181
August 29, 1988
Ambassador P.G.J.Koornhof, Ambassador
Embassy of South Africa
53051 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Dear Mr. Ambassador:
Thank you for your letter of May 11/88. I enclose the
questionnaire. I have been deeply interested in South Africa
and all of Africa for a long time. My father was a brilliant
man with a wide interest in history and world affairs. So
I became interested in Africa as a child. I have continued
that interest.
My cousin Mrs. Sheila Morgan is still in South Africa. Her
late husband Clement Morgan was Master of Micheal House,
a famous boys school in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. I learned a
great deal about South Africa from the Morgans.
My concerns are based on my belief that close cooperation
with a successful South Africa is vital to the well-being of
our country. This appears obvious.
Our schools no longer teach history or geography. There is a
lot of politics in our educational system. This is
compounded by the News Media. KQED based in San Francisco
is a television station supported by thousands of members.
They receive Federal government support.
The MacNeil Lehrer News Hour comes on at 6 PM 5 days a week.
It is an hour long and is repeated at 10:00 and ll:00 PM on
two related stations - Ch 32 and Ch 54. They have a wide
audience. The programs are well run and interesting. The
station has devoted thousands of hours telling us about
the filth and the poverty of Soweto and about Bishop Tutu but
a meager picture of the rest of the country. I enclose a
copy of a letter that I have just written to Station KQED.
My father talked about ancient civilizations. He knew Greek
and Latin and Hebrew. He was also aware of more recent
history. He was like an encyclopedia
As a doctor I came to realize that the health of the
individual was closely related to living in harmony with his
inherited characteristics and the cultural imprints.
Ignoring this fact of nature has caused our country great
difficulties in human relations.
Respectfully,
ROBERT H. LITTLE
-------------------------
Augut 29, 1988
K Q E D
Department 05610
San Francisco, CA 94139-5610
Dear Friends:
In response to a telephone call from Lee, I am sending you a
check for $35.00 to renew my membership. Over the years, I
have greatly appreciated most of your programs. However,
there are a couple of things that you do that drive me up the
wall. You glamourize wine drinking. You have wine
festivals, wine auctions, beer festivals--you also have ice
cream festivals.
Consider the people with the cooking programs--there is too
much wine used in almost everything. I love Julia Childs.
However, she not only uses lots of wine with her cooking, but
she tells us which wines to have with each course. She also
has wine merchants advertise their products on her program.
The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour is magnificent, but they have the
same problem all the news media have. It is fairly safe to
talk endlessly of problems, but once they try to get down to
the nitty gritty and offer solutions, they can be quickly in
hot water. The News Hour has given us a tremendous amount of
information about what they call the filth and poverty of
Soweto. We hear a great deal from Bishop Tutu. What I would
like to know is how the average white South African lives.
What sort of work does he do? Do they all have black
servants? Do some of the white women do their own housework
and look after their children? Apart from working in the
mines, what do most of the black South Africans do? Are they
learning skills? Are opportunities available to learn new
skills?
I understand that there is a group of independent black
farmers who survive by raising sugar cane.
I would like to know if there are other independent black
farmers.
I understand that there is a limit to how many people South
Africa can provide for. I understand that there is an
impending water shortage. Do they have farming problems?
Like other parts of Africa, population increase hangs like a
dagger over everybody in South Africa.
I am concerned about the strategic minerals like
Chromium that we obtain from South Africa.
My biggest concern is that Russia may succeed in
gaining even more control in Africa. They have a poor track
record in running other countries. Their record of how
they treat ethnic groups, who are under their power, is not
reassuring.
May you continue your great work and keep trying to make
us more aware of what is going on in other places and
hopefully lessen present dangers.
Wishing all of you, good health, good fortune and the
joy of learning.
Sincerely.
Robert H. Little
