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Show j Millipan and Poore Is L. Ficks a contradiction? By Ross P. Poore I and George Milligan "The Naivete of the article written by Jay Savage on April 7" ranks in a position to compare I with the letter written by L. Ficks j on April 9. They both overwhelm us! Mr. Savage's position is under no circumstances defensible. Since when has the advocation of ignorance added to the growth and development of society? ! As for Mr. Ficks, he uses terms much too general for the type of That is not to mention the further related fields of political science, anthropology, biology, law, medicine, psychology, etc., as you can see the list is endless. There should also be added to this the area in which Mr. Ficks has assumed expertise, that of contemporary readings. Class The class being taught on campus today is "The History of the Negro in America," history 192b. Obviously it is a history class intended to teach a specific epoch of that discipline to its students. No knowledgeable individual can disagree that the Negro is one of the most oppressed people in the world today. We must agree something has to be done, and very rapidly, but we do not believe that Mr. Ficks has given us the answer to what we have been searching for, thus we will continue to search. L. Ficks teaches two Free U classes dealing with the Negro and to our memories, he is white. What a contradiction letter he has written, that is, a letter attacking historical method. First, Mr. Ficks makes a quantification by using the word whole with regard to the existence of this nation's progress. Whole is a very strong and all inclusive term which precludes that there were no other people involved in the development of this nation. Popular view 1 That may be a popular, contemporary view," but most historians would consider it assinine. He later states, "but this is not the type of course that blacks would be getting from blacks." Is this to mean that he would advocate the" teaching of popular notions without regard to historical fact in so far as it is available? This is not the technique of a scholar to disregard historical methodology simply because it is popular to do so! He further states that there is d history course being taught "by a white man to 99 per cent white students." ... . , . , ' First, he admits that it is a history class and therefore it had to be taught by a white man because the history department seems to lack a. capable black instructor. Second, if it is even felevant, he states there is one per cent non-white students in the class, an adequate average for a . University with less than one per cent non-white enrollment. Pride Necessary We would agree with Mr. Ficks that it is absolutely necessary that the Negro build pride and break the negative image of himself, but we would disagree that this image has been entirely imposed by white society. Historical facts seem to indicate ! that the Negro did little of . consequence to aid himself in the ' antebellum period of the United States, while the Negro slaves in Latin America instituted their own rebellious of liberation. 1 Mr. Ficks is talking about entirely different disciplines when , he speaks of "black studies," a veiy general term and "negro mstory," a specific study within f black studies." The field of black studies is all encompassing, a field which a few, Ji any, are capable of gaining A complete expertise. He mentions a 1Z- f,lmple areas in "black uies : literature, novels, plays, I Petry, musiCi fok traditi I essence of the soul," rhythmn of dances. These would in the ""dus of English Literature, 'Ohc,olgy, music, history, L''sPhy and dance fespectively. |
