Seventy-Sixth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Stokely: 'Don't You Let 'em Shame You' = I- 711 14 Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH. Truth Will Prevaily NEWS PHONE: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1967 NIGHT EDITOR: BETSY TURNER I Professions Conference To Prove Stimulating HE CONFERENCE on Radicals in the Professions, being held here this week- end, is a positive, action-oriented move and one which could, if imitated and in- tensified in the future, supply a back- bone for the New Left.' The conference begins its plenary ses- sion today at 9:30 in Room 3-RS of the Union and will continue workshops throughout the weekend. It is open to anyone interested in radical action and promises to draw a variety of profession- als, non-professional radicals, students and observers. Dick Magidoff, one of the coordinators of the conference, has designed an agen- da which deals with both the overall "ideological" questions bothering radical professionals, and those in specific fields. Each general workshop - dealing with basic concepts-has been provided a dis- cussion leader ticketed to stimulate dis- cussion and keep the group moving through the massive agenda. HOW TO AVOID the effects of conserv- atism, conformity and the dilemma of a career are just a few areas to be covered. Another question on the agenda is, "how can a radical accept the framework of a "consumption-oriented American so- ciety?" This promises to draw consider- able reaction since in many ways, it is the focal point of the ever-increasing rift in the New Left. The rift often occurs because profes- sionals within the society and alienat- ed radicals working in projects not con- nected with the society structure, present their respective positions through sec- ondary sources without personal contacts with each other. THESE SESSIONS, it is hoped, will "bring people working in independent situations, such as underground news- paper and experimental schools, in con- tact with those working in more orthodox or established frameworks." Single profession workshops-centered around individual interest areas--will al- so begin tomorrow and continue as long as time and interest permits. Workshops in law, health, education, journalism and social work have already been set up. Printed materials concern- ing these areas will be provided. The highlight of the conference, Magi- doff commented, "is the emphasis on evaluating the effects of concrete ex- periences and proposals people bring con- cerning attempts to be 'radical in their professions'." The conference provides a "problem- solving orientation" and also a structure where people can begin to work effec- tively toward that end. THE PLANNING of this conference by the coordinators was done with effi- ciency. Unlike many other radical func- tions which somehow just don't accom- plish anything, the Radical Professionals Conference promises to provide a discus- sion arena and perhaps, as a result, the initial formulation of some concrete proj- ects around the country. This conference is well worth attend- ing. -BETSY TURNER By GERALD BRUCK Collegiate Press Service (First of Two Parts) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - I first met Stokely Carichael in Lown- des County, Alabama, last March. Do not mistake me: I don't pre- tend that we're friends. I doubt if he saw me when we shook hands back thenand when I tried to ask him some questions during his visit to Yale several weeks ago, his secretary stepped in to tell me, "If you wish an in- terview with Mr. Carmichael, you may apply through our national office in Atlanta." Several hundred black residents of Lowndes had journeyed by car and foot to the Mount Moriah Church. It was the first anniver- sary of the Lowndes County Free- dom Organization, a county-wide third party known to the national press by its symbol, the black panther AT LAST, it was Carmichael's tur'n to speak. "There's some 'ed- ucated' Negroes," he said, "and that means they've been to school and they've been taught what to think-that's what it means. "They say our party is not go- ing to go anywhere 'cause there's' only two parties in this country, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. They say the Democratic Party is the way we're gonna be free. "Let's talk about that," he said. There were "crackers" (white racists) in the Democratic Party; that was the way it had been since the beginning, and that's the way it would stay."And they ask us to change it," he said scornfully. "Did they ask Jews to get into the Nazi party and change it? "The Republican Party," he cried, "runs candidates in every office, and the Democratic Party runs candidates in every office 'cause they want the power. And we're gonna run candidates in every office 'cause we want the power! "That's right," he called back to his cheering audience, "we want the power!" "And unless we get the power. we're gonna be like Julian Bond, invited to speak across the coun- try, to speak to other Negroes, but we can't represent ourselves. "DON'T BE afraid, 'cause you're black and nappy-headed and got a broad nose, that you can't han- dle power. Don't you let 'em shame you! "Don't you ever talk about any- thing all black is bad, 'cause you're hating yourself. We're gonna find the blackest, most nappy-headed nigger and make him sheriff, just to spite the white folk. "We're gonna do it. Sure 'nuff, that's what we gotta do. We're tired of being ashamed of our- selves "We goota be in those news pictures so my children can look at another Negro and say, 'Now he is somebody!' I want a black sheriff in this county so our kids can look at him and say, 'Some day I'm gonna be sheriff!' ''Now if you're 'shamed of power, if you're 'shamed to con- From now on, we're rolling over people who won't get out of our way. Don't stop us, just get out haps I would be willing to die for some great principle, but certainly not for a term paper, and so I set out instead for Atlanta, to find out about Julian Bond. JULIAN BONID twice had been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, and twice de- nied his seat by Georgia legisla- tors. Bond himself does not look like a member of SNCC (and he no longer is). The white noder- ates of Georgia admire his "ivy- league" look, and they like the fact that he wears a tie. He is an anthologized poet, and that's nice, they say. He is quiet, courteous, poised, relaxed, and has a clear, sharp intelligence that baffles leis critics whenever they are forced to con- front it. The New York Times de- scribed him as "easily the most articulate" of the representatives- elect. He was elected by black people in a trujy "grass-roots campaign." He was denied his seat because he agreed withea SNCC statement condemning the war in Vietnam. While Bond minces fio words. and endorses Carmichael's stand on black power, he represents the earlier years of SNCC. He was a leader of the Atlanta restaurant sit-ins. He seems, in manner and disposition, ideally suited for the reformer role. He operated within the existing political framework, running for a Georgia House seat on the Democratic ticket. Not only was he denied his seat, but people refused to listen to him. Rural legislators referred to him-in public at least-as the "infamous Mr. Bond." With celes- tial irony, Georgia's lawmakers spurned the one spokesman for the increasing militancy of black people who would talk to them politely. Now they will have to reckon with Mr. Carmichael. of our way. Black, white, indiffer- ent, we're rolling over you." The people in the church cheered, "You tell 'em I said so. You tell 'em I'm gonna take the power and use it like it should have been used." BY THE END of this speech, I was standing outside of the church, holding the microphone of my little tape recorder close to the loud speaker that carried his voice for those who couldn't squeeze inside. Some old Negro men stood near- by, and they smiled at Carmi- chael's comments about being proud of being black and they laughed with glee when he told about the power they were going to get, and how they were going to set'their mastersstraight. I was holding the microphone because I was a reporter, and I gave the old men sort of an em- barrassed smile, because I was white. MY DESK IS cluttered with articles by and about Carmichael. I have 20 hours of tapes of SNCC people talking about civil rights and SNCC. I have piles of news- papers' clippings, documents of one sort or another, and stories and anecdotes to tell. Perhaps at another time and place, I should have been pre- pared to make some kind of Pronouncement on Black Power. But now I feel differently. ' CARMICHAEL'S Lowndes County talk can be an example of anything you wish it to be. If members of the press had attend- ed, they would have termed it the speech of a racist. To me, it did not seem so. But I am an outsider. He was speaking to black people about matters which directly con- trol, now you better step back. Shucking and jiving time is over. cerned their everyday lives. He and the people he had worked with for a year, in an atmosphere of tremendous fear, had their own language. I cannot pretend to understand it, Most basically, I cannot pre- tend to understand the feelings of read about in the papers, I tastaid the people in Lowndes County. the fear, a little of the frustra- How can I say that Carmichael tion, some of the love, and I liked was speaking for them, or for the excitement. what they "should" believe? So I did what a good Yalie I feel that Carmichael is right, and I believe the things he says. But for me to argue for Black Power as a disinterested observer, for me to present "all sides" of the story and "document" my case would be dishonest I simply feel that I should own up. My experience comes from a white world, and it is from my setting that I must put forward my case. The civil rights struggle em- barrassed me when I was a fresh- man. It was far from me, and I didn't care to think about it. In that spring, stories from Selma began to fill the news- papers, and one rainy day, as I walked through the mud of the Old Campus, I realized how des- perately I wanted to get away from Yale. I decided that it was time to "see something" for my- self. So I bought a notepad, bor- rowed some money and set out for Selma. I did not go as a freedom fighter. I went as a reporter. Armed with a Yale Daily News press card and indefatigable abil- ity to compromise myself, I set out to learn. I WORMED my way into cur- ious places. I talked to Sheriff Clarke in his office, was treated to an endless series of comments by his secretary about "that sassy nigger" who "came in here and said we weren't protecting him," and I convinced the good sheriff that, as an objective Yankee, I had a right to a press card. I talked to leaders of the march, to the Northern agitators, to "community people." I got free coffee from the black church, and on one occasion bummed a cigarette from a state trooper. On one particular night, I ducked rocks thrown by white people froma passing car and soon after was threatened with extinction by a group of black kids. Chalk it up to "educational ex- perience." I saw the hatred I had should. I returned and took courses about the South, read books and articles, wrote papers, and otherwise gained "back- ground." Last spring, I ventured forth again. At first I planned to spend s p r i n g vacation in Lowndes County, observing local customs and Stokely Carmichael. It was a stupid idea. Lowndes County is a dangerous place; I would have had trouble surviving. What reason was there for Carmichael,. who risked his life there daily, to tolerate a white term-paper writer following on his trail? I told myself that per- 9 Violence: American. Way of Life HAT ONE SUSPECTED he could not hide, betray, avoid or ignore-viol- ence-he is suddenly accepting into his life like a prodigal portion of his spir- it. Out come the whips and chains, leather and iron, either those of the symbolic media or the real items, al- most with the ease of an American fad. This time, however, the fad is pain and exploitation, states of life worse than death. It is as though the addage of cartoonist Edward Gorey who black- inks- the evil side of the Gay Nineties, was being stressed again and again: "Whost most you fear is coming near." The usual sources of protest have been silent: anti-smut lobbies aren't trying to scour the news stands, critics of television as a vast wasteland are learning to enjoy the natural splendor of the video desert. More important, anti-war protest has diminished in quantity, since General William West- moreland's congressional appearance, although the protest which continued has a new sense of urgency and has been accompanied by bloody anti-pro- testing. The brains of others not so in- volved are being soothed by violent missiles from all fronts: politics, art, sports, perhaps not religion. Police sta- tistics indicate more and more people each year are partaking of violence, either as the violent or as their vic- tims, and everyone else enjoys the violence vicariously as the bulk of the Tnews broadcasts by the media. During the Fifties which of course followed the surreal carnage years of World War II it appeared as though Herman Hesse's observation was cor- rect, that "peace and orderliness, quiet and a good conscience, forgiveness and love, rule in ... one realm and ... the rest exists too, the multitude of harsh noises, of sullenness and violence, from which one could still escape . . ." In those days, if Americans weren't buy- ing racial integration as a way of life, at least the cause was crystal pure. Progressive jazz was warm and lyri- cal, the Korean War eventually ended and professional baseball wasn't near- ly as dull as it seems today. But some time since then, the dis- tinction between realms became blur- red and the harsher realm became more commanding. "G u n s m o k e" brought slaughter to the saccharine a taste for violence began to domin- ate social political, artistic, athletic and perhaps not religious but just about every other area of style. BUT PERHAPS during this summer the trend is reaching a peak of pop- ularity. In a single July issue in which it presents awards to corporations for service to the fine arts, Esquire devotes a special section to pondering, "Why are we suddenly obsessed with viol- ence?" As could be anticipated from the rhetoric of the question, Esquire has no profound answers, but it pro- vides a scrapbook of ghastly newspho- tos. -If dolls had been for girls and guns for boys, traditionally, GI Joe dolls hit the market not long ago to amuse a sort of compromise neuter moppet who wants to be in the action. -Norman Mailer's books make ex- ploitation look like cosmopolitan drudgery; "In Cold Blood" made mur- der a best-seller. "The Story of O" both as a novel case study and as a parable, explained what life is really about - namely exploitation and the bag of sadistic-masochistic behavior. To carry the thrust of the civil rights move- ment after we never really overcame, a ride on the classic "Dutchman" sub- way of LeRoi Jones. -The Chicago Blackhawks gained fame and professional superiority by bringing an alley fighting style to the hockey rink. There have been several deaths in boxing, and perhaps Liston's alleged police record went over better with fans than Ali's declaration of Muslim faith, although to the public both figures were veiled in violence. In soccer, a dozing crowd surged with spirit at the end of the last Detroit Cougar home game when the Cleveland opposition goaltender fell with a pain- ful shoulder separation during a rou- tine save. IN THE SIXTIES, the movies provid- ed the view from 007's gun as well as the view into the weapon. In the more real world, assassinations, mass slayings and localized warfare: rifles, firebombs and punji sticks. Following the style of the movies, television news TRA N VAN DINH Big Minh' and Fixed Election in Vietnam On July 1, the South Vietnam Constituent Assembly approved 17 tickets for the September 3 presidential elections. Some of the tickets have only a decorative value, some are there just to provide a sense of humor to the sad state' of politics and the war weariness in South Vietnam. Such is the case of candidate Nguyen Dinh Quat, a millionnaire who made his fortune during the First Indochinese War (1945-1954). When asked why he had chosen a water buffalo as his election symbol-the same as another candidate, Mr. Phan Khac Suu- he replied: "Mr. Suu's buffalo is male, mine is female." Probably Mr. Quat would have to spend a fortune educating the Vietnamese voters on animals' anatomy, especially buffalos'. Not a bad way at all of educating his countrymen. The most important candidates are: " Lt. General Nguyen Van Thieu, 44, a Roman Catholic, presently Chief of State. His running mate: Vice Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky, 36, presently Prime Minister and Air Force Commander. 0 Mr. Phan Khac Suu, 63, former head of state, presently President of the Constituent Assembly. His running mate: Dr. Phan Quang Dan, 49, a Saigon pediatrician. " Mr. Than Van Huong, 63, former Mayor of Saigon and Prime Min- ister. His running mate: Mr. Mai Tho Truyen, 62, a retired civil servant and a distinguished Buddhist scholar. " Lieutenant General Duong Van Minh, 51, former Chief of State, a Buddhist, now in exile in Bangkok, Thailand. His running mate: Tran Ngoc Lieng, a lawyer and former Cabinet Minister. IF THE SEPTEMBER 3 elections. are conducted in a relatively fair and free manner-although neither the past nor the present con- ditions make me feel optimistic that it will be-then I believe General Duong Van Minh would be elected. The principal architect of the over- throw of President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963, General Minh is popular among the Armed Forces officers of South Vietnam, among the Buddhists whose votes are decisive in a country where 80 per cent are Buddhists. Unlike Thieu and Ky, who ruthlessly suppressed the Buddhists, Minh recognizes the importance of the Buddhist role in the building of the Vietnamese nation. He has the reputation of frank- ness, integrity and honesty which neither Thieu nor Ky enjoy. He is affectionately nicknamed "Big Minh" not only because of his height (just short of 6 feet, unusual for a Vietnamese) but also to avoid the confusion with another much shorter general, Tran Van Minh, now Saigon Ambassador in Tunisia. In January 1964, "Big Minh" was ousted by a coup d'etat led by General Nguyen Khanh (now in exile in Paris) and was named roving ambassador based in Bangkok, Thailand. He did not like that decorative position and wanted to go back to live with his people in Vietnam. In May 1965, he attempted to return to Saigon but his plane was forced to goback to Thailand. When he filed his candidacy with the Constituent Assembly, his ticket received 72 of the 85 Assembly votes, 10 more than Thieu-Ky team. Given the tremendous pressures and the continuing threats imposed on the Assembly by General Ky and his Chief of Police, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, this vote was indeed very significant and a sure indication of General Minh's popularity. It is also a credit to the courage of the Assemblymen. Despite the Assembly vote, General Minh is now prevented from returning to his homeland. This is sadly ironic, especially when the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the Saigon government promise-and deliver-safety and good positions to the Vietcong returnees. It is also possible that the Saigon govern- ment-controlled Central Election Committee which has the final voice in the approval of candidates (to be decided on July 15) will reject his candidacy. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the Chief of Police can fabricate a dossier on General Duong Van Minh and declare him a security risk. 01 I 0 I' I ii ciA' 4-i'? ~ i~ "i~a ., 'I'mo ,