Broncos' Voice
March 1997
EDITORIAL COMMENT
DISTANCE
NOWHERE
by Roger A. Harris
1 used to wonder! about living and
dying-U think the difference lies!
Between tears and crying.
I used to wonder/About here and
there-II think the distancells no
where.
Borderline by Langston Hughes
Let’s cut to the quick. FSU
students’ constitutional and
civil rights were violated on
February 21, 1997, when
Fayetteville City Police De
partment Storm Troopers ran
sacked Bryant Hall and the
people that lived in it. Even
worse, Chancellor McLeod
elected to disregard students’
cries of foul play and sup
ported the overreactions, and
the hastily-completed, contra
dictory, and inaccurate reports
of both FSU and Fayetteville
City police departments, only
to have that support explode in
his face when it was revealed
that both reports contained
lies; FSU police had jurisdic
tion over the area in question
but no control over the situa
tion at hand; Fayetteville City
police used excessive force,
and students were accosted
and maced in their own homes.
So what?
The reason Fayetteville
City Police Chief Hansen
fessed up to the embarrassing,
dangerous, and destructive
lies is that his department is
currently under investigation
for Racism. It would have
been (and some suggest this
event has become) political
suicide for him to try to cover
up the lie included in official
police reports. Is this new rev
elation a reflection of what
really goes on in his depart
ment? The answer is problem
atical. Regardless, it has cast
an even darker, longer, and
more sinister shadow on how
Fayettenam treats African-
americans, be they students or
citizens.
Students did nothing (I
repeat, nothing) wrong. Many
observers may be upset that a
few students cussed out offic
ers of the law, but when those
same officers are chasing you
down your own hallway, jack
ing your brothers and sisters
up against walls, spraying
mace under your bedroom
door, and telling you to dis
perse from your own home for
no just cause or reason, I think
you might have a few choice
words for them also. Four stu
dents were arrested for “Fail
ure to Disperse,” not for “ille
gal activity” or possession of
any illegal substances. On top
of that, the officers lied about
what they did. You tell me
what’s wrong with this picture.
FSU students should liter
ally run Fayetteville. Yet, when
any event of import affects our
campus or the community,
you’ll usually find most of us
happily ambling about in an
ambivalent cloud of benign
and clueless smoke. IGNO
RANCE IS NOT BLISS.
APATHY IS NOT COOL. We
need to research Chancellor
McLeod, Kent State,
Tienamen Square, and Burma
and connect their mutual rela
tionships to FSU’s students
being victims of civil rights
vioJations. For in all of these
cases, it was the students
(baby, the students) that saw
what was going on, saw that it
wasn’t right, and “got up for
the down stroke.”
Chancellor McLeod later
stated that he wasn’t happy
with the way the situation was
handled. Fair Enough. This ad
mission comes from the heart
of a man who has repeatedly
advertised himself as a person
who, during the
Civil Rights Move
ment of the 60’s,
advocated the same
civil rights that
were violated on
that sad February
night on his cam
pus. STUDENTS of
the 90’s: Can you
say the same—have
you done as much;
tell me how can we
expect to unite our
campus and take ac
tion when we can’t
even speak to each
other in passing; is it one love
or no love—Bronco Pride or
Bronco sighs? Black History
Month, or Black History be
trayal? Dogs, guns, mace, po
lice, dispersal, twenty-six
squad cars for 100 students.
Sound familiar?
Realize that the contradic
tion I’m revealing is not in
knowing, but in doing nothing
about that knowing. Realize
that anything that becomes of
this situation (and of FSU) will
be directly related to what we,
as students, either do or do not
do about police confronting
students who simply wished to
assemble peaceably. Rise or
fall, brothers and sisters, but
don’t just lie there taking it;
don’t be going by not know
ing why, that how it is when
you leave this campus will be
how it was when you came, the
damn same.
If we don’t get involved in
Roger A. Harris
Editor-In-Cheif
learning about and actively
protecting our freedoms, we
will never evolve as a persons,
or as a culture or society. And
in this instance, even though
we may exhibit movement,
when we clear the mace from
our blurred and tired eyes,
we’ll clearly see that the dis
tance we’ve traveled is no
where.
It should be made clear that
student leadership (especially
SGA) truly represented student
concerns with respect to this
situation and are to be com
mended. This editorial is di
rected to the student body at
large, for if we do not unite and
aggressively support and pro
tect our interests, it will be only
a matter of time before more
civil rights, First Amendment
rights, Fourth Amendment
rights, and freedoms are as
saulted again. Ed
“Rise or fall, brothers and sisters, but don Y just
lie there taking it; don Y be going by not knowing
why, that how it is when you leave this campus
will be how it was when you came, the damn
same.”
IN RESPONSE TO LAST ISSUES: FSU GREEKS: DEMI-GODS OF
MEDIOCEITY GOING NOWHERE FAST
I think that some questions
must be asked of any organiza
tion that plans to be successful.
“Where are we going...” If an
organization is to establish
goals for itself, they must ask
this question. “...What are we
doing?” must be asked to evalu
ate how close we’re coming to
achieving our goals.
What have we done lately?
I get this question usually once
or twice a week. My response
is always “a lot but, room for
more.” The next thing I do is
ask the inquirer, “What have
you been looking for?” Most
people don’t tend to look for
“greeks” unless we are wearing
our letters. But what about the
clean-ups, unity programs, tu
toring, or attendance at func
tions right here on this campus.
Have you seen us? Maybe we
were studying beside you.
We’re still students. Oh, I know,
we didn’t have our letters on.
Excuse us our many
sweatshirts, jackets, and hats
were all dirty on those days.
We don’t continue to ride
the coattails of our founders. If
that is your narrow minded
view, our founders must have
by Alrick Banks
ridden the coattails of such
people like Peter, Muhammad,
Moses, Mary, and Martha. We
are challenged to deal with is
sues of our own era, along with
problems of a time before, that
have escalated and carried over
into our era.
Yes, we do at times deny
membership to some individu
als who may seem OK on pa
per. You suggest judging them
“internally.” The next time you
go to a job interview please tell
the employer to hire you on
your internal skills, as oppose
to your external. You don’t give
an interviewer a sheet with your
internal skills, they are exter
nal. You bring to the table what
you feel best qualifies you for
entrance into the company. So
since we settle for the “norm”
in your words, let’s do what
normal people do. If you don’t
qualify, then you don’t get into
the company. They hire some
one who qualifies, or in their
words is “what they’re looking
for.”
If accepted, you
say”...begin a new birth...”
Why? How come they can’t
build on the one that is already
present. We as black people, are
so quick to “begin a new birth”
as oppose to sticking with
something. Where has perse
verance gone? Where is your so
called, “pillar of faith?^
The next time Ms. Claire-
Jones, you feel we are demi
gods of mediocricity, please ask
yourself, have you opened your
eyes and ears to look and listen
for signs of work and concern,
or have you concemed yourself
work with opening your mouth
and closing your eyes and ears.
Until next time...