The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 19, 1995, Page 4, Image 4
Qanta braces
Ddated Press
, ATLANTA ? Not since Sherman's
! ps massed around Atlanta has an ;
I ending invasion caused such ten- ;
Residents are preparing to flee,
I : J i.U ~ vr? i
, meases are suutuiig uuwu, uie ins<
al Guard stands ready, and there '
j dire warnings of violence.
; rhe invasion force: hundreds of
usands of black college students
, ) say all they want to do is have
lefun.
. It's sort of designated as the mecor
black college students (where)
lents from all over the country can
together and party and have a good
1 e," said Lawrence Patrick, a Flori- 1
y&M University student who will 1
! d here this weekend for his second
light Freaknik.
; Atlanta has become party central
' spring rite that grew out of looserganized
gatherings in 1982 at Atta's
Morehouse College.
Some activists promote cultural
. historical events, such as visits to
home of the Rev. Martin Luther
1 g Jr., and call the spring gather'
Freedom Fest
1 Some 200,000 young people showed
last year, angering many locals
I h marathon traffic jams and lewd
; I crude behavior.
' "The drinking and driving was un[
evable" last year, said Jules Davis,
' ) plans to leave her home near Piedat
Park in Atlanta for the weekL
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Official efforts to halt this year's
Freaknik have spurred defiance and
anger, raising concerns about a possible
public-relations disaster for the
host of the 1996 Olympics and about
racial nits in the city that declared itself
"too busy to hate" while other
Southern cities were torn by 1960s
civil rights battles.
"These students are coming here
with the idea of having fun, being frivolous,
and they're heading into imminent
danger," said Joe Carter, a youth
and family counselor who demonstrated
outside the CNN Center Monday to
"sound the alarm."
At Monday's City Council meeting,
Councilwoman Carolyn Long Banks
denounced as "apartheid" police plans
to control traffic with blockades and
ID checks, warned of "absolute carnage"
and claimed that law enforcement
sources told her of plans to kill
t~vl r? r\\r f a ef nr\ T^rAol/nil/
uici^iy oi/UUCiii/O tu oi;u^ x i v^cirviiirv.
That spurred Councilman Michael
Bond, who is also black, to comment:
"I personally do not believe that the
atrocities people are predicting will
happen."
Mayor Bill Campbell, a black man
who has heard himself called "an Uncle
Tom" and worse in recent weeks,
ended a silence he imposed on him--^
self after earlier statements were seen
as anti-Freaknik. He rebuked "some
individuals" for making "irresponsible
statements with no regard for their
potentially tragic consequences."
In his statement Monday, CampiB(
mine soc
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The Gamecock
eak invasion
bell said the city is committed to ensuring
public safety and managing the
traffic. He declared, "All law-abiding
visitors are welcome to our city."
Police Chief Beverly Harvard, who
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tionally black colleges earlier this
month warning against everything
from open containers of alcohol to
dropped trousers.
That followed a Jan. 30 letter from
presidents of Atlanta's six predominantly
black colleges to 140 schools
discouraging Freaknik.
Some popular restaurants will close
this weekend, many residents say they
will leave town, and the National Guard
has rescheduled some monthly drill
sessions to this weekend.
"I really feel it's overkill," said
Charles E. Jones, chairman of Georgia
State University's African-American
studies deDartment. "It shows a
lack of sensitivity to racial dynamics."
Jones sees more parallels for Atlanta
in the 1989 experience of Virginia
Beach, Va., where a crackdown
on black college students coming for
Greekfest touched off riots.
"We can only hope the outcome will
be different here," Jones said.
Patrick, the Florida A&M student
who is news editor of The Famuan,
said the Tallahassee, Fla., campus
newspaper recently sampled opinions
from around the country and found
that the furor over Freaknik 'just made
students want to go more."
1)
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? Wednesday, April 19,1995
WW/I^ \
1D9I1
Want!
If vou're interested ir
one of the fastest-gr<
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The Gamecock is loc
members for the sur
semesters. We need
photo, features and
and assistant editor;
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Most positions offer
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interviews begin nex
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