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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, Oct. 10, 1962
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
To A Darker Friend
You are angry, and justly so. You have earned the right to talk of revolution in any sense of the word.
But remember, friend, it is not the overcoming of the Barnetts and the Faubuses of this Union, nor their methods, which will resolve the racial issue. The federal government has proved that they are only demagogues, vainly trying to repeal the 20th century after it is half past. And neither will the rabble prevail—those who carry bricks, and bottles and shout "State Sovereignty!" as if the slogan had meaning or relevance.
The contention, friend, is between you and me, and in our own souls. In most manners of existence we live beyond the influence of the pedantic negotiators and the cries of the crowd baiters. They draw up grandiose plans and make wild sounds in the night, too often excluding the practical things we live by in the light of day.
LET US HOPE that the joiners of our respective races remain only peripheral influences—the answers are not to be found in the members of your race who preach black supremacy, nor in the members of my race who will take up any controversy for the self-righteous comfort it affords them. Their voices are loud but their souls are hollow. Whether they care or understand what it is all about is immaterial to them—they are leeches who live on pseudo-guilt and shallowness.
You have seen both hatred and fear in a white man's eyes, and idiocy running from his mouth. You have been spat on and called "Nigger," with no comfort in your frustration but hope and your own bitter tears.
BUT YOU DON'T hate me for this, or because of this—mistrust me, yes, but hate, no. Perhaps I bear watching because I seem callous. But consider that I too perhaps have reason for
distrusting the entity of your race and the power you seek. I cannot honestly look only at the best of your race and the worst of mine.
I have heard the voice of your people, singing cadence in a misty Kentucky dawn. It is a strange feeling, friend, and not too remote from the sound of a jungle—the beauty of perfect rhythm, with violence running just below the surface. The singing awed me, but that strange current behind it made me wonder what power might become in the hands of black men driven by a cause. It's simple to join a cause, but accepting the responsibility which comes with it is more difficult. Too many of your people live in inexcusable squalor, for which they are not responsible, but I have also seen your wealthy ones who are inexcusably arrogant—for this they are responsible.
And I have heard your swivelers cry "Race Prejudice!" to cover their own personal laziness. And one of your brothers in color once contemplated me over the point of a switchblade, wondering if it was worthwhile to try to cut my throat merely because it was white and I represented authority.
I DON'T HATE YOU for your people's faults any more than you hate me for the misfits of my race—but I remain watchful. Ours is a two-way street, and we both have many things to prove.
Mistrust is the essence of this generation—indeed of the contemporary world. This is one heritage we have in common, and something which was imposed upon us without our consent. It remains to be seen whether or not we will pass on anything better.
But let's spare each other the slogans and platitudes. Perhaps we could even smile at times. If we learn to live with mistrust for a time there's an outside chance we may learn to call each other "brother" and really mean it.
Bob Hoyt
Doctrine Not Applicable
Editor:
May I remind Mr. Murphy ("Limited Blockade for Cuba," Daily Kansan, Sept. 27) that the Monroe Doctrine is not applicable to the present dilemma in Cuba?
As Walter Lippmann and others have written, the Cuban government has voluntarily asked for Soviet military aid. The Monroe Doctrine, on the other hand, stipulates that a foreign power shall not intrude into the affairs of an American country, or use coercive methods to bring an American country under its domination. The U.S.S.R. has not forced arms upon Casto; he asked for them.
AND NO WONDER that he has done so. For if Castro is uneasy about the future stability of his government, the United States has done much to confirm his disquietude, i.e., trade embargoes, exclusion from the OAS and the abortive invasion.
It is precisely because of Castro's uneasiness about U.S. intentions that any aggressive action, such as a blockade of any sort, would be detrimental not only to the eventual removal of the Soviet Union from Cuba, but to the hopes of Inter-American partnership. Castro, if given time, may yet spurn the Kremlin once his regime is prospering, and the rest of Latin America will certainly disapprove of United States intervention in Cuba.
FURTHERMORE. AS LIPPmann again writes, an aggressive action by the United States against Cuba would establish a discomforting precedent. Namely, that if the United States may protect its contiguous borders from Soviet military bases with aggressive actions, the Soviet Union has a corresponding right to do the same in Iran where a U.S. base points menacingly at Russia.
One only hopes that President Kennedy does not capitulate to the "war party" in Congress, thereby engendering catastrophic results for our efforts in Latin America.
Richard Currie,
Ozone Park, N. Y., senior
... Letters ...
Forums Coming Soon
Edition
I am writing this letter in an attempt to assuage the fears of Mr. Clayton Keller expressed in his editorial "Debates, Forums Absent" (Daily Kansan, Oct, 8). I hope to accomplish this before he transfers to some other campus where his intellect will supposedly be more adequately stimulated and provoked.
Last year I supervised the Minority Opinion Forum as well as the Current Events for SUA. In addition we offered Modern Book Review (Tropic of Cancer, etc.), Poetry Hour, Humanities Forum and Last Lecture. I'm pleased to find Mr. Keller was satisfied with what we provided. (Edward Shaw—"Fair Play for Cuba" was also a Minority Opinion Forum speaker.) This year, as in every year, the SUA will provide the same type programs. But this year, as every year, it has required some time (usually about a month) to get the various committees chosen and functioning. This first "slack" month is nothing new—it is the rule, not the exception. As for Minority Opinion speakers we schedule our programs to suit them, not them to suit us. They are not always able (as Mr. Love was) to speak during the first few weeks of school.
Lest Mr. Keier think we have been neglecting our "duties" (voluntarily accepted) the following comprise some of the programs already determined: Minority Opinion speakers representing the following groups — the Communist Party (Nov.-Dec.), the Congress Of Racial Equality (Oct.-Nov.), the Socialist Party, The Citizens for Educational Freedom (Nov.) and others. The Current Events Forum on Oct. 26 is presenting John Pemberton, National Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, speaking on the Supreme Court Prayer Case. The groups mentioned above have already accepted invitations to speak.
Reading the bulletin board reveals a KU-Y English style debate on legalized abortion this week, as well as other interesting topics. I trust Mr. Keller will attend these
forums and also that he might remain calm in awaiting those of the SUA. They will be back-on schedule.
Breon Mitchell
Salina junior
SUA vice president
*  *  *
Can't Succeed Himself Editors
We Americans seem prone to condemn everyone who opposes us as insincere. I would not try to give a reason for Gov. Barnett's actions, but I do believe that he, and the majority of the white citizens of Mississippi, believe very sincerely in segregation. Let us recognize this sincerity and hope that in time we will be able to convince them that all people are equal and that all are entitled to the same in educational opportunity.
I feel compelled to write a reply to the article in the Oct. 3 Daily Kansan entitled "Fighting Battle on Own Terms." In the article, Gov. Ross Barnett of Mississippi is accused of fighting against the entrance of James Merethid to the university because he wanted to continue as governor of Mississippi. If the author had taken the trouble to look into the matter he would have found that the governor of Mississippi cannot succeed himself.
Bob Strevey Norcatur junior
KU Needs Sundial
I think it's a dirty shame that a multi-million dollar university like KU does not possess even one (1) functionable sundial. For several years now I have been frustrated in my attempts to tell the time by the sundial located near Dyche Hall, due to its state of ill-repair. As a result, I have a rather severe sundial complex; and even worse, I seldom know what time it is.
In my opinion, which is shared by a great many other KU students, the sundial should be fixed and restored to its rightful place in the sun.
Dennis Jackman Prairie Village senior
"THE HOUSE MOTHER IS SORRY SHE ASKED YOU TO CALL FOR LOUISE AT THE POOR---JUST DRIVE BACK TO THE CLUB AN HONK!"
It Looks This Way
Cape Canaveral and the entire man-in-space complex have done it again. Navy Commander Walter M. Schirra went farther up for a longer time than any American had ever gone before.
And most important—he came back to tell about it. Schirra, like previous U.S. space travelers blasted off the launching pad at Cape Canaveral and floated gently back into the sea under the watchful eyes of a vast telemetry network and an almost equally vast television network.
An Astronaut Will Die
What will happen when the retrorockets do not fire properly and the manned vehicle turns into a molten blob during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere? What will happen when a manned space vehicle sinks like a rock into the sea before the astronaut has time to escape?
But complete safety can never be assured in any situation. The reason for an astronaut's death should be determined and eliminated before the next flight, if possible. But it may not be possible to determine the reason because there may be no pieces to reconstruct and study.
WHAT WILL happen when the first manned missile lifts gently a few feet off the launching pad and disintegrates into a ball of fire? What will happen when the first manned space craft is pushed a little too hard by its thundering rockets and sails off haphazardly to orbit the sun or perhaps some other star?
"WHEN" INSTEAD OF "if" was used in these questions because "when" is the correct word. An astronaut is going to die during one of his flights. Sooner or later some precaution will be overlooked, or perhaps some tiny part will malfunction through no fault of those who prepared it for flight. Whatever the cause, one thing is certain: the calculated risk in any kind of flight will take an astronaut to his death.
How will the nation react to such a death? No attempt has been made to prepare the public for such an event. No doubt some people will clamor for the grounding of all manned space flights until complete safety can be assured.
Military jet pilots die every week. They do not become national heroes—but they are just as dead and their wives and children are just as lonely as if the jet pilot had died the glorious death of an astronaut.
THE PEOPLE OF THE United States must realize now that a certain degree of risk must be assumed. It can be minimized but never eliminated. The inevitable fatal accident must not be allowed to block further experimentation.
An astronaut is just another pilot—better than most, but just as mortal. He may not look mortal in that full-color picture in a national magazine or in the four-column picture under the eight-column banner headline in the newspaper. Only when he dies in flight will everyone know he is mortal. —Dennis Branstiter
Daily Hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
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