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Editorials
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Clark Atlanta University Panther
January 30, 1991
Jan. 15 Was The Wrong Day
By NIC HELL J. TA YLOR
Staff Writer
Lately, for two reasons, the date Jan. 15, 1991 has captured
the minds of Atlanta University Center students and all
Americans.
Obviously, as seen and heard in the news, midnight Jan. 15,
Eastern Standard Time (8 a.m. Persian Gulf time), marked the
hour of the deadline set by the United Nations for Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein to pull his troops out of Kuwait. If
no such pullout occurred, U.S. troops stationed in the Middle
East would force them out, as stated by President George Bush.
In other words, America would go to war.
Jan. 15 also marked the birth of the most celebrated
peacemaker in the last four decades, Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. On that day in 1929, Americans never suspected that 25
years later he would lead the most significant, historic fight for
human and civil rights for every U.S. citizen, regardless of skin
color.
Whether one agrees with U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf is
for naught. Regardless of all the peace talks and
demonstrations, reality states that loved ones serving in the
military in the Middle East are on a definite mission that is too
late to stop. How long they will serve nor the results are certain.
To Bush, other White House officials, even other Americans,
“a nation simply has to do what a nation has to do.”
Aside from facing the realities are the issues of respect and
values. Clearly there is a cerain irony about the U.N. deadline
being set on Dr. King’s birthday. The Persian Gulf Crisis
represents the anithesis of the ideals voiced by Dr. King -
ideals for which he died and ideals on which America claims it
is based. Some popular examples of those ideals include, belief
in nonviolence, that “all men are created equal”and “love your
neighbor as you would yourself.” U.S. aggression in the
Persian Gulf not only insures war, but encourages violence,
implies that all men are not created equal and says to kill your
neighbor.
President Bush may not have set the deadline himself or
conspired with the U.N. to select King’s birthday, but he was
insensitive to what Jan. 15 means to millions of Americans.
Sure, Bush has “more important” things on his agenda these
days, but a simple mention, recognition or appeal from Bush to
the U.N. to set the deadline a day before or after Jan. 15,
because of the day’s significance and symbolic value to many
Americans, would have cost him nothing, even if the U.N.
refused.
Some people might argue that a day would have made no
difference. Perhaps this is true, but the argument is not about
the reality of what is happening. It is about respect and
hypocrisy.
PANTHER
January 30, 1991
The articles on the editorial page are the opinions of
the writers. They are not necessarily the opinions of the
student body, faculty, or administration.
Editor-in-Chief Paulette V. Walker
Managing Editor Cydney L. Williams
News Editor Tonya Latimer
Editorial Page Editor Nannette L. Wilson
Lifestyle Editor Sheryl M. Kennedy
Sports Editor A nthony George III
Photo Editor Derwin Ross
Advertising Manager Angela D. Gravely
We welcome our readers' views in the form of letters to
the editor or guest editorials. The Panther office is
located in the Communication Arts Center, room 120.
Address all correspondence to the Panther Newspaper,
Clark A tlanta University, James P. Brawley Drive at Fair
St., S.fT., P.O. Box 329, Atlanta, Ga. 30314. The
telephone number is 880-8309. The staff meets Tuesdays
at II a.m. in room room 120 of the Communication Arts
Center.
By NANNETTE L. WILSON
Editorial Page Editor
With the nation at war, there are many
African American servicemen and women who
have been deployed to the Persian Gulf and who
have never had a bullet fired at them. Nor have
they fired at anyone else. Most of them haven’t
had the experience of the “real thing.”
These same African Americans who are
fighting under the flag of the United States,
recently had economic setbacks by the
President’s 1990 veto of the Civil Rights Bill.
Will they be able to do their “job" and be ready
to possibly die?
Lots of noise. Lots of blood. Coupled with
death. Living everyday in the midst of madness.
Marching closer and closer into battle.
While some wonder if they could find work
elsewhere, others ask, “Are African Americans
more patriotic than other segments of society?
Do they have a greater commitment to service
in our nation’s military?
With more than 30 percent of the U.S. military
ranks made up of African Americans, one
cannot help but ask these piercing questions.
These men and women who now risk their
lives in the Gulf chose to join the armed forces as
an honorable option.
Many opted to delay higher education so they
would be eligible for the educational benefits
that come with the service.
The disheartening reality of all of this is that
these people are still suffering from the setbacks
they experienced in cuts on federal aid to
education.
Why are African Americans asked to stretch
their patriotism and dedication beyond their
limits?
This current crisis is robbing our communities
of the best. This is leaving a vast void in our
communities.
It seems inconceivable that they have been and
still are being sent to fight another nation’s war.
I see what is flashed across my television and 1
hear what is said on my radio but 1 also know
that none of it can come close to what their
mothers and fathers feel in their heart — having
to go through the horror of uncertainty.
My heart goes out to them.
But we must support them while they are in
Saudi Arabia. And, while you are doing that,
also pause for a moment and ask the American
government, “Why we are really fighting?”
Is it really worth the bloodshed? Where will it
end?
Pray on the fact that several hundreds of
thousands of minds, souls and hearts are caught
up in this fine mess — even some who are part of
the CAU family.
How will we handle it when they start sending
the body bags home?
Contending with the absolute must be pure
torture.
A ll They Wanted Was A n Education
By WILLIAM BLACKBURN
Staff Writer
As I watched the news accounts detailing how
the United States had launched aerial attacks on
Iraqi, I couldn’t help but think of my fellow
AUC schoolmates who were over there.
Not in a million years did any of them believe
that they would be in a hostile environment that
is called war. However, with the power hungry
White men that run this so-called democratic
country always expect the unexpected.
Everytime African Americans find a light at
the end of the tunnel, the government hits the
power switch leaving us in the cold and dark.
Here’s the scenario — your parents can’t
afford the tuition, you don’t fit the financial aid
catergory and all the grants are already handed
out. So join the Reserves and let the government
pay for it. After all, we still haven’t received our
40 acres and a mule.
This sounds easy enough. The military gets the
extra manpower and the students receive the
extra money for school. You know playing the
old you scratch my back and 1 scratch your back
game. Right? Hell No!!
The Caucasian leader, George Bush, senses,
that too many African Americans are getting
college degrees off his system. Read his lips, “No
Smart Niggas!”
He cuts the welfare and social security
programs in half and attempted to cut out
minority scholarships, so now he wants African
Americans to get cut in half by fighting for his
benefit.
How does the song go? “Blacks in the middle,
where they at? In the middle. Blacks in the
middle. Where? In the middle. What? Go Coons,
Coons, Coons.” 1 don’t think Monie Love could
have said it any better.
I’m sure America likes rapping to that beat!
However,America we are tired of sacrificing
our educated ones for your stupid power games.
Obviously this is a misunderstanding on Bush’s
part.
The only fighting our schoolmates in the
Reserves want to partake in is fighting for
position in the registration lines.
