Guest editorial
Is Black beautiful?
By AGNES FIELDS Journalism Camper
Wherever you are in my hometown of Spencer, Oklahoma, whether on Main Street, in the slums, or just on your own block, you see four heartwarming words, "Black is Beautiful, Baby!" They're on bumper stickers, me
dallions, pins and pendants; you hear them on the radio and see them on television. It's hard to concentrate because the stereo next door is on full blast playing,
"Say it loud, I'm Black and Proud."
Yes, we Blacks today, have taken on a new image. We are
Washington confrontation By Dick West
UPI Columnist
WASHINGTON — There has been a lot of talk this week about the possibility of a confrontation between Congress and the Supreme Court.
The court's ruling that Rep. Adam Clayton Powell was unconstitutionally denied his seat in 1967 may have put it on collision course with the House of Representatives.
Some of the more militant congressmen have threatened defiance should a lower court now rule that Powell is entitled to collect the pay he lost while in limbo and Bimini.
"There is a lot more to this than just the Powell case," one of the militants told me. "We congressmen feel alienated from the mainstream of Supreme Court decisions and we are demanding that congressmen be given a bigger voice in running Congress."
It is believed the militants speak for only a small portion of the legislative body. The overwhelming majority of today's House members are on the side of law and order.
But we all know that militants usually prevail over the moderates when the situation gets down to the nitty gritty.
In my mind's eye, I am already getting some vivid mental pictures of what the confrontation would be like.
In that event, the justices and the lawgivers would be eyeball to eyeball. Or, as the case might be, bifocal to bifocal.
It would begin, I imagine, with a group of congressional militants occupying the House Disbursing Office to prevent execution of the court order regarding Powell's back pay.
The lawgivers obviously would have numerical superiority. They outnumber the justices 435 to 9 when both are at full strength.
A vacancy caused by the resignation of Abe Fortas has further weakened the bench and some of the justices are near doddering age.
But in seeking to enforce the
4 KANSAN Jn.27 1969
no longer ashamed of our kinky hair, thick lips, and black skin. "Black is Beautiful, Baby!" and so we say it loud, "We're Black and Proud."
order, the court would have at its disposal a sizable force of U.S. marshals, some of whom have been battle-tested on college campuses.
The House has reserves of its own, however. It could call out the congressional police force, which has gained valuable experience ejecting peace demonstrators from the capital steps this spring.
Moreover, the court presumably would have the support of Powell himself, and it is likely that several other lawgivers would defect.
And, as a last resort, it could throw up a defense line composed of "Fishbait" Miller and his fearsome corps of House door-keepers.
I wouldn't venture to predict the outcome of such a confrontation, but if it does place, I hope I'm here to see it.
But through all this new comotion, I sometimes ask myself: "Is Black really beautiful? Or is it an excuse for the way we look?"
THE SUNDOWN KID, by Hal G. Evarts (Gold Medal, 60 cents); CONTRARY PLEASURE, by John D. MacDonald (Gold Medal, 75 cents); ONE ENDLESS HOUR, by Dan J. Marlowe (Gold Medal, 60 cents)—Some of the lighter fiction of the month. "The Sundown Kid" is a western. Surprised? "Contrary Pleasure" is a new kind of thing for John MacDonald, one of those dynastic novels, dealing with the Delevans, a manufacturing family, and their various problems. "One Endless Hour" is in the tough violent school, an action tale that involves considerable crime and sex.
SEE THEM DIE, by Ed McBain (Dell, 50 cents); LADYFINGERS, by Shepard Rifkin (Gold Medal, 60 cents); THE SOUR LEMON SCORE, by Richard Stark (Gold Medal, 60 cents)—This month's entries in the tough-guy school. "See Them Die" is an 87th Precinct mystery, and they're always good. This one is about a hood named Pepe Miranda, and the cops. "Ladyfingers" is also a police story, and if you can stand it the fingers in the title really are ladyfingers, mailed in by a pretty sick type.
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Didn't our parents try to white-wash black by saying, "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice"?
How can we be sure that black is beautiful when everything
The opinions expressed in the editorial columns are those of the editorial staff of the newspaper. Guest editorial views are not necessarily the same as those of the editor's. Any opinions expressed in the Summer Session Kansan are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas Administration or the Kansan Journal.
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MIAMI (UPI)—A fireman describing the destruction brought by a cargo plane which crashed in a Miami business area:
"It looked like the aftermath of a World War II bombing raid on London."
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (UPI) Marine Commandant Gen. Leonard Chapman commenting on Students for a Democratic Society and other groups that use disruptive tactics:
"Like our enemy in Vietnam they fought a guerrilla war. They, too, have freedom of movement and the advantage of doing battle when and where they choose."
around us gives the reflection of white? Black chickens lay white eggs, black cows give white milk, after a long period of time black coal turns to clear diamonds!
Even I would be tempted to turn up my nose if I saw a black face cream or black lipstick! But we ring out to everyone, "Black is Beautiful!"
Quote from the top
So before you ring out how beautiful black is, ask yourself,
"Is Black Beautiful?"
Then girls, if black is beautiful, why are we trying to brighten our complexion? Or, if we love our kinky hair why do we get permanents; and why are some boys still wearing processed hair?
Does being black give us any special privilege, other than to say "Black is Beautiful!" and can't everyone see and say that?
We modern Blacks have donned a new robe of beauty that has become more slogan than meaning.
It appears that neither the hoary traditions of the Ivy League nor the relatively new lustre of higher education in California is as capable of resolving crisis as is the common-sense pragmatism of the Midwest.—Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers, Jr.
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