Newspaper Page Text
Black Leaders Scandalized by Press
By Kenneth Cummings
They are at it again. Have you
noticed'.' " I hey” are the asinine
columnists who make sport of
and ridicule many earnest ef
forts and acts by prominent
Blacks. The old Negro spiritual
sums it up best in the line, they
“scandalize my name.” Those
names scandalized are Rev.
Hosea Williams, Dr. Joseph
Lowery and Dr. J esse J ackson.
These men have been called
opportunists and ego trippers.
Some say that each jetted off to
Israel, Lebanon and North
Africa to further their own
cause-to become the premier
leader of Blacks. These trips
stem, according to some, from
the abrupt resignation, or firing,
of Andrew Loung. So what,
even if this is true. It was
destine to happen. Wherein
Black America lost Andy in the
Carter Administration, it
reaped blessings from the reper
cussions of Andy’s departure.
It is interesting to note that
each of these men were, and
some still are. members of the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference. Each was an in
timate friend of the late Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Each espouses non-violent doc
trines. Each “clarion call”
abroad was “peace and good
will toward all men.”
There is a racist element in
the press to degrade these men.
If you have noticed, they have
not lobbied in Washington to
get the Carter Administration to
increase, nay, start military aid
to the Palestinians. Rather, they
are trying to. where Kissinger
and Vance have failed, to bring
about a cease fire in the Middle
East. Their endeavors may very
well be more fruitful than our
statesmen. Oppressive people
relate to other oppressive
people better. That’s a fact.
Rev. Hosea Williams, Dr.
Joseph Lowery and Dr. Jesse
J ackson are men of great distin
ction. Each is revered because
of their work, not their
vocation. American history
need not attempt to record
them; Black American
historians will. We have
ourHarold Cruses and John
Hope Franklins.
History will show that these
men did not go the
Mediterranean area denoun
cing Israel’s right to exist.
History will show that these
men were not out to make a
quick buck. History will show
that these men were not seeking
popularity. History shall prove
that these men journeyed
abroad in the name of their
Saviour, the resurrected Christ,
trying to bring about peace,
justice and equality abroad, the -
same thing they are working
toward in the states.
Regardless of their
peculiarities and idiosyncracy.
regardless of their differences,
history will show that these men
subjected themselves to ridicule
and printed abuse trying to
bring peace to a world filled
with strife, trying to bring
dialogue and understanding
among Blacks, Whites, Browns,
and Orientals, trying to bring
about a united society where
freedom, independence, in
tegrity. and peace reign where
men will study war no more.
Though we cannot keep you
from scandalizing their names
in print, we will not let you
scandalize their names in the
crevices ofour minds. Yes, we
need our Hoseas, Jesses and
J osephs and those who aspire to
be like them.
The average American TV set
is on about six hours a day.
Prospects and Problems for Black Education
By Manning Marable
One of the principle “success
stories” for the 1960s was the ad
vance of black Americans in the
area of education. At every
academic level, from high school
to graduate study, more Afro-
Americans were enrolled than
ever before. Obscurred within
these rosy statistics, however, are
hidden problems which have
been solved neither by traditional
white and black academicians,
nor by their black nationalist
critics.
To grasp the significant impact
the Civil Rights and Black Power
Movements had upon black
education opportunity, we need
only to review AfroAmerican
history prior to 1960. About one
fifth of all blacks were illiterate
as late as 1930. Over one third of
all black children between the
ages of 5 to 20 were not enrolled
in school in 1940. Only seven per
cent of all black adults had a high
school education in 1940; less
than one percent of all black
adults had completed four years
or more of college. W.E.B.
DuBois’ “Talented Tenth,” those
blacks who had received a
university education and were
trained in the arts, humanities
and natural sciences, was con
siderably less than 10 percent of
the total-black population.
The demand for an end to J im
Crow restrictions in public ac
commodations swiftly became a
general critique of segregationist
civil society, especially its
educational institutions. All-
white universities, medical and
technical schools were forced to
admit black pupils for the first
time. Private foundations and the
federal government gave scholar
ships and grants to black studen
ts. Thousands of AfroAmericans
completed college and sub
sequently were able to become
more competitive in various job
markets. Affirmative action
programs, racial quotas and
aggressive recruitment policies
were largely responsible for these
an ’’er progressive changes.
The statistical evidence on
overall black educational ad
vancement for the past twenty
years is impressive. From 1960 to
1975, the percentage of black
adults over 25 years old who had
completed high school rose from
20 percent to 43 percent. Median
school years completed for this
group climbed from an average
of 8.2 to about 11 years. Six per
cent of all black adults had
received four or more years of
college.
These educational advances
were acquired by persons bet
ween the age of 25 and 34. In
1960, for example, the median
school years completed for
blacks and whites between 25 to
34 was 9.3 years and 12. 1 years
respectively. Whites were over
twice as likely to finish high
school and college as blacks. By
1975, whites still held a lead over
blacks, but the distance had
diminished considerably. About
two thirds of all blacks and 78
percent of whites in the 25-34 age
bracket finish high school.
Twelve percent of all blacks and
20 percent of all whites have
college diplomas. The median
school years completed for
blacks is 12.3 years and 12.7 years
for whites. DuBois’ Talented Ten
th appears to have become a
reality.
The price fo these gains was
unclear at first, even to most
black educators. Even in the
1960s, the great majority of black
students attended traditionally
black colleges. Most of these in
stitutions are located in the
South, established during or im
mediately after Reconstruction.
Tuitions were relatively low, and
student enrollment rarely ex
ceeded one thousand. These
small black colleges were respon
sible for developing scholars like
DuBois, John Hope and Charles
J ohnson; they were, and remain,
the bedrock for black academic
and cultural life.
Today, over one million blacks
attend white colleges and univer
sities, about four times the num
ber attending the taaditionally
black institutions. Most of the
better qualified black students
prefer Harvard and Berkeley
over Morehouse and Howard.
Many prominent faculty at black
colleges moved to white schools
because of higher salaries,
benefits and academic status.
With rising tuition costs, many
blacks discovered that white in
stitutions could provide more
financial aid, newer facilities and
greater library resources.
Ironically, as black higher
education prospered, traditional
black colleges were being rapidly
destroyed. As a greater propor
tion of lower-income black
students were admitted in recent
years, black colleges began to
assume a steadily increasing
share of total costs. At most
schools, over 90 percent of all
students now receive financial
aid, and only about 5 percent are
able to pay their total tuition. The
lack of a philamthropic tradition
among black alumni at most
schools meant that black ad
ministrators had to appeal to
Washington for fiscal help.
Preoccupied with school
desegregation and related mat
ters, at least until recently,
H.E.W. and other departments
usually ignored the growing
desperate financial situation at
these institutions.
There are now many in
dications that the Civil Rights
Movement’s ideological com
mitment to integration-at-all
costs, especially in higher
education, has not significantly
reduced the continuing burden of
white racism and discrimination
against black students. About
half of all blacks who graduated
from colleges this spring were at
black schools. Over seventy-five
percent of all black veternarians,
dentists and medical doctors
graduated from black in
stitutions. Over 50 percent of all
undergraduates from black
colleges obtain a second graduate
degree with five years after their
B.A. degrees, a higher precen-
tage than for blacks at white
schools. On the other side of the
color line, black dropout rates at
white universities exeed 60 per
cent. Most white colleges have
begun to cut back somewhat in
their minority recruitment,
special services and Black
Studies faculty since the early
1970s.
The general prospects for
black education remain cloudy.
It seems likely that blacks will
find it increasingly difficult to ob
tain admission to white graduate
and medical schools, dependiiip
of course on the interpretation of
the 1978 Supreme Court Bakke
ruling, Affirmative action
programs have been watered
down at some institutions; a num
ber of prominent and politically
active black faculty at white in
stitutions have been denied
tenure over recent years. The
1977-78 census statistics indicate
a decline in black college
(See EDUCA TION, p. 12)
,
Campus Paperback Bestsellers
1. Chesapeake, by James Michener. (Fawcett, $3.95.)
Multi-family saga along Maryland’s Eastern Shore; fiction.
2. The World According to Garp, by John Irving. (Pocket,
$2.75.) Hilarious adventures of a son of a famous mother.
3. Wifey, by Judy Blume. (Pocket, $2.50.) Housewife’s ex
periences on road to emotional maturity: fiction.
4. The Far Pavilions, by M. M. Kaye. (Bantam, $2.95.) High
adventure and love in the Himalayas; fiction.
5. Pulling Your Own Strings, by Wayne W. Dyer. (Avon,
$2.75.) How “not” to be victimized by others.
6. Evergreen, by Belva Plain. (Dell, $2.75.) Jewish immi
grant woman’s climb from poverty on lower Manhattan.
7. The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson. (Bantam, $2.50.)
True story of terror in a house possessed.
8. Second Generation, by Howard Fast. (Dell, $2.75.) On
going story of Italian family in “The Immigrants”: fiction.
9. Scruples, by Judith Krantz. (Warner, $2.75.) Rags to
riches in the fashion world: fiction.
10. The Women’s Room, by Marilyn French. (Jove/HBJ,
$2.50.) Perspective on women’s role in society: fiction.
Compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education from information
supplied by college stores throughout the country. November 5,1979.
s J
t >
New & Recommended
King Solomon’s Ring, by Konrad Lorenz. (Harper/Colophon,
$3.95.) Scientific, humorous accounts of animal behavior.
Robert Kennedy & His Times, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
(Ballantine, $3.50.) Biography and politics of 50’s and 60’s.
The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen. (Bantam, $2.95.)
Spiritual odyssey of a man in search of himself.
Association of American Publishers
s ^