Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-04

names and addresses. All
letters are subject to conden-
Sdtton.
adolescent psychology may
have given this witness some
insight into the motivation of
these stud e n IS hoStilities.
Even infants have an innate
capacity to sense when they
are rejected by parents and
individuals. Certainly these
new arrivals felt the impact
of this anomalous welcome"
A child who feels rejected may
develop anxiety, resistance to
discipline, reactive aggression
and other neurotic forms of
behavior that express his hos
tilities. He may cover up his
need of wanting to belong" by
an air of bravado and attack.
Preventive psychia try is
rapidly becoming an urgent
national mental health neces-
sity as the staggering incidence
of mental illness and emotional
reimbursement are being rec
ognized. The adolescent phase
of development represents a
juncture crucial for later men
tai health. Due to this factor,
it properly becomes a major
public health challenge and
responsibility to the home,
school, church, as well as to all
institutions that touch the
lives of children.
The ever present dynamic
interaction between every in
dividual and his culture is
dramatically heightened in the
adolescent. The space and
turbulence of present social
change. productive of a sense
of chaos, are doubly hard on
"teenagerS" because of the &C
CELEBRATED inner changes they
undergo. The degree of success
we achieve or fail to achieve in
working out the broad social
problems of the day directly
affect the sensibility of our
young people.
Edna FitZhugh Miller.
x x *
The congressional probe of
D. c. schools, although a thin
ly disguised attempt to dis
credit the administrators of
the public schools and find
issue with their compliance
with "the law of the land" will
nevertheless be beneficial in
focusing attention on a multi
tude of problems inherent in a
public school system that was
separate but equal" A cursory
glance at the recordings of the
daily testimony will reveal the
shocking inadequacy of the
former Division II schools.
This Ubiquitous inadequacy
was a result of discriminatory
practices. This cannot be
denied. But, in an era where
the white community is doing
a great deal of soul searching
and revising many of its pat
terms of long duration in ac-
cepting the Negroes right to
unqualified first class citizen
ship. it is a sad commentary
on the state of affairs to state,
as a Negro. that the Negro
does not seem to be keeping
pace with his fellow mans
sacrifices in righting the
wrongs Of the past. Many
practices leading to substand-
ard conditions in former Di-
vision II schools were a direct
result of segregation. but
many Of the conditions were
due to large measure to GER
tain practices among the
Negro, himself.
All Of the ills of the Negro
community cannot be traced
to the white mans door" The
Negro must accept some share
Of the responsibility of their
schools inadequacy. The low
cultural patterns Of the Negro
community "as whole can
certainly be attributed to the
lack Of an organized. well sup
ported program that recog-
nized the specialized problems
Of migration and lower cul-
tural levels of migrants and
emphasized, for xample,
economic. hygiene, moral. and
cultural patterns among Ne
groes that keep pace with the
community at large.
Other ills Of the Negro
schools can be traced to the
practices Of Negro educational
personnel. themselves. The
Negro educator. often desiring
the socio-economic gains Of