THEGUILFORDIAN
Students Are Niggers
(The cast is all white; thev have just taken on fearful characteristics.)
"Now, after all we've done for'em.
The President of the University was a they're wantin' more! All this talk about
pudgy man with heavy jowls and a balding Integration of the Administration scares
pate. Flagging health and the recent me. We got too many of'em in there now.
"student-power uproar on his campus Some of these big 'buck-students' are
left him stunned. Wheeling arround in his calling the desegregation of the Adminis-
padded chair, he faced the Dean: "Our trative committees tokenism. I swear,
students got a long row to hoe 'fore they they're lucky we gav'em that!
can assume responsibility. I mean college "| guess it could be part of a Faculty-
ain't life in microcosm. College is pre- Student conspiracy. Some of our liberal
paration for life in this cruel planet, faculty sympathize with'em; invite them
They've got the rest of their lives to 'get^ to their homes to eat, and have them in
involved? and they wanta 'get involved' their offices to talk and socialize just
now, just when everything is running like they was people! That's the kind of
so well. ( thing that's gonna cause trouble ... if
"Oh, sure, someday they'll run things you tell'em they're like Administration
and assume responsibility and all, but they people they might actually begin to be-
can't handle it yet! If they got all those Ijeve it. It took us so damn long to
rights and responsibilities be no tellin' train'em, and now they wanta upset it all.
what d happen. Next step d probably be The sparks are rea||y gonna f|yi Can you
to take over the college! That's the jmagjne a group of those big 'buck-
uppitiest bunch of students I ve ever had students' takin' over this office?
charge of! Act like its beneath their The President grimaced and shifted his
dignity to show a little respect. God weight. "One thing aDout it though Dean,
damn! Its all \ can do anymore to you'n rare|y find one of our |j||y.whjte
keep em in line. faculty members datin' or marrying one
Yes, Sir, Mr. President! You hit it on 0f'em. They at least draw the line there,
the heati! Uppity! (Shiftless! Basically so there's no danger of mogrelization.
shiftless! Can't wait 'till Saturday nite so |n the final analysis it appears they're the
they can booze-it. You'd think they'd die real hypocrites. We're at least open about
if it wasn't for Saturday. That 'student- our discrimination. This equality stuff and
town'on Saturday night is a real hellhole!
The Dean loosened his collar and
reached over to light his pipe. He, too,
had been around I a long time; his hair had
turned fo frost. Increasingly he to found
the only respite from the burdens of the
world to be an occasional mint julep and
his caked pipe. Leaning back, and with a
smile, he continued; '"Member the old
days? Them students sure hopped then-
knew where their place was. 'Yes, Sir'
and 'No, Sir' and 'I'm sorry. Sir, - -
it was like music to the ears. They sure
kept their distance then. Those days are
fadin' fast now though. 'Bout the only
ones that show any respect anymore are
the student leaders, and that 'student -
power'group is calling them 'Uncle Toms'.
They say they toady too much to the
Administration. I guess its true of course,
from their point of view, but Lord! We
need'em to answer our phones and carry
messages and show to prospective students."
"Hell, Dean! I can't understand it! We
treat'em good, don't we? We giv'em all
the rights and responsibilities they can
handle. I thought they were happy. I
mean they don't have any worries. Carefree! 'Member when the shuffled along?
God! Those were the days? That blenk
smile on their faces and humming those
little cute 'folk songs' and dancin' to
that 'soul music Man, they sure got
rhythmn.
this 'Student rights' talk is enough to
make one wonder what's gonna happen to
our race. We can't lose anymore coersive
rights than we've already lost!
"I tell you, one of the most beautiful
sights in the world is a whole group of
those students plucking those paper-back
books and writing those term papers in
their respective fields. Didja ever notice
how they read? They move those thick
little lips and then frown a little when
they don't understand a word. One of the
little freshman pickaninnies came up to
me one day and said, 'Mistah, what's this
here word mean?' He then pointed to a
word in the Brown V. Board of Education
case . . . 'segregation.' I explained to him
how the races had been segregated for so
long that Negroes had come to be treated
as second class citizens in a country which
purports to be enlightened in the area of
humane world treatment; how feelings of
insecurity, inferiority and social worth-
lessness were characteristics of this system. How Negroes were for years relegated to positions of menial labor and
domestic servitude; how they were taken
for granted by the white community
because they wielded no political power.
The Brown decision, I explained, was the
first significant step along the road of
advancement; a road still encumbered with
almost insurmountable barriers; and, that
now the legal barriers had fallen and the
future was no longer such a hopeless
matter for a too long oppressed people.
"Interesting enough the little pickaninny still looked perplexed. Somehow
my explanation was inadequate.
"He asked, 'How's that white power
structure takin' it?"
'"Course I had to correct the boys
failure to call me 'Sir', but then I let him
know that they were certainly in an uproar but that once the leaders of the
communities took the lead in providing
jobs, etc., the rest of the respectable white
community followed their example.
"You know, that boy was still puzzled.
He then asked me, 'Sir, what's those big
words freedom, responsibility, and rights
mean?'
"He was only a Freshman though.
When he's a Senior he'll know."
