Issue date: 4/24/01 Section: Undefined Section

ATLANTA (AP) — In the old South, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, the races were divided by law. Today, he believes they are divided by access to health care, education, technology, political clout and a living wage.

In Georgia for a seven-day tour of 25 cities, Jackson said Sunday he wants to take up “the unfinished agenda of the New South.”

“The image being reinforced is Atlanta, Coca Cola and CNN,” he said in a telephone interview. “But beyond that, 60 percent of all Georgians earn $25,000 a year or less. Two million have no health insurance.”

Jackson's tour is part of a multistate project by his Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition to promote voter registration and workers rights, among other things. He hopes to encourage people of all races to fight for equal access to economic security.

“People across racial lines can rally for better health care and living wages,” he said. “The New South challenge of today is to close the resource gap. We've already shown we can play ball together.”

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