Mennonite Central Committee News Service
May 17, 1968
MENNONITE VOLUNTEERS EXPERIENCE GEORGIA DISCRIMINATION
Akron, Pa. - Two members of the Mennonite
Central Committee VS unit at Mennonite House in Atlanta, Ga.
and a fellow from a nearby college took 10 members of their boys
club on a camping trip. Bufford Dam on Lake Lanier in Forsythe
County, 40 miles from Atlanta, was their destination
The group of 13, eleven Negroes and
two whites, arrived at the campsite an hour before noon on Saturday,
May 4. They ate lunch, then went to the lake and launched their
boat.
Four horn after they arrived at Bufford
Dam, the group's quiet camping trip began to explode. "At
3:00 p.m.," reports Atlanta VSer Mrs. Mary Yoder, "we
first began to notice that a speed-boat was harassing two of
our group who were in our small, lightweight boat.
"The speed-boat seemed to take
a route between the shore and our boys in what appeared to be
an attempt to keep pushing the smaller craft farther from the
shore. After a half hour of this, the boat left and the boys
were able to row ashore."
The small boat had barely reached
the shore when a car drove up and threatened the group. They
were told that if they weren't out in 15 minutes, 200-300 people
would be back at night fall and carry them out "feet first."
This was modified later, however, and the harassers said it was
actually only a warning of what might happen.
Approximately two hours later the
group broke camp. Bender had called the local sheriff, who said
he could not promise any protection. He also noted it was rather
late in the day to call in help. Before leaving their campsite,
the group found out a little of Forsythe County's history.
In 1911, a Negro man had raped a
white woman and was hanged for their crime. Nevertheless, no
Negroes had lived in that country, nor were they allowed to stay
overnight. This was the first time the VSers had been aware of
the Forsythe County situation.
It was also reported that Negroes
have been so afraid of Forsythe and it's lack of law, that whenever
delivery services--such as the Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, which
employs Negroes--reach the county line, the Negroes immediately
get out of their vehicles and wait on the side of the road for
white drivers to take over.
One of the two cars the group had
been traveling in stalled and had to be left in Gwinnett County,
which adjoins Forsythe. While Bender was trying to find a phone
after the car broke down, Mrs. Yoder's life was threatened by
white men. The group finally arrived safely at Mennonite House
in Atlanta.
Bender, Mrs. Yoder and her husband,
Tim, owner of the stalled car, returned to Gwinnett County that
night to bring the car back. When they arrived at the location
of the car, it was gone. Although proper procedures were then
followed and they were told that the report of the stolen car
would go out to the whole state by teletype, the car was not
found until May 7. At that time, it was discovered that Gwinnett
Co. officials had not made a report of the stolen car, and that
it had been impounded at 9:00 p.m. on May 4 in Gwinnctt Co.
On Tuesday afternoon, May 7, a group
of five from Atlanta returned to talk to Sheriff Tallant, of
Forsythe County. He refused to speak to them as a group, but
asked Bender to step into another room with two other uniformed
men. He closed the door behind them. Tallant did say that he
would call in some outside help if the VSers were to come back
with members of the boys club.
Throughout this incident, the VSers
in Atlanta have had the interest and help of various local groups,
including: Quaker House residents, Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and Georgia Council of Human Relations. The story
received newspaper and television coverage. Both Bender and Mrs.
Yoder talked with a representative of thc Community Relations
Service of the US Department of Justice and each had a two-hour
interview with thc F.B.I.
The MCC-VS unit first began to work
in Atlanta in 1961 when Vincent and Rosemarie Harding moved to
Atlanta to initiate a joint MCC Voluntary Service--Peace Section
project which would seek to help bring a ministry of reconciliation
to thc interracial problem.
Atlanta VScrs work in widely dispersed
assignments throughout the city. Jobs held include teaching,
developing a Girls Scout program for slum area children, ambulance
attendants at Atlanta's welfare hospital, program assistant for
Grady Home Girls' Club and a nursery school program on Irwin
Street.
During their free time, VSers are
responsible for an expanded community program at Mennonite House
in the Houston and Irwin Street ghetto area of east Atlanta.
Duties revolving around Mennonite House include tutorial programs,
supervising two girls' clubs and one boys' club. Some recreation
is involved, but the emphasis is on arts and crafts projects
through which the VSers have opportunity for close and intensive
interaction with club members.
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bch 17may 68