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Page 4 Black Ink February 10,1981 Vi, Cultural night North Carolina Central University's modern dance group was one of several featured guests at Delta Sigma Theta s Cultural Night Jan. 22. The night was part of the Kappa Omicron Chapter of DST's Founder's Week celebration. The BSM Choir and the Opeyo Dancers also performed, as well as several individuals and duets. DST is 68 years old. (Photo by Beatrice Taylor.) Americans know little about Africa By )OHN HINTON Staff Writer M«-dia coverage and general folklore concerning Africa shape the slereotvpes Black and while Americans have about Africans and their homeland, Darnell Hawkins a UN( assistant professor of soc lology said recently Blacks know Africans as backward, underdeveloped. rural. and poor, Hawkins said People gel these stereotypes from the media If you look at TV, you see only Tarzan movies and animal-type shows," the Assis tant Professor said There aie few about the people o( Africa People get the notion of lions and tigers all over Africa In reality, there are large urban areas on the continent Cities such as Cairo, Igvpt. Nirobe, Kenya, and ( ajx^town. South Africa are representative of most ot the big cities Some blac k and white Americans bt‘lieve that these municipalities are as lechnialK advanced as modern as cities in the United States, Hawkins said The instructor of a black-white race rela lion course al the UniverMly he stresses that the only pc*ople-lype shows are the ones concerning the hunger Mtuation showing African prople starving During the mid 70 s the American media emphasi/ed the border wars between cer tain African countries and a particular ihird- vsorld dictator Idi Amin is thought of as a dumb Hitler -- a real idiot. Hawkins vaid He did less Apartheid governs South African lives Darnell Hawkins offensive things than other world dic tators He cited former Haitian President t ran- cois Papa Doc Duvalier s human rights violations as dictator of that Caribbean country — 3 pro-Amt?ricdn nation. Another factor also figures into these stereotypes "General folklore also con tributes to these stereotypes black people have about Africans, Hawkins said ' Slaveowners told their slaves that their African ancestors were wild and savage, and they should forget about that unciviliz ed placed ' Hawkins said Hawkins feels that statements such as ■ You act like an African, you look like an African, are considered derogatory by Blacks In the 60 s these stereotypes were sought to be changed, However, the media did not change its attitude about Africa." Hawkins said There are those same type of movies and even Tar/an reruns" It s like showing a movie of the United States with buffaloes and other animals and not with the highways and skyscrapers, he said The stereotypes of Africa trom the media and the stereotypes from general folklore - racial stereotypes held over from slavery make for a distorted picture of Africa, ' Havkkins said By KAREN MOORE Staff Writer Apartheid is a collection of laws that allow the controlling Caucasian class in South Africa to use, to segregate and to brutalize the Asians, coloureds and Africans. Apar theid does not deal with laws — only it is a way of life for the people of South Africa. After World War II the industrial revolu tion created a rush of Blacks to the cities in South Africa in order to fine work To keep them from getting too much power, the Na tionalists who took a strict line of control were elected Rules for blacks who wanted to stay in an urban area more than 72 hours were that they had to be 1) residents since birth in that area, 2) employed at the same place for 10 years, or a lawful resident for 15 years, 3) the wife, unmarried daughter or son under sixteen of some one who qualified, 4) granted permission from the Labor Bureau. Blacks were not allowed any type of self government They were organized into a 53 square mile area southwest of lohan- nesburg called Soweto, an acronym for south western townships. In 1976, a demonstration by Black high school students in Soweto turned into violent riots in which almost 500 people were killed. Several situations were said to have caused the riots Some of these were the protest against teaching and speaking only the Afrikaans language in the black sch(X)ls, and the Communist backing of the African National Congress After the riots the government agreed to make conditions better at Soweto The dream of having electricity in Soweto is now in the process of becoming a reality. Three high schools have been built in Soweto. The young people no longer have to go back to their homelands for secondary education. Although the South African government has relented some in building the schools it has not made the education for blacks free nor manditory. In 1980 tens of thousands of black students boycotted their classrooms against school and apartheid. The amount spent on each black student's education is $40 com pared to the S740 spent for each white child. More harsh realities of the apartheid system are; no person who is generally adepted as a member of an aboriginal race or tribe in South Africa is allowed to have his wife and other family members living with him unless they have such separately obtained permits; a white man cannot teach his coloured workers to read; an African minister who teaches his congregation to read the Bible is also guilty of breaking the law; mixed marriages are forbidded bet ween coloured and other races and con sidered null and void when inside of South Africa. Martin Luther King )r. said of apartheid in 1967, "The tragedy of South Africa is not simply its own policy; it is the fact that the racist government of South Africa is virtual ly made f)ossible by the economic policies Continued on page 7 South African says conditions hinder Black rule By LAWRENCE TURNER Martaging Editcx The conditions in South Atm a would not allow for black maionty rule before the next 20 years, Levi Ingelbrecht. a Black South African said ret ently A visiting student al UNr . JS-year-old ingelbrecht said his country is un- forlunalely the richest country on the conti- fM-nl. " of Africa The wealth of the nation is the ma|or reason for the repression ot Blacks and those of mixed race (coloued) through apartheid (racial segregation) The white minority wouldn't have dinged to power South Africa is the first world prcxiucer of gold, he said, it also produces platinum, aluminium and uranium The repression comes also from Western povsers which support the present govern ment and last the country s strong army restricts blacks advancement And they are not thinking of sharing p>ower, they will fight to the bitter end," Engelbrecht said The army's strength is recognized also in a recent Newsweek article of it when the Deputy Defense Minister Hendrik locobus Costsee said. If nuclear weapons are a last resort to defend oneself, it would be very stupid not to use them " South Africa has 21 million Blacks and iust four million whites with land divided 87 percent for whites and 13 percent for Blacks, Engelbrecht said. Blacks cannot live in cities and live on "homelands" which has land not good for cultivation. Those Blacks found jobless in cities for 72 hours are forced by officials to return to a homeland whether they belong there or not, he added )obs traditionally held by Blacks are manual labor profession or the fwsition of Continued on page 7
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