Newspaper Page Text
February 17, 1982 / The Maroon Tiger /Page 4
Opinions, Editorials
My Response
Racial Extremes
In America
Once again in the Twentieth Century,
Blacks are faced with the task of defining
their present status in the Untied States as
well as their future goals as a race. The
contemporary winds of social opinion
and shifting governmental policies have
raised waves of deep insecurity on the
already restless sea of African - American
existence in the United States. These
waves beat against our minds, as the mist
of memory calls up the struggles of the
past with the foaming fury of our fleeting
hopes; then, receding, they leave us only
the empty shells of broken promises.
Once again, in this disillusioning context,
the question of separation or intergration
resurfaces.
From a child, I have been conscious of
the problem of race and racism in
America. As I grew older I became aware
of the major proffered solutions; the
contrasting ideas of intergration and
separation. The extremes of which both
seem highly unacceptable. The extreme
of the intergrationist mentality seems to
suggest the total absorption of Black
America into White America fully adop
ting her culture at the expense of our
heritage and attachment to our
homeland, Africa. The extreme
separationist mentality suggests that the
African - Americans pick up all their
belongings and march in a monumental
migration to some unknown destination
on the African Continent. These equally
extreme positions are the result of over
and under - emphasis on certain historical
factors that have gone into the making of
contemporary American society.
The extreme separationist and Pan -
Africanist (in the sense of collective
migration) appears to deny the African -
American’s right to remain in the United
States. Fie denies the fact that the slave
sources of cotton contributed greatly to
the economic superstructure of the west,
a superstructure that was founded largely
by Matthew V,
Class of
on the basis of British textile industries. Fie
denies the fact that American culture is a
conglomeration of several cultures to
differing degrees, the Red, the White, and
the Black. He submits to the notion that
unique characteristics of Afro-American
culture constitute a subculture rather
than simply a different aspect of the
overall American culture. Individuals and
groups all exert a mutual affect on one
another. The human enterprise
“progress" is no lonely expedition carried
out by Europeans or confined to the
regions of scientific discovery. In fact
progress, in the region of scientific
discovery, has created an imperative for
progress in the province of human -
group and individual - relations. The
essence of this imperative is captured in
Bertrand Russell’s statement “Science has
made it inevitable that all must live or all
must die. "W.E.B. Dubois assertion that the
problem of the Twentieth century is that
of the color line is but another facet or
aspect of the overall problem of human
existence in an age of ever increasing
contact of this world’s peoples. The
problem is widening with time and now
demands immediate attention. In
tolerance in the Twenty - first century
means wholesale destruction. The African
American has taken a leading role in this
aspect of human progress, a role made
possible by his unique position in
American society and his deep spirituali
ty, nurtured and sustained by the Black
Church, that finds its roots of wholeness
and permeation in African traditional
religion. The church in many instances
has served as the locus of his strength and
will to move forward. If Black America
severs herself form the footing of her
heritage she loses her strength, her soul,
her identity, and consequently, her right
to raise her voice in the world arena. If she
leaves America she loses her platform.
. Johnson
'83
The Maroon Tiger
"The I oirt' ()J t'rrrilfini ~
Editor-in-Chief Eric Maxie
Associate Editor .Samuel W. Bacote III
Associate Editor Paul A. Dillard, Jr.
Editorial Editor Wendell Williams
Photography Frank Brevard
Sports Editor Rodney Pulliam
Literary Editor James Mathews
Proofreader Tony Brown
Staff Reporters:
Karl Robinson, Keith LeRue, George Patrick, George Espy III, Roderick
Weatherly, Shelly Rosier
Contributors:
Lora Mitchell, Van Eric Hill, Willard (Chuck) Lewis, Matthew V. Johnson, Jeff
Tompkins, Zarick A. Clegg, Carl G. Ogeltree
The Maroon Tiger is a bi-monthly publication of Morehouse College and
receives funds from the Morehouse Student Association s budget.
“Our View”
We Must Pursue Excellence
Bob Jones University has been in the news in the context of the continuing debate
over affirmative action philosophies, policies, and procedures as expressions of reverse
discrimination. However, if this issue is approached by the Congress — or the Supreme
Court — this year, the issue of racism, discrimination, or reverse discrimination has not
necessarily been resolved by any legal opinion or decision en finale. Students of history
might recall the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
Charles Sumner, the senior senator from Massachusetts, proposed the bill in 1870 in a
Congress that was, technically, still in the midst of Reconstruction. The bill focused on
the right of Afro - Americans to equal access, under the law, the public and private
conveniences, and to services — notably to street cars, hotels, and theatres.
The bill was enacted in the year that Sumner died —1875. The Compromise of 1877
followed, with less than a full year of any possible implementation of the act. I rt1883 the
United States Supreme Court, in an eight - to - one decision, ruled the Civil Rights Act
of 1875 was unconstitutional on the grounds of reverse discrimination. Associate Justice
John Marshall Harlan, the lone supporter of the 1875 act, argued for the several equal
access provisions for blacks on the account of their previous condition of servitude. A
careful reading of the Harlan Opinion may reflect context of the present situation.
We are not as much concerned with a particular quality of protest to the issue as
much as we are concerned about a quality response to the issue. Law is the opinion of
official interpreters in different times and spaces — subject to the changes and
continuities of history. Law, in this context, is not law of the universal and everlasting.
The eminent philosopher - theologian Howard Thurman reminds us: "Over the heads
of her students MOREHOUSE holds a CROWN that she challenges them to grow tall
enough to wear."
If we think deeply about this, then, as students of history we would hope that we
might begin to engage in a simple act that will bring immeasurable results: studying.
And if there are to be protests, we hope that they will be reasonable ones. After
protests, we must go on building. We must continue to see the depth of that CROWN
that MOREHOUSE recognizes to be over our heads, so that in the days and months and
years to come, we do not find ourselves undone by our protests. Our pursuit must be a
pursuit in struggle toward excellence. There is a universal law ...
From the Desk of The Editor . . .
The effects of slavery and racism still thrive in America. They are numerous.
They are evident in almost everything that we do. The way that we speak, the way
that we dress and even the way that we wear our hair reflects this fact. They are
compromises of a people in an alien culture. It serves to hide the nation’s true
countenanceand to make us believe thatAmerica will acceptsomething she must
never accept. That physically, sexually and religiously blacks were made to suffer
is absurd. That they have suffered while white supremist raised their empire on
the backs of black people is inhuman and must never be again. These same death
bringers wish to ignore, or rather, wish to course ignorance of black suffering in
the minds of black people. In our educational systems, there is no real treatment
of the American decedent of Africa and his thought. In politics, there is no strong
political front concerned about black people. In business we have established no
economic basis for success. Everywhere blacks are hired and fired, but never do
they hire. All over America we work for another’s cause. No where are we
accepted. We may be put up with, but never accepted. Thus far in America we
have begged for our dream of freedom, through pain and peace. We are the
people of life. We have become the living dead, and the brainless mechanical
monsters who would destroy their own flesh, rather than the conciousless
maniacs who would squeeze the substance out of your life, for their peace of
mind and their supremist kicks. In an analysis of the psychological effects of
slavery and racism, Bobby Wright, a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology and Director of
the Garfield Park Comprehensive Community Health Centers, adds that:
“Suffering for Blacks was and is a way of life. Given this historical reality, the
question must be raised as to how could a people, who in the worst of times
endured, now allegedly reflect one of the highest suicide rates in the United
States? In view of that quesiton, it is generally assumed by Black and white
scientists alike that traditional research analysis can be applied to the allegedly
Black suicide phenomena in order to understand its dynamic. However, as this
author and colleagues have warned time and time again, the most serious error a
Black scientist can make is to utilize European definitions and analysis in
attempting to understand and explain Black phenomena. There is no denying the
fact that 'they who have the power to define, rule.’
“To remove any element of doubt, I am proposing that what is termed Black
suicide is really deliberate race murder which is being committed by whites in the
United States."
It is doubtful with the recent Reagan cutbacks that we will be able to live as a
people of rhythm, a people of life. The compromises will be better defined, self
or survival. I do not pretend to possess the power of prophesy, but if we do not
rally around the cause of blackness and black nationalism our days are numbered
in America. In the words of Ronald Reagan “Put up, or shut up.”
Eric Franklyn Maxie