The Atlanta Voice from Atlanta, Georgia • 4

17 hat does tho voter get? F. Campbell I 'it yrj ever noticed bow voter rrt-uea wi2 each election C-5 cica. wi2a only the Door de- TJl really seems to change. when he thinks upon the very idea of politicians, he renumbers just how often mat he is told that polid-ticlans have to politic.M.MNot just before the voting, by when they are safe in office, and seeming to grow wealthy off the meager salaries that your tax dollars pay them. And if you are Black, how does it go? You sre a racial outcast, and your history has never been told to you nor the world.

white brothers create laws and customs that make it Impossible for even your children to grow up in peace. And when you finally gain the right to vote you are given promises without action, and despite what they cry, the only racial progress has come from force by the NAACP, Dr. M. L. King and his SCLC, from the students who opened up Atlanta as much as it has; from the white man's fear, and nothing else.

You stand In 1972 and hear them fighting over a school issue, that according to law was settled May 17, 1954. watch a handful of Blacks gain office, and two or three even remember that they are Black. You watch whites work to destroy the power of the few genuine Black politicians, and steal power from every civil rights group that we have, in the name of racial harmony. You vote for president after president. vote for governor after governor Only one even bothers to tell the world that you are an equal pan of this nation, and he and his brother are slain for their beliefs.

And you find in this election that there is only one thing worth voting for, and that is the lone Black candidate, that conservative Blacks and Southern whites 6eem determined to defeat. Something has got to get better, for the voter is supposed to be supreme, but if we don't give him something better to vote for he will just start staying at home, feeling that he actually lives in a dictatorship, where it makes no difference what he does. zZzzi vcter beinj taken to task? I Lire jpru noticed bow they tell you i cr keep quiet, but excuse Hi CHIures of our leaders as the way zIzm work? Aa election is over, and the poor cecp, who used to hope and hope in vain, came out in still fewer numbers, and its' time to do something besides accuse die American citizens of failing to exercise their constitutional rights. That were you asked to do? You were asked to choose between two senatorial candidates, each who tried to cry out louder on some forms of racism than the You were asked by some of your Black brothers to vote for a white moderate rather than choose the first Black congressman in 102 years, were asked to go along with a president who says mat it is American to halt school desegregation, be guided by racist Judges, and have no racial struggles, even if you are not being treated right. You were asked to vote for another man for president, who seemed unable to make up his mind on some issues.

were asked to vote against "give aways" In welfare, that would harm millions of Blacks. And what were you to receive out of all of this You were given a display on how to use the capitalistic system, by presenting a plan to your superiors in government, and if they perceived how it could make them more popular, you got a big job or a few millions which presumably would trickle down to some poor people, who hoped for the best. You were supposed to get world wide peace, something mat just has not happened in this century. You were supposed to get police protection and maybe a few lower prices. But the main headaches for the voter is that he has preceived that regardless of who he votes for; what party he votes for, nothing "Well, Diogenes Can Blow Out His Lantern.

We've Found An Honest Man" M'house College 1971 Year Book Part 46 (XL VI) The gray skies gleam with terror and with pain; and brutal silence flares within the sun; the people sleep within a fog of mud; and trust that devils shall to angels change; Oh, cruel time when evil seems the good; yet from this evil shall black truth emerge. GEORGE M. NIXON TO WIN PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST I do not know who you are that is reading these articles. You may be a working person, a person living on welfare. You are mostly Black, though there are some whites who read the Atlanta Voice.

Whoever you are. The history of the 15th, 16th, and 7th centurys is important to you. If you are Black, this period of time was the root of the racism and bigotry that may have poisoned your life. If you are white it is from this period that you received your racism and bigotry. But for white and black particularly for people who work for a living, this period saw the formation of the System under which we now live: the kapitalist-republic, the plutocratic republic, the oligarchic republiccall it what you will.

However, whatever it is, it is not a democratic republic. Today we live in a time in which men of business control the world, from Washington to Moscow. Because of this System. However, in order to win the support of the people In their control of the world, these businessmen had to invent the Republican form of government in order to create the illusion that people had a say in determining their own destinies, thereby creating that strange, contradictory thing which we call the System, the Oligarchic Republic or the Rule of the Members of the Establishment. A government of the Rich, by the Rich, and for the Rich, but which could not exist without the moral and material support of the middle, working, and welfare class which keep It going as tax, wage, and debt slaves and as enforced consumers.

How did this happen? DEMOPUBLICAN PARTY TO SWEEP ELECTION FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, EAST TO WEST When we go back in time to see the roots of this System, we run Into the following types of people. Lorenzo, de Medici, the most powerful merchant-banker in Italy; The Fuggers, the most powerful merchant-banker family in the Holy Roman Empire; the merchant-kapitalists who controlled the big ports of Holland and Belgium; the merchant-landowners who controlled the English House of Commons, from the time of Henry VIII to Charles the merchant-banker-preachers of Geneva, Switzerland; the merchant-banker nobles or Spain and Portugal. The great man of business in other words, was the merchant. He controlled industry and production, since all Industry andproduction was designed to produce things for him to sell and buy. And when he combined himself with that of banking, loaning money at interest, he was invincible.

The man who knew where the goods could be Bold prevailed over the man who simply knew' how to make or grow things. This was mercantilism or kommercial kapitalism, which remained the typical form of capitalism until after 1800, when, with the introduction of power machinery, it was supplanted by Industrial capitalism, and merchants became depdnent on those who controlled the machines." (. R. R. Palmer, A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD, p.

98) What did these men have in common? The fact that they derived their prestige, status, and power, not from the fact of having aristocratic blood, but because they had gold which they could invest; they had credit which was the power of future gold. And the major source of that gold, directly and indirectly, came from the operations of the African Slave System in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Page 4 November 11, 1972 by Vrnon E. Jordan, Jr.

Robinson Blazed Trails Jackie Robinson was known as a 'first" the first Black major league baseball player. The successful career he forged with the old Brooklyn Dodgers made him one of the most popular ballplayers in history and brought a succession of pennants to his team. THE VOICE Canarsie New York City's latest school crisis is a painful and unsettling illustration of how government is forfeiting the bill to build a racially integrated society. Long the citadel of New York is now com- pared to Little Rock of 1957. While the nation watches.

Black children are escorted to class past a jeering mob by policemen. White parents boycott the school. Local officials are unwilling, unable, or afraid to assert firm leadership. The details of the controversy in Brooklyn's Canarsie section are these. Thirty-one black students were reassigned from a practically all-black school to Junior High School 211, which is integrated.

The parents of 211, resisted, finally occupying the school and blockading its entrance. School officials Wavered, at first capitulating to white parents and assigning the children to another school; then deciding they must go to 211. The boycott, demonstrations and polarization followed. The pattern is a familiar one in New York, Control and most successfully-whites fortify their own narrow, racially-defined turf from the advance of all others. Ironically, those few of us who four, years ago that might be the case were vilified by both Blacks and white-liberals.

Black opponents of community control were branded sell-outs; whites were characterized as racists. No one was subjected to more bitter and hysterical abuse than Albert Shanker, president of the teachers' union. Today Shanker maintains his critical support of community control while continuing, to speak out for integration and social justice. And it is Shanker, alone among the educational establishment, who has unequivocally supported the rights of these 31 Black children. Black people have not made advancements because of the benevolence of local communities.

In the 1950s and 1960s we marched, sat-ln, and went to jail because we wanted the federal government to make the desegregation of society the highest priority of national policy. And we weren't fooled when Or-val Faubus or. Ross Bar-nett insisted that state's rights came before the most basic human rights. Why then should we deceive ourselves today At its best, efforts at total community control on the part of blacks can elicit only the most token sort of concessions from society. But when And Community Bayard Rustin troversy over the location of a low-income housing project in Forest Hills earlier this year and it is happening In Canarsie, Lindsay, for his part.

has wavered. changed- finally, positions and. declined to exert any form of leadership in these disputes. He has encouraged the Jerry Birbachs (leader of the white protesters in Forest Hills) by recognizing them as community spokesmen, permitting them to Ignite local passions and then asking them to calm the situation. The victims are of course the students.

Daily they run a gauntlet of taunts and curses. They "have already endured a lifetime's worth of anguish and suffering; their psychological scars will be permanent and incalculably deep. But the issues raised by Canarsie run much deeper than mere race hatred. They involve whether society will continue to respect due process and protect the constitutlo-J nal rights 'of the minority against the tyranny of the majority. And they and then' boycotted tui ior High School 211 cite community control as a justification for their action.

This, it should stressed, is no iso-f lated incident: it is part of an alarming pattern whereby urban whites -linvoke community con- trol to justify extremist rhetoric and an increase sing willingness to take their grievances to the street. No doubt community m- trol represents an unbending status quo. It is an expression of a New Tribalism, whereby any group white or black, but most often It's hard to imagine that Jackie is gone from us, passing away at 53. It seems only yesterday when the Brooklyn Dodgers came to Atlanta to play the home-town Atlanta Crackers in an exhibition game. I was a young lad and Jackie was just starting his big-league career in Branch Rickey's experiment to see if America was mature enough to accept Black men on the ball fields as equals; Segregation was still In effect men, and the left-field bleachers were reserved for Blacks only, while whites had the rest of the ballpark to themselves.

Those bleachers were packed. Everyone wanted to see Jac kie. He got on iirst base, and some how made it to third. Then came those err eat antics kept people on the edge of their seats for the next ten years. rA A L1 mmmr mbled down the baseline a bit; rattling the pitcher.

MP AtfirrAsi T7M-wavi a train aw IU1 am wkmmi0 and men broke for Dome, suaing unaer me out-stretched glove of suu remember tne tnrui I felt then, and I guess 111 always remember it. ay ax expious on me 'field he taught a genera- they too could climb to for that unique Black athlete who had the talent to become a great star and the inner strength to stand up to the pressures that were inevitable. "I need a man who can fly the flag for his race," Rickey said. Robinson' flew that flag, high and proud. Now we are in an era in which that flag must still be raised high, but the day of "firsts'1 is ended.

We've already iroved our worth many times over, and the vicarious satisfaction of another string of "firsts" won't do any more. Jackie was a pioneer and the days of pioneering have ended. What is needed now Is recognitionand equality all along the line, not just for the few who fought and clawed their way to the top. It is instructive that on the same day that Jackie died, white parents in the Brooklyn he helped make famous were keeping little Black children out of the schools of their predominately white neighborhood. We're still fighting the same battles Jackie fought, on different terrain.

Like him, I am confident that we will persevere and win out in the end. We, the staff of the Sum the top if they possessed -the ability and the drive to succeed. And through bit grace under fire, and his courage in the face of racist hostility by both players and fans, he demonstrated to all that inner integrity and confidence can shame bigotry into silence. Jackie's success blazed the trail for other Black athletes and made possible the present-day Black dominance of many professional sports. But the battle for equality in sports is still far from won.

Studies have shown mat the average Black player still has to be better man the average white player to win a post on a team. Black players are still subjected to stricter rules and standards than are white athletes. And Jackie never lived to see the still-awaited first Black manager of a major league baseball team. After bis playing days were over he distinguished himself in politics, in business as board chairman of the Freedom National Bank and in several other business ventures, and as an outspoken fighter against drugs and for civil rights. When Branch Rickey decided that baseball couldn't be both racist and the national pastime at one and the same time, he looked long and hard Letter To The Editor: Dear Editor: Who knows what evil conditions lurk behind the steel doors of Georgia's prison? Ellis MacDaugall, director of Georgia State Board of Corrections, assumed the awesome whites, who comprise the majority, invoke community control, it can only bring about a hardening of resistance to the legitimate aspirations of Black people.

And this, essentially, is what we are confronted with in task of improving Georgia's prisons almost a year and a half ago. How well MacDougall has performed depends on who you wish to believe. A recent series of articles by Larry Lindsey in "The Atlanta Voice revealed that MacDougall refused to allow the Georgia Prison Obser- vation Committee a group of former inmates, their families, and concerned citizens, to examine conditions at the Atlanta Prison. In one article the prison was described as a "house of horror that perpetuates total de-humanization." Another "Voice" arti- Continued on Page 5 and the blame must be; quite pointedly raise the shared by self-appointed question of whether ommunity spokes- munity control, original-men and by the city iy conceived to enlarge political leadership, par- influences of blacks, ticularly Mayor John Lin- in fact hindering our should not 'chances for social probe deluded into believing gress. that Carnarsie is aspon- It comes as no sur-taneous outpouring of prise that the white pa-whites sentiment.

The rents who first blockaded, a startuc on; Gentlemen: I would like to have the Atlanta Voice mailed to my home (or business) each week. Please enter my subscription as follows: a neaiia denier wouia appreciate your gut ana cooperation toward helping us give our Aftercare patients a Thanksgiving Dinner, which at this time, some are very lonely with no family. We try to give this dinner so that this time of the Season, thev will not be forcrotlen. At this Hmo boycotts ana aemonstra- tions are well-organized they are directed by petty demagogues who see personal profit in the exploitation of prejudice. This occur ed in the con- Mec Community Mental f.

9 rf Sincerely yours, Priscilla Harris Mental Health Assistant 5 PHONE ADDRESS I I PUof bill I 1 Pay ntnt vnclostd Code EZD Ono Yoar $1.00 Two Ytari $15.00 THE ATLANTA VOICE tARGEST SLACK WfcEKLY IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA PuMithrt hr at 066 Washington Si. S.W. Atknta, Gaorgta 30315. lcm cloi pMtogt poitf at AttarMa. Georgia.

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With your help, this day will be a success future. For com- munity control is fast We are located at 6 5 Georgia Avenue, S.E., in coming to symbolize the the EOACenter. We can be reached at this phone a very opposite of a sys-number 523-8202 or 523-8204 between 8:30 an. tern to guarantee social and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

We ajre justice. In its, rawest, in need of fruits, meats, etc. Thank vou vorv jiaa. community con- kindly. i Moil Ch.ck or Aony OraYr to: THE ATLANTA VOICE 1066 Waihington S.W.

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