Newspapers / Black Ink (Black Student … / Sept. 29, 1981, edition 1 / Page 2
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PACE 2 SEPTEMBER 28, 1981 News segment airs truth TERESA BLOSSOM Associate Editor The end of the 11 -year-old dispute be tween the UNC school system and the U.S. Department of Education marked the begin ning of more controversy and publicity. The most recent controversy surrounding the consent decree was a nine and one-half mi nute news segment on the CBS news maga zine, "Sunday Morning" Sept. 13. The story showed the Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University campuses juxtaposed with footage of whites protesting integration during the 1960's. It included former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's famous stand in the doors of the University of Alabama to block integration and chants of “2-4-6-8, we don't want to integrate." President William C. Friday called the story a profound disappointment. He has filed a formal complaint with CBS-TV and has asked for the tapes of the presentation of the UNC desegregation dispute. Joining Friday in his righteous indignation of CBS is NCCU Chancellor Albert Whiting and Gov. James Hunt. Certainly, it could not have been a pleasant experience for Friday and other UNC officials to have their dirty laundry aired on national television, especially on a day when most people's thoughts are turned to Christian love and fellowship. But it is impossible for any administrator to deny the truth of the stet. For nine and one-half minutes, a major reason for UNC's presence in federal court passed before millions of viewers in literal black and white: NCCU's predominately black campus and Chapel Hill's white one. From start to finish, a CBS Reporter showed that, 27 years after the Supreme Court ruling that it is not possible to have separate but equal education, segregation still exists in the state supported colleges of North Caro lina. But underplayed in the story was the main element which influenced the "Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas" deci sion. Namely, that the inequality in this sys tem is not caused by the segregation but by an unequal dissemination of funds and re sources. The court saw in 1954 that black schools did not have the classrooms, libraries and other facilities or the updated textbooks found in their white counterparts. If CBS had compared the schools in the UNC system, it would have found that same disparities in black and white colleges and universities. The segment came too late to influence the outcome of the court case and too soon before the expiration of the consent decree to have a substancial impact. But with the exposure, more people were made aware of the unfair practices and the many problems in the UNC school system. Perhaps they will be indignant, outraged or just concerned enough to see that those practices are corrected, and those problems solved. CAHt^oT TfLL A Students give different perspective of blacl schools To the editor: There are many positive things about pre dominantly and traditionally black colleges and universities. Many blacks have seen "both sides of the coin", i.e., many of them have graduated from black universities and colleges and are now attending or have attended predominantly white graduate and professional schools, or have graduated from white universities and have gone to black graduate and professional schools. We belong to the first category in that we graduated from black schools —(Howard University, Bennett Col lege and North Caro lina Central University—) and are now third year law students here at UNC. It was stated in the September 15th issue of Black Ink in an article entitled "Black Schools Need Support," that administrators must give black students at black universities an accurate view of the world they are to face once they graduate." The article con tinued, stating that "that world, unlike their immediate environment, will not be black- on-black." In response to those statements, we would like to say that a black person does not have to attend a white university in order to interact and deal with whites. Whites are in every area of this society — everywhere from primary schools to employment areas. Our parents and grandparents knew how to interect successfully with whites without many of them ever having attended a college or university — black or white. Most of our parents who attended institutions of higher learning attended black colleges and univer sities and they too know how to interact successfully with whites. It has been a con tinuous part of our socialization to be taught how to deal with those in the majority. We believe there is a continuing need for black colleges and universities. The only way they can survive is through financial, moral and dedicated support. We also agree with the article's statement that "obtaining a degree from UNC-CH won't eliminate the prejudice of people whose attitudes won't allow them to see beyond the color of your skin." Black citizens have long recognized that we are in the minority. Therefore, every black American knows that in order to sur vive and to progress in this society we must know as much as possible about the major ity. Remember, education does not take place only in the college classrooms. Many educators wll probably agree that most of what students learn is outside the classroom in a less formal setting. We have never objected to learning about the majority; however, we have objected to the exclusion of black American involve ment from required permissible curricula. Black educators handle their objections by supplementi ng the text and reference books, and required curricula. A history instructor, for example, is able to include as a necessary part of his lectures issues and information that relates to blacks and other minorities. A familiar saying among some of us is "you need to go to a white university be cause you need to know how to deal with both sides." Again, we emphasize that years ago black people were not even allowed entrance into UNC's doors (except the black housekeepers, of course), but that did not preclude black people from learning how to "deal with both sides." Many of those great black persons (such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and U.S. Supreme Court Jus tice Thurgood Marshall) went to black col leges and universities and later helped to make it possible for us to be allowed to attend UNC and other white universities! Let us stop and take a look at the many great black people who have graduated from black colleges and universities, and who have successfully dealt with all facets of society. A few examples: Dean Hayden B. Renwick, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Alex Haley, Mayor Maynard Jackson of Atlanta, and N.C.Court of Appeals Judge Charles Becton. The list could goon and on. Don't these people intereact successfully with both blacks and whites? We can some times so very quickly forget "from whence we came" and how we got to where we are now. We (the authors of this article) attended and graduated from black universities and college and we are very proud of it. While there, we certainly reaped the benefits of excellent administrators. Although we may have lacked the funds and facilities, etc. that many white universities have, no one can take away the glory of the knowledge and experiences we shared at those beloved black colleges and universities. We definite ly received an accurate view of the world we were to face once we graduated and we're ready to face that world. Let's not look down on black people who attend and who have attnded black universi ties (just as the house slaves looked down on field slaves because the house slaves hid gotten into the "better life") and say to them "I've been to a white university so I can better deal with white folk than you can In conclusion, when those of us who' attend predominantly white institutions start to "put down" or speak negatively about predominantly black institutions, why don't we instead stop and think back a little — back to the times when not one black human being was allowed to attend white universi ties and colleges. Despite that fact, black people went on to schools — to the 41 black colleges and universities in this country. These black colleges and universities nur tured the many prominent and educated black people and gave blacks the opportun ity to attend institutions of higher learning. Black people made great progress. Let us not fight against our brothers and sisters of the black schools in regards to the problems of lack of funding and facilities. Last, but not least, when we are able to, let us join together and feed money back into black colleges and universities. Let us get together and stick together regardless of the school we attend. The struggle is a long way from being over, and "united we stand, divided we fall." W. Kay Hannon Bertha Fields Edward Pone Members of Black American Law Students Association W. Kay Hannon; Bertha Fields; Edward Pone, 3rd Year Law School: Members of Black American Law Students Association, UNC.
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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Sept. 29, 1981, edition 1
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