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The Augusta News-Review - September 29.1977 -
(Augusta
Mallory K. Millender Editor-Publisher
Frank Bowman General & Advertising Manager
Mary Gordon Circulation
Sharon C. Caldwell Reporter
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The Bakke case:
Myth & reality
By Kenyon C. Burke
Why are so many members of the civil
rights community worried about the
Bakke case? What’s all the fuss about,
and how can one court ase cause so much
anxiety and demand the attention of
major leaders in government, labor,
business and industry and organizations
committed to equal opportunity?
The case of California vs Allan Bakke
and its implications were recurrent
themes heard frequently at the NAACP,
National Urban League, National Dental
& National Medical Associations
conventions this summer.
Allan Paul Bakke is suing the
University of California at Davis for twice
denying him admission to its medical
school because he is white. Bakke claims
that the University’s minority admissions
program, using special criteria, selected
16 applicants (in a freshman class of 100)
whose qualifications were lower than his.
He therefore alleges that he was denied
equal protection under the 14th
Amendment. Most observers agree that
the future of special effort programs to
provide better access to housing,
education, training and employment for
minorities and other disadvantaged
groups are in serious jeopardy if the court
finds in favor of Mr. Bakke.
As in most things controversial the
Bakke case is obscured by a host of
mythology., Ralph R. Smith, a law
professor at the University of
Pennsylvania, provided us with the
valuable service of researching the facts in
this case that somehow have yet to
surface in the media. By reading
newspaper accounts of this case one
would assume that Allan Bakke was an
exceptionally well-qualified student who
would have gotten into the Davis Medical
School had it not been for the special
admissions program.
Although he was a good student, the
fact remains that II medical schools, 11
separate committees, dozens of faculty
4 iTr-- >
It is best to have a family dentist who
takes sincere interest in the general health
as well as the oral health of his patients.
The time to find this family dentist is not
in an emergency situation. It makes sense
that a person in pain does not have the
time to make the intelligent decision he
might otherwise.
A dentist in general practice is fully
qualified to provide all routine care.
Some parents take their children to
pedodontists, dentists who limit their
practice to treatment of children. Unlike
in medicine, most dentists are in general
practice.
You may want to become .acquainted
with several dentists before deciding on a
family dentist to provide regular care.
There are numerous ways of finding
qualified dentists in your area.
- Ask friends, neighbors or co-workers
to recommend dentists with whom they
are pleased. You will want to be sure that
the persons you ask are individuals who
you would expect demand the same high
standards in a health professional as you
do.
- Faculty members of dental schools
in your area may be able to suggest
practitioners in the community.
- A nearby hospital with an accredited
dental service should be in a position to
offer suggestions.
- If you already have a family
physician, you may want to ask him who
provides his dental care and ask him for a
recommendation.
After you have considered the various
Support our advertisers
Dentistry and you
By Dr. W.J. Walker
Page 4
members and medical students obviously
agreed with the assessment of the
University of California Davis Medical
School. Not only was he turned down by
11 medical schools, but he was rejected by
his alma mater, the University of
Minnesota.
Presumably, this was the school which
had reason to know Allan Bakke best and
had the most sound basis on which to
assess his record and potential.
The record also indicates that there
were a total of 35 people who would
have been considered ahead of Allan
Bakke even if the University had not set
aside 16 slots for those of economically
and educationally disadvantaged
backgrounds.
It appears that if Allan Bakke was
discriminated against it was beause of his
age, not his race. Having reached 31 years
of age, on September 13, 1971, he wrote
the admissions committee at the Davis
Medical School to inquire about the
impact of his age on the application
process.
The associate dean for student affairs
responded, “when an applicant is over
30, his age is a serious factor which must
be seriously considered. One of the major
reasons for this is that an older applicant
must be unusually highly qualified if he is
to be seriously considered for one of the
limited number of places in the entering
class.”
All this serves to remind us how
opponents of Affirmative Action have
effectively harnessed the media to
discredit special efforts to move blacks,
other disadvantaged minorities, and
women into the main stream of American
Society.
Fortunately, the U. S. Department of
Justice and several organizations
committed to equal opportunity have
seen through the mythology in this case
and chosen to file friends of the court
briefs to insure the continuation of
Affirmative Action program efforts.
Choosing
your dentist
recommendations, call for an
appointment. Much can be learned in the
initial visit.
Is the general appearance of the office
and the dentist and his staff neat, clean
and orderly? How available is he. both in
location and appointment schedule?
Is he prevention oriented? You will
want a dentist who is skilled in both the
treatment of oral disorders and the latest
preventive techniques.
Does he use x-rays in his diagnosis?
Dental x-rays are one of the most
valuable diagnostic tools in modern
dentistry. For a new patient, he may start
with a full-mouth set of x-rays on the
first visit along with a comprehensive oral
examination.
Does he seem to take a personal
interest in you and your health? A record
of important information about your
medical and dental history should be
taken, and he will start a permanent
record for your future dental and medical
health.
Don't be embarrassed to ask him about
his fees. In fact, most dentists would
prefer that the patient open the subject
since the patient is aware of his own
financial situation and his new dentist is
not. The dentist should be willing to
discuss fees and payment plans in
advance of treatment.
The benefit of this small amount of
time necessary to make an intelligent,
informed decision will be a
doctor-patient relationship founded on
mutual trust and respect.
■ f
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Wfblack
Mostly about women
Male shortage
■ v hurts Black women,
f "■ Dr. says
lau Ji
Recently I had the opportunity of
hearing Dr. Hugh Gloster, Morehouse
president, talk on the status of Black
Women in America. I thought this would
be of interest to readers of the
NEWS-REVIEW in Augusta. It is from
our local St. Louis Argus newspaper.
Prisons, wars, homosexuality and
relationships with white women that at
one time meant jail, beatings or death
have diminished the ranks of eligible
Black men, Dr. Hugh M. Gloster told a
Community Conference on the Status of
Women audience Saturday.
These factors account for a shortage of
two million Black men which, according
to Gloster, brings on serious social
problems for Black women.
Gloster, president of Morehouse
College in Atlanta and author of Negro
Voices in American Literature, was the
keynote speaker at the third annual
conference entitled, “The Third Century:
The Concerns and Goals of Black
Women.”
The St. Louis Chapter of the Top
Ladies of Distinction, Inc., sponsored the
event at 1408 N. Kingshighway through a
grant from the Missouri State Committee
for the Humanities, Inc. “Desertion,
separation and divorce are reasons for the
high percentage of single parent families,
most headed by Black women,” said
Gloster.
According to Gloster, 35 percent of
Black families are headed by single
parents, compared to 13 percent for
whites, and this leads to substandard
housing, crime and disease.
A sharp decline in marriages among
younger Black college graduates, an
increase in couples living together and a
general delay before marriage, according
to Gloster, have also hurt Black women.
Things You Should Know
Fl '
BASSETT...
A. . The reconstruction act of i 867
F'* < ' I AND THE 14* AMENDMENT 1868/GUARANTEED
CIVIL RIGHTS TO FREEDMEN. BASSETT, A RE-
CONSTRUCTION LEADER/WHO STUDIED CIAS-
LIT. AT YALE 8 GRADUATED
FROM BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY 8 CONN STATE NORMAL SCHOOL,
WAS APPOINTED U.S MINISTERTO HAITI /BETTER HOUSING
CAME YEARS LATER,EX AMPLE HARLEM RIVER HOUSES.JUNE 16,1937/
O vr •'i WTM =■ 5
By Marian J. Waring
Gloster called for massive federal
programs for proper nutrition, fair
employment, good schools and decent
housing that would increase the quality
of a Black woman’s life.
In addition, improving the educational
and employment opportunities of Black
men would benefit the Black woman by
freeing her of having to choose “between
not marrying or marrying below her
intellectual standard,” Gloster said.
As a scholar, Gloster told the
conference he has looked at the Black
woman in depth through her essays,
drama and poetry and found that “in
history, you’re in good shape if you have
a Black woman as a friend and in bad
shape if you have her as an enemy.”
“During my years, I’ve had a great deal
of experience with Black women, and
whatever success I have is due to my
mother,” said Gloster.
“Any failures are due to my straying
from her teachings.”
Gloster said there was no more
impressive a trek than that of Black
women from oppression and degradation
upward to dignity and self respect.
Despite the lifting of restrictions that
forced Black women into unskilled, low
paying jobs, 35 percent of working Black
women still hold menial positions, and
their median annual income is 54,465,
Gloster said.
“Black men will never achieve full
status in the U.S. until their Black
women are uplifted,” said Gloster.
The women’s liberation movement,
according to Gloster, helps make an
already independent Black woman more
self sufficient , but they tend to avoid the
movement, feeling that the racial cause is
more important than sexual
advancement.
Displacing
the poor
In the absence of a national urban
policy designed to revive the cities for the
people who live in them, an improvised
policy by local governments and private
interests lias stepped into the vacuum.
In many cities, local officials have
decided to try to attract middle income
families back from the suburbs through
policies making urban centers more
attractive to them.
At the same time, private real estate
interests are working toward the same
end. With large sections of downtown
cities blighted by abandoned housing and
land prices driven lower by social decay,
speculators are attracted.
They can buy land and houses cheap,
build or rehabilitate, and then sell at high
prices to affluent people disillusioned
with long commutes and suburban living.
The process works out well for cities,
who can now reap tax revenues from the
land and from the new middle class
residents, and for the speculators who
reap high profits.
But the process doesn’t work for the
poor people who live in those
neighborhoods, in fact they are being
driven from their homes at an alarming
rate. Renters are evicted to enable
developers to remodel their houses, while
moderate income homeowners are forced
to sell because property taxes in the
target area rise as values increase.
Even where developers agree to offer
new housing units to present residents,
they are usually too poor to afford the
inflated rents. So their only option is to
move to already overcrowded housing in
center-city slums not yet prey to
“development” or to move to trailer
camps on the outskirts of town.
There are indications that people are
doubling up by moving to relatives'
homes in the absence of housing they
could afford. But that only increases
problems of overcrowding, and threatens
to make urban health and crime problems
much worse.
Some people view the influx of middle
class people into such areas as a step
1/ ex &
“Bubbling Brown Sugar" is a truly
exciting musical play or revue that many
Blacks and whites will truly enjoy. The
Penn State University brought this fine
play to campus as part of its highly
regarded Artist Series. This exciting
production simply thrilled the packed
auditorium with consistant great acting
and singing.
Brown Sugar has an excellent line-up
of talent that performed in a manner that
makes one proud to be Black. It is based
on a book by Loften Mitchell and stars
such personalities as Richard Brown,
Mabie Lee. Bobby Hill, and Rhetta
Hughes. The singing of “His Eye is on the
Sparrow” by another star performer, Teri
Lindsey, was a soul-stirring experience
that brought thunderous applause from
the captivated audience.
Seeing this wonderful musical revue
brought forth many thoughts to me
about the dimensions of the Black
experience. It is based on a historical
overview of night life in Harlem, New
York, and shows Black life in a most
positive manner.
Thoughts about how Blacks used
music and religion to help them survive in
this hostile, racist environment brought
forth pride in the strength and “Soul” of
Black people. The fact that Blacks used
to be able to laugh and enjoy life to some
extent is worth noting today. Saturday
night used to a weekly Black national
holiday that helped sisters and brothers
to put up with another week of
oppression.
It seems that Blacks no longer enjoy
social life like we used to experience. The
coming of desegregation not only
brought racial progress but also misery on
another level. VVe are either too
serious-minded or too playful at the
other extreme. The task is to be
committed to Black progress and yet
enjoy life at the same time.
Thoughts prevailed about legion Black
musicians and singers who, in spite of
being very talented and strong, were not
successful in their careers because racism
and discrimination. Musicians like Miles
Davis, Clifford Brown, John Coltrane,
Charlie Parker. Fats Waller, Jelly Roll
To be equal
By Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
toward integration, but that’s true only if
integration is defined as the transition
between a neighborhood’s becoming
all-black and it's becoming all or
almost-all white.
Economic and racial integration is an
important goal, but this conversion of
city neighborhoods into middle class
enclaves will not result in anything other
than sored removal of poor people.
The policy of recycling neighborhoods
is not valid if it means recycling poor
people out of their homes and into even
more severely impacted neighborhoods.
Driving the poor out of the cities to make
room for the middle class that had
abandoned the cities is no substitute for
policies designed to enable the poor to
become middle class themselves.
That requires national, not local,
policies. Local officials will be partial to
driving out poor people and replacing
them with revenue-producing middle
class residents, while private interests will
pursue policies that lead to higher profits
in disregard of their effect upon poor
people.
National policies of road-building and
mortgage insurance helped the middle
class to leave the cities for suburbia,
while other policies drove poor people
off the land and into the cities. Now that
suburban housing costs have escalated
and energy costs have made suburban
living less attractive, the absence of a
national urban policy is resulting in new
pressures on the poor.
A giant step in the right direction is
the Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s attempt to expand
housing opportunities for low-income
families through vetoing block grants to
localities that don’t provide for such
housing. That’s an important beginning to
focusing scarce resources on people
priced out of the market by recent
developments.
The problems of the cities are human
problems of city dwellers, not making
them worse through poor-removi
programs.
Speaking Out
‘Brown Sugar’
is wonderful
By Roosevelt Green Jr.
Morton and Errol Games would have
become millionaires if they had been
white.
Singers like Billie Holiday, Bessie
Smith, Jimmy Reed, 8.8. King, Joe
Williams, Roland Hayes, Paul Roberson,
Nat King Cole, Lou Rawls, Muddy
Waters, Howling Wolf, Dakota Station,
Roberta Flack, Little Esther, Marion
Anderson, Jesssye Norman, Lena Home,
and Arthur Prysock would have fared
much better without the yoke of racism
in the entertainment world.
It must be remembered that the
talented Nat King Cole had television
show that was dropped because of a lack
of sponsors as well as many Southern
television stations refusing to air anything
Black except Amos and Andy. However,
life is somewhat better for many Black
stars in modem times in spite of having
to be guest rather than host of television
shows.
Talents like Ethel Waters, Sam Cooke,
Bobby Blue Bland, Piano Red or Dr. Feel
Good, Chuck Willis, Johnny Ace, Otis
Redding, James Brown, Mickey Murray,
and Arthur Lee Simpkins have all been
held back by racism in one degree or
another. The truly significant factor is
that many of these stars continued
striving in spite of heavy odds against
them becoming successful.
It is indeed encouraging to see shows
like Bubbling Brown Sugar, The Wiz,
Purlie Victorious and Arms too Short to
Box with God. These shows are highly
popular with Blacks and whites. Their
predominately Black casts provide
performances that are experiences one
has to see to fully appreciate.
Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx are
presenting very good shows that exhibit
their fine talent in positive ways. Richard
Pryor is a great comedian who has
profound insight which is seen when one
really examines his humor.
“Bubbling Brown Sugar” is now touring
the Northeast and I hope it will also visit
the South. It is truly wonderful
presentation. I think you will thoroughly
enjoy. Is that a 10-4’
HARAMBEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!