Southwords
October 1974
Editorial
NCCJ conference promotes good feeling
Four representatives from the Southwords staff attended a conference sponsored by the NCCJ a couple of weeks ago.
The conference was interesting, and a multitude of words like brotherhood, interaction, and equality were being passed around liberally. We all walked out of the building that day feeling like true brothers and sisters and wanting to hug each other or sing something like "You've Got a Friend" or "He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother."
But we expected all that to happen; we knew we would feel inspired and enlightened and filled with the determination to rid the world of all prejudice after discussion the problems existing between people of different races. What we didn't expect to learn was the realization that may help rid us of the excessive pity we've always held for those "poor inner-city kids."
Rather than trying not to brag too much about how good we have it and trying hard not to make the students from the Chicago schools feel underprivileged, we found ourselves sticking up for the suburbs. "How can you stand being out in the boonies without any excitement?" and "Isn't everyone a snob?" were some of the questions that kept coming at us the more we tried to convince them that we like living in a suburb.
They, in turn, couldn't understand why we wouldn't like city living. The students from Chicago told us of the experiences they have "living right in the middle of excitement" and of the convenience of having everything they need only a few blocks away. They claimed they would never want to live in a "boring" suburb and would always remain in the city.
Whether our preferences for our own homes reveal a misunderstanding of other living conditions or a closed mind to change, they do reveal a certain contentment among people that isn't thought about very often with so many pressures of "bettering ourselves" and "moving on to better things."
Granted, facts are that crime statistics are high, health conditions are poor, and other problems remain in the city, but if people are happy with their lives, isn't that a step in the right direction? After all, don't people more readily attempt to change situations if they feel that they are at least close to the end result?
Talking to the students from the Chicago schools made us realize that there really isn't as much unhappiness in the city as newspapers and television sometimes make us think. People in the city do not need our pity or want it; they are working for an easier life in the future but enjoying life as it is right now--just as we are out in the boonies.