On Racial Equality Again
Mary King, class of 1963, worked alongside the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the U.S. civil rights movement when she was a young student, and was a member of the staff of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Reverend Martin Luther King frequently spoke in the U.S. against the South African government in the 1960s, urging Americans to end trade and investments in that country. Following political activity by South Africa's blacks in 1985, the government declared a state of emergency.
The resurgence of campus activism regarding racism existing elsewhere in the world came in response to David Warren's, the 13th president, involvement in the issue. In his inauguration Warren stated: "If there is one phrase which I believe best characterizes our Wesleyan education, it is: 'Here I stand.' Within these three words of Martin Luther -- 'Here I stand' -- is compressed the whole of our historical endeavor..."
In the 1980s the most organized campus movement was against investments in companies doing business in South Africa. By February 1987, student political action had brought Ohio Wesleyan to pledge to fully divest any holdings connected to South Africa. The OWU Committee on Divestment was organized in 1988 and funded many activities related to its cause. It sponsored an Anti-Apartheid Week, candlelight vigils, and protest marches. One event which drew a lot of media attention was the 1988 demonstration before the Board of Trustees. Students carried a black and white paper chain as they climbed up the student union ballroom. As their leader announced "Divest!", students broke the symbolic paper chain.
Read more about this topic: Activism At Ohio Wesleyan University
Famous quotes containing the words racial and/or equality:
“I don’t think Dr. King helped racial harmony, I think he helped racial justice. What I profess to do is help the oppressed and if I cause a load of discomfort in the white community and the black community, that in my opinion means I’m being effective, because I’m not trying to make them comfortable. The job of an activist is to make people tense and cause social change.”
—Al, Reverend Sharpton (b. 1954)
“Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition and that of rights. Equality of condition is incompatible with civilization, and is found only to exist in those communities that are but slightly removed from the savage state. In practice, it can only mean a common misery.”
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)