OCTOBER 5, 1992
OPINION 19
Letters To the Editor
I Beyond a shadow of a doubt, a
j; standing BCC will promote
^ )eci and understanding among
. races. Whether or not a racist is
^ scious of his true fear, after four
I dred years of maintaining a rac-
ystem, he has been programmed
, ertly to carry forth the mission
I lis forefathers. Thus, any men-
, 1 of a free standing BCC trans-
, s an imminent message to his
' id that his way of life will falter.
AVhy does such a jK^evalent anxi-
, exist among the campus major-
,pver a building that will promote
advancement and teaching of
, :k culture and ideas. Day to day,
see the necessity for this build-
I We see it in the r^ incidents
le past two weeks. The campus
j ority’s insensitive api»x)ach to-
,ds the descriptions of the men
jjsed in the attacks has further
j ed the hostility between blacks
lecially black men) and whites
^is campus. DESCRIPTION: 6
1 black male with a flat top, and
I lips. That description fits about
jity percent of the black males on
I campus! The fact tha a white
nen appears noticeably uneasy
«I approach her on the way to
k proves that the campus ma-
Jty still harbors a certain fear and
tility towards blacks, especially
|k men.
I am indeed disgusted with you,
Wellor Hardin, in regards to the
ke situation. Disgusted that, in
|2,1 still find my people on the
h end of the stick more times
P not, at a University that was
jbiished for higher learning. Yet
4ems that the higher we reach,
jlower many individuals amcxig
campus majority aim to under-
jus. Yes, I am quite perturbed at
fact that I have to live with a
jnty four hour campus lock up
n a black man attacks a white
■nan. However, during this past
mer, when a white man raped a
k housekeeper, an employee of
. university, the incident was dis-
^ with a “ ho hum,” and not a
f was locked, nor a tear dropped.
^01 challenge you to answer a
piion that stirs the minds of many
pie on this campus: are you or
you not a racist? Now before
answer this all-important ques
tion, take a moment to meditate on
the three manifest symptoms of rac
ism that I have discussed. Now, ask
yourself the aforesaid question: are
you or are you not a racist? Can you
identify with any of the three symp
toms? In the most remotely con
scious realm of your mind, what
does a free standing BCC symbol
ize to you? What are you running
from? Are you running from your
past? Because there is no place to
hide from the cancer of racism. This
cancer of racism imbrues our na
tional character. Imbrue: to taint, to
soil.
The struggle for a free standing
BCC has been like a proverbial game
of chess. For years, you and those
before you have proven yourselves
formidable strategists in keeping
from this campus a building that
will benefit it But the game is over.
CHECKMATE! Now, for you, the
real challenge lies ahead. Can you
live with the man in the mirror? Is
your stance on the free standing
BCC a plea for humanity or an
admission of insanity? Only two
choices remain. Do the right thing;
give this campus a free-standing
Black Cultural Center. Or I’ll see
you at the crossroads. The choice is
yours.
Edward Hanes
Sophomore
English
Thomas Scott
Sophomore
Biology
SPIKE’S VISIT
WAS LEGIT
It is quite obvious that Mr. Trey
Ezzell needs to search for the facts
before wasting ink on such drivel as
his letter printed in The Daily Tar
Heel (Spike Lee’s visit another
waste of student fees,” Sept 18,
1992). Also, it would be advisable
to see where he formed such cold
and ignorant views.
First of all, Mr. Ezzell, “your”
student fees did not go to paying the
expenses of Mr. Lee’s much appre
ciated visit The brothers of Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity most gener
ously footed the bill for Spike’s
hotel expenses. I do not know where
you get your information Mr. Ezzell,
if you did in fact seek any facts, but
perhaps you should devote some of
that time you spend wallowing in
ignorance to seeking the truth.
Secondly, I don’t know what
kind of sick humor you were trying
to display by your remark about the
plight of the Haitian refugees.
Maybe if you were facing starva
tion or violent death in your home
land, you would not try to make
such light issue of fellow human
beings searching for a way to sur
vive. Along those same lines, maybe
if your culture and heritage had
been smothered and hidden for hun
dreds of years, you would see the
importance for a free-standing black
cultural center.
Now, let me shatter the mental
image you are undoubtedly form
ing of me while reading this letter.
I am white but unhke you Mr. Ezzell,
I have taken the time to listen in
stead of hear, love instead of hale,
leam instead of being satisfied with
ignorance, and unafraid to let go of
values taught to me that are wrong
and ethnocenuic. I challenge you,
Mr. Ezzell, to unlock your mind,
use your eyes and open your heart
to values and cultures that differ
from the terribly shallow ones you
now hold.
If you or anyone wants to stand
in the way of our movement for a
free-standing black cultural center,
you better have more than shallow,
misguided, untrue and racist argu
ments. If you do not, I ask you to get
out of the way and stop wasting our
time.
Grant T. Campbell
Senior
Health Policy & Administration
NCAAiENFORCE
TITLE IX
My purpose in writing is to ob
tain public support for holding the
Congress and administration re
sponsible for failing to enforce Title
IX of the Education Amendment of
1972 concerning women’s partici
pation in intercollegiate athletics.
On April 9, 1992, Chairwoman
Cardiss Collins of the House Sub
committee on Commerce, Con
sumer Protection and Competitive
ness, opened hearings on: ‘Title
IX: The effects on Women ’s Sports
and Gender Equity.” Copies of the
wimess Ust for this hearing and all
documents cited herein are avail
able at your newspaper office for
public review or copying. In this
hearing, Mr. Schultz, executive di
rector of the National Collegiate
Athletic Associate (NCAA), dis
cussed the efforts of the NCAA to
assist its membership in achieving
gender equity in intercollegiate ath
letics.
In my opinion, because the
NCAA sponsors twice as many male
teams in its basketball and lacrosse
Division I championship tourna
ments as female teams and no com
parable female team to the large
male football teams in these cham
pionship tournaments, it is ex
tremely unlikely that the NCAA
will be considered a serious factor
in the promotion of gender equity
among its membership.
In testimony at these hearings,
Ms. Vargyas, senior counsel for
education and employment, Na
tional Women’s Law Center, states
that the underlying cause for ineq
uities in the treatment of women in
competitive athletics is, “a failure
of leadership in both the university
community and government en
forcement agencies to address the
problem (see page 2). She reviewed
the Brooklyn College case, which
was resolved by the Office for Civil
Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of
Education, as an example of this
failed government enforcement. In
that case, several dates by which
lime the college had committed to
take certain actions had elapsed
without such action having been
taken. However, OCR closed this
case finding no violation based on
assurances given by this institution
under investigation. There was no
enforcement of those violated as
surances. To reinforce this asser
tion by Ms. Vargyas, I am enclosing
the assurances made by Towson
State University (TSU) and the first
evaluation by OCR under these as
surances of April 9, 1992. This
evaluation shows that in at least two
of five areas, TSU failed to meet its
assurances in recruitment and sup
port services (see items 3 and 4).
Moreover, OCR found that a new
area, athletic financial aid, which
was adequate in its 1989-90 aca
demic year review had deteriorated
dramatically in the 1990-91 aca
demic year. No OCR enforcement
action is discussed or threathened
in this evaluation for TSU’s failure
to comply completely with its as
surances to the OCR.
Although Ms. Vargyas sug
gested to this subcommittee that the
assistant secretary for Civil Rights,
the Honorable Michael L. Williams,
be subpoenaed to appear before this
subcommittee hearing, she was in
formed that he would appear at an
other meeting of this subcommit
tee. However, 1 was informed in
Sept. of 1992, by a subcommittee
staff member that due to insuffi
cient time, no more hearings on this
matter will be held by this subcom
mittee in the I02nd Congress.
If sufficient time is unavailable
for enforcement of Title IX by ei
ther the administration or the 102nd
Congress, then the public must de
mand an explanation from their
senators and representatives to jus
tify such an exffeme delay in view
of the enactment of Title IX 20
years ago. In order to assist the
public in the effort, I am enclosing
the Washington, D.C. addresses and
the disuict telephone numbers of all
these House subcommittees on
commerce, consumerprotection and
competitiveness members. In addi
tion to obtaining the positions of
candidates for national office, the
public is strongly urged to make it
clear that any incumbents who
thought that after 20 years Title IX
should wait more before it is seri
ously enforced in competitive ath
letics, will wait more than 20 years
to obtain their vole at elections.
If someone desires to discuss
these matters further or to obtain
additional information, including
the addresses and telephone num
bers, they may contact Frank Soda
at telephone (410)455-9687.
Frank Soda
Towson, Md.