4
Brisbon speaks on racial problems
BY MARJORJE HALL
News editor
About 70 Guilford students and fac
ulty gathered in the Gallery on Tuesday,
March 31, to listen to Ervin Brisbon's pre
sentation "Engaging the Race Construct."
The presentation opened with an Af
rican welcome dance and song performed
by Samantha Scales, accompanied by Allen
Horn on the drums. African dance, song
and poetry were interspersed with Brisbon"s
presentation. "We hope to use the music
and the dance to break the spell of West
ern mindset and civilization," said Brisbon.
"We can create a new environment in
here."
The intent of the presentation was to
prove that there is a racial construct in this
country that supports white privilege and
black inferiority.
Brisbon believes that Western civili
zation has developed a system of domina
tion based on race, class, and gender. The
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will be giving a presentation on clinical
BIOFEEDBACK & HYPNOTHERAPY
date: Monday, April 6 th
time: @ 7t30
(yes, that's THIS Monday!!)
place: King Hall—room 228
(second floor)
All are invited.
Admission is free.
Spread the word.
For more info:
Jimi x 3964
Catherine Kannenburg x 2233
Brought to you by the Psychology Club.
three different problems are interrelated gage this problem."
and he believes they can not be solved in- Brisbon also talked about the current
dependency of one another. "You have to local problem of school redistricting. Many
deal with the Greensboro
question of
race before
you can beat
sexism in this
country," he
says. '
Brisbon
said that even
though the con
struct was de-
veloped long before anyone alive now was
born, it is our responsibility to deal with the
racial problems that have grown out of this
construct.
According to Brisbon, the institutions
in place reinforce the construct economi
cally and politically. "We were born into
this," he said. "The oil is on us. They
were here and they are going to come
again, and they will not stop until we en-
News
"We were born into this. The
oil is on us. They were here
and they are going to be back
and they will not stop until we
engage this problem. " —Ervin
Brisbon
are black. White children are not sent to
black schools.
He encouraged Guilford students to
be aware of issues such as these in Greens
boro and to get involved. "Some of you are
going to be here for a while, and some of
you are going to be here for the rest of your
lives," said Brisbon. "You should get in
volved in the issues of the community."
The presentation also included artwork
Daily: Unprogrammed wor
ship. 8:05 a.m.-8:20 a.m. Hut.
Friday, April 3
• Noon: Confronting AIDS
with nonviolence.
Saturday, April 4 DAY
WITHOUT VIOLENCE
• 8:00 p.m.: John McCutcheon.
Dana.
Sunday, April §
• 9:15 a.m.: College meeting
for worship, led by Laura O'Toole,
professor of sociology/anthropol
ogy. Moon Room.
• 7:00 p.m.: Catholic Mass.
Gallery.
• 7:00 p.m.: QLSPWorship.
Moon Room.
• 8:00 p.m.: Student A.A.
meeting. Hut.
Monday, April 6
• 3:30 p.m.: GCRO Meeting.
Hut.
• 8:30 p.m.: Fellowship of
by Erica Linear, including several paintings,
a painted gourd, and a turtle-shell mask.
The artwork focused on Linear "s study of
her African heritage. "I paint pictures re
lated to what I've studied of my history,"
she said. "If I wrote it out, maybe not ev
eryone would understand, but anyone can
learn from a picture. We can learn from
symbols." Brisbon invited students at the
end of the presentation to stay and discuss
the presentation and racism on campus.
The discussion continued for an hour.
Brisbon, a resident of Greensboro,
works with the Future Leaders Program, a
program sponsored by the local American
Friends Srvice Committee. Several Guil
ford students volunteer with the Future
Leaders Program and decided to bring
Brisbon to campus.
Scales said she hoped that the pre
sentation could help bring growth to the
campus, even if some of the ideas presented
were unpleasant to those who attended.
"Growth is not an easy thing," she said.
schools are still
segregated by
race. The city
has bussed stu
dents to differ
ent schools to
try to solve the
problem, but al
most all of the
students bussed
the week in
Campus Ministries
Christian Athletes. Boren
Lounge.
Tuesday, April 7
• 5:15 p.m.: Episcopal Eu
charist. Moon Room.
• 7:00 p.m.: The Spiritu
ality of Douglas Steere, Seeker
Session. Jamestown Friends
Meeting.
• 8:30 p.m.: New Genera
tion Ministries. Boren Lounge.
Wednesday, April 8
• 5:30 p.m.: Midweek
meeting for worship. Hut.
• 8:30 p.m.: Inter Varsity
Christian Fellowship. Boren
Lounge.
• 9:00 p.m.: Unitarian-Uni
versalist students. Hut.
Thursday, April 9
• 7:00 p.m.: Seeker Session:
The Spirituality of Gandhi and King.
Friday, February 6
• Noon: Brown Bag Lunch.
Egg Dyeing Eggstravanganza.
The Guilfordian
April 3,1998