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THE MAROON TIGER
November, 1946
'Chi Maroon TCigcr
Vol. 6 The Voice of the Students of Morehouse College No. 1
CHARLES VERT WILLIE, Editor-in-Chief
Bismarck Williams James Herndon
Assistant Editors
W. Bernard Baker, Managing Editor
William Sterling Cary, Business Manager
Associate
Editors
Managerial Staff
Lynward Stevenson Religion
Thomas Miller
Advertising
Lerone Bennett....
Sports
Wm. Sapp
Assistant
Marvin Jackson...
Exchange
Finis Bennett
Circulation
L. L. Harley
Science
Ernest Wagner
Assistant
Melvin Hudson
Social
Raleigh Bryant
Secretary
Wm. Golightly
Feature
Samuel Ross
Secretary
John Bryant
Fine Arts
Joseph J. Welcome, Assistant Business Manager
Reporters
W. Harper, E. A. Graham, Chas. Washington, Arthur Johnson, R. Hor
ton, W. Van Buren, Chas. Arnold, Wm. Terrell, J. Calvin Williams.
Typists
Ernest Williams, Harold Pride, Clarence Baskin, Robert Pitt, Eugene
Nesbit, E. Echols, Andrew Keller, A. Gordon, C. Anderson, Harrison
Johnson.
Cartoonists
J. Jackson, A. Mitchell, H. Smith, S. Abrams, L. Ford, W. Clement.
Photographers
Sam Harris, Artist White, James Handye.
"Patience and Fortitude..."
We have just emerged from a chaotic world war, only to be faced with
an equally acute job—that of planning the peace. In an intricate economy
and society as ours, peace without education seems impossible, for we have
now approached an era in which the inhabitants of this country must be
taught the principles of citizenship. The recent democratic primaries held
in the Southern states of this union were fine examples. Many there were
who voted blindly because they were unable to interpret issues. Emotions
were their only motivating force.
Hence, we find that colleges all over the world present a good alternative
for educating people to accept their rightful positions as citizens, with all
rights and privileges appertaining thereto. Morehouse, like other institutions,
has an obligation to cater not only to the graduates of the many high schools,
but also to the veterans of World War II. It is in this obligation that we find
the cause of our problem.
“Patience and Fortitude” are two indispensable factors pertinent to the
solving of the overcrowded conditions here. It is true that Morehouse did
not expect some eight hundred men whose advent immediately invoked ab
normal conditions. We have now reached the stage of trial and error. For the
school has never been confronted with the problem of providing adequate
housing and class room space for more than approximately five hundred
men. This is why we must of necessity be patient with certain systems even
though they are very clumsy at periods.
Now, may we reiterate that fortitude is also essential in the solving of
•ur multifarious problems. And we use the modern connotation—“firmness
of the mind in meeting adversity.” If one were to indulge in a period of
reverse and contrast the life at Morehouse before the commencement of
hostilities with the contemporary Morehouse, he would find himself crying
for a return. But life is not static; it is dynamic; it is constantly in a state
of flux. And Morehouse must move along with time.
Our previous discourse on patience has not at any time implied that
we men must muffle over complaints. For it is characteristic of Morehouse
men to think clearly and speak intelligently; and that is the manner in which
our complaints should be presented—clearly and intelligently. Remember
that we are in a stage of trial and error, and your analysis of the problems
and systems inaugurated may help to detect the errors early; thus, it will
lead to an acceptable adjustment of the problem.
Let's Abolish Our "Rip Van Winklism"
Living as we are in a sheltered college community, it is easy for us
to lapse into a state of lethargy in regard to national and international
affairs. One is prone to stand on the corner until he realizes that his leisure
time is almost gone; then he makes a mad dash for his quarters, or the
library, in order to get out his pressing assignments.
It is true classes, assignments, appointments, and extra curricular activ
ities consume most of our time. This tends to keep us thinking in terms of
our own immediate community, and develops a provincial attitude on our
part. In our subconscious, we feel that we should keep abreast of current
happenings ... if we had time. Occasionally we take a step toward doing
something about this feeling ... we read the latest novel, or scan the Sunday
paper. Having done one or both, we smugly feel that we are well versed
on the world until that subconscious feeling creeps up on us again, demanding
another reaction. Thus we garner our knowledge of the present-day world
in spasmodic, narrow snatches, unless something so startling occurs that
we are shocked into cognizance of the drastic changes in the world around
us, and of our relation to it.
Our world is in such a condition that it demands our constant attention.
In these turbulent weeks, history is being made daily . . . even hourly.
The size of the globe has been (and is being even now) greatly reduced
by the development of ever greater speed in our mechanisms for transcending
distance. Minor wars are cropping up daily over border and territorial dif
ferences between nations. The “Big Three” are yet finding various causes
over which to “agree to disagree”. French scientists have discovered a way
of pulling light from the ebony expanses of night-sky for practical usage
America is beginning to realize that it has no monopoly on atomic power.
Full House—Call Again
Our high officials are wrangling among themselves. Labor is still holding
up full production by its industrial strikes. Inflation is beginning to grad
ually envelop the nation.
And so on down the list; daily occurrences of such significance are
flashing across the world that we cannot dare to let our attention lapse.
Yesterday’s news becomes obsolete so fast that it hardly allows itself time
in which to occur. If we, absorbed with our ancient history, our political
science, and our analytical chemistry, fail to keep ourselves informed about
what is now happening outside our little college community, we violate the
purpose of knowledge. We are pseudo-intelligent if we fail to realize, when
preparing ourselves for a place in the world, that the present condition of
that world affects us and our place.
Rip Van Winkle awoke and ventured forth from his secluded nook to
find a strange, different world of which he was ignorant. What will you
venture forth from your college community to find?
As One Morehouse Mon to Another
All the channels of expression are filled with the condition of today’s
world, and we are conscious of the dangerous possibilities in a society ruled
too largely by little men. We who are of the minority of the intellectual
must concern ourselves more and more about the size of men, men to match
our needs. This Scan well begin at home, and Morehouse has been or is “Home”
to all of us. What can we do about “Home”?
Let’s begin with ourselves. The tradition of Morehouse College is
concerned with scholarship and culture and the seasoning of many other
things. However, the center of that tradition is CHARACTER. Every man
who has earned the right to call Morehouse Mother owes her the strength
at the center, without which learning can be prostituted into channels which
give us the kind of world we now have. Character joined with learning can
get us out of the muddle and start us on a straightway to a better world.
An English clergyman told his little son to put fire pieces of a puzzle
together and make a world of it. The son discovered that on the back of
each piece of the puzzle was a part of the face of a man. “Father, I just
got the man straight and the world came out all right,” exclaimed the boy
jubilantly.
If we get ourselves and our homes straight by supporting our great
president and the College, we can help get the world straight!
MAYNARD H. JACKSON
President, Alumni Association
VIEWING RELIGIOUS MINDS
AMONG MOREHOUSE STUDENTS
(Continued From Page One)
the non-reflective mind on religious
matters. The student who comes in
this category gives very little thought
to the subject of religion ... or
to hardly any subject. Though not
rationally, he thinks with his emo
tions and contributes very little logic.
His chief, and sometimes only, con
tribution to the argument is “steam”
or enthusiasm. He erects major pre
mises and arrives at conclusions by
superstitious formulae. When his su
perstitious sensitivity is stepped on,
his weak sympathetic nervous system
becomes excited; he becomes emotion
ally undisciplined, and “loud talks”
the argument out of existence.
As it is in the broader aspects of
religious life, so it is on the campus
that this second-level mind is in the
majority. At this level are students
who accept existing religious mores.
However, the students who fall into
this second bracket are different from
those in the first bracket in that they
do reflect upon the accepted religious
patterns. These minds are the ortho
dox or fundamental minds that have
a mass of stale and traditional beliefs
that they defend logically, but not al
ways with objective truth, with grand
mother’s limited data. Their conclu
sions are always in line with their
major premises. Their only virtue is
the attempt at consistency. Of course,
as I see it, most of their major as
sumptions are wrong and in develop
ing their arguments, however consist
ently, they invariably arrive at faulty
conclusions . . . conclusions while
logically right are not objectively
true.
According to my observation, most
of the quasi-scholars among the stu
dents fall into the category of this
second-level religious mind. Partici
pating in the rather hackneyed sub
ject, “Religion vs. Science”, which, as
I have said, is typical fertilizer for
argumentation in the dormitories, are
some of our best students in the arts
and sciences. The cub theologians and
the sub scientists exhaust all their
test-tube and abstract data respective
ly defending and attacking religious
propositions that are the property of
the unthinking masses and have long-
been discarded by “enlightened” peo
ple. Well, I guess that this tragedy
of sleeping in Bible.
It is interesting to observe that
most of the mental gymnastics take
place at this second-level of thought.
It is not so much “Thought” that is
being argued as it is “modes of
thought”. By this I mean that cate
gories are being argued rather than
the thought contained in those cate
gories ; they are oriental categories
and don’t always match our occiden-
Our Platform
The Maroon Tiger must <of neces
sity be a potent student organ. Our
primary purpose is to give an un
biased report of the major occurrences
in the immediate community. We
pledge our full support toward de
veloping men of high character and
scholarship. To stimulate students to
become interested in national and in
ternational problems is our desire, for
Morehouse men must be world citi
zens. We endeavor to present mate
rials that will make our men become
cognizant of their responsibilities to
the school, the nation and the world.
This is the Maroon Tiger.
NAACP LAUNCHES
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
(Continued, From Page One)
every man at Morehouse to seek mem
bership.”
Membership fees are 50c for en-
rollees under 21 years and $1.00 for
those over 21. “If the KKK gets one,
the NAACP must get ten,” is the slo
gan for the drive.
tal categories. But the thought in
those “modes of thought” are univer
sal both in time and space. What
happens to us at this second-level,
however, is that we confuse ourselves
trying to make sense of these cate
gories that belong to different people
in a different age. Consequently, we
never get at the real issues contained
in those categories.
Standing almost in complete con
trast to the second- level religious
mind, is the third-level religious mind.
It is the renaissance, religious mind;
it is never stagnant nor static; it is
always on a voyage in search of new
er and higher truths. The student who
has this mind is never dogmatic, but
he is always modifying old positions
in the light of new truths. In his “The
American Scholar,” Ralph Waldo Em
erson distinguishes between two types
of scholars . . . The Thinker and
The Man Thinking. In brief he says
that the Thinker is one who has
grasped a mass of facts that govern
his thinking activities. But the Man
Thinking is not one who simply has
a mass of facts, that is the finding
of other men, at his command, but he
is one who thinks creatively and is
always forming new opinions in the
light of new insights. So, the student
at this third level is not a Thinker,
but he is a Man Thinking. Emerson
says further that, “A foolish consist
ency is the hob-goblin of little minds”.
The student at this level is not pre
occupied with consistencies, but he is
constantly altering his position when
it needs alteration. This, incidentally,
is the type of student that Morehouse
seeks to develop and any man who
is graduated from here merely a
“Thinker” is a miserable disappoint
ment to the college.
We hear least from students in the
bull sessions who are at this third
level. It is the dogmatic student,
sure of his position, who does most
of the arguing. However, I am not
implying that the student at this lev
el is an invertebrate who believes in
nothing definite. At the moment he
has specific beliefs, but they are ten
tative. He is in an intellectual proc-
I ess and has no intentions of “stand
ing firm in the faith”. Moreover, at
this level of thought, there isn’t much
bull session material. Old topics like
“Religion vs. Science” and “Is There
a God” sound juvenile and vulgar. Re
ligion and science meet at this level;
they are not within themselves two
truths, but two roads leading to one
truth. Students at this level see eye
to eye, for they can tear down local
categories in religion and view that
which is universal.
This mind is not in the majority
on the campus, but it is well on its
way to the top among students. If
my observation is right, it has been
expanding gradually since 1942. It,
of course, isn’t a recently new mind,
but it is relatively new on our cam
pus. I predict that if we keep men
on our faculty with “the new posi
tion”, it will be the dominant mind
on the campus four years hence.
Finally, fellow students, whatever cat
egory you fall in, whatever you believe
should make for personal character
and social conduct. Do you remem
ber the words of Tom Paine: “The
world is my country, and to do good
is my religion?” More has been said
in this one sentence than you could
ever say in the dormitory bull ses
sions.