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Living
ti
AY, MAY 30, 1961
NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL HARRAH
Freedom Must Ride
With 'All Deliberate Speed'
.IONAL director of the Congress of Racial
Racial Equality James Farmer recently
3 a statement encouraging CORE mem-
o extend the "Freedom Rides" to south-
ailways and airlines. Highly trained groups
ow organizing for this purpose.
as, in spite of violence and a plea by At-
y General Robert Kennedy for a "cooling
period, Negro leaders plan to advance
ly with courage, determination-and hope.
s unrelenting will to fight injustice at all
-even the cost of provoking violence-
nts a paradoxical situation to supporters
group dedicated to non-violence. It is this
adiction which has led many people who
e strongly in Negro rights to criticize the
dom Riders" moving too quickly and thus
Lug tension and hatred which may defeat
original goals.
considering the violence one must dis-
ish between a group which intends to
ge society by'inflicting violence upon an-
group and one which seeks change
igh non-violence-expecting to be the
re victim rather than the aggressor in
violence which is precipitated. In their
geous effort, the "Riders" are acting with-
eir constitutional-and legal rights; the
tern whites who partiipate in mob vio-
are not. Where the "Riders" are accused
reaking a law" they are fully prepared to
t the consequences; the white segrega-
ts are not.
ENE OBJECTS to the violence caused in
s instance, he must also object to the
ice created by enforcement of the school
ration decision in New Orleans and in
Rock. In both instances, individuals
attempting to live freely within the scope
eir guaranteed rights as citizens. Should
ch efforts be stopped?
leving -strongly in non-violence, the
rs" would of course prefer to reach their
through normal legal channels.. Yet past
fence seems to indicate the necessity of
nerely establishing laws, but of insuring'
enforcement, and thus rendering them
.ingful.
At December the Supreme Court upheld the
o's right, under the Interstate Commerce'
to have access to integrated terminals or
nal restaurants controlled by interstate
portatioA lines. The Court's decision did
:hange the situation significantly-as the
dom Ride" has demonstrated in the last,
reeks.
IETHER considered just or unjust, a law
s a mere formality unless it can be en-
d. If in 1955 the Court had not established
cedure for the desegregation of all schools,
and offered federal protection to those who 1
attempted to implement ,it, the ruling might
have been conveniently ignored by stubborn
Southerners clinging desparately to the status
quo.
If the December Supreme Court decision had
not been boldly tested by the "Freedom Riders,"
Greyhound and 'Trailways officials and man-
agers and employes of Southern terminals
could have remained comfortably oblivious
of the fact that they were violating a national
law. The Southerners wanted it this way; it
was easier for bus company officials to leave
change to time than to create unpleasant and
unprofitable turmoil by pressuring their South-
ern branches.
THUS THE DRAMATIC IMPACT of the
"Freedom Ride" has been necessary to force
the government to act swiftly and resolutely
to insure the implementation of the law. Yet,
the ruling shall only have meaning when every
Negro in the country is free to ride safely any-
where in the South.
To charges that in this determination the
"Freedom Riders" are defeating their purpose,
the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of
the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott answers:
The Negro does not have any fear of being
set back because he knows that the future
is in his favor. He's determined to push and
push and push until segregation is ended.
He's tired of segregation. He's not willing
to wait all those years that the moderates
say are necessary."
THE "MODERATES" are forgetting that
nearly a century has passed since the end
of the Civil War with only very slow progress in
bringing equality to the American. Negro.
Whether it takes another century before full
equality is granted may be insignificant to
many whites-and to the few Negroes who have
seldom encountered prejudice.. But to the
southern Negro who daily suffers injustice and
the denial of rights, it is a situation which must
be immediately rectified. '
Most important, they are forgettng that our
own country might now be under British
sovereignty if certain vigorous individuals had
not believed that the individuals right to "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" were
not worth fighting for, if they could be
guaranteed in no other way.
The direct non-violent struggle of the "Free-.
dom Riders" to insure every individual his
"inalienable rights" reasserts that some of the
original American ideals persist in action as
well as in writing. The Negro .is striving for
equality with a spirit and principle whose
foundation lies at the very base of the Ameri-
can system. He must be supported.
--IRIS BROWN
(EDITOR's NOTE: This is the
final segment of a two-part edi-
torial.)
By THOMAS HAYDEN
Editor
NCE IT WAS warm blue sun
and very grassy, and I was
beaten in a putting match by
Lyle Nelson, a man who is un-
fortunately. leaving Ann Arbor
after several years of successfully
spanning the contradictions in
both human and a public relations
man. Once Dean Rea found me
some money, which made it possi-
ble to attend a summer session.
Sometimes in class a professor
turned a stirring phrase, some-
times I caught in my mind chang-
ing or felt the deep-down chest
heat that means a truth is form-
ing there. And once I went to
Michigras and liked the loop-the-
loop.
So now it is tough to think all
darkly of the University that has
often been so nice. The criticisms
I have made are not made with-
out knowledge of the University's
greatness or its frequent kind-
nesses. Speaking out without equi-
vocation against the felt'wrongs is
painful because people are hurt,
but it is necessary too, if only
because most of the speaking out
today is, paradoxically, so pain-
less,
My deepest fear about the Uni-
versity is the fear that we are
adrift intellectually and human-
ly,and that responsible flesh-and-
blood leadership has been replaced
by the reign of an almost undis-
cussable tone which inhibits our'
whole perception of the possibili-
ties of human achievement.
* * *
THE BOGEY of. University
size-would that we had not la-
mented its existence so long and
spent instead more hours seeking
concrete means of living with it-
is perhaps the crucial factor in
understanding what has became of
leadership and direction. Size is
the undefined term we refer to
with a shake of the head when
someone points out that the en-
tire list of University courses
weighs five pounds, or that our
state appropriation has nearly
tripled in a decade. It is what
makes us give up our pursuit of
the facts and, in frustration, strike
out bitterly against symbols (e.g.
The Bureaucracy) which, having
no such pure existence, fail to bend
to our protest, thus forcing great-
er frustration and greater symbol-
ing.
size is what makes us identify
with the touchable part and not
the whole-although other fac-
tors, such as the relative unimpor-
tance attached to "service to the
University" in faculty promotions
and salary increases, foster com-
partmentalizing. Size prohibits
uity and produces atomization.
Size is what pushes us to the
private, the immediately under-
standable, the cliques, andneven
to Silver Lake. Size deters us
from entering the struggle of pub-
lic affairs, and creates indiffer-
ence to broader concerns.
* * *
A UNIVERSITY the size of the
University of Michigan is inchoate,
a congeries of the haphazard and
in its very nature inimical to the
development of driving leadership
-not only are the members of
the community too busy and too
diverse to respond to anything but
great brilliance, but even a bril-
liant leader or leaders would find
it difficult to make a personality
or an idea felt widely in the
community.
Do we in fact have any brilliant
leaders? Here and there exist
Meisels or Frankenas or East-
mans or Kaufmans who occasion-
ally turn a classroom intellectually
ablaze. Here and there are the
Lehmens or the Habers who,
though you've never been in the
classroom with them, have shown
drive, commitment and flare. But
the leadership of these men is
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULL"I
The Daily Official Bulletin Isan
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Michigan for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no editorial
responsibility. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Building,
before 2 p.m., two days preceding
publication.
TUESDAY, MAY 30
General Notices
PLANS FOR COMMENCEMENT
Commencement-Sat., June 17,5:30 p.m.
WEATHER FAIR
Time of Assembly-4:30 pm. (except
noted).
Places of Assembly:
Members of the Faculties at 4:15
p.m. in the Lobby, first floor, Admin.
Bldg., where they may robe. (Transpor-
tation to Stadium or Yost Field House
will be provided.)
Regents, Ex-Regents, Regents Elect,
Members of Dejns' Conference and oth-
er Administrative Officials at 4:15 p.m.
in Admin. Bldg.. Room 2549, where they
may robe. (Transportation to Stadium
or Yost Field House will be provided.)
Students of the Various Schools and
Colleges on paved roadway and grassy
field, East of East Gate (Gate 1-Tun-
nel to Stadium in four columns of
limited; they are in the first place
scholars, and in their functional
position, cannot easily have wide
effect.
The Administration, by and
large, has provided a relatively
steady maintenance of quality but
not educational leadership, and
the latter is necessary if quality
is to be improved. Even if one
sympathizes with the tremendous
pressures bearing on the officials
of a state institution, it is diffi-
cult to condone President Hatch-
er's confusion of bold action with
unilateral action in the creation
of the Commission on Year-Round
Integrated Operation, nor can one
be entirely pleased with the nobil-
ity of his stands during the Nick-
erson-Davis-Markert affair or on
fraternity and sorority discrimi-
nation, or on the Wayne State
University speaker ban policy: in
each case he hedged dangerously
about education's twin responsi-
bilities for promoting free speech
and free opportunity.
* * s
NOT ONLY is the University sore-
ly lacking human leadership-it
is so lacking in structures for ef-
fective and dynamic change that
one is tempted to say it has lit-
erally organized headlessness and
irresponsibility. Student Govern-
ment Council has far more busi-
ness than it has time to transact
business; it has a fluctuating
membership yet no system for
maintaining continuity or develop-
ing commitment to the organiza-
tion; it is institutionalized but not
an institution. The faculty Sen-
ate meets too rarely to be highly
effective; its membership is often
without the experience or facts
necessary to contest basic issues;
it cannot duplicate the day-to-day
intensity of administrators; its
members often attend because a
particular issue is important, not
because there is significance in a
community being established and
recognized. The Deans' Conference
listens to speeches by top admin-
istrators, then calls it a day,
monthly.
Lacking structures for effective
containment, power is dispersed-
not simply because the University
consciously tries to decentralize
but because it often is unwilling
or unable to define the centers of
responsibility. There is no bylaw
delineating the philosophy of the
operation of the Office of Student
Affairs or its sub-units. There is
no clear bylaw on the rights and
responsibilities of students, their
legal and moral roles within the
University, the due process to be
accorded when charges of any sort
are to be brought against them-
and, it should be noted, such due
process was defined for faculty
only after the disastrous dismissals
of "controversial" professors sev-
eral years ago.
What happens to power com-
pletely? An example: A special
clarification committee meets to
write a new Student Government
Council Plan. One of the results
of its completed study is a pre-
'cise identification of certain arbi-
trary powers (to call for recon-
sideration of a Council decision,
for instance) in the office of the
Vice-President for Student Af-
fairs; this was in'response to the
Sigma Kappa sorority issue, in
which no one was quite able to
determine where decision-making
powers lay. It has only been two
years now since the clarification
committee's meetings, but already
SGC (in part because of Vice-
President Lewis' prompting) has
established a Committee on Mem-
bership and a new Committee on
Student Organizations, each (their
values aside) tending to snarl
basic issues under intersecting
lines of authority.
AND SO the University drifts,
and within the general malaise
arises the tone to which I refer-
red earlier. The tone is generated
by a deep conservatism-not poli-
tical conservatism, but a conserv-
atism of individual and institu-
tional temperaments. It is seen
in the inability of certain persons
-they range from socialist to
right-wing, Christian to atheist--
to understand the relevance of
new forms. It is fostered and sus-
tained by the proliferation of com-
mittees which I sometimes suspect
outnumber the ideas they claim to
be exploring.
It is noticeable in an oversen-
sitivity to the University's public
image: to use the old example, the
administration finally removed
potentially discriminatorly photo-
graphs from residence halls appli-
cations with great fear of public
response . . . but response was
miniscule. The oversensitivity per-
sists, however, and it infests the
whole University's orientation,
corroding. our posture with re-
spect to new ideas and experimen-
tation. When innovation is sug-
gested, the first impulse is not
toward critical examination but
toward discrediting the innovation
as "unrealistic."
It is noticeable in the distrust
of sweeping phases:in the fac-
ulty's promotion of stringent
methodology, in the devaluing of
values, in the administration's re-
jection of the Scheub report "be-
caus it was not a scientific analv-
eKep
The emphasis in the University1
is on protocol and manner, not on
enthusiasm or social vision; on the
boat and not the shaking. Mod-1
eration becomes valued not mere-
ly as a better alternative than
chiliastic messianism, but for its
own sake. Thus the boundaries of
controversy, which in theory
should not exist in a university,
in fact narrow until moderation,
becomes one extreme to be com-
promised and reactionary con-
servatism the other.
The value of this temperament
and habit of analysis lies in its
emphasis on the sifting of opin-
ion, in not moving too rapidly, in;
deliberately exploring conse-
quences which might follow ac-;
tion. But the dangers are mani-
fold. The greatest is the inevitable,
rise of what I have called "myopic
realism." This is the tendency for
realism to become insensitive to
changed conditions
In becoming rigid, realism not
only limits its own powers of in-
sight, but acts prohibitively against
the injection of such insight by1
others into the process of decision-
making. The fact that a faculty
member is young is sometimes suf-
ficient condition for an old fac-
ulty member to reject his opinion.
" «s*
THE OFFICE of Student Affairs
presents itself as a model of the
conservative temper. Vice-Presi-
dent Lewis preaches a philosophy
of "non-direction," which is theo-
retically premised on the belief
that given enough freedom of ac-
tion, students will come to be re-
sponsible. But in practice, "non-
direction" amounts to a suspend-
ed tyranny. It presents no posi-
tion which one can criticize, and
that is exactly what should be
recognized as the most dangerous
"posture" of all. "Non-direction"
is not laissez-faire; there is al-
ways a shadowy Leviathan who
alone determines the perimeter be-
yond which no student can pass,
beyond which authority reveals it-
self decisively and unexpectedly.
This means students are unaware
of the limits until the moment
when authority steps in to draw
the lines. We are not allowed to
know we are not free until we are
not-and even then, the explana-
tions given for punishment often
are ad hoc or inhumanly arbi-
trary. Last spring, the Office of
Student Affairs wanted to expel
two freshman demonstrators-in
large part to prevent further dem-
onstrations (expulsion for such an
offense had never been recom-
mended in University history). It
was an action which showed less
regard for the individuals than
for the potential precedent.
Surrounding the whole thesis of
"non-intervention" is an attitude
of realism which does numerous
disservices to the University. For
instance, a special committee was
formed two years ago to write a
policy on discrimination in off-
campus housing. Under Mr. Lew-
is' influence, the group agreed to
act against discrimination in off-
campus housing units only if more
than two students resided there
(Mr. Lewis wanted the limit at
four, but students on the commit-
tee were successful in whittling
the number down to two). This
much compromised already-the
University has a bylaw which op-
poses any* discrimination - Mr.
Lewis wrote a letter to landlords
in explanation of the policy; the
letter is a masterpiece of realism:
It praises the rights of property
holders, gently points out that the
University wants such property
holders not to discriminate if
they rent to two or more students,
and concludes by stressing that
the University is not trying to in-
terfere in the right of landlords
to choose among students of good
"moral" character. Review of the
policy, bitterly protested by the
students at that time, was set for
early this spring-and it never
took place ...
REALISM is evident in the Of-
fice of the Dean of Women, if
non-direction is not. It is really
not necessary 'to heavily document
the attitude that Miss Bacon, her
assistant deans and the house-
mothersi(the latter represents the
University's most flagrant nega-
tion of the freeing aspects of uni-
versity education) have taken to-
ward change of any sort. Miss
Bacon, for instance, has described
culture as a "goldfish bowl"
against which we (fish) bump
our heads, never knowing that
should we break the glass our
life-giving context would run out.
An attitude of this Office's kind-
distrustful of students, opposed to
the off-beat, circuitous in justify-
ing itself-is deeply abusive to the
University's internal freedom.
The discouragement of imag-
inative programs and radical sug-
gestions, and the narrowing of
the range of controversy-both
results of realism-are unsatisfac-
tory conditions for this University.
However, the consequences of
realism extend further.
We betray in our practical ac-
tions, for example, the princi-
ples we appeal to for justification.
Or, in other words, in paying lip
service to ideals we undermine
tically, an academic dean supports
vigorously The Tribe of Michi-
gamua which sloshes through ini-
tiations which mock the purposes
of a university, which promotes
a secrecy of program inimical to-
a vigorous interchange of ideas,
which arrogantly elevates itself
according to the most superficial
of criteria (if X is the leader of
organization, Y, X is an important
leader of the Michigan campus),
and which in operation and phil-
osophy projects itself as a social
anachronism.
- *
THE FAILURE of the Univer-
sity of Michigan has been in its
glaring refusal to close the cleav-
age between ideal and practical-
ity. Abstract support of free in-
quiry does not liberate the intel-
lectual from the inhibitions im-
posed by the realism pervading
the university. The University:
must give its ideals a human,
realizable meaning. When it sup-
ports academic freedom, it should
do it directly: abolish the lecture
bylaw, prepare pamphlets on aca-
demic freedom for distribution to
freshmen during orientation week,
write rules relating to due process
for students, cease tacitly cooper-
ating with the state security po-
lice, get rid of any loyalty forms,
politely tell the FBI that you do
not keep information on a teach-
er's beliefs, stop emphasizing the
superficial value of the grade and
help turn the student's attention
to the content of the course, ini-
tiate study periods before fall ex-
aminations, eliminate the "credit-
hour."
Recognize that freedom to learn
is freedom to participate: do not
sustain discrimination of any sort
in any living unit housing univer-
sity students, develop positive
means of providing interracial and
intercultural relations within the
campus housing and organization-
al units, actively seek student
opinion where it is relevant in con-
sidering changes in the University,
get behind a broad, critical and
self-interrogating Conference on
the University.
When the ideals of university
education are ignored, when ad-
herence is more admired than
autonomy, when, ,students are
treated as immature, when insti-
tutional power, is irresponsible to
those who feel its impact, when
all this is the image of the world
which crystallizes in the still-
forming mind of youth-then the
University of Michigan has failed
to discharge its duty as an edu-
cational institution: to exist in
the tender balance between the'
postures of 1) toleration of indi-
vidual whim and, inquiry and 2)
heresy in calling men to the his-
toric task of radical examination
and re-examination,
* S S
NOW; certainly the University
is, relatively, great. And certainly
it is beset by problems-partic-
ularly fiscal problems-that would
make the greatest institution sen-
sitive. But the University of Mich-
Pledge
igan must know clearly that "re
tively good" (look at the rankin
of universities in the latest po
ular magazine!) is adequate fo:
university in its role as a busin
organization, but never in its r
as an educational institution
higher salaries and better work
conditions can be gained pie
meal perhaps, but intellectual
berty evaporates if the intell
fails to question when questio
ing there should be.
Much as it would like to '
lieve so, the University's funi
mental problems are not fise
They are moral and institution
Morally, the University must
cide upon the value it wishes
place on total human freedom
to read, write, say, and basica
to exist in the knowledge that
ciety wants one to have such fr
dom. Institutionally, the Univ
sity must find means to introdu
the freedom of the spirit usefu
into an arid bureaucratic mecha
ism. Only then will the Univers
have opened the way for an i
to realism and the great rise of'
human spirit to its legitimE
place.
Until that day comes, the s
dent is left alone to pursue
critical dialectic between hims
and the "realities" which the T)
versity and the society offer. '
student should be asking the
questions which the bluebo
spurn but the world of living m
raises endlessly: What things si
I think beautiful? What things
worth the trouble of wantin
What basis have I for my way
life and the way of life I
"best?"
s * s
PERHAPS the essence of e
cation is in the coming to ter
with oneself, in the ripping
and looking over of what has b
inherited, in the wondering ab
our personal mystery, and in
recognition that we share our m;
tery with other men. Education
neither restive nor reassuring,
it can be fulfilling-fulfilli
without end. Lillian Smith wril
" peace and happiness
presences, not objects we can gr
and hold to. They are our i
ments of grace which fall up
us at the height of creative t
sion ..."
Creative tension in our tin
has been dissipated, restlessn
has gone out of education,s
liberty has lost its guardians.
have been left with a system t
flaunts its ideals, men whose sp
it has run out, and a world' t
threatens closure every day.
The desire to reject it all,
lie down in waiting, to pass
days on seashores is sometin
overwhelming. The other cou
requires saying "No" to the re
ists, promoting a free society
by unkept pledges to democra
ideals but by living 'the i
pledge and, in living it, wager
on its worth . . . and in kn
ing the wager can be lost,I
never conclusively won.
Let us continue the game.
Action Comes Too Late.
AT TH E ,MOYIE
WIZENS FOR THE Support of Higher Edu-
:ation is planning a motorcade "march on
sing" June 8 in an attempt to secure addi-
al funds for the state's colleges and uni-
ities. Although it is obvious that some type
ction is necessary to arouse constituents
legislators, the timing and the means ex-
ed by this public-spirited group will have
ffect on legislation passed during the two
hree-day session.
takes time to arouse constituents to an
re interest in an issue, and it takes time
nake the political compromises necessary
any additional appropriation. The time for
i a march is this week, when publicity
Ld have time 'to, work on legislators and
r constituents. Any political deals or
iges of mind must be made before June 8,
after the Legislature convenes.
tizens claim that "participation in an or-
y demonstration is more effeciive than peti-
s and letters, that it will focus attention on
urgent issue.. ." The time, money and phy-
. effort going into the "march" might well'
ut to use in chain phone calls and flyers
ng people to write representatives.
)ST IMPORTANTLY, we must face the fact
that the battle for higher appropriations
for universities is lost, at least for the coming
year. We can only hope for positive influence
from two major forces to effect a change next
year. Public pressure-especially from parents
whose children are refus.ed college admission-
may be forthcoming.
But it is to Governor John B. Swainson that
we should look for leadership. Swainson, pri-
vately telling friends that his image is slipping,
should take the initiative in this fight for more
money for schools.
The Governor is looking for an issue. Repub-
lican strength in the state is growing, and a gu-
bernatorial election is fast approaching. Swain-
son's record on education has generally been
superior to the GOP's.
Thus he has a tailor-made platform. The
Swainson attack can be three pronged: criti-
cism of the Legislature for inaction, publicity
of the Swainson record of support for higher
appropriations and a campaign for increased
appropriations in the 1962 session.
More money for institutions of higher learn-
ing should be high on the governor's political
priority list, second only to the sound tax struc-
ture needed for its support. Swainson needs it
--Michigan needs it.
--HARRY PERLSTADT
-GLORIA BOWLES
The Young Savages
THE YOUNG SAVAGES, an-
other in the juvenile delinquent
cycle of pictures, is not an un-
forgettable experience but is a
superior Hollywood product which
indicates that exciting artistic at-
tempts do not have to originate
in Italy or France.
The two features of the State's
current show which mark it as
superior to the usual movie fare
are the often imaginative direc-
tion of John Frankenheimer and
the excellent photography of Lio-
nel Lindon.
FILM IS THE ART of motion-
a fact which is usually ignored
by Hollywood. However, in "Sav-
ages" the unique juxtaposition of
scenes (the, murder of a blind
youth contrasted with the blind-
folded goddess of justice), the
exceptional angle shots of the
murder, and the minute attention
to relevant detail create adnearly
unbearable tension and demon-
strate the story-telling power of
a moving picture.
Like Blackboard Jungle, the
film re-examines the causes of
teen-age crime, again reaches the
inescapable answer-crime is the
sickness of a society.
S* S
BURT LANCASTER and Dina
Merrill bring little to their roles
but often are only a few steps be-
hind the acting paces of the tal-
ented actors who create the slum
dwellers. Vivian Nathan renders
the rather tried-and-true lines in
a touchingly restrained manner
for maximum significance.
The three young murderers are
understandable but terrifying with
their warped grins and pathetic
tears. One would not expect a
Age of Infidelity
THE SPANISH FILM, "Age
Infidelity," now playing at
Campus, is an example of h
an artistic work can be so grou:
ed in the peculiarities of a natiy
life as to be meaningless to
foreign audience. The failure
this moving picture -to conmim
cate emotionally to an Amen
public points up the general pr
lem of the universal in art.
Both Oedipus Rex and Pat
Panchali are able to strongly m
a modern American audience.'
"Age of Infidelity," although p
vocative and even scandalous
the Spanish, leaves us cold.
The film is about the selfi
dishonorable conduct of thei
per class in modern Spain. Ba
upon a true story, the events
lated tell of a married won
,and her lover who commit a
and-run murder. Failing to rep
the accident, the lovers go throu
much guilty soul-searching.
last, when the man decides
confess, the woman runs b
down, only to immediately die
still another car accident hers
* s *
ALTHOUGH THE ACTION
silly enough, with its mult
deaths-by-automobile, the d
logue is even more tedious. In :
life it may be true that a cat
trophe of any sort causes the
dividual to make such a total
evaluation of his own moral I
cepts and those of his so
class, but dramatically the
rangement is most unconvinc
Because the theme is no'
natural outgrowth of the act
the film fails to appeal universa
Certainly for the Spanish v
on the slimmest pretext, can
excited about the issue, then
an appeal. But for us, we must
led by the drama itself inti
consideration of Spanish hc
The Choice for the Riders
i ISSUE that now faces the Freedom
ders is whether they will gain or lose by
ahead uninterruptedly in their challenge
al segregation laws in Mississippi, Ala-
and Louisiana.
orney General Kennedy has pleaded for
oling off period ... until the present state
ifusion and danger has passed." Dr. Mar-
uther King, principal leader of the stu-
"non-violent action" campaign and Roy
ns, executive secretary of the NAACP, as
as Negro integration leaders in Mont-
ry, have all rejected Mr. Kennedy's plea.
e Freedom Riders and everyone else have
bsolute moral and legal right to unin-
hibited transit from one state to another in
this Union. President Kennedy and the At-
torney General deserve praise for the firm
way in which they have moved in to protect
that right. The mob action and the failure,
where it occurred, of local and state officials
to take proper measures were disgraceful and
contemptible. The basic injustice of segregation
in any form 100 years after the Civil War is
beyond dispute.
The facts and the situation today add up
to a victory for the Freedom Riders, one that
most Americans will applaud. All the same, it
looks as if this victory can be diminished, or
nullified, if the agitators press on through an
inflamed atmosphere. They are ' challenging
not only long-held customs. but' passionately