Newspaper Page Text
Page 4/The Maroon Tiger/October 30, 1982
Editorials, Opinions
DO YOU KH0W Guest Commentary
What Time Is ? Morality At Morehouse
By Munson W. Steed
There is one concept of time that
should be held in the mentality of every
Black American: Time is the amount of
life you receive while you are on earth.
The ability to tell time by the concept
above is significant in the identity of every
Black American. The ability to tell time has
organized Black Americans, like in the
1960's, and the inability to tell time has
disorganized Blacks in the 1980's. The
ability to tell time as a people will be the
deciding factor of the destruction or
construction of Black Americans
The Black American man of the 1960’s
kept time for himself and kept the same
time for his people. Each man felt equal to
his brother because they were going
through the same time. When a Black man
of the 1960’s wanted to know what time it
was, reference to time could be directed
to the signs on the walls. The signs on the
walls were the numbers on the clock of
time for Black Americans in the 1960’s.
The signs on the walls stated the time of
Black Americans, “Niggers are not allow
ed,” “Blacks go around back, we don’t
serve colored people.” These were the
numbers on the clock of time in the
1960’s.
The Blacks of the 1960’s had the ability
to tell time. The time in the 1960’s was
demanding that Black Americans stand on
their feet and die collectively for their
homeland rights. Collectively Black
American of the 1960’s pressed fortime to
continue to correct the injustices their
people faced. The time that presented
itself only made it easier for Black
American men of the 60’s to identify with
each other.
The numbers on the clock of time are
no longer written on the walls stating
‘niggers are not allowed.” The numbers
stating time have become vague, and
harder to see externally. The Black
American now of the 1980’s has tried to
keep time by the economic gains he and
his country have made. He is no longer
keeping time with himself and his people
like the Black men of the 1960’s. The Black
man of the 1980’s cannot keep time by
economic gains because it does not
reflect the true economic time for his
people.
The time of the 1980’s is no different
from the 1960’s for Black people as a
whole. The respect that one man should
give another man is not given between
white men and black men. The numbers
on the clock of 1980’s are found in the
legislature. Redistricting, the questioning
of the Voting Rights Act, and financial aid
are a few of the numbers of time of the
1980’s. Collectively, as a people we have
not shown the society we live in that we
would die for any number on the clock of
time in the 1980’s. Any corruption that
exists in Black American officials givesthe
corrupted white Americans the reasons
they are searching for to justify keeping
the clock slow and oppressing.
If every Black man in the 1980's had the
ability to tell time for himself and his
people, contruction of a great Black
History in American could continue. The
1960’s sparked the fire and black men of
the 1980’s will be the determining factors
of the fire dying or blazing to great
heights.
Think about you and your concept of
time.
By Lawrence Edward Carter
The privileges, prestige, opportunities,
and dignity you now enjoy at Morehouse
College and in the south were built by a
fierce determination to be moral, ethical,
disciplined, decent, and self respecting.
You don’t have to have a Ph.D. to be
good. There are many black folk who
don’t know good English, but they know
God.
At Morehouse we believe that
academic excellence by itself is not a
sufficient goal for education. There are
some values higher and more unifying
than the value of education. A man may
be academically competent, even Phi
Beta Kappa, and a summa cum laude
graduate, but morally inferior and
spiritually bankrupt. He may be smart, but
not wise.
Knowledge does not take the place of
morality, ethical religion is not a weekend
retreat, and Christ is not cake for special
occasions.
The story of Rosa Parks is an example of
what good moral character can do.
Before Rosa Parks was arrested on
December 1, 1955, in the space of ten
months that same year, three Negroes
challenged the Jim Crow bus regulations
in Montgomery, and the police arrested
and hauled them all off to jail. But
Montgomery city authorities either dis
missed their cases or charged them with
disorderly conduct, with crimes like
notorious lying, having previous jail
Black people are very good at com
plaining, but not very good when it comes
to action. As a matter of fact, we tend to
react rather than act. It is election year
again and it has been estimated that
barely 30% of all blacks eighteen and
over, will bother to vote in the November
2nd election. It again appears that those
who are at the bottom of the political,
economic and social scale will do litte or
nothing to change their predicament.
The Jews are an excellent example of a
group who has banded together to form
one of today’s strongest politically active
groups. They are, for example, barely 25%
of New York’s population, yet can swing
records, being a divorcee, illegitimate
children, drunken driving, prostitution,
drug pushing, being an “uppity nigger,”
disrespectful of whites, or anything to
discredit their testimony, thus denying
Black people an incident that could be
used to test the city’s segregation laws in
court.
But when they arrested Rosa Parks, a
humble unassuming seamstress, the
Montgomery segregationists made two
historic blunders: It was the first time a
Negro had actually been charged with
violating the city segregation code. This
gave us the first case ever that we could
take all the way to the supreme court.
The second and most decisive blunder
was that when they arrested and charged
Rosa Parks, they charged an honest,
smart, morally clean, dignified woman
who enjoyed considerable respect in the
black community. When the news broke
that this gentle, non - violent lady had
been jailed, the telephone wires caught
fire. Because Rosa sat down, the world
stood up. Rosa Parks’ good character,
honesty, moral cleanness, dignity, decen
cy and respectability became the small
faint whisper of the mighty wind that blew
down the walls of segregation.
That’s what respectableNegroes did for
your generation. How much moral clout
will you have to help the next generation,
Mr. Black Man? Developing your moral
clout is the reason we want you to come to
chapel.
any election with their united show of
force at the polls. What about us?
We realize that politics is a big turn off
to many people, but is key to the future
progress and ascendency of the black
race. American democracy never promis
ed an equality of outcomes, just oppor
tunity. For blacks, however, it never
promised an equality of opportunity
either. But we now have the right to
decide who our elected officials will be
and to hold them accountable. Vote on
election day and bring a new wave of
political activism to Morehouse.
However, if you don’t vote, don’t com
plain.
The Morehouse College Maroon Tiger is published monthly by the students of
Morehouse in Atlanta, Ga. The opinions contained herein are not necessarily
those of the administration, faculty or the college.
The Maroon Tiger office is located in Sale Hall Annex, room 104. The phone
number is (404) 681-2800, Ext. 431. Address all correspondence c/o:
Maroon Tiger, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia 30314
Editor - in Chief Wendell Williams
Managing Editor Keith LaRue
News Editor Van e. Hill
Advertisement Eldridge Gin
Photography Edwin Williams
Proofreading Robert White
Columnists p au | Dillard, Matthew Johnson
Advisors Dr. May, Dr. Meredith, Dr. Rahming
Douglas Monds, Alan Bolden, Sidney Wood, Chris Lee, Jo-Anna Griffith, Chris
Almond, Staff Writers: David House, Brian Bowens, James Gailliard, James T.
Hale, Greg Gibson, Eric Lackland, Charles T. Brant, Patrick Jackson, Jonothan
Pryor, and Mark McCullum
Our View
“If You Don’t Vote, Don’t Complain”
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Do you feel that the Gloster Administration has placed too much emphasis on
the construction of new buildings here at Morehouse?
What is your opinion?
YES □
NO □
The results of the poll will be published in the next edition. Please cut out the
box with your answer and return it to the Maroon Tiger office by Thursday,
November 4.
» * * *
LAST WEEK’S QUESTION:
Do you believe the administration should make decisions affecting the
students without consulting them?
YES 30%
NO 70%