Newspaper Page Text
P2 October 18. 1993
Editorial
The Panther
PERSPECTIVES
B
The
Clark Atlanta University
anther
Tara C. Gunter/Editor-In-Chief
K.A. White/Business Manager
Ed Blakemore/Editorial Editor
Commentary
It's Time For Change
We have the right to work to fulfill our opportu
nities. Those words, expressed by former Atlanta
M.ayor Andrew Young, at this year’s convocation
were nice and highly rhetorical.
Andy spoke about how we students are lucky to
be here at Clark Atlanta and should not let our
educational goals and values fall by the wayside.
Instead, he said we should move forward, show
leadership and not stand still. These sentiments,
while well placed, are just that- sentiments.
Students here at CAU, for the most part, are well
prepared to take on the the responsibilities of “the
real world.”
When the opportunity presents itself we usually
are the first to show initiative. After the April
1991 rioting on campus, that stemmed from the
Rodney King verdict, students were promised a
three point plan by Atlanta Mayor Maynard
Jackson. That plan included students operating
the CAU and Morris Brown bookstore. Nearly
three years later, students stand behind cash regis
ters- now that takes a lot of initiative. And even
when students rally up, like the Grass Roots
Coalition did last year, to demand opportunities
again, this great institution bands together to pre
vent it.
Therefore, we are not denying ourselves leader
ship roles and we definitely are not at a standstill.
There are many students who are not waiting for
CAU to provide black entrepreneurial images.
Instead, they are starting their own businesses and
succeeding.
Once CAU realizes the necessity for motivating
and challenging students to be self-starters, then
we will no longer be perceived as being asleep.
Staff
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Prejudice Condemns Justice
By Ytasha L. Womack
Contributing Writer
The recent Virginia judge’s ruling
that a lesbian is not fit to be a mother
is a travesty.
The very fact that a judge's biased
and bigoted views could overshadow
human rights should frighten all
minorities regardless of their varying
opinions on homosexuality. If a
judge can use his prejudice to sepa
rate a family in one case, he can easi
ly do the same in another.
Kay Bottoms took her young les
bian daughter, Sharon, to court to
demand custody of her two year old
grandson. The grandmother argued
that Sharon Bottoms and her lesbian
lover would disorient the child and he
would not be able to differentiate
between men and women's roles.
The judge used a Virginia state law,
which states that oral sex between
members of the same sex is a felony
and declared Sharon’s conduct
"immoral" and rendered her an “unfit
mother.”
However, family expert, Charlotte
Patterson of the University of
Virginia, testified that children of
homosexual parents have no more
challenges or severe psychological
problems than children of heterosexual
parents. Despite her testimony, the
child was still placed in the custody
of his grandmother.
The dismissal of this crucial testi
mony alone clearly showed that big
otry was the basis for the decision.
The same homosexual prejudices
the judge used as the basis for snatch
ing a young child from the comforts
of his home, can easily be used to tar
get minorities.
Homosexuality is a topic widely
debated in our society. However, the
majority of our opinions are based on
ignorance and fear. Such invalid
beliefs and opinions may be accept
able in cordial discussions but they
should not be the basis of a prece
dent-setting decision in the judicial
system.
Just as we. blacks, are disgusted
with the stereotype of black men in
the criminal justice system, we
should be equally angered at the use
of other insubstantial stereotypes that
separate families.
If the bias, bigotry, and prejudiced
opinions of one judge is permitted to
overshadow facts and not be chal
lenged, then it will be mandated in all
future judicial decisions regardless of
the facts presented.
Medical World Verses Black Community
By Regina Roberts
Editorial Assistant
Many black Americans
today believe that
HIV/AIDS is a man-made
weapon of racial warfare.
This belief is not far
fetched, considering that
from 1932 to 1972 the
Tuskegee Syphilis Study,
the longest experiment in
medical history, was con
ducted.
This study was a form of
genocide, involving
untreated syphilis in black
males. Although there is
supposedly no evidence,
some of the men involved
in the study were intention
ally infected with the dis
ease, causing the death of
thousands of black men.
Some blacks aren’t aware
of this because the medical
world keeps it very dis
creet. If the medical indus
try can deliberately keep
something as significant as
the Tuskegee Syphilis
Study a secret, who's to say
they aren't withholding
vital information about
AIDS.
After all, AIDS is spread
ing more rapidly in the
black community than in
any other group.
Barbara Justice, MD., a
New York City physician,
stated in an article on AIDS
in Essence magazine that
“there is a possibility that
the virus (HIV/AIDS) was
produced to limit the num
ber of African people and
individuals of color in the
world who are no longer
needed.”
In addition, the results of
a survey given to blacks by
the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
(SCLC) revealed that 35
percent of those surveyed
believed AIDS is a form of
genocide, while 30 percent
were unsure.
Also, 34 percent believed
AIDS to be a man-made
disease, while 44 percent
were unsure and 44 percent
believed that the govern
ment is not providing
blacks with the entire truth
on AIDS and 35 percent
were unsure.
Although steps are being
made to gain trust between
the medical world and the
black community, we must
remember the previous
attempts made to gain the
trust of black men in the
Tuskegee study.
When you consider this
and what we have been
through as a people, who
can blame us for believing
that AIDS is another form
of genocide?
Letter To The Editor
Stop Complaining:
CAU Women Are Limiting Their Opportunities To Find A Good Man.
I read the editorial "Where Are Our
Men?" by Kristie White with great sur
prise. She spoke as if Clark Atlanta
University was in the middle of the coun
try with nothing else around.
I also find it difficult to believe that the
CAU freshman ratio, which I am told is
somewhere around the 15:1 mark, dissi
pates to a mere 3:1 when upperclassmen
are counted.
I can't pretend like I'm not aware of the
disunion that is present among schools
here in the AftrUlbiwisiyCatr. However, it
does amaze me that some sisters who
complain about the disproportionate ratio
of females to males at CAU are the same
sisters who are reluctant to give a brother
from Morehouse or Morris Brown a
chance.
What made my mouth drop Ms. White,
was when a few of my female friends at
CAU told me that they liked brothers
here at Morehoused. When I asked them'
why they hadn't pursued their interests
they said, "Because my male friends at
Clark would get upset."
With all due respect Ms. White, it's just a
matter of common sense. If a person is
unhappy with a situation, they should
either look at ways to ameliorate the situ
ation or learn to deal with it. As a matter
of fact, isn't CAU's motto: "We'll find a
way or make one?"
Sisters outnumbering brothers on col
lege campuses is a national problem and
the AUC is no exception. Nevertheless,
if you or any other "nice sistas" go to
school here in the AUC and look to your
institution and your institution alone for
"courtship possibilities," then you should
be willing to deal with the headache of
trying to get a good man when you are,
as you put it, "one of only three(?j" of his
choices.
Spencer E. Gould
Morehouse College Student
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of the
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editorials
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