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Vol. XXXII, No. I September-October, 1978 Atlanta, Georgia Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, has said that only a small percentage of blacks are better off today than 10 years ago. Last Year’s Deficit Cripples New SGA by Adele Newson Each year Spelman students pay $30.00 ($ 15.00 per semester) for the student activity fee. According to the Spelman College Bulletin 1977- 79, “This covers activities such as student publications, dances, plays, contributions to good causes, etc. The governing body of the Spelman Student Government Association (SSGA) makes alloca tions to the above-mentioned activities.” For the academic year 1977-78 student enrollment totalled 1,276 students. Multiply this number by $30.00 and you will find that the SSGA had $38,280 with which to run its affairs. Yet, last year the SSGA incurred a deficit of $7,000. According to Mr. Robert D. Flanigan, Spelman’s business manager, “The deficit is primarily due to the Lonnie Liston Smith concert which was held at the Civic Center. The function was reported to be an SSGA student sponsored, student supported, Founders Day activity, designed to raise money to expand activity this year and to denote money to the college administration to be used on pro jects mutually agreed upon.” The Civic Center could have accommodated 4,600 students. If 80 percent of the seats had been filled, there would have been a profit of $10,000. Yet, it was a per sonal observation of Flanigan’s that 300 people were in attendance. Last year’s deficit was carried over to this year’s SSGA adminis- continued on page 7 Publisher Graves Calls Blacks’ Economic Progress An Illusion by Avy D. Long “When we note that blacks com prise nearly 21 percent of the total population of the Southeast, yet own a mere 7 percent of all the businesses here, we are gain struck by what is the illusion of progress for blacks.” These remarks were made by Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine, during his keynote address on Sep tember 7, at Morris Brown’s Stu dent Center. Graves was speaking to the members of the Southeast Association of Minority Manufac turers (SEAMM) who held a trade show at Morris Brown on Sep tember 7-9. Graves said that only a small percent of black Americans are better off today than 10 years ago. The following evidence was cited by Graves as proof of his conten tion that the progress of blacks is an illusion: •Black median income hovered just under $6,000 a year between 1969 and 1976. White median income grew from $9,794 to more than $10,000 during the same time. •The actual number of lower middle class black families has decreased from 23 percent of the population in 1969 to 20 percent today. •The number of black families which have to get by with less than $5,000 a year grew by 27 percent between 1969 and 1976. These figures are what the Bakke decision, Proposition 13, and the big shift to the right in this country are all about, Graves said. The Supreme Court made possible two outcomes by upholding Bakke’s claim of reverse discrimination. “The first is a gold mine for law yers who will spend years analyz ing the decision and filing countless lawsuits based upon their interpretations. The second and most harmful outcome will be when government officials and businesses, who have resented the extra efforts they’ve been making toward equal opportunity, will abandon these efforts using the Bakke decision as a socially accep table excuse.” In principle, Graves believes that applying private sector resources to government bureaucracies could result in savings without affecting services. “But in practice,” he said, “I fear that the cuts in government spend ing which must follow cuts in taxes may come at the expense of our people and our businesses. We must make sure that cuts in government spending do not come at the expense of black businesses or on the backs of what too many Americans are willing to accept as a permanent black underclass.” In spite of this illusion of pro gress, there is some good news for black industries. Graves mentioned the following cases: •Black business receipts are up 15.6 percent over last year—from $775 million in 1976 to $896 mil lion in 1977. •Some blacks in leadership posi tions have traveled light years from the days when our ancestors did not even own themselves. •Both the $4 billion public works program for public projects such as schools, parks, highways and firehouses and the $1.8 billion t- program to build rails in the Northeast corridor, have pledged certain percentages to minority businesses. •The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has relaxed rules which once made it very hard for minorities to buy radio stations and is giving current station owners a deferral of their capital gains tax if they sell to minorities. Graves cited the automobile industry as a classic example of the the illusion of progress and the practice of black dollars travelling down a one way street. “Of the 26,235 dealerships of the top four automakers, only 72 are black owned—despite the fact that blacks represent a very large seg ment of the auto buying public,” he said. “Commerce should be a two- way street in which dollars spent by our community are returned and recycled within the community.” Graves suggested that it is time to revise a custom of the sixties which calls for effectively utilizing black numbers and dollars. “We must refuse to deposit our money in banks that do not give business to minority companies. We must not give business to com panies which do not hire minorities in management positions.” Graves said that the struggle is not only for future gains but also to keep the gains achieved in the past decade. He cited this quote made by Frederick Douglass years ago, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never will...men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get.” SPOTLIGHT ** INSIDE THIS ISSUE , A New Face on the Yard 2 The Spelman of 30 Years Ago 4, Freshmen Analysis 4 Ailey Auditions at Spelman 6 Goals for Black Theatre 7