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THE PANTHER-APRIL,1973 Page 6
BLACK POLITICAL
AGENDA
by Vincent Harding
and William Strickland
ATLANTA-Any Black as
sessment of the 1970 elec
tions and the coming 92nd
Congress must begin by
identifying the political his
tory of black people in Ame
rica as a long chronicle of
betrayal.
A century ago we were
welcomed into the Army, of
the Republic, into the Union
League, and even into Con
gress - in greater numbers
than now - by a Republican
party which needed our blood
and our votes. Through Re
construction and beyond we
kept faith with “the party
of Emancipation,” until the
Depression and our aban
donment by Republicans
forced us into the party of
Franklin Roosevelt.
Looking back on 1970, we
recognize it as a continua
tion of the betrayals of ear
lier times and of the six
ties. (Perhaps best symbo
lized in 1968 by the fate of
Resurrection City - - after
all the false homage of poli
tical leaders at the funeral
of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
During the recent elec
tions both parties abandon
ed black people and our is
sues: the insane, wasteful,
imperialistic war; the ar
rogant national support of
antiliberation forces across
the Third World: the perse
cution and assassination of
our young people; the deter
ioration and poisoning of the
urban centers; economic
depression in black Ameri
ca; educational genocide
practiced against inner city
children; the uses of token
“desegregation” in the
South to destroy real black
control of black public edu
cation--none of these was
seriously addressed by
white politicians.
Instead, these “leaders”
frantically scrambled to
ward the most unenlight
ened sector of the white
electorate, toward “thereal
majority.”
So, by the light of black/
real concerns, there was no
great distance in substance
between Nixon-Agnew on the
one hand and Humphrey,
Steveson, Kennedy andMus-
kie on the other. The Ad
ministration scapegoated
and mystified, while De
mocrats did little but be
wail the White House style.
Talk of the “repudiation”
of Nixon-Agnew does not
impress us. For the Demo
crats -- like much of the
nation -- did not repudiate
anything except the truth.
Indeed, they joined the
movement to the right, the
movement away from reali
ty into obfuscation of the
changes which must take
place in America if there
is to be an America wor
thy of truly humane life.
For black people are the
illuminators of America’s
profound decay, and our is
sues are thus the central
issues of its life.
Our betrayal (joined wit;,
the unloading and impedin'
of men like Hickel and Far
mer) presents further tes
timony to the total incapa
city of white leaders eve i
to face, much less to solve
any of the basic, system!
problems of this society
Such blind bankruptcy of
white American leadership
and its systems, places a
profound burden upon those
of us who are committed to
the survival and prevailing
of the black community. For
the sake of our fathers and
our children we must now
set the agenda for present
and future.
A black political agenda
must move towards such
must move toward such
ends as radical tax re
form; unilateral withdra
wal from Indochina--andthe
abandonment of all similar
neo-colonial adventures;
total reform of court and
prison systems; communi
ty control of the police; the
endowment of black educa
tion as a national resource;
a Marshall Plan/ TVA ap
proach to the problems of
the urban centers; uncon
ditional economic aid to
Africa and other Third
World nations; and even
tual development of humane
alternatives to all the basic
political, economic and cul
tural systems of America.
Is there white leadership
in this land sufficiently com
mitted to values beyong ex
pediency and international
corporate capitalism to ad
dress such matters? As we
await the convening of the
Congress, we do not see it.
But whether it exists or not,
our own Black task iscleir;
We have experienced both
the Republican and Demo
cratic versions of the Ame
rican system, and have seen
that their first allegiance
is to the preservation of
white structures of pq>wer,
with blacks used as perio
dic, convenient pawns. Ne
ither logic nor history al
lows us to believe that white
American will voluntarily
adopt any programs of fun
damental change in our di
rection.
That is why blacks must
resist the temptation to trust
in this system to bring forth
a humane society. That is
why blacks must move to a
politics of profound “black
reconstruction.” That is
why there is an absolute
need for independent, insis
tent, black political power.
That is why blacks must
not only set the agenda,
but organize and struggle
to achieve it, For in the white
light of America decay, the
black agenda may be the
only human agenda that is
left.
Vincent Harding is Direc
tor of the Institute of the
Black World, an independent
research center in Atlanta.
William Strickland is coor
dinator of the policy studies
section of the Institute.
Mass Communications Building
Station Is Approved
Current reports from
those who are associated
with the proposed campus
radio station indicate that
the new Clark College faci
lity will be broadcasting by
September 1, of this year.
Initial broadcasts by the
FM station depended on the
approval of a FCC permit
to begin construction of the
station. This approval was
granted March 18.
Earlier expectations
were that the station would
be on air by the end of
Spring Semester 73, but ac
cording to Mr. Charles Hob
son, head of the Mass Com
munications Department at
Clark, delays could not be
controlled.
The non - commercial
education radio station will
operate with a power of 54
watts on channel 220 - -
91.7 FM. The Studio will
located on Clark Col
lege’s campus in the Mc-
Pheeters-Dennis Hall.
FELDER
Continued From Page 1
legislator elected to the
House of Representatives in
South Carolina since re
construction. Felder for
merly served as director
of the South Carolina Voter
Education Project and was
executive vice-president of
the Washington, D.C. Young
Democrats from 1965-67.
When asked why he de
cided to go with the soli
citor’s office, Felder stat
ed “he saw the move as op
portunity to open up the
position for other Blacks
around the circuits.” “It’s
a thankless task in many
instances,” he said. “Many
black youths may take a
new view of the office now
that he has become involv
ed.” he continued.
The Solicitor, John Ford,
stated that Felder would
work “with the same autho
rity as the other assistants
and will prepare and try
cases as well as represent
us in the State Supreme
Court.”
Mr. Felder earned his
BA degree in Biology at
Clark where he was Pre
sident of the Student Go
vernment, Quarterback and
Captain of the Football
Team as well as Editor
of the Newspaper.
A 340 feet antenna and
transmiter will be locat
ed at Fair and Vine Street
in the Atlanta Univer
sity Center. The station let
ters will be WCLK, trans
mitting from a radius of
6 to 9 miles. This dis
tance is expected to expand
over the years to come.
Mr. Cecil O’Neal has
been hired as chief-engi
neer to begin the construc
tion of the station. Mr.
O’Neal is expected to ar
rive on Clark’s campus to
begin construction imme
diately.
Hobson Leads Program
Continued
communications program,
Clark founded the talents of
Charles Hobson, the Em
my-winning producer of
WABC-TV’s Like It Is.
Hobson with his experience
as a radio writer-producer,
writer for several national
magazines, television pro
duction, plus teaching ex
perience is just what Clark
was seeking.
Clark hopes to have its
FM radio station on the air
by September ‘73. A mass
communications building
will be built. Already Clark
has over forty thousand dol-
GRANT
AWARDED
Recently The Ford Foun
dation awarded the Atlanta
University with a grant
that is to span for several
years.
Clark College will re
ceive $400,000 of this dur
ing the first year of the
grant. Additional amounts
are expected to be awarded
to the college over the next
five years.
Because of this grant it is
speculated that there will be
no increase in tuition dur
ing 1973-1974 at Clark.
It is possible however, that
there could be a slight
increase in charges for
room and board.
The majority of the grant
will be used to expand
and develop new academic
programs at Clark. This is
provide the student at the
college with new career
options.
Two of the newest pro
grams being expanded here
at Clark are the Allied Me
dical Health Program and
The Mass Communications
Program.
Frgm Page 1
lars worth of television and
film production equipment.
Clark’s television studio is
capable of performing any
thing a commercial station
can.
Journalism which is now
a separate program but will
be incorporated later under
mass communications is
under the direction of Alan
Bussel, a former profes
sional reporter and copy
editor. News writing, news
editing, reporting and Black
Men in the Media are a
sample of the courses offer
ed in journalism.