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Page 2 - Spelman Spotlight
Editorial
by Lei Charlton
If opening convocation for the second
semester 1976-1977 school year, was any in
dication of Spelman’s communication
system, we are still in the Dark Ages(and I
may not have said anything ‘cause no one
said we were ever out of them!) About 30
Spelman sisters, one brother from
Morehouse, and a dozen or so faculty and ad
ministration members scattered themselves
in Sisters’ Chapel, which seemed
particularly large that day.
One argument may stand firm, “Nothing
ever happens at those convocations.” But if
you do not go, you will not know how much
nothing happens nor what that nothing was.
You have to keep abreast to be
knowledgeable and well-rounded! Well... The
issue of the editorial is not to reprimand
those who did not attend convocation.
Dr. Stewart addressed the question, “Is
College Worth It?” And while some may
have left the program with the question
answered or unanswered, I was convinced
that he felt that college is worth “the time
and toil you as students spend in these
hallowed halls.” Students will be paid back
for their education by its earning power and
the emotional and intellectual growth it
provides, Dr. Stewart said.
Private and Black institutions of higher
education in particular, are suffering some
pretty harsh but quite valid evaluations. Do
they yield products usable and functional in
an ever-growing and utterly complex
society? And, how do you get support for
something which is under such severe at
tack?
Spelman is having problems — financial
and academic. Dr. Stewart made no attempt
to have us think otherwise. College officials
expect a half-million dollar deficit for the
1977-1978 school year. The application pool
of students declines. The number of students
majoring in the Liberal Arts curriculum is
declining. And what after all is Spelman but
a Liberal Arts college? There are problems
with identity. We should be flexible enough
to deal with that. Offer more courses. More
courses means hire more instructors; that re
quires money — money Spelman obviously
does not have.
And while students, in our subsidized
arrangement, pay a small fraction of the
total cost of an individual’s education, still
the burden should not be thrust upon them to
provide more income (i.e. tuition rises should
be checked). I am an advocate of free
education. I see industrialized, capitalistic,
bureaucratic education as a supreme
hypocrisy.
I don’t believe America will ever suffer
“over-education.” She won’t stand for that!
Is a national movement for full, federally-
funded education that inconceivable? What
can be conveived should be achieved. And if
schools are not in the business to make
money, certainly administrators would
welcome freedom from financial problems.
Then they could really undertake the job of
educating!
In the mean-time what about appealing to
Black corporations (Black Enterprises?) for
some help or to individuals who have finan
cial resources and are truly concerned with
the struggle of the Black race? We need
tangible answers to the problem of
Spelman’s existence. We can not merely say
we are about the task of producing educated
folks, equipped to deal with change, able to
compete and survive. We must be able to do
this. And we must be ready to make whatever
changes are necessary to achieve our ends.
South African Worker
By Margret Lee
Spelman College Class ’76
Following the Soweto Riots
in South Africa that occurred
during the summer of 1976,
much attention has been given
to the often ignored plight of
Blacks in the racists white
regime of South Africa. The
riots that occurred and con
tinue to occur are in opposition
to the oppression and
exploitation that the masses of
Blacks must exist under in the
Republic of South Africa. The
Blacks are fighting for ma
jority rule and the right to
determine their own destiny.
The situation in South Africa
is very serious as is evident by
the fact that the youth who are
basically the leaders of the
present struggle in South
Africa have been placing
themselves in a position to be
killed by the South African
government to display the fact
that the struggle for majority
rule will continue until the vic
tory is won.
The Black worker in South
Africa is one of the most op
pressed groups in South
Africa. This article will
provide some insight into the
present situation of the Black
worker in South Africa.
The Republic of South Africa
promotes the most cruel and
inhuman form of racism that
exists in the world today. This
form of racism is known the
world over as apartheid. South
Africa is ruled by a white
minority who maintains this
system. Apartheid means that
seventy percent of the
population must live on
thirteen percent of the land,
and on eight reserves or Ban-
tustans; it means that
Africans cannot own property
or settle in white areas of the
country. Apartheid means
that Blacks in South Africa
must carry passports at all
times or be thrown in jail and it
means that African workers
cannot form or join trade
To The
Ms. Lei Charlton
Editor
Spelman SPOTLIGHT
Spelman College
Atlanta, Georgia 30314
Dear Editor:
Amazing Grace...as I sit here
in my New England
dormitory, listening to the
voices of praise arising from
out of the sanctity of my Alma
Mater; the Atlanta University
Center, and Spelman College
in particular. Yes -1 am filled
with pride that our “voices”
are being heard still
throughout this country, via
unions. Apartheid further
means that Blacks receive a
greatly inferior education com
pared to the whites and it
means that Blacks receive less
than one tenth of the income
that whites receive.
Prime Minister Voster of
South Africa, during the elec
tion of 1970 said:
We are building a nation for
whites only. We have a right to
our own idenity just as Blacks
and other non-whites have a
right to theirs. Black people
are entitled to political rights,
but only over their own people.
Continued on page 3
Editor:
the inauguration of our new
democratic president, Jimmy
Carter.
“The Battle Hymn of the
Republic.”
Yes - our battles. Yes, indeed
- our republic. “Let it resound,
loud as the roaring sea§...”
In anticipation of the en
durance, of the American
dream...
Warmest personal regards to
the Spelman community.
Sincerely,
Debbie M. Newton
Brown University
Spelman College
Class’76
SPEAKING PLAINLY!
“Paying Back”
By Pamela James _
J o
President Carter expressed,'
on several occasions, that An
drew Young was one of the few
politicians he felt indebted
towards. Indeed, this only fit
ting because of the long,
tedious hours and miles Young
experienced in order to gather
support in the black com
munities for the President.
It is beyond a doubt that
President Carter owed Young
a political payback. However,
this indebtedness may prove to
be a shortchanged ordeal for
Andrew Young. The Am
bassadorship to the U N is a
position which carries
enormous prestige and honor.
Nevertheless it may also prove
to provide an enormous
amount of prestigious and
honorable headaches, as a
compensation for symbolic
interraction between nations.
President Carter promised
during his campaign to involve
more blacks and women in his
administration. In an effort to
keep this promise, Carter
“carefully” constructed a
cabinet consisting of only two
women, one black and one
white. He also appointed Een
Brown deputy chairman of the
National Democratic Party.
Black leaders are already i
cohorts with President Carter
for his “carefully” constructed
administration. Moreover, we
must ask ourselves why would
a president, who continuously
voiced his concern over the
plight of Blackamerica, place
Young with all of his past
civil rights experience and
political abilities, in an area
more concerned with
international rather that
internal affairs of this country.
Black people are still fight
ing against unemployment,
poverty, discrimination,
racism, a yearning for decent
housing, among other
problems which have plagued
our people for hundreds of
years, This point needs to be
examined fully, for it may shed
light on the difference between
promises and practices.
Andrew Young, in many of
his interviews with the mass
media, has responded to the
controversy over his ap
pointment by saying tht he
does not feel that the problems
Blackamericans face can be
solved until the resources and
social structures of the third
world are stabilized.
This statement by Young
does not and cannot reassure
starving black, people in
Mound Bayou, Mississippi, or
in the slums of Harlem and
Detroit, that their stomachs
will be full, or they will
triumph over racism when In
dia becomes a world power.
Let us remember Am
bassador Yourtg arid President
Carter, “Charity begins at
home,” not in India or South
Africa, but in Georgia, Texas,
California, Montana, New
York, Tennessee, Ohio, and
wherever oppressed people
reside in this country.
It should be our immediate
concern and hope that these
types of politcal paybacks are
not indicative of what Blac
kamericans can expect as
their reward for electing
President Carter.
SPOTLIGHT STAFF
Editor-in-chief
Associate Editor
Feature Editor
Business Manager ..
Secretary
Photographers
Advertisement Staff
Graphics
Reporters:
Office Assistance:
Contributing Writers:
Lei Charlton
.Stephanie Nelson
. .Amanda Seward
... .Pamela Broom
India Burton
Roxie Hughes
Pamela James
... Adrienne Pack
Joyce Winters
Monteith Mitchell
. Tandra Dawson
Josette Cole
Tanya Clarkson
Rocita Diggs
.. Angelle Cooper
Novice Johnson
Robyn Mahone
Malrey Head
Angela Phoenix
Francine Earl
Myma Scott
.. Debra Gilmore
Drusheena Kyles
Neyeswah Abiku
Margaret Lee
Holly Johnson
Advisors: Ms. Judy Gebre-Hewit
Mrs. Helen Brooks
Ms. Anne Thomas
Spelman Spotlight
P.O. Box 50
Spelman College
Atlanta, GA. 30314 (404) 525-1743
Printers: Chapman Publishing Company, Inc.