Seventy-seven years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under authority of Board in Control of Student Publications 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich: News Phone: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints., Black Panthers: Everyone's up tight SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: STEVE NISSEN John Lindsay: Prospect for change JOHN LINDSAY is in a position to make greater changes in the American po- litical scene than any man since Franklin Roosevelt. A first glance at Lindsay, his politics and position, would prompt the thought that he is a man in the wrong party, as indeed he is. He is in every respect an ultra-liberal in a party dominated by pre- New Deal conservatism. His view of the role of government in business and civil affairs is the reverse of his party's views. Where he places civil liberties first, the rank-and-file Republican favors govern- ment authority. Where the party places business before the civil authority, Lind- say is for government initiative and con- trol. Where Lindsay is internationalist and sympathetic toward genuine foreign interests, the party is imperialistic. In every respect Lindsay is out of tune with his political compatriots. But it is in this divergence and in Lindsay's projected increasing role as a party man that he may affect his party and change its course in the coming, years. Lindsay will not bring about the change by any evangelical conversion of much of the party's present constituency, at least not significantly. He will do it, if at all, by bringing about that change in the party structure. PE IS EMBARKING now upon the path that brought Richard Nixon the Re- publican presidential nomination this year-the campaigning and politicking with party candidates across the country, 'the collection of political i.o.u.'s among the politicians in middle party levels, and the establishment of a nationwide con- stituency among the party pros. This method, appropriate for our two- party system, is non-ideological. In al- most no respect does it depend on his political stance, as the winning of nomi- -nations and elections so little depend. Nixon's fight over the last three years has not depended on what ideology he has, but on his work and dedication to his party. The possible acceptable range of political viewpoints within this method is very large. His support of Richard Nixon and his growing dedication to party politics may at first thought be called a sell-out, as it might be eventually. He is devoting him- self to the current political structure and the established ;party bureaucracy from which he was once aloof. But that, in the strange world of American politics, does not demand a change in his political .views. He can support Nixon and Agnew rhetorically without himself being cor- rupted. ' WHERE ARE -two important aspects to this approach. Nixon and Agnew must lose this year, as they seem destined to do. For if they were to win, Lindsay would be forced to differ with the pro- grams Nixon would surely advance. In ac- tual practice the differences between Nixon's conservatism and Lindsay's lib- eralism would be irreconcilable. Lindsay is free now to fight with the administra- tion on any grounds because it is Demo- cratic, but he would be unbearably re- stricted were a Republican presidents to take paths that differed from his own. And in a Nixon loss this year, Lindsay would be given the chance he needs to remake his party. His hope is, as an aide noted, to promote "young progressives" like himself within the party structure. With a. Democratic president in the next' two years Lindsay would be free to argue and act against that president's adminis- tration as he will, and in 1970, when Re- publican gains can be expected, Lindsay could vigorously advance his cause by bringing into office-as representatives, mayors, and state and party officials-- men like, himself, Republican liberals able to attract both independents through ideology and appeal and many party regulars. DESPITE the nomination of Nixon this week, there are encouraging signs within the party that Lindsay's plan may work. The near draft of Lindsay for the vice presidential nomination by the con- vention showed they are not nearly as indifferent to contemporary needs as might have been thought. It is difficult to assess how strong that draft was be- cause of Lindsay's wise move to reject it, but with Governor Romney picking up almost 200 votes and many more in ab- stentions, it seems reasonable that he may have garnered enough to stop Ag- new in a three-way race and possible win. Success on Lindsay's part will require major political re-alignments. It will drive the southern and western strength -which put Nixon over and supported Agnew-out of the party and either back into the conservative wing of the Demo-" cratic party or into the hands of near- permanent Wallace-type third party. BUT THERE IS another less pleasant prospect to Lindsay's move to win his party, and that is the prospect of failure. It seems more likely that Lindsay will not be able to pull off the coup he is working for. There are two possible re- sults-complete alienation from his party when they repudiate him or a slow but marked change in his political philosophy that would move him closer to the party's center. JF LINDSAY either wins his fight or is forced to retire from it in defeat, he will have favorably affected the political scene. But if he succumbs, he will leave in his wake the alienated idealists that have been hurt by their idols before. -RON LANDSMAN By DAVID SALTMAN Collegiate Press Service OAKLAND, Calif.-What hap- pens when the white com- munity throws knives at a black hero? Everyone gets up-tight, for one, and rumors flit around like hummingbirds. This week, the white community of Oakland is after Huey P. New- ton, 26, the minister of informa- tion of the revolutionary Black Panther Party. Newton is on trial for the murder of Oakland police- man John Frey last Oct. 28. He also is accused of assault with a deadly weapon against officer Herbert Heanes, and of kidnaping a passerby by in his car after the shootout. Newton pleads innocent- to all charges. The Newton trial is the cap- stone of more than a year of violent wrangling between the Black Panthers and the Oakland police department. The Panthers have fashioned a specific 10-point program, called "What we Want," and the chief of police, Charles R. Gain, has called the Panthers and their program "a threat to the peace of the Oakland com- munity." (Gain, incidentially, apparently feels so threatened that his de- partment has added CS gas to its anti-crime arsenal, along with MACE and tear gas. CS is a 54.5 per cent white arsenic compound, used for defoliation in Vietnam.) THE PANTHERS want their program implemented immediate- ly. The .feelings of the Oakland City government were summed up by Chief Gain, in an interview with this reporter: "You don't see the Mexican- Americans doing this, or the poor whites, or some other Negroes. What the Panther should do is what these other people are doing -and that is hope their grievances will be solved!" From conversations with Pan- ther leaders, I gather that the Newton trial will be just about the last Panther effort to hope their troubles away. And the crowds around the courthouse seem to think that a revolution is more plausible than a rabbit out of defense attorney Charles Gar- ry's hat. One reason that few expect Newton to be freed is that the only black person on the jury i& David B. Harper, an- Oakland banker and former Air Force of- ficer. None of, the jurors come from the West Oakland ghetto, where Newton lives, and Garry claims that "the jury is not rep- resentative of Newton's peers." In addition, Superior Court Judge Monroe Friedman has r'uled that a 1964 conviction on Newton, for assault with a deadly weapon, may be read into the transcript, even though previous convictions are normally not part of a trial record. WELL. What really happened on October 28-the day -of the shooting? Prosecutor Lowell Jen- sen tells a simple story: Frey spotted Newton's car, radioed for a license check, found it, was a "known Panther car," and stopped it. Then, he continues, Newton pulled a gun and they struggled. Newton got Frey's gun, according to the prosecutor, and shot him with it. He then, Jensen goes on, wounded Heanes and Heanes wounlded Newton in the stomach. (No explanation of why Frey felt compelled to stop "known Panther cars.") The Panther version is more complex; it also provides interest- ing background to the trial. This is excerpted from the party news- paper "The Black Panther" of June 10, 1968:, "Huey (Newton) and Bobby (Seale) organized the Black Pan- ther Party as a means of armed self-defense of the Afro-American community against the white po- lice force which was conducting itself like a rapacious occupying army. "Focusing a great deal of at- tenition on the inherently racist tactics of thehOakland Police De- partment, the pigs began a grad- ually intensified program of harrassment, intimidation, brutal- ity and murder of the Black Pan- ther Party as well. as the black- residents of Oakland. What We Want The 10-point platform and program drafted by the Black Panther Party is called, What We Want. The 10 points are: -"We want freedom. We want power to determine the des- tiny of our black community. -"We want full employment for-our people. -"We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our black community. --"We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings. -"We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society.We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present day society. -"We want all black men to be exempt from military serv-, ice. -"We want an immediate end to police brutality and mur- der of black people. -"We want freedom for all black men in federal, state, county, and city prisons and jails. -"We want all black people when brought to trial to. be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States. ---"We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, jus- tice and peace, and as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny." "On May 2, 1967, a Panther delegation went to Sacramento with loaded shotguns to protest the exploitation and oppression of the black community and publicly announce that henceforth such acts of oppression would not be ular officer, John Frey, singled out Huey as his personal target. Huey was stopped, for minor traf- fic violations. numerous times. Dauntless, he zoomed around town in the familiar gold Volks- wagen, and he and the Panthers racism, erupted like a violent and long-contained eruption, flowing over everything, changing the ter- rain quick as contact. Suddenly, . black people became aware of 'and -magnetically attracted to the po- litics of combating racism. Not only 'were the Panthers saying black people had the right to carry weapons-the Oakland .pigs were, seemingly, forcing upon them the right to use them in self-defense. "The wheels of revolution had been well-oiled by the blood of Huey Newton, shed in the streets of West Oakland, early Saturday morning." THE PROSECUTION witnesses so, far .have included the police dispatcher, the pathologist who did the autopsy on Frey, a cor- oner's investigator and a police lab technician. Jensen says he will present a surprise witness, a bus driver whom he: says "saw New- ton shoot: Frey in the back." Defense attorney Garry says he will prove that Newton "couldn't have fired a gun that day," and that the Newton arrest was part of a conspiracy to get rid of the Panther leadership. Conspiracy? The story isn't so wild, to hear the Panthers tell it. Party Chairman Bobby Seale can run down a list of 30 incidents that he claims show deliberate. in- tent to wipe out top Panthers The main incident occurred the night 'of April 6: a shooutout between two Panthers and about 200, Oak- land, Berkeley and Emeryville po- licemen. That,night, the police killed 17-year-old Bobby Hutton, the Party treasurer, and seriously - wounded Eldridge Cleaver, the na minister of information and au- thor of the pest-seller "Soul on x- Ice." Cleaver has been nominated er as the Peace and Freedom Party ro candiate for President. He was )f- just released on bail from Vaca- he ville State Prison, where he was t- being held on charges of parole ets violation and attempted murder. His trial is set for the fall, and if ,he Oakland lasts that. long it will be nd fully as explosive at Newton's. F=, . i ,° r ,. !' r 4 to bu ca Th ter dr ser cor ar aw lerated. More arrests followed, continued patrolling the Oa t the impact of black people ghetto. rrying guns-loaded-into the "Then, like a well-planne icramento legislature had hit. plosion, the *~orning of O he arrests only served to heigh- 28, radio newscasters toldc n the impact. Soon the Party altercation between 'twoP afted Stokeley Carmichael into men and two Oakland polic rvice for liberation. The black ficers. One officer is dead mmunity throughout the Bay other is seriously wounded in 'ea and the country was made ical condition . ... The sus; vare of its 10-point program. were driving a gold or light- colored Volkswagen., "THE PATTERN of police har- "This, the turning point i ,assment continued. One particdecline and fall of capitalism klar d ei ctobi o Neg Ce o , ti cri beig n tl n an [i Bullets to ballots: A way for power? The following is reprinted from an article by Monroe W. Karmin and John T. Lyons in The Wall Street Journal. N EWARK -- The frail, middle- aged black man is both piti- ful aqd proud. His faded blue jacket is frayed at the collar and elbows; the sleeves extend to the knuckles. His torn tan pants are rolled sev- eral times at the cuffs and his shoes show a couple of toes. He staggers and coughs as he leans over the large book in front of him;, his wife steadies him as he signs his name. Yet, infirm though he is, the man does accomplish what he came to the community center for: He has registered to vote, perhaps for the first time in his life. As he leaves the building, he shakes the hand of a younger, well-dressed black man and smiles, "I made it for you, Ted." "Ted" is Theodore Pinckney, a 34-year-old schoolteacher who wants to be elected to the Newark City Council in November. He bears the endorsement of the United Brothers of Newark, a "black power" group that views the council elections as a trial heat for its ultimate objective: Election of a black mayor in 1970. THUS, THE SCENE at the Stel- la Wright public housing project in the heart of this city's black community could hold major sig- nificance for the agonizing course of race relations in America. A year ago, when many of the more militant Newark Negroes were preaching "burn, baby, burn," a riot that broke out here killed 21 blacks and 2 whites and damaged millions of dollars worth of prop- erty. This summer, as bullets shattered Cleveland and violence erupted elsewhere, Newark so far has remained calm as the United Brothers goabout registering ghetto residents like the man in the faded blue jacket to vote. "Last year they talked violence," says Paul Yivisaker, New Jer.- sey's commissioner of community affairs. "This year it's politics." ,The change of emphasis is not unique to Newark. Apostles of "black power" in many major cit- ies, recognizing the political po- tential offered by those cities' swelling black populations, are be- ginning the effort to translate their slogan into meaning through the voting process. A growing number of black mil- itants "think this is the way to go," reports a spokesman for the Justice Department's community relations service in Washington. But, he adds, unity of the black community is necessary for them to get anywhere and, so far, "the militants are finding it very dif- ficult to form alliances" with more moderate groups or even among themselves. VLTV71K~r"rVVTV11 WOO 4.,, that the process will take a long time, and that every major city remains a racial tinderbox that could explode at a spark. Cer- tainly that's true of' Newark, de- spite the trauma of last summer and despite this summer's voter registration drive by the United Brothers. Racial tension also can be felt in the black community. A white visitor is the object of curious, fearful and sometimes hostile stares. Leroi Jones, the poet lau- reate of black nationalism and a member of the United Brothers; demands $100 an hour to talk to the "white press" and avoids those who refuse to pay. Mr. Pinckney hurries to accompany the white visitor when he wanders from she registration center. When the mil- itant Black Panthers arrived in Newark recently to merge with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC Chief Philip Hutchings was quoted as saying they were after "black power" by means of either "the ballot or the bullet." RACIAL HATRED also can be felt in the white community, which is mostly working-class. One of the most militant whites is Anthony Imperiale. He is a Mr. Pinckney, is running for the city council because, he says, he has lost faith in the regime of Mayor Hugh Addonizio which he believes has become overly con- cerned with the black community to the neglect of the white com- munity. The black community here thinks the opposite. YET, MAYOR ADDONIZIO - bitterly attacked by members of both races, sharply criticized by the New Jersey riot commission and embarrassed by a grand jury indictment of his police chief on charges of failing to crack down on gambling in the city - still ranks as the favorite if he chooses to run again in 1970. The reasons tell a lot about what is happen- ing in post-riot Newark. The racial polarization here seems greater than ever. Inter- views with leaders of both races produce scant mention of inte- gration, collaboration or together- ness. Rather, a poster at the Stel- la Wright registration site pro- claims "Black Power --- Register Now and Vote Black in Novem- ber," and Mr. Pinckney concedes that racial appeal is the crux of his campaign-issues are more or less window-dressing. Across town, Mr. Imperiale (who says "I don't hate anybody, I just dislikecertain people") insists that what the blacks want is not equality but superiority. "A lot of our kids arewalking thebstreets and are denied jobs just because they're white," he asserts. Given this sharpening division, politcians here agreed the ideal mayoral candidate would be either a white liberal on the order of New York's John Lindsay or a black moderate on the order of Cleveland's Carl Stokes. To win, it's figured, a new white face would have to attract some black votes and a new black face would have to attract some white votes. BUT SINCE the white middle and upper classes have almost to- tally abandoned the city for the suburbs, "there is no chance that Newark will produce a Lindsay," says Donald Malafronte, Mayor Addonizio's administrative assist- ant. Chances also seem slim that a Carl Stokes will rise from the black community in time for the 1970 mayoral election-and even slimmer that he could win if he did. Reason: Though the Negro proportion of Newark's population now is probably higher than the last official estimate of 52%, whites retain the voting major- ity; it's estimated that as many as 45% of the blacks are under 16 and thus will be too young to vote even two years from now. "My guess," says a white busi- nessman, "would be that 1970 will not do it as far as a black mayor is concerned. The white communi- ty may get together and the black community will not." He and oth- ers expect the white community, nity is finding it necessary to jam itself into the political system. To do this, groups are forming like the United Brothers. But you can't force your way in by pushing two or three guys (for an office) at a time. You must achieve a cohe- sion, or at least the appearance of unity." BUT, MR. HENINGBURG con- tinues, "it will probably take us more than one election to learn the lesson." And indeed disunity now reigns in the black communi- ty, as everybody who is anybody seems to nurse mayoral ambitions. OF COURSE, if Mayor Addoni- zio decides not to run, he might want to chose his own black can- didate-possibly Calvin West, a candidates interested in the council race to appear. The Broth- ers chose Mr. Pinckney over an incumbent black councilman ac- cused of having committed the unpardonable sin: Selling out to "the white power structure." The incumbent councilman, Le- on Ewing, is running anyway, which further reduces Mr. Pinck- ney's chances. But, armed with the United Brothers endorsement, Mr. Pinckney is now out in the streets telling potential voters: "If you have problems and the problems are caused by the- political sys- tem, the way to correct these problems is-through the political system. Elect Ted. Pinckney." THE PLATFORM of Mr. Pinck- ney and the United Brothers pro- '1 ,..".M A. ..."::{i"?}.4 ... 1. t ...::it"S.... .44rz " ~... ng.V W. ,{WV "The black community is finding it necessary to jam itself into the political system ..«.,But you can't force your way in by pushing two or three guys (for an office) at a time. You, us achieve a cohesion, or at least the appearance of unity." .. ...r..... . : : r ' ............. ??t...... ., . Li. ":': 'R:{M1.:ti"Lh":4 . '.{ "O "S.1":XEW!, :ti Mj1i W.:Si .Vi1::"::1:Y : 'i #hv}"3tvi3'a:a">h4,ti:v4°Mt : Reaction at Columbia: Administrative revolt councilman closely identified with the administration. But Assembly- man Richardson says, "The Negro mayor is going to be selected by the 'out' Negroes, not the ones who are aligned with the adminis- tration." That prospect makes the politi- cal activity the United Brothers are beginning among the "out Ne- groes" particularly important. The Brothers represent the new breed of young black who is beginning to substitute political awareness for racial hate-mongering. "They are beginning to deal with the re- alities of the situation," declares an observer, "rather than just rhetoric." THE RESIGNATION last week of Dean Edward W. Barrett of the Columbia University School of Journalism presents itself as only further evidence of the widespread dissatisfaction with the uni- versity's administration in the wake of last spring's insurrection. Barrett's resignation follows a similar move by Associate Dean Alexander Platt of Columbia College, the undergraduate men's division last month. While Platt would not comment di- rectly on his resignation he was report- edly dissatisfied with the administra- tion's unyielding response to student de- mands and was against the decision to call police to clear protesters from five university buildings in the spring. BARRETT DECLINED to comment ex- tensively on his resignation but did express dissatisfaction with the Univer- sity's decision-making process. "I simply find myself in disagreement with the basic outlook of a majority of those who make university policy," he said. "I should add that, while I have ly to indict members of the Students for a Democratic Society, many of whose members have demonstrated equal, if somewhat differently oriented dedica- tion. For example, the bulk of these students (including the leaders of SDS) who were suspended during demonstrations last spring have remained at the school to press their efforts to achieve change. The major difference between Barrett and SDS is, in essence, a question of tactics. The dean will continue to use generally accepted means of obtaining reform while SDS, which has tried and failed to alter existing institutions, will continue to assume a more militant posture. BUT BOTH moderates like Barrett and radicals like SDS continue to work for the improvement of Columbia. And the existence of both groups may well be necessary to achieve that end. With moderates applying pressure from within and radicals applying pressure from without Columbia University may poses sweeping changes in the way Newark is run--everything from a commuter payroll tax and a lottery to black control of neighborhood schools and the model cities program, and the teaching of black history in the public schools. Research groups are preparing position papers on such local issues as housing and land policy, education, health and welfare and law enforcement. Fund-raising plans seek to glean whatever contributions may be available in the hetto by en- listing the aid of suchout-of-town "black power" apostles as Stokely Carmichael and Ron Karenga, the Los Angeles leader. Most important, the United Brothers, who claim a mailing list of 1,800, are offering what Mr. Pinckney terms the "bodies to do the work." This means agents to find all the members of the black community who are eligible to vote, registering them now, and making sure they vote-correctly --in November., Votes must be gathered one-by-one among peo- ple who are not used to voting; "it's like voting for myself thou- sands of times," Mr. Pinckney says. IF THE UNITED BROTHERS can show strength this time, their chances of uniting the black com- munity behind a mayoral candi- date in 1970 will be enhanced. "Pinckney isn't running this time, the United Brothers are," says Eulis Ward, a local political or- ganizer. Despite the discouragement of the official voting 'statistics and What they need .., beefy man who heads the north ward Citizen's Committee (which he describes as ; a social club), protects women with a fleet of radio-dispatched cars (his code name is' "Moto"), teaches children karate ("slow and easy like the Orientals") and collects guns (in his opinion the World War I bolt- action Springfield 30-06 rifle "is the best sniper rifle there is"). A black mayor by 1970? "They'll be lucky if they can get in by 1974," Mr. Imperiale proclaims. Meanwhile, he declares, if the po- lice don't protect his neighbor- A