Forum:
Students Blast Community
By LYNDA STEDM AN
Greensboro Daily News
Ugly heads were raised
Thursday when eight students
from trie University of North
Carolina at Greensboro and A&T
State University verbally
unmasked current civil issues
without the use of sugar coating.
They participated in a panel
discussion on the "Concerns of
Youth" at the Davie Street
YWCA.
They told it like it was.
And members of the informal
audience appeared shocked
during the candid discussions of
youth's poor place in the
community, racism and black
power, a faulty education
system and the generation gap.
Opening remarks were made
by Dr. Elaine Burgess of the
sociology department at UNC-G,
who introduced the speakers and
served as a referee during a
question and answer session
which followed the panel
discussion. Individual talks were
delivered by each of the eight
students.
William Burkley, a UNC-G
student from New York, began
the youth discussions with his
account of the campus clash
with the community.
"All five colleges here are
pumping 30 million dollars a
year into the economy of
Greensboro," he said. "And the
people of Greensboro have done
virtually nothing for the
students. Yet we tutor your
children and we pump a lot of
money into your economy and
we keep fairly quiet. I think the
students at A&T have done a lot
to keep things quiet. We are
helping you, and what have you
done? Nothing, Virtually
nothing.
Mr. Burkley stated that
through recent research, he had
discovered that there are no
scholarships granted by large
local industries to A&T and
there is only one scholarship of
this type available at UNC-G.
Challenge
"I challenge the Greensboro
Chamber of Commerce and the
Junior Chamber of Commerce to
set up a scholarship fund for the
five colleges in Greensboro . . .
and to leave the distribution up
to the discretion of the student
aid officers. I don't believe that
Chamber of Commerce is going
to do this because all they want
is the money."
Willie Drake, vice president of
the A&T student body, spoke on
matters of racism and black
power.
"I want to talk to you about
a sore that has developed into a
cancer," he said. "The sore I'm
speaking about is racism.
"I'm sure that some of you
people here are racists," he said
quietly as he slowly looked
around the room. "But you
don't know it. People haven't
told you. When you say that a
black mother and a father can't
move into your neighborhood
because of the devaluation of
property, that is just an excuse
to cover the racist tendencies
that you have.
"Every one of you, everyone
within the range of my voice will
be responsible for the downfall
of America.
Black Power
"I want to speak to you
secondly about a mole hill that
has developed into a mountain,'"
he continued. "The mole hill is
black power.
"Black power is not anything
that one can touch or see. It's
like abstract art . . . To me I see
black power as being
constructive.
"Black power is being proud
of being a little black head.
Black power is my little eight
year old sister not having to run
to my mother in tears when
someone calls her black.
"We believe that black is
beautiful, even if it's not, just as
you believe that white is
beautiful."
Revolution
He spoke of a "third world"
where black and yellow "races
will come together against the
"When the revolution
comes," he said calmly and
deliberately, you're going to be
outnumbered four to one. It's
going to be the same situation as
«y
Vietn;
We
airplanes because you can't harm
the white communities without
harming the black communities.
It will be through guerrilla
warfare."
Miss Cassandra Pulley, a
UNC-G student from Spring
Hope, continued the discussion
of racism with a special appeal
to the middle class housewife,
on the assumption that "The
mother is the greatest influence
in the family."
"Black people weren't just
good slaves," she said. "Black
people have made a lot of
contributions. A woman can do
a lot by encouraging her child to
go into the black neighborhods,
like to cultural affairs at Bennett
and A&T. She can shape her
child into a complete and true
"If things are going to
continue as they are, there is
definitely going to be a
revolution. We have to do things
to eliminate it now. Tomorrow
or next year is not soon enough.
You can't just say, if a colored
person moves in next to me I'm
not going to move. You have to
greet them."
Time-Out
Miss Miranda Bryant of
Virginia Beach, Va., president of
the student body at UNC-G,
discussed the Time-Out march
sponsored by the National
Students Association three
weeks ago. The peaceful
demonstration she said was to
"show our willingness to serve
the community." She said that
Mayor Carson Bain refused to
speak "because he said he didn't
want to be a part of noise in the
street. (He) ... destroyed the
beauty of it."
Miss Helen Brock of Norfolk,
Va. made brief remarks about
the generation gap. And Miss
Joanne Kares of Greenville
talked about the isolation of
campus life from community
life. Both girls are students at
UNC-G.
Miss Iris Levin, a UNC-G coed
from Goldsboro, was concerned
with "what used to be a juicy
topic several years ago, but was
lost in the stampede of racial
discussions. It is the subject of
the poor education system."
"You can't give a 20 or
21-year-old creativity," she said.
"You have to start in elementary
school."
Miss Susan Ballinger of
Charlotte, president of the
junior class at UNC-G, made
This was the last in a series of
"Thursday at the Y" discussions
until after the new year.
