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Show The Thunderbird Activist calls for black and civil rights by Lisa Laird The door is open for the black movement, contends James Meredith, an emminent civil rights activist who spoke before Convocation students as part of Black History Week. "The time is now for the black race to take its place in the arena, said Meredith after he had explained a quote he had once clipped from an Air Force newspaper. Meredith kept the quote on his nameplate as a send thousands of federal troops to stop the rioting over Merediths controversial enrollment. He was escorted everywhere by federal marshals for the remainder of his four years. Meredith does not take the experience personal. I was not the target. The guns were shot at the marshals, not me. He sees the later situation with the troops as more an issue of state rights rather than racism. The white man no longer wants to enslave the black man, Meredith said. However, he believes the white man also feels no obligation to lift up the black man. To make the black people a viable free people, Meredith insists that his people educate themselves and help one another. Now a proponent of Black Reunification, a and expanded racial program of black identity, Meredith believes it is time for the blacks realize their own potentials as a people. Blacks lack a knowledge of their own history a history of over 7,000 years of a superior people. They were a people u'ho had a highly developed social system, said Meredith. He contends blacks should be aware that their forebearers were not weak and docile, but a highly advanced society with an extended family support system. Slavery has exsisted for thousands of years. It did not become identified with the black man until the nineteenth century. Until that time, slavery affected any people regardless of its race because it was a cheap means of labor, Meredith Monday Feferuaiy 25, 1985 mr epee reminder. The quote said, It is not the critic who points out the failures who counts, but it is the man in the arena who tries that counts. It was early in his career in the Air Force that Meredith realized the power of mass action. Witnessing the protests of the Japanese toward a proposed visit by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Meredith saw their efforts prevent the presidential visit. It was then that I saw mass action as a tool for recalls Meredith. power change, Meredith used the lesson from the Japanese experience in his later protests for civil and black rights in the 1960s. When Meredith was discharged from the Air Force, he began his college career at the University of Mississippi in 1962. However, as the first black to attend school there, hostilities were directed toward him. The situation drew international attention, when President John F. Kennedy was forced to MONDAY NITE SPECIAL! 12 PIZZA 9 INGREDIENTS FOR ONLY ALL-ABOAR- D CHINA GARDEN Since 1965 Coffee Shop -F- & Dining Room EATURING-THE BEST CHINESE AND AMERICAN FOOD IN SOUTHERN UTAH Today, Meredith feels the greatest challenge his people face is the responsibility of freedom. As blacks realize their history and potential, Meredith believes they will be able to find their place. Meredith said that blacks can achieve his goals even with the apathy of the white man. My response for the black race is look after your own interests. Dont worry about attitudes that dont make any difference, Meredith advises his people when faced with even subtle racism such as group stereotypes of the individual. If youre not comfortable, dont do anything. He contends that it is not worth the frustration his people feel toward group perceptions of the individual to change those views. Meredith has several goals he would like to see his people achieve for themselves. He would like to see every American black family owning its own home, land and car. He wants the black man to realize his history and to become educated and Meredith said black identity can only be achieved through education. Without it, he said, my people can never truly be free. LUNCH MENU DIFFERENT LUNCEON SPECIAL DAILY FROM 1 1 :00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. EDITOR and ADVERTISING MANAGER for The Thunderbird R $9. 75 - said. The Publications Council is now accepting applications for the positions of ONE-YEA- peieepy 166 NORTH MAIN STREET 586-720- 0 CALL TONIGHT! e James M ededith, civil rights activist, says he sees mass action as a tool for power change. Paqe 9 APPOINTMENTS BEGIN SPRING QUARTER Ptck up applications from Barbara Morgan, 3rd Floor Administration Building DEADLINE FOR RETURN OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS: 5 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1985. SEAFOODSTEAKS 170 N. MAIN FAMILY UINIINIU 9:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M. SUNDAY THRU THURSDAY 9:00 A.M. - MIDNITE FRIDAY SATURDAY ORDERS TO GO PHONE & 586-604- 2 FREE PARKING ON NORTH SIDE AND REAR So k houldn t surprise you that more ard more young people are gome to college by wy of the Arms They re getting 'he benefits of Army skill training The to lic -- nd v.fk v.;:h d.ffcrtrst kinds of people And the chance opportunity to travel If vou qualify, the Army College Fund tan mean as much as $15,200 for college for serving two years or $20,100 forscrving just three years You may be eligible for $20,100 for a r enlistment with an Associate of Arts Degree or maximum benefits of $26,400 for a four-yea- r enlistment, if sou qualify See sour Arms Recruiter and ask for the Army College fund bookler It II tell sou how to In more wavs go to college a much wealthier person ARMY. BEALLYOUCANBE. lls, |