February 24, 2001

Mr. Cedric Dempsey, President

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

700 W. Washington Street

P O Box 6222

Indianapolis, IN 46206-6222

Sir:

  The citizens of Georgia greet you with the faith expressed in these verses, hoping your commitment to justice and equality has not waned with the action by the Georgia legislature regarding a change to the Georgia flag. Having charity for all and malice toward none, the Georgia Groundswell’s international boycott remains intact against Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina for honoring the traitorous Confederacy by displaying its symbols. Georgia citizens have filed a federal lawsuit, which contends that Roy Barnes and the legislature violated the 14^th Amendment’s "equal protection," as defined in Bush v. Gore, by implementing standards that, in effect, harm citizens opposed to giving traitors legal status and impose penalties on those who do not agree. More to the point, Governor Roy Barnes and the legislature have enshrined all Confederate symbols and raised them to a level of protection not constitutionally given America’s flag. One can burn the American flag, as an act of free speech, but one can be jailed in Georgia for burning the Confederate flag, because it is the symbol of white heritage. Most egregiously, Roy Barnes’s "deal with the devil" now allows the state to withhold tax money from any institutions or groups, such as schools, public arts’ facilities, day care centers, etc., that refuse to fly Georgia’s swastika.

Clearly unconstitutional, this act recapitulates support for white supremacy just as Georgia did in 1956, when the rebel banner was added to its flag. For the NCAA, today’s controversy should harken back to a different painful memory. Churches in the South preached slavery was an act of God to justify segregation and likewise, the NCAA vigorously enforced a rigid color line. After suffering defeat year after year, even though he was the best of the best when playing white boys but only second best when playing black boys, "Bear" Bryant broke the color line of legal institutionalized racism and segregation. Sir, I remind you, the NCAA wholeheartedly supported segregation. It enthusiastically resisted equality in Court for years and never dismantled its racist regime. Even today, it continues to use color to deny thousands of black athletes the same opportunities afforded white players. Although Bear’s efforts were self-serving, the NCAA resisted his tokenism. Consequently, the NCAA remains dominated by the good ol’ boy system, which supports honoring the traitors that tried to destroy America by fighting a Civil War over the right to continue owning human beings.

Georgians and many Americans have come to recognize that the source of this nation’s race problem is its Constitution and the inequality built into its laws through the 3/5ths Compromise of Article I Section 2. Since the 1900's, American children have been taught that the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments freed slaves, made them citizens and gave them the right to vote and be counted as other citizens; Election 2000 unmasked that history lesson as a lie. The Georgia Groundswell’s international boycott of Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina is working to change the mind-set that believes Americans should be forced to honor those who built a lifestyle on enslaving human beings.

THINC (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness) is the philosophy of Yohannes Sharriff Smith. THINC demands each individual answer the question "Who am I and why am I here?" This is a time of "new consciousness" and not a time to return to 1895 by applying Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise to the Georgia flag. The NCAA has made almost no effort above the player level to make up for years of denying blacks opportunities under legal segregation and even today and yesterday’s inequities remain. The verses beginning this letter are the only guides for a just and humane decision to move your convention to a more inclusive state or at least to one that does not honor Confederate traitors who preferred to destroy America, rather than give up the right to own human beings.

Sir, citizens of Georgia renew their plea that the NCAA select another venue for it 2002 and 2003 men and women’s basketball tournaments. Your patrons do not want to be identified with controversy and Super Bowl-type security, while trying to enjoy these events. The citizens of Georgia will continue to make our statement of opposition to our state as well as Mississippi and South Carolina’s honoring Confederate symbols. One cannot change history; like Roy Barnes and Georgia’s legislature, one can only lie about it! Your decision will help to free young people to build a just and equitable future or it will help to bring back the slave master to lord over them. I await your timely decision in this very important matter.

 Respectfully,

 John Burl Smith