1985_03 The Daily Collegian March 1985

              6     March 6,1985
JJHwrvL-
BLACK ORGANIZATIONS:
The Movement Continues
The black organizations are off to a
great start for the spring semester. Al¬
though the objectives of these clubs are
different, their goals are sometimes one in
the same. Promoting black people is a
central theme of these organizations and
their success is beneficial to all blacks. As
Doctor Rogers, Professor of Ethnic Stu¬
dies says, "Any time you bring black peo¬
ple together, it's a good thing."
Pan African Union is the umbrella for
all black organizations on campus. Ac¬
cording Greg Barfield, president of the
Pan African Union, the organizations
goal is "educating blacks on the methods
.ombating discrimination." He con-
mued that, "students need to be aware of
student government issues and student
elections," which is a major power that is
neglected by black students. The Pan
African Union would like to encourage
everyone to attend "African Peoples His¬
tory Month"speakersand activities exem¬
plifying the power of togetherness.
Phi Beta Sigma, the "men of the dove,"
was founded in 1914 with the idea of "Cul¬
ture for service, service for humanity." As
one of the five black fraternal organiza¬
tions on campus, they servi
ity by providing scholarships to incoming
students. Greg Smith, the fraternity presi¬
dent spole spoke of a variety of upcoming
events. During the African Peoples His¬
tory Month, "they are sponsoring a black
forum series dealing with the alienation of
black students, a basketball tournament,
and a dance. After February, "they hope
to have a raffle, and their annual Sweet¬
hearts Ball in May.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded
in 1913. their motto is "Intelligence is the
torch of wisdom." During the 1984 elec¬
tions, nationally, they registered more
black voters than any other social sorority.
On the local level, they are planning to
make a donation of old class notes to the
learning center. According to Letitia
Wallace, president of the Delta's, they
"are here to help make black students suc¬
ceed at CSUF."This semester the Delta's
also hope to build a membership by
encouraging women to attend the rush to
be announced at the end of February. In
May, they will hold their annual Achieve¬
ment Awards honoring high school seniors
for their accomplishments.
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the "Sphinx-
men," was founded in 1906. Quincy Maxey,
the president of the fraternity said "the
Alpha's are on the rise again and are hop¬
ing to establish a working relationship
with the students of CSU F and the Fresno
community." A dance is planned in the
near future to benefit a local charity.
The sister sorority to the Sphinxmen,
the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority was
founded in 1908. "Our purpose is to strive
for better education, provide social servi¬
ces, and to improve all mankind," said
Pauline Jamerson, President of the Soror¬
ity. Along with contributing to student
recruitment, they hope to help Ethiopia
by contributing all proceeds from a dance
to be held in March to that country. Plans
for establishing a group home for juvenile
girls is in the process. The sorority is
bringing the Ebony Fashion Show to our
campus on April 18.
Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (the Nupes)
was founded in 1900. Their goal is to unite
college men in culture, patriotism and
honor in a bond of fraternity. They have
been on this campus for less than year,
which makes them babies on this campus.
We are tortunate to have on this cam¬
pus two African organizations. The
Nigerian Students Association and the African
Students Association. The Nigerian Stu¬
dents Association was founded at CSl
' in 1977. According to the president oft
association, Debo Ajayi, their purpo*
to "unite Nigerian student*.and to p
mote Nigeria positively to tbe stale
and community of Fresno. ^
The second organization it the Afria
Students Association. This ass
was founded on this campus
Raymond Dapo Odunlami, the preside
of the association, stated that the purpi
of this organization is to promote stndc
awareness of African culture. Out oft
55 countries in Africa, 7 are represented
this organization. Hopefully, blacks
dents will realize the advantages of havi
7 different black cultures represented
their campus." Dapo would like to im
all students of African descent to joint
organization. For more informationwri
to the Uhuru office, or leave a message
the Daily Collegian office located in t
Keats campus building.
The most recent addition to the Mat
organizations on this campus is the
Students in Law Club. Clemoi
Youngblood, the vice president, wod
like to invite all future lawyers to tin
meetings which is held every monday
U.S. Policy Reinforcing Apartheid In South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA: One of the world's
most mineral-rich and aesthetically ap¬
pealing countries.
South Africa: The world'saonly country
where a black majority of 24 million is
constitutionally controlled by a tiny white
rriinorty of 4.5 million —— a minority
which denies blacks the right to vote and
arbitrarily imprisons, tortures and exe¬
cutes them; that forcibly evicts and de¬
stroys entire communities; that denies
blacks pay, the right to own property and
more importantly, the right to object to
this oppression.
South Africa: a country that illegally
occupies its neighboring Nambia while
launching military aggression throughout
the entire region.
South Africa: a highly sophisticated
police state now attempting to acquire
nuclear weapons capabilty.
South Africa: A coming Armagedon.
In 1981, the Reagan administration adop¬
ted a policy toward South Africa, known
as constructive engagement. This policy
was based on the premise that closer ties
and quiet diplomacy with South Africa's
capital, Pretoria, would be more effective
in pressing for change. Four years of
experience with this policy, however, has
revealed it to be nothing less than systema¬
tized schizophrenia. The contradiction is
apparent: While gently criticizing
apartheid on one hand, the administration
is supporting it on the other.
Indeed, constructive engagement has
not only resulted in the United Sutes
becoming South Africa's largest trader
and second largest foreign investor, but it
has also stood as a toothless euphemism
under which increased military .economic
and political support to Pretoria has gone
almost unrestrained.
Despite the 1977 United Nations arms
embargo, the Reagan adminstration has,
under the auspices of constructive engage¬
ment, lifted restrictions on the export of
military and police equipment and nuclear
technology to South Africa, thus allowing
the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of previously prohibithed items —
— technology useful in the manufacture
of arms, sophisticated aircraft, advanced
computer equipment, and electric shock
batons, for use by the South African
police to maintain racial classifications.
in the name of constructive engagement
the United Sutes has extended nuclear
cooperation with Pretoria despite its clear
intention to acquire nuclear weapons
capabilty and its refusal to sign the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Reagan administration has licensed
the sale of technology useful in developing
nuclear arms and has permitted the enrich¬
ment of South African unranium feedstock
at three separate U.S. plants. It has refused
to intervene when U.S. firms brokered an
arrangement to send enriched uranium to
South Africa from France, and it has
exchanged official nuclear advisors with
Under the banner of constructive engage
ment, the administration has also given
Pretoria economic aid and comfort with
its unconditional support for a $ 1.1 billion
International Monetary Fund loan in 1982,
a year in which the South African military
budget increased about the same amount.
In addition, the Reagan administration
has expanded official intelligence con tact s
with Pretoria while repeatedly defending
the regime in the face of United Nations'
condemnation.
And what are the fruits of this construe
five engagement? Since 1981, South Africa
has reinforced its structure of racial domin
tion, accelerating the forced eviction from,
and destruction of black-owned communi¬
ties  reassigning millions of blacks to
overcrowed and impoverished camps and
forcing three-fourths of the black majority
to live on less than 13 percent of the land.
Pass-law arrests doubled between 1980
and 1982 , and the arbitrary detention,
imprisonment, torture and death of those
who decry-the system, such as Nelson
Mandela, now in his 22nd year of political
detention, has increased dramatically.
South Africa's illegal occupation of -
Namibia, as well as its widespread regional
aggression, has also escalated.
AND.WHAT are the fruits of this
constructive engagement? Since 1981,
South Africa has reinforced its struc¬
ture of racial domination, accelerating
the forced eviction from, and destruc¬
tion of. black-owned communities —
reassigning millions of blacks to over¬
crowded and impoverished camps and
forcing three-fourths of the black ma¬
jority to live on les/than 13 percent of
the land.
Pass-law arrests doubled between
1980 and 1982 and the arbitrary deten¬
tion, imprisonment, torture and death
of those who decry the system, such as
Nelson Mandela, now in his 22d year of
political detention, has increased dra¬
matically. South Africa's illegal occu¬
pation of Namibia, as well as its wide¬
spread regional aggression, has also
escalated.
. We must now recognize the peril¬
ous course that the administration's
current policy is charting. If construc¬
tive engagement has succeeded in any¬
thing during the past four years, it has
been in reinforcing the racial polariza¬
tion and the pressures for a violent and
bloody civil war.
In the eyes of the South African
black majority, the entire African con¬
tinent and indeed the entire world, the
United States is now clearly viewed as
collaborating with Pretoria in reinforc¬
ing apartheid, in funneling there the
actual tools of repression, in obstruct¬
ing Namibian independence and in fo¬
menting regional instability.
THE UNITED States must now
move to a policy of what I would term
constructive disengagement. This poli¬
cy would first require the immediate
termination of sales of military and
police equipment, as well as nuclear
technology, to South Africa, making it
clear above all else that we are not the
supporters and suppliers of the totali¬
tarian and racist repression.
Second, the administration must
adopt the anti-apartheid legislation
that has received overwhelming sup¬
port in the U.S. House. This package
includes a ban on all new business
investment and bank loans. It provides
official support for UN Resolution 435,
which calls for the immediate and
unconditional South African with¬
drawal from illegally held Namibia.
It includes a ban on all sales of the
South African gold coin, the Kruger-
rand. and a resolution calling for free¬
dom for Nelson Mandela, leader of the
Freedom Movement, and his wife,
Winnie Mandela, who has also been
detained under banning crders for
nearly 20 years.
Third, the administration mast de¬
mand the release of all other politic-
prisoners, withdraw the landing rights
of South African aircraft in the United
States and prohibit U.S. aircraft Iron
landing in South Africa, ban the trim-
f er and sale of all computer and nuclei'
technology and reimpose export con¬
trols relaxed during the past four
years.
Such policy would make it clear
Pretoria that its continued intrant:
gence on the matters of democratic
enfianchisement and regional prac
will be met with a strong and unequft
ocal response from the United Stats
IN THE absence of demonstrate
progress towards the elimination o
apartheid within a specified timetable
constructive disengagement wood
then call for the gradual withdrawal c«'
American companies from those sec¬
tors that directly fortify aparthai
U.S. firms now control 70 percent of
the computer market. 45 percent of thf
oil industry and 33 percent of _*
automotive and truck market. Toge*
er. these sectors constitute ;ne jugubR
vein of the highly sophi.ticaie- S0"1*
African police state, without woB
Pretoria would have severe difficult
maintaining the racist political
economic structure.
Historical  imperatives,
Peace Prize recipient Bishop UesroOM
Tutu has repeatedly pointed out. tell H
that ultimately the black majority
South Africa will inherit its u\
When they do, they will i*j
who stood for them, and who st(
against them.
We must act now io avoid a coi
Armageddon in South Africa and-
assert ourselves on the side ol
people in their struggle for sovco
ty. Our national values and. indeed,
national interest so dictate.
JJhurmL-
March 6.1985
l;W/W//':Ji:l
"Malcolm X Was Just As Important As Martin Luther King,
And Must Never Be Forgotten
February 21. 1985 marks the twentieth anniver¬
sary of the assassination of 'Malcolm X, the greatest
Bl_rk nationalist since Marcus Garvey and a major
spiniu.il and political spokesman of the 1960s.
Ii is tragic that many youth know so little about
ihis revolutionary figure. The Cooperative Research
Network in Black Studies, bused in Chicago, has
urged us to plan programs on Malcolm in schools.
churches and community centers during Black
History Month. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be
huiiiirctl next year whan his birthday becomna legal
public holiday.
It is our responsibility to turn our focus to the
lik .il Malcolm X," spates the Network in Black
Studies.
Malcolm X was just as important as Martin
I oilier King, and must never be forgotten."
\\ h.it is the relevance di" El Hajj Malik El Shabazz
iM-ltulm X) to Black struggles of the 1980s? First.
M.ili i.lm is an ideal role model for Black youth. Part
hi his greatness as a social figure was derived from his
oppressed origins.
Malcolm began adulthood as "Detroit Kcd," a
smalltime ghetto hustler who was sepienced to a ten
tor prison term.' Tnsi_i- prison'he transformed
himself, struggling to overcome his lack of education
.mil political backwardness. He became the power¬
ful minister of Temple Number Seven in Harlem of
Hii.ih Muhammad's Nation of Islam. Word of his
sermons brought hundreds of ptxir and working class
Hl.u Is people together to hear the message.
Malcolm's life illustrates graphir.illy the inherent
turner we all have to challenge our own weaknesses,
sell -hatred and fears to become leaders and |>ar-
iiiip.uits in the struggle for Black freedom.
We remember Malcolm X because he loved us.
despite the social and political contradictions within
uur community.
In his autobiography. Malcolm notes that after
hours un the speaking platform, he would "become
so choked up sometimes I would walk in the streets
uniil late into the night. Sometimes I would speak
i» no one for hours, thinking to myself about what
ilic- sshite man had done to our poor people here in
During a period when most A fro-American
riders favored nonviolent tactics, Malcolm urged
•cii-ists to start "rillc clubs" to defend their,
neighborhoods and families against police brutality/
ind white vigilante violence.
Vt hen perplexed white journalists asked Malcolm
•hi he taught "Black 'supremacy," Malcolm's
esponsc was to "pour on pure tire in return": "For
"r white man to ask the Black man if he hates him
* lust like the rapist asking the raped, or the wolf
iskmg the sheep. 'Do you hate me?" The white m
| m no moral position to accuse anyone else
hate!" Contemporaries recongnized that Matcoln
articulated, as John Lewis once wrote, "the aspira¬
tions, bitterness, and frustrations of the Negro peo¬
ple."
We remember Malcolm X because he was one ot
the very few Black leaders of the period who political
demand. When civil rights leaders condemned
Malcolm for favoring racial segregation, he exhibited
a surer grasp o( Black social history.
"It is not a case of wanting integration or separa¬
tion, it is a case of wanting freedom, justice, and
equality," Malcolm.responded.
"It is not integration that Negroes in America
it. it is human dignity...   An integrated cup of
coffee isn't sufficient payment for 310 years of slave
Malcolm understood that getting rid of Jim Crow
laws and establishing Blacks' voting rights in the
south were only preliminary steps in the bailie for
real democracy. He criticized Blacks' endorsements
for Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presideoai.il candidacy.
predicting with grim accuracy that Johnson would
stop far short of providing a meaningful ecw :
and social program for Blacks and the poor.
Attacking the Negro middle class Mind alle^
to the corporate system, Malcolm declared: "You
can't have capitalism without racism. And if you
find (anti-racists) usually they're socialists or their
political philosophy is socialism."
Years before Martin broke with the Johnson ad¬
ministration's genocidal war in Vietnam, Malcolm
stated that the conflict "shows the real ignorance of
those who control (he American power structure,
their ignorance and blindness." While tbe NAACP
and Urban League were silent on international af¬
fairs, Malcolm realized that A fro-American libera¬
tion could only be won in conjunction with ongoing
democratic and nationalist struggles of other people
ol color. Malcolm's Organization for Afro-American
Unity, founded in 1964. established the direction
for the entire Black Power Movement which follow¬
ed.
After Malcolm X was assassinated. Bayard Rttstin
described him as "a tragic victim of the ghetto. Now
that he is dead, we must resist tbe temptation to
idealize   Malcolm   X.    to   derate   charisma   to
Carl Rowan described him as an "ex-convict who
became a racial fanatic." But Black actor Osaie
Davis' 1965 tribute to Malcolm is what Blade history
says about his true legacy: "In honoring him, we
honor the best in ourselves. He was and is- a Prince
-our own shining Prince! - who didn't hesitate to die
Malcolm's lite illustrates graphically
the inherent power we alt have to
challenge our own weaknesses,
self-hatred and fears to become
leaders and participants in the
struggle for Black freedom.
MALCOLM X
^Ctiltural Genocide-
Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. I
about io begin his II ih term in Co*
gressfrom Detroit's 1st District.
I' is always interesting to hear White
I Americans talk about their ancestori.Tbey
I,re ;'*ays "Irish. English. Polish, or Dan-
I »-. They speak with much pride because
I joey believe that their ancestors were intel-
|"8em- civilized people who supoosedlv
> be mentioned with pride. It is their
I prerogative to believe what they wish and
I "ty wish have this country's educational
I'ystem to thank for giving them the
knowledge with which to do »o.
However, this same educational system
■ "iusi be blamed for the manner in which
■ many Blaclr/Americans are unable, or
■ "nulling to speak about their own ances-
Wi- This reluctance is undestandable con-
■ Jidering the negative manner in which the
■ hmorv of this country's black people is
normally presented.
AU black people in the world have their
origins in Africa, and our dissemination
across tbe world, be it voluntarily or for¬
cibly, is quite well documented if viewed
from a certain vantage point. However,
not so well documented and even less well
taught, are the History, Geography, and
sociology of Africa.
Here at CSUF the History department
offers one class that attempts to cover the
entire history of the whole continent of
Africa in one semester! Conversly, there
are 3 classes on the history of Christianity,
2 on Armenian History and over 20 on
European History.
This imbalance is obvious. When ap¬
proached for comment last semester, tbe
Chairman of the History, department had
the gal
Affirmative Action. This situation has to
be addressed.
Returning to my original topic,we find
that Africa is often dismissed as The
Dark Continent" (or some.variation the¬
reof) by many otherwise "educated'* peo¬
ple, and thus finds herself peripheral in the
minds of many Black Americans.
It has been said by many people that
one must know one's history to know one¬
self. I believe this to be true. Therefore.il
follows that if a Black person refuses to
acknowledge tbe existence of a major por¬
tion of bit or her history, how useful can
that person be to the betterment of our
race.
Both En_Jta Ezara, the UN speaker
who spoke at the African Liberation day
event and Oba TShaka, who spoke at the
Malcolm X day, during tbe African Peo¬
ples History Month, mentioned the cultu¬
ral genocide that they believe is being
conducted on tbe Black race. Serious as,
this may sound, it is my belief that this
onslaught may easily be t h wa rted.
Consider this scenario: You approach a
white person and tell him that all Euro¬
pean leaders are like Hitler. He will laugh
at you because be knows better.
You then approach a black person and
tell him that most if not mil African leaders
are like Idi Amin. It is my guess that be
wiU not question your assertion simply
because he has nothing to base his judge-
menu on.
By Steve