She was in the final stages of a protracted negotiation with Emory regarding a permanent home for her late husband renowned author John O. Killens papers when she learned of the current controversy. She immediately broke off the discussions that could make Woodruff Library the repository for this important work, pending a satisfactory resolution of the matter. The blackface matter remains unresolved. The continued acquiescence of Emory s administration to the racist record of KA, as articulated a few days ago by Newsome, cannot be underestimated. In recent memory, KA has pointed a cannon toward the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., house, draped a huge Confederate battle flag on the front of their house in defiance of being kicked off campus for hazing charges and defended one their members wearing blackface.
Apologies are worthless when dealing in racial treachery.
In a November 1997 panel at Emory featuring Elie Wiesel and Wole Soyinka, Emory s Woodruff Professor of the Arts, Director of African American Studies Rudolph Byrd presided over a conversation between Wiesel and Soyinka that dealt with human rights and contemporary ethics. Soyinka largely dismissed truth and reconciliation in favor of truth and restitution. It is ironic that Emory, after its treatment of the distinguished black leaders of S.U.E. and the University s substantial black community, is now celebrating a so-called Year of Reconciliation. Such rhetoric rings empty when juxtaposed with the recent acts, and the University s cover will soon be blown.