Newspaper Page Text
November, 1986, THE MAROON TIGER • Page 11
Andrew Young
Addresses Student Body
Mayor Andrew Young delivers Sunday message.
by Graveney Bannister
Mayor Andrew Young told a
vesper hour assembly at M.L.
King Jr. Chapel recently, “it is
possible with the available
technology in the United
States to do almost anything.”
The mayor said, “when your
parents were children,
Georgia was a barren, pover
ty stricken state.”
“Georgia required some
long-range planning to bring it
out of the state of depression,”
said Young.
He made reference to the
“New Deal” of Franklin
Roosevelt and the Tennessee
Valley Authority and aspects
of rural development.
According to Young, this
was a commitment by the
Federal Government to give
people low interest money and
long term security, so that
they could borrow money to
invest in their state,
businesses and homes.
“When my parents purchas
ed a home, the interest rates
were three percent; the
suburbs were built, and the
small businesses which are
now large were able to get
money from somewhere bet
ween three and six percent,”
Young said.
He said under the GI Bill
soldiers returning from the se
cond World War were able to
borrow money to do almost
anything they wanted to at
less than six percent. Young
further stated that they were
guaranteed 20 years of stable
economic development.
He said that long term credit
at low interest is one of the
most vibrant economic trends
in the world today. He made
reference to the development
of the state saying, “Georgia
never used to have pine forest;
it was the dust bowl, but with
long term government com
mitment it was transformed.”
He attributed such growth to
20 years of government sub
sidies. “We were able to bring
in electricity, water, make
roads, build airports; now we
can do almost anything we
want to do,” Young declared.
He said when he was grow
ing up and someone wanted to
tease another person who had
bought a new watch, one
would say “ah! made in
Japan.”
“Now everything is made in
Japan,” said Young, “but the
Japanese are not geniuses
alone.” He said that the
United States, under the Mar
shall Plan, stabalized curren
cies and gave the Japanese and
the Europeans long term
credit at about six percent.
Young said that this enabl
ed them to acquire as much
technology as they wanted.
“Now, we see these great na
tions,” said Young, “and they
are doing well, but it took 18
billion dollars to subsidy from
American tax payers to get
them on their feet. He further
stated that the Germans now
think of themselves as the
master mechanics and inven
tors, and the Japanese the
master innovators and adap
tors. “That is true,” he said,
“but none of them would have
had that opportunity without
the assistance of American
subsidies.
He said that those were two
of the most exciting and
creative ideas that occured on
this planet during our lifetime,
but now we need to go one
step further.
“Now is the time to do for
over 70 percent of the world in
hunger what we did for
Europe and Japan,” he said.
“We need to think of a global
fund that would lead to wiping
out poverty,” Young said.
The speaker said that the
United States was worried
about Nicaragua when it
should address other concerns.
“Those three million people
there are made the enemies of
the United States, and all our
See YOUNG, page 12
Declaring War on Ignorance
by Talmadge J. Thomas
Greetings in the name of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is once again a pleasurable
experience to address the
brethren of Morehouse Col
lege. I trust that each of you
have experienced a fantastic
semester so far and have pass
ed your mid-term exams with
the greatest of ease. At this
time, I would like to share a
few things with you that every
Morehouse student should be
concerned about; that is,
declaring war on ignorance.
When I speak of declaring
war on ignorance, I speak of
the committment that each of
us should have to enlightening
the hearts and souls of others.
By now you may be saying,
“Just what kind of ignorance
are you talking about?” I am
so happy you asked. The ig
norance I am referring to is
tri-fold. It is academic,
humanistic, and spiritualistic.
It would be safe to assume
that the reason we are all here
is to obtain a degree. Each of
us has plans to change dear old
Morehosue and change the
world in a positive way.
However, my friends, we must
declare war on the academic
ignorance that exists here at
Morehouse. It has been said
over and over that Morehouse
students are the “cream of the
crop.” If this is the case, then
we should try our best to live
up to the saying. On any even
ing, we all can see people
“hanging out” and waiting for
something to happen. “Hang
ing out” can reach epidemic
proportions because, when
practiced frequently, it may
... . 1 J‘ 1
cause a “hangout mentality.”
Morehouse is known for a lot
of things, but if we students do
not take pride in our school
history, we will let down the
men who fought to make
Morehouse what it is. We
must prepare ourselves for
studying; not just hanging
around.
“Greater love hath no man
than he would lay down his life
for another.” Those words,
coming from Jesus, indicate
the emphasis of declaring war
on humanistic ignorance. It
seems that we have taken the
attitude that it is every man
for himself. This is not what
the words of Jesus are telling
us to do. People wonder why
we have so much Black-on-
Black crime. I believe the
answer revolves around the
fact that we just do not care
enough about each other. As
men of Morehouse, we must
continue to care about each
other or else we will be
categorized with the rest of
mankind. We must reach out
to our brothers and tell them,
“I am not ignorant to the
needs of others.” This country
was not built by one hard
working man, but men of all
colors working together (no
matter what the history books
may tell us). We must concern
ourselves about our brothers
and sisters. “Am I my
brother’s keeper,” asks Cain
in the book of Genesis. I say,
emphatically, “Yes!”
In closing, the most impor
tant ignorance upon which we
must declare war is spiritual
ignorance. No matter how well
some of us may have had it in
life, not one of us would dare
say that we have come this far
without a God on our side.
Some people think that it is in
tellectual to doubt the ex
istence of God, but I submit to
you that nobody but God could
have given the moon its shin
ing hours. Nobody but God
could have given the sun an
endless supply of light.
Nobody but God could have
fitted the shining star into its
silvery socket. Nobody but
God wakes us up every morn
ing. You may think that alarm
clock wakes you up. It that is
the case, take that alarm clock
to the cemetary and see how
many people wake up. My
brothers, we must declare war
on spiritual ignorance because
somebody at Morehouse needs
to know that Jesus lives and he
lives in us. We can raise the
level of spiritual conciousness
if we only let our lights shine
so that everybody can see the
works of the Saviour and
glorify His name.