September, 1972
BLACK INK
Page 3
has mixed emotions
Jackson: UNC
needs Black lit
by Mae Helen Israel
Staff Writer
How important is a Negro
literature course at a
predominantly white university?
According to Dr. Blyden
Jackson, professor of American
Literature, it should be a
required part of the curriculum
for all students.
Such a course is so important
that it serves as a valuable tool in
the development of the
identities and attitudes of Black
and white students. It functions
as a day to day conditioning to
the Civil Rights Movement.
In fact, Dr. Jackson explained
that all individuals need this
knowledge to consider
themselves cosmopolitan. “Such
is the nature of the minority
status of the Negro in America,”
he stated, “that the failure to
understand his problems is tied
in with a failure to understand
minorities all over the world.”
University students especially
need the chance to appreciate
the long and rich heritage of
Negro Uterature. White students
who do not have the
institutionalized intolerances of
their parents, acquire a sense of
justice and understanding that
they might not have had
otherwise.
Course Objectives
As the instructor of the
Negro Literature course (English
84) on campus. Dr. Jackson
stresses several ideas.
“There is enough written by
Negro authors and about them
to keep the course from being
labeled as ‘jive’,” he stated. “The
object of the course is to
correlate literature and criticism
with the Black experience, then
put this in the whole context of
American life.”
“I try to convey to the
students a balanced and
comprehensive knowledge of
Negro literature,” he
emphasized.
Dr. Jackson points out that
Negro Uterature is a literature of
necessity. The protest motif in
much of the writing is
unavoidable. If whites had
experienced the same oppression
as Blacks, their literature would
also be one of protest.
More Blacks Needed
As the first Negro professor
to be hired at the University
(1969), Dr. Jackson recognizes
an increase in the number of
Black students, faculty anu
employees.
He feels that more Negroes
are needed at every level. He
commented, “1 don’t want the
standards of the University
lowered. However, there is no
conflict in keeping the standards
and hiring Negroes.”
“I’ve been pleased with the
kind of Black students who have
come to the University,” Dr.
Jackson added. “I would
especially like to give a pat on
the back to those who are N.C.
Fellows.”
Dr. Jackson received his BA
in English from Wilbur Force
University and his masters and
doctorate from the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor. He
taught in his hometown,
Louisville, Kentucky, for 11
years before going to Fisk
University. After nine years he
left Fisk and went to Southern
Illinois to become the head of
the Department of EngUsh and
then Dean of the Graduate
School. He remained there until
he came to UNC.
“Red is for the blood,
Black is for the people,
Green is for the land.”
by Deborah Austin
and
Harold Kennedy
Staff Writers
The class of ’76 is now an
integral part of the institution of
the University of North
Carolina. This is exemplified by
the small groups of students
wandering around the library,
drinking beer in their rooms on
Friday night, and eating in the
plush atmosphere of the Pine
Room. Althou^ the Office of
Admissions claims that there is
no record of the number of
black students on campus, it is
estimated by an admission’s
officer that there are
approximately 235 black
freshmen.
Like past classes at the
University, the freshmen are
concerned about its contribution
to inflation, upset stomachs,
aching feet and tired eyes.
Freshman Jupiter Owens from
Henderson comments, “the
prices at the bookstore are
terrible and the long lines make
matters even worse,” while
Wilsonnii Grandy says, “the
food at Chase is absolutely
terrible.”
Says Carol Steadman from
Winston-Salem, “I’ve never done
so much walking in my life,”
while Linda Little, Carol s
“homegirl,” admits that you
can’t walk into a classroom and
expect to bull jive your way
through. She laughs and says, “If
you don’t get down to work you
will flunk.”
Those freshmen Uving in
James Dormitory have a quite
unique outlook. Jacquelyn
McCray and her roommate,
Brenda McClain, both admit that
they can use less noise while
they are studying. Jeannette
Tatum likes the amount of space
she has in her room but also says
that the dorm as a whole is not
as dynamic as she expected.
Then there were some
freshmen like Rachel Springs
and William Knight who have
already had close contact with
the University and who admitted
that they knew basically what to
expect. Knight says though, “I
was very disappointed with the
town. There is so Uttle to do
with only theatres that play old
movies and few places to eat.”
There was general concern
about the scarcity of Black
oriented activities so far and a
sense of stunned amazement on
the part of freshman guys as to
how cold, selfish and standoffish
the freshman girls appear.
Russell Davis, a f-eshman from
Wilmington, tikes the
independence which Carolina
offers. Concerning social life, he
points out that you have to
make your own. Rhonda
' Winfrey says that she has had
fun at CaroUna, but she has
nothing to do on weekends.
Rhonda rooms at Morrison
Dormitory and complains that it
is too quiet and does not have
enough activities.
Robert Wynn, who comes
from Deerfield Academy
expresses his disbelief that the
Black students are so disunited.
After only three weeks, he has
noticed that the BSM somehow
lacks substance. Robert’s
roommate Chuck Hayes, all the
way from Albany, Georgia,
senses that people on the whole
are very friendly and states that
he has seen no pressing racial
problems as of yet.
There are those freshmen like
Walter Egerton who realize the
great educational opportunity
and have no real complaints
except about the incident
concerning Charles Baggett.
Walter is not alone, the other
freshmen are as upset as he.
This Black freshman class has
not gone without the pains of
finding or keeping their identity.
Thelma Standback of
Greensboro admits that it is very
easy to feel lost. “It is like being
a small fish alone in a larpe
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Wanda Wilkins on the go wwority
aj fairs
by Gwen Harvey
Feature Editor
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
she spends assuaging frightened
patients at Chapel Hill Memorial
Hospital; Monday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday (and Tuesdays
and Wednesdays, too) she is the
best person a freshman or junior
transfer student could know on
the fourth floor of Cobb
dormitory.
Wanda Wilkins, a junior from
Goldsboro, N.C., is very much
excited about her rather
schizophrenic life. A nursing
major, this is her first year of
practical experience and
on-the-job training at the
hospital. Her job as student
nurse entails attending cUnical
labs and physiology and
bacteriology classes besides the
actual patient-nurse encounters.
“That first day is really
rough,” Wanda is quick to say,
“but after that first time you
feel like an old pro. Most of the
peop'e are overwhelmed by the
fact that someone is willing to
"just sit down and listen to what
they have to say. Sort of like
administering to their
psychological needs.”
Which is exactly Wanda’s
ch ef function in her life as
resident adv'sor also. “To be at
the service of the students, to
give general reference concerning
anything from time schedules
to phone numbers,” she says.
Wanda secured this position
through Directors of Residence
Life, John Meeker and Jane
Poller, after having first gone
through the initial application,
panel interview and final
decision-hinging interview.
“Each session is designed to find
out what type of person the
applicant is and how she will
react to certain given
situations,” Wanda explai.is.
Being a resident advisor is
really a twenty-four hour affair,
for one has to be readily
available, even giving up *hat
needed sleep for those late night
talk sessions with a troubled
student. But the job is one
Wanda takes as seriously as she
does her periods of training t
the hospital.
And indeed both jobs
naturally complement each
other in the valuable lessons
they teach in dealing with all
types of people. “The vital
things involved in each," Wanda
affirms, “is being observant
being able to perceive that
something is bothering a person
— to consider someone else more
important than yourself.”
With such a hectic schedule
one wonders how she finds the
time to relax and enjoy herself.
“1 don’t often,” she laughs
“but it’s usually on Wednesday
afternoons because I don t have
a class ’til one on Thursdays.”
But keeping busy is what
really makes life interesting.
Being on the go constantly
teaches one to value time and to
ration it wisely. “Developing a
regimen is most important, she
declares. "And basically it’s just
wanting sonv-’thing bad enough
to go out and work for just
that."
Upon receiving her B.S. in
Nursing, Wanda hopes to go into
public health nursing, a field she
thinks really suitable for deal ng
with the health problems of the
Black comnuinity.
by Michele Alston
Staff Writer
One of the things Richard
Epps promised in his student
government presidential
campaign was a better link
between the community and the
university and a better link
between minority groups and
student government. Hopefully,
the committee, “Community
Affairs and Minority Groups,
will serve this purpose.
The committee has met once
this year and begun some basic
ground work. In the area of
community affairs it is trying to
set up courses whereby people
may get academic credit for
community work. In the area of
minority groups it is preparing a
survey that will hopefully, tell
them where minority groups on
campus place their priorities and
hence what it should work on.
The success of the committee
to a large extent depends on the
input of you, part of the campus
minority. It cannot help Student
Government work for you if you
do not let it know what you
want. The Committee,
‘‘Community Affairs and
Minority Groups,” is another
tool at the disposal of minority
students this year. It's usefulness
depends on you ... as well as
its survival, for it must be
functional to survive. If you
wish to work with or give input
(suggestions, advice, etc.) to the
committee come by Suite C of
the Union.