S. R. MADHAVI
INSIDE: The DeBruce center celebrates its grand opening
+
See sports p.8
MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016 | VOLUME 131 ISSUE 08
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Police killing of black student in 1970 reflects today's racial climate
▶ RYAN WRIGHT
@ryanwayneright
Courtesy of University archives The Black Student Union protests the death of Rick "Tiger" Dowdell in 1970.
The Lawrence of the 1960s and 1970s wasn't the relatively progressive, left-leaning city some people think of today. According to Rusty Monhollon, University alumnus and author of "This is America?' The Sixties in Lawrence, Kansas," the community was tense and polarized along several different issues such as the Vietnam War, racial issues, and culture, in terms of music and dress.
been a center for freedom and it just hasn't been."
The tension reached a climax during the scorching hot summer of 1970, when Rick "Tiger" Dowdell, a 19-year-old black University student was shot and killed in the alley between New Hampshire and Rhode Island streets by Lawrence police.
time.
a battle in this town," Nancy Stark, a Lawrence-native and former University student, said.
"It felt apocalyptic, it felt like it could be the end ... that it was going to come to
What exactly happened in that alley is still unclear, but Tuttle said officer William Garret fired four shots from his .357 magnum, with one going through the back of Dowdell's head.
Lawrence is built on a legacy of the free state fighting on behalf of black people and others during the Civil War, but, throughout the 20th century, the town had its own struggles with race according to Bill Tuttle, professor emeritus in the American Studies Department.
On July 16,1970, Dowdell and a friend were driving in a Volkswagen to campus and noticed they were being tailed by Lawrence police. They got hung up on a curb and Dowdell went into the alley on foot, said Tuttle, who was on campus at the
"It was not what it appeared to be, or what people said it was. It was a very troubled community," Tuttle said. "I think in a way it's willful ignorance, it's a lot easier to say this has always
Upon hearing the news, Stephen Dowdell, one of Rick's six older brothers, was infuriated and went to the police station and began shooting at the station building with a pistol until he ran out of bullets, but Lawrence police did nothing in retaliation.
"I guess they were so guilty that they killed my brother," Stephen said.
The Dowdell brothers' relationship with police started off rocky. As kids, they had a pet Dalmatian, but according to Stephen,
one of their neighbors didn't like the dog and called the police saying it had bit them.
SEE TENSIONS
PAGE 2
Gun accessibility increasing as concealed carry comes to KU
► WILL WEBBER
@wmwebber
In the final days of the University's last July as a gun-free campus, there are only a handful of places around town where you can buy a gun. You can go to Dick's Sporting Goods on
27th and Iowa, as well as the pawn shops in east and west Lawrence. Or you can go to Rick Sells.
Rick Sells is the former owner of the Lawrence Athletic Club and the future owner of the town's sole gun shop and range. Since retiring from the fitness
industry, he's operated a small business selling guns out of his home. After some deliberation with the Lawrence City Commission, Sells will be expanding his business by opening a storefront at The Malls, located near 23rd and Louisiana Street,
pending a loan approval from the Small Business Administration.
Sells recognizes the politicization of gun accessibility and believes that education and regular practice is an integral part of reducing gun violence. For the past few years, he
and a group of friends have been traveling to a rural property near Baldwin to shoot. The group has steadily grown and Sells has seen an opportunity for a range in town. He sees no coincidence that demand for guns has increased on the heels of multiple high-
profile gun deaths in the country.
"I think people are starting to get afraid of what's going on in America and everyone wants to start
SEE GUNS PAGE 2
PRAHEALTHSCIENCES
Free Time? Help Advance Medicine
Study participants receive up to $250 per night. 913-410-2900·PRAstudies.com/Lenexa
+