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Which Way For City Council?
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“Atlanta Racist Like Rest Of ILS.?”
Andrew Young will soon
start what is almost certain
to be an eight-year reign as
Atlanta's mayor. And the
city that spends so much of
its energy promoting an
image of progressive racial
relations as the "City too
Busy to Hate" just Bunked
its most serious test.
Young’s first promise as
mayor was to heal the deep
wounds caused by the ma
yoral contest between him
self and the white state
Rep. Stanley Marcus that
pitted blacks against
whites. None of this, how
ever, surprises me.-I have
always maintained that At
lanta's public |relations
about a race-free city was
more fiction than fact -
that reacism was as deeply
embedded in Atlanta as In
the rest of the country. And
when the chips were down,
racism won.
A friend told me in Atlan
ta onejection eve: “I’m not
impressed with Andy. HeV
simply the lesser of two
evils. But in a showdown
between a black and a
white, I go with the black.”
Although this kind of logic
got him elected, Young
denounced such people as
racist. "There- are some
racists in this city on both
sides who see this city in
racial terms.”
Believing his own words,
Young's campaign work
ers, knowing the racial
realities, placed signs in
the black neighborhoods
warning the blacks that the
whites across town were
outvoting them. During the
campaign. Young accused
Marcus of “tricking" poor
blacks out of their homes.
Young’s chief supporter at
tacked Blacks wire did not
support Young. Mayor
Maynard Jackson singled
out blacks who supported
Marcus as "traitors" to the
civil rights movement.
Jackson called them
"shuffling, grinning Ne
groes" and compared them
to slaves who refused to
leave the plantation after
the Emancipation Procla
mation. And Reagan's
"slick-taling Negroes,” the
out-going mayor asserted,
were waiting for scraps
from the table. Some “Ne
gro voices,” he said, “are
the voices of the new self
ishites. ..that has forced
some Afro-Americans into
the corner of racism....”
marcus wno naa me
white vote in his pocket,
but needed a black cross
over vote to win in this city
that is 66 percent black,
naturally called America’s
standard racist-politics
“racist and divisive.”
“The politico of panic
used by Mr. Young," the
white liberal said in all of
the innocent indignation he
could muster, “shows he’s
willing to destroy our city
by manufacturing racial
tensions and distrust
rather than lose an elec
tion.” But while the racial
issue easily overshadowed
the economic issues con
fronting the city, Young’s
election puts the reality of
a racist society right on
Atlanta's doorstep.
As mayor, he will carry
the stigma of having dis
rupted the city’s racial har
mony when, in effect, the
flaws of this so-called
racial harmony are begin-—
ning to show through the
grease paint. In the elec
-lioiu. Piacks voted for the
black and whites votedTor
the white in the city’s hea
vily segregated precincts.
And Marcus’ blank check
from the downtown white
business leaders will not be
transferable to the new
black mayor. Young’s
promise to offset this be
nign neglect with African
money looks doubtful, at
best.
Another tough reality is a
stable poverty rate of 25
percent, those who live on
an average family income
of less than $7,000 - mostly
blacks - untouched by At
lanta's "racial harmony’’
and social and economic
progress which provides a
$20,000-a-year-per-house
hold income for the middle
class. “It is the face of
r_:i_ i . < .. . .
•uiiui t, uy me ciiy ana oy
each of us who is a part of
it,’’ admitted the ATLAN
TA CONSTITUTION’S as
sociate editor in a front
page commentary.
"It has shown us that,
nearly two decades after
President Lyndon John
son’s celebrated ’War on
Poverty,’ poverty in this
city remains perhaps At
lanta's most serious pro
blem - and that the gaps
between the ‘haves' and the
’have-not’ are wider than
ever, and growing wider,"
Bill Shipp wrote.
A glut of office space
downtown is a symptom of
the racial overtones that
Atlanta's ruling class tries
to bury.
.."Tony Brown’s Journ
al,” the television series, is
‘shown every Sunday, on
WBTV-TV. Channel 3, at
11:30 p.in.
| Hev. John Perkins^^^^^^^J
Hev. Herklns
P°8itivs AGh^
For The Black Church
What we are talking about in this series of
Walk Your Talk” is the need for re
structure of the black church. This does not
change our basic theology which recognizes
the fact that Jesus Christ is the eternal son
of God, that God has revealed himself in
Jesus Christ and that Jesus’ death on the
cross exemplifies God’s love for us.
The work of the early disciples and of the
church showed that God was alive, that
Jesus Christ was alive and the Holy Spirit
worked through Him to empower the
members who became a part of Christ’s
body. Through this empowerment they
were able to reflect God’s love in the world
and be both salt and light in a world that
was in darkness and decay. So we’re not
speaking about a change in theology. We’re
talking about the restructure of the church
so that this generation of young people can
more effectively deal with the problems
that are especially unique to the black •
community; we’re talking about the church i
taking responsibility. We’re talking about 1
the people who come to know Jesus Christ in j
the local community being empower by God '
to take responsibility for the problems that
exist within our communities. What are
some of the problems that we face? I think
the major problem we face in our commun
ity is a problem of the right kind of
education. Education that relates itself to
skiUs~for_thfeJndividual^ skills that are
related to employment for ffieThdiVldnal. l
think that’s the first problem. And out of
that problem comes many other problems.
Now someone is going to say, “You have
missed it, brother John. The problem is
sin.”
Pure Christianity is our involvement with
people who are aching and hurting in
society. It is looking after those misfortun
ate people; it is going to the prisons; it is
helping the outcast; it is helping the sick.
Pure religion is to be involved with the poor
and to keep one’s self unspotted before the
world. So how then can we, as the black
church begin to restructure the process by
which our people can regain the kind of
momentum made immediately after
emancipation. Can we look back to the days
ol our fathers, after the emancipation here
in Mississippi, and draw from their exam
ple the king of patter we need to liberate out m
people anew in the 1980s? Let us recall the *
fact that they established business enter
prises such as banks and they established
schools. They established these enterprises
to provide work and employment for our
people. It was not the same as the welfare
type ot program that takes away incentives
and initiatives-they had to do it themselves.
I think we are in the days where we,
within our community are not excluding our
government and not removing the govern
ment from responsibility but rather ve’re
at the place where we, the people God
within our community, take the responsi
bility lor leadership. At the beginning of this
leadership is the goal to develop the Kind of
education and philosophy with which we can
reeducate our people in terms of self
determination which manifests itself in
creative ownership and productivity.
iv»fS.fT?.Tii0ih'' col"m” may be made to
WALK YOUR TALK. 1855 St. Charles St..
Jackson, MS 39209.
In the City’s lowest voter
turnout in over 10 years, 21
percent or 30,437 of the eligible
voters elected unopposed Eddie
Knox to his second term as
Mayor and returned Harvey
Gantt (D) to City Council after a
two-year absence with the high
est number of at-large candi
date votes.
At-large Councilmen Dave
Berryhill (D) and Herbert
Spaugh Jr. (D), and District
Council members Charlie Dan
nelly (D), Laura Freeh (D), Ron
Leeper (D), George Selden (R)
and Minette Trosch (R( were all
re-elected. Along with Harvey
Gantt, these veteran lawmakers
were joined by former County
Commissioner Ed Peacock (R),
who captured the four at-large
seats, Pam Patters (D) and
Ralph McMillan (R).
and Ed Peacock is a “replace
ment” for Pat Locke.
Mr. Gantt made no mention of
the probable philosphy of go
vernment comparison between
himself and his predecessor
Betty Chafin. We believe there
are similarities in their liberal
viewpoints. Furthermore, as the
highest at-large vote getter Mr.
Gantt will probably succeed Ms.
Chafin as Mayor Pro Tern.
Assuming that both Mr.
Gantt’s-and our views on the City
Council philosophical leanings
are correct, Council will, as
Gantt suggested to the television
newsman, remain about the
same in its thinking with, we
think, the liberal faction having
a genral one vote edge.
However, with federal funds
becoming smaller in number and
with citizens opposed to talk of
even necessary tax increases, it
would appear that on any given
issue it will be difficult to pre
duct how City Council will vote
or what they will support. There
fore, the sheer nature of declin
ing resources, tighter budgets
and citizen demands for tradi
tional public services will in
themselves affect Council’s ac
tions in part to the exclusion of
philosophical differences among
individuals or groups of Council
members.
"'Crnzsns can mafte-this fearden
of selecting options for fulfilling
with limited resources by keep
ing Council members aware of
their needs and concerns. This
simply means practicing good
citizenship responsibility. Let's
do out part in this regard to help
make our good government a
- better government.
While the individual cam
paigns were low key and the
underlying philosophical issues -
planned growth, scattered site
housing, landfill locations, etc. -
hardly reached the surface, the
election does raise the question
,<*F how the four new Council
members will affect the philo
sophical directions or leanings of
City Council.
■ in responding to a television
newsman’s question on "MTS"
point, Harvey Gantt said he
believes Council’s philosophical
leanings will be about the same
as the past Council’s because
Pam Patterson probably shares
the views of Don Carroll whom
she replaces. McMillan has
about the same philosophy of
government as his predecessor
Unwed Mothers: Where It AD P:cp»?
{Since the release of data point
ing out that over half of all black
babies born in the USA today are
born out of wedlock and a
substantially less number, but
equally disturbing fact, exists
among whites. Significantly,
most of these babies are born to
teen-agers or as Eleanor Holmes
Morton said, “babies making
babies.”
Obviously, many people are
searching for answers and solu
tions to this serious problem.
However, before looking forward
to what should be done, we need
to look backward to determine
how we got where we are today.
In looking back there is the
dangerous and misleading ten
dency to just assume that our
teen-agers are less moral and
more permissive about sex. That
may be correct, but the import
ant question is what conditions in
our society have led to such
permissiveness?
♦ The answer to this question
can be found in the behavior,
attitude§_ajnd expectations of our
nation’s aduits," who'lare sup
posed to be the role models for
our vouth.
■.
We adults now have over one
million households with inhabi
tants who are not married to
each other. We seem to idealize,
publicize and commercially ex
ploit one Hollywood sex symbol
alter another. We market pro
ducts from blue jeans to auto
mobiles with a sex appeal ap
proach. We encourage youth to
purchase tapes and records of
songs with such titles as “Love
To Love You, Baby,” sung by a
woman billed as “sex-obsessed”
disco and “Erotic” love queens.
We include sex as an under
lying item and point of interest in
most of out television program
ming. We are making an increas
ing number of our movies “R”
rated because of sex scenes and
language. We have made prono
graphy a multi-million business
while exploiting millions of
young teen-agers in the process.
We simply refuse to pass laws to
control and punish prostitutes,
pimps and drug pushers.
Not only are to many of our
magazines and books filled with
nudity and sexually suggestive
language, there is a heavy mark
et demand for such products.
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f
t rom Capitol Hill
Keagan s Administration Is “No
Friend To Blacks”
Alfredu I.. .Madison
Special To The Post
Even though President
Reagan's campaign pro
mise, "...not to set civil
rights back", his constant
rhetoric that he has a color
blind policy, his actions
prove that just the opposite
is true.
Recently, the President
broke his long silence on
the Administration's
Voting Rights stand He, as
usual, on issues where
black people are concerned
has chosen the path of the
most ultra-conservelive
elements in this country,
whom one questions
whether or not they would
vote against God if he
would happen to be wear
ing a black tie
Although the present
V oting Rights Act passed
the House by an affirm
ative margin of 328 to 24,
Mr. Reagan wants to soften
greatly the bail out" pro
vision and he wants the
discrimination against per
sons to prove that the vio
lators of the act intended to
do so Yet. when the Ad
ministration was testify
ing before the House Sub
committee on African Af
fairs. the witness said in
referring to a proposed bill,
4
Allreda I,. Madison
"• our analysis leads us to
believe that the net effect
of the legislation.- though
not the intent - would be the
create a large, complicated
and probably not very ef
fective bureaucratic en
forcement machine. This
is a direct departure from
its Voting Rights stand that
intent proof is right and
most effective, but Intent in
the bill which calls for this
country's taking a stand
against South African
apartheid is ineffective
The Administration has
said that it will push for its
stand which lessens the ef
fect of the Voting Rights
bill passage, by the senate,
where it feels it has a very
good chance.
Recently, when Richard
Allen was giving a briefing
on the President's meeting
with President Carlos of
Spain, he stated that the
Spanish President under
stood very clearly our fo
reign policy. When Mr.
Allen said that the United
States will give military
supplies to Northern Africa
and at the same time he
condemned Cuba for sup
plying Central America
militarily, he was asked
what was the difference
Allen replied, There is a
fundamental difference."
Me was asked to explain the
fundamental difference
and Allen appeared greatly
irritated, very curtly an
swered, -No. I'll not
explain."
Later in the press brief
ing Deputy Press Secre
tary David Gergen. when
emphasizing that the
United States will protect
Kgypt and its neighbors to
the extent that American
men will be sent in if
necessary, against the
question was, What is the
difference in our sending
our men to defend that
territory and Cubans being
in Angola to protect it from
South Africa. The answer
was "Egypt is a much
older country ” And an
other White House staff
member stated that there
is a great difference - there
are 20,000 Cubans in
Angola However, to in
dicate that age has prior
ity, since Egypt is :t,000
years old and the United
States is only 200 years old,
maybe we should keep our
mouths closed until we be
come of age Concerning
20,000 Cubans in Angola,
and the aim in any war is to
win, we might have to put
JO,000 or more men in the
kgyptian area Usually
countries use as many
men, if possible, as it takes
to win. The military mea
surement is not generally
numbers, but necessities
President Keagan speaks
of Libyans and Palestin
ians as terrorists because
they, are said to attack
people in neighboring coun
tries Yet, South Africa
commits raids in Angola,
Nambia and Mozambique,
while Mr. Keagan has
never uttered one word
against their raids. He is
maintaining his policy that
the Governor of South
Africa is our friend, and
that takes precedence over
human rights
The President sharply
criticizes Russia for treat
ment of dissidents by hob
nobs with South Africa in
its brutal treatment of
blacks who seek freedom
from white supremacy
apartheid.
Haitain refugees are
black so Mr. Reagan has
implemented its only inter
diction on the high seas
policy, against any refu
gees, other than the Hai
tains.
Haitians are the only re
fugees who come to our
shores and are imprisoned
without being criminals
Even though black un
employment is more than
twice as high as white,
which is certainly a clear
example of employment
discriminatory practices
Reagan is putting forth
every possible effort to cut
out affirmative action - a
remedy for correcting this
racist practice.
This Administration is
completely for states
rights, this is evidenced in
his removing all require
menu that states disperse
government funds equit
ably When Mr Reagan
says leave things to the
states and private sector
because he believes the
4
people will act honorably,
he has to know that the
Federal Government was
required to impose these
measures, he is working
hard to eliminate, because
these honorable sources, of
whom he speaks were act
ing dishonorably. Then too
why does the President feel
that the state officials and
private sector are more
honorable than he, his
entire executive branch
and congress?
Mr. Keagan is surely
proving that he is no tond
to blacks. However^one
Hlack Caucus start mem
her, realizing that in every
ill wind some good can be
found says, that Mr. Rea
gan s action are serving to
solidify blacks not only in
this country but around the
_
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