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JO,000 dead ia Vietnam died miaindentanding of why thote they become a member of in
fr **********“■' ^ sixteen prisioners were * nn y unit. Everything depends
rebel against authority and court-martialed, Mr. Childs upon teamwork, cooperation,
resort to Us “constitutional succeeded in his critism for the and strict adherence to
tfchts.” A good number died US. Army. His qucstioniiy of procedures. Dissension here
hirsiiii May lisobnyrrl an erdrr miUmry seociity in dealing with would very likely result in chaos
at a crucial monwt or **' procedural objectors and his ko of life. Obedience is the
someone else dim hey rd an support of man's intrinstic right only detenent to wch a disaster,
aider. of seif-thought are exceptionally The fact that a soldier must learn
The men Mr. Childs is noteworthy . These subjects are to obey orders probably does
dafendiag were in trouble to especially pertinent to thorn not soothe many nerves of the
begin with or they would not unfortunate males who are “fair Mercer Campus. But, ia
have been in the atocfcaE*. game" for their local draft obedience mch a bad character
Anyone familiar with dm bomd. My purpose is to further treit?
mflharv would mike that throe the discussion, in hopes of The sitny must not try to
men wowd hem accomplished ratieva* some to the aaxfctka Mm# one to think tike the army,
■Mch mom with a letter to the nod fears prompted by an for thie h denying a man of hit
Inspector Groanil office Every hrmpandUs opinion. namral rights.” The army only
ILS. military beat in the world “Is tt impoadble for the army forces a man to act in
has one. and believe me, G.L'a to bead jnat atttdc. or wouldita accordance with standard
tppwdtit the pmmtrion ef the Militaristic reputation he proeedores.
Cohunnkt low Hobbs
Today’s Mock mao hae b*m
broqgbt np in a world that
a dim he be nrmirfal
This world, however, km plmnd
n stipulation on dutnsccemThe
•espaUt^n if that ia ofdor to
sncceed he moat forget his
hlsfknsw and become whits in
his actions end eooduct. It alto
necessitates rw**Mg his bock on
Ms lem fortunate Mack bcothcr.
Ppr a long dme the trend was
for the Mach man to become the
white-black man. You may fed
that this it distant and Mr in the
the life and ways or the white
World wrote the history from
Which he was consistently
excluded. Every time he picked
ap s magazine to examine
beauty, k was white, television
doriqg my high school years
when atrendiiy an all black
school that Negro • teachers
would stand before Ncpo
students tmf demand that they
not act Hkc Negroes. The Negro
crschtn feb that the students
could forget all of their
socialization and become
something they were not.
The black man began to
icalse diet the mcnMcri of his
race tfast wore able to integrate
effectively were those who acted
white, accepted what he was
told, tad kt others make hk
decisions for him. Finally, the
Mack man began to examine
himself. Ms past, present and
future and feh a closeness to an
undefined cultural heritage. This
cultural heritage, whatever it
might be, was all of n sudden too
important for hkn to give up for
serious of nil the bit of
education that he was able to
redeve was white. The world
about the black man wai in
effect trying to white-wash him.
Nevertheless, the black man
came to his senses just in time to
see what was happening to him.
The black man now feels the
necessity to make the world
come to grips with {he
realizations of hk past and
present Bat before the world
can do this, the black man
himself has to realize hk own
identity, culture and capabilities.
Since rite world k slow about
change, the black man feck that
he should find hk own heritage
and unite hk own history. He
feck a burning need to instill a
sense of racial pride and
accomplkhment into a suffering
people. The Mack man for the
first time must begin loving
blackness tnd placing the
welfare of a deserving brother
before all eke. He has to
institute a cultural unity in order
M assert the principles of the
Black American. No longer can a
small group of blacks move
forward while leaving the mass
majority behind. Movement now
must be as a unit (all for one and
one for all). Every effort must
be diected to helping
• disadvantaged blacks. The black
man haa to find a social,
political, and economic stability
and equality for hk race. Until
these ate achieved integration
will never be fully effective. We
must remember that integration
takes place among equals
No longer k the dream of the
black college student to live in
the exclusive part of town in an
extravagant home, separably
himself from hk black (Mothers.
He now secs new directions for
his education-that is. to
examine the past and discover
the Mack culture, establish s
black philosophy for today and
lend a hand to hk black brother
With these concepts, the black
man completes the framework
of hk cultural unit.
The cry now k for each black
man to examine himself and the
world about him. After thk
analysk he would utilize hk
powers to the fullest extent to
make thk world better for black
people, thus making it better as
a whole. The black man does not
want to pressure cultural
integration for fear hk culture
will merely be absorbed tnd lose
its significtiveness. Therefore,
the black man desires cultural
integration only when he has
proven the strength of hk
cultural heritage to himself
Then, and only then will the
world stand back and marvel at a
glorious black pan, present and
future and accept tt as the asset
thn x am alwavs been.
The Mack student k crying
for relevance in hk school. He
docs not want an education that
will prepare him to meet an
all-white or all-black world.
What he wants k an education
that prepares him to meet
reality, that k, a Mack and white
world with all of its problems.
The Mack student, however, k
not wittily to unit for the
history books to ne rewritten,
rather he has taken it upon
himself to help blacks snd
interested whites to meet reality.
Thk k what the Black America
series k doing here at Mercer. It
has taken an undone job of the
University and its teaching about
a forgotten but glorious people
and their struggles and problems.
Mercer is quite fortunate.
Recently her Black Student
Alliance committed itself to the
task of discovering and
revitalizing the history and
culture of the black race. This
group pledges to supplement
Mercer's standard education
with the ideals of a real world by
way of open forums, debates,
discussion groups, and theatrical
presentations. The job of the
Black Alliance ia to make black
students aware so that they can
spread this awareness
throughout the total
community.
When the black man finally
achieves his goal, it will not only
be a victory for the black man
but a victory for the whole
world.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
One of the fint rules for
credible joomalkm k to shape
opinion according to the facta,
not ahape the Met* to fit
opinion. Thk k the glaring flaw
qf the article by oohimnkt Ron
Child*, “Freedom} No.
Captain”. Regardless of one’s
tedhyi as to the aibjcct matter,
k k frightening to note that the
bail* for Mr. Childs’ whole
argument was a gross
misstatement of facts "A group
of fourteen milder* recently
. recieved sentence* up to sixteen
years (or singing "We Shall
OvercoM*' in proteat for
‘ The troth ef the matter k
that the eentewce* were for
ef an order. It would hr most
interesting if we could have a
breakdown of bow many ef the
l.g.U5> military baae in the
world had one, and -bdieve me,
GJ.’a appreciate the protection
of the I.G.
Thk letter comes from a
Vietnam veteran who k as
and-military as Mr. Childs, but
the military k too vulnerable to
be attacked with fake chaiges
and dktortions. This k not only
bad joumalsim. but reflects on
the scared priviledgc of being
able to attempt to publicly
recruit converts to a cause. The
credibility of ‘The Mercer
Cluster" certainly received a
black eye with the printing of
Mr. Childs’ column.
Randall C. Sorenson.
Dear Editor:
Mr. Ron Child* Mould be
commended for his recent
column tided “Freedom No,
Captain)," Except for the slyht
misunderstanding of why thote
n prisioners were
court-martialed, Mr. Childs
succeeded in hk critism for die
of
ith
and hk
trankhed?” Sadly accepting the
fact that armies are a present
day evil, the answer k yes. Most
soliders who openly object to
army procedures uni ally commit
an set of disobedience. Thk
cannot be tolerated. Who wants
to be bounced out of bed at 4
~A.M., scrub floors, polish boots,
peel 300 onions, pick up
cigarette buns, crawl in the
mud, or plunge a dagger into
another man's throat? No
normal man. The army k in a
poor position to offer choices
and make bargains. Obedience k
a necessity. This k a difficult pill
for the raw recruit to swallow.
Most "radical” dissenters make
thier displeasure known during
the first three weeks of their
basic training. Those who endure
the hardships of thk training
eventually realize the
importance of obdeicnce when
they become a member of an
army unit. Everything depends
upon teamwork, cooperation,
and strict adherence to
procedure!. Dissension here
would very likely remit in chaos
and loas of life. Obedience k the
only deterrent to mch a disaster.
The fact that a soldier must learn
to obey orders probably does
not soothe many nerves of the
Mercer Campus. But, is
mch a bad character
must not try to
Barracks, tents, bunkers, and
foxholes, have been used as
places for discusions. Not
necessarily restricted to wine
and women, these conversations
are often worthwhile and
constructive. Whites come to
know blacks, and vice versa. The
laborer learns that the college
kid is not just a young punk, and
the college kid may benefit from
the laborer’s informal education.
Baptists, Catholics, Jews, and
acthcists. arc mixed together.
Physically they are soldiers.;
mentally they are free to
interact. This favorite army
pastime often results in the
elimination of prejudices and a
better understanding between
the participants, something I was
shocked to find lacking in this
“fret” civilian society.
I,too, conclude may article
with a message for Mercer's
proud Second Lieutenant
graduates. Having served four
and one-half years in the U.S.
Army, and having risen from a
Private to a Captain, I speak
with experience, not newspaper
dipping opinion. My decorations
include the Silver Star, three
Bronze Stan for valor, the
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry,
and the Purple Heart They
mean nothing now, except that
they remind me of the most
rewarding period of my life. My
unit was a paratroop
reconnaissance company, a
motly conglomeration of
obedient, vet free-dunking men.
. la tboeC difficult txnea we
owe of life. We gained
Faculty
Forum
Edward W. Conosi
„ For a student of a man in hk
role as a wicldcr of words,
nothing could have been more
revealing than the Tuesday night
lecture on “Black Novelists" by
a Negro (hk word) professor.
The lecture's organization
was strangely amorphous. It was
a blob of anecdotes, taken
mostly from a to-be-published
novel of the speaker’s, about
"Bad whites I have outwitted, "
“good whites I have known,”
and “ how my parents managed
to be dignified (yea, and have a
telephone) although black in
Birmingham."
Sterotype intervened, too:
“the speaker is. talks and think
middle-class, he does not feel
bitter toward all whites on
principle; therefore he is an
Uncle Tom and everything he
says is Whitewashed and means
White is Right.” Sterotype has
spoken.
Impatience with complex
ways of speech and points of
view was a third factor. The
questioners had not got behind
the speakers old-fashioned forms
of expression and careful
qualifications to his intended
meanings, which assumed
anything but a simplistic "White
is Right” view of black-white
relations.
Inexperience with literature
entered too. Apparently my
collegues and I have failed to
convey an adequate
understanding of What
Literature Is. There is. after all, a
difference between protesting
powerfully on paper and
conveying protest through
literature. Each must be
evaluated differently; one
cannot be compared to the
other.
Above all, the speaker did not
deal with these four blocks to
communication. Student
idealogy, sterotype, impatience
and inexperience are factors any
and every teacher of literature
must speak to, through, and
around whether he is teaching
Doctor Fauitus or The Invisable
man whether is blacks or to
whites or both. Instead of
adjusting to them the speaker
continued to defend his way of
life and hisview of Whitey. He
did so in terms having entirely
different meanings to his black
hearers, in their context, from
an appreciation for life itself,
something I fail to find in many
Mercer students. The army was
foreed^ to demand our
obedience, but it never
interferrcd with our thoughts.
My advice to you future leaders
»,“Relax boys; don't swrat the
brass bolt. "
John D. Carey
the meaning which they had for
him, in hk. i .
How docs acceptance speak
to frustration? How does
experience speak to innocence?
How do old scars speak to fresh
wounds? How does caution
speak to daring? The Rieakcr
apparently didn't know. I'd like
to know. Does anybody know?
In the end. both sides in a
dialogue need to quit playing
fixed roles, need to quit seeing
sterotypes, and need to talk a
common language.
Thk didn't happen Tuesday
in Room 314, Student Center. Is
it happening in the dararoom or
in the Snack Bar? I hope, for all
our takes, that it k at least
beginning to happen.
The speaker, heard between
the lines, was evidently seeking
to provide an antidote for an
over-reaction, to open minds
closed by rage. I think he was
trying to say something like this:
"Black Literature is, after all,
human liters cure.As literature, it
has to be judged by the same
criteria as white literature,
yellow literature, or what have
you. Its value as an expression of
Black anger, or frustration, or
hope, is not necessarily
correlated with its value as
literature.” (So far I agree.)
"Black literature will do
nothing except talk to itself, it
will do nothing to change white
attitudes, unless the Black writer
uses competently the tested
techniques of literary art, and
presents a balanced, mature, and
complex view of both black and
white.” (My white heart says
yes, but my sense of reality says
“it ain’t necessarily so.”)
He was trying to say this -but
he didn't say it. Why? Because
his style wasn’t his audience's
style; the How swallowed up the
What
The students who spoke up
during the question period had
apparently heard another
speech It went like this.
"Black novels are not as good
as white novels. White people are
really not racist at all Black
people really haven't suffered all
that much. If you'll just be nice,
polite Negro and study hard,
you have just as good a chance
as any white to he happy and
make lots of money ."
Why did they hear that, and
not what the lecturer thought he
was saying 3 Let me guess since
I'm not black, and not a
full-time student. I can't assume
I know But here goes
Idealogy got in the way, to
begin with "Black people and
white people are utterly
different: the so-called universal
standards of literary merit are
actually white standards and
have no claim on the black." So
goes idealogy.
NcmUjnr
LtbSm Mara
—.*■«*• itarw
iMMifrC DgtTNB,
Utah ittilna
THE MERCER CLUSTER • Friday. May 9. 1969 • 5