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The Panther
MAY, 1967 3
Which Civil Rights Movement For You
by C. Tom Ross
You have a choice. Two different civil rights movements are
competing for your allegiance: the conformist civil rights move
ment, and the reformist civil rights movement.
The conformist movement does not question the value system
of American culture. It simply protests the exclusion of the Negro
from sharing in that culture. At present, I would place Mr. Roy
Wilkins and Mr. Thurgood Marshall in the conformist move
ment. The reformist movement says that the exclusion of the
Negro is not all that’s wrong with American culture. Racial in
justice is only a symptom of deeper evils which make that culture
presently “unfit for human habitation.” Because the whole culture
is infected with evil, you cannot simply integrate yourself into
it. You must either do something to reform it at the core, as is the
vision of Dr. Martin Luther King; or you must stand aloof from
America and seek your salvation elsewhere, as is the vision of
Mr. Stokely Carmichael .
I must confess that my sympathies lie with the reformist move
ment. To assimilate yourself to the values of a sick nation is to
climb aboard a sinking ship. As one who was raised on that sink
ing ship of WASP-ish* values, I cannot advocate this. The con
formists remind me of the student who copies all the answers
from his neighbor. He copies the mistakes as well. Too many
Negroes are simply copying the white man’s worst mistakes. What
are these mistakes? There is the Calvinistic suppression of emo
tional, sexual, and artistic impulses. There is the arrogant belief
that productivity is a sign of salvation and that poverty is a sign
of sin. There is the absurdly inhuman attempt to standardize
beauty in the “Miss America” and the “Miss Everything-Else-
Under-The-Sun-Contests.” There is the self-righteous sacrifice of
Vietnamese children for the supposed glory of democracy. The
conformist movement blindly copies the white man’s mistakes,
and I sadly fear that most American Negro colleges belong to the
conformist movement.
Ironis is the word for it. I see so many Negroes, with so much
that is good about them, trying desperately to imitate white
middle-class culture, while I have tried desperately for years to
escape the crippling inhibitions and beliefs of that culture. Per
haps what they say about the grass on the other side of the fence
is true.
The contrast between the conformist and reformist has re
cently come into sharp relief. When Dr. King, whom I call a re
formist, attacked the U. S. war against Vietnam, the conformists
were quick to defend American policy. In a way, I can under
stand the conformists like Wilkins and Marshall at this point.
Civil rights leaders have frequently been accused of un-Ameri
canism. However unjust this label, its politically expedient to
give every appearance of patriotism. (But to most conformists,
I’m sure it’s more than expediency.) Still, this only underlines the
problem. Any person with his rightful power as a citizen should
be able to criticize his government without being called un
patriotic. I was quite pleased at the anti-war demonstration dur
ing the Humphrey visit, when eight Clark students (one tenth
of the total demonstration) took part.
In the “Inquiring Reporter” column a few months ago, this
was the question: “Should the Negro fight for the freedom of
the Vietnamese when he doesn’t have freedom here at home?”
The question would be more accurately stated this way: “Should
the Negro, whose basic freedoms have been denied by the United
States at home, turn around and help the United States to take
away the freedom of the Vietnamese?” The claim that we fight
for freedom in Vietnam is utterly hollow. During our involvement
there we have never permitted truly free elections for all the
people of the country. Our puppet ruler in Saigon, Mr. Ky, is
so sensitive to the needs of the Vietnamese peasants that President
Johnson had to go to Honolulu to ask him to show more concern
for his own people! He is still not responsive to the real needs
of the peasants, but Johnson hasn’t cut off his salary. Ky is no
popular hero; his behavior is quite predictable. Under the op
pression of French colonialism, Ky was an “Uncle Tom” for the
French. When the Vietnamese revolutionaries under Ho Chi Minh
fought for their independence, Ky fought with the French against
his own people. In the days of our own Revolution, we would
have called him a Tory.
We support a Tory army in Saigon, and a dwindling army at
that. Before the Congress, General Westmoreland said that
20,000 of the Viet Cong defected last year. What he carefully
neglected to mention was that 100,000 defected from the Saigon
army! This should shatter the lie that the Vietnamese want us
there.
Does Vietnam pose any military threat to the U. S.? They can’t
even defend themselves against our bombs! Are we likely to lose
profits from our investments in Vietnamese natural resources? If
so ,this is largely the fault of our own warfare against Vietnam.
Are we trying to deter the possible future expansion of Red
China? Our inept performance in this small Asian land war can
only encourage the Chinese in the belief that we can’t fight a major
land war in Asia.
Is there any justification for this war? Secretary Rusk says
that, if a “war of national liberation”, succeeds in Vietnam, we
will face “wars of national liberation” all over the world, especially
in Latin America. And the last thing the U, S. wants to see is the
liberation of regions like Latin America from our political and
economic domination.
An interesting parallel occurs to me. For years, the Roman
Empire persecuted the Christian Church. But when Rome fell to
the so-called “barbarians,” the Christian Church was spared. For
Around Campus
Men of Brawley Hall "studying hard" before final examination. Don't get the
impression that they are watching TV.
The Young Men Association pictured from left to right are: Charlie McLendon,
William Robie, James Walls, Morris Wyatt, Carlos Shaw, Jerry Allen.
This attractive young Clarkite talks to science representatives in the College
Placement Office. Have you been for an interview yet?
Assigned to Africa as permanent representative of Operation Crossroads Africa,
Haskell Ward (left) became interested in Africa while a student at Clark Col
lege. After a summer with OCA in Kenya, he served for two years in Ethiopia
with the Peace Corps. He is shown with Joe Louis Tucker, Clark's alumni director,
during a recent visit to his alma mater.
years the U. S. has persecuted the civil rights movement and peace
movement (with a few concessions). These movements are in
creasingly showing a solidarity with peoples disadvantaged by the
U. S. overseas. Perhaps when these modern day “barbarians” de
mand their fair share of the world’s goods and topple the U. S.
from its position as world power, the left-wing movements of
this country will be spared. Such an eminent commentator as
Walter Lippmann has suggested that the nations of the world
may someday join in a united effort to counteract the arrogance
of American power. The conformists will greet such massive anti-
Americanism with self-righteous indignation. The reformists may
then have the last laugh. I know the side I want to stand with.
"Headstart" Training
The rapidly terminating
spring semester invokes a va
riety of responses from students,
ranging from mild headaches to
neurotic panic. Invariably this
is the time when students query
whether education is-worth “all
the sweat.” The goal of a white-
collar occupation, a suburban
home and all of the middle-class
trimmings might well be an in
centive to students to “weather
the storm.” However, the writ
er, a student swamped with
academic work, has found a key,
not only to increased academic
incentive, but also to new di
rection in study. The key is
service to the deprived.
The writer began this type
of work in the summer of 1966
by participating in the South
west Georgia Project, a type of
civil rights project subsidized by
a national organization, the Stu
dent Inter-racial Ministry. This
project involved seminary stu-
detns, other existing civil rights
groups, and indigenous people
in community organization pro
jects in the 20 counties of the
Second Congressional District of
Georgia.
One very concrete accom
plishment of the Civil Rights
Movement has been the focus
ing of national attention on the
plight of the poor. Hence, today
there are numerous poverty
programs in existence from
Project Head Start and Upward
Bound to NYC, Job Corps, and
other OEO projects. Neverthe
less, the task is so enormous
that these programs fall short of
fulfillment. What is needed in
addition to the programs is the
involvement of more responsible
citizens, especially young, in
telligent, and committed stu
dents.
One specific area of need is
Vine City. This area of Atlanta
is fortunate in havin some com
munity organization — a group
of indigenous cittizens organized
for the political, economic, and
social welfare of the area. How
ever, there are few workers in
volved in relating to and helping
families on a one-to-one, friend
ship basis. Moreover, Vine City
is characterized by a large num
ber of high school dropouts.
Many of these teen-agers have
dropped out because of poor
academic performance — they
are tired of being “flunkies.”
Others have stopped school be
cause the financial straits of
their family required that they
work full-time. Hie typical teen
ager has a poor background in
such fundamentals as English,
mathematics, and social studies.
A teen-age program for Vine
City with emphasis on tutorial
help has been proposed. How
ever, workers, especially Negro
high school and college students
are desperately needed. This
work might be tossed off as so
cial work; it is no doubt hu
manitarian. Nevertheless, the
work is invaluable in that it
provides an empathetic under
standing of the plight of the
poor, the deprived, and simul
taneously enables the worker to
strive to effect some change in
this condition.
For further information con-
tack John Robinson at the fol
lowing address:
Interdenominational
Theological Center
Bennet Hall #217
645 Beckwith St., S.W.
Atlanta, Ga. 30314