PAGE TWO
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1988
Black youth must learn to deal with bias
Racism is once again becoming a major problem for the black community.
Anti-black signs and posters, racial slurs and even racial violence are all
resurfacing in our society. At predominantly white institutions, black students
are having to go through many of the same problems their parents faced in the
’60s.
They are being driven away by white students who feel that blacks don’t
belong in classroom, especially their classrooms. We, at Bennett, have been lucky.
There are no racist remarks spoken to us, no bricks and stones thrown into our
classrooms, and we are not stared at on our way to classes. Yet, the problem
still exists.
Maybe because our generation has never had to actually deal with racism,
we have taken a nonchalant attitude towards the existing racism in South
Africa. Racism that was so strongly fought against in our own country, just 20
years ago.
Some of us say, “It’s not happening to me, so why should I woiry about it?”
We should worry about it because the same racism that the bl^k South Africans
are going through, and that our parents already went through, is now about to
enter our lives.
Racism of the ’60s is coming to the ’90s, and i^ it is not stop^ while it is
in its early stages, we could lose everything that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
died for.
So withdrawing from, and even denying racism, will not make it go away.
That only demonstrates the intimidation of the mere word. We, the future lex
ers of America, should address the problem and look for ways of overcoming
racism through unity and strength.
For, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “A man can t ride your back
unless it’s bent.” (Yvette N. Freeman)
Letters to tlie editor:
Misconceptions are brought to light
To the editor;
It has been brought to my at
tention that my story on “Stu
dents choosing between soap
op>eras and class” has made cer
tain members of the faculty think
that students have been purposely
cutting class to watch television.
I know that this title may sound
a bit misleading, but the story
was not about students cutting
class.
The first sentence of this par
ticular story was “The ’80s are
full of day-time soap operas which
students find interesting enough
to schedule classes around.” This
simply siates that students have
been making an effort to choose
classes that do not fall under the
same time as their favorite pro
gram. There is the notion that
the students residing in Reynolds
Hall are the only people guilty
of this action, but it is an act
that students at all institutions
are guUty of. This is a fact that
has been mentioned on talk shows
and in magazines.
There are some students who
have already been approached by
some of their instructors and have
been told that action will be taken
against those students who are
missing class just to watch tele
vision. But, this is not w'hat is
going on. The point is that the
class schedules are so flexible
that there is enough room for
students to fix their classess
around each program they would
like to see.
The only action I could see
taking place is the rearrangement
of classes so that there will not
be enough room for students to
have so much free time during
the day.
Tondalayo Clark
To the editor:
What four attributes do Andre
Dawson, Doug Williams, Jerry
Rice, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd,
Walter Payton, Vince Coleman
and Willis Reed have in common?
They are all male. That’s one.
Black. That’s two. Athletes. That’s
three. What’s four?
Every one of them entered pro
fessional sports from historically
black colleges. Namely, Florida
A&M, Grambling, Jackson State
and Mississippi Valley State.
I bring that up to poke a hole
in a myth. A mistaken notion that
a black athlete must attend a
predominantly white college or
university to be able to success
fully pursue a career in profes
sional sports after graduation.
If that myth were reality, the
Andre Dawsons’ (the National
League’s MVP in 1987) and the
Doug Williams’ (MVP for Super
Bowl XXII) of this world would
enjoy a rewarding college career
then drop from sight. The reality
is that a good athlete will get
noticed no matter which school
he attends. That brings up an
other very important point: at
tending and graduating from a
historically black school is no less
valuable — either athletically or
academically — then attending a
predominantly white school.
Before I began my own busi
ness last year, I was a vice pre
sident of Personnel and Organi
zation for Xerox Corporation. In
that capacity, I met and worked
with engineers from Prairie View,
math majors from Jackson State
and Lincoln University, systems
analysts from Hampton and
Grambling and a Xerox business
division president, Bernard Kin
sey, who graduated from Florida
A&M. And three graduates of my
alma mater, Lincoln University
in Missouri — Earl Wilson, the
European director of marketing
for IBM; Stan Scott and Thomas
Shrosphere, senior vice presidents
of Philip Morris — have also
made solid contributions in the
business world.
These people are certainly just
as successful, and in some cases
more so, than their black friends
who went to predominantly white
colleges or universities.
I am proud to be an alumni of
Lincoln and my graduation from
a black university certainly didn’t
hold me back, isn’t holding me
back and won’t ever hold me
back.
What can hold blacks back is
— all too frequently — their in
ability to get a quality education
at a predominantly white college.
That’s brought about because
they must — because of the en
vironment — deal with race re
lations issues, which take time
and sap energy. At a black
college, race isn’t an issue. Gretting
a good education is.
Athletically and academically,
black colleges have a role to play.
More of our black young people
should recognize this fact and take
advantage of one of the best
kept secrets in America.
Joseph D. Johnson
nnct
Editor-in-chief Yvette N. Freeman
Assistant editors Shavaughn Neal, Crystal Sadler
Reporters Talmia Bell, Trudy Brockington, Tondalayo Clark,
Lisa Dandridge, Cherryl Floyd, Tanya Goodwin, Toni Henry,
Robin Jackson, Shawane Lassiter, Charlcie Pettway, Tish Richmond,
Glen Smith, Kimmberly Waller, Tammy Winchester, Sara Williams
Advisers Mr. Michael Gaspeny, Dr. Martha Gleaton
Opinions expressed in essays, columns and letters to the editor belong
to their authors, not to the staff of the Banner, whose ideas appear in the
editorials at the top of this page.
Send letters to the editor to Box 2, campus post office. All corres
pondence must bear a handwritten signature and must be acknowledged
by the author. Letters are subject to editing according to newspaper
style and demands of space. No anonymous letters will be published.
Age is only a number
a narrative essay
by Candra Ruffin
Once my friends and I became
sophomores in high school and
were allowed to date, we decided
on one basic rule: no underclass
men. We never went out with
underclassmen males and we had
no intention of doing so.
During that same year, a short
and very skinny freshman asked
me to the J.R.O.T.C. Ball. Every
tooth in his mouth was crooked
and he didn’t loot like he be
lieved in haircuts. In short (no
pun intended)), he wasn’t very
attractive. “Lewis,” I said, not
looking him directly in the face,
“I already have a date, but thanks
for asking.” I figured lying was
better thain, “Hell, no, you know
Where to go!”
My girl friends and I had
northing against the younger guys
except that they were immature
and stupid-acting, and they
thought the word “gentlem:an”
meant saying “Excuse me” if I
happened to accidently walk past
one of their after-lunch belching
contests. We dated to learn, not
to teach. So, freshmen’s phone
numbers went into file 13.
One day in my junior year,
I was sitting in the lunchroom,
talking to one of my friend’s
younger brothers about the
basketball game we attended the
night before. Suddenly, right in
the middle of my eating my rasp
berry jello, he burst out with how
muOh he liked me and he asked
me out. I said, “Come on now,
be serious!” but then he told
me he was. After thinking for
only a milli-second about how
cute his curly hair and thin lips
were, I came back to reality and
told him that there was no way
on God’s green earth it would
work, and that the answer was
no.
One summer day before my
senior year, my best friend’s boy
friend introduceid me to the fin
est dude I had ever seen. He was
so cute I thought I was going to
pass out right there in front of
my car in the middle of the street.
He was about 6’2” and he looked
like he weighed at least 190
pounds. His skin color looked like
coffee with just a little cream.
And there wasn’t a place on his
body (and believe you me, I was
checking it all out) that I didn’t
see muscles, big muscles!
There was a little bit more
than peach fuzz right above his
top lip and on the sides of his
face going down, joining at his
chin. And that smile of his just
wouldn’t quit. The best part was
that he had the most gorgeous
eyes I had ever seen. Not orily
were they the same color as his
handsome light brown skin, but
they had a little hint of baby blue
in them.
Being the sexy, single senior
I was, as he walked off, I thought
I had it all figured out. He had
just come from out of town and
was going to attend our sdhool.
Later on that day, after volley
ball practice, while I was making
my plans about how Michael (that
was his name) and I could get
together, my friend Traci came
running over to me in the gym.
“Girl!” she said, “you will never,
never believe this one.” “What
is it!” “I just can’t believe it.
Candi, you will not believe it!”
I grabbed her shoulders and said,
“Would you please tell me before
Christmas.” And then I got the
shock of my life. Michael was
only fifteen years old! “He’s only
a freshman,” I said over and
over to myself.
Michael broke my heart with
out saying one word. My dreams
of going to prom, homecoming,
and winter sports events with this
gorgeous male were shattered.
And as fast as lighting across the
sky, he was out of my mind, for
a while.
Summer was over, and it was
back to school for me. I found
that my craze for Michael had
not ended. I saw him everywhere
I went — the lunchroom, the
haUs, the gym and at pep rallies.
I couldn’t get Michael out of
my mind, so I started teasing
and flirting. Everytime I saw
him, I smiled or winked. To my
surprise, he flirted in return.
Then we started holding conver
sations. The more I got to know
him, the more I felt differently
toward him. He wasn’t my little
freshman brother anymore, but
a true close friend. I realized I
could talk to him about things I
thought a freshman male couldn’t
understand. He turned out to be
very caring, considerate and help
ful.
Right before Christmas vacation
the second shock hit me. I liked
Michael as a boy friend for the
first time. But, at the time, I
didn’t know if I could handle the
relationship. I mean, what would
people say? A senior going out
with a freshman? “Can’t she get
’someone her own age?”
On Jan. 7, 1987, at 9:30 p.m.,
to be exact, Michael asked me to
be his girl friend. I thought of
all my old rules and principles,
the comments and snickers I
would get from people, the rumors
and put-downs that surely would
be coming my way, but I said,
“Yes!”
Even though the relationship
didn’t last very long, it was no
different from any other relation
ship I have had. We had our good
times and our bad and I would
be lying if I said I didn’t learn
and grow from Michael, because
I really did.
And now in my new book of
rules and principles, the title of
the first chapter is the cliche,
“Age is Nothing but a Number.”
Honors dorm possibility
stirs Belle’s resistance
by Robin Jackson
A number of students feel
that there should not be a
residence hall for honors stu
dents.
The students responded
negatively when Dr. Gloria
Dean Randle Scott introduced
the idea of opening an honors
residence hall for the fall
semester of 1988 in her ad
dress during Honors (Convo
cation.
The reasons for the nega
tive reaction range from dis
crimination against non-honor
students to the inadequacy of
Memer Hall, the proposed site
for the honors dorm.
Valarie Jones, a junior
honor student, says, “I do not
think we should have an
honors residence hall, because
an honors residence hall says
that the rest of the campus
is stupid and it will alienate
the other students.”
Jones also maintained that
she will not live in the honors
residence hall.
Junior LaShawn Barber
says, “If we are going to have
an honors residence hall, then
we should have the correct
facilities to fit the needs of
an honor student.”
Barber went on to say,
“Merner Hall should be more
modernized so the students
will want to excel higher.”
Other students expressed
misgivings about Merner,
which many Belles feel is in
poor condition.
“If I were an honor stu
dent, I would not want to live
in Merner Hall because it
needs to be fixed up in a
more fashionable way,” says
junior Lynn Bolden.
Sophomore honor student
Tauye Simmons says, “I think
it is kind of good that they
are having an honors resi
dence hall because the halls
are usually so noisy, but I
myself am not staying in
Memer Hall.”
One student said, that hav
ing an honors residence hall
could put stress on the friend
ships around the campus.
Sophomore Donna Wilson
stated, “I am against having
an honors residence hall be
cause most honor students
will not want to live separated
from their friends who are
not honor students.”