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April 2008
20 years later, giving goes on
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It started as a call to action from two churches: Norcross First United Methodist and Christ Church Episcopal.
Families were knocking on the church doors looking for help with this, that and the other. The churches were ill-equipped to deal with such matters, so they pulled together a committee made up of several churches to see what could be done.
The answer: the Norcross Cooperative Ministry, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in May.
Shirley Cabe was involved with the nonprofit when it was little more than an idea. She served on the committee that put the wheels in motion. Now she’s the agency’s executive director and probably one of most knowledgeable Gwinnettians when it comes to the poor, working poor and suddenly poor.
When she tells you the needs of people turning to the nonprofit have grown from short-term issues (food) to long-term (medical care), believe it.
When she says the county has a growing homeless community, treat it as gospel. And when she speculates that the ongoing spike in gas and grocery prices will lead to a boom in clients at her nonprofit, bank on it.
“Of course we see hundreds and hundreds of people needing food,” Cabe told me Monday. “But it’s not just the quick fix anymore. Overall, it seems like the needs are more long-term, more critical, than they were in the 1980s.
“We always have a food shortage. We’ve already had some people needing help with gas, but we don’t give out gas vouchers. At one time we did have that program. Of course the other side of all of this is how will it affect our donations.”
As the needs changed, so did the ministry, though it still doles out food and clothes. It also offers language classes and helps unemployed clients find jobs. Classes vary, from résumé writing to interview skills. Only U.S. citizens or immigrants with a legal right to work in the country can take part in the job-services program.
John Byerley, the current president, said people’s mouths drop when they walk in the facility and see the activity.
“We are an active part of the community, just trying to make Norcross a little better,” said Byerley, a business manager for a voice and data applications firm in Norcross.
“Because we are a ministry, we’d like to see people transition from being in a situation where they need a hand-up to making the next step, to becoming self-sufficient. We’re trying to concentrate on that area.”
To commemorate its anniversary, the nonprofit is hosting an open house from 3 to 5 p.m. this Sunday. You’re invited. If you attend, though, please donate something that reflects the agency’s 20-year history - 20 cans of food, 20 clothing items or cash in $20 increments.
“We want to talk about where we’ve been the last 20 years,” Cabe told me, “and where we hope to go the next 20.”
The Norcross Cooperative Ministry is at 2275 Mitchell Road. Contact info: 770-263-8268 (client services) or 770-263-0013 (donations); www.norcrossco-op.org.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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Stop dividing and blaming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One night Fran Kurtzman ran into her mailman in the grocery store. They talked about the trash and litter in her neighborhood, especially near the entrance.
The mailman said they ought to hold a cleanup day. Invite the neighbors. The event was scheduled for April 20. A notice, written in English and Spanish, was posted. Kurtzman and her house mate, Sue Felsen, passed out fliers in the subdivision, located off Club Drive in Lawrenceville.
“I figured there’d be two of us out there,” Felsen told me.
But on the day of the cleanup, folk turned out in droves. Upwards of 30 or more. They came armed with shovels, edgers and lawn mowers. They worked several hours, giving special attention to a wooded area that had become a depository for bottles, diapers and other trash.
“It was shocking what was hauled out of there,” said Fran’s son, Howard Kurtzman of Atlanta. “I’d never seen anything like it. They made a dramatic difference. Apparently this idea hit home for a lot of people.”
Kurtzman and Felsen were pioneers when they moved into Brooks Landing 20 years ago. The subdivision was culturally diverse, but everybody spoke English. Now it’s undergone a cultural change. Most residents speak Spanish.
But apparently language wasn’t too big of a barrier when it came to the neighborhood protecting its value, shoring up its appearance, caring.
It’s tapered off in recent years, but I used to get a stream of e-mails and calls about neighborhood decay. Some homeowners expressed valid concerns; others just wanted to vent. They’d be angry because some of the people responsible for code violations didn’t speak English. They, the frustrated homeowners, didn’t speak Spanish. I was amazed by the uncanny ability of some venters to size up their neighbors as Mexicans, just by looking at them.
Seldom were there any efforts to talk to the violators, though, to explain things. The issue, along with the resentment, lingered.
Perhaps there’s a lesson in Brooks Landing.
When we walked through the subdivision, Kurtzman pointed out a house whose owner couldn’t care less about upkeep or tidiness. I suggested she, or someone, report it to the county code enforcement office. The subdivision plans to have cleanup days on a regular basis since the first one proved successful. Neighbors have already approached Kurtzman wanting to know about the next event.
“Most people have had such a good spirit,” she said.
Turnout for the inaugural cleanup day moved Felsen to tears.
“I expected two to three people, but they kept coming and coming and coming,” she told me. “Why didn’t we think about this before, about putting a sign up in Spanish and English and say, ‘Please come.’ “
Howard Kurtzman’s a proud son. He was so moved by his mother’s efforts and the response it garnered that he fired off a letter to AJC Gwinnett News.
“What if everyone stopped complaining and took a step toward educating others and uniting people instead of dividing and blaming?” he wrote. “This story made me so proud of my mom and all the people who worked so hard. I hope more people who read this will be inspired to make Gwinnett, Georgia and America the most beautiful place on earth.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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A friend defends Carter’s meeting with Hamas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My friend Tony Honein admires Jimmy Carter.
His family has attended the former president’s Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist, Carter’s church in Plains. They’ve had photographs taken with Rosalynn and Jimmy. One of those pictures was prominently featured in the Honeins’ Christmas letter.
“He’s a hero of mine,” Honein said.
In Carter, Honein sees a leader who’s respected nationally and internationally. Even more appealing to Honein is that the Nobel Peace Prize winner grew up in, by many accounts, a podunk town.
“His humble background is an example of how great America is,” Honein wrote in an —mail, “and how the American Dream can truly be that of any hardworking person.”
The other day Honein and I discussed Carter’s eye-raising trip to the Middle East to meet Hamas rulers. I wanted his perspective. It’s a world view.
Honein grew up in Beirut and attended school there until the start of the civil war in Lebanon. He finished high school in France, then earned a marketing degree from Indiana University. He worked nearly two decades as an executive for an international tobacco company, logging time in several countries. Europe. Africa. Parts of the Middle East. He and his wife, Margaret, eventually moved to America.
Now, metro Atlanta is home.
The United States does not deal with Hamas - the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip - and regards it as a terror group. So do Europe and Israel. Carter’s unsolicited, freelance diplomacy drew sharp criticism from the international community and was rebuked by the Bush administration.
Honein, who runs LebaneseBooks.com, an online catalog that specializes in Middle Eastern topics, condoned it.
“I think it is a sad day when attempts to bridge differences between warring parties are vilified,” he said. “There is only one organization with whom we should never negotiate, but must pursue, defeat and bring to justice, and that is al-Qaida and bin Laden.”
In other words, somebody, some trusted leader from a world power, had to take the risk, to try dialogue. He or she may fail, as Carter apparently did in trying to gain concessions, but it’s worth it.
Diplomacy, by its very nature, requires dialogue twixt all parties, including enemies. It’s a basic tenet, no matter how powerful and principled those with a vested interest in negotiating pretend to be. Talk to everyone. It doesn’t mean you condone terrorist behavior or that you’re rewarding it. And if you can’t see beyond that, and (wrongly) consider Carter a grandstander, then bite on reality: With no dialogue, without Hamas at the table, there will be no justice, no peace, no political progress between the Palestinians and Israel.
“No one was under any illusion that a comprehensive peace in the Middle East would be achieved during President Carter’s visit,” Honein told me. “There should always be attempts at making peace.”
Someone needs to talk to Hamas.
The Badie Tour will resume next Thursday. Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.
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Gymnast balances many feats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theresa Bailey McClendon read a book about tennis before she started playing the game.
When it came to gymnastics, her son did the same thing.
“He was a member of a traveling soccer team, and we were always running around,” said McClendon, a single mom. “I told him he’d have to choose one sport. He found a book, read it and said, ‘I’m into gymnastics.’ “
By most standards, Taylor McClendon got a late start in the world of gymnastics. He was 12 and lacked formal training. Yet he excelled, quickly catching the eyes of coaches at the Georgia Gymnastics Academy in Suwanee. It wasn’t long before they wanted him to join their competitive squad. He has been ranked high regionally on a few occasions, though an injury sidelined him in 2004.
But if you exhibit grit, determination and desire, anything is possible.
“You’re talking about an expensive sport,” said McClendon, an administrator at Pond & Co. “We have been some of everywhere, but there were times we weren’t able to travel. But we pressed on.”
Taylor, now 17, has succeeded on and off the high bar.
The Norcross High senior takes gifted and honors classes and maintains a 3.4 GPA. He plays the trumpet and piano. When he graduates in May, he’ll wear a special cord for logging 200-plus hours of community service the past four years.
He has received a congressional appointment to West Point from U.S. Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.). But he has chosen not to attend military school.
“I was born to be a gymnast,” said Taylor, who trains at the Atlanta School of Gymnastics in Tucker. “I am the only male gymnast in my entire school. Very rare. My favorite love of all is gymnastics.”
Well, engineering ranks high, too. Renita Santos, a civil engineer with Pond & Co., has been Taylor’s mentor for several years.
“He’s a down-to-earth, good kid. I shouldn’t say kid. He’s a young man.”
When it came time to decide what college to attend, the trick for mom and son was to find an institution with a reputable engineering school and a competitive men’s gymnastics program.
One of those schools is the University of Iowa, which awarded Taylor an academic scholarship. He was accepted into the engineering program and recently received more good news.
Two weeks ago, the McClendons flew to the university to meet Tom Dunn, the men’s gymnastics head coach.
His mother brought along a highlight reel of her son, the gymnast with only five years of experience.
Dunn liked what he saw, on film and in person.
“The most impressive aspect would be his attitude, his desire to be successful at this level,” Dunn told me. “He’s going to have to progress over the summer and train to compete here next year for the team.”
Dunn said the Hawkeyes didn’t fare well in the NCAA men’s gymnastics championships held last weekend.
Maybe Taylor can help change that one day.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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To him, style has function
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He’s dressed to the nines.
Brown pinstriped suit and vest. Lace-up spectators. A dress shirt with cuff links and his initials embroidered on the sleeve.
Think Cotton Club, Bogart. Nifty and natty.
Brian Keith Howard recently ditched his day job to pursue his passion. He’s started a tailoring and consulting firm that specializes in 1930s-style fashion. “Bogey by Brielle,” it’s called. (Brielle is one of his daughter’s middle names.)
Howard developed a fashion sense at an early age. He fancied the styles of the 1930s, thanks in part to his grandfather.
“I raided my grandfather’s closet for braces, pleated pants and vests,” the Ohio native said.
He’d been a corporate sales trainer for 15 years, and he began dabbling in fashion a decade ago. A local haberdasher gave him his start by granting him access to his shop and fabric books.
Now, Howard, 48, works out of his home in Snellville. He meets clients wherever, armed with a tape measure and a suitcase full of fabrics. His suits start at $700. Eventually, he wants to roll out leisure/weekend attire.
Pearl Binder, the late artist/socialite, said, “Dress is the outward expression of a man’s state of mind, and it is his attire that tells the world what he thinks of himself.”
The quote serves as a segue into why I chose to write about Howard. His purpose stretches beyond wanting to build a high-end business. That’s a given. See, Brown also wants to educate our young people about the clothes they wear and the statements they make.
You’ve seen young men in the ridiculously saggy and baggy pants. Atlanta Councilman C.T. Martin has proposed a ban on clothes that expose undergarments. A citizens task force said a ban wasn’t the answer, though.
Discourse and discussion is.
Brown hopes to be a part of the discussion, maybe help lead it. He knows young people can’t afford his suits, but they can develop a reasonably priced, tasteful fashion sense.
He’s made a proposal to 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc. to possibly incorporate such a theme into that organization’s mentoring program. And he plans to contact Atlanta City Hall to see whether there’s interest in tackling the issue in a way that uplifts, not denigrates and criminalizes.
“Regulating dress is not the way to go,” he said. “We need to lead by example and show them options. We need to ask them what does dressing like that mean to them? “If we never show people what good dress looks like, then we can’t complain about people wearing baggy and saggy pants. Educate them to a better way.”
For more information about Bogey by Brielle, call 678-362-4287. Brian Keith Howard’s designs will be featured in a celebrity fashion show and sports auction at 8 p.m. April 25 at the residence of Charles A. Mathis Jr. Proceeds benefit AIM, a mentoring program for underprivileged kids. Details: www.aimforyouth.com.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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Small stations feel gas pinch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ray Cole has business records that date back to the 1970s.
Just for the heck of it, he pulled out a few Wednesday to show me how times have changed. One from 1970 showed that a customer paid $2.68 for four quarts of oil and $50.50 for four recapped tires. And get this: someone bought 10.7 gallons of gas for a whopping $3.85.
Times definitely have changed. Especially at the pump, and that’s what brought the Badie Tour to Cole’s Service Station, a fixture in Lilburn for decades. There, coffee and conversation are free. If you’re a senior slowed by age, and the folks at Cole’s know it, an attendant will pump your gas for you, even if you pull into the self-service lane.
Cole had warned me that it might be slow Wednesday morning. He was right. About five customers rolled through, all regulars who’ve traded there for years.
“I’ve never seen it this slow, and I’ve been in the business 33 years,” he told me. “There’s no work, no construction, and that affects all the businesses.”
Last week, a PBS news segment on gas prices featured Lisa Margonelli, an energy expert and fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit public policy institute. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area where, she told me Tuesday, gas has already hit the $4 mark.
Over the phone, she gave me a truncated history of gas stations and the economics of the business. Retail profit margins selling gas are generally thin, she told me. In today’s market, it averages 3 to 4 cents a gallon. And when gas prices are high like they are now, independents and small operators get squeezed the most.
“They can’t let the pump run dry, and they can’t put themselves in a position where they keep the tanks full,” Margonelli said. “The guessing game is intense.”
Cole knows this.
Nightly, he’s faxed a sheet that lists the wholesale price for gasoline. It could be up 4 cents a gallon one day, then 2 cents lower the next. The trick for him is to place an order at the right time. On Wednesday, he placed an order for about 8,500 gallons that cost more than $30,000.
“It’s like the stock market,” said Cole, whose profits run about 2 to 3 cents a gallon. “You try to predict the time to buy it the cheapest. Most times, you don’t.”
Be it high gas prices or tolerable ones, Cole always seems to weather the storm. Long-standing relationships with individual customers and businesses, coupled with on-site auto repairs, help keep the station afloat. In-store stock helps, too - soft drinks, honey buns, headache powders and such. Then there’s the free coffee.
“My customers are everyday people,” he told me. “They like certain things and I try to keep it handy for them.”
Some of the everyday people gathered around the coffee pot Wednesday. I met Charles Allen and L.J. Hoopaugh. We talked about Allen’s love for deer hunting, Hoopaugh’s 50-year career in distribution with Sears and gas prices that are likely here to stay.
“The cost of everything is up, but the people’s income isn’t,” mused Allen, a retired electrician. “All of this is probably a good wake-up call for a lot of people.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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Soldiers’ charity sends ‘the basics’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Everybody’s in a good mood, despite having to bump into, side-step and walk around each other.
The upbeat atmosphere is understandable, though. When you do something to help others, you can’t help but feel good, and the Soldier’s Connection has been at it since the start of the Iraq war.
The charity was started in the garage of Jean Adcock’s home in Covington. When she worked as warehouse manager at Fort Gillem, wartime veterans shared stories about going without basics like soap and deodorant.
“I made a vow that if we ever go to war again, I was going to do something to help the troops,” the retiree told me. “When I started this, it was just me and two other ladies from American Legion [Post No. 233]. We started in the garage, then moved to a basement. We got so big the post was nice enough to let us use some space.”
Every other Monday, volunteers meet at the Loganville post to stock care packages bound for U.S. soldiers in the Middle East. The boxes, some for men, some for women, contain snacks, soap, deodorant, phone cards, magazines and such.
When I visited Monday, Anitia Owens showed me the nonprofit’s records. Last year, when the group sorted and packed weekly, it shipped 212,000 items. They now sort and pack every other week, which gives them more time to restock.
“Every dollar goes to the soldiers,” said Owens of Loganville.
Donations come from the usual means - churches, organizations, everyday people. The charity sells T-shirts, magnets and hats and occasionally sets up booths outside discount stores. Volunteers give shoppers a list of needed items and ask them to either make a purchase or donate money.
Bobby Boss, the post commander, has nothing but praise for the Soldier’s Connection.
“It’s one of the greatest projects we’ve had in years,” he said. “And it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Donors see the need.”
Adcock agreed, saying donors are touched by the cause. Many supporters have relatives serving or know somebody who’s in. Volunteer Sandy Wittenmyer’s grandnephew served two tours in Iraq.
“He’s home now, stationed at an Army base in South Carolina,” the Loganville woman said. “He served his duty, and now he’s back, and that’s great.”
Soldier’s Connection’s mission has spread by word of mouth and networking. Active and retired military personnel tout its work; elected officials like Gov. Sonny Perdue, a member of Post. No. 233, support it. Three other chapters operate in South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio.
“I flew to Ohio in one weekend, showed them how to run a chapter, then flew back,” Adcock told me. “This has been fun. A great way to meet people.”
Fun - yes. But the volunteers, like me, wish their work wasn’t needed, that like Wittenmyer’s grandnephew, the soldiers come home. Soon. A Soldier’s Connection T-shirt sums up their sentiments:
“We will be here till they all come home.”
For more information about Soldier’s Connection, call Jean Adcock at 770-787-9085; or Anitia Owens at 770-554-9912.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875
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Victim’s mercy toward youths unusual
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Their son was shaken up the most.
He heard his mom’s screams coming from the driveway. Rebecca Baltich had been shot in the stomach with a BB gun.
The incident ended with the arrest of an All-America basketball player and two of his teammates. Norcross High hoops star Al-Farouq Aminu, Prince Kent and Quintin Square have been charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor trespass. They allegedly shot Baltich March 14 in front of her Norcross home. They spent a night in jail and may be indicted.
Something stood out when I read the initial story about the incident. It wasn’t the fact that Aminu, a Wake Forest signee and a Parade Magazine and McDonald’s All-American, may have been involved. After all, no one’s perfect, and if you think you’re remotely close you’re either fooling yourself or have a selective memory.
What resonated with me was the attitude of the Baltichs, Rebecca and Branden. Go easy on the boys, the couple has said. They have their whole lives ahead of them.
“We think this is the right thing to do,” Branden told me during a three-way telephone call with his wife and me. “Life is precious, too short to be caught up being angry.”
So often we see spiteful, vindictive responses and reactions to most any and every thing. The eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth adages get taken to the extreme. Unless, of course, you’re a celebrity.
Without question, some crimes deserve swift prosecution. Think Gary Michael Hilton, the drifter who has admitted killing and decapitating Meredith Emerson, a 24-year-old Bufordite. Or Brian Nichols, the multiple-murder defendant whose death-penalty trial has been bogged down over defense funding.
Sometimes, though, we’re too hard-core, too quick to throw down the gauntlet. We view issues in black and white, and conveniently ignore slivers of gray that distort our cozy picture of justice and order, right and wrong.
Forget compassion and forgiveness. Vindictiveness rules, though it’s not altogether effective. Same for retribution. Getting even. By any means necessary. The new American way.
The Baltichs stepped back and thought things through, despite being victims in what had to be a highly emotional situation. They aren’t being suckers. They are simply showing compassion that they don’t have to exhibit. They could have talked this ordeal up in the press and made it out to be worse than it really was. And it would have been more egregious if one of the couple’s three children had been the victim or Rebecca had lost an eye.
“It’s basically just a welt,” said Rebecca Baltich, who prefers that her husband, a corporate attorney, speak to reporters.
Branden Baltich told me he’d like the criminal case resolved quickly and out of the press. He said he’d never been taken to jail, and couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for the boys to be locked up.
“That had to be scary,” he said.
Just as scary as shots raining down on your driveway.
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Immigration screening ahead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Minutes into the tour, Maj. Carl Sims had to excuse himself.
“Stay here!” the top administrator at the Gwinnett County jail yelled at me.
Off he ran down the hallway, joined by a dozen or so sheriff’s deputies.
Their destination: the kitchen area. The reason: Two of the 2,569 inmates were fighting.
Seconds later, the young men emerged, handcuffed, and were escorted away.
The altercation served up the only drama Wednesday when the Badie Tour visited the jail, located off University Parkway in Lawrenceville.
A program that screens inmates for immigration violations is what brought me there. It’s called 287(g),, and it trains local law enforcement officers how to identify illegal immigrants and to refer them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation.
At some point in October, deputies will be able to screen inmates they suspect of being here illegally. They’ll have access to federal databases that can determine criminal background and legal status.
After the illegal immigrant’s case is adjudicated, he or she will be picked up by ICE officials and transported to a holding facility in metro Atlanta. They may be deported, something many Gwinnett residents would cheer.
“This is where it all starts for 287(g),” said Sims as we stood in the prebooking area. Here, mug shots are taken and the same questions are asked of every person in custody.
“Where were you born?”
“What’s your country of origin?”
Last year, the jail processed 12,000 foreign-born inmates on charges ranging from traffic citations to homicide. Their incarceration lasted anywhere from three days - the jail average - to months and years.
“We suspect a large number were illegal.” said Sims, a former Los Angeles homicide detective. “It’s difficult to track them.”
Capt. Jon Spear joined us before we left the prebooking area. He, primarily, is responsible for making the jail’s 287(g) program a reality. He showed me a room where screening equipment had been stored, still boxed up.
“This will get the process rolling quicker,” said Spear, noting that in-house screening prevents an ICE officer from having to drive to the jail and run the checks, thus saving time.
Like Sims, Spear stressed that the only people who will be screened to confirm legal status are those who have been arrested and make it to the county jail.
“There has to be an arrest,” Spear said. “That’s the big thing that people don’t understand about the program.”
Initially, the county plans to cross-train 18 deputies for a program whose annual cost will be nearly $5 million a year. By no means is this the end-all and be-all to illegal immigration. It’s simply a mechanism till the jobs dry up that lure illegal immigrants across the border or the federal government gets a better handle on things.
I asked Spear if it makes sense to pursue 287(g) at a time when the county lacks enough deputies to fully staff Tower 1, the new jail addition. Some of the tower units are empty. Inmates occasionally have to bunk three to a unit in the original part of the facility.
“The two go hand in hand,” he said.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail:rbadie@ajc.com. �
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White judge, different reaction?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
E-mails and letters poured in after I praised an Atlanta judge for taking the time to privately talk to some black defendants about crime.
One recent Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington asked the white people to leave his courtroom so he could address the defendants. He told them to turn their lives around, to stay out of his courtroom.
In Sunday’s column, I applauded Arrington’s 10-minute “fireside chat.” I explained that, even though it excluded whites who’d been in the courtroom, his intent was noble.
Most readers who contacted me appreciated Arrington’s efforts as well. One reader, a self-described “old white guy,” read the column online.
“Hooray for his showing common sense, concern and compassion,” wrote Ole Quiberg of Chico, Calif. “My grandson, who is white, is in prison. He deserves to be there for what he did. He never received a heartfelt talking to like Judge Arrington gave. For it to have the most effect, the judge needs to be of the same race as those he is talking to.
“Yes, race matters.”
For a minority of readers, race did indeed matter, just not for the reasons cited by Quiberg. They disliked the fact that Arrington had the whites leave before he addressed the black defendants. Unwise, they said, while wondering:
What if a white judge had done such a thing, and ordered all the black people out of the courtroom?
“It’s not what he did, but how he arranged for it,” wrote Margaret Gallagher of Norcross. “Can you imagine how people would react to a white judge asking the black people to leave the room so he could have a chat with Caucasian defendants?”
She continued: “Once out of the room, any ethnic group doesn’t know what’s being said, and generally assumes the worse. Happily, in this instance, the assumption was the opposite of the truth, but the racially charged request was bound to have felt like prejudice.”
James Newby of Dacula gave Arrington an attaboy for caring, but a “boo” for racial strategy.
“I don’t believe anyone would protest any louder than you if a white judge had dismissed all black people so that he could have a ‘fireside chat’ with white defendants and their family and friends,” he wrote in an e-mail. “If we are truly keepers of the dream, we must continue our efforts to erase that racial line that we have been fighting for so long to eliminate.”
LaVerne Zolkosky of Lilburn echoed Newby’s assumption: “I seriously doubt that you or any other columnist would support a white judge who did the same thing in a reverse situation,” she wrote.
“There would be marching chanters demanding his removal from the job, and that probably would be the end result.”
True, there might be marchers who’d chant and journalists who’d ridicule a white judge, question his intent.
Not me, if the scenarios were the same.
What about you?
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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Judge Arrington, bravo for caring
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Mrs. Howard needs to see you.”
No kid at my middle school wanted to hear those words. Sometimes, having to see Mrs. Clifford Howard was worse than being sent to the principal’s office. It wasn’t what she did to you or made you do. It was what she’d talk to you about.
Mrs. Howard was an old-school, no-nonsense teacher who’d taught in segregated black schools. At my school, she was an English teacher and the school counselor, a sage.
Many teachers turned to her when students - particularly black ones - got off track and needed a stern “talkin’ to.” A chat with her, it was hoped, would correct behavior.
Her role was to rein kids in before they spiraled out of control. Before they found themselves in the principal’s office. Before they got suspended or expelled. Before girls got pregnant and boys got locked up.
Time with Mrs. Howard was meant to remind students - just in case they didn’t know - their roles as kids. Their job was to do well in school, go to college or get a good job, make parents and the black community in the hometown proud.
Not embarrass it.
Mrs. Howard came to mind the other day when I read a story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Marvin Arrington’s pickle. He’s a Fulton County Superior Court judge. One recent sentencing day, he asked all the white people to leave the courtroom. He wanted to talk to the 50 or so black defendants alone.
Arrington wanted to have a fireside chat, something he referred to in the newspaper article as his “Bill Cosby” moment. In a 10-minute talk, he admonished the defendants about bad behavior and how it crippled advancement. He talked about “babies having babies” and parents who don’t act like parents.
Be better, he told them in so many words. Do better. Stop carjacking, robbing, raping and stealing. Stay out of my courtroom.
Great heartfelt message.
The courthouse talk drew a standing ovation. It drew a few critics, too. The courtroom is a public facility, some said. Others took issue with the fact that whites were told to jet. They said the pioneer black lawyer should have been inclusive. After all, every race could benefit from such a message.
Valid points.
But with all due respect, there’s nothing wrong with the Howards and Arringtons of the world hosting fireside chats. There’s nothing inherently revolting or racist if role models and leaders of color emphasize and use the very color of their skin to drive home points about the unsavory roles some in that particular group embrace, even glorify.
It’s called caring.
Arrington didn’t shoo whites away so he could talk disparagingly about whites, to privately point the finger and make them scapegoats. He asked that they leave so he could speak from the heart, directly to a group who desperately need to hear his message.
“So help me, I don’t see what I did was wrong,” he told a TV reporter while offering an apology. “All I was trying to do is make a difference.”
Way to go, Mr. Arrington.
Mrs. Howard would have been proud.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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Buford named one of the best cities to call home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He learned about the honor in an e-mail from City Hall.
“I was thrown back,” said Tim Koenning, president of the Buford Business Alliance. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
The word is out about Buford, thanks to CNNMoney.com, a service provided by CNN, Money and Fortune magazines. The north Gwinnett town was named the third-best U.S. city to live in and launch a business. The March 26 online profile praised the community of 13,576 for its affordable housing (median home price of $195,493), scenic environment (Lake Lanier) and business acumen.
What makes the ranking so sweet is how it came about. Civic leaders and town officials had no idea the town was even in the running. No one contacted Koenning, and he didn’t seek the publicity, though the article praised the nonprofit alliance for its work in the community.
The unsolicited ranking fell like sugar from the sky. Bufordites I came across Wednesday on the Badie Tour bask in the sweetness. Truth be told, some are a little perplexed, too.
If CNN knows how great the town’s business and leisure mix is, why do so many people right in its backyard appear clueless?
“It’s amazing how so few people know about this,” said Petra Hope, co-owner of Sperata, an upscale restaurant in historic downtown where Koenning and I ate lunch.
Soon, more people will. The business alliance, in conjunction with City Hall, has produced a TV commercial that will soon debut on the local cable channel. The ad shows various scenes in the “Leather City” as a narrator encourages viewers to “live, work and play — the Buford way.”
Long term, Koenning envisions Buford creating signature events that help define the town as a destination. Think the Duluth Fall Festival. Buford has held some events that have proved attractive, but it lacks a venue that can hold masses of people.
“Right now with our amphitheater, we’d be lucky to hold 1,000 people at a time,” said Koenning, a history buff and managing partner with Magnolia Financial Advisors in downtown Buford. “There are discussions about doing something with the greenery across from City Hall. The vision is definitely here. [City Hall] has embraced the alliance as a marketing arm, and the alliance’s vision is to bring the civic groups, schools and businesses together as a community. It’s not just to network, even though the alliance gives businesses the opportunity to do that.”
Despite lack of an ample venue, the town makes do.
An arts and jazz festival, set for May 10, will take place in front of the Bona Allen Mansion. (The mansion, built in 1912-13, was the home of Bona Allen Sr., a leather and tannery magnate). The work of artists associated with the artists’ colony in Tannery Row will be on display during the festival. Local high school jazz bands will perform during the day, then turn the stage over to “professionals” at night.
It’s too early to say how, but Koenning says the town will capitalize on the national exposure granted by the CNNMoney.com ranking.
“I don’t know how they found us, but I’m thankful for it,” he said. “People are excited. “We’re proud Bufordites.”
For more information, visit www.visitbuford.com.
• Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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