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Morris Brown College - Students First: Serving...Learning...Leading! DECEMBER 2000/JANUARY 2001 - 11
Back Burner
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
up north and Morris Brown is very
well known and very well liked. I had
no idea that MBC was disliked until I
came here to Atlanta. We are the only
“REAL” HBC in the AUC. MBC was
founded by African Americans for
African Americans, sorry I can’t say
the same for the others.”
As for as she is concerned as well
as others and I, our school is just as
equal as any other HBCU and it
should not be forgotten that a good
majority of Spelman, Morehouse, and
Clark students go to Morris Brown
for classes also. If we are “so low,”
why are you taking classes over here?
At times, we wonder if it could be
that we are being “bamboozled” by
the other AUC schools. MBC, you are
letting the other schools make pup
pets of you. You are doing wild and
crazy things as a result of them calling
you out of your name because of their
jealousy, when you should be feehng
a since of pride about Morris Brown
College. Don’t let the other schools
put you on a back burner. Because, as
I recall, MBC is the only school that
originally gave blacks a chance and
and now gives you a chance. Mind
you, I am not trying to offend anyone
but I am trying to get a point across.
Spelman is too stuck on how you look
and how much is your family’s
income—Morehouse is just the same.
Even though I have a nephew there
and friends too, I still down them
because they believe that they are
superior to us. If you really want to
know — Morris Brown has some of
the prettiest girls (yes I am taking it
there), nicest guys and smartest stu
dents. None of the other schools know
this because they are too busy think
ing that we are lower class and think
ing on past events. ” -
So again I ask, “Why is Morris
Brown College supposedly on the back
burner?” It’s because of how things
have always been perceived. We must
start doing things better for the year
2001. Beat them at their own game.
When they disrespect you or our
school, kill them with kindness. Kindly
correct them and go about your busi
ness. They will eventually get the
point and will start being cool and
respecting you.
Our school is a fine institution
and for anyone who disagrees, you
can come and talk to the students of
Morris Brown College, including
Meghan Monroe, she’ll be waiting.
Thousands are dying
in Africa alone. In
the United States
0.3% of males and
0.2% of females are
infected with HIV.
Get Families
to talk about sex
and HIV/AIDS.
Medically accurate
education gives young
people the tools to
act responsibily and
protect their
health.
POLITICAL
Where is the Proof on
Violations of the
Federal Voting Rights
Act of 1965
ADVICE COLUMN
Dear Lady Love,
I’m seeing this guy who’s already
in a relationship with another female.
We never communicate on campus
throughout the day, only at night to
avoid people knowing about our secret
affair. My feelings for him are over
whelming. Throughout the course of
the day I find myself drifting away on
cloud nine, anticipating another night
of his love and affection. Needless to
say, his way of lovemaking is all that
and then some. The only problem is
his girlfriend. She is a member of a
sorority that I hope to become apart of
someday. Am I a fool? Am I sprung
over this guy? What should I do?
Whoa! Sweetie, what have you
gotten yourself i¥itd?'First, let me
commend you for allowing yourself to
reach out to someone to help you with
your situation; that’s what a sister is
for. With that in mind, you need to
understand that the female who is
indirectly involved in this matter is
also your sister; whether you two are
blood-related or total strangers. We
are all sisters, and true sisters with
a sense of self-worth do not sleep or
sneak around with the other’s man.
That simply defeats and contradicts
the essence of sisterhood.
Secondly, you are not respecting
yourself and your body by giving into
this half of a man. Your body is a
divine temple, and you should treat it
as such. By continuously having sex
and accepting his “discrete relation
ship,” you are only setting yourself up
for a severe heartbreak. If he cares
anything for you, he should be able to
express his affection for everyone to
see.
And last but not least, I strongly
suggest you research the concepts
and purposes of a sorority. All sorori
ties on this campus practice and dem
onstrate “True Sisterhood.” Your
chances for acceptance into any of the
sororities will look bad if you continue
this unhealthy infatuation. This is
because you may be judged based on
how you carry yourself and how you
are allowing this guy to dictate your
feelings; considering he has a girl
friend who also happens to be a mem
ber of your dream sorority. I suggest
you get O-U-T of this mess you’re in
as soon as you can, and start focusing
on you and what makes you happy.
Guys come and go. If he is truly meant
for you, you’ll know. But I seriously
doubt his loyalty to you and his girl
friend. So, let go of him; and let God in.
by Gary Faulkner
STAFF WRITER
M any African Americans
expressed frustration
and concern about vari
ous problems they experi
enced with the voting during the
2000 Presidential Election in the
Atlanta area.
African American voters complain
ed that they were denied an opportun
ity to vote, were told they weren’t
registered when they knew they were,
were told they were at the wrong pre
cinct when their voter’s card said
they were at the right precinct, experi
enced roadblocks and/or unnecessary
stops by police on streets that lead to
voting precincts and police officers
asking African Americans for identi
fication and if they were criminals or
not.
“I went to the voting place at Clark
and they told me I wasn’t registered.
I registered more than six weeks ago.
I wasn’t the only one either. There
was a person taking names and
keeping up with it and she had more
than a hundEednames by 12 o’clock,”
a Morris Brown College student said
“I was headed in the direction of
one of the precincts in the West End
and I was stopped by the police for no
reason. They said they were doing
routine checks,” an Atlanta Univers
ity Center Student said. “I wasn’t the
only one they were stopping either.”
These experiences have ignited
broad concern in the African American
community about deliberate sabotage
of voting rights. Some have compared
the situation to the disenfranchise
ment of African American votes dur
ing the Southern Reconstruction and
the Civil Rights Movement.
“I think there were people who felt
this was an important election. And
they knew we would have a large
turn out, so they did whatever they
could to prevent it,” an Atlanta voter
said. “It doesn’t make sense for there
to have been so many problems trying
to vote, and mainly with the African
American precincts,” said a DeKalb
County resident.
Many voters complained of long
lines and problems with parking. At
some precincts people waited in lines
outside in the parking lots. People
also complained about precincts not
being opened at the scheduled time.
The DeKalb voter registration
office said they received a lot of calls
from voters about the recent election.
They said a lot of people had register
ed to vote but had not received their
voter registration card and the location
of the precinct. They said people were
advised to call if they had not received
them two weeks before the election.
They felt this was the cause of many
of the problems. Many people tried to
contact the voter registration office
about not being able to vote, but with
so many people calling they had to
hold too long , or were unable to get
through . They also received a lot of
complaints from people who had to
wait in line two or three hours, and
had something else to do.
Laughlin McDonald, Director of
the American Civil Liberties Union’s
Voting Rights Project, said, “I’ve
heard some of the rumors, but I don’t
know of any hard and fast substance
to any of them.”
“I’ve heard a new one,” McDonald
said, “that there was a policeman
stationed outside a majority black
precinct and every black male who
came into vote this policeman would
approach them and say, ‘have you
been convicted on any felonies.’ Which
would disfranchise them. And he had
sort of a handheld computer which he
could punch in the guys voter ID or
social security.” He said this was un
verified and unsubstantiated.
“There may be substance, but
nobody knows yet” Spokesperson for
the Secretary of State, Kara Sinkule,
said, “I can tell you that within the
metro area we had a lot of people
calling telling us that the lines were
too long, that they felt like some of
the precincts were very overcrowded.
We also heard from voters who had
received their voter registration cards
and when they went to the polling
precinct to vote they were told that
their names weren’t on the list and
they had waited an hour-and-a-half
and were unable to vote that day.”
She said many voters that registered
with the driver’s license bureau were
told they weren’t registered. She said
this was the source of many of the
problems reported to her office.
Ms. Sinkule said, “To issue a com
plaint, my suggestion is to do two
things. One is to complain in the
county where you had problems and
to detail what your experience was,
what difficulties you ran into and to
send that letter, or fax it as well—but
it needs to be in writing, not only to
the county, but also to the state elec
tions division as well—so we are aware
of what Georgians experienced last
week.” She said they would be polling
to create a detailed report to present
it to the governor and the general
assembly to identify the problems
and eliminate them before the next
elections. She said many of these
problems occurred during the 1996
Presidential Elections, but there were
more people in this election that
thought they were registered and
were not.
The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People has
complained to the United States
Attorney General, Janet Reno, about
similar racial voting irregularities in
other states. Reno the Justice Depart
ment would review allegations and
investigate if she found the allega
tions represented violations of the
Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.