Newspaper Page Text
Page 4/The Maroon Tiger/February 17, 1983
Editorials, Opinions
Civil Rights:
America’s Unfinished War
by Robert M. Franklin
As a young man slowly approaching the
responsibilities of fatherhood, I am
already preparing to answer the question
so often asked by naive American
youngsters of their fathers, "What did you
do during the war, daddy?” Although the
children whom I anticiapte co-parenting
will not be present or able to press this
question for several years, I find that I
need some immediate answers to this
question for peace in my own political
consciousness.
Tentatively, I have decided to tell my
children (and myself) that I fought in
America's “civic war” during the 1960s,
and that it remains America's unfinished
war.
This ahswer will, of course, baffle them
and they are likely to insist teasingly/'Vou
mean the American Civil War. You were
alive then, daddy, weren’t you?” Patiently
they may persist, “Were you in World War
I or II, or Korea, or Vietnam?” I will then
offer the following oversimplified ex
planation.
Wars are tragic events which occur
when persons and nations are unwilling
or unable to resolve problems by talking
to each other. Most wars have a begin
ning, a middle and an end. Few things in
life offer us that much definition. But wars
are also rude affairs which demand our
attention, even when we have other very
important matters to attend to. That is why
we are usually quite happy and relieved
when wars end; we can resume the
business of ordinary living that had been
interrupted.
I fought in America’s “civic war.” I'm
not sure when it began and I'm convinced
that it has not ended. Then it wasn't a war,
you may think. But it was socially disrup
tive, bloody and public, and affected this
nation in very significant ways. A war is
nothing if it isn’t at least those things.
The historical event which I am
designating America’s “civic war,” is
often referred to as the “Civil Rights
Movement” is one which made sense to
those of us who participate in it but, to this
new generation and to those which
follow, it threatens to trivialize an event
which shaped an epoch of American
history. Now some fifteen or more years
removed from the motion of the “move
ment”, it may appear to many young
people, certainly to those with whom I
talk and work as a university teacher, that
the Civil Rights Movement was a small but
concerted effort on the part of several
black organizations and leaders to im
prove living conditions for black
Americans. It was certainly that, but it was
so much more than that.
“Where there is no vision the people
perish," says the proverb. But where there
is only vision the people perish,
pathetically clinging to their empty
hopes. As rational citizens, we must
translate this shared vision of a just,
multiracial society into well-considered
actions and policies.
There are three immediate goals.
Politically, every citizen in every com
munity must vote and support civic-
oriented legislation and progressive
leaders. Accurate and honest ballot
counting is irrelevant if two-thirds of the
citizenry stays home on election days. In
1903, Dr. William E.B. DuBois, a black
scholar and activist, observed in his classic
book, The Souls of Black Folk, that "the
perpetuity of republican institutions on
this continent depends on the purifica
tion of the ballot, the civic training of
voters, and the raising of voting to the
plane of a solemn duty which a patriotic
citizen neglects to his peril and to the peril
of his children’s children - - in this day,...
we are striving for a renaissance of civic
virtue.” Though unemployed, dis
criminated against, and "mad as hell”
about Regan's cruel and ignorant
economic policies, as citizens we still
share an identity as human agents and
must express our dignity through our
informed participation in the political
process.
Our second arena of action must be our
religious communities. America remains,
despite trends to the contrary, fundamen
tally a nation of professed believers.
When religious belief has a negative anti-
civil effect on social behavior, then all
religiously sensitive persons should ex
amine the fidelity of those beliefs and
practices to the life and teachings of Jesus
Christ and to the accumulated wisdom of
the Western religious traditions. We often
collide because we are blind to the
humanity or spiritual kindredness of our
perceived “enemies.” As religious per
sons, broadly defined, we should actively
seek to educate ourselves in the beliefs of
other believers. Ideally, we should initiate
conversations with them and learn to
listen to and tolerate various faith
perspectives. Religious communities and
leaders in this society have a moral
obligation to be intelligently ecumenical
i.e., aware of an participating in an
ongoing interfaith dialogue, for only then
can people who take their faith seriously
live together in a civil, cooperative,
indeed religious manner.
Finally, we msut become an educated
populace. We live in a culture whose
controlling symbols are largely deter
mined by science and technology. Our
widespread ignornance of modern life.
Recent news reports inform and alarm us
concerning the superior scientific
knowledge of Soviet students as con
trasted with American students. Respon
sibility for this “supplementary scientific
education” msut be shared by educators,
the media, and by each parent insisting
that children read and study science,
mathematics and technology. America
must become literate again.
The American civic war is a collection of
several battles being waged on many
fronts. The continuing struggle for civil
rights, economic justice, religious tolera
tion, equal rights, and nonproliferation of
nuclear devices are related and demand
the voluntary efforts of every citizen. As
humans, we share the impulse to be free
and to live well. The cost of our enjoying
these goods is our enlistment in this
unfinished war.
If my children are still awake and grasp
some of my long discourse, then I shall
feel that my years of preparation to
responsibility address them have been
worthwhile. As for my political con
sciousness, excuse me, I must hurry back
to the front lines.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Franklin, 77, is
currently attending the University of
Chicago Divintiy School.
Proposition 48:
A Blatant Case Of Racism
by Anderson C. Williams
Recently, the NCAA passed a resolution
supposedly designed to upgrade the
academic level of athletes &t Division I
schools. The rule requires that athletes
score over 700 on the SAT or achieve an
equivalent score on the MAT, maintain a
"C” or better high school and make
“satisfactory progress” toward a degree in
order to participate in sports. The people
who supported these requirements claim
that they are trying to protect the athletes
from major colleges that exploit them.
They tell horror stories about players who
go to a school for four years and don't
even learn to write their names. They
claim the colleges use and discard athletes
without providing a realistic chance for
them to graduate.
The loud wailing of the coaches and
athletic directors about the plight of the
exploited athlete is nothing but hyprcrisy.
The fact is that the people who created
Proposition 48 realized that blacks have
traditionally scored lower -on standar
dized tests than whites. They seized upon
this fact to reduce the number of blacks
on major college teams.
If the creators of Proposition 48 really
cared about the marginal athlete why
didn’t they include any plan f o help
prepare these young men for college?
Black schools have had great success
throughout the years in taking high risk
With the weather becoming colder,
paper due dates approaching and mid
terms just around the corner, AUC
students are beginning to settle into old
habits and resort to that ageless institution
special to college students, the all-
nighter.
Armed with books and coffee and No-
Doze, students are faced with a major
problem, where to study? During Finals
week Woodruff Library is open 24-hours a
day. However, throughout the rest of the
semester there is no library in the Center,
or any other building for that matter,
which is open 24-hours a day. The truth of
the matter is that dorm rooms are often
too noisy to do any serious studying in,
students, helping them to overcome their
problems, and go on to make useful
contributions to society. Why did the
framers of Proposition 48 fail to involve
any black coaches or administrators in
their discussions when they created the
plan? Don’t the perpetrators of Proposi
tion 48 realize that large numbers of
blacks who have done poorly on the SAT
have had successful college careers and
gone on to do very well in their business
or profession? Do they imagine that
athletes who are marginal students will be
better off with no chance to go to college?
The answer to these questions is simple.
The perpetrators of Proposition 48 don't
care about the athletes. They just want to
reduce the number of blacks playing
major college sports. To add insult to
injury they had the audacity to claim that
they enacted this racist legislation to
protect black athletes.
I applaud the black coaches and
administrators who saw this racist rule for
what it was and have vigorously opposed
it.
(A.C. Williams is a history professor at
Morehouse)
and if a student has a roommate, he or she
cannot leave the lights on and keep his
roommate awake in order to study.
Since the primary reason for attending
college is to learn, and the primary
purpose of a college is to encourage this
learning process, the Maroon Tiger urges
that a location such as Woodruff, Trevor
Arnett, or even the Canterbury Center
remains open 24-hours a day throughout
the semester for students whomust have a
place to study at any time of the day or
night. The Maroon Tiger hopes that
students will help with this effort and that
administrators will be responsive to
students’ needs and work to solve this
critical problem. We, the students, need
an all-night study area!
The Morehouse College Maroon Tiger is published monthly by the students of
Morehouse in Atlanta, Ca. 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 to : Maroon Tiger,
Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia 30314.
Editor-in-Chief Wendell Williams
Manager Edior Keith LaRue
News Editor Van E. Hill
Public Relations/Advertisement Frank Brevard
Photography Edwin Williams
Proofreading Robert C. White
Advisers Dr. May, Dr. Meredith, Dr. Rahming
Staff Writers: Beverly Allen.Chris Almond, Alan Bolden, Brian Bowens, Camilla P.
Clay, Greg Gibson, Jo-Anne Griffith, James T. Hale, Patrick Jackson, Terri Jackson,
Chris Lee, Mark McCullum, Eugene Maxwell, Jr., Jonothan Pryor, David Robinson,
Don Sands, Munson Steed, Delicia Stewart, Glen Tukes, Sidney Wood
OUR VIEW
“Students Need An All Night Study Area”