Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR:
HENRY GRIX
p
In Memoriam
The tragic and pointless murder of the Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King has dealt the people of
this nation and people of all nations a heavy
blow.
We have lost a great man, a man of wisdom,.
and integrity, of love and vision, of conscience
and honor.
A man so dedicated to one of the great prin-
ciples of our time that Arthur Waskow could
write: ". . 'non-violence,' as exemplified in the
racial crisis of the 1960's by the work of Martin-
Luther King, came to mean specifically the
Gandhian politics of love, the confrontation of
conscience, and conversion through example and
dignity.''
A man who understood only too clearly the
price of human dignity. In one of his last fund-
raising letters King wrote, "We are taking action
after sober reflection. We have learned from bit-
er experience that our government does not cor-
rect a race problem until it is confronted directly
and dramatically." ,
A time will come for recriminations and
analysis, politics and sociology, cause and effect,
a time to speculate what people and organizations
will do now and later. But that time is not now.
A great man has been killed. We can only
hope that people will see in his death what they
apparently could not see in his life.
-THE SENIOR EDITORS
The
By DAVE WEIR
and ALISON SYMRO
OUTSIDE THE Clayborn
ple in downtown M
last Saturday, 20-year-old
Barnes, a black activist sai
always been non-violent.
"I don't believe in viole
a method of getting thing
But if you try everything e
it still comes . . . then y
let it come."
Violence had come to M
two days earlier when a p
march led by Rev. Martin
King, Jr., erupted into b
and looting, leaving at lea
dead, 62 injured and 200 j
Thursday night, less th
week later, King was de
was killed on Main Street,
his first Memphis demon
and site of his proposed
next Monday.
It is ironic that King ww
dered at the very timeI
planning for Monday's mar
the only reason he returned
hate-filled city was to pro
non-violence was still a va
of achieving rights.
Many in Memphis shared
faith in non-violence and t
of integration. Many als
their faith shaken, like K
last week's riot.
It was, in one aspect, t
racial outburst of 1968, pr
another long, hot summ
come.
It was also the first tim
a protest march led by Ki
spontaneously disintegrate
violence.
And finally it was one
few black outbursts in a So
city, despite widespread
which has erupted into v
in Northern cities for
years.
FOR MANY OF Memphis
citizens there was little
about the cause of the ri
"It's you damn outsider
King, who stir up the ni
said a service station att
iolent I
outside the city limits. "They nev-
SKI er wanted any trouble until King
ni Tern- came here."
n em - cAn observer of last Saturday's
[Willie peaceful march on behalf of strik-
id, "ve ing black sanitation workers
agreed, "That King's a damned
Communist . . . he deserves to be
ence as shot."
s done. One teenage white girl explain-
else and ed, "King's nothing but a big nig-
ou just ger conning a lot of small niggers
into tryin' for somethinng they
[emphis can't get."
eaceful King had affected others in a
Luther different way. To the aged gar-
burning bage collectors he represented
ast one the hope and dignity they had ne-
ailed. ver known. For many students
an one and marchers he stood for the
ad. He peaceful defiance they needed to
site of rally around. For a black populace
stration split into militant and fearful
march factions he offered unity.
But now, with the man most
is mur- black Americans consider their
he was spokesmain slain, the doctrine of
'ch. For non-violence has suffered a mor-
i to the tal blow.
ve that
lid way IN MANY WAYS, last week's
marches down Main Street in
King's Memphis foreshadowed the end
he goal of the non-violent era in the
o, had South and in the national civil
ing, by rights movement.
The marches themselves re-
he first flected the situation as it unfold-
esaging ed. Helicopters droned overhead
ner to as national, guard' trucks lum-
bered through the streets, break-
e that ing into the traditional summer
ng had scene of buzzing mosquitoes,
d into short-sleeve shirts and flower-
print dresses.
of the Most incongruous of all, how-
uthern ever, were the marchers them-
unrest selves. Repudiating centuries of
violence oppressive existence, they poured
several from their ramshackle homes in
the Beale-Hernando ghetto and
carried signs down affluent Main
' white Street. They marched straight
doubt ahead, ignoring the hate stares
iot. and blank expressions of stand-
rs, like ersby.
iggers," One very small'old man car-
endant tied a sign "I am black, I am
)eatth of
Non- Violence
Dr. King Leaves Memphis for the Last Time
Looters Plunder Memphis Store
1
beautiful." He was trying to roll
back a lifetime, with all the glit-
tering stores of Main Street as a
witness to his courage.
Most important, perhaps, were
the blank'faces which witnessed
the march. Many whites could
not comprehend the signs, most
of which read "I AM a man."'
Caught in the same system that
has relegated blacks to an infer-
for status for 400 years, these
whites seemed to reflect tradi-
tional Southern uneasiness over
Negro activism: 'Why do they
march? Our Negroes are happy,
we take good care of them. They're
much better off here than in the
cold Northern cities.'
Some, however, could seeathe
black marchers were not happy
-that the dissatisfaction which
had broken into riot two days
before was the same as that in
Detroit and Watts. Some saw
through the Southern myth; a few
perhaps foresaw its destruction.
IN MEMPHIS another myth
was shattered-that of the ef-
fectiveness of non-violent pro-
test. The tumultuous events of
the past week in the Tennessee
city seemed to recapitulate in a
short span the history of the
civil rights struggle.
As with the dawning of black
awareness in the non-violent
lunch counter sit-ins and passen-.
ger bus protests of the late 1950's,
last week's Memphis marches
started as a quiet, orderly dem-
onstration. The protest was over
Mayor Henry Loeb's refusal to
provide a dues checkoff for the
city's striking sanitation work-
ers.
The swelling size of the march
and the influx of white students
and'ministers paralleled the ear-
ly-1960 activities of the "Free-
dom Rides" and the voter-regis-
tration drive.
The agitation by some youthful
marchers which preceded the out-
break of violence in Memphis re-
I
i
t
u
a
t
z.
'
'
r
l
E
z
r
ected the growing militancy with-
in the ranks of the black move-
ment.
The turbulence set the stage
for riot in Memphis, as it had
earlier throughout the entire na-
tion. For Memphis, the time was
late Thursday afternoon, March
28. For the nation, it might' have
been any hot summer day in
1965, 1966 or 1967.. .
The riots exploded spontane-
ously-neither planned nor pro-
voked. But the atmosphere was
right .
THE SHOT which killed Mar-
tin Luther King closed a phase in
the civil rights movement. All in-
dications now point toward the
aband hment of non- violence as
an effective-means of protest.
King's death leaves black Amer-
icans witho ut a truly national
leader. It lea'es them with an en-
larged feeling of bitterness and
alienation from white society.
The direction of the Negro
struggle for equality will almost
certainly be toward greater mili-
tancy, more violence and less tol-
erance. Four hundred. years of
racism and oppression have come
'to a head.
To a dwindling minority of
blacks, King's murder destroyed
thel hope his active life had given
them. Older Southern blacks, es-
pecially, see it as confirmation of
their fear that the system can-
not be changed; the white man
cannot be budged.
But an ever-increasing propor-
tion of the black masses will see
Dr. King's murder as a mandate
for self-assertion. Minor out-
breaks of violence immediately
after the assassination were a
likely prelude to the longest, hot-'
test summer in America's history.
*
-Mike Fisher
Palestine ieration MovementNowUi
By IMAD KHADDURI
Daily Guest Writer
" THEMOST SERIOUS com-
mando operations (March 17,
1968) was the mining of a road
in the southern \Negev nearthe
Israeli Red Sea port of Elatht.
An Israeli bus carrying many (56)
students ran over the mine and
several occupants, including one
child, were killed and many (24)
wounded" (N.Y. Times, March 8,
1968).
"Israeli forces attacked Arab
guerrillabases in Jordanian ter-
ritory on the east bank of the
Jordan river early today. Kol Is-
rael, the government radio, in-
dicated Israeli troops had cross-
ed the river and invaded Jordan.
It said the Israeli forces would
withdraw from the east bank when
the operation was completed"
(Daily March 21, 1968).
r psUPI reported that 15,000
troops had been used (in the in-
vasion). An Israeli spokesman said
that "at least 150 saboteurs" were
killed and there were substantial
Jordanian Army losses. Israeli
casualties were 21 killed and 70
wounded. The casualty figures
emphasized the high cost of the
punitive raid even for the over-
whemingly superior Israeli milit-
ary forces..
"The Israeli spokesman said
that terrorist bases and houses had
been demolished and that Jor-
danian artillery and other in-
stallations had been destroyed.. .
Premier Levi EshkoV1 addressed a
eral agreement (among Arab cir-
cles) that the Israeli raid has
ended all hopes for a political
settlement of the Middle Eastern
impass.r
"An editorial in the authorita-
tive Egyptian newspaper Al-Ah-'
ram said;" The Israeli aggression
buried all possibilities of a polit-
ical settlement" . . . Premier Levi
Eshkol called the attack a succes-
ful warning action. Military lead-
ers said they have achieved all ob-
jectives. Newpapers said the ac-
tion was unfortunate but neces-
sary. Some Israelis questioned
whether it was worth 'the cost, and
if so, whether the objective could
have been gained in any other
way. Many of the more skeptical
conceded that they were not sure
ofany feasible alternatives.
..Although 150 Arabs iden-
tified by the attacking Israelis as
terrorists were killed in yester-
day'sclash and dozens of others
taken prisoners, the raid was ex-
pected by most Israelis to have
only a short-term practical ef-
fect. The demolition of terrorist
bases presumably w i11 prompt
Al-Fattah leaders to redirect
them or move elsewhere, while the
nature of the attack is likely to
add to, the incentive for new re-
cruits to replace those killed or
captured, some Israelis feel. Israeli
leaders reject the view that raids
such as yesterday's might kill Dr.
Gunnar Jarring's peace mission,
The unofficial view is that if the
U.N. envoy's mission fails it will
ider ,Wa
camps, blowing up Israeli am-
munition depots and so forth.
Let those Americans who sup-
ort Israel fincancially and those
who are thinking of, or encourag-
ing others to go to Israel this
summer or to settle there, take
heed of what happened in Alger-
ia, what is happening in Vietnam
and what is taking place in Pales-
tine.
No matter how sensibly they
try to justify their presence and
defend their repressive actions,
Gen. Mathieu (Algierian French
commander), Gen. Westmoreland,
Gen. Dayan and their coutries are
bound to fail in their missions.
When a people, such as the Al-
gerians, the Vietnamese and the
Palestinians become determined to
rid themselves completely from a
foreign occupier and to gain their
independence, no force in the
world can stop them. They might
be destroyed, but they will not be
conquererd.
THE PALESTIAN Arab Revo-
lution is now a reality. The Is-
raelis' oppressive "anti-terrorist"
measures against the Arabs from
now on will only'give more im-
petus to the growth of the revolu-
tionary struggle of the Palestine
National Liberation Movement.
We, the Arab students, recognize
the fact that our corrupt govern-
ments and relatively stagnant so-
cieties do not have the necessary
strength to defeat Israel in a
....,...DANIEL OK RENT --~~
A Parable
1 For',,Ou'r Times
ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO, I was, in Detroit for a wedding. In
the process of getting "acceptable" for the ceremony, I stopped
in a shoeshine parlor at suburban Northland Shopping Center to put
my feet in order.
As I sat up in the cracked-leather chair, my brother, who was with
me, read a headline from a newspaper he was reading: "King To Lead
Poor People's March."
Immediately, before I even had a chance to shrug my shoulders
(because, I guess, I am a victim of the current vogue that calls for a
certain non-chalance' toward "old guard" civil rights leaders), the
60-year-old black man shining my shoes blurted,
"What's he up to now?"
Why, must be someone sharing the disregard for Dr. King, I
thought. I had too often heard the charges that the King style of
peaceful opposition was definitely passe, and that the black com-
munity scorned his antiquated leadership.
"That man's moving too fast," the bootblack said.
Curious, indeed. In a time when the headlines go to Rap Brown,
to Stokely Carmichael, to !thei younger, more eager, more active. At a
moment when the black man's plight has never been so clearly marked,
whenthe concern of white America ,has pointed out.across the Pacific,
and not in toward our own 'cities, own ,own people.- This was the
darkie speaking, not the black man. This was the- Detroit of 1943, not
1967. This was the man who had been drummed, by our heritage, into
sickening modesty and feet-shuffling.
"I think we people-the colored folk, you know-have done
awfully well in 100 years, an' I can't understand this hating. I
don't hate you, man."
My first recollection of Martin Luther King was when Mrs. Rosa
Parks, the first Montgomery black woman who wouldn't move to the
back of the bus, came to Detroit, and all the newspapers spoke of how
inspiring Dr. King had been to her.
"I mean, I got me a nice house, and my kids are all learning
a trade and I got a good job. Why should I want to burn your
house down?"
I also remember Martin Luther King when he addressed the
thousands around the reflecting pool in Washington five summers
ago. I was spending that part of the summer with a friend of mine
who had some very intolerant parents. His mother wouldn't let us
watch "the rotten nigger."
"These young kids just don't know what they're doing. I can't
even talk to my own son about it; I leave the room when I hear
him and his friends scream so much."
And I remember Martin Luther King in Selma, the summer when
Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, a white woman who lived not more than three miles
from me, was killed while doing civil rights 'work in rural Alabama.
Mrs. Liuzzo wasn't a black face-without-a-face; her family and mine
,had common friends, she was a reality, she was from my own world.
"You see, boys, there ain't no difference between people. I
mean, you and me-we're the same. And let me tell you something:
these demonstrations-they're just trying to show how maybe
we're different. Right?"
Dr. King had, indeed, been the subject of quite a bit of scorn re-
cently. When Carmichael introduced the Black Power slogan a few
years ago, Dr. King was uneasy in adapting it to his own platform. But
he had no choice. He felt it necessary to remain on top of the move-
ment, as much as would any man truly dedicated to a cause.
"I tell you what: if you was me, would you throw rocks, Man,
I want a house in the country; I'm retiring next year. All I want
is peace,"
,. . h ncvl-ntd-hlp thing hrnd-?Martin.Luther King'was
Israeli soldiers near Jordan border in June war.
had herded the villagers into the
center of the town, told them not
to resist. Later the main street
of the village was blown up by
the departing Israelis. The pat-
tern was repeated elsewhere." (N.
Y. Times, March 22, 1968).
" Israeli ambassador to the
UN, Yosef Tokoah, said that what
the Israeli forces had uncovef'ed at
Karameh, a village on the east
bank of the Jordan river, had
proved beyond a doubt that it
"had ceased to be a civilian settle-
terday's attacks across the Jor-
dan river was to wipe out Pales-
tine guerrilla commandoes and
their bases, it failed.
"KARAMEH CAMP was swarm-
ing today with men carrying So-
viet-made machine guns and
grenades and voicing pride over
the fight they put up yesterday
... The commando chief at Kar-
ameth claimed responsibility for
the recent injuries suffered by
Maj. Gen. Moshe Dayan, the Is-
I