Biographer speaks on
views of Malcolm
X
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 15, 1990 - Page 3
East German
elections foretell
unification pace
by Geri Alumit
Malcolm X didn't advocate vio-
lence in the fight for Black rights,
said Manning Marable - University
of Colorado professor and biographer
of Malcolm X - in a lecture last
night in Hutchins Hall.
Marable said there are many mis-
perceptions about the famous Black
leader, and "I have found no evidence
in any of his speeches of preemptive
violence."
"A prophetic figure like Malcolm
X is obviously going to go through
a series of misinterpretations and dis-
tortions in the aftermath of his as-
sassination, which have had the ef-
fect of undermining contemporary
Black America," he said.
"Marable's information definitely
needs to get out to the public, be-
cause Malcolm's history has been
written by opportunists," said David
Fletcher, a graduate student in Public
Health who attended the speech.
most influential African American
political figures of the 20th Century,
Marable said. His name is often as-
sociated with the Nation of Islam, a
Black Muslim group which he be-
longed to early in his life, Marable
said. He was eventually murdered by
a member of the group.
Marable said the FBI spread mis-
information about Malcolm X. They
planted spies in the Black Islamic
community to monitor his actions,
and prevent the rise of his leadership,
Marable said. Marable said President
Hoover's statement: "at all costs the
FBI must destroy the emergence of a
Black messiah" was indicative of the
agency's attitude towards Malcolm
X.
Some of Malcolm X's harshest
critics are leaders in the Black civil
rights movement, Marable said.
"Those of you that are walking
around with tee-shirts of Elijah
Muhammed, Louis Farrakhan, and
Malcolm X, have a lot of explaining
'A prophetic figure
like Malcolm X is
obviously going to go
through a series of
misinterpretations
and distortions in the
aftermath of his as-
sassination, which
have had the effect
of undermining
contemporary Black
America'
- Manning Marable
Malcolm X biographer
Marable
to do," said Marable, and explained
that these three men were rivals, not
friends as they are often portrayed.
Marable quoted Farrakhan as say-
ing, "Malcolm did so much danger
to the Nation that he deserved to
die."
Panelists discuss minority education
by Diane Cook
Daily Women's Issues Reporter
"In the courts and in the streets,
Blacks have had to fight for educa-
tion," a man's deep voice intoned as
images flashed onto the screen: peo-
ple of color marching through streets
with signs, children studying in
schools, and farmers laboring over
their fields.
The nationally broadcast telecon-
ference "Men of Color: Absence in
Academia" - brought to the
Alumni Center yesterday via satellite
- featured glimpses of the history
of minority groups in the United
States, before breaking to discus-
sions on men of color in academia.
Teleconference panelist Sen. Cleo
Fields of Louisiana said schools play
a major developmental role in chil-
dren's self-esteem. He bitterly re-
called his junior high school years
when a teacher scoffed at his desire
to be a lawyer, and instead encour-
aged him to become an auto me-
chanic.
"Our teachers must teach our stu-
dents to believe they can go to col-
lege," Fields said.
Other teleconference panelists
agreed with Cole that the early
school years are crucial to children's
development.
"If young men don't progress in
those earlier grades, then certainly
they're not going to cut it later,"
Dean of Xavier University Antoine
Garibaldi said.
The panelists also explored the
need for classes on ethnicity at all
levels of education.
"We've got a lot of diversity in
this country, yet the institutions do
not require that we understand who
we are," said Sam Betances, a pro-
fessor of psychology at Northwest-
ern Illinois University.
In the telecast, students of color
described the history of their people
as a story of survival despite stacked
odds.
"It's important for us to remem-
ber our past and to remember that we
are part of a long line of struggles,"
said a Black male student at the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley. "Part
of that has to do with just going
against all odds and keeping your
head up high."
An additional panel discussion
given by men of color at the Univer-
sity preceded the telecast.
University Vice Provost for Mi-
nority Affairs Charles Moody said
the University panel discussion was
aimed at helping men of color cope
with the University's environment
- an environment which has "not
been conducive to men of color fac-
ulty."
EAST BERLIN (AP) - Forged
by the pro-democracy movements
that shook the Soviet bloc last year,
East Germany's historic weekend
elections will help set the pace of
reunification with West Germany.
What started with thousands of
pro-democracy activists taking to the
streets of Leipzig in September has
led to Sunday's nationwide balloting
for a 400-member Parliament.
Voters in the nation's first free
elections are being presented with 24
slates of candidates, ranging from
conservatives to radical leftists. In
one region, the new Beer Drinker's
Party is running candidates.
The once-hardline Communists,
struggling for a strong opposition
role, have changed their name, light-
ened their image, and tried to wipe
out the memories of the regime that
killed would-be escapees and crushed
dissent.
But polls show the Communists
with 18 percent support or less, de-
spite the popularity of Communist
Premier Hans Modrow.
"Now we're out in the open duel-
ing with swords," said Jens Reich, a
co-founder of the New Forum oppo-
sition movement that led the fall
protests. "Before it was a slaughter
with clubs behind closed doors."
"What we have accomplished is
more open, democratic process," said
Reich, the top candidate for New Fo-
rum. "This process cannot be re-
versed."
Peres spar
Shamir is a former senior official
in the Mossad intelligence agency
who led an extreme, anti-British un-
derground guerrilla group in pre-state
Israel.
He has led Likud since the sudden
resignation of Menachem Begin in
1983, but he has lacked the charisma
and dynamism that Likud followers
have come to expect. Many see him
as lackluster.
Peres is a disciple of Israel's
founding father, David Ben-Gurion,
and rose to power on the strength of
his mastery of political maneuvering
and deal-making. He has led Labor in
Very few East Germans have
tasted true democratic government.
Forty years of iron-fisted Commu-
nist rule replaced the Nazi dictator-
ship, which followed the chaos of
the Weimar Republic.
Soon after the Berlin Wall was
opened Nov. 9, the Leipzig
protestors again took the lead, this
time with tens of thousands chanting"
"Germany United Fatherland" and
waving West German flags.
Almost overnight, the West
German conservatives' dream of re-
unification loomed as a reality for
Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Both Kohl and his detente-minded
foreign minister, Hans Dietrich Gen-
scher, now routinely attract huge
crowds at East German election ral-
lies.
"God bless our German father-
land," Kohl say at the end of each of~
his campaign speeches, drawing wild
cheers.
Virtually everyone in East Ger-
many agrees that historical forces, a
common language and the ties of
kinship make German reunification
inevitable.
Communist leader Gregor Gys,'
an affable 42-year-old lawyer, is try-
ing to block the leftist Sociil,
Democrats and the conservatives
from getting a two-thirds majority.,
coalition. That would allow them to
vote for quick reunification.
Polls suggest that such broad-,
based majority is a possibility.
for power
four elections, but his best perfof."
mance was a draw in 1984 that al-
lowed him to serve two years as'
premier before giving the post d,
Shamir.
Opinion polls indicate Defense.
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who takes a
tougher line on negotiations with
Palestinians, is far more popular in
the party. Rabin, an ex-army con-'
mander, was premier from 1974-t
1977.
Referring to the Peres-Shamif
showdown, one senior Likud official'
said: "This is the last big battle 6f"
their political careers. The loser will
face an intefadeh in his own party."'
THE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Israeli leaders Shamir,
Meetings
Socially Active Latino Student
Association - 7:30 p.m. in
Angell Hall Rm. 221
Earth Day Organizing Com-
mittee - meeting at 7 p.m. in
Room 1040 Dana Bldg.
Michigan Video Yearbook ---
meetirg at 7 p.m. on the fourth
floor of the Union
Amnesty International --- cam-
pus group meeting 6 p.m. MLB
2012
UM Cycling --- team meeting and
rollers riding 6 p.m. in the Sports
Coliseum
Rainforest Action Movemnet -
-- meeting at 7 p.m in the Union
Room 2203
Michigan Wargaming Club
mass meeting at 9 p.m. in the
Union Kuenzel Room
Ann Arbor Libertarian League
--- meeting at 6:30 p.m. at
Dominick's
P alestine Solidarity
Committee Meeting --- meeting
at 7:30 p.m. at the International
Center
American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) --- meeting at 7:30 p.m.
in Hutchins Hall Room 120
UM Biological Society ---
meting with speaker Lewis
Kleinsmith on "What Causes
Cancer" at 8 p.m. in the 4th Floor
Natural Science Seminar Room
University Students Against
Cancer (USAC) --- group
meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the
Union Welker Room, officers
report at 7 p.m.
Tagar --- meeting at 8 p.m. at
Hillel (64 Trees)
"The 1990 Elections and the
Future of the LDP" --- Kenji
Hayaospeaks at noon in the Lane
Hall Commons Room
"The Physician as Political
Activist: Implications for
Health Care and Political
Change in South Africa"---
Delano Meriwether speaks at 4
p.m. in the S. Lecture Room on
the 3rd Floor of Med Sci II
"Love and Country in Latin
America: An Allegorical
Speculation" --- Doris Sommer
speaks at 5 p.m. in the 4th Floor
Commons of the MLB
"Phytoplankton Physiological
Adaptations and Survival in
Large Lake Ecosystems" ---
Linda Goad speaks at 4 p.m. in
Room 1046 Dana Bldg.
Furthermore
Women's Club Lacrosse -
practice 4-6 p.m. in the Coliseum
(5th and Hill)
Northwalk --- the north campus
night time walking service runs
from 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m. in Bursley
2333 or call 763-WALK
Safewalk --- the night time safety
walking service runs from 8
p.m.-1:30 a.m. in UGLi 102 or
call 936-1000
ECB Peer Writing Tutors ---
peer writing tutors available for
help on papers 7-11 p.m. in the
Angell/Haven and 611 Church
St. computing centers
Free Tutoring --- for all lower
level science and engineering
classes 8-10 p.m. in UGLi Room
307
Music at Mid-day --- Peter
Guild and David Johnson perform
classical duets on the string bass
Meet City Council Candidates
Rally --- held at noon on the
Diag with information on ballot
proposals available
The Simply You Show ---
comedy and music featuring Big
Fun, Culture Shock and Yab
Yum 10 p.m.-2 a.m. at the
UClub
Eric Bogle --- performs this
evening at The Ark
Purim Party --- with Voodoo
Kazoo at 9:30 p.m. at Hillel; $2
cover with costume or $4
without
"La Oneracion" --- a film
JERUSALEM (AP) - Hard-line
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and
liberal Vice Premier Shimon Peres
squared off yesterday for their biggest
political battle, a contest that could
force one of the party leaders into re-
tirement.
Their final showdown is set for
11 a.m. today in Israel's 120-seat
parliament, and the issue was the di-
rection of the peace process.
Labor Party leader Peres said he
had a chance to win the no-confi-
dence vote in parliament and that a
Labor-led government would start
peace talks with Palestinians.
"I think we have more than a fair
chance to continue and start a dia-
logue with the Palestinians. This is
the real topic on the agenda," he
said.
In a nationally broadcast speech
to leaders of his Likud party, Shamir
tried to rally party members with a
call to unity and accused Peres of
breaking his commitment to a na-
tional unity government.
"Mr. Peres should not entertain
illusions that he can lie all the time
to all the public. There is a limit to
his lies," Shamir said.
Shamir criticized the Bush admin-
istration for its handling of the peace
efforts and suggested this led to the
collapse of the ruling coalition. He
insisted there would be no compro-
mise on the central issue of east
Jerusalem, which was captured in
1967.
"On the issue we will not negoti-
ate a compromise," he said, banging
his fist on a table. "The heart of all
of us and our consciences will not
allow it."
President Bush prompted an
uproar in Israel last week with his
description of east Jerusalem as oc-
cupied terrirory. Israel annexed east
Jerusalem after capturing it in the
1967 Middle East War.
The Israelis insist that unlike the
West Bank, which is occupied terri-
tory, the Arab sector of Jerusalem is
under Israeli sovereignty.
MAS
S
MEETING
1ix
Student Organization Development Center
1) Strengthen leadership skills
2) Gain career-related experience
3) Earn 3 credits
Thursday, March 15th 7:30 pm
Wolverine Room, Michigan Union
Questions? - call 763-5900
UNION
Speakers
"Multifractals in Diffusion,
Aggregation and Reaction
Kinetics" --- Shlomo Havlin
speaks at 4 p.m. in Room 1640
Chemistry Bldg.
"Systematic Approaches to
the Determination of
Molecular Structures by
NMR" --- Larry Brown speaks
at 2 p.m. in Room 1210
Chemistry Bldg.
"On the Use of Ab-Initio
Geometry Optimized
Dipeptide to Derive
Parameters for the Charm-m
Force Held with Application
to Peptides and Proteins" ---
Frank A. Momany sneaks at 2
Food Buys
s
Party
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