Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
People s
rights
vs.
success
Saturday, October 26, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Ford woos black voters
SINCE BECOMING President, Ger-
ald Ford has spent a lot of time
and effort trying to repair and'
strengthen the Republican party. He'
is attempting to accomplish this, in
part, through an effort to regain at
last some part of the GOP's black
support.
Up until the mid-1930's, most black
voters supported the Republicans as
the "party of Emancipation." The"
New Deal program of Franklin Roose-
velt however, generated a large scale
change - over of allegiance. Many
black voters aligned themselves with
the Democratic party, and this is
wher their support has remained.
Ford has gone about his attempt
to regain this lost favor in several
ways. In a well-publicized gesture
late in August, he met with the 16
member Congressional Black Cau-
cus, all of whom are Democrats and
of whom only one voted for Ford's
confirmation as vice president.,
MORE RECENTLY, the President
spoke with 30 prominent black
Republicans, assuring them that
"they have a friend in the White
House. "
Betty Ford has also been active in
the pursuit of black support. Speak-
ing at a luncheon meeting of the Na-
tional Council of Negro Women, she,
pledged her aid to "you women who
will lead the nation down the path
of equality - not only racial and sex-
ual, but for all equality."
The black vote is more important
today than ever, and it's no wonder
Ford wants to attract as many black
voters as possible to the Republican
party. Considering his carefully laid
groundwork, it would seem conceiv-
able that President Ford has gotten
off on the right foot, and that per-
haps he is headed toward success in
his quest. Hishandling of the Boston
school busing affair, however, leaves
all this in doubt.
Although the president views his
statement that busing is "not the
best solution to quality education in
Boston" as non-commital, many peo-
ple have interpreted it otherwise.
Anti-busing activists were elated
with the statement and have been
waving it as a banner in support of
further resistance.
Ford also said that the situation in
Boston should be dealt with by the
city and state governments, and that
his role should be minimal to non-
existent. From one who seems to con-
cerned about the esteem of the black
populace, this type of side-stepping
hardly seems wise.
JT WILL CERTAINLY take more
than one election to measure the ef-
fectiveness of Ford's quest for black
votes, and his efforts will without a
doubt be negatively affected by the
way he has dealt with the desegrega-
tion issue in Boston. Success, if it
comes, may be a long time on the
way.
-SUE WILHELM
By L. ALAN TOTH
TUESDAY EVENING, October 22,
there was a public hearing on the
"rights" of women in the job market of
today. This was an attempt to expose
the injustices women suffer in the work-
a-day world because of sexist and other
discriminatory mind-sets held in the va-
rious structures of our society by the
people who control or run them.
This effort by the Washtenaw County
Advisory Committee on the Status of
Women was important and necessary,
as one effort among many taking place
in our society to raise public conscious-
ness and help people come to terms with
sex-discrimination in themselves, and ul-
timately in the societal structures where
these attitudes become entrenched. It
is never a comfortable thing to come to
grips with socially learned attitudes that
are oppressive whether confrontation be
with one's self or with the societal struc-
tures that reflect what lies in people's
hearts.
I WAS DISTRUBED during the course
of this hearing by my own inner strug-
gle to come to grips somehow with fun-
damental questions I believe must be
asked if liberation from oppression is
taken to be the underlying theme of the
struggle by women in their attempts to
redefine their personhood, and open up
the various societal structures in such a
way that more choices are available to
them in the living out of their lives.
I was' disturbed because I did not see
anyone addressing the theme of libera-
tion in its radically integral sense as that
word applies to every aspect, to every
relationship (personal and structural)
of life in our society. This is not a criti-
cism of Tuesday night's hearing. The
meeting was well attended, well or-
ganized, and it was good that it was
held. It does reflect, however, the strug-
gle going on inside of myself to see
things in their full and proper perspec-
tive.
Women are not the only sex in need of
liberation. Men in our society are des-
nerately in need of liberation from the
whole way our society defines "suc-
cess." Success in American is economic-
ally reductionistic in that it is interpret-
ed nrinoarily in terms of "having and
getting" as opposed to "being and giv-
ing." When we speak in terms of "being
and giving," we are talking then, not so
much about maleness and femaleness,
and how our culture has come, in
straight-.Jacket form, to define these
words, but we are then at least attemnt-
ing to come to terms with what it means
to be a person.
AND IT IS THIS that begins to onen
un to us the very nature of the word
onoression in American society, and the
urgent need for liberation at more fun-
damentl levels of our conscio"nes
renrdless of sex, race, age, or income.
For when we begin to talk about the
nbtire of nersonhood we are automatic-
.llv bronvght into the realm of world and
life view persnectives, i.e. Marxism,
Christianity. Judaism, Secular-Human-
ism, etc. as each of these vale-com-
m'nitiel has its own distinctive way of
resnonding to. relating to, and acting out
what nersonhood is.
Intuitively sensing this, one cannot
help but recognize that the current struc-
ture of our society militates against this
kind of community struggling by the ba-
sic value-communities in their respec-
tive attempts to identify and live out
their values, as persons, both male and
female.
THIS IS SO particularly in the political
and educational arenas. These structures
Executive power threatened
THIS WEEK PRESIDENT FORD told
us that a Democratic victory in
the upcoming congressional elections
could jeopardize world peace. But he
did not specify exactly what he
meant.
Essentially, he means that if the
Democrats win in November, the
present Foreign Assistance Act will
hold, and his powers in foreign rela-
tions will be restricted. Just as im-
portant, the CIA's freedom to per-
form covert operations will have been
curtailed.
The Kennedy amendment to the
foreign aid bill was passed on Oct. 1.
This amendment will bar all mili-
tary aid to the present regime in
Chile.
THIS AMENDMENT was passed
47-41, with voting split along
party lines. If things go on like this,
the power of the executive in the
area of foreign relations will be sub-
ject to close scrutiny by Congress.
This may mean that U.S. will not be
able to support fascism abroad,
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Barbara Cornell,
Liz Coules, Stephen Hersh, Cindy
Hill, Tom Preston, Judy Ruskin, Jim
Tobin
Editorial Page: Peter Blaisdell, Clif-
ford Brown, Steve Stojic, B e c k y
Warner
Arts Page: Ken Fink
Photo Technician: Pauline Lubens
It is well known that former ad-
ministrations supported the military
juntas in Greece, South Vietnam and
Chile. Kennedy's intelligent, humane
amendment may well be a landmark
and lead to a foreign policy more in
line with the concepts of national
self-determination and democracy.
A weaker legislative move was the
modified Hughes amendment to the
same bill, which is intended to end
all covert activities by the CIA un-
less the operations are for intelligence
Gathering, or are authorized by the
President, Essentially this means
nothing, since the so-called "40 Com-
mittee," which oversees the CIA, is
dominated by the secretary of state,
acts under the direction of the Presi-
dent.
A REAL ATTEMPT to pass a strong-
er bill was made by Senator
James Abourezk (D-S.D.) to abolish
covert CIA operations, but it was
defeated 17-68. However, if a more
liberal Congress is elected. this
amendment may be brought up
again, and again.
If a Democratic victory should en-
sue next month, the stability of the
world might indeed be threatened.
As Ford implies, if the U.S. ends its
meddling in the internal affairs of
other nations, the status quo may
well be threatened.
-DAVID WARREN
operate on the presumption, of philosophi-
cal neutrality, holding to the democratis-
tic notion that as a people, even with all
of our colorful differences, we are in
essentials, one. This is what makes us
Americans, we are told. And so wrap-
ped in the sheep's clothing of neutrality,
the wolf of "shared ideals" becomes an
absolute, presuming to speak for every-
one. In the nature of the case it cannot.
Neutrality in our various societal struc-
tures is a myth.
In its assumption of absoluteness, the
oppressiveness of this myth becomes ap-
parent when we address the theme of
liberation. If women, in their struggle to
free themselves from sexist shackles,
are not at the same time able to help in
the concommitant struggle to make it
possible for the basic value communities
in our society to redefine what we mean
by "success," they, in turn, will become
enslaved by the current cultural mean-
ing of that word (success: - a secular,
individualistic preoccupation with eco-
nomic advancement as the highest pri-
ority), and they will become dehumaniz-
ed by the thrust of this spirit in the
same way men are today.
WHEN ONE BEGINS to see that in
oir culture this thrust is held to with
what is tantamount to religious fervor,
that it has brought about not only the
destruction of our environment, a de-
pletion of our natural resources, a soar-
ing cost of living, a widening gap be-
tween rich and poor, and the break-
down of family relationships, but also
a penetrating alienation of people from
the very core of their existence as im-
age-bearers of God redemptively called
to loving service within the creation, to
be actively engaged in attempting to re-
store the harmony originally intended for
every creature and every aspect of cre-
ation, then one can only conclude that
the current structuring of political and
educational life in our society will never
allow the basic value communities to
struggle with what this means, because
the democratistic leveling of each of
ing voice, but denying power.
The cry of women for liberation will
become meaningless if it is only a self-
serving demand for entry into the Amer-
ican way of societal death, via the myth
of political, educational, etc. neutrality.
IN ORDER FOR liberation to become
packed with meaning, it must expose
the myth of philosophical neutrality in
our various societal structures, break out
of the polite totalitarianism of the level-
ing, absolutized, democratistic notion of
"shared ideals" recognize the plurality
of basic value-communities in our so-
ciety and make room for each to re-
sponsibly work for non-oppressive change
within our various societal structures.
This presupposes a multi-party system
based on differences in world-and-life
view perspectives, and not the present
philosophical monolith of secular-human-
ism out of which both the major politi-
cal parties operate, with good intentions
I as sure, but locked in to a maelstrom
of party bosses, people of means, and
snecial interest groups where the notion
of "shared ideals" perpetuates non-dia-
logue, and pragmatic, patchwork reform-
ism becomes the norm of a sterile and
dying culture.
SUFFICE IT TO sly that I st-nd to
learn much from those women who are
struggling for liberation, who want to be
able to be free to make life' choices
uninhibited by sexist obstacles. But I see
more findamentally in the theme of
liberation (male or female) not a call
for revolution where oppressor and op-
n.ressed merely change positions, or
where one only wants a bigger piece of
an already cancerous Die, but rather a
call for a radical 'restructuring, a refor-
motion of our society where real nhilo-
sonhical differences are openly acknow-
ledged and the various structures of our
society - narticularly the political and
ed"cational - are realigned to reflect
tl-s differences.
This suggests a cultural mosaic based
on the enriching justice of structural
nli'ralism, as onposed to the monolithic,
melting pot philosophy that presently,
Doily Photo by TERRY McCARTHY
limits our freedom and oppresses people
by denying them the opportunity to ex-
ercise their freedom responsibly in the
various structures of our society accord-
ing to their world-and-life view. To be
sure this is not a panacea for all of our
complex social ills, but it would consti-
tute at the very least a political struc-
turing more justly representative of the
plurality of basic values communities in
America than what we have now.
IF WOMEN, in their struggle for liber-
ation, relate to this theme in the radical,
integral spirit I have tried to describe
here, they will then be confronting funda-
mental life questions and will be forced
to come to terms with the oppressive and
destructive forces rooted in the central
directional thrust of our culture. It is
here that the battle for a free and open
society rages in its most deeply rooted
sense. It is this that women and men
must come to terms with, for evil is not
the exclusive characteristic of any sex,
race, age, class, or national ideology of
people. It is rooted fundamentally in our
lives as human beings, personally and
structurally. To come to terms with this
reality requires the choice of a world-
and-life view perspective.
When, as Gerald Vandezande says,
"Government realizes that conformity is
not necessarily a virtue, that frank ad-
mission of and proper respect for deep
differences of conviction as well as equal
opportunity for all to live according to
the dictates of. one's heart within the
framework of non-discriminatory laws,
makes for more harmony than the ar-
bitrary notion that women and men must
suppress their basic beliefs and feelings
for the sake of a colorless, artificial un-
ity," then liberation, for all of us, re-
gardless of sex or world-and-life view,
will become a poignant word, dynamic-
ally alive, overflowing with meaning,
enriching our lives with a plurality of
real choices in every aspect of our ex-
istence.
L. Alan Toth is chairman of the
Washenaw Coun/y Board of Comanmis-
sioners.
them into the melting
ideals" will render them
pot of "shared
impotent, allow-
Letters
to
The
B0ONbt 89 rM?1AL CELE8SRAnoN
Levin
To The Daily:
THE LEVIN campaign most
be feeling the heat n A n n
Arbor. Why else the letter from
their local co-ordinator in The
Daily attacking Zolton Ferency
for the most dubious of reasons?
The letter states that Ferency,
who threw away his entire 20-
year political career to oppose
the war in Vietnam and Lyndon
Johnson, is labelled by the Lev-
inites as one who reoresents
Watergate and "unethical trick-
ery" in politics. Ferency, as
you may recall, was forced out
of the office of chairpersoa of
the state Democratic Party for
opposing Johnson and the war.
The party hierarchy rep1aced
him with somebody that w a s
"safe" - Sandy Levin.
Anyway, the reason Ferency
is supposed to be the bad guy,
according to the Leviniks, is
that he left the Democratic Par-
ty in 1970 to form a new party,
the Human Rights Party, and
that party two years later nom-
inated him for the Supreme
Court. Gosh.
WHY WON'T the Levin cam-
naign resoond to our attacks on
office" because he ran for 'he
Supreme Court on the HRP tick-
et. In his "hunger," Fe:ercy
spent the least of all the c mdi-
dates, about $9,000, while man-
aging to outdistance both Demo-
cratic candidates that year.
,Who did win that year? The
leading vote-getter was Sindy's
cousin, Charles Levin, who form-
ed a non-existent "party ' :o'
get his name on the ballot,
which is what Ferency is be-
ing accused of doing. Except
that Ferency helped form a par-
ty that was and is very .eal.
Levin reported spending over
$250,000.
ANOTHER LEVIN, Sandy's
brother Joseph, recently spent
over $125,000 in an unsuccessful
bid to get a congressional nom-
ination in a district ii which he
never lived.
Another Levin, Sandy's broth-
er Carl, regularly outspends is
rivals to get elected to the De-
troit City Council.
And Sandy himsef spent over
a half-million dollars in 1970
in a futile attempt to get ele::-
ed governor and is sioaodlng
$750,000 thisryear. He has offer-
ai 'omRTTV dpna tm ithMi
allegedly included only 50 dele-
gates, all but one of whom was
supposedly nominated as a can-
didate.
THE NUMBER was actually
100, not 50. Anyone that consid-
ered themself a member could
come and vote. Seventeen candi-
dates were nominated.
But cutest of all was the fact
that HRP was FORCED to hold
the convention on Memorial
Day weekend because ,the legis-
lature passed a new law that
said so. Of course, we were nev-
er informed or consulted.
We hope that the next three
weeks can be spent debating is-
sues and the Levin campaign
will allow their candidates to
get on the same platform with
Zolton Ferency, who in his "hun-
ger for elective office" is run-
ning on a platform of busing,
heroin decriminalization, a soc-
ialist economy, and other issues
guaranteed to get him elected.
-The Michigan Human
Rights Party Campaign
Committee
ERIM
To The Daily:
AN ANN ARBOR News article
Daily.
offered to refute Fojtik appear
to constitute a whole school of
red herrings, led by this one:
"If ERIM is forced to leave
Washtenaw County (e.g., move
to Livingston County), it will
take with it its status as major
employer."
To begin with, ERIM has ne,T-
er been located in Washtenaw
County - ERIM (including its
former incarnation as the Uni-
versity's Willow Run Labs) ha;
always been located in Wayne
County. Its Washtenaw County
employes have always been
commuters. Those who live in
the Ann Arbor area (who tend
to be University-identiifed, 'pro-
fessional-level' employes) would
probably enjoy the more convea-
lent location in Ann Arbor.
Those who live in Ypsilanri or
farther east in the county would
not find Ann Arbor location
much of an advantage. The ef-
fect of relocation to 3rignton
in Livingston County wouA be
similar to that of ERIM', pre-
sent location in Wayne County.
from ERIM's presence.
The issue before the Commis-
sioners is basically whether or
not to subsidize this particular
business. Given ERIM's t a x-
exempt status, I nm curio:s
about why some Commissioners
want to assist ERIM in a move
that will result in a loss of tax
revenues. Their position would
be understandable if ERIM were
a new major employer promis-
ing 450 new jobs; or a taxab'e,
revenue-producing facility; or a
tax-exempt organization engag-
ed in activities clearly directed
to the publicbenefit (e.g, medi-
cine or health care, education,
or any human-service-oriented
work).
THE INFORMATION on ERIM
so far simply does not satis-
factorily demonstrate that i t s
potential value to the County
wil be enhanced by a move to
Ann Arbor, and thus does 'ut
justify special support in the
form of a low-interest bond is-
sue. Instead, this support ap-
pears to risk a reduction in lo-
-al tax revenoes because of
ElRIM's tax-exempt status, re-
quiring further cuts in local pub-
lic service or shifting the 'tax
AN IMPORTANT point to be
noted is that ERIM depends
heavily upon its continuing as-
sociation with the Unives'ty's