Last call for reason
President Bush, through his subordinates, has made a
last ditch effort to reach a peace settlement with Iraqi Presi
dent Saddam Hussein. Throughout both countries, the peo
ple are praying that war will not happen. If any words caii
be said at this late date to avert what will surely be one of
the bloodiest conflicts in modern history, someone please
say them.
. " The right words were not spoken when officials from
both countries met in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this week.
S6 the countdown to war continues.
It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies of all that the
Very date chosen as the deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait is
the. same day as Martin Luther King's birthday. Coinci
dence? We think not.
Several groups in Winston-Salem and nearby communi
ties are joining a growing national chorus, urging President
Bush to allow more time for the United Nations-imposed
economic sanctions to work. "No war" is their battle^ cry.
Their pleadings will most likely go unnoticed by our gov
ernment especially with more than a quarter of a million
servicemen and women already committed in Saudi Arabia
and more on the way.
?* ? ?Our government has made it all too clear that any
movement for a peaceful resolution to the Persian Gulf con
flict is up to Iraq. Nothing short of a total Iraqi withdrawal
from Kuwait will suffice. After that, our government may be
willing to discuss" other Mideast concerns like the Palestini
an question of autonomy.
Some of these people are making plans to carry their
message of peace directly to the White House with others
from around the country. Their efforts are reminiscent of the
efforts of the peace^ activists of the '60s who opposed the ?
jvar in Vietnam. *
Today though, these modern day advocates for peace are
, being widely criticized for the positions they have taken. In
some cases, they are being labeled as traitors by those who
say they are undermining the President and the troops serv
ingTn the Gulf. . I . ?
We should all remember that these people have a right, to
their opinions just as those who support our government's
foreign policy in the region without reservation.
Throughout this country's history, whenever the threat of
war was near or when our troops were actively engaged in
combat, people have spoken out against shedding blood.
Granted, there are times when there is no alternative left
and;you are forced to fight. For those speaking out against
the possibility of waf, obviously there are still too many
options left to be considered without resorting to open con
flict.
:: People here should remember that some of those against
the United States starting a shooting war are some of your
friends and neighbors who, in their own way, are trying to
saVe the lives of the sons and daughters, brothers and sis
ters,^ fathers and mothers, and friends who have been called
tojserve.
: tf war does come, and many believe that it will, it should
be noted that somewhere, including Jhere, someone fought to
stop the fighting. Those who would seek to silence those
voices may themselves become silent when the harsh reali
ties of war come home.
Zffeader wants integrity of WSSU saved s
To the Editor*?
I hope that graduates and
mostly concerned black citizens
in this and other communities
(nationally) will fight to make
certain that .Winston-Salem State
University remains as predomi
nantly black as possible.
I wonder if people know the
incredibly valuable resource that
they and their offspring are deriv
ing the benefits of, which will be
ripped off from them if the nature
of the university is changed?
Folks you should be disturbed! It
gets me really P-O'd just to think
about it.
I even agree with Tony
Brown, even though I have to tell
him that Vanessa "the-Unblack"
Williams, as he put it, can drink
my blood any day, hopefully
tomorrow! A Sister that we
-should give all the support we -
can ? who knows what game life
has pulled on her?
I've had some of the best
classes at WSSU that I've every
had anywhere, from fine attrac
tive teachers, both male and
female, that really knew their
field and engendered a feeling of
friendship and the struggle to
learn in the classroom.
On the other hand, I'll tell
you what's really chilling: to have
some part-time teacher that's
white coming into our community
at State, making racist-comments
out the side of his mouth in the
classroom and racially discrimi
nating against black students. I've
seen whites falsely accused of
such racism, but then I've also
had the misfortune of seeing it
actually occur.
And to say it and tell about it
is not to make myself that foreign
"other" to white people that they
often see as being against. Whites *
have legitimate reason to be
angry about black racism, but no
bitter^ self -interested individual
has the right to come into our
community trying to steal an edu
cation from our students and pur
posely killing interest in the sub
ject for his own exclusive self
ego glorification.
That's the kind of corruption
by egotism, that exists rampantly
in white universities, turned into
a cheap knife blade by racism. It's
the corruption of self-ism : self
intetest, self-involvement, self
servingness, and all at the mental
and literal expense of the student.
It's a kind of System's Theory
of education where the older
advantage-taker always wins
trampling over the back of the
"kinder and gentler" society. This
kind of statistical outlook is the
very last thing needed by the
black community.
What will be the gain of
higher admission standards at
WSSU if it means that the chil
dren of an already economically
depressed community, culturally
deprived by plan; and now by cir
cumstance, don't even have the
care of the traditionally bl$ck col
lege to turn to?
What will happen to the
CHRONICLE MAI LB AG
Our Readers Speak Out
beautiful black girl from Char
lotte, sitting on a brick wall, a lit
tle befuddled about what desk to
go to on registration day?
What will be the cost, and
tell us because you know, of that
Brother stuck on the block that
might have had a chance if there
had been some place to go to?
Will we stand by and let
WSSU be the chance that was
stolen from him, geared more and
more toward serving the needs of
the lowver-ijilome group of the
oppress ing\onunumiy (the white
community)? ?
Brothers and Sisters, please
... raise a voice of protest. Get
behind yourself and support your
self. If you keep letting the little
chances slip away from you
insipidly, at the behest of the
state, there won't be any chances
left for your children.! Awake
Sleeper! Don't just think hip, but
do hip; get down and definitely
get with it!
Carl R. Martin
Pray for peace
To the Editor:
It was most gratifying to read
in the Jan. 3rd Journal that offi
cials in Kernersville wan* their
entire towrv to pray for peace' in
the Persian Gulf. Asking local
churches to help just made it
sound better.
The need for prayer is always
vital, but when leaders urge an
entire town to pray for an urgent
need, it is just plain good.
The call for this kind of unity
should have been made on a
national le^el some time ago. ?
When prayer has been taken
out of our schools, and our ser
vicemen are denied any display
of Christianity in Saudi i*^abia,
we should all feel strongwthan
ever about the need to pray.
The mayor of Kernersville
put is so correctly when he said
concerning the town's praying MI
think we'll all be better off if
we're united." There has always
been strength in unity. It was the
number of united petitions that
strengthened tlje decision to take
the prayer out of schools.
Locally, we need an adopted
resolution for people who want to
pray for peace in the Gulf to do
so. The Bible teaches, prayer This philosophy is consistent
changes things and Bible-believ- with Christian theology which
ing people know this to be true, says that even one man's life is
Many of our servicemen and precious in the sight of God;
women are sending messages, therefore, it would be unthinkable,
asking us to pray. Protesting and to sacrifice the lives of so many,
marching is one thing; unified soldiers and innocent people in
prayer is antither. the Middle East to further the.
Let us who believe, do what economic interest of the U.S.
no law can take from us. Pray to Deciding which of the. two
God to guide our leaders in their philosophies you honestly believe,
decisions, because God knows, in will be easy for some and. not-,
they need a correct sense of so-easy for others. Then there are,
direction. those who would rather let some
iMsie Meadows Crockett body el^1Sake decision &>'
J Crockett them. But if you can make a deci
? sion as to which philosophy you
believe in, then you will be able,
to look yourself in the mirror and
The decision say> know who 1 am"
To the Editor: ~ J. Raymond Oliver Jr.
A decision as to whether or c ; \
not you think the U.S. should go . * * ?
to war to force Iraq out of "1*1^0 COSt '
Kuwait, depends on your person
al philosophy as to whether the To the Editor:
"end will justify the means." ^ ' .
_ . J ... . ,T ? The President seems to be
Going to war could give the U.S. . . . , . . . . _ #
political and economic domina- d?*?3Bpd 'VT'f "l ? n ""f
tion in the Middle East, making f,d budget, at al'cIos,s
lower-priced oil plenyful and pro- He has ^advantage of Iraq S
invasion of Kuwait to send over
tecting the interest of large oil oriri e .. .
? ^ - 300,000 troops to the Saudi Ara
companies. . . , * ...
!p. . ... _ bian desert, risking or even
.This will mean a more . . ?
u^Qitu? irvKc threatening a war that would kill
nealtny economy, more jobs for A. . . , .
IT Q thousands of our sons and daugh
U.S. citizens, ana help this coun- ? . . . , . , , .
. ? . V . . . . . . r ters and probably hundreds of
try maintain its high standard of . . y c . . . ? . .
living thousands of Iraqi and Kuwaiti*
Thus, there is little wonder c'l'zf,"s\ . . '
it c ie * That would call for the big
the U.o. is not interested in nego- . . 4 r .? ... .
_ A. budget for the military and not
tiatmg anything by the uncondi- r f . . , . .
tional withdrawal of Iraq forces .fo\ houf,ng or >?*a' anj wott,d
from Kuwait, not interested in put troops ?? *e GuJ,^ ,0
linking the Israeli-Palestinian exf" some control over Mid-East
. . . ? t * oil for what may be years to
problem or giving Iraq a face- 7 J ,
saving way out. The "end" com?
desired here is to destroy immedi- H? P~?>ably thmks that histo
ately the war potential of Iraq, .? w,?" reme?ber h.m as a great
. . .. . , J war president, but I doubt if
thus protecting the political and . , . ?*
TT c that will happen m any case,
economic interests of the U.S. for ? n .. 4. ? 4 .
Our Constituuon states that
years to come. ? cv .
There is the opposing philos- ??ly Con?rc,sf. can declare war.
ophy which states that the "end U s? *"? ^ "ouse
Jill not justify the means" in this and KSe,natc ^"ducting
situation. There are estimates that opcn dcbates onthe
the war would result in approxi- p? and.cf ~ ,glv,n? us ,hcben
mately 30,000 U.S. casualties and ?J ?nf"?a',Qn thaLwe have
over *00 000 casualties in the beendcn,ed- and ???**
Arab world . a vote ? yes o? no ? on the.
There are millions of people. ques,Uon of war' ?L continuing
including U.S. Senator^ and Con
gressmen who say that such a war g > ' , . ' ge 8
would not be worth the life of "??PSh t,
one American soldier. Many cler- ?>uaget! .
gymen speak against such a war. ?rn
What will Bush do, and when?
4c *4 * *
t ^vhen New Dec ad
rolled around at midnigrrron
December 31st, I was on my
knees praying. Amidst the uncer
tainty of an economic depression
and War there is much confusion.
: To put it mildly, President
as the January 15th dead
line for war approaches in the
Gulf.
Almost unanimously, the
media has shifted from its
"wimp" image of Bush to a
Janus-faced President, as por
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
? r
George Bush and the country, to
quote Vice President Dan Quayle,
are in "deep doo-doo." At the
other end, the country's future is
in the hands of a President wear
ing ai "schizophrenic straightjack
et," Time magazine asserts.
"He seemed almost to be two
Presidents . . turning to the
world two faces . . Time assert
ed in "dubbing President Bush its
"Men of The Year." Continuing
the Gemini analogy of duality,
Thefyas hington Post said that
"two sides of the President con
trayed on Time's cover. And just
as amazingly, George Bush is a
Gemini, born on June 12, 1924.
, "Gemini is symbolized by the
twins, with a reputation for being
two-faced. In the career, Geminis
tend to get into the water over
their heads^"<one astrologer
wrote.
Bush, unlike Ronald Reagan,
does not have a personal
astrologer, so I went to the popu
lar magazines on the subject to
get some tips or insights on his
January 15th line in the sand and
his promise to "kick" Saddam
Hussein's "ass."
Hussein responded by saying
that he will make Americans
"kneel down" by launching
"Muslim guerrilla attacks"
against them "all over the globe"
? and that means in the United
States. He has already used
chemical warfare on his own peo
ple, promised to bomb Israel and
turn the Middle East into an
inferno.
World War III, or the First
Nuclear War (and the last), is
right down Saddam's line. On
New Year's Day, he anointed
himself God's sword against evil
and his own naked aggression as
a holy war, with a chemical and
nuclear capability.
Will Bush cross the line after
January 15th and will Saddam
poison the water supplies in
America's urban areas?
Jimm Erickson predicts in
American Astrology magazine
that Bush will order "covert
activities between ?he*19th-22nd"
without the approval of Congress*
? . Please see page A9
Panama: One year after invasion
PANAMA CITY-One year
after the U.S. invasion of the
small, mostly black Central
American nation of Panama,
promises of democracy and dol
lars remain unfulfilled. As a
result, whatever vestiges of sup
port that existed for Operation
Just Cause and the U.S.-installed
day, and breakfast consists of
only a biscuit and coffee even for
the children. Ashton Bancroft,
50, General Coordinator of the
Camp, says with tears in his eyes,
"Where is the democracy?"
Most of the refugees come
from the black neighborhood of
El Chorrillo that was destroyed
government of Guerillernifc 'on the night of the U.S. invasion.
Endara has evaporated. v Hundreds of homes were bombed
into dust and hundreds more peo
least 2,000.
In the city of Colon, which is
80 percent black, unemployment
has grown from a shameful pre
invasion 25 percent to currently
about 60 percent. Located west
of Panama City, about one-thifd
of the residents live in con
demned housing and drugs and
prostitution run rampant * : ? ?
Bishop Carlos Maria Ariz;
who has been active in the city
*?*
GUEST COLUMN
By CLARENCE LUSANE
In dozens of interviews with
refugees, students, labor officials,
community activists, profession
als, workers, religious leaders
and politicianr, one theme
resounded unequivocally: Pana
ma is worse today than under
Gen. Manual Noriega.
About 2,000 refugees, mostly - .
black, remain in horrible and pie were killed and injured, for many years, says, "Colon is
squalid conditions at the Albrook Pledges by the U.S. and Endara like a broken tooth, hurting and :
Refugee Camp. Located in a to rebuild the arei and provide decaying." -
cold, steel hanger at the Albrook~ housing to tfcose made homeless The Endara government <
airport, families as large as ten remain unkcpt. It is still backed by the United States, is '/
are living in units~that measure unknown exactly how many died moving rapidly to blunt the grow
roughly 10 ft. by 10 ft. Residents,,, during the invasion though most * / *
are given one full meal late in the human rights groups estimated at ? Please see page A9