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” Wn I*l nn J Providence tries to open our eyes to the cosmic wonders and X W / possibilities of his limitless grandeur. Transplanting vital organs of ' * the anatomy, and putting men on the moon are only a few of the God given revelations. “Newness” is today’s trend, new Math, new Economics, and now “new Genetics.” Medical science is moving into new and marvelous dimensions of exploration. Time Magazine carried a special section on the “New Genetics” - The promise and peril of the latest study of the mysterious genes-highlighting the mystical truth of Boris Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago. “Reshaping life-people who say there is nothing to understand about life.” Already with man’s meager knowledge, he stands on the threshold of global human amelioration, by eradicating divers diseases and correcting genetic defects. Dr. Robert Sinsheimer of Cal-Tech one of the creators of the biological revolution had this to say, “For the first time in recorded time, a living creature understands its origin and can undertake to design its future.” Biological advancement will make life more meaningful in the future by remaking or replacing defected genes by laser beams and using viruses as genetic messengers in the body. There will be therapeutic mental short cuts to acquire knowledge, or learning can be transmitted by electrodes. We are well on our way to new secrets of an abundant life. Drs. Watson and Carick, two Cambridge University scientists, gave to the world the break through of double-helical shape of that mysterious substance, deoxyribonucleic, or DNA. In DNA’s spiral-staircase structure is hidden the answer to heredity, of growth, of disease and aging. This wonderful discovery is equal in scientific importance to splitting of the atom. Alert scientists are using new laboratory knowhow to isolate, put together, and manipulate genes so as to be really close to creating life itself. Dr. Arthur Kornberg of Stanford University put together in a test tube a single strand of DNA that was able to duplicate itself, thus creating a twilight zone between the living and the inanimate. Thanks should go to Father Gregor Mendel, an Austrian Monk, who began to watch the peas he had planted in the Monastery garden. By tallying up the various offspring peas, the good father found out that traits of the different peas were passed from generation to generation with mathematical precision in small separate packets, which subsequently became known as genes. This key discovery was made in the early part of the 19th century. Out of this glorious genetic knowledge, let it be hoped that the dreaded disease of “Sickle Cell Anemia” that affects only Black people will be eradicated. Sickle Cell Anemia comes from an abnormality in the hemoglobin component of the blood. Barely nothing was known of this rare blood abnormality until 1910. The U.S. Department of Health Education, and Welfare is making a concerted effort to educate Black couples who are contemplating marriage to request a sickle cell blood test. There is a reasonable estimate that 50,000 Blacks in America are afflicted with this ethnic malady, while approximately two million are carriers of this dreaded blood trait. The Black medical community in America should corral its expertise and wealth in setting up blood clinics in key cities to combat this scourge in the Black race; liberal white medical organizations would assist also. HEW and private grants could be utilized. The Black Medical Profession is the most affluent group in the Black race, and the bulk of this wealth is obtained from Black people. That age-old axiom, “God helps those who help themselves”, could be perspicously applied to such a worth-while project. (A UNIFICATION THOUGHT TO PONDER) Black opponents of the Unification charter should not build their opposition solely upon the delusive dream of political parity. Many major cities with Black majority are literally rotting down. In as much as political power is important; it will not, in itself, bring complete salvation without financial structure. all boards, commissions and authorities established under provisions of general law or by ordinance or resolution of the Council.” Another section of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Charter provides: “The consolidated government may, consistent with the Constitutions of the United States and North Carolina, enact ordinances to prohibit acts of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex.” These provisions are cited to show what a charter can contain, if the people have the will and determination. (The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Charter was defeated, however.) 13) Those persons who constitute the power structure have not been the calibre of persons in whom poor people can repose confidence. Poor people have been used to further the interest of the power bloc. Blacks have been permitted, at the sufferance of the power bloc, to get positions which indicate and epitomize tokenism. For example, one black of five on the Augusta Housing Authority, one black of five on the County Commission, one black of five on the Civil Service Commission, one black of five on the Augusta- Richmond County Hospital Authority, two blacks of .sixteen on the County Board of Education, and four blacks of sixteen on the City Council. Although the Board of Education is not a part of the city or county government in that it is a corporate legal entity, it shows how the “spirit of tokenism” permeates the entire system and shows that racism is endemic to the system. An example of the entrenched racism is that while the chairman of the Stockade and Recorder’s Court Committee was white, he presided over the Recorder’s Court in the absence of the Recorder and his assistant. However, while the chairman is black (B.L. Dent) he was never permitted to serve in the absence of the Recorder or his assistant. The power bloc could not fathom a black passing judgment on whites. 14) Blacks were not permitted to participate on the Government Study Committee in appointive positions except tokeniy. There were only three blacks on the committee, (representing the middle class stratum of society), which shows again the resort to tokenism in order to give blacks a semblance of representation, out of approximately twenty-seven persons originally. 15) There will be a diminution of voting power or voting strength. This is significant not because blacks want to elect a black mayor, but because it is the one political method of effectuating change within the system. The black vote will be segregated where blacks can only elect persons to public office in the districts where AUGUSTA SHOULD BE PROUD OF ITS NEW WEEKLY A few weeks ago my two cousins, Mrs. Edith Buchanan and Mrs. Josephine Allen Richardson, told me about the new paper.' This begins my column, “Going Places,” which will highlight activities of former Augustans around the nation. It will feature Urban League news, data on economic betterment too. < May I salute Publisher Mallory Millender and his associates who have introduced the NEWS-REVIEW which should be of great service to the more than fifty thousand Blacks living in the Greater Augusta area. If Black communities are to progress and’ move forward they must have their own weekly newspaper. And it must inform, educate and give forthright leadership as the nation and the South are now undergoing dramatic changes ir civil rights and race relations. | BLACK PRESS HAS COME OF AGE The business magazine, BLACK ENTERPRISE, in its Mayfl edition points out that the Black newspaper has grown from 145 j in 1945 to over 300 in 1971 and has a circulation of over two I million serving the thirty billion dollar Negro market. All kinds offl local and national business firms advertise in the Black press a&fl searches for part of that market. And the local weekly must be high-class with truth and integrity. Progressive-minded Augustans should get behind and support the NEWS-REVIEW as it should be a valuable and factual partner in the thrust for progress and' change which is long over due in the nation and the South. GOOD OMEN FOR NEWS-REVIEW As I start “Going Places,” it is good to note the presence of, both Al Irby and Henri Freeman who were fellow columnists and writers on the former WEEKLY REVIEW in the 1950-60 era. Featuring of the National Urban League survey on social and economic conditions in Augusta should prove a valuable guide for* community change. And I understand that now is the time of action for the projected county-city unification plan. CITY-COUNTY UNIFICATION BAD FOR BLACKS , Talk with any leading Black spokesman (or liberal White) around the nation, and they will tell you that unification of any city-county area usually spells bad news for the Black citizen. I had the opportunity of sharing this information two years ago* when 1 spoke to the Augusta Frontiers Business and Professional Service Club and a group of leading Negro female civic leaders. Our three leading civil rights organizations, NAACP, National Urban League and SCLC, have all raised serious questions about city-county unification. And so have our leading Black newspapers, Churches and civic groups. Unfortunately racism is the hallmark of the day in America and I can unfortunately see nothing which will give full and fair opportunities to Blacks in city-county merges. (Note the Urban League survey of the past). FEDERAL LAW NOW STANDS FOR US Last week a three-judge court, made up of three white Mississippi jurists, critized Attorney General John N. Mitchell’s attitude toward handling a proposed change in that state’s voting laws. Evidentially, Mr. Mitchell got the message later in the week ’ because he is now blocking a projected Virginia law which would change voting districts in Richmond, Norfolk and other large cities, making it impossible for Negroes to elect local officials. „ Federal law now holds that states should not eliminate or change natural districts and neighborhoods where Negroes now live. History will be looking very keenly at what happens in Augusta. AUGUSTA-AIKEN NATIONAL REUNION IN JULY The second annual Augusta-Aiken National Reunion will be held on Sunday afternoon, July 18 at the Robert Treat Hotel in downtown Newark, N.J. Last July over one hundred former ( residents of these two towns (and also former students who attended schools there) came out for this most successful reunion which had Mayor Kenneth Gibson as its speaker. I am again serving as General Chairman, while old friend, LaVozier LaMarr, 1 Newark YMCA Executive, is Co-Chairman, with some twenty other persons around the nation on the Planning Committee. Augusta residents can get an early morning flight and return by ( midnight. My last words: Support Editor Mallory Millender and the NEWS—REVIEW. Give him your ideas, subscriptions, advertising and news. If Augusta (or any city with a Black population) is to move forward it must have a good Black weekly newspaper. they preponderate. Whites can, on the other hand, win every other elective office without any concern for a single black vote. The result is that under the new government, blacks will have less voice than we have ever had in the affairs of a government which affects us since the abolition of the white primary. Blacks have four city councilmen now, and the new government doesn’t offer any more, numerically speaking, and it offers less as far as affecting policy changes in that the four-at-large commissioners can nullify instantly, the vote of four black commissioners. As a result, we blacks should not permit ourselves to be hood-winked by district elected commissioners. A report from Tabernacle Baptist Church indicates that not a single black has been hired through that office since May 11, 1970; whereas prior to that time, this office was placing anywhere from fifteen to twenty people per month on jobs in private industry. There has been an orchestrated effort on the part of some segments of the majority community to isolate Paine College from the community because of the May 11, incident of last year. As black citizens of this community, we cannot permit this genocide to continue unabated. Paine® College has played a vital roij in this community’s cultural and economic growth, and its influence is needed more than ever. Finally, consolidation of governments is desirable, but we blacks should not permit , ourselves to be used on May 25th to change to a form of government which is inimical to our needs, penalizes us because of our poverty, and the power bloc which uses us to advance its own selfish and ■ economic motives. The proposed charter is a hardship on poor people and blacks, and it should be rejected because it is an advancement for the power bloc. Who spends the money for a public relations firm? Who spends the money for television and radio 4 announcements? Who spends the money for billboard ads? Who spends the money for specially installed telephones in banks? Who spends the money on newspaper ads? Who gets all of the newspaper coverage? It 5 is the power bloc, and the people should put an end to this matter on May 25, 1971. Sincerely ( John H. Ruffin, Jr. Attorney at Law