Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 11, 1969, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 Infiltration On Home Front By LISA MEYERS Ever since the television was invented, men have sat mysti fied viewing an almost unbroken parade of glorified rubbish on their sets. The miracle of television itself had such a dynamic impact on man that he thought Uttle of the quality of whafhe ^ watching. That he was able to watch as well as listen to a far away broadcast in his own living room was sufficient magic to lure him each day to the set and hold him there. After World War n, a new breed of viewers was born. Raised in a culture which regarded T.V. as a basic fixture in every home, those new young viewers failed to appreciate television for tele vision's sake, as their fathers had. The more Perceptive among them recognized the volcano of potential in this field, that lay obscured behind a cloud of bad situation comedies, and worse dramatic attempts (“dramatic" is used here passing of its enterdres, for shows such as Highwy Patrol, or “Dragnet” certainly could not be construed as drama in its loftier connotation.) . When the T.V. menu had nothing better to offer than the tradi tional goulash of old rotten potatoes, the hard-nosed new viewer simply stopped eating. Because of the tremendous monetary power of these youths, the materialists of the media, the commercial men, began to assert pressure on the networks to broadcast mat type' of program which might readily appeal to youth, and might turn them back on to turning back on the T.V, Efforts in this direction produced two types of shows, eacn vastly different in value from the other. One type is the poorly made and planned show that appeals to and flaunts aU the icuo- syncracies of the hip teen culture, such as “The Monkees. In variably the commercials steal the show away from the show in these programs that are nothing less than an insult to the in telligence of the youth of today. The program will rarely run for more than one season, but malheurusement, the ad men and tte wicked script writers are unceasingly vigitot in their talent for providing two more gruesome monstrosities to replace every monster that the ratings manage to decapitate. (Occasionally viewers deserve, and in fact earn the right, to have their intelli gence insulted. A case in point is the clever reception of Mod Squad,” enabling this typical trio of young people to invade the sanctity of homes coast to coast.) * The other type of program rescues television from the fate of being condemned because it is without "any literary or social redeeming factors. “These programs can take many forms, but they all hold in common a striving toward sincep investigation of some one or many of society's Mlments. This season, tele- (Continued on Page 3) VERITAS Hell ^ ith ^^Heir Black Contemplations I By RALPH MOORE Religion has traditionally been of major relevancy to the lives of Black Americans. It has been through religion that Blacks have been able to keep a reasonable amount of sanity, even throu^ the worst moments of white oppression. Our fundamental need for something to believe in, to hold on to, has forced us tomain. tain an almost unhealthy relationship with and dependency upon God -- religion. ... During the “Transoceanic Period”, when Black families were robbed of natural ties and relationships, we were compelled to turn to forces better “equipped” to comprehend what was hap- pening. When Blacks were piled into the rdttening hulls of slave ships so tight our bodies were deprived of the natural processes of relieving themselves, we placed our lives in the hands of a God we were unfamiliar with. It was obvious the God left back in Africa had failed us; we then placed our lives to the salvation of yours. The need for religion (a natural insecurity), a God and a means of relating to him, forced Blacks to turn toward a white spirit totally irrelevant to our Black existence. When speaking of total irrelevancy, the reference is primarily given to the connotation whites have placed behind the concept of religion, God, and relating to them. To most whites God comes off as som^ omnipotent, ubiquitous, degenerate old man sitting in the top of a tree throwing tire, lightening, and acorns down on people, totaUy oblivious to man’s physical and spiritual needs. This God requests to be “feared” rather than loved. To whites, who are innately more capitalistic and imperialistic than other people, this is convenient. God does not stand in their way as long as they do not offend Him personally. God occupies the hour and a half in their lives on Sunday they waste in a “worship” service, to be forgotten by the cocktail hour Sunday evening. “Token pat- ronage” to God clears the troubled conscience of racist ^»*ite America, but does nothing for their astral beings. This “token patronage” manifests itself in a secular attitude toward religion resulting in a physical religion; religion out of convenience rather than necessity. Blacks were forced into a totally spiritual confrontation with God. He was the one force able to deliver us from the white oppressors. It was the mercy of God we sought, not just his aid. Ours was to be a religion of necessity, not convenience. ReUgion for Blacks had to (1) reUeve the psychological frus tration caused by colonialistic modes of micro-speculation by whites, (2) fill the void caused by our religious laxity after being stolen’from the motherland, (3) satisfy the basic need for human spiritual security, and (4) give Blacks a basic Identity with the "creator”. A white Christ, a white birthright for him, does absolutely nothing, psychologically or spiritually, for Blacks; the void re mains. We have worshipped a god that has not only not looked like us, but who has stood by and permitted your constant and increasiiig hegemony over us. He listens to our prayers by day, (Continued on Same Page) This week, on Monday, Tues day and Wednesday certain mem bers of our Elon Community will be subjected to numerous per sonal indignities, by choice. The event for this subjection is the traditional initiation ceremonies for pledges to the sororities and fraternities on campus. The term applied to these ceremonies is Hell Week. The people involved are hell bent tor recognition by their peers. They hope to gain some prestige and superiority by Identifying themselves with a closed group. They will be given their “heU” to test their worth iness to l)elong to the “hell givers.” Their ability to with stand harassment wiU prove their loyalty and will display their brotherly or sisterly love. During these three days, their future sisters and brothers will treat them as the very lowest, but with the end of these hell days they will receive them as peers, deserving to be in the association. This event takes place twice a year after a period of rush ing -- rushing to be “in.” Rush ing to be included and rushing to be secure are the goals. A fraternity or sorority member is secure in the fact he will al ways have friends. He will not have friends in the true sense of the word but he will be sup ported by sisters or brothers who are obligated to be loyal to him. You must openly if not in wardly show love and loyalty to each and everyone of your sisters or brothers. This brings us back to initiation procedures. Openly the pledge must love every minute of the feigned dis like that he receives. He is a slave and must do numerous chores for his masters. He must submit to all sorts of ridiculous tricks and numerous embarass- ments. The campus was filled with paddle carriers and right-hand ed people eating awkwardly with the left hand. Female pledges wore the colors of their respective sororities. Male pled ges walk uneasily with their lov ingly inflicted pain. At times dur- ing the iniation they must ask themselves if it's aU really worth it. Insult after insult was thrown from the brothers and sisters to the pledges as well as num erous physical burdens. For what reasons do sisters and brothers have such iniations? Do the new members really ap preciate belonging that much more? At the end of hell they are welcomed with open arms and the old members shower them with such love and loyalty that it may seem to assauage the men tal pain they had. It makes it seem worthwhile since it is all over and they will be the future hell givers. Is the price for life time re- spect three days of loss of self- respect? Must you humble your- self in this way for the ri^t to belong to a selective group? There is hell enough given which you have a choice to accept or not to accept, without hell which must be accepted. It is your right if you wish to belong to a sor ority or fraternity but think about what you lose as well as what you gain. L.L.L. Tuesday, November u, jggg i Dawn’s Early Light | By RANDY DAVIS “The Conspiracy”, a self-named group of eight political de. fendants active in radical and anti-war movements, has now been on trial in the federal district court of Chicago tor several weeks. Under right-winger Judge Julian Hoffman, combined with the brilliant defense of Bill Kunstler, this trial could be char, acterized as one of the most humorous aspects a kangaroo court could offer - if the political implications were not so grave. The defendants have been charged with “inciting a riot" in violation of the federal “anti-riot” statute hastily attached to the Civil Rights Act in 1968 by Senator Strom Thurmond without the consent of most of the Senate. The charges involve the mass confrontation that occured during the August, 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. From this confrontation, that was considered a “police riot” by the Walker Commission, eight political figures with national reputations have been selectively chosen for the role they played in the event. Among them are Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Dave Dellinger, and Bobby Seale. If convicted, each defendant faces a $20,000 fine and ten years in prison. The Conspiracy vocally is attempting not only to defend them, selves legally, but more significantly is committed to revealing the true causes of the Chicago brawl as it relates to poUce-state tactics employed by Mayor Daley and his police force. There also appears to be an effort made to illustrate the trial itself as a form of legalized fascism instituted by the Supreme Court and the Justice Department. One Civil Liberties Union lawyer observed the trial as “pro. bably one of the most important trials in the history of the United States”, Dramatic as the scene may be inside of the court cham- bers, the defendants’ basic goal is to cast a political verdict. As Black Panther chairman Bobby Seale, who, when his birthday cake was taken from the courtroom by the marshals, said ‘‘They've arrested a cake, but they can’t arrest a revolution.” As moderate-liberals, who may have participated in the Oct- ober 15 moratorium emphasizing the “legal-non-violent” approach, may have forgotten about November 15 as a result of envisioning the “timetables” Nixon spoke of November 3, the group that spon. sored these activities - the Vietnam Moratorium Committee - is now being joined by a more vocal group called the New Mobili zation Committee. Although the questions of nonviolent or more militant tactics appear to be less of a concern to the New Mobe, it is offering a broader perspective to the protest by considering a radical ap. proach to the social causes of war and the system that perpet- u&t0s tli6 wir# There is reason for a degree of optimism in that the Vietnam Moratorium Committee and the New Mobe have lent each other support. This provides for a more meaningful protest while at the same time maintaining the wide base of support presently needed. Drivers to D.C. this weekend contact SGA if you have room for riders Black. (Continued from Same Page) NOTICE Classified advertisements may be purchased from Veritas for $1.00 per column inch. This is approximately 30 words. Con- tact Ann Claybrook, Ext. 307, but places a moon in the ni^t’s sky for your overt attacks upon us. Blacks are no longer able to relate to this God or his son. A few attempts have been made to paint Christ black. This is all fine and good, but the basic fallacies the church is built upon re main. The catholic church does not serve the people, they serve it. Black religion today is going through this change. We are our own religion, as pointed out by a white friend in recent conver sation. My God is the thirty million Black people in America, my Christ, the Black Panther Party. My religion is my people. STAFF co'editors; linda 1. long randall s. spencer advertising ann claybrook manager: cartoonist: william y. comninaki lay^out^editor: rick burnell photographer: jay fisher driver; k. morgan howell associate ralph moore editors: randy davis lisa meyers research: mark a.' shocklcy david bowden ed Conner joan riggan sheila clendenmng typists: sheila elendcnning joan riggan pornographer: modine guncli Unsigned articles are the opinion of the staff collectively
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 11, 1969, edition 1
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