100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

July 25, 1967 - Image 2

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1967-07-25

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.


Gig £idigatt Daily
Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICliGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

a ;. - M4

3e r O pinions Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.

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.

TRANYAN DINH-
U.S. Should Cease
BombingS.Vietnam
When the Americans who opposed the war in Vietnam cry: "Stop
the Bombing," they usually refer to the bombing of North Vietnam
which started on February 1965. As we all know the two main objectives
of the bombing of North Vietnam were to stop the infiltration of mate-
rial and personnel from North to South and to bring the leaders in
Hanoi to the conference table. By now, nearly everybody agrees that
these two objectives are not only unattained but the opposite effects are
registered. Very few however pay attention to the problem of the bomb-
ing in the South although it started much earlier, caused more dam-
ages to the civilian population and was and is much more intense.
Since 1964, when the military situation in South Vietnam worsened
and the South Vietnam army nearly collapsed, the U.S. Air Force began
regular bombing (it was occasional before) of the South. Just take at
random few statistics: on February 1966: 1,935 sorties against the
North (a sortie is a lone plane making an attack). The same month:
10,000 in the South. On May the same year: 462 sorties against the
North, the same month: 10,131 in the South (Washington Post, October

TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1967

NIGHT EDITOR: WALLACE IMMEN

'No FurnitureStore
Done Me No Favors'

DETROIT--On the northwest side of
this city, "free, white and 21" wasn't
quite good enough last night. Having
wandered into the heart of the worst
Detroit riot since 1943, we considered
ourselves lucky to have gotten out alive.
You could blame it on mid-summer
madness: the riots and our going into
Detroit Sunday night to cover them.
But that wouldn't be right. The riots
were a long time coming and we went
scared, wanting to see and learn.
The trip cost us a cracked wind-
shield, a shattered side window, and a
three-inch gash in our photographer's
right arm. We saw a city losing a guer-
rilla war and learned something about
its making.,
Even before we had turned off E.
Ford to go north on the John Lodge, we
could see the huge columns of panther-
black smoke rising over the city. That
was at about 8:45-there was still some
daylight. Later we could make out a
pattern of -orange coronas against
the blue-black sky. Detroit looked like
pictures we'd seen of Dresden or Ham-
burg just after the Allied bombing.
We pulled off the John Lodge Free-
way at Clairmount. The air was thick
and gray and smelled of burning wood.
Across the John Lodge, police were
stopping cars. We figured the police
marked the boundary of trouble. We
learned later that there was no boun-
dary and that the police must have
known as little about what was hap-
pening as we did.
We drove northeast on Clairmount,
other cars both in front and behind,
still feeling safe. There was a fire to
our left about two-and-a-half blocks
past Woodward, a fire truck parked on
the right, and fire hose stretched across
the street. The flames were rising three
stories high and leaning wildly over the
sidewalk. As we got closer we realized
that the fire was out of control and
that the fire truck had been abandon-
ed.There were crowds of black people
milling about on both sides of the
street, may'be 200 to one side of a block.
The first rock hit us a moment later as
we passed John R. Street. Within a few
seconds, we heard five or six thuds,
glass shattering, and our photographer,
Bill Copi, crying, "I've been hit!" We
sped ahead and then turned right
onto Bush, about 15 or 20 blacks chas-
ing after us for a block.
WE WEREN'T SURE whether we were
safe yet. There was some traffic on
Brush just as there had been on Clair-
mount. But, as we now realized, all the
cars' occupants wereMblack. Luckily the
street was wide and residential, traf-
° -ic flowed smoothly, and there were few
people walking the streets or sitting on
doorsteps. We pulled to the curb at
Philadelphia and Beaubien to assess
damage, tape Copi's arm, and get some
shots of the car. Within minutes we
noticed a knot of young blacks form-
ing a half-block away. We hurriedly
jumped back into the car and spurted
away.
Turning onto Grand Boulevard we
thought we had reached safety. There
were well-kept apartment houses,
whites as well as blacks on the street,
and lots of traffic. But within a few
blocks of Henry Ford Hospital, we saw

our first National Guard. We parked
between Lawton and Linwood and

walked over to the nine guardsmen sta-
tioned at the corner of Linwood and
Grartd. Some were sitting on the grass,
some standing around, and two were
searching and 'questioning a Negro
man and his wife. All had rifles, bayon-
ets fixed.
We showed them our press cards.
The corporal, who seemed to be in
charge, looked the cards over, looked
at,us, and fulminated, "The University
of Michigan don't. eat shit around here.
There's a 9:00 curfew. It applies to
white and black." Gostony. asked
whether there had been any trouble
there. "Some sniper fire. Now, are you
going?"
We tried to talk to several people
on our way back to the car. The whites
didn't want to stop. We did manage to
talk to several Negroes. Al, a sportily
dressed man about 25, said simply, "I'm
going home, locking my door, and going
to bed. I don't want nothing to do with
this mess."
One group of white people to whom
,we were talking was ordered inside
by a grizzled custodian who claimed
police authority. When asked who gave
him his orders he replied curtly,
"That's my business." As we took notes
a Negress caustically added: "Taking
notes is da wrong thing to do."
Another man, dressed in work clothes,
looking haggard, came over to us as we
talked to Al. We were standing in front
of our car, the shattered window clear-
ly visible from the sidewalk. It was
that, we think, that attracted him. He
was 27, had worked at Ford, and ad-
mitted with some pride that he'd been
looting that afternoon. He explained
the riots this way: "We done had
enough. If whitey don't give us what's
ours right now, we goin' to take it or
leave it burnin'. . . . I can't stand the
layoffs, the heat, the rats, the fuzz
cussin' you out anymo' .... I saw my
brothers throwin' rocks and bustin'
up stores and I saw my chance .... No
furniture 'store ever done me no fav-
ors.",
WE GOT BACK into the car and con-
tinued west on Grand. It was about
9:40. The corporal had said it was safe
to the west. Pretty soon we were back
in the ghetto and feeling nervous. We
passed an operating bus and that made
us feel safer.
Grand becomes Tireman just beyond
Grand River. We continued down Tire-
man heading toward Dearborp-passed
Livernois, and-within three blocks of
Dearborn, passed a burned out store,
an abandoned fire truck, and two po-
licemen armed with rifles. We made a
u-turn on Tireman and headed back
towards Livernois. We saw a store being
looted within a block of the police. The
street was empty of cars.
There were five Negro youths at the
corner as we made a right onto Liver-
nois. One shouted, "Hey, look at that!"
as the others began to move toward
our ear. We stepped down hard on the
accelerator.
We drove down Livernois to Fort,
turned right on Fort, and kept going
till Detroit was far behind. There were
burglar alarms ringing all along Liv-
ernois. It was plain that the riot had
spread to the whole city.
-MICHAEL DAVIS

-HENRY GOSTONY

,A

S. . . and as a part of our 'sister-cities program' ...

Letters to the Editor

0

Motorcycles
This is a letter sent to Wal-
ter P. Krasny, Ann Arbor chief
of police:
We do not make a habit of,
writing letters of complaint; in
fact, neither of us has ever before
written one. But recently some-
thing happened which seems to
reflect a deplorable situation, and
we know of no other way to bring
it to the attention of those who
may be able to do something to
correct it.
My husband and I have been
married for three years. He is a
student in pre-law and I am a le-
gal secretary for two prominent
Ann Arbor lawyers. We vote, pay
our taxes, and take a fairly ac-
tive Interest in community affairs.
We are no different from hun-
dreds of other young married
couples in town except, perhaps,
in one respect: insteal of owning
a car. we ride a motorcycle. Last
year, in order for my husband to
be able to stay in school, we
found it necessary to cut many
financial corners. This included
getting rid of our "gas guzzling
dinosaur" and getting transpor-
tation which was less expensive
to run, maintain, and insure. We
settled on a motorcycle, despite
the occasional inconvenience and
the additional drawback of the
severe winter climate.
ON THE EVENING of July 4,
like most other Ann Arbor fam-
ilies, we went out to see the fire-
works. We rode to Buhr Park and
turned off Packard Road on to
the edge of the park beside a
group of ,parked cars, the one im-
mediately to our right being own-
ed and occupied by some close
friends of ours. At this point a
policeman came over and angrily
told us tq "Get that motorcycle
out of here." We were somewhat
taken aback by his seemingly bel-
licose manner, but asked politely
if there were some reason we
could not parr there since it seem-
ed all right for cars to do so.
"Yes," he said, his tone now
growing increasingly louder and
more belligerent, "because I said
so! I'm not going to have a
motorcycle in here!" We were
shocked by his offensive attitude
and tried to find out what the
problem was. He continued to bel-
low at us in spite of my husband's
attempts to calm him, and as by-

standers were beginning to gath-.
er, in order to avoid further em-
barrassment, I got off the bike
and my husband started to take
it away. As he did so he quietly
asked the officer for his badge
number. The officer leaned down,
thrust his face to within a short
distance of my husband's face,
and said loudly and meanacingly
"1-1-5." My husband then turned
the bike around (no easy task
since the officer was standing in
his way) and took it out of the
area.
Please understand that we have
never before been treated with
such rudeness. Badge No. 115
conducted the'entire conversation
in loud, offensive tones. We don't
know what personal problems he
may have had which prompted
him to act in this manner, but we
both very much resent his taking
his frustrations out on us simply
because we were on a motorcycle.
Perhaps he had some good reason
for not allowing us to park-inthat
particular place. If so, he need
only have explained in civil tones
and we would have gladly moved.
We have, however, reached the
conclusion that there was no good
reason, save this officer's own
prejudice. We observed no signs
posted prohibiting motorcycles,
nor any signs posting theeareaas
private parking. Cars were allow-
ed to park there, both before and
after we were so rudely turned
away, and the presence of our
friends indicates that this was
not a restricted parking area. We
were simply not allowed to park
there because we were on a mo-
torcycle. This is discrimination,
pure and simple. Our vehicle is
fully licensed.
However, let us suppose that
this was a restricted parking area,
though not posted, and our
friends were mistakenly allowed
to park there. It seems to us that
anyone being turned away, no
matter what his mode of trans-
portation, would at least deserve
to know why he was being turned
away, and to be told why in a
courteous and civilized manner.
The type of invective we were
forced to undergo is not only
comletely unnecessary, but when
coming from a policeman is
doubly shocking. It is indeed a
sad situation when an officer of
the law can use his position to
harass and humiliate citizens. Is

this what our taxes are being
used for? We have heard in the
past of certain strong-arm tactics
used by the Ann Arbor Police
Department, but we have ignored
these reports thinking they were
greatly exaggerated. Most police
officers with whom we have come
in contact here have been pleas-
ant and polite. It is regrettable
that the actions of a few, like
Badge No. 115, are often those
which impress people the most.
because it must surely make the
job of dealing with the public
much more difficult for those who
conscientiously use the courteouse
approach.
We are willing to accept the
fact that .there are motorcyclists
who travel in gangs rnd cause
trouble. We don't like it any bet-
ter than you do. We know there
are motorcyclists who tear up
towns and smoke marijuana and
conduct love-ins, because we read
about them in. the paper, just like
you do. But we also know there
are people who drive cars for
transportation or bowl for recrea-
tion who do these same things.
Their mode of transportation is
completely irrelevant. It may sur-
prise you that of all the motor-
cyclists we have met while own-
ing a bike ourselves, we don't
know one who engages in those
activities-or even so much as
paints a symbol on his leather
jacket. Those hard-riding ruffians
are publicized to the extent that
they appear to be much more.
numerous than they are. In ac-
tuality they represent only a tiny
percentage of the nation's motor-
cyclists. The great majority of us
are peaceful, law-abiding citizens.
IF MEMBERS of the Ann Ar-
bor Police Department cannot
recognize this fact, then perhaps
it should be brought to their at-
tention in their basic training
courses. And if particular police-
men have been allowed to go
through life without learning the
basic rules of courtesy and civil-
ity, at least to the extent that
they can overcome their preju-
dices when dealing with the pub-
lic in an official capacity, then
they should be dismissed - for
their attitudes and actions reflect
poorly on the Police Department
and every man in it as well as on
the City of Ann Arbor.
-Mrs.,Gary D. Williams

9, 1966). In 1966: 637,000 ton of bombs (nearly equal to the 656,000
tons dropped by the U.S. in the Pacific theater for the whole period
of World War ID were dropped. The people of South Vietnam took
a major share of it. (U.S. News and World Report, January 2, 1967).
LEAVING THE HUMANITARIAN reasons alone, although they
;,e most important to me, the bombing of South Vietnam made by the
U.S. Air Force on behalf of the Saigon government must be condemned
for the following reasons:
-Political: The 'Saigon government always since 1954 claimed
jurisdiction over all territory South of the 17th parallel. By the same
token, the Saigon government has the duty to protect its citizens and
if a Vietnamese village in the South comes under the Viet Cong's
control, it proves that- the Saigon government fails to its duty and the
fault is not on the Vietnamese peasantsi To bomb its own citizens,
especially by a foreign power, the Saigon government denies itself its
duty and its legitimacy it claimed. And when a Vietnamese villager
joins the Viet Cong, it is not only because he is not protected but mostly
because he is oppressed by the government officials. Can a drunken
father who cannot protect his daughter from attack hire a gunman to
shoot her? If he so does, how can he claim to be a father?
-Military: No one denies that the war in South Vietnam is a war
without fronts. Saigon may hold a village to day and the same village
may to-morrow slip to the Viet Cong control. Excluding the too numer-
ous "accidents" which have already killed so many innocent in the
villages controlled by Saigon, the bombings of "suspected" Viet Cong
villages is the surest way -to turn the villages into Viet Congs. I was
told often by ,the responsible (I must say irresponsible rather) author-
ities, that the villages are always warned before the bombing. If that
is true, why then bomb the village? If the non-Viet Cong heed the
warning, so are naturally the Viet Cong? Who is left there to be
bombed?
WHEN I DISCUSSED this problem recently wtih a Vietnamese
who was a senior officer in the ARVN (Army Republic of Vietnam,
South Vietnam Army) he told me: "The ARVN officers asked the U.S.
to bomb because their soldiers do not want to fight the'Viet Cong.
In a battle where air-planes and artillery are used extensively you can-
not be blamed for defeat and you can always exaggerte the enemy
casualties and make a good report to your superior for promotion."
"Why don't the soldiers want to fight the Viet Cong? Are they pro-
Viet Cong?" His reply was: "The soldiers do not want to fight the
Viet Cong because they know that their leaders are corrupted and un-
patriotic." In other words, in this case, the Vietnamese peasants have
to die of naplam because of the corruption of the Saigon government.
To me, to demand for the cessation of bombing of North Vietnam
is not enough. 'Ihe bombing must be stopped both North and South.
music
in RigyhtDi rectio ns~

4

10

The Philosophy of Force

By A. C. FELIX
The second of the School of
Music's four concerts of "Contem-
porary Directions" was as success-
ful as the first. It was not as
spectacular, however, since the
music' performed was -all instru-
mental-not tapes, no films, no
choreography.
Morton Feldman's very soft
"Four Instruments" was a poor
choice for an opener simply be-
cause the sound of a late arrival
opening the door was sufficient to
drown out two or three bars of it.
Even the normally unobtrusive
air-conditioner sounded like a gale
3as the audience strained to catch
the exquisitely tiny, delicately ar-
ranged glimmers of sound emana-
ting from the stage.
Although the composer had
given only one dynamic marking-
triple-piano-there was actually
considerable variation in loudness,
ranging from an ordinary pianis-
simo to a quituple-piano inaudible
without a stethoscope. This varia-
tion did not hurt the piece; in-
deed, it even aided the conception.
Larry Austin's "Current" for
clarinet and piano ,represents
something of the opposite pole, for
it is mostly quite loud and harsh.
The clarinet part is ferociously
difficult but extremely idiomatic,
involving such effects as harmonic
squeaks, buzzes, and a cloth

Boguslaw Schaffer does even
better with a still more difficult
medium in his "Four Pieces for
String Trio." Each of the four
short movements is based on a
single instrumental idea (glissan-
do, pizzicato, etc.), and the four
ideas come together only in the
final moments of the piece, thus
utaining interest all the way
through.
"Knocking Piece" by Ben John-
ston consists entirely of percus-
sive sounds produced on the body
and sounding board of a piano
by hard marimba sticks. There
was a surprising affective content'
to the piece, which conjured up
images of stealthy footsteps, pan-
icked running, sinister knocks at
the door and so forth. An other-
wise excellent performance was
marred when one of the players
lost the head of his marimba
stick and was thereafter reduced
to producing feeble clicks with
what remained of it.
The two largest and most con-
servative works on the program
were Daniel Perlongo's recently-
completed "Movement" and Bruno
Maderna's "Serenata N. 2." The
former work showed only that a
mixed diet of Varese and Webern
can result in indigestion, since
the work shows the influence of
both composers and the greatness
of neither.
The Maderna (which has been

I4

Newark's nghts of rioting, loot-
ing and killing are terrible and
tragic scars no American can
soon forget Just as tragic would
be the failure to grasp what ac-
tually happened and why.
So far, every analysis I have
seen has gone only to the surface
matters of jobs, police-community
relations and ordinarily crimin-
ality.
Negroes have been jobless be-
fore and in other places, and they
did not riot and kill. Police have
had far less favorable a reputa-
tion in other cities, and there
was no insurrection. Criminals
have waited on the fringe of every
civil riturhane. but lnnting and

the mayor's already long list of
special advisory groups, we might
as well be doing nothing in terms
of the long-run, honest facing of
the problem.
Cancer is not cured by applying
salve and a bandage. and insur-
rection will not be quieted under
a patchwork quilt of panic pro-
grams.
Let me suggest two matters, one
philosophical and one terribly
pragmatic, that should be consid-
ered by anyone looking deeper
than the surface in these matters.
First is the possibility that such
riots are bred in a philosophical
rather than 'social" disturbance.
Thi i s he nant of fnrp nd

philosophy of government "giving"
has replaced all notions of in-
dividual "doing," there is a clear
logic in using force to force the
government to use its own force
to force other people to come up
with solutions or, at least, a sup-
posedly satisfying sacrifice of in-
dividual lives and livelihoods to
the needs of the group.
Second is the far from philo-
sophical matter of urban guerril-
la warfare. In virtually every oth-
er nation on earth political power
has, as, the Communists sagely
say, come from the barrel of a gun.
Guerrilla warfare has been a
modern, reflection of that tech-
nique in about three dozen bloody

A

4

TP Atrutnttit Mtlli

Summer Editorial Staff
LAURENCE MEDOW..... . ........Co-Editor

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan