Thursday, October 20, 1933
Pago 4
Daily Ncbraskan
O rl o
n
BTev national koliday
victory aamoS racism
It took some time, but it finally happened.
Despite the last-minute efforts of North Carolina
Sen. Jesse Helms, the U.S. Senate has finally agreed
to acknowledge the birthday of Martin Luther King
Jr. with a national holiday. In doing, so, the Senate
has shown Americans of all races that it is willing to
recognize great achievements by men of all races.
The decision is a victory against racism in itself.
Helms' attempt to delay a vote on the measure,
and then to open sealed FBI files on King, only
makes the Senate's vote a sweeter victory for those
across the nation who have been working toward"
establishment of the King holiday.
From the beginning, there seemed to be little rea
son not to honor King in some way. What could
possibly be so wrong with giving a nation the chance
to reflect on this man's achievements in the same
way it revers George Washington or Abraham Lin
coln? The reason approval of the King holiday took this
long can be traced to actions of men like Helms.
King's birthday symbolizes much to black people.
Not only does the day recognize a fallen leader of our
race, it also recognizes what he stood for non
violence, self-pride, peace and love.
It is understandable why a national holiday
honoring King would mean nothing to Helms, who of
course wasn't among those King spent his life sacri
ficing and fighting for. But why is it necessary to take
a stand against what King stood for?
It would be unfortunate if the FBI tapes Helms
wanted opened so badly did show King had received
aid from the American Communist Party. But
wouldn't it be difficult to believe an early 1960s' FBI
report on a minority leader? It is no secret that J.
Edgar Hoover and even Robert Kennedy sought to
stop the civil rights movement King played such an
important role in. How difficult would it be to con
nect him to any party or movement to help attack
King's image?
It's the same type of mentality that Helms dis
played this week. One that would rather tear down a
man than give him credit for what he symbolizes to '
those of his own race and what he stands for.
The only legitimate complaint about the King hol
iday IVe heard came, oddly enough, from a black
man. The editor of a conservative news magazine in
Washington. He wrote that King may not be the
leader blacks want to commemorate with a national
holiday, because he entered in the middle of an
already growing movement The editor added, where
do you stop? In other words, if blacks are allowed to
let "their" man have a holiday, what's to stop women,
homosexuals, Mexican-Americans and others from
expecting the government to give their heroes similar
recognition?
I and many others believe that Martin Luther
King stood for something more than just his race.
Ward W. Triplett III
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Ugly words reveal ugly sentiments
A friend and I met a man at Bill's Saloon last week.
We talked for awhile. He told us about his 24 years in
the Air Force, how his wife's death after 22 years of
marriage affected him, his athletic prowess in high
school
Christopher
'4 Burbach
We told him of our feelings about the Air Force
and armed forces in general and about our lives as
college students.
I thought we were on common ground as fellow
humans, in spite of our differences in age, back
ground and opinions. I thought our equality
extended beyond our giddiness from overindulging
in Bill's cold brew.
We stayed at the bar until the clock forced our
departure, then he asked us for a ride. We talked
more as we walked to my car, sharing beer-inspired
guffaws and trading advice.
The air of camaraderie amidst us was snapped,
however, by the outcome of this conversation. The
man asked me what nationality I was.
"German, Swiss, Irish and I dont know what else,"
I replied.
"Oh, well, I'm a half breed."
"Yeah?"
"Yup, I'm half Negro and half nigger." - "
I laughed, but didn't mean it
It became important for the first time that even
ing that his skin was black and mine was white. The
word "nigger" reconstructed walls of prejudice and
misunderstanding which we had, or so I thought,
destroyed.
I began to wonder if he thought of me as "whitey"
or if I thought of him as "darkie."
We didn't discuss such matters, though; I didn't
ask why he used the word nigger or what he meant
by it, I just emitted a nervous titter and we talked
about something else. That was a mistake.
Nigser, kike, chink, spic, wetback, honky and even
frat rat are ugly words which reveal uly sentiments.
- Such slurs demean those who use them and patch
walls which reason should have hid to ruin long ago.
Yet ignoring them will not causa their disappear
ance; we must face them.
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