1971_03 The Daily Collegian March 1971

              Why CIA, foundations
back African Studies
Daily
Collegian
MONDAY, MARCH 1,1971
A FACE OF INNOCENCE IN RACIST AMERICA
By Lonnle Kashlf
(M.S. Washington Bureau)
WASHINGTON, D.C.-*Afrlcan
Studies,* and -Black Identity*
themes currently In vogue have a
history shrouded In Intrigue when
traced beyond the mere Innocent
Infatuation of some Blacks with
the new symbolism.
The development of the African
Studies programs and various
Afrlcanlst approaches to the
Black man's problems In America can now be seen as having
been planned and prescribed by
Government, long before the
•Bush* and Dashlkl reached the
classrooms. "Latin American
Studies," "Far Eastern Studies,*
■Mlde astern Studles*and so forth
have been academic-spy departments for several years before
■African Studies" were launched.
Shrewdly anticipating a rise In
the Black man's desire for total
freedom, U.S. government agencies began financing various academic Institutions In research
programs dealing with "African
thoughts' and attitudes.
According to reliable sources,
nearly every major governmental
department became Involved, so
much so that some programs began to overlap.
It Is of some dubious credit
to government authorities that
they could foresee an eventual
alienation of Blacks from "mainstream" Ideology In the early
fifties during the height ot the
"Integration" thrust.
. The Central Intelligence Agency, It was learned, early In 1956
was  secretaly forging lnforma-
canlst Institutions in Africa.
These Institutions exploited all
the sneaky devices from recon
vert of Defense. Sub-titled African Groups relevant to U.S.
Military Decision-making, the
program carried a cover sheet
entlUed "Witchcraft, Sorcery,
Magic and other Psychological
Phenomena," related toU.S. mll-
Itary operations In the Congo.
In recent publication' titled
•The extended Family, "(critique
on African Studies) the authors
state "Like the missionaries who
'opened up' Africa for subsequent
exploitation by a now atrophied
colonialism, the West's Intellectual missionaries and para-es-
plonage agents have^_through
their research and publishing efforts, training programs, and
control over the means of Ideological formation helped shape
and perpetuate the new framework of neo-colonlalruleandlm-
periallst combination.*
•Black Studies and African
Heritage programs, the report
points out, become further extensions of the racist psychological re-enslavement of Blacks In
America. The manipulated data Is
•Integrated Into the prevailing
'Black Studies' apparatus and
transformed Into stabilizing
mechanism within the system."
Citing an article by Donald
Easum, 'The call forBlackStud-
les,* the report warned: 'Significantly, the Senior Seminar at the
State Department's Foreign Service Institute made funds available to Donald Easum, one of the
African specialists to study the
whole phenomenon and how It
might be co-opted."
In the funding of the African
research programs government
money ts frequently mixed with
non-government funds. Many African   Studies   Centers  receive
grants from Fo:
while at the same Ume are authorized funds under the National Defense Education Act.
- "Ford," the chief paymaster of
American racist Interests, is a
sole or major source of at leaat
80 individual centers oporatlngat
Columbia, Chicago, Berkeley,
UCLA, Cornell, Harvard,Indiana,
MIT, Michigan State, Stanford
and Wisconsin universities.
Ford, of course, is not alone
among such funding foundations.
The Carnegie Corporation In fact
waa flrat In the field, giving
grants to Northwestern to establish the first CI A-riddled African
studies center. Most Carnegie ln-
lnto eUte planning
at shape policy
frameworks and programs. The
Rockefeller Foundations shares
alao In Moody-hands funding of
American imperialism abroad.
The research content of moat
of the programs reveal the primary Interest of the U.S. government: namely, to determine how
best to manipulate socio-economic, psycho-poUUcal indices
of given African countries. Strong
emphasis Is placed upon such
studies as African "leadership"
tendencies, and how these and
other Indices of Inner-poUUcal
rivalry can be exploited.
On the other hand, there ai„
no Indications that similar studies on how the* repressive regimes of Portugal, Rhodesia, or
South Africa can be overthrown
have been or will ever be contemplated.
Unfortunately, many Black college students unwittingly aid this
—Reprinted from
In gathering data to be manipulated and distorted for use tn
African studies programs. Less
officially acknowledged sleuth
agencies like AID, USIA and
Peace Corps were also gearing
their research programs for
similar purposes.
Needless to say, all of the data
derived from the government-
para-university African research programs Is being used
to bolster government factions
advocating containment of the
growing expressions of purges
(or   neo-colonists)  from  all of
The ease with which the government-foundation backed academic Institutions move Into Africa with their research teams Is
Instructive.      "*
Typical of such devious programs was one undertaking by
American University here, under the direction of the Depart-
Black Capitalism
and Nixon policies
By Charles Francis
PartH
The question of government aid
lo Blacks  Is  a  vital one.  The
Nixon  administration ts saying
ship.
PulUng oneself up by one's own
bootstrap not only defies the laws
of gravity, but the economic laws
of society as well. No major
ethnic group In America has succeeded In gaining economic well-
being without government aid. It
was pointed out that early In
American history, when labor
Uon to the Midwest by many
Europeans was encouraged by
free grants of land. During the
same period, land-grant coUeges
were estabUshed to teach the
newly arrived Immigrants scientific agricultural methods. Long
term, low-interest loans were
also given to enable them to purchase capital equipment. Presently, approximately 1.6 billion
dollars In price-control subsidies (welfare payments) are being given to many of the descendants of these farmers aa Inducement not to work. Ironically,
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 1)
Separatism or 'self-imposed segregation?'
By Olen Cole Jr.
So that certain campus atmospheres understand fully why some
Blacks advocate separatism or
ihe college campus, I will elaborate more on the subject of
"separatism on campus.*
Many educational administrators, faculty members, and c<
cerned cltlzens--as well as t:
dittonallsts, old-line Negro civil
rights leaders--are frightened,
confused and Intimidated by the
widespread demands of
studenU for separate facilities
and In general, for the Institutionalization of a" life style separate from that enjoyed by wblti
students on the predominant!]
white campus. No less confounding to many are the demands
of BUck atudenu on negro campuses for Black Studies programs
and Black cultural  faculties.
liable and necessary within the
context of the present phase of
the Black student revolt. And
those who refuse to recognize
these justifications and,the need
for separaUsm are either Ignorant of the Black experience
In America or are completely
out of touch with the realities of
the Black liberation struggle, or
both.
For the Black student on the
white campus, there Is nothing
new In being alone wltb his own
kind. Over the years, and since
1954 In particular, while liberal
whlU administrators and faculty
members at northern universities nave piously slapped themselves on the back and criticized southern segregated white
experience in the "intergrated"
predominately white college. The
tr^ith of the matter Is that even
today, fraternities, sororities,
extra-curricular activities, and
many other facets of Ufe at predominately white Integrated colleges are closed to the Black
student. Black studenU have traditionally been assigned to dorm
rooms with other blacks; and
they have usually socialized
mainly with Blacks on the Integrated coUege campus.
One of the philosophical bases
for the BUck student's seemingly sudden advocacy of Black
separatism In academla la the
fundamental distinction which be
makes between separatism
segregation. Both tbe conceptual
and operational meaning's of tha
segregated system of human ra
les of acceptable behavior, activities and aspirations for a
subordinate group. This usually
has the effect of maintaining or
reinforcing those advantages enjoyed by the dominant grop In
the social order. These ao/an-
tages become, over a period
of time, Institutionalized within
the fabric of pracUcaUy every
aspect of the society, including
the political, economic, social,
educational and even the reUglous spheres of Ufe. For even on
Sundays, lt U aa If some Invisible
force surged through the nation
sending whites to one church
and Blacks to another. The re
am '    are usually disastrous--cultur-
d the truth about the Black    deflnea the Umlte and boundar-
pressors—and ultlmatley, they
come to regard themselves aa .
Inferior. The determining: factor In bringing about the Inferiority complex, exhibited through
both the behavior and attitudes
of many In BUck society, la the
fact that these people have accepted the white racists definition of themselves aa having;
been relegated to a sub-human1
existence in America because of
certain "innately Inferior characteristics supposedly possessed
by BUck people and not by wwies.
Wltb BUck separatum, and entirely different perspective U
brought to bear on the fact of
tbe traditional Black-white a*,
trangement, And, It U thla difference which renders separatism different from segregation in both IU philosophical
and poUUcal substance and In Its
consequence.