Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Military Coup in the Cradle of Democracy
- _* Fj
here Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth will Prevail
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.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1967
NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN GRAY
Detroit Devastation:
A New Breed of Riot
RIOTING NEGROES in Detroit are
demonstrating to the rest of the
nation that the trends of violence are
shifting away from simply spontaneous
responses to the environment to a
much more widespread and devastat-
ing form of expression.
The internal disorders of recent years
from Harlem and Rochester to Watts.
and Newark have all demonstrated a
remarkably similar pattern. In all cases
there was a triggering incident - an
actual or fantasized intimidation by
police-on a hot summer's day or night,
in the worst part of the respective city's
ghetto area. In all cases the rioting
was limited to that area, and the vast
majority of the looting, sniping and
arson was restricted to only a portion
of the Negro slum area. The racial over-
tones in all cases were easily discerni-
ble.
The current chaos in Detroit is of a
wholly different nature. Although the
disorder occurred in a depressed area
and began with the "police-intimida-
tion" triggering incident, its similarity
to other riots ends there.
" First, Detroit is different from
most other large cities in the nation.
While there are Negro slum areas, to
be sure, they are not nearly as de-
pressing as the ghettoes of Newark,
Harlem, Watts, et al. While gangs of
black youths will curse "whitey" on
cue in times of tension, race hatred is
of a much more subtle nature in De-
troit-it is, at least, less overt. More-
over, unlike other urbanized areas, De-
troit's Negro population is spread
throughout the city.
" Detroit is often referred to as a
"rich man's city," implying not total
affluence, but very few areas of total
decay. Because of the fact that 90 per
cent of the nation's automobiles are
produced in the Detroit area, there is a
relative abundance of job opportuni-
ties. The unemployment rate in the
nation's fifth largest city is noticeably
lower than that of other similar urban
areas.
THE SETTING for the rioting in De-
troit, then, is not one of seething
hatred, but, more basically, one of the
have-nots trying to equalize themselves
quickly with the haves.
Thus, when the triggering incident
occurred on Detroit's near Northwest
side, Sunday, circumstances peculiar to
Detroit were bound to color the fol-
lowing actions.
The rioting was not to be contained
in any one well-defined area; Detroit
police were unable to restrict the dis-
turbance. Where first-day rioting is
generally vented against police stations
with some concurrent looting, Detroit
witnessed widespread looting and even
more widespread arson. The Negroes
were obviously not venting themselves
against the white man so much as they
were trying to make things better for
themselves.
Instead of stealing only liquor and
guns to fire up and "get whitey," De-
troit's Negroes were showing a much
better understanding of things than
their predecessors in earlier riots: they
looted guns and liquor stores first, but
continued to loot all stores, noticeably
forgetting to give the customary def-
errence to "soul brother" shops. Within
48 hours over one thousand businesses
were cleaned out.
It also must be understood that the
looting was not confined to Detroit's
black population; whites joined in too,
producing the effect of "integrated"
theft. A case in point: the first two
deaths attributed to the rioting were
white looters shot by police on the
southern fringe of the riot area.
Only after the pillage was complete
in a given block would the fires be-
gin. As there was no one area in which
the disturbance could be restricted, the
rioting spread rapidly throughout Ne-
gro neighborhoods. Within 12 hours
from the outbreak, five square miles of
stores and houses was leveled by the
fires. The damage in this area alone
was estimated at over $150 million and
the rioting still continues.
THE DESTRUCTION of private prop-
erty in Detroit, then, tends to make
the aftermaths of Watts and Newark
look like picnics by comparison. Where
the property loss in Watts was esti-
mated at $35 million, Detroit already
has run up a bill of nearly $200 mil-
lion for fire damage alone. When the
totals from looting are compiled after
the rioting ends, totals could easily ex-
ceed $250 million, making this single
civil disorder more costly in terms of
loss of private property than all riots
in the previous three years combined.
Rioting has not been peculiar only
to Detroit proper either. "Sympathy"
riots have sprung up in Pontiac, Flint
and Grand Rapids, and the situation is
noticeably tense in the suburbs of
Roseville, Inkster and Ypsilanti.
This, also, is apparently caracterist-
ic of the new style of rioting. Where
before utter spontaneity ruled supreme,
and disorder was easily restricted to a
comparatively small area, now the
whole mass of the region's Negroes is
illustrating some de facto organiza-
tion, in that they are working together
to gain for themselves what they feel
they are unable to achieve through
peaceful methods. While not all Ne-
groes are taking part in the looting and
arson, certainly enough are-enough to
necessitate over 15,000 police, army and
National Guard members to reinstitute
law and order.
Violence has its positive effects in
forcing members of the white and Ne-
gro power structures to re-evaluate
their positions, and in hastening what-
ever progress there is to be made with-
in the present system. While we may
abhor the alternative of violence, we
must recognize that black men are
now using this as a last recourse,
over 100 years after "emancipation."
The riots of the past several years have
been a direct response to the inadequa-
cies of white America to rectify the
"Negro problem."
DEATH, OF COURSE, is the unfortu-
nate aspect of the riots. Indiscrim-
inate violence assumes that innocent
people will be killed; and death, unlike
injury or destruction, is irrevocable.
Still, violence appears to be the option
chosen by young Negroes who, unlike
their elders, refuse to stagnate and die
in a system which works, however un-
intentionally, to destroy them.
The Detroit-centered riots are dem-
onstrating to the nation that a new
form of violence has erupted. Not only
the most deprived of black men are
rioting now, and they are not rioting
totally for destructive purposes. They
are taking what they can from an area
before they destroy it, and they are
destroying unparalleled amounts of
merchandise. '
If this trend continues the nation
should prepare for future riots of a
much more devastating nature than
those of recent years. As is always said
after the first day of rioting, things
will get worse before they get better.
-JOHN LOTTIER
By VAN COUFOUDAKIS
Daily Guest Writer
The author is with the politi-
cal science department of the
University, and is a member of
the *Committee for the Restora-
tion of Democracy in Greece.
On July 15, 1965, a government
crisis erupted in Greece when Pre-
mier George Papandreou, elected
to office in February of 1964 with
the largest popular majority in
modern Greek history, was forced
to resign in a dispute with King
Constantine. Their disagreement
was over the handling of a De-
fense Department inquiry into a
secret army oficers group, in which
Mr. Papandreou's son was im-
plicated.
In reality, the political crisis of
1965 brought to a climax the long
debate of Greek politics regarding
the extent of royal prerogative and,
constitutional powers, as the Greek
Royal House has arbitrarily con-
sidered itself an active factor in
the political arena.
This political conflict was
further complicated by the United
States and British political and
financial interests in Greece and
by the close identification of the
leadership of the Greek armed
forces with the Royal House.
The political crisis of 1965 was
unduly prolonged by the King's in-
sistence in creating a series of
weak cabinets supported by the
right-wing parties and various Pa-
pandreau defectors. Popular elec-
tions were finally set for May 28,
1967. In expectation of another
Papandreou landslide, on April 21,
Greece found itself under a mil-
itary junta of four senior officers
of the Greek army. The junta de-
clared that their missionvwas " ...
to impose law, avert division and
the threatened social and moral
edstruction, and restore internal
peace and calm in order to pull the
nation out of its present im-
passe .. ."
IN SPITE OF THIS lofty decla-
ration by the Greek military, the
means currently employed to sup-
press democracy in Greece show
that their true motivation is their
ambition for absolute political
power. This is supported by the
fact that only vague references
have been made about the possi-
bility of re-establishing democ-
racy in Greece. The Parliament
has been dissolved and on May 3,
Brig. Patakos indicated "uncer-
tainty" as to whether the "new
state of Greece" was in need of a
parliament.
Meanwhile, the Greek constitu-
tion and its "Bill of Rights" have
been indefinitely suspended. The
Army High Command has been
purged of 60 per cent of its senior
members. All political parties have
been abolished and their leaders
are in conditions ranging from
"house arrest" to exile in remote
A large crowd views one of Greece's many theatre festivals. The new military
junta has banned the plays of Euripides and Aristophanes "to protect the
moral, spiritual, artistic and cultural standards of the people."
task of economic and social reha-
bilitation without resorting to a
dictatorship.
WHAT ABOUT THE position of
the United States government in
this affair? It's original reaction
was one of "regret." Unfortunately
the "selective embargo," imposed
on some arms shipments to Greece
soon after the coup seems to be
almost over, according to a recent
State Department announcement.
The mnilitary aid provided by the
United States to protect Greek
democracy from external threats
has been used to suppress democ-
racy from within. The stability so
far maintained by the junta seems
to satisfy the State Department,
while the United States' strategic
interest in the area overrides any
consideration for open American
pressure on the junta to return
the country to democratic rule.
Senator Claiborne Pell's (D-RD,
suggestion that it would be in the
long-run interest of the United
States to have a neutral and dem-
ocratic Greece rather than a gar-
rison state ally supported by Unit-
ed States money and arms, went
unnoticed. With the United States'
inaction in the early days after
the coup and at a time of a larger
crisis in the Middle East, American
and world attention was diverted
away from Greece. The junta'thus
succeeded in consolidating its posi-
tion of absolute power.
We would like to point out to
the reader that in the Committee
for the Restoration of Democrary
in Greece, we are above party pol-
itics or support of particular polit-
ical personalities in Greece. We are
alarmed by the lack of any serious
official American reaction against
the first military takeover, of a
democratic state in western Europe
since the Second World War. We
are concerned because the Greek
communists may have now found
the cause they have been searching
for in their own repeated attempts
to destroy the Greek democracy.
We are finally alarmed because
in the last thirty years we have
seen the rise of dictatorships out
of international apathy, because
as a result of this we have lived
through wars and civil unrest, be-
cause we are now once more wit-
nessing history repeating itself,
this time in Greece.
We are not mislead by the
"tranquility" that exists in Greece
since April 21. When the freedoms
of the Greeks were forcibly sup-
pressed, silence became the ulti-
mate protest for a people who took
pride in their freedom to speak,
write, and be politically active.
Greece will find no tranquility
in the future until its military
have returned to their barracks,
leaving it to the Greek public
alone to decide their political fu-
ture in free and competitive elec-
tions for all political parties.
island prisons, where many are
currently awaiting trial by "un-
biased" special military tribunals.
The number of political prisoners
as reported by The Economist
(June 17, 1967) in an interview
with Brig. Patakos, reached at one
time the figure of more than
10,000 men and women.
The Greek press is completely
censored. Of the sixteen daily
newspapers of Athens, two have
been permanently closed down by
the junta. In protest, four others
are not publishing, but the re-
maining daily papers are currently
filled with uniform praise for the
new regime. The censorship has
expanded to include even the
Greek theater to "protect the,
moral, spiritual, artistic and cul-
tural standards of the people."
This was done by reviving an "ex-
isting law," a decree promulgated
during the 1942 Nazi occupation of
Greece. Now, twenty-five hundred
years after they were written, the
masterpieces of Aristophanes and
Euripides have been banned in
their native land.
Freedom of assembly and speech
are also denied to the Greeks.
Meanwhile Greeks living abroad,
who do and can still criticize the
new regime, have been branded as
"traitors" who "have denied their
own country" and as "communists
or paid foreign agents' by Brig.
Patakos. Melina Mercouri lost her
Greek citizenship and had her
property expropriated in Greece
because, while in the United States,
she has publicly condemned the
military dictatorship. Greek stu-
dents abroad have been given a
stern warning not to criticize the
new regime, with implied threats
on their parents in Greece, in a
Greek bulletin distributed by the
Embassy's Information Service
from Washington on June 26. No
one is thus allowed to disagree
with the moral and political editcs
handed down by the infallible
leaders of Greece who have just
rediscovered the Divine Right of
Kings.
THE UNIVERSITIES and col-
leges in Greece are purged of pro-
fessors who show "disloyalty to the
prevailing social regime or na-
tional ideals." The music of Mikis
Theodorakis, a world famous Greek
composer, has been banned from
the state radio, and playing his
records is a crime punishable by a
military tribunal. Yannis Ritsos,
an elder poet of Greece, with
many Euroepan literary prizes, is
also under arrest for his free
verse.
The ilegal Greek regime, backed
by the force of Americansupplied
armor, is now attempting to revise
the constitution it suppressed. A
handpicked "Committee of Ex-
perts" is now working to apply the
junta's guidelines into a constitu-
tional framework, which may be
put to a referendum, if approved
by the military. It is doubtful
whether a constitutional revision,
approved by a referendum under
present conditions can truly claim
thte public's support. Assuming
that certain constitutional amend-
ments may contribute toward fu-
ture political stability in Greece,
this can be more effectively done
by a freely elected assembly. Ref-
erendums have been used by other
dictators and their political in-
variably met with unqualified
"popular approval."
Whatever the claims of the junta
may have been about the serious-
ness of the Greek political and
economic conditions prior to April
21, the means chosen by them to
bring about changes are unwar-
ranted by the actual situation. In
the late forties, Greece met Com-
munist aggression in three full
years of fighting and faced the
I
4
4
4
.................. "... tY.t:V.tVl: rl: J"..44V, ""': JIJt:L':: V:l:'"': ": """"N:'::J j':J!'"t:5 :::l::Ah5::4'.:Jl:::.4.5'::J:..:...::..4.1:J.""."""""""""""""""V:::.54:".44t V::l: J:.:V: """""""""""""NY: """'":.:V:J. ..Wl::.": LV: N:: V!!.".'1:::"4WLJJ'":1tlN.M1'JY V::5MX1, '
" .. ..... J. ...t;t:.:J1J ........ .. ....... ............. .................... .......:.":: M1454VJ1:l:A............, ........f:hVIJIJJJN..:..:JNA....."..........".............. . .. .............5... ...5.".. ...1.4.........l.A 5 L" Y! 1% . ' Vf :.
.......5 .. ...................... . ............................"............................".... ...M1.................V "V J"J:....JJ.I.. {. V.:.1 .. ...": .Y.. ,.. V.:. ,{....l.. ... ..........". . . .t L .J".
.. J .............. h... .:! . ...... ...................... ...,.,............. . ...................... ...........h. ..,........,.........:,...,.."............ ..................:"......"J".."...h.5..:,:....1.5:.:...ll.:.l""t".th11J".."A...45:...:.,tV.:l....hA tth.". A..". M.. }.... . ....5.. .r .4.5. .1"L.h.{ .5.'iSfY."n !.:J'OM1LSM: ii:::i:.: '.
}
G
a icac s Besse i*n Gray Flannel Sul*ts
By BETSY TURNER
What is a radical professional
-and what does a supposedly "so-
cially aware and politically con-
scious" teacher, lawyer, doctor or
social worker have to do to qual-
ify for this title?
Although a wide expanse of
questions facing this "class of
workers"-the radical profession-
als-were discussed here last week
at the Conference on Radicals in
the Professions sponsored by the
Radical Education Project, this
one was inexcusably neglected, be-
cause everyone attending thought
he was already a radical.
However, after taking a good
look at the questions which gain-
ed top priority positions at the
conference, it is evident that no
considerable radical social change
will gain its momentum from the
professional group as it now
stands.
JUDGING from those attending
the conference, a radical profes-
sional is a man who professes to
support a "radical" analysis of so-
ciety-and sees the need for dras-
tic change-but also one who has
a distinct stake in continuation of
existing social institutions. He is
often a doctor or lawyer who sym-
pathizes with the community or-
ganizer, but somehow can't bring
himself to go out into the field.
And, where is this man predom-
inantly found? In the middle or
upper middle class.
Many members of the profes-
sional group are sympathetic to
the "movement" causes and many
have made an effort to aid them.
But few-and these few have long
since left the middle class-sup-
port it wholeheartedly.
One difficult task. of the con-
ference, and one which was nev-
er accomplished -- was defining
what it means to be "radical" and
"professional" at the same time.
In the traditional sense, a radi-
cal, sometimes termed a revolu-
tionary, is pictured by the out-
side world, as well as by these rad-
ical professionals, as sporting a
torn workshirt, heavy boots and
a three-dav growth of beard. He
be found everywhere at the con-
ference. One observer attending a
workshop dealing with the health
professions, noted:
"Everyone discussed all the won-
derful medical organizations in
the slums and the anti-war move-
ment among doctors, but, when
someone frankly asked if the es-
tablished doctors in the room
would be willing to live on only
a $12,000 income, silence sudden-
ly prevailed."
: ANOTHER SOLUTION to the
dilemma of a middle class income
and how "radical consciences" can
be relieved, was offered by Mike
Zweig, Grad, in a paper prepared
especially for the conference deal-
ing with radicals as University
professors.
"A starting assistant professor
these days can expect to make on
the order of $10,000 an academic
year, more than three times the
income of teaching fellows, re-
search assistants or other student
types," he stated. "If we learn to
give away, say 10 per cent an
academic year of this income
quickly, before we learn to spend
it, a substantial sum could be
raised internally for the move-
ment."
Perhaps this is where radical
professional must start-at the 10
per cent deduction level.
The question of what it means
to be radical and still maintain
a middle class life style-and if,
in fact, it can be done-was fin-
ally met headon in a conference
discussion, but not until late Sun-
day afternoon. Only 25 people par-
ticipated in the debate.
SOME GENERAL, but impor-
tant issues were pinpointed, and
agreed upon, such as:
-The deadening influence ex-
ercised by the middle class way
of life;
-The time needed to support a
middle class life style which de-
ducts energy from radical work;
- The extreme pressure to
maintain, at all costs, the secur-
ity which accompanies a middle
class status which ultimately pre-
vents expression of radical ideas.
However, this idea was purely
speculative and was not gener-
ally viewed as a viable alterna-
tive.
IN SPITE of these observations,
the Conference on Radicals in the
Professions-though, perhaps mis-
named-was useful in that it pro-
vided an area for discussion of
common problems, presentation of
new concepts, and challanges and
some re-evaluation of so-called ex-
isting radical programs.
A few community organizers,
private community teachers and
others working outside the sys-
tem also attended. This provid-
ed a means for valuable interac-
tion between two groups that us-
ually have little contact.
Seventeen papers containing nu-
merous constructive suggestions
for action were prepared before
the conference was held and dis-
tributed to those attending. If
acted upon, these also may prove
valuable.
The conference, then, made it
painfully evident that radical pro-
fessionals - or, more correctly,
those who think they are radicals
-are not, in any sense, compon-
ents of a radical social movement.
Some basic questions have yet
to be answered, and in many
cases, have not even been asked.
Some of these questions were
touched on during the weekend
but, by no means exhausted.
The conference was a begin-
ning-but only a meager begin-
ning.
. Y
yrer .>
x.i.
r a~r ! ,i ' ' * Ala
1 '
U""r idj~w Iar~
Summer Editorial Staff
LAURENCE MEDOW ....................... Co-Editor
STEPHEN FIRSHEIN........................Co-Editor
MARK LEVIN ............ Summer Supplement Editor