4 f N 0I HCG A THE MICHIGAN DAILY ~0 1 Page Four-S -"- MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, August 7, 1970 Friday, August 7, 1970 l l u/ s .. Lawrence. It's clearly a cultural difference that's not being accepted by the cultures. The freaks are here now. They're here to stay and if they have to, they'll fight," Bauerle says. And fight they may have to if the stories about vigilantes are true. Al- though almost everyone talks about the vigilantes, no one claims to actually know anything about them, except for the street people. Cpt. McClure says he does not have any knowledge of such a group. "They never came in here and talked to me about it. Now, if they've been hold- ing their meetings and whatnot, I don't know. Rumors is all I've got and you get all kinds of rumors in this job." Chalmers says second-hand informa- tion isall he has, but adds, "There's no doubt in my mind that there are people who are prepared to take the law into their own hands, if they feel sufficient provocation to do so." "My first year has been, to state it most mildly, an unusual one and perhaps it deserves the characterization of a frantic one. But I would add very quickly, really a very satisfying first year because the amount of rapport and trust that I sense with the students and the faculty and the staff of the university," Chalmers says. THE 1969-70 ACADEMIC year was un- doubtedly the most politically active KU has seen. It saw dramatic increases in *he level of consciousness of black stu- aonts as the BSU began printing its own newspaper and presented a list of de- mands to Chalmers. The paper, Harabee, was hit with an obscenity charge, which was later dismissed. Chalmers dismissed the demands for more black students, faculty and staff as not reasonable, legal or attainable. A peaceful protest over the conviction of the Chicago 7 and the remarks of a KU law professor attacking Judge Julius Hoffman enhanced KU's "radical" image. That was preceeded by two sizeable Moratorium days, a minor ROTC con- troversy and passage of a policy placing some restrictions on classified research. The political situation became more tense in late March when two professors were passed over by the Regents for reg- ular promotions. One-was law Prof. Law- rence Vevel, who spoke at the Conspiracy rally, which was followed by vandalism at the Douglas county courthouse. The other, drama Prof. Fredric Litto had been associated with a conrotversial theatre program. The controversy grew, with the Senate Executive Committee (students and fac- ulty) joining the Council of ,Deans in almost unanimous opposition to the re- gental action. A strike was planned for April 8, the same day Abbie Hoffman was to speak at KU. T HE STRIKE WAS a failure, but attempts were made that day and the next to burn two more university build- ings. Events accelerated on several fronts after that. Racial tensions began to flare up at Lawrence high school, and several KU blacks were involved in confronta- tions with police there. Meanwhile, the state attorney general's office ordered a halt to the third edition of Harabee, while the student senate asked the regents to consider the Vevel and Litto decisions. ON APRIL 20, the student union burned, apparently set on fire by an arsonist. Damage was set at $1.3 -million. Although the union fire was not clearly connected with any other issue, it followed a week of increasing violence at Lawrence high school. The day after the union fire, 150 blacks battled 50 police at the school dis- trict offices and that night Gov. Robert Docking ordered a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed on the city. In the days which followed, there were reports of sniping and arson in the black community, which the city had more or less expected. But more surprising was the violence which broke out in the Oread community as well. "We didn't expect any trouble there and it caught us by surprise," Dennis Kallsen says. "We got several police cars shot all up," says police Cpt. McClure. "We were get- ting rocks up on top of the hill. We had to replace several windshields because of the rocks we received up there." Those events at KU were paralleled by a change of attitude in the community. "Lawrence is proud of KU, but there has certainly been disenchantment on the part of most with the activities on the part of some," Kallsen says. That "disenchantment" has resulted in polarization for most of Lawrence, both to the extreme right and the- extreme left. "The most imngediate danger," says Chalmers, "is that either group can be responsible for the destruction of prop- erty, one in the name- of law and order and the other in the name of revolution. "Of course, there is the problem of recruitment. Unless the 99 per cent in cause the facade of political rhetoric is virtually absent. The basic sub-commu- nities - black, student, street -person, white "establishment"-are more visible and more clearly defined than in the highly urbanized communities one is more accustomed to hearing about. THAT "HIGH VISIBILITY," however, is a liability for Lawrence, because, of its size. In a larger, more complex society, events such as the Dowdell shooting or the union fire would not affect all seg- ments of the community as profoundly as they did in Lawrence. While a com- munity of 47,000 is too large for every- - ! "The racial situation in Northeastern Kansas has gotten progressively worse. I don't think the school case had any effect one way or the other." the middle is assured that there are rea- sonable and responsible mechanisms for settling differences or seeking out the causes of conflict and finding long, just, lasting solutions, that recruitment is made easier." IF SUCH MECHANISMS exist within Lawrence, they do not appear to be currently in use. There is some talk of forming a "coalition," of all the various groups from the street people to the vigi- lantes. But right now, it is just that- talk. In many ways, Lawrence is a microco- som of the larger society in America to- day. Racism has fostered hate, fear and frustration among both blacks and whites. Student protest, rather than dramatizing the contradictions in our society, has served to polarize much of the population, leaving a helpless few in the middle. Each attempt by communities of street people to "do their own thing" has only resulted in increasingly desperate attempts by the rest of society to force upon them a way of life which they utterly reject. If Lawrence is in some way unique from the rest of the country, it is be- one to know everyone else, it is too still small for anyone to really feel that such events do not affect him or threaten his chosen way of life. When Dowdell and Rice were shot, many people around the country were asking, "Why Lawrence?" Perhaps the question to ask is, "Why not Lawrence?" The problems there are not new, only the flare-ups are, and given the sharper definition of those problems, the only surprise is that they did not flare up sooner. That they will flare up again seems inevitable. Nothing really basic has changed since the shootings. If anything, matters have become worse, The problems of racism, polarization and fear of what is different are the problems of a country, not just a city in northeastern Kansas. Even if Lawrence could, in some unexpected way, make progress toward overcoming those ob- stacles, it could not escape the fact that it is part of that larger society. And it will be only when the nation as a whole manages to resolve its conflicts that Lawrence, Kansas will really become the peaceful city of America's heartland everyone once thought it was. © Michigan Daily 1970 Bleedin,. DURING THE 1800's pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions fought bitterly to determine whether the Kansas Terri- tory would enter the union as a slave or free state, earning that territory the name "bleeding Kansas." In the post-Civil War era the vast flatlands unobstrusively blended into "middle America," but after 100 years of relative calm, three weeks ago Kansas bled again, On July 16, in Lawrence, a black youth was shot to death by a white policeman, touching off five nights of violence which ended with the shooting death of a white youth. Surrounding those events were numerous incidents of- sniping,, rock- throwing at police, firebombing and van- dalism. Since then, Lawrence has been rela- tively quite, but tense, with its residents alternately searching for an answer and ascribing blame for what happened. Nei- ther task is an easy one, because Law- rence, although it is a small city, includes most of the elements common to larger cities where similar events have occured. Lawrence is the home of the University of Kansas (KU), whose 17,000 students comprise over a third of the city's 47,000 residents. On the fringe of the univer- sity, as elsewhere, is. a growing com- munity of "street people," while most of Lawrence's 4,000 blacks live in dilapi- dated homes on the city's east side. BEFORE THE SHOOTINGS and an outbreak of racial violence at the high school in April, Lawrence's various sub-communities were aware of each other, but saw themselves largely as part of one community. Today, the effects of polarization are evident. The blacks and street people see themselves in the same corner, joined by some of the university students and the rest of the students, along with Law- rence's white majority, strung out in the opposite direction. The blacks and street people complain of police harassment and attacks by white vigilantes. The white townspeople express fear for their property and even their lives. Strangely enough, political considerations are almost totally absent, as each group strives to preserve its way of life in the face of what it sees as a very real threat from the other side. Lawrence Police Captain Murle Mc- Clure says the history of trouble in the black community is comparatively re- cent. "We had an incident or two last Eu uwInj Kansas US1970 ' : s" <'''. -- "I grew up on a farm,1 and I've been exposed to guns since I was a liti MICHIGAN REPERTORY ---university players---7 * TONIGHT peter nichols' JOE EGG PERFORMANCES THRU SAT., AUG. 8 lydia liendelssohn Theatre 8:00 p.al. Tickets: $1.50, $2.00, $2.50 Ph. 668-6300 Good-Time People Love "PAINT tI A ij 5T E I,,' '3020 woashtenow Ph. 434-1782 Box Office Open 6;30 2nd WEEK SHOW TIMES Today 7-9 Saturday & Sunday 1 -3-5-7-9 No message... no moral... 2 Just all-out fun entertainment to keep you smiling for weeks! summer that we had with them, but we didn't have anything in great propor- tion," he says. Politically, Lawrence's black commun- ity is remarkably cohesive-largely due to the efforts of Leonard Harrison. Harri- son came to Lawrence two years ago and began an intensive program of organiz- ing within the black community. H1E CURRENTLY directs the Ballard Center, which has become a focal point for the black community. The cen- ter provides tutorial services for black high school and university students, a- legal aid service, and operates a credit union. It is presently embarking on a public housing project. Gary Jackson, former special assistant to the KU Dean of Men for black stu- dents, provides a further explanation for the unity of purpose among Lawrence's blacks. "This is a small town," he says, "everybody knows everybody, and it's a little easier to organize people." Jackson was reportedly dismissed two weeks ago following allegations that he purchased 27 boxes of ammunition with Black Student Union funds. As of August 1, however, Jackson said he had received no official notice of his dismissal. "But then you have to ask what is official," he adds, "I've read in the papers that I've been fired." Jackson, who has been working with Harrison in the black community, says Lawrence could be described as "a micro- ism of the entire predicament of oppres- sed people throughout the United States. "Here in Lawrence we're concerned killed by a E the head. The police ; Dowdell first ner's inquest "felonious int( The only t quest came fi member of t vestigation (t from their t# sistant, but C on the stand t raised doubts to the validity Garrett cla at him with a We had an incident or two last summer them, but we didn't have anything in A :........: ,.......,gi : .::. gis~ e glg g ati mt m gg y g '1 M FRIDAY & SATURDAY-AUGUST 7 & 8 JEZEBEL dir. WILLIAM WYLER Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Fay Baintor, Asoa rebellious girl in the ante-bellum South, Bette Davis had one of her strongest dramatic roles. ACADEMY AWARD Short: WHAT'S THE WORLD COMING TO? (CLYDE COOK) 7 & 9:05 ARCHITECTURE 662-8871 75C AUDITORIUM PARMOUNT PITLRES MARVIN EASIXWOOD SEE with black people in general," he contin- ues, "not a specific Black Panther move- bent or Republic of New Africa move- ment. We're talking about the betterment of the black community, and that's what we deal with." , SINCE THE DEATH of Rick, solidarity in the black community has been in- creasing, Jackson says. The split between militant and nonmilitant blacks has nar- rowed. "Both. peoples understand the utilizing of black people in general and know what's coming down. The only split (in the black community) would possibly be ideological, but if you come down to them marching down to the police station- which they did-they would be right there with us. They would support any- thing the militants would do." When asked about the black com- munity's view of the role white radicals have played, Jackson says, "Up to now I think what they've done has been beauti- ful, they understand oppression as we understand oppression," July 16 Rick Dowdell was shot and killed by William Garrett, a Lawrence policeman. Dowdell, who was black, was and the gun f next to his le is known to l was reportedl: ster when he t T HE KBI ag parafin tes told the all- that Dowdell agent could n Dowdell last fi The only ki who was not black woman, in Miss Cole' the shooting. The followi view by a Da in which she i ing the Dow they happenet Daily: Wha the Incident.( Miss Cole: a lie." Daily: Wha Miss Cole: arrived at A one of them lPAIjNtYUWAO RYWALSTON HARVEPRESNELL o KHNT V anALANJAYtLERNER Addb ww' ia OSHUAGAN FREDERICK LOEWE AANDREPRVIN JALAN AY LERNER " PASi0N 1ICUMCMtOB AiPA WMMm 603 E. Liberty St. NOW SHOWS AT: *s*, 1:15-3:45-6:10-8:45 P.M. SWN Box office opens 12:45 F.M.mlao MPModern_ _SHOWING E "In my personal view, their (the police's) whole thing was to shoot a Dowdell anyway.", JPWA ~ ~ ~ . IMUPM*I - i t l IAL 5-6290 >.. r w M