The Michigan Daily-Saturday, June 17, 1978-Page 5 Diag rally honors Soweto dead By RENE BECKER Despite the rain about 30 people gathered on the Diag yesterday to commemorate the bloody Soweto, uprising in South Africa exactly two years ago. The noon-time rally, delayed 20 minutes due to a heavy downpour, was sponsored by the Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (WCCAA), and was endorsed by ten other groups. Each of the organaizations has urged S. Africa protest a- SOWETO, South Africa (AP)-Thou- sand of blacks shouting "power," raising clenched-fist salutes and singing hymns of freedom packed churches in this sprawling township yesterday to mark the anniversary of the bloody street riots of 1976. Nervous police in camouflage fatigues ringed the Regina Mundi Roman Catholic Church and checked passing cars, frisking some passengers and haranguing others. BUT NO SERIOUS incidents were reported through the day in sharp con- trast to the weeks of riots two years earlier which left more than 600 blacks dead. In one isolated incident, six black policemen used rifle butts to rough up a group of about 20 blacks before a black sergeant ordered his men to move on. Since the rioting ignited in Soweto in 1976 and swept through black com- munities elsewhere, thousands of Soweto's most politicized students have fled to neighboring states, many to un- dergo guerrilla training. AND DESPITE periodic official crackdowns on black leaders, publications and organizations, hated apartheid laws have been marginally relaxed to and some segregated sports, allow urban dwellers more say in their 44 a N F ,4f// the University to sell investments in corporations which operate in South Africa. GORDON CRAWFORD of the Socialist Party, the first of four speakers at the rally, charged that American foreign policy contributes to the apartheid system in South Africa. He said dealing with the white minority leaders there and allowing Ameican corporations to operate in South Africa enforces the legal racism in that coun- n blacks rarthe id affairs and permit the races to mingle in selected nightclubs, bars and hotels. The memorial service at Regina Mundi on the edge of the sprawling township outside Johannesburg was the biggest of three services scheduled for the day. For more than two hours, about 3,000 blacks listened to poets, community leaders and clergymen as they pun- ctuated impassioned pleas for racial justice with fierce cries of "amandla" power and clenched-fist salutes. DR. NTHATO Motlana, one of Soweto's most respected leaders, ter- med the anniversary a "joyous event" because the 1976 rioting showed "that if we want to we can change the system." Motlana, who was detained for five months after last October's mass security crackdown on blacks, drew loud cheers as he said: "Let us dedicate ourselves until a new order is brought in, until man is judged for what he is worth, paid for what he has done and until the majority of people are given what is rightfully theirs." BISHOP DESMOND TUT, head of the South African Council of Churches, told the blacks: "No one will be free in this country until the blacks are free. The whites also know that they system that rules this country is an immoral try. "We ask for a solution to Soweto," said Crawford. His answer was "to support the forces of liberation in South Africa." Andrew Patton, of the Black Students Union, said University investments in corporations doing business in South Africa provides the base upon which the Vorster regime operates. He said University administrators, by investing in those corporations, "invest in death-they invest in the degradation of the people." PATTON SAID Americans would be outraged if Cubans invaded California or if the Soviet Union invaded Wiscon- sin and the foreign power claimed ownership. However, Patton claimed, whites have gone into Africa and called it theirs. He said "Africa is for Africans." Between speakers the group ren- dered various chants such as "U of M divest now" or "U of M-USA, out of South Africa right away." While the carillonneur played from Burton Tower, the few people who walked through the Diag during the protest showed only passing interest. Denise Hoppe from the Young Socialist Alliance told the protesters their presence demonstrated opposition to the University's "continuing support of this racist regime." HOPPE TOLD the group, most of whom were wearing black armbands in honor of those who died in the Soweto uprising, that one purpose for yester- day's demonstration was to "get the truth out," about what the U.S. gover- nment is doing about South Africa. Gemadari from the WCCAA said the South African government spent $1 million last year in the U.S. trying to convince people that blacks do not suf- fer in South Africa. He ruged the crowd to lobby for state House Bill 6341 which could ultimately force the University to sell all invest- ments in corporations with South Africa operations. He promised that if the bill is "not passed this year, we will push that it be reintroduced next year and the next year and the next year." Manufacturers ship 57 per cent of their products by truck, and in some states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, this figure approaches 85 per cent, says the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association. Canal treaties sealed (Continued from Page I) they were stronger ... He gave me the strength for the struggle." Referring to opposition to the treaties and to his leadership, Torrijos said that "history will convert the critics ... and will elevate those who sacrifice per- sonal popularity for national justice." The treaty exchanging ceremony marked the culmination of 13 years of negotiations between the United States and Panama. It also represents Car- ter's major foreign policy victory to date after a seven-month battle in the U.S. Senate, where the pacts were ap- proved by idential 68-32 margins with one vote to spare each time. The treaties become effective Oct. 1, 1979, six months after Friday's, ex- change of ratification documents takes effect on April 1, 1979. Regents oppose state aid for private colleges i i i i I i i I I 1 I I I A I I '5 eii. system. iweiave won the struggle ani i(Conuedfrom Page3) S LET THTERM KNOW they have lost.' authorized an "emergency action" for WE'RE OUT THERE! An armored anti-riot vehicle, a sym- expenditures in 1978-79. The action, , ,, 0 bol of police authority in South Africa, which University Chief Financial Of- *WY atood parked near the church. ficer James Brinkerhoff called routine, N ! Younger speakers at Regina Mundi will continue until the state legislature IMwere in a more militant mood. One , HIGHLY VISIBLE VINYL BUMPER STICKER = spoke of the "fascist regine"' of determines the University's ap- : $1.49 (includes Postage and Handling)e Premier John Vorster whose gover- ProPriatiore monetary actions, thie Check or Money Order payable to: a nment advocates separate white and Regents approved a $357,000 renovation 0l DOWNTOWN RUNNER black areas for the two races through a project for the University Hospital's - P.O. Box 1266 policy effectively meaning whites wield department of physical medicine and 00 t most military, economic and dpatmntolpyscaiedcieln 0 Detroit, Mi. 48231 political rehabilitation. Of that fund, $290,000 $ control, will come from the State Bureau of -COUPON- 2 for 1 Special -COUPON- Buy 1 Super Salad-GET 1 FREE SUNDAY thru THURSDAY June 18-22 NOT AVAILABLE FOR CARRY OUT GOOD AFTER 3 P.M.)ONLY Longevity Cookery 1 314 E. Liberty GOURMET NATUR4L FOOD RESTAURANT (313) 662-2019 -L;,,L-' Rehabilitation. Repair for the 50-year-old Architec- ture and Design Building roof at an estimated cost of $122,000 was approved by the Regents, as well as a new laboratory on the top floor of the Chemistry Building for about $150,000. Getting away from financial affairs for a moment, the Regents named three department chairmen and a director for the Western European Studies Cen- ter. Robert Howe was reappointed chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Department. Prof. David Bien was named Director of the Western European Studies Center; Prof. James Cather will be acting Chairman of the Division of Biological Sciences; and Prof. Samuel Clark is to take over as the acting chairman of the department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science. YOU can bowl here and no one will ever know. I BOWLING atthe UNION Open 11 am Mon.-Fri. I pm Sat.-Sun.