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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1964
Rockwell Reconsidered-
Free Speech Distorted-curtailed for the sake of the very lives of his fellow creatures. Rockwell approves of the acts of that most heinous criminal in all history, Adolf Hitler, on whose orders millions and millions of people were processed into soap, etc., for a reason absolutely beyond their control: that is, their racial origin.
The American Constitution guarantees to every man the right of free speech in public, and this right can, therefore, prima facie not be denied to Commander George Lincoln Rockwell under the existing laws. The question arises, of course, as to whether an abstract principle such as the right to free speech is an ultimate aim in itself or whether it should not be subservient to same vaster end such as—for lack of a more obvious goal of human endeavor likely to command a maximum of agreement among all men—the lives, the happiness, and the further development of mankind as a whole. Some people might indeed take the view that just as man does not exist for the sabbath, but the sabbath existeth for man, the right of free speech is not an ultimate goal in itself, but must be subject to certain restrictions safeguarding the positive rights of other men, of which the right to live surely is the first.
IT MIGHT then be argued further that if a man incites his fellows to the physical extermination of others or approves of such extermination, his right of free speech regrettably has to be
It must be borne in mind, further, that men like Rockwell, if they had their way, would be at least as good as their word. Let nobody say to me "All this is just a lot of bravado, he won't be half as bad when he is in power," for I have heard this said many times about the Nazis. Our abstract principles must unfortunately be tempered by a knowledge of human nature and our sad experiences in the very recent past. It might, for instance, be argued that the Weimar Republic (and many other countries besides) would have fared better if that country had maintained its original ban on the Nazi Party and on the public performances of its Fuhrer. For one thing, but for the unleashing of the last war and its consequences, the Communists would not now have emerged as the
Big Powers they are, confronting the United States.
OUR ARGUMENTS must never move in a vacuum, but must make allowance for the world such as it is, not as it ought to be; and this means in the first place human nature such as it is, with its tremendous range from good to bad, from weak to strong. Nazism began with a few people who were the laughing stock of the others; Hitler had to leave his native Austria in ridicule, yet when I recently spent six years in that country, I found that a large percentage of the people there were really still unredeemed Nazis, although the war had been lost. Let us not close our eyes to the fact that Nazism prevailed among a people not exactly the last in culture and civilization.
HOWEVER,LET US for argument's sake concede the right of free speech in public to George Rockwell. That concept, if defined strictly and not bandied about loosely,surely does not amount to more than a forbearance of interference with a person's right to air his views in
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"I'll bet they notice me now."
Historically -are a minority, and that their use of the channels of government runs counter to the traditions of the South. In other words, they have the right but it's meaningless because they can't use it.
As a Western Civilization discussion leader who is annually appalled at the relative ignorance about fascism in the twenties and thirties, I can say, of George Lincoln Rockwell, that we have been there before. What motivated KU students—and others—to go hear Rockwell I cannot say. I would guess that it was at least in part the hope of seeing what a real live Nazi looks like.
ONE MAY HOPE that students went to the Kansas Union last Thursday in the spirit that they'd go to see Peter, Paul and Mary or the Beatles. It is doubtful that the spirit of tolerance that motivates the Minority Opinion Forum motivated many of us who got caught in that horrible crush in the union lobby by a little after 4 o'clock.
Dr. C. M. Pickett
A desire for education may have impelled some of us, though it's doubtful that Rockwell is much of an educator. The minority opinion Rockwell represents can be found in mental institutions throughout the world. You might say that the Mafia and Cosa Nostra have minority opinions, too.
And as one who believes in the doctrines of Milton and Mill,
I sometimes wonder to what extent we are obligated to open our doors to raving fanatics. Let Rockwell pour forth his vile message, but let's pass him as we would pass any screwball in Pershing Square or on North Beach.
LET HIM TALK, that is, but don't pay homage to him. I may have been one of the few who, denied the opportunity to see the new inmate of the zoo, listened to him roar for a few minutes and then went home.
Went home, that is, because this was nothing new. Read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," kids, or, better still, read Alan Bullock's biography of Hitler. Look into Arthur Schlesinger's "Age of Roosevelt" and read about the fascist bully boys of the thirties, about Fritz Kuhn and Father Coughlin and the wishful thinkers who cheered Lindbergh's message of appeasement.
Read reporters' accounts in "A Treasury of Great Reporting" or "Masterpieces of War Reporting" about what it was like to visit Dachau or Buchenwald. Look at the horror pictures in "Life's Picture History of World War II." This is the logical end of the superman idea that you kind of admire when you read Nietzsche.
SOME OF YOU may have had your anti-semitic or racist ideas reinforced by Rockwell. If so, you're no different from a few college students in the thirties who heard the fascists, or right after World War II, when the America Firsters and revived Ku Kluxers and Knights of the White Camellias and others were on the prowl.
I heard some of these nuts in '45 and '46 and saw the great
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Free Speech at Work -are a minority, and that their use of the channels of government runs counter to the traditions of the South. In other words, they have the right but it's meaningless because they can't use it.
The fundamental issue involved in American Nazi Party Commander George Lincoln Rockwell's speaking before the SUA Minority Forum is freedom of speech.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH means nothing unless there is made available the facilities with which to practice it. An illustration could be given with the situation in another era of civil liberties: Negro voting rights in the South. Negroes certainly have the right to vote, that much is guaranteed in the 15th amendment to the constitution. But in certain states and counties in the South they are not allowed that right. The rationale used by the various pressure groups such as the White Citizen's Councils and the Ku Klux Klan is that Negroes have nothing to offer, they
Laird Wilcox
George Lincoln Rockwell is probably the most unpopular man in the United States. The nearly universal condemnation makes any defense of his rights
quite likely to prejudice almost any segment of the community. But then, this is the burden one takes on when he stands up for freedom and civil liberties.
WHAT GOOD IS George Lincoln Rockwell's (or anyone else's) freedom of speech unless the facilities with which to practice it are present. Freedom of speech without a "soapbox" is as meaningless as freedom to vote without a ballot box. Certainly the type of audience best equipped to ferret out the truth from the falsehood is that audience which is to be found within the academic community. For that reason, and because of the probable student interest, I invited Rockwell to speak before the forum.
As I said in my introductory remarks last Thursday, "Let us all dedicate ourselves to maintaining a truly independent university which does not meet criticism by changing its policy, but rather by extending its efforts to persuade its constituents that the full and frequent practice of freedom of speech, and the ever-conscious participation in the sanctity of academic freedom are the most important means toward its educational goal."
IT'S UNFORTUNATE that there are some pressure groups in the community that would refuse freedom of speech to those with whom they disagree under the cover of "protecting the public mind against deprivation." In the long run, repression of political opinion, rights or left, only tends to strenghten the antidemocratic forces in the United States and elsewhere. Perhaps U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas sums it up best when he says "The way to com-
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from the morgue
Ralph May, an engineering student with a scholastic record of 126 hours of A and 5 hours of B, resigned in 1944 from his position as representative on the All Student Council because of his studies and extra curricular activities.
He stated in his letter to the Council that he enjoyed his council work, but he felt that with the duties as president of two honorary organizations and his other activities, he could not do justice to his position on the Council as representative.
The president of Sigma Tau and Tau Beta Pi, he was recognized for his outstanding scholastic achievement during his four years at the University.
May was chairman of the AllStudent Council Parking Committee.
His academic record was unsurpassed while he was at the University.
bat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth."
Laird M. Wilcox, Chairman Minority Opinions Forum