Page Six
The Passing Of The
African Tradition
On January 17, 1938, Dr. Charles
Wesley, of Howard university, made
a very interesting speech in the B.
N. Duke auditorium. He used for his
subject, “The Passing of the African
Tradition.”
Dr. Wesley introduced his speech
by saying that the Greeks and the
Jews feel very proud of their tradi
tions because they have been taught
to believe that they have a worthy
background. In school, they, as well
as we, are taught that European art
—European civilization, has always
been superior to that of Africa.
We Negroes have been taught that
it w^as almost a disgrace to be a Negro
and that Africa has no worthy back
ground; therefore we are not proud
of our ancestry.
Dr. Wesley gave the idea that we
should be proud of our traditions be
cause in studying the history of
Africa one finds that there is much
to be proud of. Much of the credit
that has been given to other people
is due the Africans. Does Africa
have a history; a religion? Yes. Many
of the queens of long ago were Ne
groes. Three of the most noted kings
of ancient times were of the Negro
race. They were kings of Melle, of
Soghay, and of Askia. Their form of
government has handed down much
to other forms of government. Al
though missionaries have said and
done much about the African religion,
we find that the Africans were wor
shipping the spirit that was in the
objects they worshipped as we wor
ship God. Another reason we should
be proud of our tradition is that the
home of Adam and Eve, the Garden
of Eden, is in Africa.
Does Africa have a literature?
Africa does have a literature. Just
as other people have folk tales and
other stories the Africans have theirs.
jJr. Wesley made this clear by re
lating one of the folk tales to us.
Why then should we hesitate to be
proud of our traditions? We have no
reason. Although it has been said
from year to year that we have no
worthy background, that all Africans
are black, which statement is false,
and that it is almost disgraceful to
be black, we should study our African
history and be able to prove that the
unworthy tradition concerning Africa
is false.
—Verta S. Jordan.
Heart Pain Is Traced To
Overweight In Many Cases
♦
Severe chest pain, resembling that
of the dread heart malady, angina
pectoris, is in many cases due to ex
cessive overweight. Dr. William J.
Kerr, professor of medicine in the
University of California Medical
School, has found.
The huge “bay window” of very
fat men forces them to adopt an ab
normal posture which cramps the
chest, causes flaring of the lower
ribs, fixes the diaphragm at a low
position, thus producing breathless
ness and preventing the heart from
getting a normal supply of oxygen.
Severe pain and low blood pressure
in the standing position accompany
the condition. The shortness of breath
is marked only in the standing posi
tion which is contrary to the usual
experience in heart failure.
The pain and other features clear
up when the weight is reduced and
the posture brought back to normal,
Dr. Kerr discovered. Diet, properly
fitted abdominal belts, and later pos
tural exercises are used in the treat
ment. —Science News Letter.
Soft Answers
At a reception in Washington, a
young man was asked by a widow
to guess her age. “You must have
some idea,” she said as he hesitated.
“I have several ideas,” he admitted
with a smile. “The only trouble is
that I hesitate whether to make you
ten years younger on account of your
looks, or ten years older on account
of your brains.”
—Lippincott’s Magazine
* * *
A lady approached Congressman
John Allen, of Mississippi, one day
and held out her hand. “Now con
fess, Mr. Allen,” she said, “that
you’ve forgotten all about me.”
He had. He knew her face, but his
memory would serve him no further.
But with a low bow he replied,
“Madam, I’ve made it the business
of my life to try to forget you.”
—Told by O. Henry
* * *
An old lady of 90, asked how she
had lived so long and so serenely,
answered: “I think it is because I’ve
met life’s every emergency by going
to bed.” —Bruce Barton in
The American Magazine
The Reporter
(Continued from page one)
nual report of R. W. Warfield, direc
tor of the Bureau of Appointments
and Student Employment. The total
amount of assistance provided was
$360,205. Seven hundred undergrad
uates were given assistance.
* * *
A new athletic code which bans
football subsidies and recruiting but
does not impose arbitrary restrictions
on scholastic or financial aid to
undergraduates has just been adopted
by Cornell University. The code
“provides for unqualified university
control of all student aid, direct or
indirect; bars so-called ‘transfer stu
dents’ from all intercollegiate com
petition and frowns upon prep school
proselyting.” It is substantially the
same as the “triple agreement” of
Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
* *
Announcement comes from the
University of Pennsylvania that rec
ommendations have been made to the
effect that undergraduates who fail
to achieve and maintain a satisfac
tory standing in English in all
phases of their university work may
be barred from graduation until such
deficiencies have been overcome.
According to the plan, instructors in
all departments are to stress the im
portance of good written English.
* • * *
Effective through the academic
year 1938-39, tuition fees at Syracuse
University will be increased some
what over 10 per cent. In most of
the undergraduate colleges the in
crease is from $335 to $375. In the
College of Applied Science the in
crease is from $365 to $400. The
College of Law and the School of
Library Science continue at $335, and
the College of Medicine at $500.
Partially to meet these increases in
rates, all special fees except those for
matriculation, graduation, and ex
cess hours will be abandoned. In the
past, laboratory fees have been a sub
stantial source of revenue to the Uni
versity, ranging from $2 to $24 an
nually per student.
* * *
“The immediate task of educators
is to persuade the American people
that ‘whole men’ are worth while,”
comments President Dixon Ryan
Fox, of Union College. President Fox
believes the “ideal college would be
an Interpreter’s House where a young
man might sample the various special
interests of life and with slow delib
eration come to choose the most con
genial to him.”
THE CAMPUS E C H Q
This Practice Teaching!
(Continued from page one)
understand youth; perhaps our age
cannot understand the youth of the
present high school generation.
Perhaps, though, you can tell us
what to do when:
1. One of us asks a boy to make
a sentence using the word “regard
ing.” He, with all sincerity, responds,
“I am going, regarding to what you
say.”
2. A shorthand teacher, who dic
tating a sentence containing the word
“shepherd” asks a pupil how he wrote
the word and he replies, “I wrote it
in longhand.”
3. A slightly mischievous boy
takes about two minutes to deposit
a piece of paper in the waste basket,
using magnificent flourishes of the
hands in accomplishing what seems
so simple to everybody else.
4. The amplifier blurts out a mes
sage and no less than four pupils fall
out into the hall to catch what is
being said.
5. You haven’t studied too much
yourself and the class wit trips you
in a couple of items.
6. You are constantly harrassed
by pupils who will remove neither
hats, coats, nor chewing gum at your
first request.
7. You have a pupil who is a vic
tim of the opposite of insomnia.
8. You have covered your lesson
ten minutes before the bell rings and
Miss Rush happens to be visiting
your class that day.
There is one thing certain, if walk
ing is good for your health, all of us
should be perfect specimens of that
coveted asset. Try walking to Hill
side, laden with books and a dis
turbed mind, in nine minutes as your
correspondent did. Maybe I’m wrong,
but I know that will take either
pounds off or gray matter out? Rare
and sweet are the chances for riding;
walking is the universal method of
transportation.
Fellow students, my advice to you
is: Follow your teacher-training
course through and though the way
be rugged, plod on with the assurance
that after all is over, you can receive,
together with your broadened experi
ence, either B, C, or F.
■—J. O. Yeates.
The Cost of Education
(Continued from page 1)
Montana 96.29
Nebraska 64.75
Nevada 128.11
New Hampshire 84.63
New Jersey 108.33
New Mexico 63.16
New York 134.13
North Carolina 31.11
North Dakota 75.46
Ohio 82.42
Oklahoma 43.33
Oregon 77.83
Pennsylvania 79.70
Rhode Island 95.03
South Carolina 32.01
South Dakota 85.70
Tennessee 35.81
Texas 55.15
Utah 67.07
Vermont 65.55
Virginia 38.92
Washington 85.33
West Virginia 57.93
Wisconsin 80.87
Wyoming 101.62
—Educational Digest.
The above figures do not apply to
the education of Negro children in
the South.
It is a shame. Students in our col
leges should awaken to the gross in
justice and fit themselves for the
future, which will demand not only
wisdom, but strength.
Wednesday, March 2, 1938
Bri-Dra-So Stagers Rehearsing
The Bri-Dra-So Stagers, having
successfully completed their first
major production of the year, “The
Passing of the Third Floor Back,”
are now eagerly rehearsing for their
next production, “The'Yellow Shad
ow.” This promises to be a very in
teresting mystery-comedy and will be
produced on the 18th of March. The
following have been selected for the
cast: Mattie Laws, Mayme Ethel
Spaulding, Pocahontas Scott, Willard
Tyler, Geneva Harper, Melvin Sykes,
Esther Delaney, Walter Ellerbee,
Joseph Christmas, and Williard Sfaf-
ford.
Off Campus Extension
Service Corner
(Continued from page 1)
In the announcement communica
tion, the hope was expressed that
the teachers would not . slow up their
pace of work in bringing their cer
tificates up to standard level because
of this additional time given them.
To our way of thinking and too from
the reaction of teachers to this ex
tension of time, it would seem that it
will serve as a spur to greater ac
tivity rather than a retardation. In
fact teachers who had lost hope of
making the grade have taken up the
work again and are planning work
according to this new time limit.
Whatever the general outcome may
be, it is certain that large numbers
of worthwhile teachers will be greatly
benefited because of the extension of
time and will be able to reach the
goal of their ambition. It is this large
group of teachers that makes the
action of the Certification Division
both timely and helpful.
The Current Extension Course—
Graham Center
By G. W.—A Member
In the extension classes for this
year, “Ante-Bellum North Carolina”
is being studied. Much interest and
enthusiasm have been manifested by
the pupils and the teacher of the
Graham Center. Although this text
is a social history, the class as a whole
has given special attention to the
Negro of North Carolina.
I have often wondered just how
the scales of Fate would balance if
all the handicaps and prejudices that
have been hurled against the Negro
of North Carolina and the limited
opportunities and advantages offered
him were placed upon it to be justly
weighed.
Of the three race elements in North
Carolina during slavery, the Negro
was at the bottom of the scale. The
superiority of the Negro as a slave
kept the white man from enslaving
the Indians although this attempt was
made. Slavery was an expensive insti
tution but the returns were great
because the service of the Negro was
much better than that of some others
of European descent.
Since the Negro was at the bottom
of the social scale, his cultural devel
opment, the color of his skin, and
the laws of the province operated to
keep him at the bottom. He knew
that he had no chance before the
Emancipation, but even at that, he
was alert and made use of every
possible opportunity.
We all know what rapid progress
has been made by this race, although
the mountain of prejudice continues
to stand as a barrier. Yet in spite of
the many hardships this seemingly
unfortunate race has undergone, our
progress, compared with that of other
races, has not been excelled. It is
good to know the depths from which
we have come, that we may better
appreciate the progress made, and the
influences that have helped to bring
it about.
Youth Leadership
In view of Negro History and
Negro Youth Achievement weeks,
which have only recently been ob
served, the quest of leadership and its
importance culminates in my mind.
It seems fitting that it should fol
low Negro History Week, which
places great emphasis upon the past,
for it is the aim of Negro Youth
Achievement Week to pay tribute
and give encouragement to today’s
youth who have achieved and those
who are striving to make their mark
in the world.
Following the conclusion of the
period of chattel slavery by the
Emancipation Proclamation, numer
ous advancements were made by pio
neers of the race. These when remin
iscing today, we distinguish as lead
ers. Is the youth of tomorrow not
inspired by the high achievements of
his predecessors? This is an inquiry
which is ever recurring, but yet it is
for us to answer. Whatever the course
we may pursue there have been those
who have treaded the paths before
us. The progress made has served as
an incentive for our aspirations.
Have you as an individual formulated
yours? If so, yours is the task to ex
cel in that channel. This ambition,
however, will not be attained with
just the mere desire, it must be pre
cipitated with courage and convic
tions, irrespective of the difficulties.
The purpose of this lies in the
realization that we are to be the fu
ture pioneers, not only on college
campuses but in the straight and nar
row paths of life. This is a message
which needs constant repetition. Gone
are the days when we can count upon
philanthrophy to bridge our rivers
of despair. Past is the golden age of
charity for our institutions and for
our race. This, the day of self help,
of self denial, is necessary to cope
with the emergencies which are con
flicting.
We may not have the opportunity
nor the ability to understand what
many youths today are striving to
do, but we should have the desire to
lend support and give encouragement
to those who are and who strive to be.
As youth of the future years, let us
carve a more brilliant chapter in its
history, by, instead of trusting to
breaks, luck, or perhaps chance,
“stand on our feet” and become lead
ers in our present day crisis.
—Charles C. Graves.
The Chemistry Of Man
A man weighing 140 pounds con
tains enough fat for seven cakes of
soap, carbon for 9,000 pencils, phos
phorous to make 2,200 match heads,
magnesium for one dose of salts, iron
to make one medium-sized nail, suffi
cient lime to whitewash a chicken
coop, enough sulphur to rid one dog
of fleas, and water to fill a 10-gallon
barrel.
—Dr. F. E. Lawson, English savant.
* * ♦
Heavy women command more at
tention than thin ones, and usually
have more friends. They’re not so
apt to be preoccupied with clothes.
Women who think of nothing but
clothes bore men because they haven’t
time to be nice to them.
—Elsa Maxwell in Vogue
Forceful Preaching
Dr. Kidd, a well-known preacher
of Aberdeen, Scotland, in bygone
days, once spied a man sleeping
peacefully through all his fulmina-
tions. He lifted his Bible and threw
it with unerring aim at the head of
the offender, shouting, “If you don’t
hear the Word of God, I’ll make you
feel it!” —Frank Cains,
The Prophet of the Heart,
(Hodder & Stoughton)