April 23,1981
\
BLACK INK
Page 3
Civic leader encourages young Blacks to strive
Jesje Jackson
RAMONA BROWN
Staff Writer
The Reverend lesse lacksoii, a Baptist
niinister, ci\K' leader and Bla(k
•-pokesman, encouraged \oung Blacks to
lisc their talents and to stretch out tor e\-
traordinarv gains at the fourth Annual Mar
lin Luther King, jr. lecture held rec‘ntl\ in
Memorial Hall,
Atroph\ kills more people each \ear
than ( ancer does, lackson said.
lackson, co-lounder and director ol
Operation Breadbasket, said Blacks should
c\er( ise their limited talents to reap extraor-
dinar\ returns on their investments,
Martin Luther King, |r, was an ordinar\
man v\ith an extraordinarv will to serve, '
li( kson said.
Although King was born amidst ' You
( an t and sou won't,' he did not settle for
su( h disencouragement, instead he used his
ordinarv mind to achieve extraordinary
gains and accomplishments
lackson said Blacks should think as King
did w ith the attitude that 11 an and I w ill ",
VVe are in a s\stem that rec|uires a strong
resistence movement, lackson said,
lackson said v\e as Blacks have access
hut our struggle toda\ shifts to equalitv and
parilN.
W'e have ef|ual protection under the law
but we do have ec;uit\ within the lav\, '
lai kson said,
lackson said we must examine our pro
gress f|uantitati\el\ and qualitativeK ,
(;an we measure our progress from 100
\ ears w hen we w ere flicking and baling cot
ton to toda\ w hen w e are exchanging cot-
tonballs for footballs, basketballs and
baseballs, " lackson said.
Ia kson said we must examine and raise
(|uestions as to wh\ professional football
and basketbal leagues, are full of black
pla\ers but the coaches and athletic direc
tors who build their careers and make the
profits are w-hite.
Our Black plavers are entertaning
gladiators and must realize that thev are on-
l\ a sprained, broken, or twisted ankle from
being on the junkpile of historv, " lackson
said.
Our Black institutions should be preserv
ed because their mission is to breed Black
leadership.
The primarv mission of the Black school
is lo teach the so-called unteachable and to
reac h the unreachable, lackson said
lackson challenged Black cnsciousness
and the need to take pride in our Black
historv,
V\hite racism is too high tor Black con-
s( iousness to be so low , " lackson said.
lackson, founder of Operation PUSH
(I’eople United to Save Hunanit\) and
I’USH for Ixcellence in tducation, said
American historv is Black historv and Black
historv is American historv and unless it is
put in that context, the people who teach
must go back to school and studv the facts
ol America,
lackson encouraged Black students to
studv programs of technology, medicine,
business, lournalism, agriclture, and
engineering to build an efficient. Black
e onomv.
There is nothing more powerful than a
made up mind with some information in
it. lackson said.
Busy sophomore becomes UNC bandmajorette
LAWRENCE TURNER
Managing Editor
Although Ophelia Davis, a sophomore iournalism major,
|)lans to work with Black Ink and The Daily Tar Heel next
semester, she will spend time also practicing as one of
UN(;'s newest majorettes.
Davis is the second Black majorette in 10 \ears at UNC,
lohn Vesulatis, Universitv band director said.
Ophelia did a great job (in trvouts). I have no f|ualms
about her fitting in w ith the sc|uad, ' he said,
Ihe majorette sc|uad is v,erv team orientated, a‘certain
slv'h> is used and Davis adopted it well, Yesulatis said.
Davis said she tried out tor the squad last v ear butdid not
make it. ' I didn t havt' the experience or ihe '('arolina
sl\le. ' she said.
, -I ,uas determined to tr\ at least ,bne more'time,' Davis
added.
'ihe lelt Ihe competition as ver\ sirong and that hurling
her lelt knee while pradic ing didn't helf) hc',r c hanc es. It
was the clav before (the- trvouts) but it wasn t crilKal,
1 )av IS said, and laughc'd,
I m ex( ited,' she said. It's a wav of self-ex|)ression lor
me I love to twirl (the baton).
Ihe onlv Black on the seven-member sc|uad. Davis said
she does not feel anv additional [Kessures. I feel I have to
(lom\ best, but not because I m Black. ’ she said'
I II probably feel sell-conscience being the onlv black,
but I'll get use to it because I was the onlv black in high
sc hool," Davis said,
A member of the majorette sc|uad in high school tor three
vt'ars, Davis served as co-chief her last year.
She estimated majorette practice will be four days out of
Ihe week plus weekends,
I will trv to handle it (tinie management) as best I can
because I have made that commitment,' Davis said.
The other sc)uad members are encouraging, she said,
Ihe feeling I got after tr\out is that fhe\ were warm and
Ihev congratulated me,' Davis added,
Bui Davis received encouragement from her familv too,
- Her parents and two brothers c ame to trvout to encourage
It,' Vesulatis said.
• ,. Davis scored high among each judge at the trvout and
i_oujd not be considered a token he said. She earned
evcrv bit ol it. Vesulatis said.
1 trv to get more Blacks on the squad to jucige, which
he said is a problem as w ell as few Blacks trv ing out foi
Ihose positions as maiorette.
Two of the seven majorette judges were Blac k, Nesulatis
said.
Pwctice sessions including the leader from each band
scH tfon before trvouts would b-^ helpful for Blac ks, he said
I don t look at it as Black or white, it's talent, >esulalis
said jbout Ihe applicants. We have never turned anvone
(lowtT who was successful who tried. '
Ophelia Davis (photo by Sonja Payton)
University ignores underlying racial tensions
LAWRENCE TURNER
Managing Editor
( ampus race relations have an underlving
tension and [jeople usually avoid or ignore
il. UNC; assistant clinical pschology pro
lessor Denise Barnes said in a recent inter-
V lew.
I think It's a stressful situation and that
onc' of the wavs people deal with it is to
clem lhat it is there, ' Barnes said.
Sometimes Black folk don't have a
c hoice in denying racial matters, " she said,
Barnes has dealt with the issue in discus
sion groups sponsored bv the (Carolina
Union's Human Relations (.'ornmittee.
She has conducted four discussion
groups involving Black and white students
sinc e last v ear,
FRESHMEN TARGETED
I rea'lv think (the Black discussion
group) is needed, because the\ need an
outlet of frustration," Barnes said. The
grou|) could be geared for freshmen and
(their knowledge) and let people know
where their support systems are on cam
pus, she said,
Barnes said the program could aid during
c rue lal times of the year, Kor example, the
group could discuss w'hen students have
their lirst series of tests in courses at UNC,
she said.
The program also could discuss con-
linuous racial prejudice incidents students
encounter, Barnes added. Students need to
keep a positive self-image and self-esteem,
she said.
Otherwise, Barnes conducts the groups
tor a self-examination of racial attitudes
and not to change those attitudes, I w-ant
IH'ople to get in touch with their feelings
about the other race, " she said,
ROLE PLAYING
Croups achieve this through role playing
or discussing fantasies, Barnes said.
Some observations of Black students in
discussion groups included that Blacks
spoke about racial issues easily and gave
|)C'rsonal incidents to document their cases
usualIv, she said.
In comparsion, whites had a little more
trouble (discussing racial matters) and tend
ed to intellectualize " and not give personal
incidents, Barnes said.
But there existed exceptions to both
c ases, she added,
GROUP OBSERVATIONS
Although Barnes said the groups served
as learning experiences for everyone, both
Blacks and whites felt unable to change the
rac iai situation. They were caught up in a
premade system and couldn't change
things," she said.
The groups were small and organized to
follow discussion topics without any set
agenda for organization, Barnes said.
Another observation from the groups is
lhat Black students are very angry about
what thev have to cope with aside from
-itcad'emir^. ' in' particulaT prejudvc'e"'fr'oiTi'
w hites, she said,
Thev felt it was verv unfair, but thev
realized it's just not on this campus but
wherever thev go thev 11 have to deal with
it, ' Barnes said,
STRESSFUL PROBLEMS
The racial problems Blacks encounter
can result in stress through several ways,
Barnes said.
The problems can stem from white peo
ple's biases, their too-nice attitude toward
Blacks, she said.
Another problem is ignorance of the dif
ferent cultures of the races, she added.
Anxiety may result from stress from the
discrimination from whites as, for example,
not receiving a job because of being Black,
Barnes said.
The future of the discussion groups is
unknown, but Barnes said, "I think the
Universitv ought to find some means to ex
pand the programs , , , because now it's
me. And if me should get tired, vvhq would
confiriue'it?
An effective role playing example was a
Black student pretending to be a white
woman reacting to a Black man sitting
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