Newspaper Page Text
February 20. 1995
The Panther P5
Washington Hill
Students Encouraged to Question Congress
By Jimmie Ophelia Woods Jr.
Asst. Editorial Editor
Am I my big brother’s keeper? I’ve
pondered this question seriously in recent
times.
Do we realize that Congress is a never-
ending paperchase? With hundreds of bills,
hundreds of pages long, being passed daily
and into the night, do we really know what
is on the books? Do we recognize the term
“Christmas tree?” This term refers to a
common practice of burying relevant
amendments in 13 pound-bills, like adorn
ing a tree with ornaments.
I suspect that the crime bill has been a
victim of this practice along with the bar
rage of social reform bills that litter the con
gressional floor.
The ideas of freedom and justice are
becoming remnants of the memory. Many
valuable items have been taken from our
communities—freedom, choice and leader
ship. We have lost the empowerment of the
NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus
and basically control of our lives and our
images.
The fourth amendment, addressing
search and seizure, has been losing strength
since the 1980s. House resolution 666,
essentially opens your door to the state—
the police state. Now the welfare system is
being reconstructed, and we remember
what happened the last time they “recon
structed.” Political favoritism catapulted
the negro from cotton to Congress and
physical slavery merely shifted to political,
economic and social bondage. Our lawmak
ers are considering ending slavery and con
sidering major deregulation.
Can anyone tell me why incarceration
figures are eclipsing school enrollment?
Could it be because of the “baseballish”
attitude adopted by Congress? Nationally,
three strikes and “you’re out,” however, in
Georgia, you are allowed only two felonies.
Although power has never been balanced
in this country, the prospect is bleak. This
would explain why this lady with a blind
fold and scales stood in front of me in the
unemployment line.
Farmers are paid not to plant.
Businesses are given money disguised as
tax “incentives.” Single mothers, under
Republican-orchestrated anarchy, are losing
their children and welfare, while Pell
Grants are endangered species.
Part your eyelids. Observe. Listen.
Read and write. Complain. Vote. Rebel.
Respond. Question.
Letters To The Editor
Come Clean CAU
I can definitely appreciate your enthusiasm in writing about Morris
Brown’s deficit problem, but I do not find the title of your article in the
Feb. 6 edition of your paper too flattering.
I am a senior at Morris Brown College and a former representative of
the institution. “Morris Brown College Rises From The Ashes, ” is not an
appropriate title for this article. First, Morris Brown College never burned
so there is no way that she could have risen from ashes. In your article you
talk about a Morris Brown College student discussing the positive images
that the media has been giving to the institution, but then you back track it
with a negative eye catching title on the front cover of your newspaper. I
also find it very displacing that you would even talk about Morris Brown
coming out of debt, when your institution never wanted or had anything to
do with outside contributions during the deficit. Have you nothing else to
write about or should I say shun upon but our “Dear Ole Morris Brown.” 1
never heard anything about the killings that were going on among your
campus nor did I hear about the rapes. In one article a writer discussed the
measures to increase security in the AUC, but why? Because AUC stu
dents fell victim or because CAU students fell victim?
I think that it is time to come clean. Painting an ugly picture of someone
else does not make you sneaky or should I say squeaky clean. But it seems
you always paint that pretty picture about your “lilly white” institution. I
wonder why?
Truly disturbed,/Krystal “Ifetayo” Wilson
Editor’s Note:
Thank you for responding to the article featured in the Feb. 6 edition.
Your comments have been noted by The Panther and we apologize for any
negative impact our story may have caused. The headline was not meant to
demean the situations experienced by Morris Brown College, but to recog
nize the accomplishments made by the historic institution. As our
Afrocentric education within the AUC teaches us, the Sphinx “rising from
the ashes,” symbolizes triumph over adversity. We at The Panther
acknowledge Morris Brown for her valiant fight and applaud her victory.
Racist Ride Home—Not!
This world degenerates into a hotbed of racism as soon as you leave the
AUC. At least that is what Assistant News Editor Nikki Roberts seems to
say in her Dec. 5 Panther article, “The Long Racist Ride Home. ” She
seems to base this conclusion on her recent run-in with the police in
Georgia. According to her, she and her friends were pulled over and told
by the officer they were” doing a 62 in a 45.” Roberts then questioned the
radar gun’s accuracy, but the officer did not permit her to check the radar.
At this she swore, and some minutes later the fine was handed to the dri
ver. Roberts implies this type of incident happens only to blacks with an
“afri-tude,” yet it sounds startlingly familiar. In fact, as far as I know this
happens to whites all the time. I, a white male, was pulled over for
“doing a 51 in a 40.” The officer harassed me, called me “boy,” and treat
ed me like I was a dangerous felon and a total idiot at the same time. My
brother was also recently pulled over, harassed, called “sonny,” and was
punished heavily for a minor infraction. I did not have to look far to see
that whites get harassed by whites too.
I also believe Roberts provoked the officer’s harsh reaction with two of
her actions. First, she questioned the officer’s authority, and second, she
swore. Policemen tend to dislike people who question their authority.
They receive little pay and less gratitude for a dangerous job, and there
fore, when in a position of power they often demand respect. It is only
logical, you do not dis’ you professor because he gives the grade and you
do not dis’ an officer because he gives the fine. Roberts’ grandmother
respectfully said “yes suh” to the officers queries when she was pulled
over. Roberts’ grandmother did not get a ticket. Roberts believes that is
the action of an “Uncle Tom.” Well call me “Cousin Bubba,” but I too ate
humble pie and said “yes suh” and “no suh” to the officer. I got away with
a mere warning. One may note at this point, that the police seem to be
judging on behavior and not skin color. Roberts’ grandmother and I both
acted the same way and we both achieved the same results.
Roberts compounded a her first mistake in police relations by subse
quently swearing. Among Southern whites, it is common knowledge that
swearing in front of the police is about the same as giving yourself the
highest applicable fine. One of my white female friends was pulled over
and given a light fine. However, she swore, and the officer overheard her,
turned back to the car, took her license and gave her the maximum fine.
So, while Roberts may not have known it, her swearing hurt her case.
So while definitely no utopia, the world outside the AUC is not the
Klan’s private heaven either. The police seem, in my experience, to act
against whites in essentially the same manner as they act against blacks.
The way home is long and dangerous for all of us, whatever color we may
be.
Mark Jarrett/CAU Student