Newspapers / Black Ink (Black Student … / March 31, 1992, edition 1 / Page 4
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March 31. 1W2 Opinion/News 4 No Link Between BCC Supportersy Supremacists By Charles McNair Staff Writer "I am in earnest-1 will not equivocate — / will not excuse — / will not retreat a single inch- AND I WILL BE HEARD!" -William Lloyd Garrison Once again 1 am templed to pul my pen to the page and to defend something thal I hold near and dear. This time I am writing to defend the concept of a free standing Black Cultural Center here in the “Southern part of Heaven.” On February 27,1 picked up a Daily Tar Heel and the Carolina Critic. Both contained references to a free-standing BCC and both were against it. They have shown their colors and where they stand. Now it is time to show mine. I think that both papers published their opinions immediately before Spring Break as partof ahil-and-run tactic. This tactic counts on their opinions having enough impact on the minds of their readers while not giving opponents exiough time to respond. Thus, a person responding two or three weeks after the fact would seem petty in the minds of some and “just another uptight Negro” in the minds of others. I also want to address some comments made by Kevin Moran (Black Ink, Feb.18). Mr. Moran is the chairman of the Student Bicentennial Committee. I’ll start with the Critic. Under the heading of “The Critical Eye,” the following was printed, “According to The Wall Street Journal, white South Africans voted for apartheid in a parliamentary by-election...The Conservative Party, which wants to bring back segregation, seized the local legislative seats from de Klerk’s National Party. Meanwhile, here on campus, plans ‘to bring back segregation’ continue in the push for a Black Cultural Center.” First, I want to agree with the Critic in implying that we do not have a Black Cultural Center. We have an interim space in the Student Union thal carries out fractional functions of a full-fledged BCC. But I take suong and serious issue with the Critic in: (1) likening those who call for a free-standing BCC to South African White S upremacists and (2) correlati ng the system of segregation in South Africa and Jim Crow to today’s push for a BCC. Jim Crow is a far cry from the feeling among students that blacks need and deserve a center that nurtures African-American culture. A BCC can only help the students of this campus—black, white, yellow, red, and orange—by promoting cultural understanding and awareness among the student body. The Critic’s editor needs a seriously correct history lesson. There is no way in hell that South African White Supremacists (or any white supremacist) can be said to resemble the supporters of a free standing BCC! We have not nullified anyone’s political rights, human rights or moral rights as they have. We have not denied anyone a trial and imprisoned them for speaking their mind. We have not killed thousands of innocent, indigenous people or injured thousands of others. We have not designated anyone to fourth-class citizenship. Wehavenotpolitically, morally, socially, educationally, mentally, and physically enslaved 90 percent of the country’s population. We have not exploited another counU7 ’ s natural resources to make ourselves rich and to keep the natural people of that land in a position of continual degradation. These things and more are what South African While Supremacists did and want to continue to do to the black indigenous peoples of South Africa—and all of this is due to greed and racism. These are not the driving forces behind BCC supporters. Racism, the main component of a South African White Supremacist (SAWS), can never enter into the reasons why we push for a BCC. For one thing, supporting a free standing BCC presupposes non racist motivations and most importantly, blacks in America cannot be racists. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged defines racism as “the assumption thal psyhcocultural trails and capacities are determined by biological race and thatraces differ decisively from one another, which is usually coupled with a belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race and its right to domination over others.” Under the present system in America, blacks cannot be racists. We are only 10 percent of the total population and we do not hold enough real power to, like white South Africans, oppress the remaining 90 percent. Being a racist implies legally or illegally forcing your views of racial superiority upon those considered inferior. This is done through individual acts or by institutionalizing those views. African Americans have not and do not do this and neither do the supportersof a firee-standing BCC. By trying to liken BCC suppaters to SAWS, the Critic not only shows its insensitivity tocampusminority issues but also to the millions of oppressed and the thousands of killed and injured native South Africans. I only wish that the correlation was Uue and the SAWS were like us. Many innocent lives would have been saved. Next, the Critic draws lines connecting today’s push for a free standing BCC and J im Crowesque (legal) segregation. This is also a concern of Mr. Moran—that “a free-standing BCC would hamper the promotion of one of the BCC’s primary goals; the continuing integration of African-American culture and community on campus.” He says this because, “a free-standing BCC will necessarily be built away from the center of campus.” A free-standing BCC does not necessarily have to be away from the center of campus. With that out of the way, let me deal with this segregation/ integration/assimilation thing. The Critic is absurd in likening a fr^-standing BCC to South Africa’s apartheid and American See COMPROMISE, Page 11 Lack of Black For BCC A Disgrace By Tuere Randall Guest Writer This campus REEKS! Not of the smell of the fertilizer on the grass, or the smell of the sewer that drains waste frcan the campus, but instead it reeks of apathy. It is a smell more offensive to my nose than any septic tank, and brothers, sisters, it should be offensive to your noses ^ well. On March 12at I2:15p.m.,arally washeldinfrontbftheSouthBuilding on behalf of the housekeepers here on campus; the movement for an endowed chair on behalf of Dr. Stone, and a firee-standing Black Cultural Center. The turnout for this rally was not great, but 1 understand that some of us just could not make it there. We had more important things to do like sit on “the wall” and watch each other go by. I assume it was selfish of Michelle Thomas, president-elect of the Black Student Movement and everyone else to expect us to take 20 minutes of our time to leave the yard to listen to what they were trying to say. After all, she was only talking about the major issues facing African Americans on campus be they student, housekeeper, professor or parent. What the hell is wrong with us? Our absence and lack of support for our own causes is a disgrace. Don’t we understand that there is power in numbers? It broke my heart when I looked over the crowd to discover that most of the concerned onlookers were not African American. I kept hoping that more of us would shoWi hoping that the numbers would increase as more people got out of class, but the numbers did not grow and neither did my faith in some of my fellow black students. In fact, it slippedaway more and racHtsasl waflcedby “the wall*! to see allof those people who hadn’tbothered to walk from the side of Lenoir ^d the fiont of the Undergrad to rally behind the causes, which will ultimately affect them. We don’t have to spend every waking moment of the day on the yard checking each other out as we walk by to reaffirm our looks. We should know thal we are beautiful. AftCT all, we are black. But the most beautiful sisters and brothers are those who take pride in being black by standing up for themselves. This pride exudes more beauty than what we believe to be physically attractive. Don’t get me wrong, the yard is a great place to see some of thefinest specimens of black men and women, See APATHY, Page 9^ Heatth Careers: The the Future The NC Health Careers Access Program announces New Satellite Office Hours - Miller Hall, Rm 112 Spring Sen\ester 1992 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1:00^:00 CLOSED 10:00-3:00 12:00-4:00 10:00-12:00 2:00-4:00 RESOURCES AVAILABLE Information on a variety of health careers & health training programs Directory of science and health professions enrichment programs Financial aid resources Admission tests schedules and applications Videos on selected health careers and health training programs Come Catch a Wat/e!
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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March 31, 1992, edition 1
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