Welcome
Class of '95
Making A Solid Transition
Words of advice from a fellow classmate
By Christopher Bracey
Contributor
“My body was given back to me
sprawled out, distorted,
recoloured, clad in mourning...
The Negro is an animal, the Negro
is ugly; look, a nigger and it’s
cold. The nigger is...cold.andthe
little boy is trembling because he
is afraid of the nigger..."—Aime
Cesaire, Return to My Native
Land
Welcome back to good ol’
Carolina everybody. And I’d like
to give an extra-special welcome
to entering Class of 1995!
Welcome to what many of your
Caucasian counterparts call “The
Southern Part of Heaven.”
Carolina is a great place for
undergraduate training, and you
ought to be proud to be a Tarheel.
Here is your time to shine!
Since this is the Pre-
Orientation issue of Black Ink,
the first of the academic year, I
want to dedicate this article to
you, the freshman class. This
article is of considerable length,
so please bear with me. But I feel
I must include all of these thoughts
because each is intended to benefit
you. So let us begin:
Making A Solid Transition
Much of what I will say is
solely for the purpose of making
your transition to college life at
Carolina that much less painful
and that much more complete.
What do I mean when I use the
word transition? I am talking about
settling into the Carolina
atmosphere; weathering the blows
of change. A transition includes
more than a physical
displacement. It embraces an
emotion process as well— one
which seems to affect African
Americans more severely. It is
this process of transition which I
am sympathetic to and hope to
diminish its negative effects.
Which brings me back to my
opening quote. Go ahead and read
it again. Go ahead! What do I
mean, you ask? Well, first, I want
to get your attention. Second, I
want you to understand that there
are some people on this campus
that will view you in such a
manner. Not only does this make
your transition more difficult
(nobody likes to be where they are
unwanted or despised), but it
creates a tension on campus that
interferes with their transition as
well. What is important to
understand is that these hateful
students must learn to get along
with you just like you must learn
to get along with them.
Remember, racism is a double-
edged sword thatcuts both ways—
one group is oppressed while the
oppressor is tortured by his own
guilty conscious. If someone looks
at you strangely, or with that “hate
stare” which some of us know all
too well, respond not with hatred
and anger, but with a smile and a
loud, chipper “Hello! How are
you?” You just might break
through and make a new friend.
And if they aren’t man or woman
enough to respond respectfully,
they will sit there stewing in their
own juices! Trust me, it really
bums them up! Knowing this, you
ought to feel a helluva lot better.
But remember, it’s easier to make
a successful transition with
friends.
Assert Your Right for Self-
Determination
“The only thing white people have
that black people need or should
want, is power—and no one holds
power forever. White people
cannot, in the generality, be taken
as models on how to live. The
white man is himself in sore need
of new standards, which will
release himfrom his confusion"—
James Baldwin, The Fire Next
Time
We have all heard of the white
man’s theory of the Great
American Melting Pot. We know
see "Solid Transition," p. 10 I