Seventy-Third Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSrY OF MICHIGAN T UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Where; Opinions Are- I STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3242 Truth Will Prevail"'' Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. RIDAY. JULY 26. 1963 NIGHT EDITOR: PHILIP SUTIN Negro Has Right To Be Wrong FcR YEARS the racial problem has been. America's cocktail hour conversation sub- ject. Yes, people have said intently but off- handedly, one day we'll have to pay for en- forced Negro inequality. The day has come, of course. Racial round- ups are now a standard feature of every daily newspaper. Negro Americad has erupted with all the bitterness, all the hatred it has held within for centuries. Indeed, there is hatred. The bloody riots from New York City to Cambridge, Md. attest to that. And to many members of the Student Kon-Violent Coordinating Committee and other militant groups, non-violence is merely a tactic --not a way of life. So cocktail discussions have changed from, injustice suffered by Negroes too injustice prac- ticed by them. Even many liberals have taken to criticizing their excesses. Segregationists have rolled out their "we told you so" attitude. LIBERALS AND reactionaries alike have this problem in common: they refuse to go be- low the surface of the /Negro struggle. The Negro has always been treated as a monolithic institution, as something apart. He has always been thought of in terms of "Ne- groness" rather than as ai complex human being. Negro is an abstraction. Very few whites have been able to identify with the Negro as an individual. Consequently, very few have been able to identify with his problems. Secretary of State Dean Rusk' phrased the, problem one way in testimony before the Sen- ate commerce committee concerning one ad- ministration's civil rights package. In a ha- rassing exchange South Carolina's Senator Strom Thurmond asked Rusk if he approved of Negro demonstrations. "If I were denied what our Negro citizens are denied, I would demonstrate too," the Georgia-born Secretary of State replied. This is what white Americans have almost no way of comprehending. They have never lived inside a brown skin. IN THREE CENTURIES on this continent, the Negro has been physically maligned in ways which, except for scale and efficiency, are not so different from Hitler's treatment of the Jews. Negroes have been lynched, beaten, sex- aally assaulted, all without reason. The Negro has been burned out of his home. He has been shot at, spit at and cursed, again with- out reason. Much of the history of Negro humiliation could never be printed in a news- paper. But the- physical harassment only supple- nents the greatest wrong the whites have committed. Slowly, over the course of these three centuries, we have encased the Negro in a mental shell of inferiority which he is now trying desperately to escape. The process has primarily been an uncon- scious one, which is why it has been so ef- fective. Without even realizing it, whites have naturally looked upon the Negro as inferior. The Negro has just as automatically accepted this role in American life., NEGRO CHILDREN learned very young that they had separate bathrooms, separate drinking fountains, separate schools, separate neighborhoods, separate do's and separate don'ts. And there was no question in their minds that they were separate but unequal. They knew very well and very early the mean- ing of the word "nigger." Southerners are partially right when they say that their "niggers" were content before the advent of the civil rights era. As long as the Negro accepted his station he had few dreams of a better life. 'The growing Negro dissatisfaction, churning the civil rights drive in, its wake, stems. from an awakening-a realization of the terms un- der which he is, living. The Negro is seeing for the first time that not only does the white man look. down on him, the white man 'has made him look down on himself. Knowing he is just as human as his white brother, the Negro must still fight both within and without himself. This is not an abstract, intellectual question. It is a passionate, emotional battle which the word "patience" does nothing to soothe. The Negro has a right to his bitterness; he has a right to seek the same outlets that all bitter human beings seek. He has, in other words, a right to be wrong. His enemies have been wrong for 300 years. -H. NEIL BERKSON "As I Was Saying, The Administration Has Failed To Take A Bold, Fearless Stand--" N-r- TOM - / Qf ..7r. PO A -r wvAS i# 4 TJ FoST NEW PACT: Test Ban Faces Obstacles AT CINEMA GUILD: Silent Comedies Offer Amusing Fare BILLY WILDER'S film bio- graphy of Lindbergh, "The Spirit of St. Louis," was scheduled to be shown Friday and Saturday night at the Cinema Guild. How- ever, the prints did not arrive, so instead, five silent comedies-two of which star Charlie Chaplin- will be presented.' "The Uncovered Wagon," pro-. duced in 1923, is a fantastic re- creation (using automobiles) of the wagontroin epic: namely, of difficulties the settlers met in crossing rivers, settling petty quarrels among themselves, and repulsing "injun" attacks.fIt is often crude, but Just as often it is wildly amusing. On the other hand, "Briny Boob" with Billy Dooley is too silly to be enjoyable. It is interesting, though, to note that the yellow tint of the film stock is the re- sult of some color experiments carried out in the 1920's (light blue and sepia colored stock were tried). Unfortunately, the humor is just as pallid. * * * BEN TURPIN is all right in "Harem Knight" as the aristo- cratic lover Rodney St. Clair ("Kiss them, love them, then de- tour."). After swapping clothes with a pretty harem girl and then duelling with the Sultan and his bodyguards almost singlehandedly, does he get the girl? Well . . . n But just as Chaplin's slight buil and maladroitness (what Park Tyler calls the "comic flaw") pr( vent him from completely attain ing the love-object, Turpin's fan ous crossed eyes do the same her On to Chaplin. Not literally tt tramp Charlie (I ask, not knowir the answer: was he ever really tramp in any of his movies?) bi the handyman. In "Work" he's paperhanger who quite indirectl alas and guffaw, shatters the fu niture and the sanity of his en ployer-victims. Made in 1919, th film displays the same fully-grow genius that can be seen in h universally admired "The Go Rush" (1925). * * * "TRIPLE TROUBLE" gives t Charlie the janitor. Again tt naterial is bad. Name puns-Co onel Nutt and his daughter Haz -are not the high, situation hi mor one wants from a Chaplh comedy. And there is too muc overacting by the supporting cas Consequently the film is lukewar: entertainment. I would recommend this prc gram only to a Chaplin enthusias such as I am (now), or to somE one interested in an amusing bt not particularly hilarious "breal from his studies. , -Gary T. Robinson TODAY AND TOMORROW: Treaty Contains Old U.S. Proposals Concept of Freedom I. TH' E "RIGHT to read" has been seriously challenged in the nation's sc iools. Textbook censors have invaded the public school in hun- dreds of communities. During the past several years, textbooks have come under fire in one-third of our state legis- latures. It is not uncommon to find books banned, burned or stripped of important pas- sages. Censors accuse the texts on two grounds: Being subversive or being pornographic. Many teachers have been summarily dis- missed for recommending such books as "Catcher in the Rye," "1984," or "A Bell for Adamo." Some times the opposition of one influential parent or self-imposed critic is Dispute THE SINO-SOVIET peace talks were any- thing but peaceful. The talks were termed a total failure upon their conclusion Saturday as the Chinese Communist delegation returned to Peking still convinced that war and bloody revolution are the only way to achieve the aims of communism. The Soviets greeted the Chinese with a chilly reception which set the tone for the 15 days of negotiating. The split' appears irreconcilable. The Communist world is left divided between those who follow Premier Nikita Khrushchev's "peaecful co-existence" line and those who espouse the more warlike line of Mao Tse-tung. It is too soon to see what effect this split will have" upon the world. One thing seems apparent-tension between the Soviet Union and the West may be eased. COMMUNIST nations began to choose sides in the dispute. Most of the East European satellites rallied behind Khrushchev. The two Communist giants will be competing to win the favor of Communist-controlled countries. Cuba is a good example, and Rumania is an- other. Surely, the split weakens the world power of communism. Together the giants present a ter- rifying force and a great threat. But we inust not fail to realize that the spread of com- munism may be greater. The two forces will be fighting each other in attempts to get countries on their side. It appears that the Soviet-United States re- lationship is in for inprovement, but when the chips are down we wonder with whom would the Soviets side in a U.5.-Chinese dispute. As we mentioned, the significance of the hr.a.. pfwAgz..-- o + :wn +- n m nnirt nnwo.r wil enough to banish a book from the school or library shelves. THE AMERICAN teaching profession is much concerned at this development. At its re- cent convention in Detroit, Mich., the National Education Association (N.E.A.), spokesman for the nation's public school teachers, warned against the growing dangers of text censor- ship. Several discussions at the meeting pointed to the enormous harm that growing censor- ship can have on education. Gene Roberts Jr. of the Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer, author of "The Censors and the Schools," warned that organized groups, rang- ing from the Daughters of the American Revo- lution (D.A.R.) to the John Birch Society, were behind the censorship movement. Why are books censored? Usually the censors claim that "un-American" material is found in the books. The United Nations is "subversive" in the eyes of the censors; so is fluoridation to prevent tooth decay. THE D.A.R. asked that a text be thrown out because it included a picture of a breadline in the 1930's. Another depicted slum areas of our cities. A social science text was declared unsatisfactory because it "referred to the United States as a democracy. (It should be called a republic, the censors contend.) A songbook in California was attacked be- cause it contained a song called "Swing the Shining Sickle." Pure Communism? Not really. The song was written in 1897 by an American and was a Thanksgiving harvest song. Another book was attacked because it referred to "George Washington and his comrades." Com- rades, the censors ruled, is a Communist word. Unfortunately, the censors have considerable power, the N.E.A. teachers discovered. One pub- lisher removed a chapter on the United Nations from his civics book after pressure from Cali- fornia groups. Several publishers rewrote sec- tions of their books before they could sell them in Texas. Other publishers play it safe: They do not include controversial 'material, whether it be politics, religion or racial problems. Inte- gration is a forbidden word in many parts of the South. THE DANGERS of censorship were stressed by Dr. Archibald B. Shaw, associate sec- retary, American Association of School Admin- istrators. Our students should have all the facts and get information on both sides of controversial issues. "Heaven help our society if we cave in to these subversive pressures to suppress the whole case, all the evidence," said Shaw, form- er suprintendent of schools. Scarsdale. N.Y. By PHILIP SUTIN Co-Editor MAJOR AGREEMENTS with the Russians are like bolts from the blue. They don't happen very often and when they do, they are the result of Soviet foreign policy needs, not Western ones. There are now two major post- war treaties with the Russians, both achievedsuddenly after years of fruitless haggling. The first was the Austrian treaty of 1955. Talks on reuniting divided Austria had continued since the end of World War II, but no progress had been made until Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev decided he n'eeded a peace-offering to promote a sum- mit meeting with then President Dwight D. Eisenhower. A treaty for a neutral Austria was quickly written and a summit meeting was held the following summer. The test ban treaty stems from different roots. It is largely a re- sult of the internecine struggle with the Communist Chinese. THE TALKS had continued in various atmosphere and places since 1958, but always some stum- bling block hindered the treaty writing. But now the Chinese have militantly broken with Moscow and Khrushchev is not only look- ing for a successful venture to flaunt the Chinese, but wishes to avoid active hostilities on all flanks. The test ban treaty serves both purposes. It is a product of the co-existence approach that is OHonors N JULY 4, President Kennedy named thirty-one persons who will receive the Presidential Med- al of Freedom at ceremonies in Washington next September. This new award, highest civilian honor, replaces a former Medal of Free- dom which had been bestowed on individuals who had meritoriously acted "in the interest ofsthe se- curity of the United States." The present honor is given for out- standing effectiveness in the area of security, but also commemor- ates contributions to "world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavours . .. -The Nation The President's first list is ex- cellent, including as it does such eminently suitable names as Alex- ander Meikeljohn, Rudolf Serkin and Edward Steichen. But thirty- one recipients in a single year would seem a good many for a medal intended to mark an ab- solute standard of social or crea- tive achievement. It is wise, we think, to extend the criteria beyond security to the more creative areas of peace and culture, but it is also un- deniable that the terms of the medal now have about them some- thing of a grab-bag quality. This is reflected in the quite disparate backgrounds of the present re- cipients ... of value to the Soviets as well as the West-underground tests are still permitted-and it provides a hopeful East-West atmosphere. Khrushchev now can turn to maintaining the Soviet hegemony in the Communist camp without worrying about an East-West cris- is. He also can expand his co- existence policies to provide the validity of his viewpoint to the Chinese. But several stumbling blocks ap- pear before this treaty can be turned from a scrap of paper to a meaningful document. Only the first three nuclear powers - the United States, U.S.S.R. and Brit- ain-have signed the document. France, which is also testing nu- clear weapons, has not taken part in any stage of the negotiations, nor does she seem inclined to go along with the document. Presi- dent Charles de Gaulle wants to establish France as a nuclear pow- er and will not stop testing until several series of tests produce the necessary weapons. De Gaulle has proven very unsusceptible to world public opinion or to outside pres- sures, even from the United States, and will probably continue at- mospheric tests in the South Pa- cific despite the treaty. * *. .* EQUALLY FREE from public opinion or power pressures are the Red Chinese. While not as devel- oped as France, China is on the verge of exploding an atomic de- vice and gaining novice standing in the nuclear club. Such weapons are in keeping with its aggressive- ly expansionist policies. The re- cent ideological controversy with Russia indicates that the Soviets have lostconsiderable control over Chinese action. Mao Tze-tung seems hardly ready to bow to Khrushchev's pressures to stop his atomic weapons program. The second major stumbling block is the United States Senate. At this stage, just as President John F. Kennedy swings his poli- tical weight behind the treaty, there is considerable doubt that it will muster ,the two-thirds vote necessary for ratification. This would be a Cold War disaster for the West and the United States. Extremely conservative senators like Sen. Barry Goldwater (R- Ariz) have already voiced their oppositionto the treaty. They how- ever are only a handful. The cru- cial votes come from GOP regu- lars and from military-minded Democrats like Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash). 4 * * A WASHINGTON POST survey last week showed that most sena- tors had not made up their mind on the issue as they felt it would never become an immediate ques- tion. The Republicans have to decide if they are going to politic on the test ban question or main- tain the bipartisan approval of ad- ministration foreign policy that has been in effect since World War II. The military-minded Democrats will probably lean towards the Post, the joint chiefs will not at- tack the treaty outright. Rather, they will claim that the outer space provisions are an unenforseeable and dangerous loophole through which the Soviets can develop new, more devastating weapons against the United States. They may also hit the treaty's limitation to the United States, Britain and the So- viet Union and its escape clause allowing them to test: if tests by non-signatory nations endanger their national security. 4 * * A DEFEAT of the treaty would mean a reversion to the hard cold war and a repudiation of any efforts of the Soviets to co-exist with the West. It will hand the So- viets an example of Western bad faith and militarism which will make an efficient propaganda weapon throughout the world. Further, it will play into the hands of Red Chinese who, have not yet realized the significance of nuclear holocaust. The collapse of the treaty would be a defeat to Khrushchev and give the Chinese a lever to throw him out in favor of a Stalinist. This would only bring nuclear war closer. While the hardest part of the work-the writing of the test ban treaty--has been completed, much travail lies ahead before the per- manent end of poisonous tests. The stumbling blocks are both inside- ous and difficult to overcome, but with further effort, not insur- mountable. By WALTER LIPPMANN THE DRAFT OF a test ban treaty, which has been worked out in Moscow by Khrushchev, Harriman and Hailsham, is, it ap- pears, substantially the s a m e treaty as we offered the: Soviet Union nearly a year ago. on Aug., 27, 1962. This proposal in turn Was very like the one made by Presi- dent Eisenhower to Chairman Khrushchev on April 13, 1959. The two American proposals were based on the same principle -that tests should be prohibited, when, as President Eisenhower stated, the ban "would not re- quire the automatic on-site in-, spection which has created the. major stumbling block in the ne- gotiations so far." President Eis- enhower mentioned tests in the atmosphere, which can be detect-. ed at great distances. He did not mention tests in the water and in outer space, which are banned in the Americans proposal of Aug. 27, 1962, nd are included in the draft treat which has just been nego- tiated in Moscow. 4 The core'of the opposition to the treaty consists of those who do not, want to stop testing under any conditions. But the official and general popular view has been that tests should be banned if, but only if, they can be policed with iron- clad certainty. The irreconcilable, opposition to the new treaty will probably make much of the fact that it is not possible to police, outer space. FOR NO PROPOSAL has ever been made, or could have been. made, to insure that a violation in outer space would be detected. If outer space can really be used for significant testing, then the two Presidents have made a dreadful error. In that case, the opposition to a test ban has been strangely silent. For it has been warning us that significant and decisive tests can be made underground with- out being detected. If, now that underground testing is to be per- mitted; the opposition switches to outer space as a stick to belabor the treaty, they will look like men whoareinventing the reasons to conceal* their real purposes. The situation we face is this. If the Senate refuses to ratify this treaty, the. United States' govern- ment will be rejecting a treaty which it has itself proposed. For 11 months, there has been before the world an American draft of essentially the same treaty which the Soviet Union has now agreed to, During those 11 months, no move was made to withdraw, or amend the proposal. If then the United States government now re- jects that the United States gov- ernment itself proposed, how can this be done with a straight face? THE REAL OPPOSITION to a test ban is inspired by the hope that, if we keep on testing, we shall invent the absolute weapon- a weapon of annihilation against which there is no defense. * Both the hope and the fear rest on an assumption which, though theoretically possible, is in prac- tice most improbable. The assump- tion is that, as between the two nuclear powers with their gigantic nuclear arsenals, there is in sight somewhere and somehow a weapon so absolute that the existing arse- nals can be written off as obsolete. Almost certainly the truth of the matter is that in nuclear affairs, as, in all human affairs, the long- ing for the absolute is, as the poet said, the unending pursuit of the everfleeting object of desire. If, in the pursuit of the perfect, we wreck the best that is possible, the longing for the absolute will be akin to madness. (c) 1963, The washington Post Co. J J A * ' M + F. r w r / / 'I I - a',. 4 1 t \wi&;. I