Poor, black enclave
still struggling two
months after storm
-By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press Writer
MOUNT PLEASANT. S C. --
In the poop, black enclave of
Hamlin Beach, the air is acrid
with mud and decaying marsh
grass two months after Hurricane
Hugo. Flies swarm over discarded
furniture and clothing and tiny,
tin-roofed shacks remain roofless.
Relief has been slow in coming
to the rural hamlet of single-story
homes nestled on a marsh in
Mount Pleasant, across the Intra
coastal Waterway from the posh
Wild Dunes resort on Isle of
Palms.
The 600 residents, many
descendants of slaves, wonder
what to do about homes in ruins,
piles of debris still stacked along
the road and appliances rendered
useless by a wall of seawater that
accompanied the Sept. 21 fury.
"Folks are taking it real hard.
They're depressed," said Isaac
Manigault, surveying the remains
of his home that was ripped from
the foundation. "I've never seen
anything like this,1' added Mani
gault, who rode out the last great
hurricanes to hit the area - Grade
and Hazel in the 1950s ? in that
house.
Flics circled waterlogged mat
tresses, and broken chairs and
basketball trophies remain scat
tered in the yard^V neighbor s
home lies in splinters and marsh
grass covers a carand a couple of
pickups destroyed in the storm.
Manigault's 76-year-old mother,
Mary Jane, braved 135 mph winds
and chest-deep waters during the
.height of Hugo to walk more than
a mile to an evacuation shelter.
Her home was flooded, but she
intends to rebuild.
"I don't know how, but I hope I
can," said Mrs. Manigault, who is
living temporarily in a mobile
home. "I know the good Lord will
take care of me."
Many in the enclave of poor and
near-poor rely on faith to see them
through the job of rebuilding. But
faith will have to be augmented
by temporal help.
"We still need building supplies,
plywood, lumber and the like,"
said the Rev. A.J. Blake, pastor of
Goodwill AMEXhurch, who is
trying to get mobile homes for
residents whose houses were
destroyed or badly damaged.
Most did not have insurance to
cover their losses. Of those who
did, few had flood insurance to
cover damage from the storm
surge, which reached 17 feet in
some places along the coast.
Assistance has reached the iso
lated community, but the response
"is not as fast as it ought to be,"
Blake said, adding that many resi
dents have .not heard from the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency..
Compounding that problem is a
reluctance by many to ask for
help.
"You have a lot of pride among
these people," he said. "We've had
reporters come in from out of
state and folks say, I don't want to
be on TV. I don't want my picture
in the newspaper. "
For some, there is bitterness that
relief shipments, slow in coming
at first, have tapered off even
more since attention was diverted
to the northern California earth
quake that struck Oct. 17.
"There are a lot more poor peo
ple in this area than in California,
and we need the help bad," said
Manigault, a plumber who lost
most of his tools. FEMA gave him
some money for 1 i v ing_ expenses
and clothing and he has picked up
some additional money doing odd
jobs. He will rebuild, but not in
the same-spot.
*Tm too scared to come back.
You never know what will happen
in the future." His son, however,
hopes to rebuild on the family
homestead.
A short distance away, Elizabeth
Edwards' house is little more than
a shattered framework of lumber.
A ceiling fan and chandelier hang
precariously from the rafters. Ms.
Edwards has moved into a mobile
home donated by a Boone Chris
tian aid group, Samaritan's Purse,
until her home can be rebuilt.
"There's nothing we can do but
trust in the Lord. It could have
been worse," she said. "We )ust
take it as it comes."
Some blacks frustrated by an
American dream not their own
By MICHAEL MORAN
Associated Press Writer
NEWARK, N.J. -- A majority of residents trace ancestry to people
unwillingly brought to America in chains. Not surprisingly, there is lit
tle nostalgia for the concept of this nation as a great melting pot.
"It's a lot easier to change your name when you get ta America than
the color of your skin," said Howard Taylor, a Princeton University
sociologist and former head of the school's Afro-American studies pro
gram. "There is ongoing resentment on the part of the black community
for what they perceive as the advancement of other immigrant groups at
their expense."
Taylor and other experts say institutional bigotry in the United States,
linked primarily to skin color, has prevented blacks from following in
the footsteps of the Irish, Poles, Jews and othd?immigrant groups.
No one disputes that black Americans have made strides in the past
20 years toward overcoming the systematic discrimination that denied
them access to so much.
And in many ways, Newark was a catalyst for that progress, from the
explosive expression of rage in 1967's race riots to the 1970 election of
Kenneth Gibson as the first black mayor of a major American city.
But economic and social progress for blacks in New Jersey and
nationwide has been uneven, experts say. Often it must be forced on the
majority white population by court orders and discrimination suits.
David Surrey, an urban affairs professor at St. Peter's College in Jer
sey City, said black resentment of the upwardly mobile immigrant can
be traced to the racism directed at American blacks by segments of
white society.
"Hiring patterns in institutions traditionally open to immigrants, like
police, fire and education jobs, continue to leave blacks out," said Sur
rey. "For blacks, that leaves the distinct impression that the deck is
stacked against them."
Just this month, Camden's police department and its union agreed to a
plan to promote three blacks and a Hispanic officer, pending the out
come of a discrimination suit filed by minority officers. The agreement
was the result of a two-year legal battle.
Please see page A10
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Free At Last!
Photo by Mike Cunningham
A coalition of Darryl Hunt (second from left) supporters join him at Emmanuel Baptist shortly after his release torn Forsyth
County Jail Thanksgiving eve. Joho Mendez (far toft) thanked God forwhat he catted Mr. Hunfs "moment of victory." The state
Supreme Court overturned Mr. Hunt's two murder convictions in the deaths of Deborah B. Sykes and Arthur Lee Wilson. A judge
set his bond at $50,000 earlier this month. Attorney Larry D. Little (second from right) contacted Benjamin Chavis (far right), exec
utive director of the Commission for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ. Mr. Chavis brought a check for $50,000 from
the National Conference on Churches. Mr. Hunt, who is a free man for the first time in nearly five years, is living with Khalid Grig
gs, his muslim brother. District Attorney Dean Bowman of Surry County has yet to decide whether he will retry Mr. Hunt in the
Sykes rape and murder. District Attorney Warren Sparrow has already said he will retry the Wilson case.
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