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News-Review June 10, 1971, 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 County $2.50 tax incl. One Year elsewhere $3.00 tax incl. ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Classified Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday Display Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday Office Hours ■ 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon, thru. Fri. 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 carefully consider the information found therein so that we may begin to work seriously toward meaningful progress in race relations and human dignity. SOCIAL, CIVIC AND FRATERNAL ACTIVITIES Social, civic, fraternal, and benevolent organizations exercise a great influence in the social and cultural life of blacks in the Augusta-Richmond County area. Some of the organizations serve social purposes only, while others provide for members and non-members opportunities for social and cultural participation and expression. College fraternities and sororities though critized by some for exclusiveness provide scholarships and participate in activities designed to assist elementary and high school youth to greater achievement. No one contacted was able to provide a full list of these organizations, but among the fraternities prominently mentioned are: The Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Alpha Psi. The sororities include: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta. The more prominent fraternal-benevolent organizations are: The Yorkrite Masons, Free and Accepted Masons, Eastern Star, Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Links. The Augusta-Richmond Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the most effective organization dealing with the multiple problems of the black community. Among the areas of special interest and concern are housing discrimination, legal redress, education, political activity, and police relations. The local organizations operate on the basis of committees charged with specific problem areas. Frequent meetings are held by the local N.A.A.C.P.’s president and committeemen. In these meetings they discuss issues relevant to black people of Richmond County, and the struggle of black people in the Augusta area to survive and overcome the exploitative and dehumanizing perpetrated by the larger white community. A newly organized division of the N.A.A.C.P. is the Youth Division. This division seeks to involve youth in the total program of the Association. Chapter meetings of the Association are held bi-monthly for the purpose of airing complaints and deciding on action and reporting on N.A.A.C.P. activities. All activities of the Association are performed by volunteers. According to Dan Cross, President of the local Chapter, the majority of the membership is black; however, a few white people are included in the membership. The local branch is best known for its activities in protecting the civil rights of black people and coming to the aid of blacks who report alleged police brutality. Housing, Recording to Mr. Cross, is a major concern of the organization. The N.A.A.C.P. has formed a non-profit housing corporation tentatively designed to be known as “Metro Advance, Inc.” to develop 235 (J) housing and to rehabilitate rental property. “In spite of the effort and successes which the N.A.A.C F. has demonstrated, the local association has not received the cooperation and financial support to be hoped for”, said Mr. Cross. He also complained of the inadequate, wishy-washy Cooperation from city officials in dealing with the problems which have been brought to their attention by the N.A.A.C.P. THE COMMITTEE OF 10 The Committee of 10 was established following the racial disturbance on May 11th. Its purpose was to investigate causative factors that led to the disorder and to make community services more effective in solving problems and involving residents in the development of service programs. Members of the Committee from the black community are responsible for the programmatic activities and leadership of this organization. The Committee’s primary concern was to make its resources available to assist those involved in the racial conflict and to use the special knowledge and insight of its members to effect a resolution of community problems. The Committee was one of the most effective resources in the community in vrging the city authorities to take affirmative action in dealing with the problems Which caused the May 11th incident in which six blacks were killed. THE CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES : Religious institutions among blacks in Augusta and Richmond County are the most highly organized and influential institutions ifi the black community. ' The large membership in many of the black churches and their religious and social influence give them a medium of social control which is not held by any other organized group. Many of the black business and civic and social organizations of record had jtheir beginnings in the black church. There is no accurate list of black churches, but estimates given by several leading ministers range from 150 to 200. Some of the churches occupy beautiful buildings and have well designed Page 2 A tot he Z'PxJV—- People of MKMk GEORGIA ATLANTA (PRN) - This week I would like to comment briefly on several items. Your response to previous columns has .been very encouraging to me. Your comments are welcome so let me again ask you to let me know how you feel about the problems and opportunities we face. Speaking of letting your thoughts be known, I hope you have heard about the Goals For Georgia program, which was the subject of this column two weeks ago. This is a program, which no other state has ever attempted, designed to let you have a voice in determining where Georgia will go in the future. There will be open, well publicized meetings in your area later this summer. I hope you will attend and take part. If you cannot make it to the meetings, but want your ideas to be considered just write: Goals for Georgia Governor’s Office, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. Also this summer educational television will be conducting hour long programs on each of the eight areas of government. I along with key legislators will be ready to answer questions that you phone in. A toll free number will be provided. I hope you will tune in and call in. Dates and times will be announced later. Reorganization, the second part of this year’s program, to make your government more efficient, economical, and responsive is proceeding exactly on schedule. I spent three days last week going over a stack of documents programs. Others are small structures, some which occupy store fronts and nondescript old buildings. Local black churches in Augusta-Richmond County, in order of denominational importance are: Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, A.M.E.-Zion Methodists, A.M.E. Methodists, Episcopalian, Catholic and Seven Day Adventists. The “House of Prayer” is one of Augusta’s largest black churches, and is not identified with either of the “regular” denominational groups. One member stated that the membership is composed largely of the blue collar working poor. This member described the members as being strong adherents to their founder, “Daddy Grace”. More than 1,500 members are claimed. Even though the primary interest of the black church in Augusta is a religious emphasis, most of them try to involve the membership in some activity or as one minister put it: “....to get them interested in the program.” They have parties, cultural programs including recitals, activities for the elderly and a variety of church-related, social activities. On the basis of information supplied by members and ministers the following auxiliary organizations were found among 15 of the better organized churches: MEN WOMEN Men’s Club Women’s Auxiliary Deacon Board Sewing Club Brotherhood Pastor’s Aid Society Trustee Board Dorcas Society Usher Board Willing Workers Choral Group Missionary Society Men’s Bible Class BOYS GIRLS Boy Scouts Brownies Junior Ushers Girl Scouts Junior Choir Junior Choir Youth Forum Junior Missionary Society Royal Ambassadors Nursery and Kindergarden Schools As may be noted in the above list, few black churches have activities that relate to the social and civic life of their members or the community they serve. This may be due to the limited time that the working poor has for volunteer activities in the community. The struggle to earn enough money to feed, clothe, and house one’s family does not leave very much time for anything else. The community program with a full or part-time paid worker was reported in only three black churches. These programs include employment services for blacks, nursery schools, and a special mission fund set up to aid poor black members and non-members. According to a local black official in the Augusta Boy Scout organization, of twenty-four black Boy Scout and Explorer troups, one-fourth are sponsored by churches. Reverend C.S. Hamilton, Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, said, “It is difficult to enlist male leaders for Boy Scouts because of the large number of black adults who find it necessary to accept two jobs to maintain a decent standard of living.” With their tremendous captive audience (especially on Sunday morning), the black church is the principal media of communication to the black masses for civic, health, educational, and public meetings. In addition to their role as leaders of the spiritual life of the black community, various ministers were interviewed who were actively involved in civil rights, civic, business, and political affairs in the city and county. A newly formed organization called “Youth Generation Gap” was recently organized by the Bethel A.M.E. Church. It was formed to meet the social and economic needs of the community in order to promote better communications between young people and adults. The organization also plans to establish better human relations between white and black youth by sponsoring workshops, forums, and discussion groups. Black ministers are among the community’s most outspoken and articulate voices. According to one local black pastor, more than $50,000 has been contributed by black churches to aid in the local civic rights struggle. Several of the black churches sponsor local radio programs with an emphasis on religion and race relations. Approximately 30 black ministers are members of the local about three feet tall containing information on every major department in state government. Contained in these reports were very frank recommendations from department heads on how they could do their job better. The cooperation of state employees from department heads on down has been excellent Reorganization is my opinion of a once in a lifetime opportunity for Georgia. I’m going to do everything I can to make it a success. I need your help. As you may have; noticed some of those who have enjoyed a special privileged position are already beginning to get worried. They have a right to be because the plan presented to the legislature is going to be designed to help the average unselfish hard-working Georgian. That means a lot of special interest are going to be run off from the public trough. When the squealing starts, and you can be sure it will, just take a look behind all the noise. You will find a group that has been getting fat off your tax money and now is worried about some lean days ahead. Revenue sharing is a big issue nationally and it should be. I personally would like to see more of our tax money left here in Georgia to begin with. But if the federal government is going to take it, Fm all for getting some of it sent back with no strings attached. It is a little hard to keep up with just what the Nixon Administration is proposing. "GOING E_ w PLACES” Cfc £ Philip Waring / ASK NIXON NAME 53 CITIES DISASTER AREAS The National Urban League has called on the President and the Congress to designate 53 cities as disaster areas and make Federal funds available for the creation of jobs to halt rising unemployment rates among blacks that have already reached crisis proportions in these cities. Harold R. Sims, acting executive director of the League, said that on the basis of information currently available, unemployment among blacks could reach one million by mid summer with 600,000 of the jobless hemmed in the ghettoes of potentially explosive big city areas. “The number of unemployed black teens who will be looking for jobs after graduation, or for jobs to enable them to return to school in the fall, coupled with the large number of unemployed Black Vietnam veterans, makes the situation particularly critical,” Sims added. Even without the entrance of teenagers into the labor market, unemployment among Blacks in 53 cities already ranges up to 25 percent, as compared with rates of 6 to 13 percent for all workers. Ahead of Time Mr. Sims based his forecast on the National Urban League’s Quarterly Economic Review which was released a month ahead of time because of the seriousness of the employment picture for Blacks and the necessity for prompt attention. He also noted that statistics from the Bureau of Labor would not reflect the full impact of the summer flood of teenagers into the job market until August, and the situation was too grave to wait for official government figures. Local Urban Leagues in several of the 53 cities have already reported critical situations, Mr. Sims said. In Wichita, Kansas, the overall employment rate is 10.1 percent, but for black adults it is 28 percent and for black teenagers 47 percent. In Detroit, overall employment is 8 percent but among blacks it is 33 percent, Mr. Sims said. Frightened “These figures frighten us,” Mr. Sims said, “for they indicate that people are unable to find jobs they need to survive. We are not proposing that the massive employment program we recommend be undertaken to prevent another long hot summer, but rather to bring an end, once and for all, to the endless hot summers of discontent that continue into long winters of despair.” The number of unemployed black teens who will be looking for jobs after graduation, coupled with the large number of unemployed Black Vietnam veterans, makes the situation particularly critical,” Sims added. “If the government will take this action,” Sims said, “it will strengthen the private economy, and thereby enable private industry to play its proper role in helping to alleviate the crisis.” Sims also stressed the point that the State and local governments have a vital and continuing responsibility to lower unemployment levels. Unemployment rates among Black veterans are particularly acute Mr. Sims said, adding: “The crisis could be explosive among Black veterans of the Vietnam war who have learned technical and social skills in the military and have high expectations. Yet their unemployment rate has been climbing steadily, and at last reading in the first quarter of this year was 15.1 percent compared to 8.6 percent a year before.” “An estimated 380,000 Black veterans of the Vietnam war are likely to be in the civilian labor force this summer”, the report said and added that “even if their unemployment rate stays about the same by the third quarter (a conservative prospect) close to 60,000 will be out of a job.” i —— interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, but their attendance, j according to one member, is “irregular and sporadic.” There are few programs in the predominantly white churches in Augusta which minister to the black community, either in ■z terms of a pulpit ministry or special services offered. Part of this is due, according to one white minister, “....to the fact of the wide difference of opinion that the white congregation members have as to their role in the total community.” One minister of a prominent white church said the attitudes of his members vary widely. This church has one black family who are members and the minister claims his doors are open to any black who wishes to join. The Augusta Clergy Association includes blacks and whites in its membership, but according to the past president of the ' organization, the larger downtown churches will not support this organization, thus its power is limited. According to one minister (white), “The white church is the most segregated institution in the city.” Further commenting on this fact, he identified three local private segregated elementary schools under church auspices. Another white minister stated that there are some evidences of inter-church cooperation which have been in operation among blacks and whites for several years. One program is an “Open Door Kindergarden”, attended by both black and white children. This program has an interracial faculty. The program, initiated in 1966, is financed by interested individuals and parents. USRY’S SEAFOOD MARKET “Eat the fish today that was sleeping in the Gulf last night _ 2005 OLD SAVANNAH ROAD WR I (North) . “AUGUSTA’S FRESHEST FISH” I Open Thurs., Fri., & Sat 9 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. i BTog" ; MR. & MRS. GOLPHIN PAGE, OWNERS FOR QUICK DEPENDABLE SERVICE CALL US AT- 722-9102 OR STOP BY AT 1626 SAVANNAH ROAD 852 GWINNETT STREET I IB CHARLES EVERS (THE BLACK MAYOR OF FAYETTE MISSISSIPPI) MAKES A TOTAL CONFESSION BEFORE RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR Back in the early days of the civil rights struggle, when Mississippi held on to a losing conception that integration could be avoided, the Mississippi House passed a resolution to call for a constitutional amendment that would bar some persons from ■ voting. The bill stated that persons guilty of vagrancy, perjury, child desertion, adultery, fornication, larceny, gambling and crimes committed with a deadly weapon, were ineligible to vote. Drunkenness was struck from the bill when it was ascertained that too many prominent white persons would be involved. The idea, of course, was aimed at a certain ethnic segment, since those are the crimes that Southern fabrication has this segment committing as a matter of life style. Mr. Evers not only pulled political strategy by confessing to the entire gamut of sins layed down treacherously by the state, but has written a book stating that he was a greater sinner than the law has outlined; he is an uppity nigger who is not only Voting, he is the mayor of Fayette Miss, and is running for governor. Don’t get the wrong impression; Mr. Evers is not a militant he is among the fast diminishing non-violents. He has about as much chance of being elected governor of Mississippi as a celluloid cat has in Hades, but his tactics will surely be studied by other blacks, because they have worked in Mississippi and could work any place where there are enough Blacks to put substantial pressure on whites. Mr. Evers is a sort of stand-offish integrationist; he is emotionally opposed to any brand of separatism, but he feels, like most Blacks, that it’s time whites took the initiative to integrate. He said of the public bathing pool in his town of Fayette “the white children are welcome, but if they don’t want to come, they are welcome to stay out and sweat.” The weapons in the Evers arsenal are boycott, and voting muscle, because he says you’ve got to show the white man you can hurt him before he’ll cooperate. (EVERS A PRODUCT OF TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCE) Fate brought Charles into the Civil Rights movement. After the untimely death of his brother, he was drawn by the affinity of his brother’s dedication to take his place as the head of the NAACP in Mississippi. Mr. Evers is a firm believer in Black pride rather than the loose and most time senseless strategy of “Black Power.” He advises young Blacks to press their way into the system, rather than seek to tear it down. “Go and tell your mommas and daddies to stand up for their rights.” “Tell them you don’t want to go to Chicago when you grow up. Stay here and build homes and factories and even be mayors, sheriffs, and members of school boards.” Evers is against leaders like Stokley Carmichael, Floyd McKissick, Eldridge Cleaver, and Rap Brown; he says these fellows waste their talents uselessly. “What good are they doing in Africa and locked in jails, with all that loud big mouth talk? Mayor Evers talks about the crushingly successful Natchez boycott that followed the dynamiting of a Negro leader in his pickup truck.- “We desegregated twenty plus stores at one time. They hired Black clerks, hired Black policemen - the ones we chose - with the right to police all sections of the town, both white and Black. We forced them to hire Black salesmen on beer trucks, pop trucks, also bread salesmen.” The Blacks never had this before; that is what intelligent pressure can do. His Honor of Fayette Mississippi is a busy man; reporters complain of the difficulty they have trying to interview him. The setting of an interview is often something like grabbing a taxicab heading for an airport, a hurried meal in a case. Getting him to hold still for a few questions can involve days of tracking him through the wilds of Mississippi. Everyone should read the life of Charles Evers, it’s the story of a dedicated and energetic Black man who still believes in non-violence. He is working to back up his belief that America can be cleansed, even his native Mississippi. The message in this book is that Fayette isn’t going to be unique; some day down the line, other tough proud Black leaders will be mayors, aidermen, or representatives in plenty of other places. YOUR BEST BUY IS at JIM SATCHER MOTORS '7l FORDS 5 35 Over Cost JOHNSTON, S.C. (28 Miles from Augusta) AIKEN-BATH-AUGUSTA RESIDENTS CALL 593-4373 OR 722-0386 ALL CARS CARRY 24 MONTH WARRANTY. CAN BE BOUGHT FOR NOTHING DOWN. LEE BAGWELL MOTORS, INC. 1424 GORDON HIGHWAY NEXT TO HYDE PARK PHONE 793-2283 Walking WITH DIGNITY BY Al IRBY