Robinson recalls past, revels in present, marvels at Obama
By TUCKER LYON, T&D Government Writer Monday, March 03, 20086 comment(s) | Default | Large
Regardless of the reasons why, the unparalleled success of Barak Obama's presidential campaign has focused a new light on changing race relations in America. And, South Carolina State University, as well as other historically black colleges and universities, should be helping set the parameters for an investigation into those changes.
"Look how far we have come. Look how far we have to go," said Orangeburg native Eugene Robinson, an associate editor and columnist for "The Washington Post." Robinson was the keynote speaker Sunday afternoon for the 112th annual Founders' Day ceremony, held in the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center on the SCSU campus.
Introduced by former Felton Laboratory classmate Belinda Davis-Branch, as a hometown boy who made good, Robinson said that Founders' Day is an "occasion to celebrate and to challenge this great institution." And, he said, "that's what I hope to do this afternoon.
Recalling the 1968 event known as the Orangeburg Massacre, Robinson described waking up at his home on Boulevard to the sight of police cars, doors open, officers crouched at the ready. They were looking, he said, for Cleveland Sellers, the "outside agitator" blamed for stirring student unrest and protests over a local segregated bowling alley. Sellers, of Bamberg County, wasn't in the house, Robinson said, "but we know what happened," later. On Feb. 8, state troopers shot and killed three young men (two SCSU students and one a high school student) and wounded several others. Sellers, who was later pardoned, was the only person jailed in connection with the shooting. Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center is named for the three students killed.
"Today, Bakari (Sellers' son) is an elected legislator; and, just weeks ago, in this very building, I heard Bakari Sellers introduce a man who might - I didn't say will - I said might become the first black president of the United States," said Robinson. "I can't believe I just said that!"
No matter how the statistics are computed, the sometime MSNBC political analyst said, "I have trouble admitting what the math says is true...(Obama) is not an illusion; he is real. And, today, March 2, he is the front runner to become president of the United States. That's something I never thought I'd see in my life."
One reason for the success of the Obama campaign, Robinson acknowledged, is a political organization that has made the efforts of his Democratic rival, Hilliary Clinton, "look kind of old and slow." Obama's high tech campaign stresses networking over hierarchy; and, the focus is, not on the past, but on how to achieve excellence tomorrow.
"But, even more relevant, it's an inescapable fact that this nation has changed," he said. "I'm not naive. I don't believe racism has gone...I wondered if white America in states like Iowa and Maine actually would vote for Obama. When it came time to vote or stand up in the caucuses, they did. They really did...White Iowans stood up for this black guy with the funny name from Chicago."
Could it be a generational difference, Robinson asked, or "is there something about Obama that makes him acceptable to white America? Is it the fact he's biracial or his father was an immigrant?" It's only when you remember where you came from, he said, do you know how far you still have to go.
One of the first students to integrate Orangeburg High School, Robinson described the Orangeburg of the 1960s, where bathrooms, water fountains and "an infamous bowling alley," were all segregated.
Arguing that race has not become irrelevant, Robinson said the fact is still inescapable that racism is not the same as it was 40 years ago. Likewise, he reported the economic picture for blacks has brightened, with an $800 billion purchasing power that would make African-Americans the 13th wealthiest nation on earth.
Urging the SCSU to examine the issues of race, Robinson concluded, "Let this Founders' Day mark the (university's) rededication to that all important task."
Following Robinson's remarks, S.C. State University also announced distinguished alumni and 10, 20 and 30-year faculty and staff service award recipients, as well as 2008 inductees to the Quarter Century Club and Thomas E. Miller Society.
Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to the Class of 1957 - with Thurman Shuler receiving the award - Dr. Jonas T. Kennedy, '37 and Gracia Watermann Dawson, '37.
The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Eddie Andrews Bellinger, '47.
The Outstanding Accomplishments and Achievements Award will be presented to Dr. Harold Powell, '61 for Education and Eugene H. Robinson for Journalism.
The Quarter Century Club recognizes S.C. State employees who have dedicated 25 years of service to the institution. The 2008 inductees include: Dr. Hasanul A. Basher, Mrs. Rajas S. Londhe, Mr. Douglas Thomas, Dr. Tom C. Whitney, and Dr. Gwendolyn D. Wilson.
The 2008 inductee into the Thomas E. Miller Society will be Dr. Harold Powell, '61. Individual members of the society - named for S.C. State's first president - have contributed $100,000 or more in cumulative giving to S.C. State through the S.C. State University Foundation.
S.C. State's Professor of the Year Awards will be presented to Dr. William H. Whitaker Jr. College of Business and Applied Professional Sciences; Dr. Bessie M. Powell, College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences; and Dr. Rahina Mahtab, College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technology. The University-wide Professor of the Year Award recipient will be announced at the convocation.
Staff Employee of the Year Awards will be presented to employees from the University's six administrative divisions, including Patricia McDonald, Academic Affairs; Dennis Larrymore, Finance, Facilities and Management Information Systems; Iva Gardner, Institutional Advancement; Cynthia Geter, Office of the President; Boyd W. Owens, Research and Economic Development; and Sandra Davis, Student Affairs. The University-wide Staff Employee of the Year Award recipient will be announced at the convocation.
n T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 803-533-5545.
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fhsmct wrote on Mar 8, 2008 3:30 PM:
there are some errors in fact there:
a.
Alice Smith Zimmerman and that small group were, in fact, the folks who integrated Orangeburg High in the early 1960s.
Eugene may not have been in that initial, small group but he was, in fact, one of the first to attend OHS.
b.
If memory serves me well, "Genie Boy" Robinson graduated from OHS several years before there was an O-W.
If I'm not mistaken, he graduated from Orangeburg High in either '68 or '69 and graduated from Michigan in '71.
c.
If the lovely Mrs/ATTY Belinda (my fellow Williams Chapel member) was his classmate, then his class was definitely ahead of the class of '71. He'd have also been classmates with Dr Jennifer Harper, ATTY Barbara Seymore, Marilyn Epps (RIP), Brenda Williams, et al, all of whose graduation pre-dates the creation of O-W in the summer/fall of 1971.
The years "Genie Boy" attended OHS, Black students were extremely few and far between and the ones that there were were not well received!
Rudolph "Rudy" Adams (RIP) was, in fact, a member of the first class to graduate from O-W it's initial year.
Rudy died in a vehicle accident on I-26 shortly before graduation. I, verifiably, was one of the last people to see him alive in Orangeburg that fateful night. He stopped by our home, to sell us a O-W seat cushion as part of an AFROTC fund raising effort, before heading to Columbia (a cushion I still own/possess).
"
smilez29018 wrote on Mar 7, 2008 2:00 PM:
It’s obvious that Clinton does not have more experience than Obama. The media and the Obama camp need to call her out on that. She keeps lifting some of Bill's years in elected office as part of her "over 35 years of experience" (much worse than Obama "xeroxing" a few lines in a speech). Obama needs to ask her how many years does she have as an elected, appointed, or similar capacity as a public servant. Remember, Obama has served as a publicly elected official within the city council, state senate, and U.S. Senate, thereby eclipsing her "years of service" (she has NEVER been elected to any position other than NY Senator).
I believe Mr. Obama has the heart of a warrior and the mind of a statesman. He has faced enough adversity to develop a keen sensitivity about how people should be cared for and about. We can continue to debate the “gender” and “race” and “Blackness” question forever and it still won’t be resolved or we can do it the right way and evaluate each person by the color of their blood rather than their gender or color of their skin.
Peace & blessings…
"
SCMOM2008 wrote on Mar 6, 2008 10:59 AM:
And if Hilary Clinton were a man and all of her policies were the same would you vote for her?
If she was a black man?
If she were a white man?
Hmmmm.......
"
MINIMOUSE wrote on Mar 3, 2008 8:55 PM:
IF OBAMA WAS WHITE AND ALL OF HIS "POLICIES" WERE THE SAME WOULD YOU VOTE FOR HIM?
IF MC CAIN WAS BLACK AND ALL OF HIS "POLICIES" WERE THE SAME WOULD YOU VOTE FOR HIM? "
scsu76 wrote on Mar 3, 2008 11:45 AM:
"One of the first students to integrate Orangeburg High School, Robinson described the"
I attended Orangeburg High School from 1968 until 1972, having been born in 1954. I was in the first graduating class of O-W, when both Orangeburg High and Wilkinson High were combined. I use the word "combined" because intergration of Orangeburg High had already occurred before I attended. In fact there were many Afro-Americans at Orangeburg High when I attended. One of the most visable was Rudolph Adams, that died our senior year in a car wreck. The current head coach of the SCSU football team graduated in 1971, or whoi can forget the imposing player of Bethea.
So to place Mr. Robinson at the forefront of intergrating Orangeburg High is not correct. "
palmettohawk wrote on Mar 3, 2008 9:56 AM: