pennState CAPITAL TIMES Vol. 25, No. 8 Racism an Blacks helped liberate Jews V ictoria Phillips Capital Times Staff Educator and lecturer Leon Bass presented an Afro-American perspective on the Holocaust to an attentive crowd of about SO people in the Gallery Lounge on Feb. 13. Dressed informally in a red checkered sweater and sometimes raising and lowering his voice in the dynamic accents of a preacher, Bass described his experiences as a soldier in World War 11, and his work in the Civil Rights movement. Bass fought in an all-black battalion during the war. The battalion helped liberate Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution from the Buchenwald concentration camp. Few people realize that blacks played a role in liberating concentration camp victims, he said. Entering the camp, Bass said he received the shock of his life. The hatred and brutality of one group of people for another angered him, and he, a black man who had experienced racism himself, realized that human suffering can touch everyone. Since 1972, Bass has traveled, speaking on racism and the Holocaust. He said it is important that people know the evil and ugliness of World War 11. People must learn why it happened to prevent it from happening again, he said. Racism and other forms of discrimination-ageism, sexism and anti semitism-still exist, he said. the Hofoci Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg "We have to work continually to change hearts and minds of people," he said. "You have to look in the mirror and ask 'where do I stand on a particular issue'?" But standing up for equality may bring a price, costing a person a promotion or a good grade, he said. Bass said he first became aware of racism when he was 10 years old. He went to a movie theater and was told that as a black he would have to sit in the balcony. Bass's education in racism continued in the Army when he volunteered to fight in World War II and learned that military units were segregated. When the war ended, Bass attended Westchester State College in Pennsylvania, majoring in education. Though he had fought for his country, he still couldn't be served in a drugstore, couldn't live in the white dorms, and still was asked to sit in the balcony at the movies. But now, Bass said, he took a stand. At the movies one day, he insisted on sitting on the first floor. Bass said he doesn't remember a thing about the movie. But as he walked home he felt 10 feet tall. He described how blacks in other places were taking stands in those days. Rosa Parks sat in the front of a Montgomery, Ala. bus and refused to give up her seat and the Civil Rights movement was bom. See Holocaust on 12 Nations view War differently Jon Fleck Capital Times Staff As part of a Persian Gulf Crisis panel discussion, Simon Bronner, associate professor of American studies, told a half-filled auditorium that the American public supports U.S. troops so strongly in the Gulf now partly because of a sense of guilt for not supporting the Vietnam troops. "In general, 80 percent of the population support the war," Bronner said. "But more blacks than whites and women than men oppose the war." He said that the support was for the U.S. troops or defeating Saddam Hussein but not for President Bush. "The American public is more unified and motivated but also more confused," Bronner said. He said that throughout the 1980 s anti-Arab sentiments grew as atttention shifted away from the "red scare" towards terrorism, which is associated with the Arab nations. Robert Simko, associate professor of geography, discussed the effects past Six students already PSH students face call-up John Rudy Capital Times Staff Six Penn State Harrisburg students are serving or are about to serve in the Persian Gulf and other military reserve students may be ordered to report to active duty. The six ordered to report are: - Tammy L. Fullmer, 23, criminal justice, of Myerstown, - Kevin J. McTish, 22, professional accountancy, of Birdsboro, - Frank B. Renzo, 24, finance, of Harrisburg, - Justine D. Shott, 32, humanities, of Harrisburg, - Leo F. Young, 24, electrical engineering technology, of Gordon, - Todd L. Snyder, 26, information systems, of New Cumberland. Snyder graduated last fall. Penn State University offers special withdrawal procedures and a libralized tuition refund policy for students called to active service in mid-semester. 500 to 700 Penn State students are members of military reserve units, said Robert Dunham, vice president and provost at University Park. An accurate estimate of reservists in Penn State February 15, 1991 dealings with Western nations have had on the Arab nations. "In the average Arab's mind, the West has more than once double-crossed them," Simko said. He said the Arabs remember all the way back to World War I when Britain and France made a secret agreement to "carve up” the Ottoman Empire after the war. Plus the Cold War had implications in the Middle East with the U.S. arming Israel and the Soviet Union arming nations like Syria. "It was like drawing a line right in the sand," Simko said. Simko also said the Arabs see a double standard in dealings with the U.S. "The U.S. tends to pay attention only to oil-rich countries," he said. The United Nations has been trying to push Israel from occupied territories like the West Bank for 24 years while Iraq had only six months to vacate Kuwait, Simko said. Turning the discussion towards a common U.S.-Iraq adversary, Mehdi See panel on 9 servin' Photo by John Rudy Gregg Norris, a Penn State Harrisburg management student, is one reservist facing a possible call-up to active service. Harrisburg's student body is not available, as this information is not See Call-up on 9
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers