JULY 25 - 31, 1984 THE CITIZEN PAGE FIFTEEN
OPINIONS - LETTERS - COfl!lMENTARY - ANALYSIS
Dangerous drift of the hi gh Court
- Three veter n civil
rights le de told a meeting of southern
governors recently that a dangerou
conservatbe drift affecting the U.S.
Supreme Court and the Congre , a drift
hich ultimately, they said, might undo
many of the advances of the p twenty
ye ,
The three Blac leaders, Atlant
yor Andre Young, Vernon Jordan,
the former director of the ational
Urban League and iley Branton, the
. ef coun I for the Blac plaintiff:
in historic Utt1e Rock, Arkansas de g­
regation ca , appeared on a lively panel
discu . on during the 50th anniversary
conference of the Southern Governor's
A ci tion.
, e might be retrogressing in many
re cts," said Branton, a former dean
of the Ho ard University la 1,
about conditio under the e gan
e d tOtbe ab to
court fi r relief. e can no
the courts. A co rva-
tive attitude
cropping up aero
country."
Branton particularly harsh in hi
ment of rat Reagan appoint-
ments to the U'S. Civil Rights Com­
mi . on and to the Justice Department.
• It' like turning 0 er to the Ge tapo
in pre ar Germany the protection of
the right of the Jewi h people."
Young id that the polariz tion
in th Reagan dministration i not
r cial much it is economic. "In­
tegrate the money ," he said, arguing that
r cial discrirnin tion in m ny ca s has
been transformed into economic dis­
crimin tion.
Jordan questioned hether the ew
South term wa warranted, telling the
o rnor that th hi tory of the civil
right movement owed that the South
did not willingly "give one inch to Black
dvance. He joined Branton in warning
that if Re an . re-elected he could
-through hi power to appoint other
Supreme Court Justice - tum the cloc
bac ard for racial progre . .
J
Th po ibility of Je Jac n's
Otting out the presidential campaign
following the Democratic ational Con­
ntion ha the Democratic Party leader-
_ship orried sic . Jac n recently urged
his upporters to await hi ". gnal" fter
the party's convention and not auto­
matically line up with the Democr tic
nominee.
Although Jack on h pledged to
upport the party's nominee, he has said
that he i not "obligated to ork for the
candidate" as if he h d a staff po ition.
If he is treated unfairly at the convention
and if Blac -interest issues are ignored,
Jackson h ° warned he is prepared to
advise Blacks to stay home and ".
four more yean of humiliation ra r
than for four more days of bein t en
for granted by the Democr tic P rt ."
The Democratic Party kno that it
• needs a large turnout of Blac to
win the ovember election. :J
enthusi tic participation in the cam gn
ould virtually guarantee an unp
ented outpouring of Blae to the po
thi fall.
It i new political ball game in
America, Jackson ya. Democratic
Party leaders must be prepared to share
political po er with the Black commun­
ity or run the· of a lackluster vote
nd a certain Reagan victory.
anwhile, the Reagan admini-
tration has little cause to continue
smiling at Jac on' dO comfort to the
Democratic Party leadership. The White
House, hich was critical of Jackson's
cce ul Cuban mi ion, no f ce
the pro pect of Jack on's proposed trip
to the Soviet Union.
J ac n has said that bile in the
Soviet Union he plan to ek the rele
of dis ° dent physicist Andrei Sakharo .
He believes that the White House is
concerned about his highly-publicized
foreign trip because they highlight
Reagan's shortcomings in foreign policy.
. . . J ckson plans to mow b ck to
South Carolina, his home state, he said
recently, but he denies y . immediate
intention to run for political office.
"I'm going to return south . . . I'm
convinced that the key to progressive
politics in our nation is in the. South,"
Jac son said.
South Carolina upporters have
appealed for Jackson to run a inde­
pendent in ovember against Sen. Storm
Thrumond and are preparing to organize
a drive for the necessary 30,000 signa­
tures to put him on the ballot. Jackson
won plurali ty of th primary delegates
in his n ti e te, hich i 30 percent
B c .
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more devasta ing than .raclsm
ByTo yBro
NEW YORK - In a recent column,
I revie ed a story published in the ew
Yor Times about a Blac woman who
did not want her daughter to attend a
Blac college.
The daught r, Shoney, and her mother
live in the almo t lily-white town of
Great ec, .Y. and becau she is "
little worn out living around peopl with
ch different t t from hers," the
college-bound lady decided to go to
Howard University.
The ew York Time reported that
Shoney was subjected to a proce of
being "worn do n nd tamed" over the
college issue. About Howard, the mother
. is quoted as saying: "I jus keep ignor­
ing Shoney. She'd bring it up and I'd
ignore it."
, rs. Stephenson," the Time said,
"did not like the ide of a Black college.
She h d been pie d many years 0
when they moved from ew Yor
City to an apartment in Gre t eck
because it meant that Shoney would
attend integrated schools."
any readers commented on thi
ituation which exist . within many
Blac home. But one person from Wash­
ington, D.C. had an unusual insight and
expre d it in an "open letter" to
Shoney.
"Let me begin by saying y should
love and nurture the spirit. In all thing
be pirited first. Secondly, ove your
mother and father. I'm very familar
with the mixed signals you are receiving.
Don't despair, here the guiding principle
must be race first. 0 other ethnic group
is confused, in the main, on this principle.
"I am the youngest offspring and
flr t generation American-African (Black)
of a Caribbean-born Guyane e father.
I'm the 5th generation American-African
of an American born, Green burgh
Pa. mother. They met and married at
Ho ard University in 1936. After my
father's graudation, they moved bac to
my mother's home tate of Pennsylvania.
y high school graduating ela in
Pennsylvania was approximately 450
tudent. Of that number, four were
American-African nd one f tho w
a girl. I h d total cce and expo ure
to white acculturation during my for­
m tive years until the g of 18.
"Con quently, I rrowfully dmit
to uccumbing to the dominant culture
as preferable, as OPPO d to destroyed
culture. On many occasions I yearned'
. to be white. Conversely, although I
w blessed with aware parent , I har­
bored feelings of general disdain and
conflicting emotions toward my own.
"In short, I uffered from acute If­
hatred. The lip , the hair, complexion,
living space, the job , the whole trip was
generally an anathema.
"Fortunately, I h ve discovered and
grown to love who I am. Black If­
hatred i even more devastating than
hite racism. Finally, there i prec ou
little time left to fant ize about some
utopian model somewh re off in the
distant future. irvana awaits. All
we have to do is the patient, go slo ,
get educated, etc., etc.
"Th truth is, pluralistic ocieties
especially where Europeans are the
major plural, don't work that equatable
in practice. The dominate culture de­
vours and trivializes the other cultures.
Regrettably we will never be accepted
or dealt with fairly and hon tly. It will
be an awesom ta to rever the d m-
ges of the 'doctrine Qf color ° e must
pray daily and invoke the ver real con­
cept of divin intervention °
"In the m antime, follo the die­
t tes of your mind and be tr ng. A
foolish man looks for happine in the I
distance, a wise man grows happine
at his feet.' "
Many Afrarnericans could have writ­
ten that letter - bee u many f u have
been there.
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