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www.themaroontiger.com
November 10 - 16.2010
OPINIONS
Talking A Lot, But Not Saying
Much: A Lack of True AUC Unity
Dionne Hopkins
Contributing Writer
dionne.hopkins@hotmail.
com
O ne of the most irritating
feelings in the world oc
curs when people start telling
a story or their opinion and
before they even complete
their thought, they say, “Nev
er mind.” A person remaining
silent on an issue that needs
to be addressed can be just
as bothersome. What’s even
worse is when someone only
discusses a topic as much as
to not offend others even if
the truth must be told. For
some strange reason these
annoying instances continue
to happen when discussing
AUC unity or the lack there
of.
I suppose that the leader
ship within each school feels
compelled to unite each insti
tution, yet the way they are
going about doing so is less
than satisfactory. The wa
tered down forums and panel
discussions are a waste of all
students’ time.
Every year the “Date ‘em
at Clark and Marry 'em at
Spelman" debate is held and
every year the same issues
are brought up. The panel
ists, who tend to be the repre
sentative kings and queens of
each school, answer a series
of questions. Only a handful
of questions are given to the
panelists. Those few are not
typically controversial ones,
such that actually adhere to
the problems in the AUC. A
lot of times the host and pan
elists blame time restraint for
the lack of pinpointing the is
sues.
If, in fact, the administra
tion over such panel discus
sions were so passionate
about getting these issues
resolved, don't you think
that an hour and a half isn’t
nearly as much time as we
need to discuss the problems
among Morehouse, CAU,
and Spelman.
This is not to bash the pan
elists or host. If I were hold
ing a major title at my school,
I doubt I'd speak the truth as
bluntly as I’d like, in hopes
respect to my school and my
title. No one wants to lose a
good thing over a little panel
discussion that affects every
one, not just I, right?
The topics that ought to be
discussed to get to the root of
the issues are always mulled
over and lightly touched on.
in fear of rubbing people the
wrong way.
News flash - everyone has
been rubbed the wrong way;
otherwise, there is no need
for a discussion of the con
flicts among each school.
What irritates me more so
than the lack of AUC unity
is the synthetic, pretentious
mask that tries to hide the
prejudice we all feel toward
other institutions. It’s a cal
lous front to hide that, on the
inside of these weak panel
discussions, no one truly
wants AUC unity.
If AUC unity was the goal,
all three institutions, not just
CAU, would make a greater
effort.
This is not to say that I
don't appreciate the efforts
of Morehouse and Spelman.
However, I'd like to see the
AUC court consist of more
Spelmanites and Morehouse
students, seeing as though
the sole purpose of the court
is AUC unity. Currently, all
of the members of the AUC
court are CAU students.
In contrast, I think we'd all
be shocked if the next Miss
Maroon and White was actu
ally a woman from Clark At
lanta University.
Some people would prob
ably assume the world is
coming to an end due to this
extraordinary phenomenon.
I’d also be more than happy
to see a man of Morehouse
participate in a Clark Atlan
ta pageant. All these things
are little steps that show big
progress in each school’s at
tempt at unity.
To say the least, I'm a little
put off by some of the piti
ful attempts towards AUC
unity. I guess there aren’t
many people who make a
conscious effort. I purpose
fully chose to write for The
Maroon Tiger to show that
I want to be more involved
in other institutions, not just
my own. What better way to
get an understanding of the
atmosphere and ideas from
another school than to get in
volved in their newspaper.
Well, people make time for
what they feel strongly about,
and AUC unity is one of the
things that I feel deserves my
time.
Dionne Hopkins is a soph
omore at Clark Atlanta Uni
versity from Baltimore, Md.
Majoring in political sci
ence, she was the Freshman
Class representative for the
CAU Political Science Asso
ciation and aims to become
a political science professor
upon graduation. Hopkins
currently serves as CAU's
Miss Political Science.
What Does It Mean To Be ‘Black?’
Anthony Galloway Jr
Staff Writer
agallowayjr@yahoo.com
6 6 Tam not Black, nor do I
Aconsider myself to be
Black.”
These are the words of the
famous Boondocks cartoon
character, Uncle Ruckus.
Uncle Ruckus is what ap
pears to be a Black male, yet
he honestly and completely
hates Black people. Ruckus
despises Black culture so
much that even after being
tested for his genetic ethnic
ity, he denies the 100 percent
African American results and
does everything he can to
serve and please “the white
man.” From his many cha
rades, the term “Uncle Ruck
us mentality” was coined.
The Uncle Ruckus mental
ity describes a growing num
ber of people in the United
States. They are Black people
who hate or strongly dislike
other Black people and Black
culture. To pinpoint why one
would discriminate against
their own race, I think it’s
important to attempt to ex
plain exactly what it means
to be Black and what Black
culture is.
Long ago, the American
economy was fueled by slave
labor. Those slaves were
imported from West Africa,
where the indigenous people
had Black skin. Thus an un
derstandable nickname was
applied - Blacks. Over hun
dreds of years. Blacks began
to lose their color saturation.
People of different ethnicities
and colors began to blend.
This resulted in an America
with skin tones that covered
a wide range of the color
spectrum. Black people were
no longer just Black; they
were brown, light brown,
dark brown, tan, yellow, etc.
However, there seemed to
be a universal understanding
that Black would continue
to describe all people of Af
rican ancestry. Due to an in
crease in racial tolerance and
interracial love, one could
easily be of multi-continental
descent but it seems to be un
derstood that even if you are
a little bit Black, that would
be your dominant racial de
scription.
However, the Black identi
ty does not stop at a lopsided
description of your ancestral
origin or an incorrect depic
tion of your skin color. Be
ing Black describes an entire
way of life.
There are several well-
known stereotypes that Black
people are lazy, always late,
love fried chicken, are the best
dancers, make great athletes,
are hypersexual, and are igno
rant in speech and behavior.
This short and incomplete list
is only a few of the charac
teristics and behaviors com
monly associated with being
Black. There is also a list of
social elements that fall into
Black culture that can be de
scribed and understood simply
by being described as Black.
There’s talking black, acting
black, black dancing, black
music, black fashion, black
parenting, the black man’s
struggle, and many more.
But all of these imply that
there is a normal method for
doing things and then there’s
a Black version.
Unfortunately these
Black alternatives
are not constructive
to the Black culture.
The stereotype of
Black parenting often
involves a great deal
of verbal and physi
cal discipline that
borders on the line of
abuse. Talking Black
means speaking in
slang and not using
proper grammar. Act
ing Black involves a
belligerent and sup
posed ‘hood persona.
Almost always,
when the word Black
is used to describe
alternative behavior, and not
just something heavily popu
lated with Black people, it
usually refers to something
that is sub-par.
As stated before, the la
bel of Black doesn't apply
only to those Black in skin
or those of African descent.
Now, even a white guy can
be Black if he sags his pants,
or uses Ebonics. White girls
can be black if they learn
how to “twerk.”
Taking this understand
ing back to the concept of
the Uncle Ruckus mentality,
one can see that it’s not up
pity Black people looking
down on others. It’s those
who refuse to sink down to
the lower standards African
Americans are setting for
themselves. Not only do we
behave in a less than digni
fied manner, but we label this
behavior Black - altering the
identity and redefining the
culture with elements of ig-
If this is the attitude and
expectancy of Black people,
then you can count me out.
So many negative and embar
rassing things are attached to
the Black identity, and too
often Black people embrace
these awful images and wear
them like a crown.
I think that some Black
people need to either change
their title or change their
character, because I don’t
want to be associated with
a culture that endorses fool
ishness. If those changes are
not made, I’ll start filling in
“other” on surveys and tests,
or maybe I’ll write in Light
Brown American.
Anthony Galloway Jr. is
a sophomore at Morehouse
College. Majoring in stu
dio art, Galloway aspires to
become an architect after
graduate school. He currently
serves as the Freshmen Class
Coordinator for the Bonner
Office of Community Service.
» * Recycle The Maroon Tiger
questions
Mr. Tacky-if-you ’re-Nasty
Two-Faced Deceiver
AndtherewasDARK@closetproductions.net
1. Why were some people so hurt by last week's
questions?
2. Was there too much TRUTH?
3. Does your"girlfriend"know you're Parading around
Morehouse as an undercover church queen?
4. Or does she think you're a good ol'"RENAISSANCE
MAN"?
5. Speaking of church, is he one of the boys
bishop took on one of those LONG trips?
6. Was he trying to deliver him to a "New Birth", or was
he just being a MISSIONARY?
7. What aBout his Weird friend?
8. Does anybody know why he talks like that?
9. Isn't his speech a lot more PROPER than his attire
most of the time?
10. Isn't it ironic that both of them get dressed in the
DARK?
11. Wouldn't it be beneficial for them to install some
lights while they're IN the CLOSET?
12. Speaking of closets, why are you always KarryinG
your iPad to EVERY Morehouse function?
13. Did you notice that cruella de vil changed her hair
back to normal?
14. Does (s)he think tucking her pants into her soyis is
FASHIONABLE?
15. Did (s)he realize that her CANKLES were showing?
16. Did the PRETTY GIRLS not pick you because you
gained too much weight over the summer?
er suited Phor the
17. Maybe girls your si
Blue and white? * *
18. Was your weekend a little COLD?
19. Will their return be a PHROZEN nightmare for the
competition?
20. Or will they fall viQtim to the other Kampus
organizations?
* Got questions? Send them to mtiger20questions@gmail.com
Join us for our General
Body Meeting on
Thursday, Nov. I Ith,
2010, at 6 p.m. in Kilgore
Hall 2nd Floor Seminar
Room!
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