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