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Childreo who grow up .
climate ere people have been
set against ODe anotbet on the
basis of ee, re� class
are doomed to inherit grim eon-
seq Nowhere' this so
clearly ideot s i South
Africa, re writers con-
s' enIy , alarm t what is
in ore for the future genera­
tions of that oouotry.
W iting For The Rain by
Sheila Gordon (Watts 1987)
rings aoot er warnmg bell
about South Africa', future.
This novel, writteo for teens and
youog adults, is about a ... � ....
friendship between two boys, a
. e and a Black, grow up
together on a South African
farm. The white boy is the
nephew of the farm r and
the Black boy' the'SOIl of the L- _
couple 0 wor as sec- ----�
vants OIl the farm.
While the two boys e very
young, they reach across the
great racial divide to enjoy those
things which young boys like to .... ------------ ..... ,
do, such as swimming and play- This novel raises the ques-
ing ball But they gro older, lion of who is to blame for the
a crack in the friendship legacy I which is being passed
develops the.boys. dream ofa down to South Africa'
future wbich points in opposite children. Is it just the people
direction . The child in the who are·in the government and
privileged position fervently in positions of authority, or is i
hopes that everything bo his also the ordinary peop who
life will remain the same, and see injustice and conform to it?
that even the friendship be- Is it just hose who accept
, tween the two ill continue ptivilege without question, or is
C( rever, with him the master it also those who accept the un-
of th farm and his friend the fairness without challenge?
head rvant. Teens and young adults will
The Black boy also dreams of be intrigued by this engrossing
the future, but not a the head story of a friendship. It should
servant on his friend's farm. He prompt. timulating diswssion
resents tbat h is unable to get in classrooms, church groups, or
an education hi hi friend, as an item to be shared with
wh would rather stay t home ' friends.
to work on the farm, is forced to
go to school H' a.age over this
and a number of other injustices
gradually builds OYer the yeah
as he atches the way the uee­
qual system orb.
As the boys grow into men,
their lives move into the
separate sides of South Africa's
racial policies, with one joiniDg
the flgh to keep things the way
they are while the other joins the
fight to bring about mange. Pate
brings the two friends together
again in a life or death confron­
tation where they are forced to
make hard choices.
·s in
n-American
.h· ory:
Octobu 30 - MallW�ad Ali on beavyweight bo .
title, 1974. Ani elected first Black mayor of
Birmingham, Ala., 1979.
, October 31 - EdIeI W , actress, singer, bom 1896.
.... kSdllde.. educator, bom 1915.
Nowmber 1 - J H. J published first .
of BJoay, 1945.
November 2 - c.
first Black coagressman, 1954.
ovember 3 - I L Mil
Hartford, Coon., 1981.
ovembeI- 4. - T. tlkias patented refrigeratiDg ap-
para 1879.'
November S - Dym
QOVerDor of CMifomia, eleded, 1974.
elected Michigan'
r elected mayor of
I
. " ,'.
S?_ fEW OF US UNDE.R�TAND
.. �'\ WHA, rr TA\(ES 'ro MAK
.. .1 A �f\N ... Tl-\E Mf\N
Wt\O V\l\\_L NEVEP
s.�,< t>\E; l"l\E MI\N
w�a W'LL NEVER
G\VE UP i T\-\ E
M�N W\,\O
W\LL. E.'IER
�E.REND UPoN
O,l\ERS> TO
DO W�fiT'
HE OUG�rr'
,�.' 1:t> DO fOR
. H\MSELFi
.J�)\ � 1'"HE· M"N HO W,LL!
'ff'( ,N,Ol BL�ME GOD;,
WI·\O WILL NOT BLI\'''''£ ,Nf\\iURE.
I
WHO W1LL OT eLI\�E' FA-rE .
FOR \\\� COND\Tt<DN. 1/
I
baby.
All of us, adult and teem,
need to tart talking sense to our
young men about what it mean
to become a parent too young.
Nearly two-thirds of America's
male teens are exuaJly active
today, but too few are getting the
m g that they have half the
r ponsibility if a baby is the
r uit.
We can begin by making it
clear to our young men th t ir­
responsible behavior is not
"cool" and does have con e­
quences for them. everal new
teen. pregnancy prevention
ppster from the Children'S
Oefen e Fund are aimed
specifically at )'0U:J1g men. Put
one up in your school, church,
health clinic, or library.
For more information on or­
dering the male teen po ter
contact COF-Media, 122 C
Street, N.W., 4th Floor,
Wa hington, D.C. 2(XX)1.
M .arian Wright Edelman is
President 0/ the Children's ,
Defense Fund, a national voice
for children.
,
Young men: liS e ping Off I i n't cool
8y M ri . W t EdeJ n
"Stepping off" is teenage
slang for backing away from a
challenge you cannot handle.
When a young man fathers a'
baby too soon and then runs out
on his responsibilitie , his male
friends see him as "stepping off."
More and more, they are no im­
pressed.
A group of young men,
quoted by sociologist Dr. Mer­
cer Su livan in his 1985 study
"Teen Father in the Inner City,"
had few kind words for other
young men tbey knew who made
babies and aJked 'away:
- "1 know quite a few who say
'I go a daughter who lives over
here and a on who lives over
there' �d the way they say it, it
seems like tbey don't care ...
'They don't get 'no respect from
me on that ... it ain't nothing to
brag about."
:- "I know one guy named
Rick and he got a baby by this
girl. He don't take care of the
baby right."
- "I've seen what happens on
both ides of that ituation.
There's the girl. She's got
nobody to take care of he and
the baby. And the guy too, He
lose his self-respect. Not only
that but everyone else 10 e
.respect for him too.
Fathering a child he canno
upport win not make a young
man look bigger in the eyes of his
peer or anybody else. What it
will do is put him under pres­
�ures heis not yet ready to hand­
le. Young men who have not
finished school or who cannot
find a job will have a hard time
finding the money to meet their
own needs, let alone those of a