n Citizen
; i " ; I 1 i i., .. \ j t I i I I ! i ,_ III .1 I . O'. I. I ' Ill' i -. \ i l' \ \ "
The ghost of slavery haunts
America, cracking the mirror
which reflects a democratic
image and rattling chains in the
quest for equality. Its presence
is very real among African
Americans, shaking the very
foundations of family, school
and community relations. Sure­
ly the only way we can put an end
to this malevolent presence is to
get to know it, understand it, and
then lay it to rest.
Toni Morrison brings this
ghost out into the open with her
novel, Beloved (Knopf 1987),
-evealing the brutalizing effect
if slavery upon the human
)S)'che and making visible the
taunting effects of lavery upon
oday's social problems.
Set in a small town in Ohio,
:he story centers around a house
were the remnants of Black
family reside. Its members are
Sethe, the mother who has run
way from slavery in a desperate
ttempt to ave her children;
Baby Suggs, her mother-in-law
who freedom was purchased
by her enslaved son; and Den­
ver, Sethe's daughter who was
born while Sethe as making
her escape to freedom. The
fourth member of this all-female
household is the ghost of the
daughter whom Sethe killed
hen she faced the threat of
being returned to slavery. It
Sethe' intention to kill herself
and all her children rather than
ubmit to re-enslavement.
The father of this family, who
a slave, hired himself out to
r for the freedom of his crip-
pled mother, is not with them
because he h cracked under
the pressure of his powerless­
nes to protect his wife and
children. Sethe therefore has to
raise the children without him.
The male children grow up
clinging desperately to one
another in the shadow of their
mother desire to protect them
and their own desire to be free,
eventually leaving home to eep
from being destroyed. The
daughter, Denver, rejected by
the community because of the
gho
Dorothy
Robinson
.,
Reading
Together
obilizing a community to prevent een pregnancy
y Marian w t Edelman
In the past few years, the city
of D alias, Texas has ex­
perienced a remarkable
awakening. Dallas citizens from
all walks of life have come for-
ard to talk about and do some­
thing about the city's teen preg­
nancy problem. The Dallas ex­
perience has much to teach all of
us about how we can band
together in our communities to
address teen pregnancy.
Like most cities in the U.S.,
Dallas has a serious problem
ith teen pregnancy: Black,
white and Hispanic. The Dallas
County teen pregnancy rate is
ne-and-one-half times the na­
tional average in 1982
Also, like most cities, Dallas
ghost in her family, appears to
be retarded because of her isola­
tion.
There is the possiblity that
this haunted house could be set
in order by the presence of Paul
D, a sensitive and caring man
who has managed to survive in
spite the horrible and
dehumanizing experience of
slavery. The ghost however,
comes between him and the
other members of the
household, driving him a aYe
Morrison gives her charac­
ters names which carry a whole
story inside. There is the slave
master who studies, analyses,
measures and writes about
slaves, teaching his children that
slaves are not fully human. This
slavemaster's name is School­
teacher.
The names of the Black men
on the plantation are distin­
guishable only by a letter: Paul
A, PaulD and PaulF. One man's
name is a number - Sixo.
There is the Black man who
wor hard at helping other
Blacks to escape and to build a
life and a community. He is sen­
sitive not only to the problems of
the women in the haunted
house, but also recognizes that
the ghost sits on the heads of "the
long-school people, the doctors,
the teachers, the paper-writers
and businessman. .. " His name
is Stamp Paid
This is a magnificent novel, -
peak performance by a brilliant
writer. The only fault with this
boo is that it comes to an end,
leaving no choice but to go bac
and read it again - and again and
again.
had not been addressing the
problem in a unifield way until a
few years ago. While individual
churches, charities and govern­
ment agencies were working
hard to help teens, their efforts
were scattered.
A group of concerned or­
ganizations and individuals,
under the banner "Impact 88",
has changed all that. Doctors,
educators, civic leaders, busi­
ness and church leaders, host of
others came to identify what was
already being done to help youth
in the city - and what still needed
to be done. Most important of
all, through the media and
brochures, "Impact 88" got Dal­
las thinking and talking about
the teen pregnancy problem.
Response from the Dallas
community has been encourag­
ing and a range of models are
revolving:
A TEENLINE Emergency
Fund has received more than
$3,000 in contributions.
A IS-bed infant care nursery
has been put in place at the Dal­
las Independent School District
Health Special School so teen
parents can continue their
education.
Plans for an apartment­
based independent living
progam for pregnant and
parenting teens are being imple­
mented. Area apartment
owners have donated eisdtt two-
bedroom apartments and local
retailers will donate furniture.
Also in progress sare plans to
create a non-profit enterprise
that would employ teen parents.
The coordinator of this suc­
cessful effort, "Impact 88" Chair­
person Susan Stahl, recom­
mends the following steps for
people who want their com­
munities to take on this issue:
Step Ooe: get to know your
community and its individual
characteristics and needs.
There is probably much infor­
mation already available on your
city's teen pregnancy problem
and prevention efforts. Take ad­
vantage of it.
Step 0: get a broad range
of groups involved in forming a
coalition. These can include
community group , civic groups,
churches, business organiza­
tions, health providers,
teachers, youths themselves,
and more.
Step Three: do not exclude
people or groups who can help
just because you or others dis­
agree with some of their
opinions. Teen pregnancy is a
problem that affects many dif­
ferent people in different ways,
and has more than one solution.
Step our: be.patient. It takes
time to make a difference for
our young people. Take pride in
the little victories along the way.