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Number 10 Page Three Novemi
FEATUF
Reuther: The wonder r
boy ets ih efa
By GORDON ATCHESON win but I still feel pretty good ther says tapping the table with
about it all" a fork to underscore the words.=a
FOR THE PAST COUPLE of aoti l.
mOnth, the "JSTO U Eof After a killing pre-election week "Later, however, I was strongly
months, the John hetur pace, Reuther still looks just like linked to the labor groups which
for Congress" campaign headquar- hstpe tofnehscm- hurt me in many areas."
ters has eoccupied a small, two- he stepped out of one of his cam- ute ay are
Sat the pagn posters - young and strik- Those areas proved to e he
roHomer.aUntiinthhe mhedleiog be phe
donow pslnt.Paneda ingly handsome. With bright white-collar suburbs in Wayne
peyell wi e lae cur- brown eyes and ruddy cheeks, he County where Reuther wasdevas- 3DiyPf£
tains in the windows, the place exudes a healthful vitality so td log oE by oe 10,000
looks like it should stand strong that one is convinced he be- votes - approximately the marginIkgdg'
an some peaceful lakefront in the longs in a Gerito commercial. ofmhis defetin e ente ditric kahy
Upper Peninsula. Standing over six feet tall, Re- Without the family pullhow- trse dhghR-d
But the cottage, plastered both ether is an imnosing figure. But a e Rung ckno ham
inside anc out with posters and boeish face, that makes him a- Mewuln e re henis today- A
bumper stkrs, has obusly pear a lot younger than his 30 out of college for less than a dec- as .t gh tm
been made a center of attention. years. lends the man a naive air. ade but having ten years experti- r a
Even two das after the election it Election night tempered that ence working on, organizing andpd x rioryu
isn't qet. Ea ro fine abit. innocence. The returns showed running in national political cam-nd: hgn
peoplet bustlingharoun d taking care Reuther that he couldn't marchfwih paigns. "Great opportunities open-in's theeomuetydutn ahpnettytfpntme, "p tohdeibecrupy of hypermn,"
of theperfunctory duties thatre-Rss in the area wthea retty face edaspnton easeo my name""
main after the battle. They don't and a famous name andrealistic-utheng." saysdingcareftlly. nor
thinkat te sirrin ces ally expect to walk away the Fwin- sowly YEAe w Tey ceh
Ahnkd b th h ss tirmringa se cd fVchsReuhtowomelp sfaredatetra cumsed.-"ee lkeon t E. . ths sm^s oetstha:hs:onmag myUqust n..y.he
Reuther will give on the House ner. Until then the sting of per- autmeamt e f crsatemn. Dm..y"Photo I
floor or the wise legislation he will sonal defeat had somehow avoided eur got his fr se on
in G him, politics through one of those op- Execandidate Joh n Reuther and uncle Wlter
Tir man lat y aIjsi', the b t ams bt portunities. As a junior strolling a tion a fn ris wl "Right w J
her o ig. at duesdaybadr. oIltrintdshis i the etrit across the hilly Cornell University do again I wouldn't make the same u aniziongd fndang wigro"pis ht ow I-mhgois
Ahe osinthonlonngs- gmfnrinh sinhe r- thcampus in central New York, he mistakes." The characteristic John be much better next time." Amaz- he says, again tapping
Instead, as they move piles of n ecary to wi h exin s, was asked to become a co-leader of Rthertgrin, has been replaced ingly, these thoughts flow other- haven't had time to
unused campaign leaflets and Reuther grew up in Detroit but the "Youn Citizens for Johnson" with a somber, reflective look. enty through John Reuther's since the campaign st
multi-colored buttons and thank- moved to Ypsilanti only about 18 because the group wanted to Iden- A precocious youngster - a po- head less than 48 hours after the I won, I still woul
you letters to supporters, the staff- months ago and for half that time tify more closely with labor. Since litical golden boy - learned a few first major setback in his own ca- to ..." His words trai:
ers who rose and eventually fell he has been running for Congress tehehsnvreallftpl- aubelsos."'ntgigto r. the distinct impressic
with Reuther try to exlain why That made hi. ggaIcarpetbagger then o gghe rrtoi- vlual e les hi'm not goie to reer e - mpglampaificet.
teso mthe politics left him runoy ater a skin these eop- sTHINKING BACK, he serves up lad ace tha
it happened that way. The answersto me people. And votes come Organizing in California for Rob- for their help," Reuther says quiet- several of the standard ex- for victory. Reuther
aren't very pleasant to think about. much easier for a hometown boy. ert Kennedy's presidential bid in ly. "I'm going to get involved in uses for political defeat: "Esch begun looking for a js
At a time when Democrats won by TIHEN THERE WAS the matter of 1968. Reuther recalls the Senator's the community during the next out spent me," "if we had six more pay off the personal $
landslide proportions across the the name - the Reuther name assassination as "a frustrating two years and build up more of a weeks," and "I came across well has run up during tI
country, Reuther failed to beat a - which became a double-edged thing." rapport and understanding with to those who met me personally." and in part to keep hi
moderate Republican incumbent, sword during the election. As the FOUR YEARS LATER, Reuther the people. Recently I'ye come to The self-assured Reuther never the next one
Andth los ameina dstict chldof icor euher wo hlp sufeeda less traumatic dis- feel like one of them . .. this is my suspects that his own image may Unquestionably ther
that, even without the elusive ed found the United Auto Workers, apppintment as he w a t c h e d home now." have been part of the problem. other "Reuther for soi
"Watergate effect," should be a and the nephew of the late union George McGovern, whom he serv- Munching on potato chips, Ru- Although quite charming and ganization pretty soo
virtual toss-up to begin with. president Walter the youthful ed as a key planner, lose the presi- ther all but declares his candidacy outgoing on first impressions, Reu- lessons from this ca
TAKING A BREAK from the te- politician anticipated picking up dency by one of the most awe- for Congress In 1976: "I'm keeping ther remains slightly distant and noted, he will play the
dious work in the tiny office, the blue collar vote almost by some margins ever recorded. "But the option open," he says like a Just a bit stiff as he tries to act because that's what 3i
Reuther goes next door for a beer. birthright. But his oponent Con- I probably felt defeat strongly for good politician. And he has begun like a good friend among a group is all about - handsha
As he sits in the hotel lounge, sin- gressman Marvin Esch of Ann Ar- the first time on November 5," he mapping campaign strategy aimed of strangers. Successful politicians factories in the earlyr
ping a Budweiser, he reflects on bor, charged him with being a tool says, finishing off the beer. "I just at victory two years from now. He must at will be chummy with any- tertaning at fundral
the defeat. "The spotlight was on of a union merely trying to buy a wasn't confident and towards the mentions in passing that all his one. But Reuther just hasn't had ngt n unn
me in this election and I had to seat in the House with UAW end I knew it would be a longshot voter lists - the backbone of a po- enough practice at being slick. As ngt n unn
produce," Reuther says smiling money. if I won. Going through the office litical machine - have been care- a veritable babe-in-arms by politi- campaign offices.
wanly. "It's now an uneraseable "The name was a major factor the past two days, I constantly fully put in a safe place. He con- cal standards, however, he will Gordo, Atcheson is a
part of the record that I didn't in my winning the primary," Reu- keep thinking that if I had this to fidently points out that "the or- have plenty of time to change. editor.
ber 10, 1974
RES
by KEN FINK
ng to relax,"
the fork. "I
read a book
arted and if
dn't be able
1 off, leaving
n he would
opportunity
has already
ab in part to
5,000 debt he
ie campaign
Im solvent for
e will be an-
mething" or-
n. With the
mpaign duly
game again
ohn Reuther
aking outside
morning, en-
sers late at
eculiar little
Daily night
After busing:
3ORUS To top it off, 1973-74 looked like
The
voices from
By DAN B
BOSTON
A YEAR AGO, Bobby Quinn fig-
ured he had it pretty good, all
things considered.
He was making more than a de-
cent wage as a mechanic and with
the help of the savings his wife
accumulated as a teller in the Coo-
lidge Bank, the Quinns had almost
completed payments on their
South Boston home, a modest
dwelling which has housed Quinns
for eighty years.
His home is quite close to the
local tavern, where on Thursday
nights he would drink his beer, eat
his soft pretzels, and play darts
with friends who dated back to
grade school.
the Celtics year, which Quinn con-
cidered a bonus.
BUT THAT WAS before last win-
ter's court ordered busing to
achieve racial balance.
Today, Quinn, like many of his
school chums, is deeply disturbed
by what has happened in Boston
over the last two months and their
concerns could have political rami-
fications beyond the narrow scope
of which candidates are elected.
The passions and riots of South
Boston - affectionately called
Southie by its inhabitants - stem-
ming from the busing to and from
the area challenge the notion that
society can peacefully exist when
two diverse segments of the popu-
lation have conflicting needs.
Southie has always been a com-
munity within a community, a pre-
dominately Irish pocket, separated
from the rest of Boston by water
on three sides and the Fitzgerald
Expressway on the fourth. Earlier
attempts to integrate the neighbor-
hood with Boston have not been
overwhelming successes. Pride runs
deep in Southie and the reaction
to Federal Judge Garrity's decision
has been swift and violent.
"THE POLITICIANS and t h e
judges and the Boston Globe
don't know a fucking thing about
Southie and they don't give a good
goddamn about what happens here
either," Quinn sputters.
"I grew up in Southie. It's a great
place. All my friends are here, all
my kid's friends are here. Why does
he hafta go down there (Roxbury,
Boston's black neighborhood)?
"All those liberals, protected by
the river, can snout off about jus-
tice and equality all they want to.
They can afford it.' But they don't
hafta live with it. They've got their
fancy-ass neighborhood schools.
"I ain't got nothing against the
blacks," Quinn goes on, choosing
his word more carefully now. "But
if my kid has to leave Southie, he
loses everything. Southie's a great
place; I've never wanted to move
out. But they've got to let me live
like I want. If not . . ." He stops,
looks clown into his beer, not cer-
tain what his response will be if
if busing continues.
But the response of Quinn's
neighbors to busing bodes ill for
domestic tranquility. During the
last months Southie has been the
scene of the worst organized chaos
in the last five years.
Blacks who err by passing
through the section have been
hauled from cars and brutally
beaten with hockey sticks, baseball
bats and other implements. South
Boston whites have staged massive
demonstrations against previously
popular leaders and have even
turned against their former allies,
the police.
School board president and fierce
opponent of busing John Kerrigan
has many times accused the police
of going easy on blacks. "For seven
years, the cons in this town have
protected the blacks at the ex-
pense of the whites. Whites have
been taking the brunt of police
punishment," Kerrigan told a
groun of stunned newsmen re-
cently.
A CHILL I N G ATMOSPHERE
y . hangs over the city. It is per-
mnated by fear, an'er. distrust,
disresnect. and rehellion. There is
somethinr halting about a vellow
school bus hreaking over the hill
early in a hayv Bocton morning
acrcornnanied by helmeted polio'e-
men on motorcycles in full reonlia.
Fffnrts to Fool inflanmd nq5fiOn
hi-ve n+pt with no snwrees. Tn fiat.
thi- ore nolitinians cl oifown
South Bo
Italian North End, and they half-
heartedly tried to prepare the city
for the move. Television spots with
sports stars Dave Cowens and Bob-
by Orr urging acceptance of the
decision and editorials asking com-
pliance were the basis of the pre-
school year campaign. But all the
while, the politicians held out the
hope that Garrity's ruling could be
overturned.
"Listening to them all," Quinn
recalls bitterly, "you'd have
t h o u g h t that this. would
never happen, not in a million
years."
" S LONG AS there is hope for
an amendment or an overturn-
ing of this thing, my kid ain't
goin' to school," one of Quinn's
drinking partners says.
With a statewide election year
at hand. noliticians, eager to keep
their offices, had long ago taken
cognizance of the small percentage
of black voters. Their words were
the hallmark of mushiness - cau-
tioning against violence, but never
stressing that busing was indeed
th law of the Commonwealth.
Ronton mayor Kevin White en-
tertained large political ambitions
and wanted to avoid publiciled un -
n'lossantniPs. Both PePnhiean
novarnor Saropnnt na nemnocra tic
erhllpncr r Michael Di'kakis re-
frained fron fnking a rre- stand
on th pnlatilo nr in parN Yfa11.
OTT(TT STR A nnT,TNG took a toll.
When the inevitohie violence
Many don't see a way out.
But Boston's school crisis has
been fueled by more than fear of
the breakdown of the old neigh-
borhood. Good old - fashioned
American racism helps. St. Louis
Cardinal outfielder Reggie Smith,
who played seven years for the
Boston Red Sox, terms Boston the
most racist city in America.
"I have never been so verbally
abused as I was in Boston," Smith
said when he joined the Cardinals
early last spring. "You expect a
little on the road. You know, a
couple of guys .who have had a
little too much and want to beat
you.
"In Boston I heard more 'nig-
ger's' and 'junglebunny's' than I
ever did in the minors."
Smith's conclusions are support-
ed by other young blacks.
"WHEN BUSING FIRST started,"
a black high school student
who is bused said, "they had these
jive spots on the news about volun-
teer groups cleaning up our (black)
schools so that the white folks
could go to school. Shit, I've been
going in that crap all my life and
now they decide to clean it ub.
"Separate but eaual reeks!"
A white psychiatrist pointed out
that for three weeks blacks
took an enormous amount of
ahue. When thev finally reacted
after the first mass beating, then
th e National Guard was called out.
Not hefore.
ston