1 Ith O. Hllon om L tino r Afric n too Many Latino re African. not 11. but enough. Some will ay ye when ked, orne will y no. The · cultur I richne of numerou L tin Americ n . nation consi tenlly reflect · African, European and A i n root. The e root re in we tern term. Black. white, red and brown. With thi noted, we have. vi HILTON: HIGHER EDUCATION. tated on everal occasion that one of the be t inhou e deci ion .. that Black people in hi country made in recent years was to agree on the term African American. Not all Africans in America have embraced the term yet, ju t a many Latinos are al 0 reflecting on Hispanic, Spanish, Chicano. Latino • etc. In both cases. it is a revol u­ tionary process. . Living in New York Town for several years and working as a university ad­ ministrator, I recall many brown skinned Latinos and Latinas telling me that they wcre not Black. Some would say this, not all. Implied was the idea that Black went along with American and that one could be denying their Latin Americ n root baying many L uno did and do ay with pride i that. they cherish their multi-cul­ tural heritage, which some­ times includes Africa. These African roots are as deep as those of Continental Africans, African Americans or those Africans from the English and French speaking nations of the Caribbean. For this and other reasons. it is very practical for a genuine bond to occur and/or remain between Spa nish, Englis h, Fre nch and Portuguese speaking Black and Brown people. What we are writing here is certainly not the defini­ tive statement on what we again call an evolutionary process. However, what is stated here may be used as a reference point for people interested in building bridges and finding common ground. This is not abou denying one's cult ure , but rather about assessing one's points of strength. And what we write here is applicable to people livl ng across thi na­ tion .: For that reason, we wel­ come comments and feed­ back from people of 11 ethnicities regarding this special two part column. �""Ll'S hear from Atlanta, Bakersfield. Los Angele • San Bernardino. Boston, Buffalo, Birmingham, Chicagoland, ' Denver, Tampa, Las Vegas, Lo�g Beach, Highland Park. Mil- waukee, San Francisco. . New York Town, PIt- tsburgh, Raleigh, Rich�ond, Roanoke, Salem San Diego, Seattle, WaShington DC, Philadelphia. Miami, Johnson City, Normal, Fer­ rum, Compton, Pomona, Claremont, Fontana.By the way, how many people will agree that there i only one race, the human race? Plea e end. comment to: HILTON: HIGHER EDUCATION, 3139 N. Garey Avenue, Suite 101. Pomona, CA 91767. Clare e To. George h' selection of Judge Clarence Thoma to replace soei J tiee Thurgood hall on the Supreme Court rep n clever ult gai t the entire civil righ movement. By choo ing Thomas, an African-American, B h believ that he make it difficult for ,progressive to oppo e his candidate' record. Superficially, Thoma' life seems to be a p riches tory. Bom in Savannah, Georgia, in deep pover­ ty, Thom was educated by the charity of bite Catholic DUDS. He crificed and struggled to obtain a Yale law degree. But hi rise from poverty to power really occurred the aide of Republican Senator John Danforth of Missouri. It wunder Danforth's influence that the am- ... . • I I I a I , , • , t , a VIEWS up� t outra ct oc- curred in 1 ben be criticized the famo 1954 Brown v. Board 0/ Education decision, which outl ed raciall y greg ted ubJi cbool. In preme rroga ce, Thom declared that tbeBrowndeci ion w on "dubio social ience," If Thomas had been in ontgomery, Alabam b in 1955, be prob bly would h ve at quietly in the egreg ted ection of that city' b , instead of pro ting along with P and Martin Luth r King,Jr. Souter, Thom i 0 Intel­ o t of hi meager publish­ ed rticle are polemi g i t "racial quo "and ffirmative ac- tiona He written almost n thin on other important constitutional . - u . Thomas' ilence on th u permit him to follow Souter' footstep th o-called "Stealth nominee" to the Supreme Court. THOMAS IS ALSO deeply op­ posed to omen' rights issue ,par­ ticularly the 'freedom of choice on abortion. Several year go, Thomas commented favorably about an ar- THE BA rc legal trategy . employed by Bush is imply an ex­ tension of th reactionary agenda of Ronald Reagan. During Bush's first two years as pre ident, he appointed 70 federal judges, nearly �l of whom �----- AID and Black femal by Norman J. Clement, DDS. An AIDS prevention program designed specifically for the efficacy of Black women may help control the rapidly growing incidence of AIDS among Black women. Helen L. Gasch, Health Educator, from the HlV Center Community Core of Columbia University School of Public Health explained, "Self-ef­ ficacy refers to an individual' con­ fidence in hi or her abiHty to perform specific behaviors in pecific ituation." A tudy. reteesed earlier this year by the Center for Disease Control bowed overall female deaths from HIV were some 12,000, in the year 1990 "and nearly half" or 6,000 were African American females. Oasch stated that historically aDd today, Blac omen have been the HILTON: HIGHER EDUCA TION; designed to dialogue with c otlege and world readers. ... overall female deaths from HIV were some' 12,000, in the year 1990, Hand nearly half' or 6000 were African American females. THE RESULT OF thi sex ratio imbalance is that Black women no longer have leverage to insist on afe sex and any ins' tence may jeopard­ ize a valued relationship. "Women ee their options hrink­ ing and tend to tolerate more objec­ tionable behavior for men. In contrast, men ee their options limitle , resulting in less p ure to develop commitmen and greater power within relationships." . "For women whO feel powerful, the negotiation of safer ex grow from a repertoire of uccessful ex­ perience ., For women who feel defeated, taking on the hard task of king for condom e is just too much. To teach fe x to women with little' elf-efficacy, the sen e of powerl must be addressed," binding force which ha held families and social networks intact However, the rapid deterioration of neighborhoods, the collapse of the economic base and the high rate of unemployment and incarceration of Black men create an atmosphere of d peratlon ... One of the things that happens to relationships' that a power imbalance develops between Black men and women, mainly be­ ca oftbe decreased availability of marriageable men. m ourt? ___ jud percent ly of' been ho tile to environment I protection I civil libe , the righ of criminal defendan , and . on righ. . rep rv ti to Y tem to de troy tic movemeu for reform, and return African­ Americans Hi pam ,women and oth rs to seoond-cl Bush w 0 determined to purs the e conserv tive goal th t be deliberately ignored "moderate" Republican judges from considera­ tion. One e ample would be judge Amalya Kear e, an African­ Aiheric n Republic n currently erving on the federal appeals court in New Yor. Kearse' moderate political view, however, made her unacceptable to dogmatic ideologue within the Bush ad­ ministration. Even the Wall Street Journal, no friend· of civil rights and women's equality, candidly inteq,reted the meaning of Thurgood Marshall's resignation frOm the Supreme Court. The Journal predicted that Bush would "nominate a conservative committed to continuing the court' re triction of abortion rights, i .r LO G TH COLOR Ll b'berti " th tile lcction 0 a . Thom ,B h contin to advance form of radic I conserv ti . , . repudi ling the legal leg y of1bVr­ good hall. If confiImed by � Senate, Thomas would become part of monolithic conservati m in the nation' highest court, threateniDg the entire struggle for equal justice in our country. Dr. Mtmning Marable is Pro/u­ sor 0/ Political Science and History, University 0/ Colorado, Boulder. "Along TM Color Line" appeors:in over 200 publications intD1Ultiorl4l­ ly, and a radio commentary versiOn 0/ t� column is broatlc4st 011 � tions throughout the United Stat�. POSitive Images For African-Americans N Editor: The Problem: African- Americans' repeated usage of the word "nigger." You will find this is the ame word the lavemaster used to control the slaves. You wiU also fi ngo rdia I de tl:nd' offensive. ow we find when one African-An1erlcan I calls another a "nigger," the word creates, perpetua and trengthens a negative self-image. . We need to make it very clear we feel this is a dehumanizing act with terrible psychological consequen­ ces. Sadly, thi word takes away our self-respect and pride, then leaving African-Americans in an inferior state of mind. As a people this is not the way we need to interact. It is very important this kind of negative indoctrination is exposed and stopped. It is al 0 very important people ee themselves in a po itive way. We hope you can see this is a prob­ lem that needs to be solved. Let us understand the greatest injustice of all are the one we now inflict upon ourselves. Now is the time to expose and stop this negative reinforcement. ... calling each other " niggers. " Our history reveal thi word con­ tinu to be passed from generation to generation. For far too long this Key Word has controlled the African-American community. Now, thank to the World Truth Seekers (we are seekers of truth and justite) there is finally a solution for tbis devastating carryover from slavery. African-Americans, it is time to liberate our minds. THE SOLUTION: African­ Americans must come together and expose thi ord "nigger" as what it really is ... The Key Brainwashing Word in America. As concerned people we have to stand up and say, you African-Americans that call You're .wlthln th Norm Gasch said. "In order for a woman to ex­ perience increased comfort wi th the proce of exual negotiation he m t be made aw re of her abili ty to ert herself and gain equal footing with her partner in exual inter­ course. For now you're within the norms. each other the word "nigger" wrong. Your repeated ge ot� word has damaging psycoologiCllI effects and your ctions must be e - posed and stopped. You are doin a great d' ervice to yourself and your peopll • � Let 11 communica- tion now. e can no Jive thi negative way, now we can free our minds of this Key Word. It is � responsibility to set a good examRle of elf-worth for our future geocN­ tion. We can et a good example by eradicating this Key Brainw �g Word ("nigger") from our vocabularie , never to use it ga(n. Then we can develop positive illl- I age and self-image. t Please alway remember we ha\'e a great culture and a history. The World Truth Seekers think it i tune African-American feel good about themselves. We want positive im­ ages for African-Americns no ! Concerned people, by workin, together, we can soow self-resP