NAACP Clayton County Georgia Branch

Bernell Wesley

Internship History 4980

Professor Scott Matthews

May 7, 2014

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Introduction

Founded in 1909 by a community coalition of white liberals and

African American leaders, the NAACP was originally called the

“National Negro Committee”1. The mission of the NAACP is to “ensure

the political, education, social, and economic equality of rights and

eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination” for all people2. The

most prominent early member of the NAACP was Harvard Law School alumni

Charles Hamilton Houston who, in the 1930s was appointed “special

counsel” to the NAACP. Known as the “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow”

Charles Hamilton Houston was also mentor to Thurgood Marshall, the

famed Civil Rights lawyer who successfully argued the 1954 Brown vs.

Board of Education3 as well as perhaps lesser known but nonetheless

important NAACP legal counsel Oliver Hill both of whom were recruited

by Houston. Houston was succeeded by Thurgood Marshall who continued

the fight in the US court system which eventually led to the 1964

Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair 1http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history . The NAACP is a registered 501(c) (3) Non-Profit Corporation.

2 NAACP, 8.3 http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-legal-history

Housing Act4. Before long “branches” began taking root around the

country. Branches come under the authority of state conferences. A

community seeking a charter to establish a branch must sign 100

members. There were 19 Georgia branches in 2009 today there are 71

chartered branches in Georgia alone.

Today’s NAACP’s Special Counsel is faced with greater and

infinitely more daunting tasks than ever before. Issues like the

School to Prison Pipeline5, fueled by racially biased Zero Tolerance

School

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Policies, modern slavery in the form of private prisons, the main

component of which is the Prison Industrial Complex, and extreme right

wing special interest groups like the Tea Party who advocate less

government but offer nothing that will ensure greater government

accountability or improved social equality.

Civil Liberties are now under attack around the country.

There are at least 11 red states, states where three (Access to

4 ibid5 https://www.aclu.org/school-prison-pipeline See: The Prison Industrial Complex In the Evolution of Slavery at https://gsu.academia.edu/BernellWesley

abortion, voting rights, and immigration rights) 6major civil liberties

are under attack. With jail and prison reform a hot election topic

“reentry” programs were quietly mounted in five test cities in Georgia

sometime last year. The cities chosen were Atlanta, Augusta,

Columbus, Macon, and Savannah. With the growing public support to

legalize certain drugs prison reform is proposing “ban the box” on job

applications for “returning citizens” 7who are adversely impacted from

gaining employment after serving jail or prison time. This is only a

partial list of issues that are being confronted by the NAACP. Battle

fronts change according to how and what affects a community at any

given time. A child might be suspended from school or bullied and

after seeking redress from the school system but finding no solution

parents might come to the NAACP out of desperation. There are 159

counties in Georgia but only 71 NAACP branches in Georgia. These 71

branches are responsible for all the complaints that come out of

Georgia.

Community education is a priority. With local elections

looming the Clayton County branch will face educating the community on

6 https://www.aclu.org/maps/civil-liberties-under-attack-abortion-access-immigrants-rights-and-voting-rights7 http://justicenotjails.org/ban-the-box/ Even the language is changing. In earlier years people who had prison records were called “convicts”. Later they were called “inmates” and now with the political climate changing we refer to them as “returning citizens”.

the issues that will impact them, they must build coalitions and

collaborations across ethnic, religious, and socio-economic lines and

they must repair relationships that

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have been damaged or broken. The demographics really began to change

in Clayton County in the 80s. In order to understand present day

Clayton County and the need for the NAACP requires a good look at how

the politics operate to constantly undermine the progress of a

majority, 67% African American population, through a tight “ole boy”

network that operates despite African Americans in key political

offices.

First I will present a Historical Summary of the Clayton

County Branch of the NAACP before moving on to county issues that I

believe undermine unity across racial lines while skewing political

affiliations. I will then highlight present issues and the role the

NAACP has in keeping these issues in the forefront of dialogue between

the school officials, local politicians and the community at large.

Many of these issues overlap. Next I will briefly examine some NAACP

functions I attended as an intern, high light some of the duties and

responsibilities I was assigned and in conclusion I will present what

I see as possible viable solutions in some key problem areas.

Historical Summary

What was historically a majority Euro-American community

experienced an influx of African Americans in the late 70s and early

80s. Lured by cheap cost of living and for many a chance to become

homeowners for the first time, Clayton County was an ideal location

with its proximity to the airport and downtown Atlanta. With the

demographic changes came political changes as well. Many county and

other workers moved to rural counties to avoid the newly arriving

African Americans but commuted daily to work, some as far as 50-100

miles away. This peculiar situation posed some very interesting

problems; an out of county population that was still tied to Clayton

County through its core work force and in many cases still owned

property throughout Clayton County. The money these expatriates earned

was taken back to enrich their new counties instead of being invested

in the Clayton County community.

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In 1986 Wade Starr, Jr. a local African American

businessman bolstered perhaps by the changing demographics in Clayton

County consulted with other African American community leaders in an

effort to bring about change. Reverend McAlister Hollis, Charles

Grant, Eddie White, James Jackson, Reda Brooks, Carolyn and Gail

Davenport, Oscar Blalock, Catherine Glover, and Leonard Tate”8 were the

members of the community committee. Reverend Charles Grant was

instrumental in reaching out and bringing Euro-Americans eager to work

together to bring about the needed change in a changing community. In

order to obtain a charter a branch need to have 100 members. The

Clayton Branch of the NAACP was issued its charter on October 18,

1987. The first major issue it faced was organizing a “School

Superintendent Candidates Forum”9. Other early issues were jobs and

more elected African American officials.

Ms. Karol Osborne, one of the few remaining Euro-American

members and one of the oldest sustaining members and Ms. Ruth Ash, an

African American friend and co-member of the Clayton NAACP both agreed

to an interview. Early Euro-American members were the Osborne’s,

Harry and Karol. Mr. Osborne served briefly as a member of the

Clayton County Branch Executive Committee but is no longer active as a

8 Martha Ward Plowden, PhD., NAACP: A Historical Perspective of the Georgia State Conference, Ward Plowden Publishing Company, 2009, p. 74.9 Ibid, p. 75.

member. Ms. Osborne on the other hand is a Gold Life Member. Ms. Ash

and Ms. Osborne spoke candidly about the early years, the political

forums and camaraderie shared across racial lines and how that

closeness has once again deteriorated to distrust and what they

perceive as unclear direction. Ms. Osborne, a resident of Clayton

County since 1974 is a former Clayton County Political Action

Committee member. The community issues that attract

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her most are peace and justice issues, such as gun control and

community education through political forums. Ms. Ash moved to

Clayton in 1986. Ms. Ash served as the NAACP State Conference office

manager for several years but served in other positions as well. Ms.

Ash is a member of the Clayton County Elections Board, a position she

has served under three county Commissioners. Ms. Osborne and Ms. Ash

both noted that voting is scheduled early this election year in May

instead of the traditional June, but they have not heard anything

about voter registration or have yet to be notified of a general

membership meeting. Both feel that communication between the

Executive Committee and rank and file members could be better.

James Jackson, a founding member was also instrumental in

bridging the racial divide in the earlier years. Mr. Jackson

befriended several Euro-American businessmen and politicians in order

to build support for the newly chartered branch. Ms. Osborne said he

even became golfing buddies with a couple of Clayton County

legislators who wielded considerable influence in Clayton County, Bill

Lee and Terrell Starr. Mr. Lee who now lives in Eagles Landing an

affluent suburb of Henry County is no longer active but Mr. Starr who

died a few years ago was a life member and was active until his

passing.

Strangely not many of the former members wanted to be

interviewed. I called Mr. Dexter Williams who replaced Reverend

Joseph Wheeler in 2002 as President and after introducing myself he

like others tried to guide me to others who might be interested in

being interviewed. When I asked why were past members so hesitant to

speak on their experiences with the local branch he replied he could

not speak for them but when I clarified that he was included since he

served as a past President and was admittedly a life member he became

strangely silent. My next and final question before wishing him a good

evening was “are you still active”? To which he simply relied no. I

took that as my cue that this interview was over. Trying to talk to

these past civil and human rights veterans is like trying to talk to

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any warrior that has experienced real battle. An outsider comes in

with microphone in hand with a surreal or perhaps a nostalgic

presupposition that the veteran really needs to relive his battlefield

experiences yet again but is soon struck by the reality that some

things are best left alone especially when there are those who are

still active on the field of battle.

Community Issues That Undermine Racial Unity

NAACP Interns are required to attend school board and

commissioners meetings in addition to office work and other scheduled

functions. In March 2014 I attended a school board meeting. Clayton

County lost its school accreditation in August of 2008 and full

accreditation was not restored until 2011 under the leadership of Dr.

Edmond T. Heatley10, a Superintendent that was recruited from the

California School System. On Monday October 1, 2012 Ms. Luvenia

10 http://bernews.com/2013/08/dr-heatley-named-new-education-commissioner/

Jackson, a long time Clayton County resident educator was sworn in as

interim Superintendent of the Clayton County School Board11.

Adding to the adversely diverse political mix in Clayton

County is the presence of the Clayton County Prison. The Clayton

County Prison is a county owned prison through which state prisoners

are sub-contracted without pay. Supporters of this program like to say

that the county saves millions by employing the free labor of leased

out state prisoners as a public service12. Critics on the other hand

complain that needed jobs are filled by free slave labor and ask, if

the county saves more than a million dollars on this work-release-

program then why isn’t this saved revenue being reinvested in the

county,

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11 Luvenia Wright Jackson’s Resume, http://www.clayton.k12.ga.us/administration/superintendent/images/ljresume1.pdf12 http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/pdf/CorrectionsCosts.pdf. The State of Georgiapays the County $20.00 per inmate per day, FY 2011.

and if it is, then where and in what programs13. Euro and African

Americans still are not communicating very well especially at the

county level and are split on issues like prison labor along racial

lines.

At a February 2014 school board meeting Clayton County Public

Schools Fine Arts Director Monika Wiley presented a “proposal” to name

the new Performing Arts School the Martha Ellen Stillwell School of

the Arts in honor of Clayton County’s best known Euro-American

performing arts “legend” according to the school board Chairwoman Pam

Adamson14. Most of those in attendance were shocked to learn that a

new school was nearing completion without properly addressing this

issue with the public. The only school board member who was aware of

this project was Ms. Adamson. As one parent succinctly expressed,

“it’s not the choice of naming that I have a problem with but how they

went about doing it. This sort of thing makes me wonder what else is

happening under the table that we don’t know about”.

13 In several conversations with stakeholders, whether parents, business people or other community grassroots leaders and others one gets the impression that the attitude to some of Clayton County’s community issues is ashared consensus of dissatisfaction with County politics.14 The problem with this announcement is that Ms. Adamson was the only school board member who knew anything about the building of a new school let alone any surveys offered to the public in choosing a name. http://www.news-daily.com/news/2014/feb/27/stillwell-proposed-as-new-name-for-clayton8217s/.http://www.news-daily.com/news/2013/jan/30/magnet-school-facility-awaits-approval/erforming Arts School

Another important community issue is SPLOST or Special Purpose

Local Option Sales tax, a $.01 consumer tax earmarked to fund projects

such as community centers and transportation. Clayton County’s former

transit system C-Tran was shelved in 2010 by the Clayton County Board

of Commissioners as a way to save money15. Clayton County resident

Miyoshi Bourget noted at a recent Commissioner’s meeting that Clayton

County’s “economic fortunes” could be changing with recent

announcements about the formation of the Aerotropolis Alliance, the

redevelopment of Fort Gillem, the purchase of Southlake Mall by L.A.-

based Vintage Real Estate and the impending arrival of a Pappadeaux

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restaurant in Morrow”. Central to “sustainable economic growth” is

public transportation. The soon to be complete Porsche North American

Headquarters, a $500 million dollar plus project, like the Hartsfield

– Jackson International Airport is in Clayton County but Clayton

County Officials don’t seem to understand how to leverage this

economic bonanza to bring needed jobs to the Clayton County

community16. These new County employment prospects will be impossible

15 http://clatl.com/atlanta/clayton-to-join-marta/Content?oid=10953662

16 Update: http://www.whatnowatlanta.com/2012/08/10/update-porsches-new-headquarters-test-track-costing-466-million-more-than-expected/

to reach by those who need employment most if public transportation is

not available.

Central to the new direction of the NAACP is the focus on

developing youth who are politicized, understand the importance of

community education, and are capable of taking on leadership roles.

This level of political awareness is achieved through youth committees

that are made up of students from middle, high schools, colleges and

universities17.

Many feel America’s youth are under attack in the form of the

School-to-Prison-Pipeline with its Zero Tolerance School Policies,

prison like atmospheres complete with metal detectors, armed police

and school resource officers, dogs, and unannounced “lock-downs”. From

time to time weapons and drugs are found but incidents of this

magnitude are rare. Security is essential but critics site examples

that have turned underachieving inner city schools into models of

positive achievement. There are several models and one has to wonder

why local leaders are stuck in traditional failing schools that lag

behind global requirements that demand much more than standardized and

benchmark testing. The Morton School of Excellence in Chicago, IL is

just one example of alternative public schools that are achieving

17 Constitution of the NAACP and Bylaws for Units, Act-So Committee (The Afro-Academic Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics, p. 11.

wonderful results. Morton is what is known as “a Balanced Literary

School, meaning the building is open seven days a week to allow

teachers to come in to plan lessons”. Morton “proudly call themselves

a 90-90-90 school — 90 percent low income, 90 percent African-

American, and 90 percent of their students now meeting or exceeding

the state's academic standards18. There are no police, no dogs or

metal detectors in the school. The Clayton County School System now

has its own School Police Department but the feeling of being “under

arrest or under siege” is voiced by many students who rebel against

constant pressure from the system and appears to have further

alienated students, teachers, and legal authorities from each other 19

Graduation rates in Clayton County is less than 60%. The

County also boasts a 65% recidivism rate by some figures against a 1

in 3 overall recidivism rate state wide20. Clayton County is home to

Juvenile Court Chief Judge Steven Teske, called by some, the most

“liberal juvenile judge” in America and whose work in Juvenile Justice

Reform is referenced around the country21. Judge Teske’s Finding

18 FamilyEducation, http://school.familyeducation.com/learning-environment/education-reform/72286.html?page=4&detoured=119 Education Under Arrest: The Case Against Police In Schools, http://www.justicepolicy.org/research/317720 BloggingWhileBlue, http://www.bloggingwhileblue.com/2012/06/six-steps-to-cut-georgias-high-recidivism-rate.html21 NCJFCJ: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, http://www.ncjfcj.org/steven-teske

Alternatives for Safety and Treatment (FAST Panel) is “a multi-

disciplinary committee made up of agency professionals, community-based

service providers, and trained community volunteers that meet each Monday,

Wednesday, and Friday to review the cases of youth who have been detained.

The focus of the Panel's work is to determine if there are alternatives that

will allow the child to be safely released into the community pending their

next court hearing.  The Panel makes a recommendation to the judge, who

determines whether or not to release the child”22. The NAACP is working to get

Zero Tolerance eliminated from the Clayton County Board of Education policies

while seeking alternatives such as student recommended incentive based

programs23.

Some Key Community Issues

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Transportation is one of those issues that has split the community.

Euro-American community members are against mass transportation because they

fear further encroachment on property values and greater erosion of quality of

life. Some of their fears are valid and are shared by African American

property holders as well but the Southside of Atlanta is steady growing and

new jobs are not being added. It is as if Clayton County is a marginal dumping22 The intern is a FAST Panel member. 90% of the time the Judge will accept the recommendation of the Panel.23 Several local music professional have shared interests in teaching music writing, engineering, and music production. http://www.justicepolicy.org/research/3177. All Children Are Children: Challenging Abusive Punishment of Juveniles, Equal Justice Initiative

ground and a key in the School-to Prison-Pipeline and the Prison Industrial

Complex24 both of which has a home in Clayton County.

The fastest growing industries in Clayton County are jails and

prisons. In a February 2014 Atlanta Journal Constitution article it was

announced that the private prison contractor the Geo Group, Inc. which owns

the Robert A. Deyton Detention center in the city of Lovejoy, Clayton County

had leased 77 acres to build a “new facility which will house another 2000

inmates” and bring 400-450 new jobs to Clayton County. As one Clayton resident

commented “…Should just make Clayton County itself into a Penal

Colony...”25 The trend in private jails and prisons is to build them in

rural areas. The problem with this outside the fact that “slavery by

another name” is taking place is the social aspect. Euro-Americans are

profiting in that jobs are being created and placed in their back

yards at the expense of mostly African American incarcerations26. A

failing school system led by Zero Tolerance Policies, lack of

transportation, the inability of local officials to leverage jobs for

those who need them most, and lack of communication between Euro and

African American community members are some of the most pressing

issues that the Clayton Branch of the NAACP embrace. Teacher pay 24 The Prison Industrial Complex in the Evolution of Slavery. https://www.academia.edu/6388464/The_Prison_Industrial_Complex_In_The_Evolution_of_Slavery25 Lovejoy to Get a Second Jail Facility, http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/lovejoy-to-get-a-second-jail-facility/ndSCb/26 http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/prisons_as_rural_growth.shtml

increase and retaining highly qualified teachers are also a high

priority issue.

Responsibilities of a NAACP Intern

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As an intern I was responsible for attending school board

meetings, Board of Commissioners meetings and other community

functions where the NAACP needed to maintain or establish a presence.

Below is a partial list of events, dates and a very brief description

of each event.

The Freedom Fund Banquet 2013: The Torch Has Been Passed. Friday

December 20, 2013.

The Freedom Fund Banquet is the yearly biggest fund- raiser that the

NAACP hosts. It is the time when the year’s past accomplishments are

celebrated and supporters and other community leaders are recognized.

Emancipation Proclamation Jubilee Day. Wednesday, January 1, 2014. A

time to remember the history of equal rights struggles in the United

States and around the world. The keynote speaker was Reverend Dr.

Jeremiah A. Wright.

The Annual Clayton County Martin Luther King Jr., Parade 2014 was held

on Saturday January 18, 2014 in downtown Jonesboro.

I received training on the Voting Activation Network (VAN) in

Statesboro, Ga. This highly sensitive tool allows the user to examine

multiple components of a community in organizing voter registration

drives.

Conclusion

The NAACP, like no other organization, is able to bring

pressure on anyone who would use their political power, economic

influence or business connections to oppress, manipulate, or control

marginal (“others”) by force through its unique network of supporters

across all racial, cultural, ethnic lines through grassroots advocacy.

All power relationships demand that we define “us” against “others”.

Minorities and all other disenfranchised people are seen as “others”,

a subcategory of citizens who, according to successful people, expect

handouts because they are lazy and refuse to apply themselves to

succeed; rational people know better.

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There are several models that could be examined, modified if

necessary and tested in the Clayton School System. A January 2014

Washington Post article examined the Maryland School System and the

positive work Maryland is doing to dismantle Zero Tolerance School

Policies in its system27.

Leaders are only as good as the people who elect them to

office. Community Education and Information Forums are, I believe,

essential to a strong community. Strong counties like Cobb, Gwinnett,

and DeKalb have figured out how to hold their elected officials

accountable. They have learned how to leverage their collective

political power, to identify and access community resources and they

understand the issues that impact their community. Community

stakeholders under the leadership of grassroots advocacy might explore

networking with outside community leaders and study their successes.

27 Trend Lines, http://blog.childtrends.org/2011/03/21/alternatives-to-zero-tolerance-policies-for-school-discipline/. The Washing ton Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/maryland-approves-new-school-discipline-regulations/2014/01/28/c11ad4de-8385-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_print.html

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Bibliography

Plowden, Martha Ward, Ph.D., NAACP: A Historical Perspective of the Georgia State Conference. USA, Ward Plowden Publishing Company, 2009.

Internet

Interview recorded March 3, 2014, #023, 39:44 minutes.