PAGE TWO
THE BENNETT BANNER
Friday, December 9, 1988
o
pinion:
Communications concentration jumbled
by Yvette N. Freeman
There are many problems with
the Interdisciplinary Studies Pro
gram (ISP) concentration in com
munications, with the limited
number of specialized courses in
media work offered by the com
munications department and with
the way the college represents its
offerings in this area.
As an ISP-communications
major, I have been forced to rea
lize that for the remainder of my
junior year and my entire senior
year, I will be taking all of my
courses elsewhere through the con
sortium program. When I first
entered Bennett, the recruiter
mentioned the consortium pro
gram, but the way that it was
explained to me and my mother
made us believe that I would only
take courses at another institution
if I chose to. I had no idea that I
would end up taking most of my
major courses away from Bennett.
There are, of course, a basic lib
eral arts curriculum and a com
munications department here.
In that curriculum, the usual
basic courses required of every
major are outlined. These include
English, P.E., math and science,
etc. All of these courses are of
fered on campus. For ISP majors,
three other courses are required—
Perception & Aesthetics, Critical
Thinking and Mass Media. How-
Letter to tlie editor:
ever, in the curriculum outline
for the junior and senior years,
the only courses left to take are
electives in the major field of
study.
This is where the problem be
gins because Bennett does not
offer the necessary electives.
I am into my junior year and
have only two classes here. One
of the classes has nothing to do
with my major, while the other
does, but does not require that
I attend a class, but rather, turn
in a project at the end of the
semester. I also have three classes
at A&T, which leads to a second
problem.
Although Bennett does not have
the courses I need, I am not
guaranteed that the courses I re
gister for through the consortium
program will be open to me. For
example, when I registered for
classes at A&T, (note I said “re
gistered.” I had to go through
the entire process of standing in
extremely long lines for hours
to get my classes—a process that
should be taken care of when
the consortium forms are filled
out); one of the classes I was
planning to take was already
closed. A&T’s students had pre
registered two months earlier.
Now, if Bennett can’t supply us
with the necessary classes, the
college should at least guarantee
our placement in the classes at
Bennett friends
celebrate holiday
To the editor:
A Pre-Thanksgiving Luncheon
Wcis held on Nov. 17 at the Home
Management Residence. The par
ticipants of the Management
Institute for Older Adults invited
friends to celebrate this special
occasion with them. The theme
for this occasion was “Let us give
thanks to God,” and the Reverend
Barbara Woods, college chaplain,
elaborated on some very signifi
cant facts.
The participants at the Manage
ment Institute were very happy
to share this time with the follow
ing very sf>ecial guests: Mr. A. H.
Peeler, Dr. & Mi^. Moffitt and
Mrs. Genevieve Greenlee. Other
guests attending were: Dr. Char
lotte Alston, Dr. Perry Mack, Mrs.
Annie Purcell, Mrs. Julia Scott
and Ms. Lisa Neal.
The older adults who make up
this group are friends and grad
uates of Bennett College. They live
in the communities surrounding
Bennett College. Their meetings
are held each week on Thursdays,
from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Dr. Lovie K. Booker, chairperson
of the department of home eco
nomics, is director for this pro
gram. Ms. Gladys Dayo Forster,
a 1988 graduate in foods nutrition
dietetics, works closely with Dr.
Booker as program assistant.
Various consultants are sought
from the community and from
various specialty areas to talk to
the participants about the man
agement of many concerns of the
older adults, such as diabetes,
arthritis, hypertension and others.
They also learn about other cul
tures and how to do easy crafts
for holiday and home needs, thus
saving money. Tours are often
scheduled, and they have visited
The North Carolina Mluseum of
History in Raleigh and also
Greensboro Historical Museum.
A talent show has been sche
duled for Dec. 15. The participants
are going to entertain themselves
for two hours. They will be sing
ing, dancing, modelling, etc. This
will be the day that they will get
to know who their secret Santa
is, after three weeks of sending
anonymous notes and cards to
their secret Santa.
We invite you to visit with us.
It has been a pleasure working
with such an energetic, pleasant,
high-spirited and busy group of
older adults. On behalf of the
participants of the Management
Institute for Older Adults, we
would like to wish the faculty,
staff and students a very merry
Christmas and a bright and pros
perous New Year!
GOOD LUCK,
Gladys Dayo Forster
fine llJia niwt
Editor-in-chief Yvette N. Freeman
Assistant editor Shavaughn Neal
Reporters Cherryl Floyd, Joycelynne Hodges, Betsy Peoples,
Karen Plummer, Taundra S. Woodard
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, v^rhose 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.
the other institutions.
We consortium students should
also be told whether or not the
courses we register for require a
prerequisite. When I attended my
first class at A&T, I was told by
the instructor that unless I had
taken the prerequisite class, I
would not be allowed to stay in
the class. At no time prior to
that, was I told that I would have
to take a prerequisite class, or
that there even was one. The only
information I was given was to
list on the consortium form, the
names and numbers of the courses
I planned to take, and then turn
it in to Bennett’s and A&T’s re
gistration officials. 1 eventually
straightened out my schedule,
luckily, not having to change any
but that one particular class.
I am now about to enter the
second semester, and more pro
blems have arisen. I will not be
taking any courses here. Instead, I
will be forced to take courses at
A&T and UNCG. Why? Because in
this carefully though-out consor
tium program, there is a limit to
the number of credit hours a stu
dent can take at another institu
tion. That limit is a total of three
three - credit - hour courses per
campus. This means that I cannot
take all of my courses at A&T,
the closest campus, as I had plan
ned. Instead, I have to split up
my course-load between two dif
ferent universities, neither being
the one I am paying $6,465 to in
tuition.
You’re probably wondering why
1 haven’t transferred to another
college by now. Believe me, I
seriously considered doing just
that. In fact, 1 had already talked
to my mother and Dr. Charlotte
Alston, vice-president for acade
mic affairs, about it. Both helped
me to realize a very important
point. If I transfer to ano>ther
college, most of my credits from
Bennett would probably be lost,
and I would most likely have to
start all over again as an advanced
freshman or sophomore. That
would mean an additional one and
a half to two years in school,
whereas, if I stayed at Bennett,
I would get my degree on time.
Anyway, it’s just one more year,
right? Right. But that wasn’t the
point I was trying to make. What
angered me the most was the
fact that not only was I misled
about Bennett, but also that I am
now paying B'ennett for some
thing that I am not receiving
from Bennett. That was the main
reason I considered transferring.
But, since I am not transferring,
I suppose it doesn’t matter any
more.
Although I have adapted to
the situation, that doesn’t mean
that every student who comes
into Bennett planning to major in
ISP—communications, should.
Every year, Bennett admits stu
dents planning to major in this
field, knowing that the necessary
courses for it are not here. To
me, that sounds like misrepresen
tation.
I think that it is time for the
administrators of this college to
either set up courses on campus
for its ISP—communications stu
dents, or remove communications
from its list of concentrations. In
addition, incoming students should
be told the truth about the lack
of media courses in the communi
cations department, so that they
will not be taken advantage of
as I have been. And yes, I do
feel that Bennett took advantage
of me, as well as every other
communications student. We have
been pushed on to other institu
tions, for them to educate us in
a field that Bennett is receiving
tuition for. Now, if that isn’t tak
ing advantage of someone, then
I don’t know what is. In any case,
unless this situation is rectified,
I do not see how Bermett can
offer a degree in ISP-communi
cations.
SEASON’S
GREETINGS
Lynchings must stop
100 YEARS OF LYNCHINGS by
Ralph Ginzburg, Black Classic
Press: Baltimore, Maryland. 1988
$9.95 paperback
by R. B. Jones
There are some skeletons that
test the walls of the largest clos
ets. America’s race relations
closet is overflowing with skele
tons of genocide against Native
Americans and Africans born
both on the continent and on
these shores. These race-related
atrocities have been whitewashed
in the history textbooks and sani
tized in Hollywood costume
epics.
Ralph Ginzburg’s classic work,
“lOO YEARS OF LYNCHINGS,”
vividly exposes one aspect of
America’s brutality against its
Black citizens. The work was first
published in 1962 during the cen
tennial of the American Civil
War. The author was trying to
show the country the kind of
oppression that black citizens have
suffered, in the hope it would
prick the conscience of the nation.
Although he did not succeed,
the book is still powerful. Ginz
burg collected and edited news
paper accounts of the lynchings
of black people from 1880 to 1961.
The author makes a commentary
only in the introduction. The rest
of the book contains newspaper
accounts of the various lynchings.
For some incidents there are ac
counts from several newspapers.
At times a later newspaper article
will reveal that the wrong person
was lynohed. Sometimes an ac
count from a Black newspaper
will be given to compare with the
version carried in a white news
paper.
It is difficult for any civilized
person to read the accounts of
the brutality of the white mobs
that lynched the victims. There
are frequent accounts of burn-
Contrary to the Southern ex
planation of lynchings, “Blacks
were lynohed primarily for the
crime of rape,” many of those
lynched were never identified as
rapists by supposed “victims.”
Others were lynched because the
mob could not find its intended
victim. Sometimes mobs lynched
relatives of persons who bad es
caped their wrath.
One thing apparent in the book
is that the lynchings were deli
berate atrooities, often planned
and executed with broad com-
mlunity support among whites.
Another factor is the compli
city on the part of law enforce
ment officials. Story after story
reveals that law enforcement of
ficials would not fire on mobs to
keep them from lynching prison
ers in their custody.
In one account, a bam dance
is held within eyesight of the
charred remains of a lynching
victim. In another account lots
were drawn to determine which
membeirs of the mob wovild get
the most choice parts of the lynch
victim’s anatomy.
One story from the “Chicago
Defender” dated Sept. 6, 19‘19,
crystallized a pattern that this
book finds in the history of lynch
ing. Eli Cooper, an elderly black
farmer, was lynched for trying
to organize his fellow farm work
ers into a union for better wages.
He allegedly said, “The black
man has been run over for 50
years and it is time to stop.”
A mob of white men broke into
his house and attacked him with
knives and axes. His body was
dragged to the Ocmulgee African
Church in Eastman, Ga. The
church was set on fire and
Cooper’s body was tossed into the
flames. Black farmers who sought
to put out the fire were held at
the site of an earlier one. At that
time, Berry Washington, 65, was
lynched for shooting to death a
white man who was raping his
16-year-old daughter in the par
lor of his home. The rapist had
entered the home and forced the
father out of the room at gun
point. Berry sneaked into the
house, got his revolver and killed
the rapist. Berry was taken from
jail and lynched for defending
his daughter in his own home.
There are other accounts of
black World War I veterans being
lynched for wearing their uni
forms and of blacks who were
too prosperous and “uppity” be
ing lynohed to put them in their
“place.”
Although Ginzburg’s book is
unsetU'ing, reaiding it is essential
if one is to understand the depth
of racial animosity that festers
under the surface in this country.
Racially motivated attacks are
increasing across this country and
white supremacist groups with
violent philosophies are growing
in strength.
The horrible specter of lynch
ing which hovered over this
country for many years again
cast its shadow during the past
15 years. As recently as 1980, a
young black man was found hang
ing from a lamppost in Mobile,
Ala. The only way this country
can purge itself of this kind of
destructive behavior is to hon
estly confront its history of racial
oppression and violence. With the
republication of this book by
Black Classic Press, a powerful
tool to be used in this confron
tation is once again available.
To prevent the kind of racial
violence that dominated America’s
past from becoming a part of
America’s future, this book must
be read.
ings at the stake and tortures such
as castration. Mobs considered
themselves humane if they merely
hung and shot their victims.
later used for tairget practice and
several black churches and lodge
haHs were also burned.
This lynching took place near
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