P«i«2
Black Ink
Blacks survive the ^80s
December 2,1980
Ihf of 14B0 about lo end Whal ha» il
m«dnl (or Black people?
Atthoufi^ unemploymenl and infldtton had
been conslanllv gnawing at fllatk> wav before
May, the (ru»lralion» they bfought came to a
head when Cubans invaded Miami and a jury
(ound while policemen innocent o( murdeiing a
Black insurance talesman Kiols broke out and
lasted (or about tive days Black people could not
take the inpustices heaped upon them, so they
look It lo the slreeK
Blacks in other cities did the same I hey were
tired o( sitting back and taking il all m stride
Vel two men campaigned (or president, claim
ing 10 rid America o( her economic troubles
Sure But whal about Black people' Ronald
Keagan was elected on Nov 4 Whal does that
mean (or Black People'
Not only have Black adults b«-en handed raw
deals, but somebody or some pv*rsons have got
ten the gall to mess with Black children Black
youths have been (ound dead or are missing in
Atlanta, Ca What does this mean (or Black peo-
pie'
Children are not the only ones who have been
targeted lo die. however Blac ks in BuKalo, ^ ■
and olher cities have been victims ot someone s
bullets And Vernon lordon got his this summer
What does this mean (or Black people'
Injustice is nearer closer lo home An all-white
)ury accjuitted su Ku Klux Klansmen and Nazis
of (ive counts of (irsl-degree murder and
felonious noting Ihe persons were accused of
murdering Communist Workers Party members
during an anIi-Klan rally last November Whal
does the acquittal mean for Black people'
In lanuary, Ihe United States Senate will be
predominately Republican. Conservative The
new president will (ollow suit What does this
mean for Black people'
All this means that Black people have to get
their heads together and regroup What will
Black students at UNC-CH be doing (ive years
(rom now' Mopping some white man s door?
What will the friends of those students be doing'
Whal will their children be doing in years to
come'
Black people are still slaves The system has
taken the place of the white slavemaster When
will Blacks have their freedom'
1981 IS a new year, a new hori/on. a new
hope Maybe the answer lo the questions lie lUSt
ahead But now is the time to start working
toward the right ones. Get involved’ Start caring
about the future of yourself, and your posterity If
you don I. no one will
King
Twelve yeais ago the Rev Marlin Luther
King jr was killed by a bullet as he stood on
Ihe balcony of a hotel I was seven-years-
old then I ciidn t know the man. but I can
remember crying in my second grade class
wh*r> w** saw his funeral on television
I felt that somebody important was dead
I felt that then and I feel that now.
So much has happened since then Sure.
I have grown up. but look wf>at kind of
world I have grown up in Inflation lias
skyrocketed almost 10 perccnl unemploy
ment is almost 10 jM-rtent. food prices are
high and they are going higher, and the
great United Stales does not command Ihe
respect it once could
And now the mighty Ku Klux Klan has a
risen its head lust when some ot us thought
that we had gotten an inch, here comes the
KKK and Ihe Na/is (wheie did they come
(rom') trying to prove that we did them
wrong
And I h.ive lo live, not iust stay, but live
in an atmospher*' where someone always
want to know What the Blat k people
think' as It Kl.uk people aie novelties I
guess il s lh- soc i.il thing lo ask these days
Priorities
Perhaps UN n Blai k community net*ds lo
lake another look at its priorities
In Iasi year s student body president elections.
no4 esen one Blai k bothered to run tor oftue.
and levs soled
When an annountemeni ot a >oung
Klansman s meeting appeared in the  ampus
calendar ot Ihe Wa;/v hit Hi't'l a lew Black
students came out ol luriosity. but no one pur
sued the matter ans further
On Nos 4 Ronald Reagan vsd« elected presi
dent ot the United States But what did Black
students sjy or do' And esen worse, those sjme
stodenl^ were denied Iheir choice tor Ihe position
ot sicr chanrrllor lor student attairs. >et they
said nothing voluntarily
if
MAJORITY
reforms
WHAT HAPPfNfU TO IHf URfAM'
Where did we go wrong'
Many persons rallied to have Marlin
Luther King s birthday made a holiday. It
would be a day to reflect, to plan, to hope
(I would be a day of unity and a day lo
replenish our strength But it never
materiali/ed At least not in North (Carolina
Massac husells and Maryland, among other
states, have made Dr King.'s birthday a
state holiday Of course. North ( arolina
hasn I gotten it together And what are we
gonna do now'
We nec’d to work on North ( aolina
leaders, persuading them to make King's
birthday a holiday so that eventually his bir
thday will be a holiday nationwide
Hut IS there no hope, now that Ihe c onser-
valives are about to rule the nation'
Over the holidays, think about Ian 15
and what il means Think about King and
what he stood tor T hc*n c ome bac k in
lanuary with a new mind, heart, soul and
determination to make it through the con
servative tide
Hold onto I HI DRIAM
However, during the Homecoming queen
elec tlon^ Blac k students decided to gel seriously
political tor the tirsi time all year True having a
Black chosen a- Homecoming queen used to
represent much more* than a title, but receiving
the honor also represented unity tor Ihe vs hole
Black po|)ulation
That unily not onlv sullered this year but it
was also disgraced Alter bt'ing apathetic all year
long. Black students critici/c-d ottendc-d. embar
rassed and harrassed over a Homecoming queen
position
Maybe it Black students would show concern
for issues that needed attention they would be
able lo work together on olher issues
Linda Brown
Editor
Donna D. Whitaker
Associate Editor
tVAS/i^/^GTOV
Student questions leaders
To Ihe editor
I am alarmed at the trend in this country
towards racism and reactionary conservatism and
must question Ihe values of some of the men who
will be assuming the powerful positions in our
government
1 cringe at the thought of South Carolina's
Strom Thurmond, who has spewed anti-civil
rights, white supremacy rhetoric for years, at the
chair of the powerful Senate ludiciary Commit
tee
I do not like the idea of Minister Louis far-
rakhan. who still preaches white devilism and
black superiority, speaking at this University.
Also, the civil rights oriented Carter Administra
tion will be missed.
Most alarming, however, is the acquittal of the
su Klansmen anci Na/is which is one of the worst
dec isions ever reached by a court in these United
Slates These men were found innocent not only
of murder, but of felonious ri9ting It is difficult
to accept that people were shot to death —
cameras filmed it. and it was shown on television
for Ihe world to see — and no law was broken.
Other than the immediate consequences of
racial tensions and public rage, there will be far-
reaching ones A friend pointed out that little
children have likely seen on television scenes
from the incident These children will understand
that It was a racial incident as well as a political
one, and are now going to be told that no law
was broken that day. These children are growing
up in the shadow of the Miami riots, the shooting
of civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, and now the
Greensboro decision Racial harmony has been
set back severely by these events
As a citi/en. a white male, and a college stu
dent. 1 urge all people to express their disgust at
the all-white jury's verdict and I hope that no fur
ther violence results from this tragedy Dr Martin
Luther King had a dream Let us all pray that his
vision was more than a dream, but a prophecy
we may yet live to see
— )eff Knight
524 Ehringhaus
Rape
Homecoming
BLACK INK ^ ,,
"The os»onco of freedom is onaerstondlng.
BLACK INK
Office-Room 261, Suite B-Carolina Union
Chapel Hill. N.C. 27514
Printed by the Chapel Hill Newspaper
To the editor
I have tried lo sit back and merely be another
apathetic dontgiveadamn black student here at
UNC but. that lusl ain't my bag I say this to say
to you that this letter is an outpouring of the
outrage in my soul The straw that broke my
silence is this black communities definition of
UNITV
What relevence is black unity it it only exists
in an all Greek stepsfiow or the election of a
homecoming queen' Is it not more relevent that
the black Greeks UNITID in an effort to improve
black health awareness on this campus' 1..per
sonally . think so
Ihe election ot .Miss Homc‘coming is an impor
tant SYMBOL in the community but. no more so
than the election of Miss BSM Is it. in an eltort to
unite the black community, that Ms Bonita Bell
was harrassed threatened and ostrasi/ed' Is the
position 01 Miss Homecoming so (M*rlinent lo the
black community that we can sicjop to threaten
ing our own' II so. why' Whal significant role
cicies Miss Homecoming play in strengthening the
black community' What political clout does she
hold'
Are not our efforts at BLACK UNITY better
spent on saving out community' I hear no out
cries as RHA and others are making plans to
destroy our community on the basis of segrega
tion when in lact we live in the most integrated
as well as desegregated area on campus Where
IS your unity on this issue' Where was your unity
when we were given absolutely rw say in the
selection ol Ihe new Vice-Chancellor' Where is
your unity with respect lo the larger black com
munity' The only answer I ve been able lo find is
NOWHJRI
— .Mella f lones
To Ihe editor;
I'd like to respond to (Catherine Watson s letter
about your artical Rape Reports Decrease in
Ihe Nov 11 issue
In my remarks to La Vie Ellison about the
decrease in reported rapes. 1 said that Black
women are often reluctant to report rape by
Black men because they feel it is unethical to
turn a Black man over the the White system
1 did not mean to imply by this comment that
Black women are "more tolerant ol sexual
assault against their bodies ' than are White
women 1 absolutely do not believe that women
do not report rape because they are tolerant of
It 1 strongly believe that women do not report
rape tor a variety of reasons — tear of being
blamed, fear of retaliation, self-blame, tear of
not being believed, and fear of police and or
court procedures to name a few reasons
I believe that some Black women do not report
rape by Black men because they do not want to
turn a Black man over to the While system This
does not mean that there is something wrong
with these women (i e,. that they are tolerant
of rape), but that there is something wiong with
Ihe systems they would have to deal with if they
did report the rape
The hospital, police, court, and Rape Crisis
Center people that these women would deal with
if they did report the assault are usually white,
middle-class, and urban This presents problems
not only for Black women, but also for White
women who are poor or from rural areas
As Linda Belden said in a report entitled "Why
Women Do Not Report Sexual Assault. " "This
country's history of racist, ethnic, and class pre-
ludice has a number ol consequences, one of
which IS the minority woman s distrust of the law
enforcement, court, and health care systems "
The Rape Crisis Center was formed to provide
support for any woman who has been sexually
assaulted We have a policy that we will support
a woman through her recovery from rape
whether cm not she decides to report the attack to
the police We are beginning to involve more
Black women in the organization and to reach
out to older women and rural women as well
Our fcx us IS pc*er support and we are committed
lo providing that support to any woman who
wants It
Sincerely,
lanet Colm
Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Rape Crisis Center