Posted on 02/14/2002 4:26:28 AM PST by shuckmaster
The NAACP says the economic border patrols are still on, but officials in Atlantic Beach, a predominantly black town north of Myrtle Beach, say they can't support the patrols, at least for one weekend this year.
Atlantic Beach, one of the few remaining historically black-owned beaches in the United States, can't go along with the border patrols because the patrols threaten its financial stability, town officials say.
"The NAACP is going to do what it has to do, and Atlantic Beach is going to do what it has to do," Mayor Irene Armstrong said. "Atlantic Beach will never sit at the table to negotiate our livelihood and our existence here. That's not negotiable. My interest is that of Atlantic Beach."
The Confederate flag's continued presence on Statehouse grounds in Columbia has triggered economic sanctions by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and more recently the threat of "border patrols," in which NAACP members pledge to stand at S.C. rest stops this spring and summer discouraging tourists from spending money in the state.
This poses problems for Atlantic Beach's 22nd annual Memorial Day Bike Festival, which is one of the town's main sources of revenue. But NAACP officials say Atlantic Beach is no exception to the economic boycott.
"We can't make any exception if we're going to be fair," said the Rev. H.H. Singleton, the one S.C. member of the NAACP's national board. "It is an economic sanction against South Carolina. That includes all people, including the NAACP members themselves."
Councilwoman Gloria Lance said she agrees with the mayor that Atlantic Beach must look out for itself.
Town leaders say the small town of about 400 residents supports the removal of the flag, but can't afford all the consequences of the planned border patrols.
"I feel that people are going to come no matter what," Lance said. "It's left up to a person's choice."
Ed Wilson, a Red Bluff community activist and NAACP member, said Atlantic Beach has to look at the bigger picture and shouldn't consider itself an exception to the boycott.
"Everybody has to suffer for things to come right," he said. "White, black, Mexican, everyone has to suffer."
Singleton said the board has not decided the exact date for the patrols to begin.
Wilson, who plans to participate in the patrols, said he'll tell the bikers to go farther south.
"I'd tell them to go on to Florida," he said.
Armstrong said there are other ways the flag dispute could have been resolved among state lawmakers and the NAACP rather than using a tactic that threatens a town constantly struggling with money problems.
"It's always about coming to the table," she said.
The truth is when people own property and that property is a means of income they become capitalists . We all need to vacation down that way guys..I will be traveling through SC this summer, I may make my route pass through so I can stop by and spend some American $$$ there!
Isn't this one of the planks in the DNC's platform this year????
Just imagine how wonderful South Carolina would be without all the politically correct whiners here.
It would be a conservative paradise.
Now thats a silver lining.
Your title is "Black Owned Beach Town Looks To Protect Itself From NAACP"
Please inform us of why you chose to change the title to include "Black owned town"? Are there no white owners in Atlantic Beach? What gives with you?
Would that ALL black people thought the same and showed the 'poverty pimps' at the NAACP the door!!
Is there a rule that says you must copy vague headlines exactly? The 1st paragraph of the story states "but officials in Atlantic Beach, a predominantly black town north of Myrtle Beach,"
The headline I chose gives a clue to what the story is about. What gives with you?
"Everybody has to suffer for things to come right," he said. "White, black, Mexican, everyone has to suffer."
Everybody except Ed Wilson, that is.
Compassionate Liberalism
Tom Daschle and Hillary Clinton were walking home through a very rough part of DC. They were just passing an alley when they heard moans and muted cries for help. They walked cautiously over to investigate, where they found a semiconscious man sprawled in a pool of his own blood.
"Please help me," he begged them through broken teeth. "I've been mugged and viciously beaten and left here for dead."
The two Democrats turned around and quickly walked away.
As they were leaving, Hillary turned to Daschle and said, "You know, the person who did that really needs help."
In this case, I added significant search words relevent to the subject onto a headline that was otherwise vague.
Now, run tell that!
Hey, even the idiot black leadership of the City of Atlanta (a relatively small part of metro Atlanta) got fed up with Freaknik and cracked down on it, such that it's pretty much history here. It was ugly for a couple of years there, though.
Note the beach road stops at Ocean Drive and continues on the other side of Atlantic Beach. If you wanted to cruise AB, you had to reach it via the highway.
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