editorial
Apartheid protests
will continue to grow
The 1984-85 school year began with pronouncements
that America had changed. In the words of Newsweek
magazine, “A new conservatism has taken over college cam
puses. ” All around the country, newspapers reported that
the era of student activism was over. The "landslide” re
election of President Ronald Reagan seemed to put the icing
on the cake. According to the Oregon Commentator,
“ liberal activism is all a part of Woodstock history."
Right-wing publications had scarcely finished praising
the "new campus conservatism" when a sudden wave of
student protests began. The demonstrations were centered
on events in South Africa.
Between November and March, more than 300 blacks
were killed by South African police during anti-apartheid
protests. As more violence erupted in South Africa. Nobel
Peace Prize recipient Bishop Desmond Tutu and other pro
minent South African black leaders called on the United
States to cut economic and military ties with the apartheid
government. On March 16, the South African police opened
fire on a crowd of unarmed black protesters in the town of
Uitenhage. Nineteen blacks were killed and dozens more
wounded. It was the 25th anniversary of the famous Sharp
ville massacre, in which 69 unarmed blacks were gunned
down by South African troops, and blacks had gathered in
Uitenhage to commemorate the day. Reagan responded to
the “unfortunate" incident in Uitenhage by saying that the
South African government "had to maintain law and
order.”
For many American university students, Reagan's state
ment on the Uitenhege killings was the final straw. Students
began to stage massive acts of civil disobedience, protesting
apartheid and U.S. cooperation with South Africa. At Cor
nell University, police were called in to break up a student
sit-in at an administration building; 1,200 people were ar
rested. At the University of California at Berkeley, student
protests against Reagan’s policy of constructive engagement
with South Africa led to 400 arrests. The list goes on. In
every region of the country, student opposition to U.S.
economic and military cooperation with the South African
government has led to large demonstrations. Since March,
more than 4,000 students have been arrested at universities
thoughout the nation.
What do these protests mean? Critics have been quick to
label the recent wave of anti-apartheid demonstrations as
nothing more than the "latest college fashion,” and a case of
“spring fever.” The protests are neither. What America is
witnessing in the current wave of demonstrations is the sur
facing of sentiments that have been building in this country
for several years.
Since the 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South
Africa, university students in America have watched events
in that country more closely. The same year that black stu
dent leader Steven Biko died during police interrogation in a
South African prison, the ASUO filed a petition with the
State Board of Higher Education to divest all stocks from
companies doing business in South Africa. Students at other
universities filed similar petitions. In the process, many
students made the jump from passive observers to active par
ticipants in the struggle against apartheid.
For nearly a decade, university students in the United
States followed a path of teach-ins, letter-writing campaigns
and petitions, all geared towards pressuring the U.S.
government to cut economic and military ties with South
Africa. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education,
despite student demands for divestment over the years, “the
overwhelming majority of U.S. colleges and universities
have taken no steps to get rid of their South African
holdings.” Civil disobedience in the name of divestment
was not the first choice by students in the anti-apartheid
movement; it was the last resort. It was only after student
demands for divestment were repeatedly ignored by univer
sity governing boards that students adopted the tactics of
civil disobedience to make their voices heard.
The current wave of anti-apartheid demonstrations is
not an example of “spring feverf” It is an example of a
strong student movement that has been maturing for nearly a
decade. It is a movement that will continue as long as the
U.S. government continues to give economic and military
support to a nation that denies 22 million people the right to
vote just because they were born with black skin. Such a na
tion is South Africa.
Page 2
letters
Divest now!
Divestment is an important
opportunity for Oregon to resist
involvement in the apartheid
system of black oppression.
In South Africa, 4 million
whites enslave 22 million
blacks and "non-whites'" {75
percent of the people), denying,
them basic human and civil
rights including the right to
vote and to own property.
While Reagan's administra
tion refers to the government of
South Africa as our friends,
many states and cities have
refused to participate in this
friendship with the brutal
government of South Africa.
The Governor of Massachusetts.
Michael Dukakis, said. "It has
been our experience that
divestiture makes not only a
strong moral statement against
apartheid but has had no
significant impact on our pen
sion earnings. Careful
divestiture can result in net in
creases in earnings."
' . 'Mi ■ '
The current policy of invest
ment and the “Sullivan Prin
ciples" are intended to ensure
U S. corporations participate in
improving employment condi
tions for blacks. Unfortunately,
this cannot correct the broader
social inequities of apartheid
because U.S. corporations
employ less than 1 percent of
South Africa's workforce. Sad
ly. our financial involvement
directly supports the
surveillance and control of the
black population.
Divesting Oregon's public
’ monies is necessary to end our
support of the racist South
African government. Because
* those who are oppressed in
South Africa have . no legal
means to effect change in their
society, the divestment trend is
a meaningful message,
Divesting is not breaking new
' ground, but acknowledging that
continued participation with
apartheid cannot be justified.
Rebecca Roby
Eugene Free South Africa
Tense situation
It has been several weeks since
our government, with virtually
no international support, im-.
posed sn embargo on the people
of Nicaragua. This bullying act
provokes the already tense
situation caused by the perma
nent presence of 2,000 U.S.
troops in Honduras, a U.S.
naval task force stationed off the
Nicaraguan coast, and CIA
trained contras who terrorize
civilians along Nicaragua's
border.
The Sandinistas overthrew
the dictatorship of Somoza in
1979, after 30 years of papular
struggle. In addition to paying
Somoza's debts and rebuilding
from the destruction of an earth
quake and civil war, programs
were instituted to provide
literacy, health care, and land
for the disenfranchised poor.
This is now threatened by the
economic and covert military
aggression our government is
waging against Nicaragua. The
U.S. has forced the Inter
American Development Bank to
deny Nicaragua critically need-,
ed loans{shades of'Chile). It has
mined Nicaragua'* harbor*.' It
has Haunted international'law
by disregarding the authorityof
' the' World Court. .
Nicaragua hail repeatedly
stated, its readiness to sigh and ,
abide by the Coptradora. Peace
proposal. Our government has
blocked signing of this proposal
and has unilaterally ceased in- °
direct talks with Nicaragua.
I believe that' we have thus far
delayed the direct invasion of
Nicaragua by U.S. military
forces through our self
education, the. education of
neighbors and colleagues, and
vocal opposition to the- In-'
terventionist policies of the
Reagan administration. We
need to redouble these efforts
now. to prevent a tragic ‘slide,
towards open regional war in
Ontrai America
Aguan Wei
Biology
Please return
To the person who mistaken
ly lifted my green backpack off
of Ihe rack at the bookstore
Wednesday at 1:25 p m.
Could you please at least
place my class notes in: a paper
bag and turn them in at the
bookstore?
I figure counting the books,
the pack, and my tape recorder,
your're still getting away with
at least 100 bucks.
I need the notes for my finals!
Thank you.
Stan Talbott
Slightly pissed off
Oregon doily
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