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The Voice
November 23, 1982
Editorials
Does anyone really care about whether students are informed
about certain events or situations which occur on this campus? Just
how freely is information disseminated?
The Voice, working with a staff of sixteen students out of over 2,000,
(all of whom are full-time students, work part-time jobs and/or
have family obligations) is making a determined effort to put out a
campus newspaper which is largely informative. Under these con
ditions, minor mistakes are bound to be made. There are no excuses
offered, but only a pledge to try harder for perfection.
Still, information from The Voice probably reaches more studen
ts than the small sheets of paper or even posters scattered around
campus. It would seem as if information, policies and procedures
from faculty, staff, administration, and student organizations'
would be pouring into the newspaper office, right?
Wrong! While some press releases are received, information and
changes in procedure which directly affect students are gathered by
checking out rumors and/or student complaints. And checking out
information is oftw a situation of hearing “Don’t quote me” about
the simplest infidrmatioh, meeting with hostility before any
questions can be asked, and sometimes being faced with plain old
rude refusals to comment.
Yes, reporters dig. They are supposed to. But why do so many
people who are in positions to clarify and inform appear to have
something to hide?
And why, if those same people are so concerned about students
getting erroneous information from The Voice, don’t those same
people initiate contact with the newspaper to correct errors, thereby
joining The Voice in doing the best possible job in keeping students
informed.
It’s good to score but it’s better if the team wins.
Black F emales
By Emanuel Vaughn, Jr.
Since the days of slavery, black women have shown that they can adapt to any
ixrv»A fAV V>vV\. "TVveireCore, \s rvol s\irpr\s\rvg to find w \>lack. woman
fulfilling the roles of an executive and parent. Many times the black woman's
capability to seemingly progress further than her male counterpart is used as a tool to
deepen the anxieties already present between our people.
Many black men feel very threatened to find a black women “In Charge” and
refuse to cooperate with her. If every black man would look at his own life he would
probably find that there has always been a dominate black female in his life. This
dominate female has probably been his mother. So, it seems ironic to see black men
feel very resentful toward black female leaders. For the most part, black mothers
have done one hell of a job in preparing their children for the real world. Almost a^l
black men will agree that their mother's were fantastic. If you don't believe that, just
try talking negatively about any black man's mother. Good luck!
But “sisters” if you are one of the black women who find yourself in charge, don't
overwork the cliche “If you've got it, flaunt it” because this will only create greater
tension that may already exist. And what the “brothers” need to do is support their
talented sisters no matter what position they may hold and learn to be proud of our
successes and our failures, together.
Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor,
I conferred with past-editor, Mrs. J. Stewart in reference to a submitted article for
publication; however, the article did not meet her approval. The article was
pertinent, in that it high-lighted a school function, the Freshmen Talent Show.
Since then, 1 have personally interviewed some of the contestants that were in the
talent show, and I am prepared to submit a rough draft of the interview for
publication.
According to Mrs. Stewart, the first submitted draft was too wordy and somewhat
trivial.
The question comes to mind, ‘What does the editor's office consider wordy and
trivial (irrelevant)?’ The wordiness of the article did not compare to the article on
Studio 105 and the Spectrum and it was relevant in that it treated in a praise-worthy
and essential fashion, the essence of the Freshmen Talent Show:
1 understood the message in the article concerned with Studio 105 and the
Spectrum, but I hardly doubt that a school function is of less importance.
I would appreciate a more realistic evaluation of the situation.
Respectfully,
Woody Graham
Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to part one of Dr. Manning Marable's article, “The Black
Elite-VS-Reaganism.” “Were I a student at FSU, 1 would take everything,” Dr.
Marable says with agrain of salt. The good doctor is a part of that singular elite of
black Americans that is determined to carry on a flirtation with Marxism.
Fayetteville State is a fine institution of learning built with the cooperation of both
whites and blacks of all classes. There is no need for a student at FSU to waste his or
her valuable time with the class struggle of which Dr. Marable is so enamored. I
believe America (today) offeres any black willing to pay the price in hard work and
determination the opportunity to achieve upward mobility. Dr. Marable is a great
admirer of W.E. Dubois whose stellar work for civil rights was blurred beyond
further visibility when he became ardent Communist in 1961 and apted for
revolutionary tactics rather than working through the system.
So I would not dismiss so lightly the disparaging remarks concerning economist
and sociologist Tom Sowell, whose myth-breaking books about black America have
been attacked so viciously not only by the black elite but by hard-line liberal whites
as well. Sowell believes and preaches unceasingly that the key to breaking the cycle of
poverty is hard work, family stability and faith in God. I'd go along with that, having
experienced it myself and I would recommend that Sowell's “Say's Law and
Classical Economics Reconsidered” be recommended reading for a black college
student.
Sincerely yours,
Paul T. Callahan
From the Grassroots
The Black Elite
VS. Reaganism:
Quixotic Search For Economic Alternatives
have been futile, however, because
upon Williams’ return he was senten
ced to serve one year in a Georgia pen-
titentary for numerous traffic
violations and for fleeing the scene of
an accident in 1981.
The economic initiatives - of Black
managers in the private sector have
ranged from “conservative” to simply
absurd. A good representative of their
tendency is Joe Black, a Vice President
of the Greyhound Corporation. Black
condemned unemployed Black youth
for not understanding the “thrust of
the Civil Rights Movement,” in July,
1982. “Too many of them have chosen
to be guided by emotion and want to
believe that it was to prove that Black
can beat White or mistakenly thinking
that we were to receive something just
because we’re Black.” In Black’s
opinion, it was time for “Black
adults” to “have the intestinal for
titude to tell youthful Blacks that they
are spetiding too much time worrying
about thw rod—‘racism.’ When we
were young, we called it ‘prejudice,’
‘segregation,’ and ‘jim crow,’ but we
did not spend our time worrying about
it.” Racism was not the reason that
Black unemployment was at an all-time
high. “Too often Black college studen
ts select ‘sop’ courses rather than those
studies that will make them com
petitive in today’s labor market.” Like
Thomas Sowell and other Black con
servative economists, Black suggested
that Blacks’ ignorance and inadequate
training were to blame for their lack of
employment opportunities.
What almost no civil rights leader,
corporate manager of politician from
(Continued on page 3)
(Editor’s Note: This is the final part
of a two-part series by Dr. Manning
Marable.)
Many Black Reaganites have not
rescended their unqualified endor
sements of Ronald Reagan. In Oc
tober, 1980, two important aides of the
late Martin Luther King, Jr., suppor
ted Reagan—the Rev. Ralph David
Abernathy and Georgia State Rep. (D)
Hosea Williams. Williams justified his
support for Reagan because “the
mounting KKK’s violent activities
against blacks all across the country”
were indirectly a product of the Carter
Administration. Appearing with South
Carolina segregationist Strom Thur
mond, in December, 1980, Williams
and Abernathy announced that they
were “for the Republican platform”
and backed bizarre suggestion that
Thurmond serve as “a liason officer
between Republicans on behalf of
minorities.” As loyal members of what
one journalist termed “Strom Thur
mond’s Black Kitchen Cabinet,”
Williams and Abernathy received a
“letter of introduction” from Reagan
for a Black trade mission to Japan in
June, 1982. Williams and Abernathy
met with Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki
and Japanese business leaders “to
promote Japanese investments in the
U.S. by offering tax incentives to
businesses that invest in joint
J apanese-Afro-American ventures. ’ ’
The 17-day trade mission sparked some
“interest and curiosity” among
Japanese corporations, who admitted
that they had “never considered
establishing a joint-venture factor in
the U.S. with either black or white
businessmen.” The entire effort may