THE BLACKLASH

AND-

A

White Reaction

By DAVID CHAMBERLAIN

With the coming of autumn, the
zoo is closing. As the winds get
cooler, all the animals will slowly re-
treat to their cages . . . and another
sporting season is over for the white
°man. For with the end of hot sum-
mers goes the nigger problem.
There won't be any riots in the
winter, it's too cold. Even though
there's no heat in the tenements, it's
warmer there than on the streets.
Everything will seem to calm down
a little.
But everything is pretty much
where it was this summer and where
it looks like it's going to be next
summer.
White America has given, been
made to give, attention to violence
in the urban ghetto. I don't think
that anyone with an ounce of hum-
anity needs to ask, why are there
riots?' The signs are all around us
. . . if we care/dare to see them,
if we can honestly admit to our own
guilt and personal complicity and
see how it contributes to the whole
mess.
It would probably be a waste of
time to explain the reasons behind
and inside the riots - besides, no-
body would listen to what I'd have
to say about that because it's a topic
that is fast becoming over-done. In
a situation like this, any new in-
formation or even fresh perspectives
smell of redundancy, and most
people pass they by completely and
remain unaffected.
America's ghettos had been se-
cure enough, as prisons go, until the
natives started getting restless and
the white man began losing confi-
dence in the wall he had created.
And evei though black Americans
are in prison because of the -biggest
frame-up in history, it appears that
this latest attempt at a prison break
is going to subject them mostly
just to more punishment.
What we have seen this summer
is, perhaps, the last futile and hys-
terical orgasm of a soon-to-be steril-
ized man. I have complete confi-
dence that white men are capable
(and many are more than willing)
of placing every single black man
who actively challenges the inhu-
mane system that has been forced
upon him into concentration camps.
The time may not be too far off.
Just send them from one prison to
another.
We are a country, most of us
whites at least, of watchers. "What
are they going to do next?" has been
the most common white question_

since June. Saul Alinsky has very
accurately described the 'hunkie' as
having a 'Zoo-keeper mentality' -
watch the animals-and the osten-
sibly 'humane' poverty program
merely enables us to watch the an-
imals more closely. If we cast spies
in the role of 'helpers' we develop,
so the unspoken dogma goes in of-
ficial circles, a potentially reliable
system for getting information and
keeping control.
Even well-intentioned people in
the poverty program, those who
don't realize that they're really spies
but see the whole scene as solidly
humanistic, may often do more
harm than good. People are so
out of touch with the reality of it
all. We're treating symptoms, not
the disease which lurks deep in the
white conscience.
Whether or not we can admit it
from the comfort of our suburban
living rooms, we whites are what has
made the long, hot summer of the
ghetto. That's why the poverty pro-
gram and things like VISTA simply
aren't worth a damn because they
operate under the white sanctions
which fundementally condone the
human degradation of poverty.
People are poor because they don't
have enough money and if they
don't have money they can't get into
the system so that someday they

will. You've got to really und
this before you can hope to b
kind of meaningful program
care of the problem. They
lousy housing because they c
ford better, their kids go to
schools until they prep
quit and try to make it the
and they in turn can't comp
thus are poor. The cycle c
and it produces a despair ar
tration that wipes out all
caring and hope.
And for the Negro it's al
insurmountable battle up. TY
system has done this tO hir
ing him virtually defensele
at the time of his 'freeing'. N
denied them enough so th
they have nothing to look
to except frenzied interco
a fire-escape, a pint of ch
gut wine, getting hooked
drugs or the thrill and p
running a knife through so
bowels.
We've constructed the grea
ican myth. That this is a lan
portunity, a place so rich tha
body can make it if they're
trious and willing to work.
but not if you're the victirr
herited poverty, for the op
ities are just not there.I
white 'gentry' continue to s
to the ideal of individual init

THEZOO:F
H E 0.
lerstand an alternative to social conscience.
ave any How, in God's name, can any mean-
to taije ingful programs get going, or get
live in money to get going, when the people
an't af- in positions of power live and
crummy breathe by the Protestant ethic?
naturely Somewhere along the line, though,
mselves, a few spirits did get aroused and we
fete and invented our public welfare system.
ontinues We accepted the fact that the aged,
nd frus- blind, handicapped could not work
signs of to support themselves. But we made
sure that people on welfare could
most an never live decently enough to be
he white human beings. $175 per month is
in, leav- hardly a luxury for a mother with
ss even six children, but this is pretty much
We have the going rate in most American
iat now cities.
forward When you want to start something
urse on that might take care of this un-
eap rot- believable mess in the ghetto like
on big babies being eaten alive by rats and
ower of 12 year old kids confirmed junkies,
meone's you've got to have a real idea of
exactly what the problem is. Start-
.t Amer- ing a basketball league or an arts-
d of op- and-crafts program in the slums is
t every- hardly an effective way of combat-
e indus- ting poverty, and this is what a vast
Maybe, majority of social agencies and a
a of in- good deal of -VISTA is concerned
portun- with.
But our Casework is the next step up to-
ubscribe wards being effective. This means
iative as a one-to-one contact and often in-
stitutes real results in terms of help-
ing one or two or ten people. But it
still doesn't eliminate the festering
root.
The answer lies in community
organization. It means people and
power. These are the only two
kinds of power that most people
understand: money and numbers.
Poor people haven't got any money,
but if we can -get them to get to-
gether and use their numbers we
can give them the power they've
never been allowed.
This means power as a group to
bring a slumlord to his knees and
fix up his building to make it live-
able; it means power to~FORCE the
welfare department to give suffic-
ient allowances to people so they can
live decently; it means forming food
.!~co-ops to get the absolutely corrupt
store owners to charge fair prices
or go out of business; it means boy-
cotting schools to get a decent edu-
cational system; etc., etc.
This to me is a way of really fight-
ing the causes instead of the
symptoms of poverty. It's a way to
get concrete, tangible results - and
it's a way of giving people faith in

To the rushee all is poised, polished
and maybe perfect.
But within the house more human
emotions are at play.
A member of one of the campus' most
prestigious sororities, going through
her first rush as an active, gives a
lay-by-play accou it of

THE C
FIRST SET:
We will have approximately 1100
girls through the house during four
days of parties. We will be able to
to ask back only ten times our
quota, or 240-some girls to second
set.
We talked a lot about nick-names
first impressions, college life, ca-
reers -- topics common to first
meetings between strangers. Despite
the lack of depth or seriousness in
the conversation, however, there
was always the awareness that
that while I wanted desperately to
see into a rushee's personality, she
was also studying and measuring
me. And in almost every conver-
sation tonight, there was at least an
instant of communication, a sense
of seeing the real person.
As one candid freshman confes-
sed during the last party, "Rush
isn't nearly as superficial as I had
expected. There is good conversa-
tion, everybody is trying to keep
away from just small-talk."
There were hysterical times be-
tween groups when we'd all dash
upstairs for 'pre-hash' voting of
"yes," "no," "maybe." We'd all run
upstairs to our hash-rooms laugh-
ing, shouting, repeating names out
loud because we had to remember
them long enough to vote.
When we line up at the door to
greet a new group, we all sing- a
fire-up song and the house rings
with enthusiasm. We have to count
off to make sure everyone's there,
then we cheer when the count is
complete. We cheered for our rush
chairmen, Dennie and 'Chas' and
then we cheered for ourselves, a
great noisy happy group. We are
truly united in this effort.
We sophomores are all pretty
pleased that we'd gotten through
our first night without major mis-
haps. We goofed up our rotation
system once, but I don't think any-
/one noticed. In our 'bump' system
groups of five girls rotate among
themselves until each one has met
the same five rushees. Each rushee
then will receive five votes in hash,
one from each girl in the bump
group.
FIRST HASH:
We're only going to hash the girls
who received inconelusive votes,
s p r i n k l e d with "yesses" a n d
"no's". Those getting all 'yesses' will
be asked back automatically, those
getting all 'no's' will be dropped.

PHO 811
Everyone's gone flying -into the
kitchen. Break during hash, ice- f
cream bars and coffee.
I don't know what to think. I hear
remarks like "I thought she was in-
clined to be dull," or "We're not
voting on what she looks like, you
know!" We can barely remember
the girls. People say, when asked for
descriptions, "She sat in the recrea-
tion room," "she had short brown
hair," "she was very quiet," "she
was very quiet," "she handled her-
self very well."
Poor Nancy. She feels bad because
she always has the opposite vote,
and when she is asked to respect
her sisters' viewpoint she concedes.
But it's obvious she resents being
asked to compromise her judgment.
It's the most helpless feeling, sit-
ting and listening to- girls being
dropped or given lower votes be-
cause they didn't come across well.
Girls are being dropped for reasons
cmfwyp and cmfwypand the t he th
It's the most helpless feeling, sit-
ting and listening to girls being
dropped for reasons I would com-
pletely disregard.
I guess I'm kind of disappointed.
There is the conservative element.
in the house which is more strict,
and the liberal element willing to
give everyone a chance in some-
thing other than a mixer situation.
The house is a curious mixture of
people, the gentle and harsh, the
dramatic and the down-to-earth.
Comments:
'Although she seemed very tal-
ented and nice, I believe she lacked
polish."
"She was a spotless, clean girl .."
"She was nice to me but seemed a
little scatter-brained . ."
"She's too aggressive . ."
"All she did was ask questions
about rush and sororities . ."
It just wasn't what I expected.
But then what was I expecting?
SECOND HASH:
We will hash after every rush
this set; the voting is on a one-
to-five basis, with a one signify-
ing pledge material and a five
meaning the voter definitely
does not want the girl in the
pledge class. We will have to "re-
gret another 53 girls after second
set
Dennie and Chas are sitting at a
card table. Chas is in a pink fuzzy
bathrobe, and Dennie is -wearing
flowered bell-bottom p.j.'s. The liv-

VG OFA
ing -room is filled with quilts, pil-
lows, blankets and girls whom I
didn't know wore glasses because
they always wear contacts.
Some of the girls were unusually
excited about girls they had met
tonight, and yelled "Pledge her"-
she's great!" when certain names
were introduced. Others would res-
pond by chiming in seriously, "Let's
rush her, girls." I hate that expres-
sion.
Apparently hash has been going
a lot better this year than last, be-
cause there are rules now outlaw-
ing hair-setting, knitting and home-
work during the sessions.
More comments:
"She's a very attractive girl, but
." "Ditto." -
"She was sparkly and lively but
she looked in the mirror the whole
time." "Right, her eyes were wan-
dering all over the room."
Break! Half-way done. Resume
after 20 minutes of Hershey bars
and small conventions of opinions
and debate.
Special concern for legacies . . .
we try to realize how uncomfort-
able they must be.
'C'mpn girls, you're pooping out!"
THIRD HASH:
During a recall session in the
basement I talked to Martha. She
is worried about the kind -of rush
we've been giving. She said that
in her room -tonight there had
been four actives around one
rushee and the poor girl seemed
swamped. Martha said the con-
versation ranged along superfi-
cial lines and the girl sat fidget-
ing nervously with her hands. "I
want a great pledge class, and
the way we've been making these
rushees feel, we're just not going
to get it." -
Started hash earlier tonight in an
attempt to finish by 1:30 instead of
2:30.
There were goodies (candy, bub-
blegum) hidden in our rooms . to-
night as a light-hearted incentive
towards cleaning them. The house
committee has been ' frantically
cleaning and -replacing ashtrays,
filling mint dishes and emptying
wastebaskets. They also had to take
down the recommendation sheets
tacked all over the house for .the
reference of the actives. I'here's a
lot to do when rushees are going
to be above the" first floor.

The
through

h
w

conviction
sideration
but if you
different
I met a
is a friend
seemed b
others anc
o1 asked
that she :
rushing s
someone i
ample:
girl. I dec]
FOURTH
A Negr
The house
hash. Sor
a Negro sl
notch per:
have to b
understan
be any m
rushee.
The alu:
ally anger
ment was,
this is a c
Negro girl
first chapt
re going to
some pret
because t
national w
Their. o
tension be
about over
shouting,
or under a
girl!" Peo
had to tL
Negro in a
sounded 1
own uneas
is a whit
about tha
through i
choice we
to make i
I was p
before the
"Just thin
you would
you hadi
white." I
looks, and
by tho8e
the girl to
We alwa
bor alumni
sessions. 'T
recommen


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