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Page 8 Black Ink (continued from page 7) October 18, 1984 No Easy Walk To Freedom (continued from page 3) to help the Black African improve his status. In 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalist Party (NP) won the general election and immediately began to apply its policy of Apartheid (pronounced apart-ate)--apartness--with two goals in mind: occupational and residential segregation of blacks from whites and the establishment of "Bantustans" or "Homelands." The Afrikaners, had in effect, created the most racist system in the world. While Africans receive incredibly low wages especially on the farms and mines, the standard of living for whites ranks among the highest in the world. Moreover, most Africans never have an opportunity to prepare for skilled or white collar jobs. Until 1980, less one percent of the African workers were employed as supervisors. By limiting the kind of work blacks do, the South African government literally denies Africans any hope of advancement. Proponents of apartheid maintain the system provides for the future development of black Africans and believe they are acting in the best interest of the country's native population. But, the reality is best reflected by the former Prime Minster Verwoerd's statement; "There is no place for Africans in the white community above the levels of certain forms of labor. Translation: exploitation and oppression of South African blacks guarantees the high standard of living of white South Africans. Under the Bantu Education Act, another feature of the apartheid struc ture, blacks have to pay tuition for attending schools, whereas whites receive their education free. Another characteristic of this government controlled educational system is its official policy to educate blacks to become workers for whites. As such, the regime has effectively limited black African progress. In addition, whites, coloureds (people of mixed descent) and black Africans must live in separate areas as provided by the Group Areas Act. In the case of blacks who comprise 71.9 percent of the total population, the government has allocated 13 percent of the national land and has designated Bantustans. Unproductive, desperately overcrowded, and incapable of pro viding an adequate livelihood, the Bantustans have been accurately described as "vast rural slums." It is common for blacks who have spent their entire lives in "white areas" to be suddenly deported to a homeland they have never seen before. To legitimize this practice, the government declared that all blacks are residents of a specific Bantustan instead of South Africa. And Africans can't even stay in white areas unless they work there. Even then, they are not allowed to own any permanent residences, and in most cases, families are barred from living together. In order to enforce this policy, the government has enacted "pass laws" requiring all African adults to carry a pass signed by a white employer. If a person is found without a pass book by the authorities, he or she can be ar rested, charged, convicted and deported to the homelands. In 1970, an average of 1,370 Africans were prosecuted and deported daily for failing to carry a pass book. The most outstanding feature of apartheid is the creation of a military machine for the implementation and enforcement of the system. With the im plementation of the Communism and Terrorism Acts, the government has repeatedly labeled any attempt to change the status quo as a "Communist plot. Protesters against the system are also prosecuted under the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Many African leaders and a number of progressive whites have been imprisoned while others have been tortured and murdered. Bet ween 1976 and 1980, nearly 62,000 people were prosecuted for political of fenses. Ironically, advocates of evolutionary and peaceful change claim South Africa has reached the stage where it no longer requires the racist policies which served it so well over the years. As proof, they point^to the recent elec tions which enfranchised the country's 2.5 million coloureds and 800,000 In dians, but excluede the country's 22 million blacks. It is noteworthy that President Ronald Reagan praised the elections as a major step in the right direction. However, at best, the sham elections were an attempt to create a buffer between the white minority and the olack majority. It would be foolish to believe that white South Africans are willingly going to consent to any drastic reform within the status quo. JOIN BSM TODAY!! : I w, D//> you VO ^ I I J . WnATAKB ' - —you MiTh I SPiKtO Ht£LSPf-'\ h.^Af■S The p£Al. ytu v-ece 'MA£L ja:k^ AND 4ti MAKT UP P' ^ MiCMAEL MAHIA I \a^ are about to enter college are invited to take one or two college courses at the University. The courses may be transferred to University of the stu dent's choice. Clayton said the Upward Bound Office had done some follow-up work on students who have gone through the program. She said 90 percent of the seniors in the program graduated from high school and went on to post secondary schools. Along with an expansion in such Upendo Serving Needs (continued from page 1) in 1976 at which time a Student Af fairs advisory committee came up with two recommendations: increase the Upendo Lounge seating capacity to 200 for lectures and earmark the lounge for BSM use. However, lack of funds delayed the renovation until fall 1983. After months of conflict, the Union ad ministration accepted the recommen dation of the Chase Union Advisory Committee to allow Black organiza tions to use the lounge on a priority status for a test period of one year. But, at the time. Union director Howard Henry said: "I don't consider it conclusive in any sense of the word. The Union should not have to ask the BSM how that space should be used." In February 1985, the Union Board of Directors will reevaluate its position on the scheduling pro cedure, then make a final decision. Terry Bowman, Union president, said the BSM should have a place like Upendo, but added he was not sure about the lounge's future. "With the Student Activities Center opening next fall. South Cam pus will become a more active area," Bowman said. "There's a very large population there and a new interest in the area. These facts have to be taken into consideration when deciding how to program events that take place in the South Campus Union." Copeland said the Union wanted Upendo to serve the needs of the BSM as well as other organizations. He said the Union desk will be practical in alloting reservations. For example, he said, a small group requesting use of the lounge may be given a smaller room instead of the lounge since it seats 200 people. He added spontaneous use of the lounge by the BSM or any organiza tion would be allowed as long as it had not been reserved. Carl Patterson and Marcellas Smith, two seniors, will be sharing managerial duties for the South Cam pus Union. Patterson said the two were looking for constructive feed back from students. Students may also direct their suggestions to Copeland. Editor's Note: The South Cam pus Union will be open Sunday- Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. follow-up work, Clayton said, "We want to extend our advisory board to include parents, students, the University and home communities." Clayton said a Student Governence Board may be establish ed to help students with their leader ship potential as well. Other services in the works include visits to college campuses, SAT counseling and assistance for seniors in completing admissions and financial aid applica tions. Death Penalty (continued from page 5) comes in when you look at the victim." "If the victim is white and the defendant is Black, there is a higher chance of the defendant being given the death penalty," he said. And the problem extended to the way the court views defendants in the trial process. "One of the responses to the argument of victim as the deter mining factor is that Blacks tend to commit capital offenses when they're committing other crimes, like rob bery which is a felony. If the person is committirig another crime when he kills someone, he may get the death penalty." In some studies of Blacks bet ween 15 and 35 nationwide, Hawkins said Blacks in that age category were seven to ten times more likely than whites to have a prior criminal record--also a determining factor in awarding the death penalty to a defendant. "In addition whether a person knew the victim or not is important too," Hawkins noted. "We know that if the victim didn't know the defendant-if he's a stranger-the defendant is more likely to be con victed of first degree murder. "Most Blacks who kill whites tend not to know that white person." Phillips said discriminatin didn't necessarily have to be an overt part of the legal system either: "If your socie ty is structured so that more Blacks come before the court, there can be discrimination in that sense too." But Hawkins said the legal system and the press may be at fault in misleading the public about who is on death row. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 25 people have been executed. Of those, only four have been Black--the last was Linwood Briley in Virginia on Oct. 12. Hawkins said, "The first execu tions were of whites, and they had a lot of media coverage. For example, the last guy ex ecuted in Florida...now he was con victed of a despicable murder, and he was white. "Most of the cases of people on death row however are not the type that shock the conscience like that, and most of the people are Black."
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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Oct. 19, 1984, edition 1
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