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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Dec. 13, 1963
Mockery
We now have Cape Kennedy instead of Cape Canaveral, and the New York City Council has approved changing the name of Idlewild International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Let's go 'em one further. Let's change the name of this institution to the University of Kennedy. We, at least, could keep the familiar "KU" initials.
SERIOUSLY, this business of changing the names of airports, town squares and spaceports has gone far enough. It is one thing to honor the memory of a respected, even beloved, individual.
It is quite another when the process of honoring a memory becomes a maudlin race between public officials to see who can outdo whom in public sentimentality.
A valid case can be made for renaming Canaveral. Kennedy was the first President who was, in truth, involved with and committed to U.S. achievement in space. To honor his memory by naming for him the piece of land from which American rockets are launched is more than justifiable.
BUT IT HAS now reached the point where the sincerity of the officials involved is open to question, or at least where that sincerity is unduly colored by the passion of the moment.
At that point, changing a name becomes not a memorial but a mockery. It becomes a form of public expiation of guilt, a catharsis of the public mind, not a memorial to the shining, individual spirit.
It would be wrong, of course, to simply
mourn the required month and then forget. But further memorials are unjustified and should not be foisted upon us; we should not support them.
TO DO SO we honor not the man but the martyr, and in so doing honor not the greatness of the man but the manner of his death. We, in short, enshrine assassination.
We cannot yet honor the greatness of the man. To my mind, his greatness is not seriously in question. But that is for history to decide, not for me, not for any of us. Not yet.
Other Presidents have been murdered—Lincoln, McKinley, Garfield. Only one has been granted the approval of history.
And while it is no doubt true that to compare John Kennedy with James Garfield is itself an absurdity, the point remains that we must take care that our commemorations will be justified by the sober light of history.
THERE REMAINS perhaps one possibility for material reverence. John Kennedy and his courageous widow shared a dream—to build in the capital of the United States a great cultural center, a home of music and art.
If we wish to erect something to the man that was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, if we wish to honor his memory in some way other than the swift passage of the legislation for which he fought, the best way we could do it would be to contribute to a fund to build that cultural center. The John F. Kennedy Hall of Culture and Art would not be a mockery. The John F. Kennedy International Airport, changed from Idlewild, is.
Blaine King
"We Musn't Interfere With Customary Procedures—Doctor, Coronor, Inquest—"
Uhuru na Moja
Independence and Freedom in Kenya at Last
(Editor's note: The following article was written by Shibru Seifu, Ethiopia, a graduate student in political science. It was written to reflect the happiness with which at least some African students view the independence of Kenya, which entered the world arena as a full-fledged nation at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.)
As the unfailing tropical sun breaks into day by lighting the snow cap of Mt. Keyna, another African nation at long and bloody last has won its independence. The concern of the United States was evidenced by the presence of G. Mennen Williams, assistant secretary of state, at the celebration.
Oh! for an African imagining the joy and festivity which Nairobi is having, the gratifying idea of Kenyans at last equalizing themselves with the white
man, the warrior Kikuyu returning to Nairobi from the forest to which he was driven after the Mau Mau uprising but who has no home, no family, having lost all ten years ago, the idea is almost dreamy.
"Uhuru" at last! Independence, for which the Kenyans have craved for so long, for which they have indulged in perhaps extreme underground movements, for which they lost tens of thousands of lives, has come at last. And if they cannot regain the land for which they fought they can at least return to the cooler, healthier and fertile high lands still left by the white settlers.
Many people denounce the underground freedom movement of Mau Mau. But they do not consciously refuse to accept that
people must fight for freedom, for independence. How did the United States win its independence? Was it not by war and by sacrificing human beings for it? Someone has said that the cost of freedom is lives and blood. But the way you go about it is a matter of convenience, a matter of the right means to impress. An Ethiopian fights with spears against Facist war planes showering gas; a Buddhist, by burning himself in a public square.
Dailij Transan
In spite of all criticism, Newsweek agrees, "The uncomfortable fact remains that it was the Mau Mau which spurred the pace of Kenyan independence."
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Some people have fears, rightly or wrongly, about the future of Kenya, now that independence has come. What of the settler minority (68,000) which was hoping in vain to establish a white man's rule in Kenya? What of the conflict between the two major parties, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU); and what of the secessionist Northern Frontier District?
These questions do have some validity. But some have been settled, and others do not constitute a threat to Kenyan unity. The settlers are guaranteed Kenyan citizenship and right to their present holdings. But henceforth, they must accept the equality of all men, black or otherwise, and work in Kenya with an African government. It sounds funny that Africa must teach Europe and the world about the practical side of equality!
Yes, some of the white settlers are leaving, but the safariland of Kenya, the land of which Allan Moorehead and Ernest Hemingway wrote; the land where
it is always sunny; "God's paradise," as someone called it, will be regretted even by their grandchildren.
As for the conflict between KANU and KADU, those who would unconsciously hope for another Congo in Kenya will be disappointed. The two parties disagreed over a centralized government, advocated and won by KANU, and a highly decentralized "provincialism" now abandoned by KADU in favor of a compromise on a constitution which permits province freedoms in such areas as education, health, roads and social services. This must be reckoned with the fact that KANU's support comes from the three major tribes in Kenya—the Kikuyu, "the most industrious, sophisticated and politically adept as well as the single largest tribe numerically"; the Luo, the next largest, and the Kawba. To this must be added all the industrial and town workers belonging to Federation of Labor, for which KANU's Tom Mboya has been almost the creator and secretary-general. This means that KANU has more than 60 percent of the population behind it—which is why KANU controls 95 seats in Parliament, compared to KADU's 28.
While KANU's supporters come from the rich central highlands and the Nairobi region, KADU's supporters, from the periphery of the nation, are divided into more than 40 tribes and have little inherent similarity. Economically, also, the peripheral areas are less gifted and less developed—and therefore less potent politically. What is more, Ronald Gala, the president of KADU, has himself made clear that the example of the Congo will not be repeated in Kenya.
The leaders of both KANU and KADU are well versed in the problems of government, whether by education and wisdom, like Tom Ngala and new president Jomo Kenyatta, or by practical experience, like the dynamic Tom Mboya. To those who are close to African politics, it is clear that, though they belong to different parties, the latter two politicians agree on major issues.
The fact that in Kenya disagreement assures a democratic party system rather than strict regional, tribal forms itself is a defense against internal trouble. What is more, Kenya's leaders, more than anyone else, know the shame brought to the African continent by the Congo crisis.
Last but not least is the question of the Northern Frontier District, where the population is reported to have ideas of unifying with the Republic of Somalia. The defense of Kenya seems to be guaranteed by the presence of British troops until Kenya sets up its own "King's Rifles" to defend itself, or until it joins the Federation of East Africa, made up of Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar. We (African students) are sure that any border problems in East Africa will not be another cold war issue, but that the Organization of African Unity will act to settle it, as it did in the dispute between Algeria and Morocco.
Kenya is free, rich in agricultural produce, particularly coffee; is a reknowned tourist paradise; has the greatest concentration of industry in East Africa proper, and has many highly educated men to lead her.
Our message to her is "Uhuruna Moja"—Independence and Unity.