Word: blackly
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...amok during elections, although the Republican label and the last name 'Baker' carry plenty of support. The schoolchildren, mostly sons and daughters of coal miners and farmers, attend lily white public schools and eat free lunches. Bussing has never mattered because Scott County has not had a single black resident for at least the last seven years. On Saturday afternoons the pick-up trucks drive into town with rifles and shotguns in the gun racks. And on Sunday, families attend church in this predominantly Presbyterian community. No one seems to hate anybody else...
...Motlana is one of the unofficial leaders of South Africa's urban blacks. He is chairman of the Soweto Committee of Ten, a grassroots black organization designed to better the political and social life of the urban black. The South African government has twice banned Dr. Motlana. His eldest son fled the country after the 1976 Soweto Riots. Despite recent efforts on the part of the government, Motlana refuses to partake in any government sponsored activities...
When we first contacted Dr. Motlana, he invited us to his home in Soweto. What we didn't know at the time was that whites must obtain a special visitors permit from the government to enter the black township of Soweto. To avoid the troublesome process of getting a pass, we suggested that we meet for dinner Johannesburg and asked Dr. Motlana to choose a restaurant. He politely declined...
What we didn't realize was that there was no choice. The only restaurants in which South African blacks and whites can mingle are those few restaurants designated as "international" by the government. "International" status is given almost exclusively to the few five star hotels in order to accomodate black diplomats...
Despite these objections, Just Above My Head is a very moving work, carried along by the intensity of the author's own feelings. His painful discovery of his need for human contact, family, and identity makes inspiring, if not pleasant, reading. And though his protagonists are black, his message applies to whites as well: the more drastically our lives change, the more we all need each other's love, he seems to be saying. Even Time could agree with that...