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МА2НАК YJIАG YTНЯБЛИЧ 2НТ
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
850 1962
Tuesday, October 22, 1968
Olympic defiance
A paradoxical mixture of pride, embarrassment, floundering inertia and self-righteous indignation spewed like volcano lava out of the Olympic games in Mexico City last week.
When two black U.S. athletes took advantage of the world stage on which they stood to demonstrate their defiance of racist America, about the only ones who didn't flounder were the two athletes-Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
What followed the protests was an example of the political maneuvering that the International Olympic Committee ostensibly condemns in the Olympic games.
But while the I.O.C. and Smith and Carlos were at polemic ends, the U.S. Olympic Committee was caught in an embarrassing vice, a vice tightened by the pressure of the I.O.C.
The U.S.O.C., perhaps anticipating the subsequent action by the I.O.C., tried to placate each side, and consequently may have succeeded in severely offending both. The U.S.O.C. first issued a bland statement that did little more than passively reprimand the offending parties and warn against future protests.
The U.S.O.C. had the choice of either reprimanding Smith and Carlos, thus saving face with the I.O.C. while endangering the already strained line of communication with black athletes or backing the right of Smith and Carlos to freely demonstrate their feelings. But what it did was
issue a statement that tiptoed around both of these extremes before settling somewhere in the middle.
The I.O.C. then quickly grabbed the initiative to self-righteously declare the Olympics immune from politics and intimidated the U.S.O.C. Such hard-line tactics were unwarranted by the protest of Smith and Carlos.
That the black athletes from the U.S. protested is not a surprise. After finally discarding plans for a boycott, black athletes gave ample warning that something was in store for the Olympics. But what was surprising is the manner in which they were martyred by the I.O.C.
The demonstration was pure theater. No practical purpose was served, but then none was intended. If the protest was to defy, if the protest was to publicize and if the protest was to point a warning finger at ambivalent American attitudes, it was an immeasurable success.
The dramatic defiance of Smith and Carlos seemed to say, "No more Whitey,' no more will I win medals for your country and not receive its rewards." As the Olympics progressed, it's becoming increasingly clear that the majority of black U.S. track athletes were not competing for the U.S. or for gold medals. They were competing for black men.
Richard Lundquist
Assistant Editorial Editor
Letters to the editor
Voice answers, Wed. letters
To the Editor.
In explanation of the recent move by Peoples Voice to close one of its meetings to reporters, Peoples Voice wishes to make its position clear. The meeting of October 14 was not closed to the public at large. All persons other than reporters were invited to stay and discuss the issues. In this way the principles of open participation were not violated. The suggestion to bar reporters, specifically UDK reporters, from the meeting was made because in the past the UDK has consciously used the methods of sensationalist, "yellow journalism," in reporting Peoples Voice meetings and actions. These methods have led to the fact that under the guise of "public servant" the UDK has consistently presented a false—not biased, false—picture of Peoples Voice's goals and motivations to the public. We wish only that the UDK fulfill its own stated principles of honest reporting.
Peoples Voice would also like to make clear some general misconceptions concerning our position. We have never claimed to speak for the student body. This is the kind of division we have attempted to avoid by changing our name from Student Voice to Peoples Voice. At present, Peoples Voice speaks only for people, whether students, faculty, workers, or whatever, who support the Dissenting Report.
Our conception of the university and the nation does not continue the old divisions and stereotypes which were expressed by Mr. Mace. We divide people only by what they DO, not by what they say or who they represent. We welcome anyone who is sympathetic to or in support of the Dissenting Report to stand with us, but we hope that everyone who expresses sympathy for Peoples Voice understands the fundamental difference between basic reorganization (Dissenting Report) and superficial reform (majority report). It is a contradiction to say on the one hand that you are sympathetic to Voice or the Dissenting Report, but on the other hand support the majority report. Peoples Voice supports fundamental change in the structure, purpose, and attitudes of the university, nothing less. The majority report is less.
Coordinating Committee
Peoples Voice
Rick Atkinson
Press Coordinator
John Naramore
Mike Maher
Bill Berkowitz
Don Jenkins
Jay Barrish
To the Editor:
It was a pleasure to sit back and read the Letters to the Editor for Wed., Oct. 16. The poor old UDK took it on the chin again; this time from Ed Paris.
This newspaper, said Ed, has a "subjective, anti-intellectual tradition," and Paris obviously wanted to rectify this tragedy first, he gives us a lesson in logic. If A is before B in time, he argues, B cannot be responsible for A. The question seems to be did Ed exist before American slavery, during, or does he exist now. Ed seems to think he exists now, but some "beard and beads" thinks Ed is perhaps a former slave owner.
Kanan Telephone Numbers
Newroom—UN 4-3464 Business Office—UN 4-4358
Having made these devasting points, Ed decided he had time for a little self-pity. "Don't attempt to saddle me with your 'cross'," said Ed. Ed signed it and let us know he was a graduate student and a Californian. It
A student newspaper serving the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mail subscription rates: $6 a semester, $10 a year. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 60424. Accommodations. Without registration required without guard to color, creed or national origin. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents.
Ed sets him straight on that score. Next Ed tells us that what reactionaries (others might say liberals) are really worried about is their own skin. Saying a few informative things about Vandals, Nero, and Rome, Ed adds that reactionaries are afraid Negroes won't like "an amalgamated ant hill society."
Executive Staff
News Adviser
Advertising Adviser
George Richardson Mel Adams
(See Dutchman page 5)
John Marshall
Sunday morning
"Nobody in his right mind would shadow box the way Harman has in his campaign. You know Docking is a real pro—he knows how to handle himself in public."
"Would you like to order now?" The waitress startles you because you were eavesdropping and now you are mad at her. The usual order, eggs, et al., and you notice the two young people, boy and girl, in the sports car parked near the big window on the west side of the dining room. They are necking. In public.
He wiped his mouth and sipped luke-warm coffee.
"Yeah, there's only one solution for this state—we've got to have action. Not promises." The man at the next table belched.
The man saw them.
“Can't stand hippies like that. Send them to school, pay their way for four years, and what happens. They become anarchists or atheists or both. That's why I like Harman. He's for Nixon and if he's for Nixon, they'll restore law and order and respect.”
"We need action like that," the man said. His wife—she had to be his wife because she was fat, and men don't have fat girlfriends or 50 year-old daughters—agreed. It must have exhausted her.
"Four, please." And you sit at the table and look at the brown ring in the bottom of the cup, and the used knife with jelly still on it, and the yellow-dried egg at the edge of the plate. Waitress comes and asks how many will want coffee, and someone at the table next to you says something about how property taxes in this state must be cut.
The dining room at the Holiday Inn was full. It's always full on Sunday morning, with neat suits and fresh ties ready to travel home the day after the game.
"How many?"
The fat wife ordered another cup of coffee, and then told her husband students expected too much. They expect to have everything when they're young and don't want to work, and if they don't get it they'll protest.
Your sauvage is cold now, and you are mad again for watching the two young people and listening to the man and his wife instead of eating.
Her jowls flapped as she sucked jelly off the toast. She didn't eat the toast, she just sucked jelly and butter off it.
Husband agreed. "But I must hand it to the kids at this college—they got a whale of a football team, and they are great sports fans, even if they are a little radical."
You have paid $1.35 for cold saugage and a taste of Thomas County political thinking.
"You know, if I really believed Wallace could do the things he promises, I'd vote for him. But there's no use in throwing away a vote on a radical like that." She finally ate the toast.
The Odd Couple