Page 3 January 1984MOVEMENTBy DERECK CARMICHAELContributing WriterThe Civil Rights Move-ment has been a movementof direct action which overthe years has made greatstrides in achieving equalrights for Black Americans.One of the earliest- achievements of the move-ment was in the case ofBrown vs. Board of Educa-tion which was passed in1954. This ruling was an at-tempt to give Blacks equaleducational opportunitiesand declared segregation of~fromand by 1955 the SupremeCourt ordered schooldesegregation be carried out .with all deliberate speed. Itis said that the civil rightsmovement became ac-tivated following an inci- -dent involving a seamstressMontgomery,Alabama named RosaParks. Rosa Parks was onher way home after workand she caught the bus toget there. During this time,Blacks were only allowed tosit in the back of buses butwith no available seats inthe back, she sat in a vacantof the stops a white man got "on thet bus and demandedRosaTs seat. She refused tomove from her seat and wassubsequently arrested. TheParks incident led to a busboycott in Montgomerywhich eventually resulted inthe end of segregation inbusing. This was only thebeginning in a long strugglefor equal rights.directly involved in themovement recall their wayof life during this time.Doris, is a woman who wasa teenager during the earlyfair it. was,Even to- |day those who were in-REFLECTIONS: THE CIVIL RIGHTSvadays quite well. ~~Iremember having to eatoutside restaurants and sit-ting at the back of buses.Whenever I think how un-I still getangry.T DorisTs feelings arethe general reaction ofthose who lived through -those turbulent -times.The most prominent per-son involved in the CivilRights Movement was Dr. -Martin Luther King who ledthe bus boycott in Mon-_tgomery in 1955. Through |the boycott Blacks saw that._ civil rights could be won bynent leaderswere RoyWilkens, head of theNAACP and WitneyYoung, Jr., head of the Ur-ban League. Other lawswere eventually passed in~Order to end segregation~and discrimination.Several laws and billswere passed to help Blacksobtain equality. These lawsand bills helped in our fight_ for equality and as we wentinto the 70Ts, improvementswere shown, Today, thestruggle still continues but -as we reflect back, we seehow our past struggles have~schools unconstitutionalseat near the front. At onesixties remembered theseOPINIONS CHANGE:JACKSON AID IN REALEASE OFGOODMAN | aeBy RUBIN INGRAMFeatures EditorPublic opinions are often changedin an instance, either through eventsor by the actions of a particuar per-son. For example, when political ac-tivist Reverend Jessie Jacksonshocked american citizens with hisnomination for the 1984 Democraticpresidential election, public opinionwas that Jackson is a political ac-tivist and not a good candidate forpresident.Many opinionsJacksonTspresidency was absurd and wouldend in failure. A side opinion againis that a black could never make it inthe presidency, but Jackson hasmade the first step in proving thatthe public opinion can be wrong.Jackson is on a roll and un-doubtedly public opinions havechanged about his capacity to serveas president, his ability to act-in thehighly symbolic administrative posi-tion of vice president. Americancitizens had not yet recovered from_JacksonTs presidential nominationheld thatwhen he was off to Damascus, Syriaon what was termed a~o~humanitarian missionTT to seek therelease of captured United StatesLieutenant Robert Goodman, Navy-bombardier-navigator, who wasshot down on December 4 while ona reconnaissance flight over Syrian- -held territory in Lebanon.Jackson and other religiousleaders met with Syrian ForeignMinister Abdel Halim Khaddamafter the apparent postponement ofa session with Syrian PresidentHafez Assad for the release ofGoodman. :There are two possible advantagesthat can be derived from theJackson-Goodman-Syrian con-troversy: it shows Jackson?s abilityto act on serious diplomatic issues,thereby changing previous publicnomination for theopinions about Jackson, whileshowing Syrian willingness for bet-ter relations with Washington. |Undoubtedly, JacksonTs 1979visit to Syria proved instrumental in_ the release of Goodman. Jacksonhad no authority and did not makeany deals for GoodmanTs release, .but Syrian trust in Jackson provedsufficient enough. Syrian release of- Goodman to Jackson may havebeen fashioned to embarass theReagan Administration as theSyrians. probably did not want toturn him over to American represen-tatives that ordered the recon-naissance missions which are theheart of the confrontation. TheSyrians fears may be in the fact thatthe freeing of Goodman might be anencouragement for the U.S. to con-tinue reconnaissance flights overSyrian held territory.JacksonTs intervention was, infact, an upstage of the Reagan ad-ministration necessary to break thepolitical military deadlock of the "U.S. and Syria. It is the opinion ofomany that the Reagan administra-tion was aware that an neutral partywas necessary to break U.S. andSyrian tension; Jackson was the go-between that proved most useful forthis purpose.JacksonTs humanitarian moveshowed his pervasive power, andplaced him in the mainstream of theDemocratic presidential race as wellas making him, in public opinion, agood candidate for vice presidencyalso. Jackson represents direct andvigorous action in support of whatis right. The Syrian incident furtherproves tht Jackson can go whereReagan fail to go or could in view offoreign policies. JacksonTs trip toSyria was a statement of true leader-ship that proved him an able politi-~cian. In view of past mass- demonstrations for civil rightsagainst dicrimination, Jackson ifplaced in the white nouse will not gounheard.In the area of foreign relations~Jackson has shown only part of hisability to act in defense of the U.S.,- as well as for what is right. TheSyrian mission shows that Jacksonhas power to make available areasthat have been out of reach by theReagan administration for obviousreasons.The second adventige that theGoodman-Syrian controversy hasmade apparent is the possible peacedirect action. Other promi-in progress.paid off~TAKEN FROM DAILY REFLECTORoffering. SyriaTs decision to releaseGoodman may be a signal thatDamascus wants better relations.with Washington. The Goodman-Syrian situation ~has helped toescalate JacksonTs credability andjustifies emphasis on the confronta-tion between the U.S. and Syria. "- JacksonTs ~appeal to Assad willhave a great impact on the americanpublic, and will make negotiations~with Syria more evitable in thefuture.