Newspaper Page Text
Atlanta, Georgia
Founder’s Day Speaker
Atty Edelman Exposes Weasels Within And Without
by Lisha B. Brown
Associate Editor
“Spelman women have to corporations and prosperous
speak out,” said Atty. Marian
Wright Edelman. And that was
exactly what she did asthisyear's
guest for the Founder’s Day
Service.
In 1960, Atty. Edelman
graduated from Spelman. She
continued her studies at Yale
University, then returned to the
South to practice law. Presently,
she is the director of the
Children’ Defense Fund, which
she founded, and chairman of
the Spelman College Board of
Trustees.
This particular Sunday after
noon she stood before the
faculty, the graduating class of
‘82, underclassmen and parents
to speak about ‘‘the weasels
within and the weasels without
the Black community.” Atty.
Edelman spoke frankly and can
didly as a “concerned Black
woman.” She stated that we
should “identify, analyze, and
respond forcefully” to these
weasels that are progressively
destroying our community
Atty. Edelman first identified
the weasels without the Black
community, the first being Presi
dent Reagan. She explained his
misspending of the budget to be
“comprehensive in its attack to
wipe out affirmative action,
busing, and to destroy legal
services.” Astonishing statistics
were being quoted throughout
her speech. "Last year ten billion •
dollars were taken from the
neediest, poorest, and
most abused children and
families." This year Reagan is
planning to take an additional
eight- billion from these same
families. At the same time he is
alloting $750 billion to affluent
individuals in the name of
economic recovery.
She continued to rattle off
statistics pertaining to Reagan’s
budget cuts: “Compensatory
education cut by 51 percent,
handicapped children’s fund cut
by 30 percent, child abuse funds
by 38 percent.” However,
Reagan claims he is not really
cutting the actual funding; he’s
only cutting their rate of in
flationary increase per year. In
addition, financial aid and work
study in higher education will be
reduced by 59 percent. She
defines Reagan’s cuts as “mer
ciless assaults on the poor."
The second weasel without in
Atty. Edelman’s speech was
defined as the opportunistic
budget director, Stockman. “He
has tried to reduce very complex
human needs to simple budget
formulas.” She urged the
audience to become more aware
of budget decisions and know
how our money is being spent.
The last weasel without was
identified as greedy military
spending. According to Atty.
Edelman, Reagan intends to
spent $1.7 trillion on defense
spending over the next five
years. "We have a very fun
damental decision,” she explain
ed, “whether we are going to
invest in young people and
human capitol development or
are we going to invest in the rich
and more and more arms.”
Atty. Edelman continued by
saying, "Now, if we are going to
respond to these weasels
without, we must first deal with
those within.” Again the
audience was stunned by her
statistics regarding the Black
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Founder’s Day Festivities
Greek Week Review
Community Calendar
Exam Schedule
Attorney Marian Edelman chats with Dr. Moreland and members of Class of '82 prior to Founder’s
Day Services. Photo by Jo Moore Stewart
vote. “Only half of the voting age
Blacks voted in the 1980eiection.
Three out of four youths
between the ages of eighteen
and twenty did notvote.” Atty.
Edelman stressed the impor
tance of exercising our right to
vote. Not only did she demand
that each student in the
audience obligate themselves to
vote in upcoming elections, she
also urged them to write their
congressman. “Letters matter,”
said Atty. Edelman.
She reminded each of us that
we are our brother's and sister’s
keepers and encouraged
everyone to keep or build con
nections between themselves
and the Black community. “I
hope you will find a way to figure
out how you can use that extra
set of skills for all those folks who
don’t have the ability or chance
you have. ... All of us are in the
same basket.”
Atty. Edelman then expressed
her worry concerning the
number of children we are losing
each year. According to her
statistics, Black children are
seven times more likely to be
arrested for violent crimes, and
five times more likely to be
victims of homicide than white
youths. “Each year 30,000 Black
males under twenty- four enter
college while 350,000 Black
males under eighteen are
arrested.” Atty. Edelman noted
the serious implication these
statistics foreshadow on the
future of our people.
Next, she focused on the
problems of teenage pregnan
cies and single headed families in
the Black community. "In 1980,
one in two Black children were
born poor. By 1990,60 percent of
our Black children will be in
female headed households.”
Atty. Edelman stressed that “we
should deal with the problemsof
poverty, deal with the problem
of having children.”
In concluding her speech, she
directed her final words to her
Spelman sisters. "Something is
wrong with our values because
we are beginning to mix up style
with substance.” According to
Atty. Edelman, we have lost our
sense of what is important. “A
sense of purpose stems from
who you are and where you
come from.” However, it seems
as though we are without this
sense of purpose. In analyzing
the situation, she stated, “I’m not
sure you’ve got anything to rebel
against, because you got too
much too soon.” But she en
courages us to remember our
past of purpose and struggle.
Finally, she listed five expec
tations of her audience: (1) that
we learn howtothink,(2)thatwe
READ and acquire the desire to
lear hand instill the desire in our
children, (3) to become political -
ly active, (4) to have confidence
in ourselves and know what is
right and wrong, and (5) to know
our history.
"You’ve got so much history,
so much pride,” said our
Spelman sister, “...but you’re
going to have to know more,
work harder.... and pay more
attention to what’s important.”