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By Michael Caldwell
Contributor
A few days ago I was looking
through someold Y ackety Y acks.
For those of you who have no idea
what the hell I just said, the Yack-
ety Yack is the name of our year
book, unfortimate as this nnay be.
As I was thumlHng through a 1979
volume, I saw some pictures of a
group of black students protest
ing on the steps of South Build
ing. Written on a picket sign one
student held was, “We need an
Afro-American Studies Depart
ment!” 1 was dumbfounded. It is
1991. We still do not have an
Afro-American Studies Depart
ment. 11 years. No progress.
In the early 1980s, many stu
dents (I, sadly, can’t say most or
all) asked the University to pro
vide a permanent facility for a
Black Cultural Center. It is 1991.
We still do not have a pennanent
Black Cultural Center. 10 years.
No progress.
Several years ago, many stu
dents (again, I can’t say most or
all) asked the University to hire a
full-time tenured Native Amai-
can professor. It is 1991. No full
time Native American jwofessOT.
Years go by. No jwogress.
There is a store on West Fran
klin Street caUed Lavender’s. As
I was walking to my car, I noticed
that in its display window stood a
small statue of a monkey in a
butler’s uniform carrying atray of
drinks. I walked in the store and
toW the clerk that the statue was
racist because I thought itdq)icted
a black butler as a monkey. He
"Sadly, most whites aren't sensi
tive to minor instances of racism
which surround someone who
happens to have dark skin ..."
completely disagreed. Perh^ you
disagree.
But here is an undeniable and
^jpalling fact There are minority
students at this university who,
because of all the minor, insignifi
cant, trivial, superfluous and “iso
lated” instances of racism that they
experience on a regular basis
within this community, wish they
could transfer to anothCT univCT-
sity. Or worse yet, there are those
who drop out. Do you have any
idea whatsoever how it feels to be
Sadly, most whiles aren’t sensi
tive to all these minor instances of
racism which surround someone
who happens to have dark skin and
make him want to leave. Julia Balk
was not sensitive to all the images
and thoughts which are offensive
to African-Americans. Either that
or she knew “The Student Body
would offend people as racist and
decided to submit the work any
way. (Excuse me, but if I remem
ber correctly, wwen’t the statues
supposed to be movedl)
Endsights
told by your university that you
don’t belong? That you aren’t
wanted? That you will not be fully
treated as a human being, but only
as an inferior semblance of one
behindadaik-skinnedface. Idon’t
I don’t have to deal with “vibes.”
(I suppose some of you don’t know
what I’m talking about.) I don’t
have to deal with the cold stares. I
don’t have to deal with the fear of
approaching a white person and
not knowing if that person will
hurt me (a certain look is all it
takes) or help me. Understand this,
and you will understand why niany
students of color choose to walk
an extra 15 minutes to class each
riKMning and why they want a home
where thwe are “allies.”
Often the biggest difference
between whites arnl nonwhites is
not skin color, but the level of
sensitivity to what it is like to be
Afirican-American, or Asian, or
Hi^anic, w Native American.
In 1979, it seems that when
thCTe was an injustice, students
protested to end that injustice. We
could learn from that time and
those who lived during it We must
try harder and protest louder when
there is no department of Afro-
American Studies. When there is
no Black Cultural Center. When
there are no Native American
professors. When there is no mul
ticulturalcurriculum. When people
are depicted as monkeys. When
campus buildings are named after
racists.
You do not have the privilege
to protest injustice, you have the
obligation. More importantly, you
have the obligation to learn about
the feelings and concerns of those
who are the targets of racism.
This must be done if we are to
make progress toward thecreation
of a j ust university and a just wotW,
Express yourself about issues that concern Black Ink readers. Feel free to
contribute. Drop articles by Suite 108-D Student Union, or mail to Black Ink,
CB# 5210, Student Union, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
Appreciate Education
Shortly after I graduated from high school last sping, a wonder
ful thing happened to me: I rediscovered my love of reading. Dur
ing my high school years, I had svapped reading, painfully avoid
ing academic pursuits beyond what was done in the classroom and
what needed to be done at hcmic to maintain decent grades. My
childhood love of reading—few pleasure—was lost Now, for the
ast several months, I have been horrified to consider that I might
never make up for those “lost" years. Certainly, however, I will try.
TTiis January, I finally got around to reading two books my
mother had Icmg ago recOTimended: Ke^firBoy and K(^r Boy in
America, both by the black South African Mark Mathabane, who
now resides in Kemersville. His first bocdc describes his experi
ences growing up under South Africa’s system rf apartheid. Its
sequel relates Mathrf>ane’s later experiences in America, often
comparing and amtrasting race relatiwis in America to race rela*
ttons in South Africa. The term “kaffir boy” is a term that white
South Africois use in the sime context as many white Americans
use “nigger” in ^leaking about African-Americans.
Circumstances dictated that only nine days after I had finished
reading his second autobiography, Mathabane would speak on this
campus. As one of the two keynote speakers fw Race Relations
Week 1991, Mathabane ^ke Feb. 19 in Hill Hall. He had spoken
at N.C. A&T State University last semester, but I found out too late
to attend. But having read both of his autobiogra|Aics since then,
was that much more Interested and excited about hearing him
speak.
Although I had read about his uncertainty toward religion, after
hearing him speak, I csmnot imagine that he does not have some
cind of special relationship with the Creator, wheth« Mathabane
[limself is aware of that relationship or not. There is a certain calm
to his soft-spoken nature that is unimaginable within a person who
has had to endure the conditions of a system as oppressive as
apartheid. And yet he possesses undeniable power and passion as
well. To kxA « his anall body and listen to his pioper voice, you
wouldn’t think such an impression could be made. But for myself
and several others, Mathabane does leave a defmite impression. A
very positive impression.
Few emphasize education, particularly reading, with such
genuine sincerity and with such noticeable appreciation of its
merits. In America, IknOw many of usaeguilty of notanHBciating
and taking advantage crfeducatkMialopportoBities that many do not
have at all. Besides, the goal that we sdl become “Mnart” through
education, particulariy through reading, has the potential to make
us better able to understand and r^atc to others—if we are open-
minded.
From my one semester completed here at UNC, I don’t doubt
that many students will read fewer books and attend fewer cultural
events than the numbo’ of parties they will attend and the number
of beers they will drink. At the same time, underprivileged people
around the globe (including in South Africa and America), won’t
ever have a decent opportunity even to imagine attending a univer
sity, never mind actually attending one.
Our college years are a time for soul-searching, Onding out
whom we really are. A time (or asking questions. A time for
exposing ourselves to as many different ideas, experiences and
perspectives as possible.
One of the most important issues for us to consider is race
relations. When a p«son considers the stale of this nation’s racc
relations, the question arises, “Where are we going?” I believe the
answer to that question is: “Backwatls,’* PresidCTts Reagan and
Bush have both, at bea. Ignored racc relations. As a result, things
have gotten jwogressively worse. And that tr«id shows no sign of
letting up.
We must demand that racial concerns be addressed at every
level, by politicians and the general public both. Kimberly EUing'
see” Appreciating Education," p. 12
Black Ink March 4,1991