The Michigan Daily -Monday, February 13, 1989 -Page 3
Scholar
speaks on
*women
and race
BY ANNA SENKEVITCH
Last week, oral historian Marsha
Darling spoke with students about
oppression and racism in the lives of
Third World women and women of
color in the United States.
Her visit part was sponsored by
the University's King/Chavez/Parks
visiting scholar program, as part of
Black History Month.
Darling, who has researched and
published extensively about Black
families and rural Black women in
the southern U.S., lectured on the
"Evolution of Images of Black and
White Women in Hollywood Cin-
ema" and "Women in International
Development" and spoke in several
women's studies classes.
In her speeches last week, Darling
traced the evolution of present racist
attitudes to early writings deemed
"classics" on race. She cited the
American Negro Slavery, published
in 1918 by Ulrich Phillips, which
argues that slavery served as a
"school for Blacks."
Darling said the progress made in
the 1960s Civil Rights Movement
has seen setbacks in the past two
decades. Citing a 1988 report, "One
Third of a Nation," by the Commis-
sion on Minority Participation in
Education and American Life, she
said the poverty rate among Black
families was 30 percent higher in
1987 than in 1969, with 700,000
more poor Black families.
She said she especially fears an
impending "feminization of
poverty," magnified in the lives of
women of color, 57 percent of
whom are caretakers of their families
as compared to 27 percent of white
women. Increasingly, families are
destablized by gang and drug-related
violence, Darling said.
Darling also spoke about Third
World women, who lead "double
days" - caring for everyone and ev-
erything but themselves, she said.
Many of the women spend almost
half their time working in agricul-
tural production for subsistence
while also caring for families and
homes.
Darling said that Western femi-
nist thinkers often fail to recognize
or understand issues affecting women
in the developing world. For exam-
ple, many Third World women must
walk long distances and spend much
of their time each day getting water
and fuel, items Westerners take for
granted.
Darling stressed that Western
countries like Europe and the United
States have grown by paralyzing the
growth of other countries.
"Where would Europe have been
without 245 years of slavery, of un-
paid labor?" Darling said. "What
came out of colonialism was a cer-
tain understanding of what patriarchy
was. It is into that world that we
situate women."
Students at U of Detroit
protest racial incident
BY ANDREW KAPLAN
Black History Month, a time for
celebration and education, was
marred by racial incidents at the
University of Detroit last week.
Last Thursday, more than 200
students at the University of Detroit
protested racial slurs made by a stu-
dent.
Protesters demanded that U of D
junior Peter Badry be fired from his
job as a university cafeteria manager
because of remarks he allegedly made
to Black History Month Chair Dante
Dixon.
According to Dixon, Badry ob-
jected to a poster promoting Black
History Month at the university.
The poster depicts Arabs as the
original slave traders and reads:
"Many Africans driven by Arab slave
traders across burning sands of the
Sahara Desert preferred freedom to
death rather than serve as the eco-
nomic foundation of a foreign na-
tion. Those who survived scorching
sun gained spirited strength through
perseverance in tremendous suffer-
ing."
Dixon was unavailable for com-
ment yesterday. But he told the De-
troit Free Press that, in response to
the poster, Badry called him a
"nigger," and "started saying that he
didn't see why Blacks needed a Black
History Month, anyway, and that we
were incompetent, and didn't deserve
to be here.
"He started shouting and scream-
ing that Blacks couldn't be trusted
and that we were lazy and shiftless
and that we should go out and get
jobs," Dixon told the Free Press.
Badry, an engineering student
from Egypt, denied making racist
remarks. He claimed to have only
debated with Dixon over the depic-
tion of Arabs as slave traders. He re-
fused to comment any further on the
incident when reached over the
weekend.
Badry has been suspended from
his job pending the results of a uni-
versity investigation, said Marsha
Valentine, director of marketing and
public affairs for the University of
Detroit. "The University of Detroit
doesn't condone any acts of racism at
all," she said.
She said she did not feel that the
University of Detroit had a history
of racial unrest.
But Dixon disagreed. "There's
been a plethora of things that have
occurred. Last term many students
brought confederate flags to the
school. 'Go home niggers' was
written on student doors and lots of
harassing phone calls were made,
especially to members of fraternities.
I myself received one," Dixon said.
Dixon said he has met with the
vice president of the University, and
was told that the outcome of the in-
vestigation will be released by
Wednesday.
He said 200 students have signed
a petition calling for Badry's firing.
"We want to let all the Blacks on
campus be aware that we won't stand
for racist remarks," he said.
Black students make up 22 per-
cent of the 6,000 students presently
enrolled at the University of Detroit,
Valentine said.
JESSICA GREENE /doiy
LSA Senior Liz Haas marches through "Winterfest" as a part
of the Homeless Action Committee's weekly Saturday protest.
Homeless committee
protests city priorities
'U' Council to appoint chairs
and mediator in first meeting
BY JOSH MITNICK
In the midst of Ann Arbor's
annual Winterfest celebration
Saturday, members of the Home-
less Action Committee marched
down Main Street demanding that
city funds be used to create more
affordable housing.
Shouting "What do we want?
Affordable housing! What don't
we want? More parking struc-
tures!" protestors carried picket
signs and passed out flyers to
members of the community.
The Homeless Action
Committee, which has staged
downtown pickets the last three
Saturdays, has been protesting
the plans of the city's Downtown
Development Authority (DDA).
The purpose of the DDA is to
suggest ways to renovate Ann
Arbor's "decaying" downtown
area, said a protester who asked to
remain anonymous. The DDA
recommended that the city coun-
cil slate $16.5 million to build
new parking structures in the
downtown area, he said.
"We're using the pickets to
mobilize people," said LSA se-.
nior Renuka Uthappa, a member
of the Homeless Action
Committee. "We want to drama-
tize the fact that they'll (the city)
house cars before they house
people," she said.
Peg Taylor, a homeless person
who attended the picket, described
the city's policy on low-income
housing as "outrageous." She
added, "Getting affordable hous-
ing in this city is next to impos-
sible."
The group plans to continue
their weekly pickets until the
money is reallocated. Uthappa
said they hope to have 100 sup-
porters by April 15 to participate
in a sit-in at the site of a pro-
posed $3 million parking struc-
ture, a parking lot located behind
Kline's Department Store on
Ashley Street between Liberty
and William.
"$3 million can house a lot of
people," said LSA senior Jeff
Brasch. "We'll stay here if we
have to stop construction."
The protest, attended by about
ten picketers, attracted the atten-
tion of several Winterfest partici-
pants.
One onlooker said, "The
downtown is going to fade away
if people can't park."
"The demonstration is useless,
it goes in one ear and out the
other, which is unfortunate," an-
other observer said.
Michigan philosophy prof.
Frithjof Bergmann, who walked
past the protest, said he was im-
pressed. "I think it's (the protest)
great. The city needs affordable
housing."
Paul Henry, co-founder of the
Homeless Action Committee -
comprised of homeless people,
former homeless people and
Michigan students - said, "I
think we've made a good start,
but we still have a long way to
go in mobilizing the numbers we
need."
BY FRAN OBEID
The University Council, which
creates student conduct rules, will
meet formally today - for the first
time since the summer of 1987 -to
appoint a chair, a mediator, and dis-
cuss the council's agenda.
Central to that agenda will be a
discussion of rules to enforce a stu-
dent protest policy revised by the
University's Civil Liberties Board
last summer, said Social Work Pro-
fessor Tom Croxton, the commit-
tee's newest appointee.
"We have a lot to accomplish in a
short time. I'm hoping we can come
up with a draft that we can forward
to the various constituents to get
some feedback," said Croxton, a
member of the Civil Liberties Board.
The council will also discuss the
possibility of having two chairs.
"Co-chairs are a possibility and
are probably the best way to go,"
said council member and Rackham
graduate student Corey Dolgon. "Co-
chairs balance both the politics and
amount of work that a chair would
have to do."
The council will also look at ex-
amples as to how peer institutions
enforce their protest policies, pro-
vided by council staff assistant Vir-
ginia Nordby.
"We'll probably be examining
the policies of Berkley and Stanford
along with other private and public
peer institutions," said Nordby, as-
sistant to the president and policy
advisor.
At their meeting in July, the
University's Board of Regents
threatened to disband the council this
May unless progress is evident. The
council dissolved last year after dis-
agreements between council mem-
bers.
The nine-member council, com-
prised of three students, three faculty
and three administrators, met at a
dinner last week to discuss past his-
tory of the council and how the
newly formed council will proceed.
The council's open meeting will
take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in
the Michigan Room at the Michigan
League.
Read
116e
CCa~ie4
r
THE
What's happening
Speakers
"German Contributions to
Literary Theory: The
Aesthetic . and the
Imaginary" - Wolfgang Iser, U
of C, Irvine, Rackham Am-
phitheatre, 4:10 pm. Reception
following in Rackham Assembly
Hall.
"Hellenism in Late
Antiquity: The Syrian
Tradition" - Glen W.
Bowersock, Princeton, Rackham
Graduate School, East Lecture Hall,
4 pm.
Mahler: Symphony No. 2,
"Death and Ressurection" -
Jim Leonard, SKR Classical, 8 pm.
For more info. call SKR Classical,
995-5051.
"The Nature of Active Sites
on Metals, Metal Oxides
and Homogeneous
Catalysts" - Prof. Alan
Brenner, WSU, 1200 Chem., 4 pm.
"Accretion Discs Around
Supermassive Black Holes"
- J. Halpern, 2038 Randall, 4
pm.
LIST
in Ann Arbor today
2275 CCRB, 6:30-8:15
Beginners Welcome.
Shorin-Ryu Karate -
CCRB, 7:30-8:30 pm.
pm.
1200
Furthermore
Pre-Interviews - S.C. Johnson
Wax, 6-8 pm; Waste Management
of n. America, 1311 EECS, 6:30-
8:30 pm.
Safewalk - Sun.-Thurs., 8 pm-
1:30 am; Fri.-Sat.; 8-11:30 pm.
Call 936-1000 or stop by 102
UGLi.
Northwalk - Sun.-Thurs., 9 pm-
lam. Call 763-WALK or stop by
3224 Bursley.
Choosing Your Major -
Career Planning and Placement
Center, Rm. 1, 4:10-5 pm.
Deciding Your Career (Part
2) - Career Planning and
Placement Center, Conference Rm.,
4:10-6 pm.
Job Search Lecture - 1250
CCRB, 6-7:30 pm.
Employer Presentation -
Marshall Field's, Pendelton Rm,
7:30-9:30 pm; St. Mary's Lodge,
Mt
l~1
Z 10,
T n-0
PASS
IT
AROUND!
CENEMAp DIRECTRY
Tuesday
February 14
The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Wednesday
February 15
Thursday
February 16
Faculty Organ Recital-
Marilyn Mason,
University Organist.
Johann Sebastian Bach:
Pedal exercitium g-moll
Alle Menschen muessen sterben
Christ, der du bist der helle Tag
Nun freut euch, liebe Christen g'mein
Ein'feste Burg ist unser Gott
Allegro Duetto
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, 8 p.m.
FREE
Contemporary Directions
Ensemble-
Richard Rosenberg, conductor
Reich, Peice for Six Marimbas
Von Forster, Sonata.for Violoncello and
Piano
Bassett, Pierrot Songs, with soprano
Laura Lamport
Mark Kilstofte, Lovelost
FREE
CANCELLATION. The announce-
ment that choreographer Pearl Primus
1
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