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Editorials
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Clark Atlanta University Panther
April 16, 1991
Mali's Downfall
By PATRICK BANGUD1
Contributing Writer
Mali's leader, Moussa Traore, is the latest African president to have
been overthrown. He tried to swim against the political tide of
demarcation. Instead, he was captured by the coup leader Lietenant.
Col. Amadou Toure at the airport. Mali, a West African country, is
surrounded by seven nations: Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast,
Guinea, Senegal, Maritania and Algeria. Although it had gained its
independence in 1960, it was not until 1968 when Traore seized power
and about a decade later, he proclaimed himself president.
Following years of economic stagnation, Mali was faced with a
drought. Traore grew unpopular especially when he failed to pay the
salaries of the civil servants. Demba Diallo, the opposition leader,
intolerant to the government, mobilized anti-government
demonstrations and a general strike aimed at overthrowing Moussa
Traore. They succeeded.
The weak and unwanted coconuts are being shaken by the winds of
change getting rid of the bad ones, while bringing in the good ones. So
far, Mali looks promising as opposition and coup leaders have already
begun exchanging constructive ideas regarding the future of Mali.
Bush A Shoe-in?
By PIERCE HUFF
Staff writer
Just the other day while I was flipping through the channels, I
noticed that President Bush was addressing the press in a blue jogging
suit. Ordinarily I could care less what our beloved President wears, but
this time Bush's attire caught my eye. Somehow it just seemed fitting
that the country's toughest leader since Theodore Roosevelt was in
athletic attire.
Bush wants another war. I can see it in his eyes. It s a little gleam, a
slight tingle, but it is there. So I’ve got a war for him, South Africa.
The United States is on a roll in the United Nations. Bush has
tricked the world into siding with him against Saddam Hussein. Just
last week a U.S.-led resolution calling for a cease fire in the Persian
Gulf War passed overwhelmingly. Now let's go for the bomb!
Let's go for harder sanctions against South Africa. What do we have
to lose? U.N. ambassador Thomas Pickering is on one helluva hot
streak, so let's ride him.
The world is looking to the U.S. for leadership, so let's lead. We
must show the world that racial oppression will not be tolerated.
Apartheid must be stopped.
I'm telling you, Bush had the look of a fighter in training. He was
lean, mean and hungry. Although his spoken words said peace, his
unspoken words begged for war.
South Africa is the perfect target. Bush will have even less trouble
getting the world to side with him. He can also win a little support
from minorities, like me, who are still angry over his vetoing of that
civil rights bill.
South Africa is also unassuming and arrogant, just like Mike Tyson
was. Let’s do a Buster Douglass and knock their system out.
This country, even the world, is begging for an end to apartheid.
President Bush wants another war. Need I say more?
CAU PANTHER
April 16, 1991
The articles on the editorial page are the
opinion of the writers. They are not necessarily
the opinions of the student body, faculty, staff or
administration.
Editor-in-Chief Paulette V. Walker
News Editor Tonya Latimer
Lifestyle Editor Sheryl M. Kennedy
Sports Editor Anthony George
Photo Editor Derwin Ross
Asst. Photo Editor Keith Neal
Staff Writers William Blackburn
Veronica Fields
Pierce Huff
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
Atlanta University, James P. Brawley Drive at
Fair Street, S.W., P.O. Box 329, Atlanta, Ga.
30314. The telephone number is 880-8309. The
staff meets Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in room 120 of
the Communication Arts Center.
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Illustration by Anthony Carter
The Making of A1 Sharpton
By JOEY MERRILL
Guest Columnist
Today, most blacks and whites are surprised at
what is considered black leadership in America. There
seems to be very little which one has to do in order to
reap a certain amount of kudos from portion of the
black community today. Of course, these portions of
the black community claim to speak for the entire
black community, and the media believes them. A
case in point is Reverend A1 Sharpton of New York.
In the era of civil rights, the black leader promoted
Christian behavior and unity within the black
community in order to promote changes which would
provide equality for blacks. Today, a black leader’s
image may easily become associated with fraud, tax
evasion, looting charity, drug abuse, defamation and
secret tapes — as in the case of Sharpton. The clarity
of purpose seems to have been smeared a bit, to the
point that Sharpton can claim to be the victim of
some sort of elaborate conspiracy aimed at
besmirching "leaders" like him.
Wilbert Tatum, publisher of the Amsterdam
News, a black New York newspaper, offered this
theory about the new black leadership: "[the media]
has created a caricature of black leadership. He was
fat. He wore jogging suits. He wore a medallion and
gold chains. And the unforgivable of unforgivables,
he had processed hair. The white media, perhaps not
consciously said, 'We're going to promote this guy
because we can point up the ridiculousness and
paucity of black leadership.'"
It is possible that the media is to blame for the
attention which A1 Sharpton has received. It is also
possible that all the individuals (black and white)
who listened to and believed A1 Sharpton's message
are to blame. The real question at hand is: Have we
(black and white) come to expect the worst in regards
to race relations?
The editorial boards of the North New Jersey
Herald and the News of Passaic, New Jersey, made
a decisive and risky move in deciding to no longer
report stories associated with A1 Sharpton. The
boards believed that the media was giving Sharpton
the attention he desired. To be more clear, it was not
that the papers did not want to cover news important
to the black community; very simply they did not
want to help, as the papers put it, "a reverend of
racism and a minister of hate."
The time has come to stop paying homage to
individuals who claim they represent the black
community and yet do not live up to solid values.
One ought to become a leader of any community only
through merit and good works, not through media-
.. assisted. .self-apppintmei)t. Sharpton’s. record is
hardly one of concrete accomplishments. The
Washington Post reported in March of 1990 that
Sharpton's organization, the National Youth
Movement, has never been anything more than a
single room with a telephone and a transient staff. Of
course, having a small office does not condemn an
organization, but never recording any solid
accomplishments does. No one has been able to
point to anything actually produced by Sharpton's
organization.
If an organization can be manipulated for the
purposes of opportunism by such a leader, then
surely so can the color of his skin. No longer are
individuals allowed the luxury of supporting a
"leader" simply through allegiance to skin color.
When whites do this, it is called racism (e.g., the Ku
Klux Klan). Many blacks have found themselves
following anyone proclaiming himself a "black
leader," with the emphasis on "black," as a result of a
solely race-based consciousness.
The good news is that there is opportunity for
changing this demagogic, harmful trend in race
relations. The Daily News polled whites and
blacks in New York at the height of Sharpton's
heyday and discovered that the majority of the public
believed that Sharpton was damaging race relations.
It is clear that 90% of whites and 73% of blacks in
New York believed that the time for the likes of A1
Sharpton has passed. Perhaps this awareness resulted
from their having to feel the wrath of numerous
racially motivated incidents and violent
demonstrations which occurred during Sharpton's
media reign.
Another positive signal, weak as it may be, is
coming from the existing black leadership. Fact:
only two black leaders have dared to even speak
about A1 Sharpton. After all, Sharpton puts most
black leaders in an awkward position, having to
show allegiance to the "fight against racism” while
also working within the mainstream political
system. Mayor David Dinkins of New York, after
being called a "liberal hypocrite" by Sharpton, tried
to defend himself, telling New Yorkers that
Sharpton's best asset is making "good copy."
Congressman Major Owens (D-NY) also supports
this sentiment, referring to the reverend as an
opportunist who sells papers.
Perhaps he result of the poll in New York and the
signals from the elected black leadership offer hope
or the future. The question is, how many other
communities will have to experience what New York
went through in order to understand that not all self-
professed "black leaders" are true black leadership?
The answer to this question can only come from the
tjlaqk community's response to such "leaders."