LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
(Tr irmtan Bail
Seventy-nine years of editorial f reedomn
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
420 Maynard St , Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
E-diturtal2 printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
'Sick and
To the Editor: He w
I'M GETTING sick and tired of and cor
self-righteous whites. And Michael cally, i
Davis' letter didn't help a bit. wouldb
were no
I know Michael Davis. Michael
Davis is a self-righteous, con- NOW
descending white. Any ex
If his statements had not been posure<
so filled with innuendo and malice, ularly
I would have ignored them and black w
him and his queer notions that I have th
want to join hands with him and He is
The Daily. that th+
Why did Davis (who has no of- or vote
ficial connection with SGC) take taken. F
it upon himself to respond so vote on
malevolently to my article on the merit a
duplicity of SGC? (Daily, Nov. 9.) his maE
Because Davis, (though he is too Well,
much of a pussy-footer to actually are not'
run for any office) felt personally store w
affronted by my view, peoplet
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 1969
tired of self-righteous whites'
NIGHT EDITOR: MARCIA ABRAMSON
The Nixonization of the War
rites election rules, bylaws,
nstitutions for SGC. Logi-
t must fellow that they
be perfect. Obviously, they
ot.
, DAVIS has raw nerves.
posure of SGC is an ex-
of him. It must be partic-
galling for him to see a
ho he did not want on SGC
e audacity to criticize it
samong those who believe
1e outcome of an election
must be known before it is
He does not like those who
each issue for its own
nd not because it fits into
ster plan.
I repeat-Two elections
better than one. The book-
as a trivial issue for 107
to go to jail for, whether
The6 Nixoiization of protest
Don't apologtze
for protesting
By LORNA CHEROT
WHAT WAS originally conceived as a demonstration of adamant
determination on the part of a not-so-few-minority for immediate
cessation of American compliance with genocide in Vietnam is being
transformed into an apologetic if-you-don't-mind expression of tepid
disagreement.,
The Justice Dept. garners "top secret intelligence" reports on "sub-
versives" who plan to infiltrate the ranks of the "misguided, basically
good youths" of America and lead them on a rampage of looting and
street rioting. Scare stories speculating on a possible storming of the
White House, sabotage of the Defense Department and kidnapping of
top level government officials spread like brush fire throughout the
federal government and the nation.
The federal pigs in suits, bent on "protecting the citizens of Wash-
ington," brace the city for an attack supposedly to parallel the May-
June revolution of France two years ago, by calling up army battalions
and regiments 'in case of emergency."
Mobe leaders, instead of reacting with due indignation, succumb
to the terror tactic tales by negotiating with the Attorney General's
office for a permit to hold the march on a more obscure street than
Pennsylvania Avenue, and devise methods to weed out the "undesir-
ables."
"Some suggest that the protesters wave Old Glory instead of bear-
ing inflamatory placards."
Others caution their ranks to move away from anyone acting ob-
noxious, and field marshalls will be stationed so they can point out
the nasties to our buddy, the local flatfoot.
While they are at it, why don't the protesters sing the Marine Hymn
or the Battle Hymn of the Republic? Maybe placards announcing con-
trition-"Forgive us Spiro for we know not we do"--will ease the
veep's rancid tongue.
Better yet, all can kneel in the gutters and pray as an appeal to
the former candidate for the governorship of California's Quakerish in-
clination towards peace.
Even more repugnant than the "play the Mister Nice Guy" recom-
mendation of local Mobe leaders, is the suggestion that demonstrators
grin, bow their heads, shuffle their feet-and do nothing to resist
police harassment and provocation. The rationale for this passive
resistance is to cast Mr. Nixon in the role of the Blue Meanie, and
expose him to the "silent majority" for the son-of-a-bitch that he
really is.
The idea of bearing an unwarranted beating might be acceptable if
it would succeed in accomplishing the reasoned end.
But the "silent majority"hare not about to cast aside their new-
found champion Automaton Dick, and his sidekick spokesman Hoof-
and-Mouth Spiro It is difficult to reject men who spark the soul with
give'em hell language like "ideological eunuchs" and exhude such
savoir faire and confidence.
Besides, the silent majority relishes the sight of split skulls and
pent-up pinkos, and if it weren't for their apathy they would pick up
a club or turn the lock.
Even Mayor Richard Daley's ill repute was relatively shortlived
after the maul at the Democratic convention in Chicago last year, and
somehow managed to shift the blame of the pig riot from his shoulders
to that of the mass media.
Whatever happens in Washington, the government will manipulate
and distort the "facts" to cast a shadow on protest actions. (If some-
thing wrong happens to Apollo 12, protesters will surely be blamed for
that.) And the undiscerning silent majority will lap it up.
The Nov. 15 demonstrators are vehemently opposed to the exten-
sion and fostering of American imperialism, are abhorred by the blood-
letting, are tired of the Nixon hoax. They are angry young rebels, and
there should be no doubt in the minds of government officials and the
silent majority-concerning their position, intentions and unequivocal
refusal to compromise on the issue of unilateral withdrawal.
Above all, they must act to protect themselves and not retreat
in the face of unwarranted onslaught by government forces.
you look at it as a student power
issue or as an economic issue.
A CLOSE reading of my article
will show that I did not ask for
white support for any issue,
I simply said that black admis-
sions and curriculum reform were
issues that were obviously more
radical issues than the bookstore
issue (as a student power issue)
And Davis had to agree. So what
was his contention?
Davis wants blacks to join hands
with whites. In blunt terms, if
blacks would be the fall guys and
put their heads under Harvey's
billy club, Davis and his fellow
travelers would raise bail money
and pay the doctor bills and write
about it in The Daily.
This is cooperation? Well, dig it
Davis-your days of vicarious
thrills are over. I will not cooper-
ate with you. Likewise, black stu-
dents at the University say NO to
you. We will not provide The Daily
with gory black(?) headlines.
WE HAVE decided not to join
hands and this is what Davis is
really fuming about,
We won't let him in because he
wants to take over, As long as he
knows Stokely better than we do
because he read the book; as long
as he calls us names on the one
hand and wants us to play fall guy
on the other-Hell No!
As youi greygrandmother said:
"In order to have a friend, you
must be a friend (Right on, gran).
If Davis will "do the darkies a
favor," I wil do the honkies a
favor.
But considering the past record
that honkies have established, they
will have to do the "darkies" more
than one "favor" first. (No more
preachments from on high would
be a good start, Mr. Davis.) DIG.
-Darryl Gorman
SGC
Nov. 12
Off the record
To the Editor:
HAVING ATTENDED the lec-
ture given by Mr. Kreisberg of
the United States Department of
State, we would like to call to
your attention the fact that Mr.
Kreisberg specifically requested
that all of his comments be kept
off the books, so that hie might
speak more freely.
He, and most others, assumed
that his request would be granted.
We feel that The Daily's article
on Mr. Kreisberg's lecture, appear-
ing in the issue of Friday, Novem-
ber 7, 1969, containing quotes
from his speech, is a direct viola-
tion of his rights and breach of
promise.
We hope that this article will
not discourage others who might
speak. but who wish to remain off
the record, from speaking here.
-Dennis Affholter, '72
-Elizabeth Marvin, '73
Nov. 11
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Although the
Daily prefers that lecturers speak
always for publication, we do honor
explicit requests for off the record
omtments. However, the article on
qtr. Kresiberg appeared due to a
misunderstanding between the re-
porter and the managing editors.
An apology has been made to Mr.
Kreisberg.)
Racism
To the Editor:
IT'S COOL THAT The Daily
feels bad a b o u t imperialism in
South America, but until The
Daily starts learning the differ-
ence between racism and preju-
dice, and stops trying to ignore
the fact that there are black peo-
ple in Ann Arbor, The Daily will
still only be an arm of the ma-
chine that oppresses t h e black,
Advice to marchers
THE MASS MARCH in Washington Saturday is intended to
be a peaceful, non-violent protest. All organizations taking
part have agreed to this. This is a legal assembly; there is a
permit to march. March Marshals (wearing white T-shirts and/
or armbands) have instructions for dealing with possible incidents
during the march.
IN PREPARATION
1)bCarry a ball-point pen fo writing down emergency phone
numbers, names, etc.
2) Carry a dime in your shoe or taped to your arm, for use
in case of arrest.
3) Carry at least $15, preferably in traveler's checks, to avoid
arrest for vagrancy.
4) Carry medical information '- your blood type and any
information concerning particular health problems like allergies,
diabetes, etc.- on your person.
5) Carry a wet rag or handkerchief, soaked preferably in,
lemon juice or vinegar, in a plastic bag, for use in covering your
nose and mouth in the event that tear gas is used.
6) If you have to wear glasses, fasten them to your head
by a strap around the back. Do not wear contact lenses.
7) Be sure you have the registration and insurance papers
if you are driving.
8) Do not wear earrings, necklaces, buttons with pins, or
long coats.
9) Do not wear helmets. Most marchers will not have hel-
mets on, and those wearing them may be singled out if there
is any trouble from the police.
DURING THE MARCH
1> Cooperate with the marshals and follow their instructions.
2) Stop, with force if necessary, anyone in the march who
starts throwing rocks, bottles, etc. at police, or who starts yelling
"get the pigs." Such people are most probably police agents. The
marshals are instructed to isolate and separate such people from
the march. Help them in this.
3) Never run in mass groups. A running crowd is very
dangerous to itself.
IN CASE OF INJURY
In case of injury, either to yourself or to others, make sure
that the injured person gets to a medic, and that the medic knows
what happened. Injuries, especially blows on the head, may seem
slight and yet be very serious. Let the medics decide whether
the person needs medical attention; don't make this decision
yourself, or you may deprive the injured of medical help which
he needs.
IN CASE OF ARREST
1) You need give only your name and address to police.
Any other information may be used against you in court.
2) Do not say anything else except to insist upon legal
counsel.
3) Make your phone call(s) productive. Commit a local
phone number, such as that of the Michigan Movement Center,
to memory, or write it on your arm so that you will remember
it. Tell the person answering the phone your name, where you
are being held, and what the charges are.
4) If you are not permitted to make a phone call, tell the
judge when you are brought before him. Insist upon legal counsel.
5) If the police who arrest you are wearing badges, try to
remember their badge numbers and write the numbers down on
your arm at the first opportunity.
The probability of violence, arrests, tear gas, etc. is very low,
since there is a legal permit to march. Hopefully, this informa-
tion will not be needed.
rf'HE GOVERNMENT'S decision Tuesday
to "compromise" with peace protest-
ers and allow a march down Pennsylvan-
ia Ave. should come as a mild relief to
those who feared the administration was
recklessly encouraging frustration and
provoking violence this week.
Because protesters will be allowed an
area in which to demonstrate, the possi-
bility of violence has been reduced. If a
parade is held, dissent can be channeled
in an orderly manner and marchers will
be assured some degree of security.
'IN FACT, of course, the administration
has not really compromised at all. It
has instead grudgingly tolerated the right
to protest which government is obliged to
guarantee. And the Justice Department
has progressed from denying basic free-
doms to permitting a limited show of dis-
sen t.
It is worth noting further that the ad-
ministration has refused to yield on one
question - that of allowing the demon-
stration to pass by the White House. In
his "small and symbolic" way, the Presi-
dent seems to be making a point.
He h a s maneuvered demonstrators
away from his sanctuary so that the resi-
dence of the President will not be the ob-
ect of, or identified with, the protest. Al-
though Nixon himself is apt to abandon
Pennsylvania Ave. for the calmer clime of
Key West over the long weekend, he does
not seem to want his mansion associated
with the great vocal minority,
Throughout the negotiations, Nixon
and his Justice Department have placed
themselves in an unique position. T h e
President - undoubtedly to the delight
of the masses - has taken a hard line on
dissent; he has decided that he must be-
come the arbiter of constitutional free-
doms.
At the same time, Nixon has deigned
to grant protesters their rights. After due
supplications f r o m Mobilization organ-
izers, the earlier ruling by the attorney
general has been reversed.
NOW, IF VIOLENCE erupts, he will be
able to tell America, "I told you so.'
If the demonstration is peaceful and im-
pressive, he will say he showed how de-
mocracy could work.
He has really done just the opposite.
By attempting to' make himself master
of both the war and the peace movements
to a disturbing degree, Nixon h a s pre-
empted the prerogative of the B i l1 of
Rights. It is frightening that an Ameri-
can President sees himself empowered to
allocate basic rights, rather than feeling
obliged to protect them.
-HENRY GRIT
Editor
brown and colored people at home
and all over the world.
In yesterday's Daily, there was
an article about a coalition plan-
ning local actions in Ann Arbor.
It mentioned seven groups in the
coalition, but only named three of
them. The Black Berets, of course,
were one of the groups The Daily
chose not to name. After all why
should The Daily care about nig-
gers like Bobby Seale or the Ann
Arbor 6? Black people are only
the focus of repression in the
United States and are also more
oppressed by the war than any
other group in the U.S.
THE ARTICLE also named an
organization called People Against
Prejudice and said that somebody
f r o m that organization was to
speak at the Ann Arbor N e w s
demonstration on Friday. Well
we've never heard of that organ-
ization, and we certainly wouldn't
want a n y of their members to
speak for us. We're talking about
RACISM, m a n; that's People
Against Racism. If you Daily peo-
ple don't know the difference be-
tween racism and prejudice, you
better stop printing your paper
until you learn:
The article then went on to say
that we're going to protest against
"what they charge is corruption
in American mass media." There's
a lot of that, I don't doubt, but
what we want to call to the at-
tention of the American people is
the role of mass media in racism.
repression, and the War. I'm sure
you people at The Michigan Daily
know what we're talking about.
ANYONE WISHING to discuss
the above is welcome to attend our
workshops from 9-12 a.m. tomor-
row at St. Andrew's Church on
Division at Catherine, and to
march on the Ann Arbor News
with us at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the
Ann Arbor News Bldg.
-Tova Klein
Nov. 12
NICHOLAS VON HOFFMAN
The rulers of Washington v.
the children of rational violence
WASHINGTON
A CA MINE CLOUD is in the air
over Washington. The fear that
something very bad will happen Sa-
turday. The fear of violence.
Our first reaction to the thought
of political violence is to consign
i to the fiwld of pathology. The
violent, we say, are sick. When you
look at our foreign policy there seems
to be reason for regarding it as a
di.(ease but this line of thinking gets
you no place because it distends the
idea of social illness to a size so
large it's without meaning.
Politically violent people are often
crazy, but not in the clinical sense
of the word. Nuts or not, their vio-
lence is frequently premeditated und
rational. Thy news coverage of do-
mestic Political violence and our'
own Personal reactions to it draw our
:itemtt ion away from its deliberate-
bestow on a worker a right to his
job; if he wants to keep it he may
htave to fight for it in the literal
sense of the word.
You can say the man is crazy or
the law is crazy, but there's nothing
irrational about the violence.
In the case of the labor union, the
purpose of violence is easy to see; it
is used to maintain an almost mili-
tary encirclenent to starve the man-
agement out. Other kinds of vio-
hnice have more indirect objectives
which are harder to pick up on and
therefore more likely to be dismissed
us rabid behavior.
T'ilE VIOLENCE perpetrated a fel,
weeks ago in Chicago by the Wea-
therman faction of SDS illustrates
the use of violence for less obvious
purposes. Henry De Zutter in the
October issue of the Chicago Jour-
nalism Review dzscribes the reason-
it tr hrhi ri I. }l . +}
theory, spelled out in an essay 10,000
words long. The theory among other
things held that fighting was a
strategy for building a revolutionary
movement.
"However, street fighting was not
as important as the image of street
fighting-an image that would be
conveyed by the hated bourgeois
media, an image of hard, tough
communist fighters designed to at-
tract a whole new breed of w h i t e
youth to revolutionary politics.
These would be tough 'greasers' and
working-class kids who had long felt
that leftists were nothing more than
stringy-haired hippies, spoiled brat
intellectual faggots and draft-dodg-
ing sissies from suburban Winnetka
who complain and 'make demands'
and askkfor amnesty' but never
fight for keeps."
HERE THE purpose of violence is
to recruit and firm up an espirit de
ought to be able to handle them be-
fore they can cause the kind of
trouble that will involve the thous-
ands on thousands who will not be
coming here for a street brawl.
The administration or some peo-
ple in it may also be preparing to
employ violence to recruit and build
espirit de corps. They're using every
legitimate social engine at t h e i r
command to build up visible sup-
port for their contention that most
people think this is a yummy war.
They may think that if there is vio-
lence it will help them in depicting
the anti-war people as Vandals,
Visigoths and Huns rocketing in to
pull the columns off the portico of
the White House.
With this attorney general, there's
no way of telling. Who can read the
slit-eyed man who appears so fright-
eningly on the television tube? What
kind of retaliatory thoughts a n d
}i A i n-.c. nn n 1 .h s A - 7_ .., ,,
Perhaps t h e administration
thought that by doing this it might
produce a gathering of young kinky-
kookies who'd ruin themselves by
their conduct or perhaps the ad-
Ininistration didn't think, but a
younger crowd means fewer people
with experience, judgment and re-
straint, few people who'll be prone to
forgive a frightened policeman a
harsh gesture.
The suspicion is also about t h e
country that the government is
leaning on the bus, railroad and air-
line companies to move as few peo-
ple in here as possible. As of Fri-
day the Greyhound people s a i d
that about 240 buses carrying around
10,000 had already been chartered
from them alone. They said t h e y
have been visited by the FBI but
are attempting to provide service for
everybody with the money to pay.
A Greyhound vice president, Sid
ORtn Cin r "T thn- heca a a r
hound) reported three days ago it
could use at least ten more.
Presumably this means it will be
older persons who'll give up the
trip. The migratory youth horde is
unstoppable.
HAVING HELPED create this sit-
uation, the Justice Dept. ought to
get itself some good advice f r o m
persons who've had experience polic-
ing large, youthful crowds. W e s
Pomeroy, former under-sheriff of
San Mateo County, Calif., the man
who did the security work at the
Woodstock Festival, would be per-
fect, but instead they're acting like
they're using Mayor Daley as a
technical consultant.
The matter is particularly ser-
ious because there will probably be
masses of high school kids here.
High schoolers have been in-
creasingly politicized, which doesn't
make them les snlatilea sanvhndv
they're patient and polite if you treat
them courteously. You, older read-
ers, know ,them; they are our child-
ren.
They're not decadent fruitcakes:
they're the very persons that what's
his name is trying to corral into the
Army so he can win the war; they're
the potential soldiers for the new
adventure Gov. Rockefeller is pro-
posing in South America. They aren't
cowards - if attacked they will fight
back.
If the rulers of Washington g e t
stiff necked and start busting for
pot or use tear gas indiscriminately
there will be a wild, destructive scene
in downtown Washington. Remem-
ber 200,000 or more people are ex-
pected here. That is a hugh num-
ber to have chased through t h e
streets, smashing windows and over-
turning cars which, judging f r o m
the pattern of the battles e 1 s e -
where is what could hannen.