ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ NEWSLETTER OF THE
LOUISIANA COUNCILࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ༯span>ࠠࠠBATON ROUGE COUNCIL
ON HUMAN RELATIONSࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ༯span>ࠠࠠࠠࠠ쯳pan>쯳pan>ON HUMAN RELATIONS
Volume 44, Issue 1ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ February 2008ࠠࠠࠠ༯span>ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ쯳pan>Volume 43, Issue 1
ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ༯span>Paul
Y. Burns, Interim Editor
LCHR
Board Actions January 2008
ࠠThe Board of Directors met at the home of
Corresponding Secretary Patricia Rickels, Lafayette, on January 19.
Richard Haymaker, Membership Secretary, reported that in December he had sent
out a dues letter ($15 Individual, $20 Family, $1 Student and/or Hardshipe
mailed to him at 254 Nelson Dr.,
Baton Rouge LA
70808).쯳pan>He said that when members pay dues they often
mention that they appreciate our newsletter.꼯span>Paul Burns said he was still working on his project of finding out which
of Louisiana튎ewcomers and/or Moms Clubs discriminated against blacks.쯳pan>He learned that the Layette and Lake Charles
Newcomers clubs are open to all skin colors. In attendance were Board members
Patricia Rickels, Doris White, Brad Pollock, Joe
Dennis (presided), John Mikell, James Cross, Barbara
Conner, Shirley Burris, Dick Haymaker, Paul Burns, Elnur
Musa, Greg Richard, Joe McCarty, Thelma Deamer, Ted
Hayes, Peter Bonhomme, Anthony Navarre.
ࠠLCHR쯳pan>
statement about the Jena
6 case was discussed; Board member Brad Pollock said he had written a rough
draft for a statement from LCHR. He averred that the bottom line was that the
issue was the reaction to the actions in the case and the racism in the way the
authorities handled the matter.쯳pan>For
example, he noted that the tradition of the 詴es only㨡de tree at the Jena High
School had been permitted by the school
authorities for many years, until challenged by a black student. Also, that the
wife of the Superintendent of schools in Jena
works at the Jena
high school.쯳pan>It was agreed that Pollock,
Joe Dennis, and Pat Rickels, on behalf of LCHR, would
write a statement, to be publicized, about the Jena Six case.쯳pan>Burns asked that for a future Board meeting
that Cross bring a proposal for human relations awards by LCHR for
schools.쯳pan>Doris Whiteలoposal to
survey teachers with the assistance of the J.K. Haynes organization was
adopted.
ࠠGreg Richard told the group that a
lecture was scheduled on Jan. 24 in Lafayette
by professor Adam Fairclough, a Britisher.쯳pan>His topic: the Civil Rights Movement
ChangedDid Not Change Louisiana.Ⲿ
ࠠFairclough
wrote the book Race & Democracy: The
Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana
1915-1972. ﳰan>Univ. of Ga. Press,
1995, 610 p. Burns wrote a review of this book, printed in the September 1995
LCHR newsletter.
ࠠBoard member John Mikell pointed out that there was an excellent article
about the Jena
6 case in the January/February issue of The
Atlantic, written by Amy Waldman, The
Atlantic national correspondent.쯳pan>She
related how the Jena Six had become icons of a 21st-century civil
rights movement, which culminated in a protest march drawing 20,000 people to Jena, which is a few miles northeast of Alexandria, La.,
in LaSalle Parish. Joe Dennis, LCHR쯳pan> president,
attended the rally.
ࠠJoe McCarty announced that a group
from Hiroshima Japan
will be arriving in New Iberia and Breaux Bridge
this week to promote the critical need for action to eliminate nuclear weapons.
ࠠBurns handed out a statement for
each Board member from the Internet opposing torture (LCHR opposes
torture).쯳pan>The Board agreed to accept
Doris White쩠style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> invitation meet on
Saturday April 12, at her home in Plaisance.
More
about Torture
ࠠTORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE.쯳pan>A Statement of Conscience of the National
Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT).
Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person
that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It
class=Section2>
degrades everyone involved -- policy-makers,
perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals.
Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and
morally intolerable. Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than
the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word
but allowed in deed? Let America
abolish torture now -- without exceptions.
More than 18,000 persons have already endorsed this
statement.쯳pan>You may sign it on the
Internet. If you agree with this statement, you can add your name to the 18,000
or more who have signed it.쯳pan>The web
address is www.tortureisamoralissue.org.쯳pan>The website has suggestions for what you can
do to stop torture: Write a letter to a newspaper editor, put an insert in a
church bulletin, and hold a public meeting to hear a victim of torture speak. Unfortunately,
Congressional Democrats are going along with President Bushയrture
policies.쯳pan>They endorsed Attorney General
Michael Mukasey even though he was not willing to
label waterboarding as torture. Waterboarding
involves strapping a suspect down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face
until he has the sensation of drowning. Perhaps worse, the Democrats chose
retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to give their response to the President튓tate of
ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ ࠼/span>-2-
the Union address in
January 2008.쯳pan>Sanchez has been named in
three or more lawsuits in Europe and the U.S.
for authorizing torture and degrading, inhumane, and cruel treatment of
prisoners in Iraq.쯳pan>Leader of the U.S. Army༳t1:country-region
w:st="on">Iraq operations
from June 2003 to June 2004, Sanchez in 2003 issued a memo authorizing
torturous techniques such as 䲥ss Positions and 鬩tary Working
Dogs.㰡n style='mso-spacerun:yes'>쯳pan>Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski was in charge of Abu Ghraib
prison, under Sanchez, when the torture at this prison occurred. She told Amy
Goodman about another illegal practice at Abu Ghraib,
holding prisoners as 诳t Detainees,soners who were held without
assigning a prisoner number or putting their names in the database, contrary to
the Geneva Conventions.쯳pan>A former
military interrogator related the use of dogs to exploit Arab fear of dogs: 半were using dogs in the Mosul
detention facility. . .We would put the prisoner in a shipping container.쯳pan>We would keep him up all night with music and
strobe lights, stress positions, and then we would bring in dogs.쯳pan>The prisoner was blindfolded, so he didn튲eally understand what was going on, but we had the dog controlled.쯳pan>The dog would be barking and jumping on the
prisoner. . .Ⲿ
ࠠAccording to ABC News, acting
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin underwent waterboarding
in 2004 when the White House asked him to rework its official position on
torture.쯳pan>He concluded that waterboarding is torture, and he was then forced out of his
job.쯳pan>Anti-torture activists staged a
demonstration of waterboarding in November outside
the building housing the Department of Justice.꼯span>A 26-year-old actor volunteered to be the victim, stating afterwards:
䠩s the most terrifying experience I have ever had. . .when water goes into
your lungs and you want to scream and cannot, as soon as you do, you will
choke.㰡n style='mso-spacerun:yes'>쯳pan>Waterboarding
is illegal under U.S.
law and under the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit outrages upon personal
dignity, including cruel, humiliating, and degrading treatment.쯳pan>It violates the Constitution.쯳pan>
ࠠUntil we ordinary Americans get
upset about this issue, the U.S.
will continue to torture prisoners, either in prisons in the U.S., or others like Guantᮡmo or
in foreign countries by the CIA with the use of 贲aordinary rendition.ﺰ>
More
about the Jena
Six
ࠠAmy
Waldmanࡲticle points out that there were many charges and countercharges in
Jena.쯳pan>One was that blacks had sometimes sat under
the 詴e tree,ᮤ Justin Barker, the white student who was ked out⹍
black football star Mychal Bell, was not involved in
the noose-hanging or in inter-racial fights over the weekend before he was
attacked. Most of the areas where blacks live are beyond the limits of the town
of Jena, and all of the Jena Six lived outside
of Jena.쯳pan>Mychal spent a lot
of time when he was 16 with a white friend, John McPherson, an oil-field worker
living with his wife in a trailer.
ࠠAs a football star, authorities tend
to look the other way at transgressions (reminds me of a white long ago Istrouma High School star who allegedly went with his
buddies to the local bus station and beat up on gay men). Waldman states that
in the year leading up to his attack on Barker, Mychal쯳pan>physically assaulted a man, punched a girl,
and committed two vandalism acts榥nses of which he was found guilty in
juvenile court.
ࠠThe local district attorney, J. Reed
Walters, seems to be puzzled by the world-wide storm he caused.쯳pan>District attorneys in Louisiana
have a lot of power, and Walters㨡racter has shaped Bell࣡se. Walters has lived in LaSalle
Parish most of his life, where for many years the area where he lived fought a
rear-guard action against school desegregation.꼯span>It was not until 1969, 15 years after the famous Brown v. Board of Education judgment was handed down by the U.S.
Supreme Court, that the first blacks were admitted to Jena High. In 1981 David
Duke, former Klansman and unabashedly opposed to Negroes and Jews, received 63
percent of the LaSalle Parish vote in a race for governor. Black areas in Jena are unincorporated,
meaning they cannot vote for mayor or police chief, and they are ineligible for
town services like garbage collection. Walters advises the police jury, the
hospital, and the school board.쯳pan>A pillar
of the Midway Baptist Church,
a licensed minister, he seems to believe that everything he did in the Jena Six
case was 100 percent correct.쯳pan>The parish
is 7 -1 whites to blacks.쯳pan>Although there
is one black member on the 10-member school board and on the police jury,
blacks have no power.쯳pan>Parish-wide, in
public schools, there are only 4 black teachers out of 196. He told author
Waldman that the high school෨ite quarterback throws to both black and white
players, and this was evidence of Jena튓perfect⡣e relations.
ࠠIn December 2007 Bell made a deal with D.A. Walters: He
pleaded guilty to second-degree battery, a misdemeanor.쯳pan>He acknowledged in open court that he had
struck Barker.쯳pan>He agreed to testify
against his co-defendants in case they go to trial.쯳pan>His sentence was 18 months, including time
served. He will be admitted to a high school not yet determined, which will
enable him to play football again in the fall 2008.쯳pan>There was a video on the Internet Dec. 29
showing Bell in the home of Audie
McSwain, Bellযster
parent, in Monroe.
Bellࡴtorney Bob Noel said that Bell had been evaluated
by the Office of your Development and found to be no risk to the public. ﳰan>Recently, Mayor Murphy McMillin
created a Community Relations Panel to address the needs of the community.쯳pan>Christine Norris, chief of the Jena Band of
Choctaw Indians is a panel member.쯳pan>Jena has a long way to go to become like Lafayette
and Baton Rouge,
where there is a modicum of racial justice. Actually, Lafayette
and Baton Rouge
have a long way to go.
ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ ༯span>-3-
Lorna
Bourg Honored by Louisiana
Environmental Action Network
ࠠIn
September longtime LCHR member Lorna Bourg received an award for her work with
rural community and housing; she is president and executive director of the
Southern Mutual Help Association in New
Iberia.쯳pan>She
received LCHR쯳pan> Oliver-Sigur
Humanitarian Award in 2002.
ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ࠼/span>NEWS FROM BATON ROUGE
Council
Holds Public Form on Mass Transit
ࠠThe Baton
Rouge Council on Human Relations held a public panel discussion on mass transit
at the Unitarian Church on November 8.쯳pan>Speakers
were asked particularly to address ideas for possible limited routes or
shuttles that might be established to serve specific high-volume traffic needs,
such as the shuttle for LSU football games. Dr. James Cross, Southern
University engineering professor, drafted the proposal for citizen-directed
solutions.쯳pan>The speakers were:쯳pan>Jason El Koubi,
Policy Director, Baton Rouge Area Chamber; R. J. Goebel, Director of Planning,
Capital Region Planning Commission; Kiran Vemuri, Director of Planning, CATS (Baton Rougeࢵs
company); and Brian Goad, Landscape Architect, Reich Associates
organization.쯳pan>
Baton Rouge Loses
Its Liberal Radio Station
ࠠWPYR퍊1380 came on the air two years ago, as an Air America (liberal) affiliate
talk-show station owned by Clear Channel Communications (large conservative
corporation).쯳pan>Operating from sunup to
sundown, it was the only liberal radio station Baton Rouge has had in at least the past 53
years that I have been listening to radio here. Clear Channel changed it on
December 3 to a gospel music station, perhaps because of low Arbitron ratings.꼯span>There effort by some of us to bring a liberal station to Baton Rouge, but the
prospects aren৯od.
class=Section3>
Dr. Diola Bagayoko Receives Award
ࠠIn
November Southern University Distinguished Professor of Physics Diola Bagayoko, received the
Benjamin Banneker Legacy Award in Washington,
D.C.쯳pan>He is a former member of the BRCHR board of
directors and쯳pan>director of Southern쯳pan> Timbuktu
Academy. Banneker was a
famous free African-American astronomer in the U.S. in the late 1700s, a strong
advocate of equal justice and peace .Comedian Bill Cosby presented the award.
Deaths of
Rupert F. Richardson, Margaret Jane Pereboom, and
Dorothy Green Taplin
ࠠMrs.
Richardson passed away in Baton Rouge
Jan. 24 at age 78.쯳pan>She was an alumnus of
Southern University and McNeese
State University
and held an honorary doctorate from Colorado
Technical University.쯳pan>Although she was well known as La. NAACP
President and national NAACP President, she also received the BRCHR쯳pan> Humanitarian Award and served a term as a member of
the its board of directors.쯳pan>She served
on many other non-profit boards and was a charter member of the Louisiana
Womend Louisiana Black History Halls of Fame.
ࠠDr.
Pereboom died in Roswell, Ga.
Jan. 18 at age 79.쯳pan>She was a charter
member of the BRCHR, receiving its humanitarian award in 2000.쯳pan>She resided in Baton Rouge for 47 years. She served a term
on the EBR Parish School Board and founded Agenda for Children, a nonprofit for
childrenghts. Holding a Ph.D. in educational psychology, she won many
awards for her achievements.쯳pan>A memorial
service is to be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 16, at the Unitarian Church,
8470 Goodwood
Blvd., Baton Rouge.
ࠠMrs. Taplin passed away Jan. 23 at age 90.쯳pan>A longtime member of the BRCHR, she was a
graduate of Southern University and Atlanta
University. She was
principal of Scott St.
and Polk Elementary
Schools in Baton
Rouge, retiring in 1977.쯳pan>A member of Phi Delta Kappa and Delta Sigma
Theta, Mrs. Taplin received many awards at
professional meetings and seminars.쯳pan>She
worked in a large number of church and civic volunteer ministries.
Community
Preview of New TV Documentary on Segregation in Old South
Baton Rouge ࠠࠠ
ࠠThe public
preview of 㴱:City w:st="on">Baton
RougeԲoubled Waters:
Brooks Park and Beyond쯩>was held Jan. 31 at McKinley Middle
Magnet School.쯳pan>The program will be broadcast on WLPB Tuesday
Feb. 26.쯳pan>Judge Trudy White, a So.B.R. native, apparently inspired it, and Dorothy
Kendrick of WLPB put it together with the help of its skilled staff. It was
professionally done, and I recommend it highly (besides, I੮terviewed in
it!).쯳pan>It tells the true story of racial
segregation in the Old South Baton Rouge community from the 1940s on until the
present, mainly by the use of interviews with people who knew first-hand about
the local race relations.쯳pan>I knew most of
them, and a number were active in the BRCHR, formed in 1965. ﳰan>Some of those I knew were Joe Delpit, Horatio Thompson, Thelma Tacneau,
Dupuy Anderson, Johnnie Jones, Sr., Marian Wells,
Earl Taylor, Maxine Crump, Freya
Anderson Rivers,
T.J. Jemison, Troy H. Middleton, Woody Dumas, Betty Claiborne, Pearl George,
Murphy Bell, Willie Spooner, Huel Perkins.쯳pan>After
ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ쯳pan>-4-
the showing, a few of us came forward and spoke to the
group, including Joe Delpit, Collis Temple,
and me.쯳pan>Among those present were Inez
Anderson, widow of Dupuy and mother of Freya, and
several other members of the BRCHR.
The story of how the Rev. W.K. Brooks in 1947 led
other blacks from Old South Baton Rouge, with help from a few whites, to form the
ed Negro Recreational Association,稩ch provided a swimming pool and a
recreational facility is fascinating.쯳pan>In
1947 blacks were not allowed by BREC and the city government to swim in 詴es-only꼳t1:PlaceType w:st="on">City Park
pool, the largest and nicest in Baton
Rouge, and close to Old South Baton Rouge.
African-American children were swimming (and drowning) in the dangerous Mississippi River and in local mud holes after a
rain.쯳pan>The documentary highlights the
grit and know-how of the South Baton Rougeans, and
also covers the attempted 穭-inᴠCity
Park, the attempt to integrate City Park튧olf course, the 1953 Baton Rouge
bus boycott, and the 47-year-long Baton Rouge Schools Integration case.
If You
Havenlready, Please Send Dues to Receive this Newsletter (Fiscal Year Began
07/01/07).
$15 Individual, $20 Family, $1 Student and/or
Hardship.
For non-BR residents: make check to LCHR.쯳pan>For BR area residents: make check to BRCHR.
Send checks for LCHR and BRCHR to Richard Haymaker, 254 Nelson Dr., Baton
Rouge, LA 70808.
We welcome those who agree with our principles, which
are to strive for equal opportunity and good relations for all human beings,
whatever their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national
origin.
Louisiana Council on Humanࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ쯳pan>༯span>NON-PROFIT
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ࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠࠠ 쯳pan>Baton
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