Georgia Lawmaker Fights for Black Officers' Rights

Feb. 8, 2006 — -- Howard Baugh, a retired Atlanta police officer, lives with the sad legacy of Georgia's segregationist past. Baugh receives less in monthly pension benefits than white officers of his same rank who served for the same number of years on the force for one simple reason: the color of his skin.

Baugh, 82, was the 12th black police officer to join the force and the first to reach the rank of assistant chief. Before the civil rights movement, he was paid less than his white counterparts. Today, he receives $710 less per month -- $8,520 for every year of his retirement.

According to Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, "black officers were denied membership from 1951 to 1976. Legal Jim Crow discrimination blocked them out and prohibited them from obtaining what white officers had." Brooks added that it was a matter of law until 1964 and a matter of policy from 1964 to 1976.

By 1976, black officers were allowed to join the pension program. By then, however, the damage was done, and they had little chance of making up for lost time.

On the job, it was the department's unofficial policy that Baugh and his fellow black officers could not arrest white people. They had to call in a white officer to do so. They could not use the same locker room as their white counterparts, but instead had to change into uniform at the local YMCA. They were even forced to use the building's side entrance -- the main entrance was for whites only.

At one point, Chief Herbert Jenkins admitted to Baugh that he was a member of the Klu Klux Klan. Jenkins would ultimately become a strong supporter of Baugh's and of black rights; ironically, his membership in the Klan may have given him the authority and clout necessary to make changes in support of equal rights.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, African-American officers like Baugh did not have the same pension benefit rights as white officers. Specifically, Baugh was not allowed to join the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, a program supported largely by tickets and court fees.

Baugh said that when he questioned his exclusion from the fund, "the explanation was that we're not taking blacks at this particular time." One black officer who was kept from participating received his application back with the notation "colored."

For Baugh and others, the reality of equal service, unequal pay only became clear after they had left the force. In Baugh's words, "after my retirement was when I really looked down the barrel and found out that I had been dealt a blow."

Baugh now struggles to pay medical bills; his wife works two jobs so they can cover expenses. The thousands of dollars Baugh and other black officers are owed would make a tremendous difference. Moreover, he would finally have the chance to receive the same pay as white officers who have done the same work.

Brooks, a former civil rights activist and personal friend of Baugh's, has been a crusader for Baugh's cause and is finally seeing results. He has spent two years writing and promoting legislation that closes the pension gap between black and white officers of Baugh's generation.

Last week, the legislation Brooks authored passed 167-0 in Georgia's House of Representatives. It will soon hit the Senate floor. If it passes and is signed into law, it will go into effect July 1. Brooks is optimistic about its chances, telling ABC News "it looks like it's on track to reach the governor's desk."

When Brooks proposed such legislation two years ago, the bill stalled in the state Senate. Other legislators complained that the state didn't have the money to give retired black officers the pension increase they were owed. As Brooks described the situation, "these officers -- wounded, beaten, shot -- are now in the elderly twilight of their lives and missing the opportunity to draw the same amount of money in checks from the retirement fund as white officers. It is patently wrong."

In Baugh's mind, racism is "just as alive today as it was then." He added: "I don't carry animosity, but I do carry a bleeding heart for the things that have been done to me in my family."