1 a special feature the sundaiy dcfily by sara fitzgerald « 4 Number 49 Night Editor: Tommy Jacobs Sunday, October 17, 1971 Fortrait of the exil e his N N N in own land N N N 11WAS a big day for the 10-year- old. For the first time, his mother was letting him go into 'town alone on an errand. Clutching the money for the stamps in his hand, he walked into the heart of Monroe, past the pillars of the Post Office to the coun- ter inside. His errand complete, he trotted down the steps and across the street. Then he heard them. Coming up the side of the street was the chief of nol~ie--dray ing a young black woman by her foot. A crowd gathered to watch the woman cry out as her head scraned along the concrete. It was a fairly- common sight in the North Carolina town, for the woman was renuted to be a drunk. But for yono- Rob, it was something to- tallv new. u . 'red in di helief as the wo- man was dragged to the jail. And he never forgot the laughing faces of the whites-or the black men run- ning fearfully away. THTiRTY-SIX vears have passed sand Robert Williams is again watch- ing someone "get dragged through the steets of Monroe." This time it is himself. But his crime is not drunkenness. it is a 10-year-old charge of kidnapinq. And his prison has not been a small town nolice sta- tion-it has been the entire world. Cuba. China, Tanzania, and for the nast year-Ann Arbor, Mich. No matter where he goes, the ran pur- sues him and deprives him of his "to- morrow." Leaving Monroe and the kidnaning charge. he roamed the world talking with all kinds of neople,-neople like Fidel Castro, Mao Tse-tung and Chonu En-lai. Two years ago, he finally came home and got a University Job. Now he waits for someone to decide what his future will be. He dresses in Chinese-styled shirts and brightly colored tunics. And soft- snoken at 48, he seems the picture of moderation - which he once might have been. By his own definition, he is not a Communist or a black revolutionary, but a black nationalist. He was once president of the Monroe NAACP, but then things started to change. Once arrested in a sit-in, he was forced to march through the streets to the jail. He saw whites rape and lynch those of his race. And four times they tried to kill him. So he armed his black neighbors, he told them to "meet vio- lence with violence." And one day the police caught up with him. TEN YEARS AGO, Monroe was the scene of a race riot. The police, wary of Williams and the other blacks, put barriers around their neighbor- hood. But a white couple happened to be driving through the area and were stopped and forced from their car. Williams says he intervened and took them to his house. They waited two hours, then left unharmed. Williams has been waiting ever since. On a trip to New York, he heard on the radio that he was wanted for kidnaping the couple. Knowing Mon- roe and knowing the police, he felt casts, they discriminated against him as a black. So even though he en- joyed much of the Cuban society, he decided it was time to leave. The United States had wanted him for a crime, but now they didn't want him back. He tried to return, but was given special passport forms. He filled out just the usual papers, but they said they'd only let his family in. He then tried Canada, but the answer came back the same. Williams doesn't mind red tape- as long as it's not created especially for him. So with the continual run- around, he turned his back on the States. He looked around and considered the possibilities. There were offers from Sweden and North Vietnam, but nothing substantial materialized. However, he'd been to China twice before, and he'd been invited back. A crowd gathered to watch the woman c r y out as her head scraped aiong the concrete . and he never forgot the laughing faces of the whites-or the black men running fearfully away. . *S .. P ..::s:ia :3::sis s -s~ ss ii~ss a l s: e s :-::::si::s s :::s::s : ::::::3:::::9:::::::i::sis s :::::9:3::::: ::;;:s :::; well, he was still beset by the after- noon back in Monroe. So after three years he went one night-and told Chou En-lai he was ready to go home. But it wasn't all that easy. To get a passport, he had to go to Tanzania. And with U.S. pressure applied, he had to leave. Meanwhile, he had add- ed another title to his growing list of credentials. A group of blacks in the United States had proclaimed the Republic of New Africa with Williams as its president. Like their exiled leader, the RNA had dreams of setting up a black nation in five Southern states. And like many things that had hap- pened to him, Williams didn't know about his new role until he was al- ready in it. Still trying to get home, Williams made it to London. But once there no airlines was willing to fly him to the States. It was "suggested" he go to Cairo, but Williams wanted to go home. And instead he found himself in an English prison, jailed as an "undesirable." He staged a hunger strike, the press picked it up, and civil liber- tarians joined his cause. He filed suit against TWA and finally flew home, alone except for two security guards -there to protect the plane. After a splashy arrival at Metro airport, he was picked up by FBI agents. Then freed on $10.000 bond, he settled back to wait out his ap- neal of Gov. Milli'en's order that he must go back to North Carolina. He tried to look good. he left the senara- tist RNA. Then, with the time gained, he snent a year in a tiny office above the Michigan Theater, in the Center for Chinese Studies. TUNDER A Ford Foundation grant, Williams wrote a book on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In addition, he advived students who sought his help and consulted with his colleagues. When China became "in" last sum- mer, he spoke on a few nanels. But above all else, he simply tried to stav out of trouble. Yet even his peace at the Univer- sity was sometimes disturbed. The FBI questioned him at his office. They snoke with peonle who lived in his apartment building. And the neighbors were surprised to hear the FBI calling that "nice Mr. Williams" a black revolutionary. But his year at the University ended last week. And so it seems did his time. For just asuhis fellowship ran out, the state courts denied his appeal. -Daily-Jinm Jadkis he would never get a fair trial there. So he went to Canada, then fearing extradition back to the United States, he left the country for Cuba. CUBA MEANT Radio Free Dixie and a chance to broadcast a militant line to blacks in the South. The man who had gone to colleges fOr three years before flunking out, suddenly had himself a massive audience-and a collision with the Communist party. He had assumed the stance of a black nationalist since his early years in Monroe. But the Cuban par- ty took the position that blacks should achieve equality only through a socialist revolution with white workers. They didn't feel, as Wil- liams did, that blacks would have to go it alone. Toward the end of his four-year stay, the party said he was "coun- ter-revolutionary" and a "plant" by the CIA. They "sabotaged" his broad- And with his sons already studying there, he made his mind up to go. THE CULTURAL Revolution was the time, the Peace Compound his home. He shared the Italian embas- sy-turned apartment building with 25 other families, and lived as a re- fugee. He was given two cooks, two cleaners, and a chauffeur by the government-because he had been "oppressed." He spent his days soak- ing up the country-visiting factor- ies and observing its tumultous changes. His nights were filled with writing-letters, diaries, and "The Crusader in Exile", his newsletter to 40,000 blacks at home. There were May Day speeches with Mao Tse-tung and friendships with the Chinese people. Even a movie, called "Robert Williams in China," was made of his stay. He was wined and dined like a sort of "U.S. diplo- matic corps." And though treated but only if they ask him as an ex- pert, not a subversive. And he just can't understand it. The government will give Huey New- ton a passport to pay a visit to China. Yet Williams "has an invitation" and he's not allowed to go. For the coun- try who tried so hard to keep him out, is now trying its best to keep him in. * ~* * HE ISa difficult man to pinpoint politically. He's the Bobby Seale of our parents' generation or a Martin Luther King with a gun. He. is not a Communist, but he is a black na- tionalist. And his main creed is spelled "self-determination." "It's a . simple thing," he says. "We'd build a nation where all peo- ple will be equal. White people could live there, they just would be barred "Angela and Huey have said they are Communists. So the white left said, These are good d a rk i e s,' and aroused - !ublic sentiment. But I have to carry on my case alone, even paying for my cttornev's fees." the American people, "there has been no solid advocate who can show it is something people should aspire to." And when hebegins!to explain self- determination, when he speaks of wanting to "travel and see what the mood of the country is" and "give people the benefit of his experiences," it seems he'd really like to be that ' advocate. Except for the future of extradi- tion he still must face. WILLIAMS' life remains suspend- ed. The government dropped the charges long ago against four co- defendants in the kidnaping case, but they still won't forget about him. There's the'knowledge he has -that they won't let him share. And the bind that when he wants to come or go, they always have other ideas. But to him, the greatest irony is that no one wants to help him. "I'm here at the University, work- ing among them every day, and I'm being railroaded back to North Caro- lina. Have you heard anyone say, we should stand up and try to save him'?" "Angela and Huey have said they are Communists. So the white left said, 'These are good darkies.' and aroused public sentiment. But I have to carry on my case alone, even pay- ing for my attorney's.fees." "Most people don't know about my indictment and most * people just don't care." SO HE'S cleared out his office in the Chinese Studies center and picked up his belongings in his Ann Arbor apartment. And if he sticks to his plans, he'll probably head to Idlewild, a black town in the "coun- try." He wants to "read, write, think, nrav, and try and be a hermit." And nerhaps get a taste of self-determi- nat ion. But he's also girding himself for what may be his last confrontation. The governor and state courts have beard his anneals, but he still will be sent to the South. He files complaints with the Justice Dent., his lawyers in- vestigate federal anpeals. But he knows it won't make a difference. "Cause even a crash program in jus- tide can't save the country now." TEN YEARS AGO, Williams might have gone peacefully back to North Carolina because he felt there was still some hone. But since that time, he has learned the "lesson of Attica." And despite his moderate demeanor, there is still a core of toughness, nur- tured by the prison, the world in which he has lived. r 'V And once again Williams finds himself at a crossroads. Try a trip across the border again? And maybe never come back? Move to the Michi- gan countryside? And wait for some- thing to happen? End the years of wandering and running by going back to Monroe? Or what about re- sistance? * *- * THE STATE POLICE reported last week-that Williams was seen, leav- ing town with a U-Haul truck. The man who'd known Fidel Castro, the friend of Chou En-lai, the former president of the RNA-pulling out of Ann Arbor with a U-Haul truck. Just like any middle American. Ex- cept his destination was supposed to be Canada-or so the police thought. He didn't leave Ann Arbor then- but one day soon he might. And when he goes, he'll probably be more alone than he has ever been before. The right calls him a "traitor" for advocating black self-determination. The white left brands him a "Fas- cist" and a "black racist." He was booed at the People's Peace Confer- ence here for "not being a Communist and being critical of Cuba." He's a martyr, he's a maniac. Political ac- tivists, even blacks, just don't know what teM a ef him from power. But thev would live un- der protection of the law, unmolested. It would be the U.S. government's duty to compensate all people who live in that area rwho want to leave. And the government should do as thev do for every underdeveloned country--help with its technical de- velopment." "I view senaratism like a. man and wife who are having a difficult time and can't get on. What would be the proper thing? That thPv have knives at each other's throats, threatening to kill each other? What would nernie a dvocate for them?- neaceful separatioln and division of pronertv. Why is it co difficult for whites to accept this?" THE VFARS have taught him to be careful with words. The rantings of the fanatics, the rhetoric of the left have. made him wvarv of what Ia- be's can connote. AmPricans east off China as "that Marxict-T.Pninist state," he says without realizing the cultural example it sets for our coun- try. He talks of self-determination