Petty Apartheid Simulation Day at Georgetown University (April 2, 1986)

Описание: Apartheid Simulation Day’ On Campus: Segregated Lawns, Fountains

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Georgetown University students turned their campus into a South Africa laboratory Wednesday so blacks and whites could experience how it feels to live in a segregated society.

For the most part, white students stayed off a campus lawn reserved for blacks on ″Petty Apartheid Simulation Day,″ sunbathing on another lawn instead.

Stacy Randall of Boston, Mass., standing guard at the ″black″ lawn, said most white students left the area when told it was reserved. ″I tell them, ’If you support apartheid, stay here.‴

She said there were a few minor arguments over the issue, and two white students insisted on sitting on the lawn, claiming they were minorities - Arabs and Jews.

Marguerite Fletcher, 21, of the Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism said the simulation was designed to ″heighten awareness in the divestment struggle.″

The coalition wants the university to remove about $11 million in investments from companies that do business in South Africa.

″A lot of people would care more if they knew about South Africa,″ said Trisha Johnston, 19, adding she found it ″hard to relate″ to apartheid.

As Johnston and her friends watched, three black students - acting as ″police″ - carted away a screaming white student for failing to carry his identity card.

Anne Klass, a university spokeswoman, said the school’s board of directors has passed a resolution urging all companies in which it invests to adhere to the Sullivan Principles.

The principles outline a code of conduct for American companies doing business in South Africa. They are aimed at improving the lot of black workers.

Whites and blacks seemed generally to ignore many signs that instructed ″non-black″ students to use a rear bank of elevators and not to use certain water fountains and bathrooms.

″They aren’t really paying attention in this building,″ said Tim McIlmail, 20, who was involved in the simulation.

Sherry Moran, 20, a black student from Decatur, Ga., was asked if others were adhering to the signs. ″Some are and some aren’t ... It’s according to how seriously they take it.″

Georgetown University is a private institution with an undergraduate enrollment of about 5,800. About 16 percent of the students are minorities of which 8 percent are black.