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Spelman Spotlight February 25. 1980 Pape 6 By Samuel Matchett and Sharon Snead Just for fun a sample survey was taken of students attending Spelman and Morehouse colleges for their opinions concerning the following hypothetical situation: The year is 1983 and the Equal Rights Amendment, (equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex (March 22, 1972, proposed), has been a ratified portion of the constitution for the past four years. On the first day of April, the United States becomes officially involved in military conflict with Russia in some unfortunate “scapegoat” country. Both major factions have quasi-equal military might and either power will un doubtedly resort to nuclear war fare should the tide of battle shift too conclusively in favor of their opposition; however, before the nuclear alternative is considered and implemented, one should realistically figure upon the use of ten of thousands of infantry soldiers courageously en deavoring to “make the world safe for democracy, human rights •and the American way”. Now, the real question. In lieu of the possible privileges and respon sibilities accessed to women with the ratification of E.R.A. and in view of America’s need for man power in a time of crisis, should women be expected to serve in the armed forces on the same basis as men? The results of this survey can not be singularly described, but most opinions fell into a few major categories. First, there were those interviewees who felt that if a woman has the ability and desire to defend this country in time of war then she should by all means fight, however, the question of whether or not to fight goes beyond the con sideration of mental and physical capabilities, rather it is a situation imbued with eons of a religiously-oriented psychology which says that there are par ticular activities in which women should not participate. Ap parently this opinion attempts to convey the message that the question of whether or not women should be expected to serve in the armed forces on the same basis as men is not one which may be answered in strict black and white terms; con sideration of such things as biological differences, attitudinal variances and differences based upon social conditioning must be taken into account. Another opinion reflects the feeling of a high percentage of pollees. This opinion states that women obviously are not the physical equal of men, therefore, they should not be expected to contribute to the war effort in quite the same capacities or on the exact same basis as men; in fantry, for example. At the same time women, in lieu of their in tellectual abilities and their ap titude for leadership, could be ex pected to serve the country in areas of comparable importance that are less strenuous and require less personal risk. A third opinion firmly declares that “E.R.A. is not for me”, that women in this country are not Should Women Fight? emotionally conditioned to ac tually “fight” in a war, and that female intuitiveness, sensitivity and common sense would prevent the average (black) woman from participating in any physical war effort. A surprise to this reporter was the acknowledgement that the majority of the women surveyed were non-supporters of E.R.A. and the majority of men surveyed were pro-E.R.A. It is uncertain as to whether or not those persons polled accurately represent the majority of Spelman or Morehouse students and it is also fair to not that those persons polled accurately represent the majority of Spelman or Morehouse students and it is also only fair to note that those per sons polled may not have had a clear understanding of what E.R.A. is all about. Regardless of these points, it was ascertained by this survey that the students polled could not seriously imagine themselves “fighting in any war of the side of a country that openly discriminates against them.” Finally there were those among us who felt that if ratification of E.R.A. was a reality when it is only right and just that the responsibilities (bad) as well as the priviledges (good) of E.R.A. be respected. Understandable, one must expect that along with equal pay, equal jobs, equal op portunity; and equal con sideration under the law not all aspects of the amendments are quite as beneficial and pleasant as these preceeding, thus, something as hideous and disgusting as equal participation in a war is plausible and if indeed war be the case—women should not and cannot be excluded. In brief, the broad results of this survey light-heartedly suggest that should this country become involved in a military conflict, it would be advisable for this nation’s government not to expect a great deal of support from Black Americans, female or male! Anita Bryant Quotations “No, women should not just be drafted or expected to serve on the same basis as men. Each in dividual woman should have the option...women should not be ex pected to waste their time and possibly their lives in a war dealing with power-hungry men”. lanessa Grady-Soph. Robbin Hart “No, women should not be ex pected to serve in the armed for ces on the same basis as men. I believe in equal rights for women because women are just as apable and intellectual as men but to fight in a war is another story...” Ruth Cauthen-Jr. “NO! I am not for the E.R.A. I don’t feel that most women have the emotional strength to be in volved in the war. Melva Gipson-Sr. “Initially I wouldn’t advocate this simply because of the way I was brought up but if this nation’s continued existence came down to how many people we were able to send out to defend it, if we wanted the nation to survive, I would have to say yes.” David Watkins-Ir. Anna-Marie Stumme “... as a black woman I would not categorize myself by sex but by blood and as a black person I would not go to war in support of the United States of America.” Anna-Marie Stumme-Fr. “Personally, NO! Women should not fight in the armed for ces. However, if E.R.A. has been passed and everyone is supposed to be treated equally according to the law then women cannot be excluded from participating in the armed forces.” John Wilson-Sr. No, women are not physically built the same way men are therefore they are not capable of doing the same things.” Janet Anderson-Soph. “No, we cannot withstand the same rigorous activity that men can because we are not biologically or physically built for it.” Cynthia Todd-Soph. “Yes, women should fight because equality includes respon sibility as well as priviledge, however, there are limitations...” Stacia Fisher-Fr. “No, I believe that women are strong individuals to a certain ex tent, but I do not believe all women could survive under those conditions.” Gina Hopson-Fr. “Yes, if women say they accept the E.R.A., then they have to ac cept the good with the bad and going to war is all part of it.” Anita Bryant-Fr. “No, personally I could not kill someone. Women are tougher than they used to be, but their are still too many who are too fragile to fight.” Dawn White-Fr. Stacia Fisher “Yes, if women want to be equal with men then that includes all areas NOT excluding war.” Ar’Lisa Coleman-Fr. “No, frankly it’s unrealistic. Personally I’m not that physical as to be crawling through the mud and jungles, etc...” Emily Black “No, first of all I’m not for E.R.A. I like the way it is now. I like the position I have as a female and besides I don’t like weapons!” Alison Willis-Soph. “No, I don’t think the majority of women are mentally prepared to go to war.” Dana Reed-Soph. “Yes, they should be expected to fight in war on the same basis as men. If women want total equality then they should get total equality in ALL areas.” Vicki Hardaway-Soph. Gina Hopson Anthony Hawkins “No.I wouldn’t want to go to war and if they reinforced the draft, then I’d be eligible to go, and personally, I’m not physically capable to fight in a war.” Marilyn Washington-Jr. “No, In this day in time I think women can take the pain of war but not the conditions of war. Men have been more conditioned for war whereas women haven’t.” Tollese Harris-Jr. “Yes, under the present con ditions of the All-Volunteer- Army, women would go through the same training as men, therefore would be equally prepared for was as men.” Valerie Rembert-Jr. Vicki Hardaway “Yes, they should be expected to serve in the armed forces. I do not believe in the E.R.A. I feel that women are protected in our society today. We are able to receive better and higher paying jobs. If the E.R.A. was ratified, we would also have to pay alimony and child support. Leslie Douglas-Jr. "No. I. myself can not see me being drafted into the army. I am sure their would be some kind of birth control practiced but someone will probably come up pregnant. As a result of pregnan cy the decision has to be made about an abortion or if they will have the child and have it brought up in an environment of war." Lillian Mason-Fr.