Correspondence from Bracy (ACLU) to Civil Rights Division of the Office of Revenue Sharing; News Clippings

    lill /-it-tz
Alor Wllllnghnm

lilrl, ttll
llrl W,lllon Slr..nl
All,lrtltr, Croorgtl
(4{Hf rt?l..tr30ll

L[rl,r Mrrlxy
, r rtt,) |

Ir,llrxr Ir,rrrtr{l fl
Mt .;t,,t. (].fiaalut

lgl?l t4? ?'fy/t

Gnotrllt M llrr;
I I / ai'{l^l' llt,' I

l'1, lLt, tAl
MtlrlqrrtrrtY. All

l2|jli?ti' tt'lttA

Lnwlcrr,rr lrrlllr
,lrll.OOllalrlli

P (l lrn2ll'l:)
' Llrtlftx,k, Arkn. (50t)37,1 26{i(l

e,

. lli'

lrreiroAfu ovru ftggnnee uxtoN FouNoATloN
.l.r'tJ;..t't. ,. .... "' I r

' nEvENUEe{AehoemonceuENTPROJ4Ir

April 23t 1982 r'

I
. ar
l, , -.

Civil Rights Pivieion
Of f ice' of ',nevenue Sharing
240I E Street, N.W.
Colunbia Plaza Eighrise
Washingtgn, D.C. 20026

Dear sir,/uaSam: ' t:.1l'lilllflfll
MrwYnk. N Y

our office has been. authori2ed by Mr. willie Davis, ff}#,lffi,president of 31re Southerir Chrietian Leaders!+p Conference "iii:e,,r

oi nl"kgn" County. to filg a charge of race discrl.mination rrror,ru,n

in employ."rrL-iig'.,i""t-;Ii dopareri'ronts in Piilckens County. "rrr,i,,rrr.'

Mr. WiIIie DavLs is a residont of Reform, Alabama a
small rural iot n locatefl ten (10) miles north eaat of the
county aeat. -Mr. Davis fras been very active with loca1 organizat,io

.advociting economic jugtice and equality. I

pickens Couirty is in receipt of_ federal revenue eharing funds
There is a total p6pulation o{ 2LrA81 r'rith Blacks compriqing
approximately 42t of, the popuLation. .

, pickeng County has maintained a practice of, racg'discriminati
in employment for i number- of yearo. Pickens County. dog?. not have

"t.naiia'pio""dure 
for applicante seeking employment vrith the cour

nor is there 
- i per"onneL- iranager or department. The sys tem foT

pi"..""i"g appfications- is a ver.1, informal one. There is no adver'-ri;m";t;f 
ibLs r. ttrerefore minoritiee are denied Bccessibility to

job vacancies as poaitions become available.

It appears that equal opportiunity doee not exLst in Pickene
Corrnty f,of ttrese reasona 3

- ih.qc ie no standard procedure f,or applying for a job

r. rfrdie ig no standard procedure for decepting and pro-
ceseing job laPP1icatlons

forn available for
I

! !,,. ,.)'

, .:.,

'- There is no standard aPBJication
, . individuals' Feeking .epPl..o{ment
t. - J' 'i' -r'

. ;' - Jof1. are not'Pt'blflv 'advertised

I



I. ri,
..;.i;l,ir , i

I

jt 
'

The practLcee that arl alLuded to above ate not only
disgrinuinatof ;e. i';it"dioiar bur are in viorarion of section
L22 of,, tlre Stite- inh f.6cal Fis,cal Aeeietance Aot of L972 as

Pickene County has a long history of, digcrilinatlng.against
Blacks in a 

"n 
.b"i oi otlrei aipeite: -[lile moEt recent ineident

$rat hag g"i;&-iitii"irtitt.""tion is ttre conviction of two older
BLack femaleE for vote tr"rial--iottr or tirose vromen are nov, eerving
four (4) and five ,(5) v"""r-in pri"on. whites convicted of similar
of,fEnEeE have recELvea eugpena.i Eentences or probatlon.

trherd..areapproxl.matelyfifty-one(5I).workarsemployed.witlr
.tba connrJ,. .'s"".i- iir- ot-trrL iiet!.-orr. ire- Btack.'The f,olrowJ.ng'
. ctrart wll!, ,indloate the aepartnents that comprlae Plolceng county.

I : trrui., Irr'.' '''. i llota]', MaIe ' Female Black Wl

.. . ,

commi.ssLonOf,fice 4 ', I ' 3 0

RevcnueCommissioner i '2 5 0

Shcrif f 's Of fice 9 6 ': 3 2

soliclwagte. r r '7 I I 2

LibraryIOl0 . .t-

Building Maint. . .-'t 3 '2 3

Road DePartment 
'I9 19 0 0

I

I As you can fully qe9 Blackg and'women atre giqnificantly un<lcr

repre.ented ;rih-;;eifi io-*,"-ii purclti"6"li. u.; Bopulatlon' rhe

few Bracks aae prJ.mariry'Ilii;sgg {n-tu fi"ni"r, uniri'tted poeitio
I[e f,6E-iitl Jobe- that are crassified' ,

This is a reguest for y6ur office to conduct a complete inves

tigationr r.ncludtng _an ""-riiJ 
review-oi-tt " 

discriminatory employ

ment pattdfirg in Pick"t 
" 

' 
.C6ittty . . W" f,urttrer requebt' inunediate

comoliance under the S."t;-;;a'r,ocar";i;;;i a"if"t"lice Act or tlre
;';ilil;[i""-"i-arr revenue sharins funds'

SincereIY,

aa

{t
'i' 'i t

lr"

Georgia M. Bracy
. Coordinator'

I

.t'l

'i



:

.,'1t:5U, tiobert Hugn $lrf,sey lS Funcnmg oulotr il$ luurru uartscr(
:'i . .,-*. i.] . . j, ,, .l f ;.i; fi a'ri ao'r [.,rl|.ob" dc. w.ta,>"na4qt)i'': ffi,flfiIffi.miArabematoli..v,:ierzf.ftr$ffi;,; frWffi',Wffiiffiffir,ffiilffiyiffi

i,lit i,ffig,m#H.'ffi fi-ffiS ryr*ffi ffiffi)ffitN'r.PN rU.rore N . iiirfi clrotinr, lr-d ta t9col ti! i
. da rlrcfifr-l?Jaclt. nrn h _frthtolto! rl.lhr toar r
.*W d D, ,,ilr, ry @t irrrmu'rdurlnEtnur.irldtll...,dl bt-tow^ard b0, -Eil-titc-u Ucc"Ufi fctUttuuqttto..!.!W.3urtrd .t r lrrtcr -rlr ior_gi,

'.',nrlnlurum,q t ffip mr,sr* I $frffi*trffiIffiliffisffi#BiryJffiiiiffiH#It.DFtlto. Iilu@f rurtrd .r r lrttcr rlr iolti..,it ll ra, a aUUa oorl& L6.t ld.!d. ti.ihug BG,. Ctl';- i{!t -Sj-'st'^gd*s'
::ffiffirnffilWSilffts*r*rd"'r'r'cr'"'H'ffi 

t#ffiii.ffiH$fl$l:Iil#ffit:\itg:;;ffi4}I4riiiAmtlcr ld.!d. thil'Il3 BcP.

H'hr qryJFl+'{!T*

ffi'mffilffi{ffiffiJffi
eJffiffin 'emmlffiffiI#Sffid#Sffiffi

Ooc ot lic Ural

lot; . .,.. ,,,',.i l-:--.r ,;'):.,.;...;...;.,.j--.-., , ,1

,-: t*.gtoar . Oufecr lvht luD 
-; 

,1;.
-,:.,'ji, '.,;



*rroo.r*ownno*u,o,*, U[ eqp E
Protestors Retrace

Historic March:
by,()lcnde Rabby

Over 4000 civil rights activists con-
verged on theAlabama state capitolon
February 18 at the end of a twoweek
voting rights march to protest the con-
victlon of two black women on voilng
fraud charges and to afflrm tho need
for the Votlng Rlghts Act

To,dramatlze thls yeaCs march, and
to draw attsntlon to th6 historlcal con-
tlnuityof the ongolng civil rlghts strug-
gle, partlclpants marched into llront
gomefy, dowa historic Dexter Avenue,
past the church of slain civil rights
leader Martln Luther King, Jr., and up
to the capitol steps. .

Reverend Joseph' Lowery, presldent
of the Southem Chrlstlan Leadershlp
Conference, addre-ssed the crowd whlch
lncluded. civll rlghts v€terans, polltlcal' .

f igures and Alabama NOW. members;
"\,Ve've come h6re today to turn th6

cradle of the Confederacy into the crib
of democracly," Lowery declared.-
Ws'vs come here to say, 'Free Magoie
Bozeman; free Julla Wilder.' I'

towery was joined by other natlonal
leaders who lnsisted that Bozeman's

. andWllder's convictions be orrertumed
A pdrdon of the seoteniesr which irn-
plles guitt, Is unacceptable t6 the Souttl-
em Christlan -Lbadership Conferenca
and otherclvll rlghts organlzatlons.

Clvll rights actlvists Julla Wllder and
Maggie Bozeman, who had, been helg
ing, elelerly-ard: inflrm black tlll out.';
absentee ballots ln a 1978 Plckens-
County electlon; were convicted last
month. An all-whlte lury handed down:
s€ntencas which observers- belleve to
be the stlffest reached ln an Alabama:
votlng fraud case: Both'Wlder and
Bozeman are serving'their prlson sen-
toncas ln a work release program ln
Macon County, Alabama

The protosters, who w€re also advo
catlng extension of th-e 1965 Votlng
Rights Act, wgra protected by th€ Al*-;'
bama State Pollce as they retraced th€
route of the.famous Selma to Mont'
' .-* --';-+.r-i;-*'-'*'*'-'"

gomery march o11965. Seventeen years
ago, three civil rights workers were
killed and scores of demonstrators were

. attacked as they marched through rural
Alabama to the State Capitot. .

Veterans of the orlginal march, which
prornp_t9d: Prestdent Johnson to sign
the 1965,Votlng Rights Act, wereamoig
this yealfs domonstratoe Many ot
them stopp€d along the Krute to solicit
testlmony from black resictents on
alleged Yotor dlscrimination.

Clvil rights activists maidtain that
extenslon of 'the 196f Voting Rlghts
Act is necessary to.safeguard the dra
matic increaseof black polltlcal partici-

" patlon in the South in recent years. But
even with the Act's currBnt,guarantee
of federal protectlon,.voting rights vlo-

- latlons contlnue to occur throughout
the South. lroirically, the same Judge
who denled Bozeman's and Wlide/s
parole gave a white'police chief proba
tlon atter he recently pleaded guilty to
voting fraud.

. Only hours before they arrived in
Montgomery, the marchers receiVed a'controvemial permit to allow them to
walk the full length of hlstoric Dexter
Avenue. At the same tlme, local Ku
Klux Klan president, Don Black, called
off a scheduled counter-d.emonstra
tlon; whlch many observers felt would

.. Rriverend- Martln Luther Klng, Sr.,
and hls'grandson, Martln Luth€r Klng,.
lll, joined thg- heavlly guarded crowd
who heard. Rep- Don Edward (D-CA)
promise to i'carry yotr'message to
WaEhingtod'' and lobUy, tlra Senate to

. pess tha lrtronger varslon ol the Votlng
Rlghts Act Extenslon Bll]-,

_. After declarlng that a masslve. "pih
gilmagarto Washlngton'i would be or-
ganized, Lowery left the rally for a
me€tlng.wlth Governor Fob James who

- "axpr€ss€d lnterest" ln the women's
case, but gave no commitment a!, tO
what the flnal outcome might be.

L. '-' -r*. '- .;'

I

.:r.*i



e.

Alor Wllllnghnm
lrti. larl

Itll W,lllon Sl,.'ol
AlLxrlrr, Cr{rorqlt
Ittf14t rr2l..cr3gt

Llrrl,t Mrilrry
., lrtr,) |

f llll(rr r'r,rrrrt,ll Rr

Mu;o,t,(.;Jrttut
l9l?l t4? TttNt

(ir!(,rrl,r M lltntl
I a, rx dt^ t. .t,r, 

^ 
I

1t11 llty tlAl
MrxrlflIrxry. Al,l

l ll\2';' tt'llti

Lnwllrr.n P,rllrrr,
a LiIillll.rl'llt

P() llttr2ll't)'t 
Lrrllrgr,k. Artn,. (50+f37. 2660

' 
. 

April 73, 1982 r'

. ar
l. I

Civil Rights DivLsion
of f ice' of '.Revenue Sharing
240I E Street, N.W.
Columbia Plaza ltrighrise
Waghingtgn, D.C. 20025

Dear sir,/uaqamr ' t*'iillillri';lll
Mrw York. N Y

presidenr of rhe sootiliir-ch;i;dil iiaaeisllp c""ference Y,iTl"'3*n
oi fJ.cfgns County. to file a charge of race diEcrimination r,r(rx,r'ro,

in employi"i[-"g;,i"rt-"ff dopareri'ronus in Pd;ckons county. r''lrrrt'r,.t"'

Mr. WiIIie Davis is a resident of Reform, Alabama a
small rurii-iorn locatefl ten (10) milee north eaat of the

""""iV 
r.it. Mr. Davis tras been veqr- active with local organizat,io

.advociting economic juqtice and equality. I

pickens Couirty is in r.eceipt of federal revenue eharing f,unds
There is 

"- 
tot"t p6pulation of, 2Lr481 with Blacks compriqing

approximately 42t of the popuLation. .

. pickens county has naintained a practice of, rac?'diecriminati
in emploi*."t-for i number of years. Pickens County dogs- not have
standara'proc"a"".-foi "rari."irt" seeking employment witrr the coun

nor is there a personne1-manager'oT gepartment. Tlt. system for
pio"E""i"g-ipplications is a very informal one. There is no adver-
tisment oi jbi," r. ttreref,ore minoritiee are denied accessibility to
job vacanci.6e aa' poeitions becorne available.

Xt appears that equal opportunity does not exLst in Pickene
County for thSse reasonE 3

- iheqc is no standard procedure f,or applying for a job

. - rhdre iq.n9 standard. procedure for dscepting and pro-
cesaing job lePPlications

t'!r;..1''-. 
,...,.. ,' I r

iEvExuE oi^nfiro enrorceuErT PnorEor

I

fl

r lr'

'- There is no atandarfl appJication forn avai.Iable for
. individuale' Eeeking. .epP+oyment : !,.. , t'
.r. . i. -r- Jo!1,are not nuul.flr advertieed ,.,', 

.



,. t:r: : r,ll. | ..

"r ' "i:i 1', |' , ,i

j : trrrrt.. l rt'." '"..i
t

CommLesLon Office
Revenue Commissionetr
Slrcr:iffrs Office
Solid Waste. ' I

Library
Building lIaint. .

Road DePartment

,l'''t'i,rl',i,i. j;,i'. 1,,, " --^rrinr. r,ifrrtrtrn2 EMD1.OI2EES . ' jil'"ll
:.4 I'' 'i"'"''r i ' '' PICKENS SOUNTX !;Mlrlvrr'r.D ' ', ,''

trotal MaLe

SincerelY r
i; '

h'

GeorgJ.a M. Bracy
. Coordlnatot'

AsyoucsnfullyqegBlackgand'womenatresiqnificantlyundcr
repre'enred ;rih-E;as io-ur;ir -purclilii" ii- .n; popuratton. rhe

few Bracks ase primarily ;di;t"-g-{;-;ilJ-il"i.r, uniri'rtea positlo
ile ;;E-fi joue'that are crassif,ied' .

This is a request for y6ur office to conduct a complete inves

tiEationr rncrudiog p, "i-"ii.-review-or-tr,. 
diecriminatory employ

ment patt6r1r8 in ni.ckg"t'.Co""tV.-W"- f,urther requebt' imrediate
compliance orra"r the Srat;-and'r"""1-ii;;;I l"if"t"lice Act or tlre
t"-rfri""Uion oi all revenue eharing funds '

The practices t5at arL alluded to above atre not only

' , disgriminatory and. gt3:"a1-13f-n1tt-are in violation of Sectl'on

, L2z of rhe-iiltE--ii-a-L&;!-FiEcar Aasierance 
"Aot 

of L972 as

amended.

Pickene county has a long history of discriminatlng against
Bracks in a nrrmber of ;4";;EpiiEi". -$'re most recent incident

, ;i;fi"!"eii;eiln"tionif-itt""iion i"-trre conviction of two order
B1ack femaleE for rrct.-tti"Al gotfi of those rilomen are norl, serving
four (4) and five .(51 v!ii".L i;i"orr. wtritee convicted of gimLlar

. ,, of,f,ensee n"""-i"ceivia'"""p""aeb sentences or probatlon' .

,. trherd'are aPProximltelY fifty-sns (5I) .Workers employed witlr
: :rlra countyr. Seven '(7).."f 

-Ura iLity.-oiie tiie'Biack' IEhe Eollowlng'
ctrart wirt .lndioate tlre-aJpirtmenre that comprlae Plokeng county '

. 'r'. .. ..' t' .1 l'; .r ', ' ':

Fema1e B1ack Wl

,1 '3 0'2 5 0

6L2
010
3.23Ii'oo

4
7
9

.1
t

"5
I9

t'

'I

I

I

,t



,\>
,,.

: 
.,.

'..
, 
? 

;.'
l 

.:,
. 

. 
''.

',.
. 

-,
.1

 1
,..

..

ili
lm

 ff
i#

ffi
$H

ffi
lt 

*u
 E

IH
ilI

IE
#f

f#
{i 

E

|Il
l'e

.r
:u

E
E

E
 =

* 
E

Ll
Il 

-H
:-

-=
=

r!
:: 

E

[#
il[

 
ffi

r*
tg

E

[ff
iil

 
#$

i E

LE
1i

ll 
iff

i 
{f

f



nrr!6.rrown**,r.. NleQlq
Protestors Retrace

Historic March:
ryCbndr Rabby

Over 4000 clvil rlghts actlvists con-
verged on theAlabama state capitol on
February 18 at the and of a twoweek
voting rlghts march to protest the con"
viction of iwo black women on votlng
fraud charges and to afflrm th€ need
for the Votlng Rlghts AcL

To.dramatlze thls year's march, and
to draw attentlon to the hlstorlcal. con.
tlnuityof theongolng clvil rlghts strug:
gle, partlcipents marched into Mont
gom€Iyl down historlc Dexter Avenue;
past the church of slain civll rights
leader Martln Luther King, Jr., and up
to the caPitol steps. .

Beverend Joseph Lowery, presldent
ot the Southem Chrlstlan Leadershlp
Conference, addressad the crowd which
lncluded, civil rlghts.veterans, polltlcal'
f igures and Alabama NOW. members;

"We-Ys come h6re today to turn the
cradle of the Gonfederacy into tha crlb
of democraca," Low€ry declared.-
We'vg'comg here to say, 'Freo Maggie
Bozeman; free Julla Wllden' I'

Low€ty, wes joined by. other natlonal
leaders who lnslsted that Bozeman's

. and Wllder's conyictions be orertumecL
A pdrdon of the sentencosr which inr
pllbs guilt, ls unacceptable t6 tte Souttr
em Ghristian'Lbadershlp Conference
and otherclvll rlghts organlzatlons.

Clvlt rlghts activists Julla Wllder and'
Maggle Boz6man, who had; been helf
ing, elelerly'-and: inflrm blacks tlll out";
absontee, ballots ln a 1978 Plckens-
County electlon, were convicted last
month. An alFwhlta iury handed down'
sentances which observers belieye to
be the stlffest reached ln an Alabama.
votlng fraud case: Both'Wlder and.
Bozeman are serving'their prlson ser
tancsa ln a work release program ln

The protesters, who rrore dso advo-
catlng extensior of tlfe 1965 Votlng
Flights Act, wgre protected by the Ala-.'
bama State Pollce as they retracad th€
route ol the famous Selma to Mont'
' --*- -*:***.-t>&':*';**"' "

gomery march ol 1965. Seventeen years
ago, three civil rights workers were
killed and scores of demonstrators were

. attacked as they marched through rural
Alabama to the State Capitot. .

Veterans of the orlginal march, which
promp_ted Presldent Johnson to sign
the 1965,Voting Rights Act" were amongL
thls yea/s demonstrators. Many ol
th6m stoppod along the route to soticit
testlmony from blach residants on -

alleged Yotsr dlscrl mlnatlon. .'Clvil rlghtg actlvists mairitain that
extension of the 196f Votlng Rights
Act is necessary to safeguard the dra
matlc increaseof black polltlcal partici-

" pation in the South in recent years. But
- even with the Act'g current.guarantee

of tederal protiptlon,.votlng rights vlo-
- lations contlnue to occur throughout

the South. lroilcally, the same judge
who denled Bozeman's and Wllderrs
parole gav€ a white'polica chiet prob+
tlon after he recently pleaded guilty to
voting fraud.

. Only hours bafore they arrived in
Montgomery, thg rnarchers recaiVed a'controversial permlt to allow them to
walk the f0ll length of hlstoric Dexter
Avenue.. At th6 same tlme, local Ku
Klux Klan president, Don Black, called
off a scheduled counterd.emonstra-
tion, whlch many obaervers felt would

. ., Rdverent. Martln Luther Klng, Sr.,
and lris grandson, Martln Luther Klng,.
lll, joined the- heavily guarded crowd
who heard. Rep. Don Edward (D-CA)
promise to i'carry yow'message to
Waehlngrtort'" and lobUy tltrl Senate to
.pass the stronger versioaol the votlng
Rlghts Act Extension Bllt-

_. After declarlng that I massive, "pil-
grlmage-to Washington'! would be or-
ganized, Lowery left .the rally for a
meetlng.with Govemor Fob James who

-. "exprtssed'interegt' ln the women's
caso, but gave no commitment as to
what ihe flnal outcome might be.
L. --..*.-. 

.. -,3'

I

', -J