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Page 4 • SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT February, 1988
An Awakening in the Caribbean
by Cheryl B. Butler
Towering bright green
palm trees, soothing crysta-
line waters, heavenly sloping
mountains—this is only the
beginning—cool coal, bitter
chocolate, rich coffee, natural
bark, spice tea, roasted
chestnut, creamy caramel,
sweet honey, light cream,
frosty snow and a spectrum
of beautiful people. This is
what my semester held for
me in the Dominican
Republic. It was a semester of
learning, struggle and above
all, serious growth.
The language barrier was
the first thing that required
some very rigorous moments
of adjustment. As a Spanish
and English major, I had
some knowledge of the
Spanish language, but
somehow my classroom
version of “como esta usted?”
and “Adios, hasta luego” was
just not enough to compete
with that advanced level
conversation that the domin-
ican sisters and brothers
were throwing down. I
learned to keep my mouth
closed and speak only when
absolutely necessary to avoid
all encounters with that
commonly feared enemy,
embarrassment. After about
three weeks, however, my
listening and speaking skills
improved tremendously, and
I slid right into the culture as
an honorary dominican.
Being apart of the majority
was wonderful as 75% of the
dominican population is
Black and mulatto (half
white and half Black). The
six other American students
were not so lucky, however,
and had to adjust to life as
part of the 15% white
minority, primarily the
upperclass. This whole
reversal of the majority/
minority relationship gave
me the opportunity to
perhaps view racism from a
new perspective. Being an
outsider with the physical
characteristics of an insider
gave me the privledge view. I
learned a lot about us as
Black people, or better yet, I
finally began to understand
the gruesome picture of it all.
As we all know, but I’m
sure don’t all fully under
stand, we hate ourselves.
This is not a phenomenon
that exists solely here in the
good ole U.S. of A., but it is
something from which Black
people are suffering all over
the world. In the Dominican
Republic, it seems as though
everyone is striving towards
whiteness. If you have even
an ounce of white blood
within you system, you are
labeled as a mulatto. To be
Black, “Negro,” dark
complexioned with kinky
hair and big lips unthink
able. No one wants to be
Black. It’s a subtle type of
racism that is not noticeable
to the average non-thinking,
sleepwalking human being.
It’s something that we feel as
conscious Black people
trained to detect racism with
blindfolds on our eyes and
earplugs in our ears.
I love the Dominican
Republic dearly with its
bloodjumping African
Hispanic beat of the
Merengue as a sign of its
strife for creating a balanced
world of white and Black. I
mourn, however, for the poor
little children which I taught
and caressed with my love for
them and my hope for their
success. I cry, you see, for a
place in which a blind white
government rules a blurred
visioned Black people. I
explode inside for our denial
of self and compassion for
that which is foreign.
Cheryl Butler enjoying the tropics in the
Dominican Republic.
Two drunk men were
sitting at a bar on the top
floor of the Empire State
Building. The first man says,
“You know the trade winds
up here are so strong that if
you jump off the building
you’ll automatically be
JOKE
pushed back up.”
“I don’t believe you,” said
the second man.
All of a sudden the first
drunk jumps up, leaps out
the window and floats right
back. The second drunk sees
this and says, “O.K., I’ll try!”
As soon as he jumps out
the windwo the drunk keeps
falling and lands straight on
the ground followed by a loud
SPAT! The bartender turns to
the first drunk and says,
“You’re a mean drunk
Superman.”
Sophomore
Wins Title
Miss UNCF
Spelman
College
by Sheronda Youngblood
Last semester, four
students were chosen to
compete for the title of Miss
UNCF-Spelman College.
Each class council was asked
to select one student to repre
sent their respective class.
The students were Kim
Cuttino (Senior), Chalanda
Williams (Junior), Tracey
Hughes (Sophomore), and
Donna Terry (Freshman).
Each of these young ladies,
along with their class, raised
money for the United Negro
College Fund. The United
Negro College Fund (UNCF)
is a national organization
created to help alleviate the
cost of attending a private
historically black college or
university. An estimate of
$1,600.00 was raised from
the contest.
The Spelman Pre-Alumni
Council is proud to announce
Ms. Tracey Hughes the 1988
Miss UNCF-Spelman
College. Tracey, along with
the sophomore class, raised
an estimate of $1,300. Tracey
is a French/English major
from Nashville, Tennessee.
She will represent Spelman
at the National UNCF
Convention, which will be
held in Dallas, Texas,
February 11-14.
When asked what moti
vated her to compete for the
title of Miss UNCF, Tracey
responded by saying, “I wish
to represent the black college
excellence under the title of
Miss UNCF because I feel
there is a need to stress the
importance of supporting our
black colleges and
universities.”
Black colleges have histor
ically played a key role in the
building and shaping of
today’s black leaders as they
have worked to instill pride
in the cultural heritage and
(con’t on pg. 8)