VIEWS 'OPINIONS
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i ht Y a .
arrul had
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B 0 plantations in th
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and edu tionally h rt-chang d b
landholder who with poli col-
I usi n, Ii Ic-or-death power,
men.
William. owell and Thom are
paid to on rat white and blame
Blae f r this condition.
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EDITORIAL
frica need
a chance
Two hundred eventy billion! Thi tronomical figure repre-
nts the amount which ub-Saharan or Black Africa ow to
various governmen of th world.
Ther re veral rea on for thi galloping indebt dn
Africa's debt ro e riously during th 198 ,at the time when i
economic problems mounted ub tantially. By 19 , the
continent' total debt w two and a half tim greater than in 1980.
At th me time that debt incre d with inter t, the price of its
commoditie worldwide tumbled.
Recently at the United Nation Day for Africa, convened by
U.N. Seer tary General Javiar Perez de Cuellar and chaired by the
vi ionary Dr. Leon Sullivan, everal high governmental official a
well as th pre idents of GeneraT Motors and Colgate-Palmolive
participated. All agreed that it i 'imply not pas ible for th
ub-Saharan African countrie to develop further, with their debt
burden exceeding $270 billion.
Therefore, the Chairman and oth rs vigorously called for debt
forgivene s. Dr. Sullivan, in an extraordinary tatement pointed out
that "if th seven big nations can for ive the deb of I rael, Poland
and Egypt then certainly they can forgive the debt in ub-Saharan
or Black Africa."
PE IFICALLY, HI propo al i for forgivenes of 80 per­
cent of governmental debt, with 20 percent remaining for twenty
years. The interest on the 20 percent and th freed revenues on th
80 percent would go for children, the poor, education and health
ervices.
Further, it was tated that the e countrie were not deliberately
avoiding payment of the debt. Even an n-economi t can calculate
th difficulty that any nation would have in trying to meet indeb ..
ted ness which is 102 percent of its gros national income and over
30 percent of its national exports.
In addition to th strain which has almo t immobilized the
nations of Africa they have been manipulated by international
"price fixers," who have offered far le for their valuable exports
of gold, silver, coffee, cocoa and other important items.
We join this group in calling upon th Big Seven nation -
United States, England, Italy, France, Japan. Canada and Ger­
many- to lift this debt burden so that the e countries will not be
crippled further.
Just as they. banded together to form the allied command during
the costly Persian Gulf War, we ask them to immediately join forces
fora great humanitarian ge ture.
THESE NATION AND the large multi-national' corporations,
can in fact forgive the debt, keep the door for business open, and
invest with substantial returns.
It is well-known that sub-Saharan Africa is not treated in the
same way that other non-Black nations are treated. either in loans,
grants, debt forgiveness, refugee population, or by any other
measure. A continent wealthy with its mineral resource has been
exploited year in and year out. Today there are 40 million tarving
on the continent of sub-Saharan Africa.
We agree with Dr. Sullivan that were they not Black the world
would declare an international emergency. Yet today we hear very
little about the starving men, women and children on that continent.
Debt forgivenes would provide an opportunity for the nations
of Africa to begin to as ume responsibility for placing those valued
funds on the priori tie of eliminating poverty, building schools,
feeding the hungry, providing job for the needy, and offering
health services for the di ease-ridden populations.
The cancellation of the government debt would place these
seven rich, northern nations in the forefront of offering
humanitarian aid to countries that they have long exploited. It i a
small gesture on the long road to real independence and freedom.
WE CALL for immediate action on the urgent problem. Fur­
ther, we call upon President Bush to assume the same intense
leadership role which he assumed during the Persian Gulf War. It
is obvious that our nation can influence not only the other developed
countries, but the United Nations as well.
We applaud the U.N. Secretary General for hi acknowledgment
of the need to lifting the debt burden, and we applaud Dr. Sullivan
for once again initiating such timely international concern .
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If all your children deserved to go to college,
but you could only send one, how would you choose?
U ITED EGRO COLLEGE FU D
A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.