Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / March 16, 1957, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THg CABOLINA TTMKS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1M7 .1 A. H. CORDON'S A UUIIE FOR ALCOIN A. & H. SIUDBIIS We salute the students of Alcorn A. & M. State College in Mississippi for striking against an “Ujicle Tom” professor, Dr. Clen- non King, of their school who-apparently at tempted, unsuccessfully, to purchase tlie job of ttie coll^gf;. .presidency by attacking .the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People In years past, an article such as that written by Dr. King would have so ingratiated him with the trustee board of the college that he would have at least re ceived a salary raise, if not its presidency. It so happens, however, that the turn of events resulted in neither for Dr. King, and instead he has been forced to give up his position with the college and is now among the un employed—and most likely the unwanted of his race. The Alcorn College case is testimony that whether reactionary whites and “Uncle Tom” Negroes like it or not, the NAACP, even in Mississippi, is loved, supported and respected by a majority of Negroes, especial ly of the younger element. Any attempt to besmirch or smear its name with communism or to attack it otherwise will get nowhere, but on the contrary will only serve to en gender more support and memberships for it. That Dr. King was not aware of his in finitesimal status and the impregnability of the NAACP is amazing, though understand able to this newspaper. Among many Ne gro state colleges are to be found instructors who have so far removed themselves from the society of their people, by limiting them selves to the confines of the college campus, that they are downright ignorant of the at titudes, aspirations and sentiments of the Negro masses. In many instances the ac ceptance of an instructor’s position or pre sidency at a Negro state college in the South, so far as the masses of the races are concern ed, IS like taking a walk into oblivion and closing the door behind you. Or it is like taJung a Rip. Van, Winkle sleep only to awak en 2U years later or less to find that the mores, attitudes and thinking of the race have changed entirely and that such a per son is out of step with the times. The justification for this tendency of many professional educators and teachers to retire to their sequestered walks is that if the pure truth, of wliich they are the sole pos sessors, must be exposed by reason of their commerce with the crude and naive masses, it may become tainted and corrupted. To this, we can only reply that if what they have is the real thing, it hardly needs the incubus of a college campus to live. It can thrive anywhere. We suspect that the real reason behind their self-imposed hiberna tion is that deep down in their souls they know that what they have is only weakly implanted in them, and they fear the erosion of even this unless it is constantly protected and guarded by the physical barriers of the campus. Dr. King has no doubt learned the hard way that you cannot dwell in an ivory tower and at the same time advise people who are living on the ground. As matters now stand, no respectable Negro institution of learning could efford to employ him for fear of risking a fate similar to Alcorn’s. Cer tainly, no church school, even in Mississippi, would dare do so. We are certain there is no white school in Mississippi which will come to Dr. King’s rescue. King is now a teacher without a class. Good riddance! THE HOPE OF THE SOUTH At Duke University a hfw days ago, stu dents in^the divinity school, as they have done several times before, voted their ap proval of the admission of Negro students. The local white press on learning of the in cident hurriedly wrote a short, short ac count and buried it in an inconspicuous place on an inside page of its current issue. It was news alright, but the kind that most south erners would prefer not hearing or seeing played up too prominently in their newspa pers. Here you have a picture of the dying old South ansLtte oom^ of of the new 'is d«q>erately to its ancient customs as the death rattle be comes louder and louder and the struggle for breath becomes more fierce. You may yet see a few more Negro homes and churches bomb^ ed, ministers jailed or other leaders beaten or shot down. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Coming events cast their shadows and the die has been cast for a new day in the South. There is nothing wrong with Dixie that a few funerals in high places will not cure. Needless to say Duke University officials frowned on the actions of the Divinity School students and dismissed the affair as being that of young upstarts. But upstarts grow up and take over offices, jobs and places of leadership. They eventually become our legislators, governors, city councilmen, col lege presidents and the holders of other im portant posts. What today seems impossible on tomorrow is an accepted reality. The irony of the entire Duke University situation is that, for the most part, only the descendants of those whose sweat and blood went into building the fortune which made Duka U|iversity po^ble a^ bai;red^^m enrolU^as student^ even |in its dii^ty school. A casual glance at its student body will disclose that it is composed of practically every race on the face of the earth except that of the Negro. Certainly if present edu cators in southern chiu*ch schools have the indecency to raise the race issue in the train ing of men foFthe Christian ininisfiy, there is httle hope for the South until time has removed those now in control and replaced them with those who now have the oourage of their convictions. Gordon Facing The issue COURAGEOUS STUDENTS BETTER PAY FOR OUR TEACHERS There is no intelligent citizen in North Carolina, either white or Negro, who can conscientiously object to the teachers in this state having a respectable raise in their salaries. The idea that it is possible to have first-class schools while pauperizing their teachers is contrary to reason and those who hope for such are only doing wishful think ing. North Carolina ought to pay its teach ers decent salaries as well as construct de cent buildings, since both are necessary in the building of a strong school system. Next to their health there is nothing that should receive more careful consideration than the education of the state’s future cit izens. If the state is going to continue to de mand that its teachers maintain a high stand ard in efficiency it may as well expect its teachers to demand salaries that are com mensurate. We cannot have quality in our teaching staffs unless we are willing to pay for it, since the two are interdependent. In several states teachers have been forced to seek a remedy under the wings of organ- izd labor, which to some, in and out of the profession, may be somewhat distasteful In one or more states teachera have either re sorted to strikes or threatened strikes to get decent pay for their work. Such a course should not be forced on North Carolina’s teachers and can be avoided if officials of the state, including members of the General Assembly, have the courage to do what every fairminded citizen knows should be done and wants done and that is increase the salaries of the teachers of North Carolina. . - It is our sincere hope that ways and means will be found to get the money for the pro posed 19.31. To do less is to take advantage of a professional group that, in the very na ture of the case, is less in position to defend itself than groups who make their demands, not requests, by strikes and threatened strikes. THE CAROLINA TIMES MAIN OFFICE — 436 EAST PETTIGREW STREET Phones S-0671 and 2-2913 — Durham, North Carolina Published At Durham, North Carolina Every Satur^y By THE UNITED PUBLISHERS, Inc. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Carolina un der the Act •/ March 3,1879. ^ L. E. AUSTIN, Publisher ~ CLATHAN ROSS. Editor JESSE GRAY, Advertising Mgr. . M. E. JOHNSON, Controller WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE — 304 X. CHURCH ST. — PHONE 5-«Mt MRS. VELMA HOPKINS, Manager $3.00 . $2.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year Ten Cents Sfaikgle Copy Six Months $4.00 — f^reigii Cen^ti;^. National Adverti«inss Aepretentatives :ESEJ INTERSTATE UNITED REPRESENTATIVKS, Inc. 545 Fifth Avenue New Yohk 17, New York Phone MUbxat HIll - 2-5452 In general, college students of the United States, North and South, East and West, white and colored, are remarkably apa thetic concerning the great problems of our nation and of the world. Such problems as the Justice or in-]ustice of univer sal military training in the United States under the guise of peace-time conscription, the jus tice or injustice of the criminal income taxes collected by the state and federal governments, the crime of international wars, and the gradual disappearance of civil rights or liberties of most of the people of this coun try—all these problems—leave the average college student ab solutely “cold." It is encouraging that the stu dents in one of the three state Negro colleges in “darkest” Mississippi have shown resent ment to Uncle Tom writings of one of their history teachers to the extent that at this writing (March 9) they have expressed determination to leave this place of mis-education unless this so-called professor is im mediately dismissed. The par ticular incident tooic place at the Alcom College, Alcorn Mississippi. It so happens that this writ^ taught at this, the oldest of the Negro Land Grant Colleges, for a brief period of two years. He left there after Dr. Otis was made president be cause he saw that any real edu cation was to be Impossible un der the leadership of this Uncle Tom. Knowing this so-called educator as 1 do, I was not sur prised that he probably i^;>ired a. teachei;’ tn' his ii^tufl^ to chticize'iuiy manly effO^ on the part of Negroes such as the work of the NAACP. I was also not surprised to learn that he promised the students that he would recommend the dismissal of the professor after he got in the trouble, and that he him self was also fired by the Board of Control. HANDS THAT CAN 5TILL PRAY LOJSD, HELP ALL AMET2iaM6 TO fee THAT YOU INTENDED HUMAN BEIN66 FVERYWHERE TO HAVE THE 5AME RIQHT5... : V you 3"^ Spiritual Insight “SELL OUT” By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAND Pastor, Mount Gilead Baptist Chnrdi Although the students are to be commended for showing publicly their opposition to such expressions as it is alleged the "professor” made, 1 do not think that the students should have reacted in the way they did. As reported in the public press, the students based their demand for the resignation of the “professor” on the grounds that he had published what they considered unjust criticism of the NAACP in a newspaper published in Jackson, Miss. It seems to us that the question of academic freedom of the pro fessor is at'.issue here and also the matter of the freedom of the press. After all, the "professor” had a right to publish his ideas, regardless of how foolish they were. It seems to this writer that a better way for the stu dents to protest would have been to demand that counter arguments of their own be pub- ,lished in the same paper, and, their releases to the press on the matter be allowed by the administration without being edited as the “professor’s” ap parently were allowed. We must admit that there may be con ditions surrounding the incident with which we are not fully in formed. Students ahd teachers should all have academic free dom in such matters. We do wish to congratulate the students of Alcom College for shedding their apathy and showing that some of our col lege students are doing a little thinking on serious matters and have the courage todare to take some risks to support those things in which they believe. They are to be congratulated upon having the good sense to see that sonle things are more important than Just "getting out” so as to hold down some job and fit into the status quo in some backward community where they can function as S modem, “stream-lined Uncle Toms." We wish that we had more courageous students in this country in all our colleges, white and colored, so that we might look forward to having leaders In the future more sac rificial and courageous than the ones we now have in our col leges and elsewhere. . "What must I do to inherit Eternal life...You lack one one thing, go sell what you have, come and follow me..." Luke 10:17,21. Men cling to the fading things of this life with such dogged tenacity. This same problem confronted the young man who came to Jesus asking...“What shall X do to Inherit eternal Ufe?” There was an unsatisfied ^nging in hii^ soul ‘for Ufe’s spiritual riches. The world's riches and honors left him empty, hungry and thirsty. He. thus came to Jesus asking about God's spiritual blessings for his restless, unsatisfied soul. He had material security. There is still a deep hunger for spiri tual security. Jcsua tpiia him that in order for him to find the spiritual blessings and security of God he must..."SELL OUT.” Jesus struck home to the special need of the soul of the young man...“You lack one thing...go sell what you have, come and follow me...” Jesus gave him a very shock ing and disturbing answer to his great question. The answer embraced the deep, crying need of his soul...“Sell what you have...and follow me...” All hu man beings have a'kindred need in their lives. We have some thing we need to “SELL OUT’ so that we can really follow Jesus. The pentral Point So, Jesus recognized the need of the young man’s soul. Jesus went to the heart of his soul’s deepest need. He had kept the outer trappings of the Moral Law. He had the form of the Law. He had lost the spirit of the Law. He had missed the main show with his deep In volvement with the side show. This is a tempting pitfall ■ for all of us. In the loving presence of the Savior, he clings to the cold formalities of the Law without the love of God. He lacked love the inner essence of the Law. ^ The young man was deeply in need of the heart-warming ma gic of love in his soul. Love is the heart of soul satisfaction, peace and real joy. If you have love, you have everything. If you lack love, you have nothing. Thus, Jesus says to the man... “You lack one thing, sell what you have, come and follow me..” 'This is the key to Ufe; this thing makes life tick. What is a heart without love? It is a cold, bar ren, empty thinflfl Life adds up to a worthless Uttle zero with out love. His wealth without love^ left him cold and lonely. For life to become worthwhile someone must touch us with love and we must touch another heart with love. Jesus tlius gives the prescription to the yoiuig man for soul satisfaction... |-!iSELL Out...AND FOLLOW ME...” And all human beings who would find life with its rich inner spiritual meaning must... “SELL OUT” The young man missed this rich spiritual trea sure. Why? He was unwilling to “SELL OUT.” By Robert Spivaek Watch on the Poto] Mr. Spivaek The Old Man Time and again as his press conference dragged on, the President cupped his hand to his ear to catch the question or he would say, "Excuse me, a little louder, please.” To most of the newsmen ga thered in the Old Indian Tfeaty Room, where the White House news conferences take place, it was a rather dismaying sight. The President obviously was not feeling well. He said so. The cotton plug in his left ear attest ed the fact. His eyes were red. His voice was hoarse. His an swers were more generalized than usual. Although White House cor respondents have complained that there have been few ses sions with the press since last November’s elections, they would not have objected had this one been called off. The so- called hard-boiled newsmen did the only thing they could un der the circumstances. They asked easy questions. Nobody wanted to disturb the President anymore than absolutely neces sary. ■ ' That was the picture as the President came into the room. “This morning,” he said, "in stead of an announcement I have a little request. I hope each of you will speak very distinctly because I am having a Uttle temporary difficulty with my hearing.” But one questioner did bring jup a rather touchy point. The Piesident tried to dismiss it ,Ughtly, but his ton* of voice beUed his words. The correspondent, a radio newsman, noted that it took two months to get the "Elsen hower doctrine” through Con gress despite assertions that this was an emergency calling for quick action. “Does this, plus the fact that you caimot seek a second term”, the Presi dent was asked. The Hesitant Answer For a moment or two the President groped for the right words. “No, not at all,” he re- pUed. “That bill was finally passed, wasn’t It, 72 to 19. I don’t think you could ask on such a subject for a very much greater majority. 1 was definite ly pleased.” When you read those words they sound like'a man who was quite sure of himself and satis fied with the outcome. But when you sat in the room it was apparent that the question bothered the Chief executive. Next came a question on modi fication of the “doctrine”.*Again th6 President seemed somewhat distressed. *“I do think the legislative history of this resolution shows that tee Senate approves— (coughing)—«orry—t h e Con- gres approves of what we are trying to do in toe area, and teat is toe important thing.*’ We shall not attempt to psy choanalyze toe meaning of that cough in the midst of tee only “hard” questions of toe press conference. But it was severe enough for toe next questioner to refer to it. “Mr. President,asked a New York Times correspondent, "could you teU us some more about this temporary hearing difficulty of which you com plain, sir. Is it related in some way to your cough? What do your doctors say about it?” “WeU, so far as I am con cerned, it feels Uke a cold in the head, that is aU.” "But,” persisted toe Times- man, “it is definitely related to toe same—” “Oh.yes; yes,” the President said. “—toe same condition that produced toe cough,” toe re porter finished. “Yes, tempo rary, of something." The Decline There was a Uttle more to the second term question than met tee eye. The day before tee press con ference, tee pro-administration WaU St. Journal carried a lead story which began: “President Eisenhower’s re lations wite Congress, «^ch never have been intimate,' are growing even more distant. His influence on Capitol HiU is tee wane.” This article has caused great anxiety in The Wliite House— but no one has yet come up wite any answers on what to do about it. Quote And Unquote Artour Larson, tee father of “Modem Republicanism”, was asked recently to define a "mo dem” Republican. "He is a man, Larson said, “who does not put off until to- AN OPEN lEIIER- PARTII .Editor’s Noter Following is tee second portion of an open letter from W. H. Jemagin, president of the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union. Therefore, as beUevers hi Christ, we must always keep in mind that toe cause is greater than any one of us. I think one of tee great objects for which we should pray at this moment and especially on toe National Day. of Prayer, is that the Holy Spirit wiU direct toe minds of our leaders and delegates who will meet in Louisville, to select a man whose first duty will be to bring peace, harmony and Christian feUowship witein our fold. You know God always has toe man. Forty years ago we had only a few men who were prepared for leadership, but that is not true today. Every year God is bringing forth some young men with great abiUty, vision and wite a Christ-Uke spirit which is surprising to many of us. I believe teat God has the man who can do this job and bring about peace in our denomiiia- tion, but in order for us to agree upon such a man, toe Holy Spirit must be oiu: guide. As a leader of tee young Bap tists of our convention, I am praying that a noble example will be set for these young peo ple who wiU inherit toe quaUty and spirit of those who served before them. 1 have been in tee -convention for over 57 years and my poUcy has always been to help men rateer tean to destroy teem. We have great responslbUity, a^ great chaUenge and a greet God who is able to guide us throu^ this crisis into a great day of achievement if we allow noto- ing to separate us from His di vine purpose and plan. Negro Baptists of America, stand fast in tee spirit and devotion be queathed us by William J. Sim mons, E. C. MorrU, L. K. WUU- ams and D. V. Jemison. W. H. Jemagin, President . National Sxmday School and Baptist Union Congress Thou wilt keep him in per fect peace, whose mind ia stayed on Thee: because he tmsteto Thee.—(Isaiah 26,3.) Peace of mind and soul is sought by millions of us toese anxious days, in books, in talks wito clergymen, in psy cho-analysts’ offices. These may help some unhappy souls in toeir search, but toe Bible tells ns where such peace may most surely be found. it i i New Novel Champions EmaQcipation The violence which could be released by “colonial hang over” is pictured in a new, imaginative • novel—RA^^S ON THE BAR—by Geoffrey Wagner. One of toe central problems of tee world is iUuminated In a dramatic series of events on an island in tee West Indies, in which toe colonial past in-'^ sanely tries to maintain its privileges against toe present drive of a native people to govern toemselves: The contradictory loyalties evolving out of toe situation are expressed through PhiUp Teale, tee new A.D.C. to toe Gqvemor Creneral. Discover ing a native rebeUion stirring Teale is tom between his na tural sympathies for toe mis treated Negro population and his sense of duty as an army man. Satiric portraits of toe worst of the colonials contrast wito toe poetry of sea and island landscape, as Teale is shown facing up to toe consequences of his unwttUngness to sup port toe repressive'attitude of the colonial leaders. Mr. Wagner was bom in Malaya, where his father was Commissioner of Malaya Po- Uce. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and at Columbia University. Now teaching in the English De partment at toe City CoUege of New York, he contributes frequently to leading Uteniry journals here and abroad, and gives a regular book talk over WNYC in New York. The book will be published April 8 by toe Noonday Press. morrow something that should have been done in 1870.”
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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March 16, 1957, edition 1
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