Newspaper Page Text
April, 1970
THE PANTHER
Page 3
The
Marketplace
A forum on student issues
A cry for help
SGA revitalization
necessary at Clark
Dear Editor:
It’s that time of year again!
I’m not speaking of spring or in
come tax, but of the Clark SGA
elections.
As a political science major, I
will
he is a freshman, junior or soph
omore. I feel that denying a stu
dent the right to run on the basis
of his classification or standing
in the college is denying the right
of the student body to elect or
analyze the coming elections vote for whom it pleases.
in terms of past improvements and
the improvements that still need
to be made. The coming term
needs to be an improvement over
the present one.
Clark is almost dying from lack
of leadership. Students are apa
thetic and plain disinterested. I
don’t mean that Clark doesn’t
have students who are good and
excellent in the field of leadership.
I mean that the students have the
potential but will not develop it.
These people never seem to want
to run for any office of any kind.
They seem either shy or ashamed
to run. They think they might get
embarrassing responses from their
fellow students.
I feel that Black students have
the right to be proud of them
selves. I feel too that the black
students at Clark should want a
working student government and
should be interested in keeping it
alive and active.
There are a number of issues
that need to be resolved by next
year’s SGA. This present SGA has
either ignored or did not know of
the issues prevalent among the
students this year.
I feel also that the criteria for
the president and the vice-presi- Think of
dent need to be changed. Any stu- questions,
I think the candidates (if there
are any) should make their posi
tions clear on student issues and
not be aifiroid to tell anyone from
the entering freshman to the pres
ident of the college.
The Student Council needs to
meet regularly so that an eye can
be kept on the SGA officials. This
way the student body can be as
sured that it won’t be involved in
controversies that do not involve
Clark in any way.
The SGA should make available
(every month) financial reports
that will inform the students on
how their money is being spent.
The SGA should do its best to
get every student physically as
well as vocally involved. It
should also be a line of communi
cation between students and the
administration.
The SGA should find some way
to enhance student activities at
Clark. The improvements should
start with the student center of
recreation. These improvements
need not be costly but creative.
My final questions are directed
to the student body: Are we go
ing to wear the same old shoes as
we did this year? Are we going
to walk down the same old paths?
the answers to these
then think of people
dent should be allowed to run for who can meet the heat.
any office on the campus, whether
F. Calhoun
'King' not just film
Dear Editor:
I was among many who viewed
the Martin Luther King film last
month. It was encouraging to
hear the reports on the radio of
the large amounts of tickets being
sold so quickly. The turn-out at
the theatre I attended was enor
mous.
The newspapers called the film
a documentary. I feel that no
factual film ever did what this
one seemed to do. No documen
tary was ever so effective. The
film captivated the viewers. Many
of the events on the screen made
some of the viewers really aware
for the first time of how hard the
times were.
The viewers saw police brutali
ty, racial cruelty, abuse, rejection
and many other things that some
people will never experience. The
audience sighed with disbelief,
laughed with pleasure, cursed with
anger, applauded with mixed
emotions, and cried — men as
well as women.
No one who saw the film could
say that it did not affect them in
some way.
This was no film strip with
facts and dates merely thrown to
gether. This was not just a pic
ture of a man who tried to obtain
freedom for himself, his family
and his people. This movie did
not just exist on the screen. It
reached out to the audience and
became a part of it. It was ab
sorbed as water would be into a
sponge.
Everyone —- black, white, what
ever — who left the theatre had
the same look on their faces — a
look of emotional intensity.
Runette Ebo
Academic Freedom
being threatened
Econ prof studies black employment
By JAMES A. HEFNER
The state of black employment
in the nation at the end of the
1960’s showed a marked improve
ment over the preceding ten years.
A substantial growth in full-time
employment along with a shift
into more skilled and higher pay
ing jobs brought about significant
improvement in the income level
of black employees.
In spite of the gains achieved
by blacks, national figures for
1968 showed that there were about
3.6 million, or 44 per cent of
blacks who were still employed in
the low-skilled, low status and
farm joibs.
The occupational upgrading of
blacks actually occurred from
1957 onward. During the 1957
to 1967 period, much expansion
occurred with respect to the
employment of blacks in those in
dustries considered to offer the
best jobs in terms of pay, ad
vancement, security and status.
Employment of blacks grew ra
pidly in the fields of education,
public administration and durable
goods manufacturing. The num
ber of blacks at work in these
fields rose from 1.3 million in 1962
to 2.1 million in 1967, an increase
of almost 60 per cent, whereas
for whites the increase was 25
per cent.
The employment gains of south
ern blacks have been spotty, at
(Revised by Ed.)
best. Although southern blacks
made greater gains in nonagricul-
tural industries in the South be
tween 1940 and 1960 than they did
in the North, their employment sit
uation remained poor. For exam
ple, the South’s share of the na
tional employment of blacks in
white collar jobs declined from
50 per cent to 30 per cent between
1940 and 1960, even though white
collar employment was the most
rapidly growing occupational cat
egory in the South. Since 1955,
Southern blacks have advanced
up the occupational ladder much
more slowly than they had during
the preceding ten years. Prior to
1955, the occupational advance
ment of Southern blacks was an
illusion. Many blacks were push
ed up the occupational ladder even
though their function or their
place in industry didn’t change.
The most important measure of
the progress of blacks along the
occupational ladder is in income
or “green power.’’
In 1967, the ratio of black to
white family income rose only
to 59 per cent, and this was for
the first time. Underlying the in
come progress made by blacks
since 1939, is the gain in non
white family income in the $7,000
or more income bracket, where
there were almost five times as
many non white families in this
category since 1947.
/In addition, through bath the
rise in income from, 1947 to 1966
has been shared by white and
onwhiite families alike, the dollar
gap increased over this period of
time.
Now what does the South look
like? In 1967 the median family
income for Southern blacks was
$3,992, or 54 per cent of the med
ian family income for whites. For
the nation, in 1967, the median
family income for blacks was
$4,939, or 58 per cent of the med
ian family income for whites.
The difference in the national
and southern levels of family in
come of blacks and whites is the
result of the relative income of
black families in the northeast,
north central, and west. In the
northeast, the ratio of black fam
ily income to white was 66 per
cent; in the north central it was
78 per cent; and in the west it
was 74 per cent. For the most
part, the South-Non-South dif
ference in family income for
blacks and whites reflects the ex
tent to which these regions prac
tice fair employment. The rela
tive income of southern black
families makes it clear that greater
enforcement of equal employment
opportunities provisions must be
practiced. But this is not enough.
New methods and new programs
to upgrade black workers are
needed.
Dear Editor:
One of the more popular phrases
in use in America today is the ex
pression “Love America or Leave
it.” This phrase is especially pop
ular among the ultra-conservative
elements of the society and, as is
true with many extremist state
ments, expresses a rather sim
plistic view of the nature of good
and evil and of the processes of
social and political change. If all
of the great leaders who had a
vision of a better way of life had
decided to leave rather than attack
the weaknesses and evils which
plague the United States, we
would have never known Martin
Luther King, Fredrick Douglass,
Malcolm X or Henry Thoreau.
We might have been able to live
on in a dream of perfection which
ignored the real problems which
surround us, but we would not
have been the better for our
dream.
It is only those persons who
dare to dream of higher and bet
ter things and who dare to chal
lenge the established order of
things who can lead us to better
days. A better world cannot be
built upon weakness and corrup
tion.
lit seemjs to me that Clark Col
lege is being led to the same mis
guided and simplistic views in
areas of academic and social
awareness. We are told that the
truth should be told but only if it
is good.
We are not to admit it or at
tack weaknesses but to ignore
them for maybe they will disap
pear if we refuse to admit their
presence.
I have heard department chair
men tell teachers that if they
don’t like the way things are done
around here, they should look
elsewhere for employment.
I have heard high administra
tors say that they are tired of
hearing negative comments—they
didn’t say that the substance of
the negative comments was false,
they just said that they were tired
of hearing them — they didn’t say
they were tired of the situations
about which the negative com
ments were made or that they
wished to change them, just that
they were tired of the comments.
I have heard teachers say the
equivalent of the old and falla
cious saw, “If you can’t say any
thing good, say nothing.”
These kinds of comments strike
at the core of academic freedom
and they attack the very basis of
the inquiring and constructive na
ture of intellectual activity.
It is impossible to teach or learn
in an environment in which “Yes”
is the only possible response. If
one can say “No” in no other
part of American society, he
should be able to say “No” in the
academy.
But there is a more serious
problem here. Many times those
accused of negativism are charged
at the same time with a failure
to submit proposals, positive pro
posals — for change. If this were
true the charge would be serious
indeed. But the accusation is
Many of the most original and
constructive proposals have come
from the so-called negativists, but
these proposals have been ignored
either because the ears were turn
ed off at the beginning or be
cause they were too demanding of
hard honest effort, or they did
not bring enough money into the
pockets of the money-makers. I
have seen good solid proposals
rejected in favor of the easy and
quick “money-making scheme.”
My own feelings about these
things are that if you love your
school, or your country, or your
friends, you dac’t desert them
when they need help. You don’t
ignore problems when they arise.
Try to help in -the best way
possible. If that means that you
have to attack weaknesses or
destroy those things that have be
come detrimental, then that is
what you must do. If you love,
you must help. Sometimes helping
hurts. Sometimes hurting is the
best way to better conditions for
all.
Truth is neither black nor white,
young or old, but it is often pain
ful. We need fewer “stirring up
and dynamic” appeals to the
frightened cheers of the “silent
majority.” What we need is a
fundamental commitment to truth
and excellence in learning, but,
above all, to people.
Terry Baker
How is Panther
editor chosen
Dear Editor:
How is the editor of The Pan
ther selected? I am a freshman
and was told that the staff se
lects the editor. I do not feel this
is fair. I think the student body
should have a voice in the selec
tion of the editor just as in the
case of the SGA president; both
are supposed to be the voice of
the students.
Has the staff already selected
the editor for 1970-71? If so,
I think the selection should be
void. Who really has the right to
say who the next editor will be,
as I understand you to be a grad
uating senior.
B. Jackson
Editor’s Note: Discussions were
held last year to the effect that
representatives from each class
would act as a committee to ac
cept applications of people who
wished to be editor. But only dis
cussions, not a decision.
The present staff has not se
lected an editor and does not plan
to. Perhaps the best source for
an answer to your question is
the SGA, which was responsible
for my own selection.
The last edition of THE PAN
THER will be May 20, 1970