Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Coral Gables Times
Thursday, November 8, 1962, page 11 (of 24)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Negroes Call Integration Liberal But Painful
By ELEANOR KRUGLINSKI Hurricane Staff Writer Gloria Collier felt the chill of ice on her back. At the same moment the ice was hurled at her, she heard the words "Nigger go home." This happened as she walked past a fraternity table in the Student Union on this campus. More than one year after the first American Negro entered UM, this minority group still has some problems. Interviews with nine Negro students revealed that they were satisfied with UM. They said this with reservation because of some individual incidents that have occurred. "We get along just fine," said Gloria Collier. "Everybody ignores us and we ignore them. But you still don't get accustomed to indifference," said the 19-year-old sophomore from Miami. "Those who want to be friendly are afraid because it might jeopardize their standing," said Celia Miller, 17-year-old freshman from Jacksonville. * * * THE THREE NEGRO girls living in 720 dorm voiced the strongest complaint concerning their reception on campus. Betty Davis, 18-year-old upper freshman from Jacksonville, said that these girls "are segregated in one corner of the dorm. When I asked to have my room changed, I was told that we were placed where it was thought we'd be best suited." She also states that it is no coincidence that Gloria Collier's roommate has not yet arrived. Miss Davis said that she went through the same experience last semester until a white girl specifically asked to be placed in her room. Miss Collier continued, "We are stared at a lot. But I suppose there's some psycho-logical factor involved there." Staring is probably the most common experience the colored students have encountered. However, they brush it off as an expected, but not especially bothersome, problem. Their biggest problem seems to be the refusal of white students to accept the idea of Negro-white friendships, especially between members of the opposite sex. WILLIAM GENERETTE Two Incidents "ONE WHITE GIRL whom I have been seeing quite a lot told me that she was seeing me too much and that the white boys were boycotting her," said 21-year-old William Generette. Generette, a junior from Miami, said that another time he was eating lunch with a white girl in the Union as a student walked past them, stopped and spat at their table. Generette quickly states, however, that these have been the only two incidents in which he has been involved. "Actually, I have been more graciously accepted here than I was my freshman year at Morehouse (a predominantly Negro boys' college in Atlanta). When I first came here I would have been content merely to have been tolerated. But many classmates have gone out of their way to be friendly," he said. * * * THE TWO OTHER boys interviewed mirrored this feeling. "I get along fine with the guys at McKenna House. I've had no problems at all," commented 21-year-old Arthur Walker, a freshman from Pompano. Arnold Presha, 18-year-old sophomore from Pensacola, felt that he had no problems at UM. "I've been asked to join some social and military fraternities and have been offered a position in Undergraduate Student Government. I'm beginning to feel that I'm part of this campus," he said. Naomi Johnson, a foreign student from Nassau, finds the intellectual and social atmosphere here quite different from that to which she is accustomed in the British West Indies. "On campuses there you want to go after learning. On this blazing, gorgeous campus, where learning could become an adventure, there is little intellectualism," she said. As far as social problems are concerned, the 19-year-old sophomore said that she has "not had any kind of a hard time on campus." Miss Johnson mentioned one trying situation off campus when she tried to enter a nearby theater. She was refused admittance until she showed her passport to the cashier to prove that she was a foreign student. She was then admitted with apologies. * * * THE INTEGRATION problem off campus is deeply felt by the Negro students because they run into it the minute they step off UM grounds. Those who are from the Miami area are encouraged by the way Miami has moved into the integration problem. "I like the way integration is carried out in Miami. So far this city is holding its own," said Gloria Collier. Generette feels that Miami is much more liberal than other Southern cities because it is the gateway to South America. "There is an influx of people here from other lands. The sizable Cuban population is accepted and makes the lot of the Negro easier," Generette said. Most colored students are optimistic about their future in the South. Only one feels that it would be unbearable to work in the South after college graduation. The others, especially those from Miami, said that they are willing to try to work in this area or any part of the South. * * * "I WILL PROBABLY spend my first few years, at least, as a teacher in Florida," said Roslyn Martin, a 20-year-old junior transfer student from Hampton Institute of Virginia. "I'd like to stay here and give it a try," she said. Walker, a pre-med student, is willing to work anywhere. "I'll go where the job is. I feel that I can adapt myself to any situation," he said. Gloria Collier, who plans to become a psychiatrist, wants to go as far away from the South as she can "because it is the South, and because of things like those that happened in Mississippi." "I don't want to run away from the South's problems. I want to stay and fight," said Betty Davis. She plans to practice law in the South. But for the present, Negro students still have to contend with the difficult process of acceptance. To help Negro students on campus Generette suggested that University officials "exercise their influence to make places around the community change their racial discrimination policies. The administration should state that it doesn't think discrimination is in the best interests of UM. "Unless the administration takes a firm stand, its silence condones the movement against the Negro. A positive step is necessary." He continued, "It's been 100 years since emancipation, yet look how slowly we've moved. My parents and grandparents always hoped for their children to have more freedom than they had. I can't wait for my grandchildren to have it. I want mine now." Reprinted From UM Hurricane
"I Have Met A Few Walkers"
By GIDEON MUTISO FIRST AFRICAN STUDENT Miami was supposed to be completely "internationalized" with no racial problems for me before I came. However, I think there are three distinct bodies in the Student body: The Gen. Walkers, the unconcerned, and those concerned about the Negro students. I have met a few Walkers. The best example was one who spread a newspaper showing Meredith in front of me on my way to the Richter Library. The second group just looks around. They do not say anything, and I think they are entitled to their opinions. Most students are really concerned and at times you hear them apologize for the racial problem of not only the University but of America as a nation. We could do with more of these.
What This Page Is All About
This report on integration at the University of Miami is reprinted from the student newspaper, The Hurricane. It is the most complete report done on that subject. In a followup to these stories, The Hurricane interviewed the UM Administration about the suggestion of one Negro that the Administration use is influence to aid off-campus integration. President Henry King Stanford said in answer: "When the University finds a student qualified for admission to its classrooms, I should like to think that he would be welcome in all facilities of the community. Admission of any student says in effect that the University places confidence in the character and intelligence of the student. I hope that the community will accept our evaluation (until or unless he proves us wrong)"