The Daily Nebraskan
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1968
DAILY
ditoriaL
Pag .
NEBRASKAN
Tough spot for
the black athlete
"" For every black athlete who enters the Olympic
Stadium in Mexico City, there are 100,000 of his
brothers who will never live outside the ghetto.
For every black athlete who mounts the victory
stand, there are 10,000 of his brothers who are
shai ing their sleeping quarters with rats.
So when Tommy Smith and John Carlos express
300 years of rage, frustration and hopelessness
by wearing black gloves on the victory stand, the
"American Olympic Committee sends them home
in dishonor. Bill Cosby was right when he said
every American athlete should have come home
in protest.
THE TROUBLE IS that the Olympics, whatever
their political ramifications, are ultimately
personal. For the black athlete in particular, mak
ing it to the Olympics represents years of struggle
that confound the imaginatio of most Americans.
In the past few years blacks have realized
that all the wonders athletics are supposed to work
for them are myths. They no longer expect to
improve the position of their people on the athletic
field.
After all that struggle, however, they are en
titled to compete. They are also entitled to make
some effort to display their feelings and their
frustration to the world in the hope their actions
will make some impression on world opinion.
By sending Smith and Carlos home, the Olympic
Committee has manuevered the black athletes into
a very unfair position in which they are damned
if they compete and damned if they don't.
It almost appears that the Committee was
looking for some excuse to employ put-'em-in-their-place
tactics.
If the black athletes in 1972 are still represent
ing the same ghetto constituency they are in 1968,
it will be our fault, just as it is our fault that
Smith and Carlos were forced to display their
feelings.
Unless there is a fundamental change in our
system before the next Olympics it would seem
more to the point for black athletes to burn the
stadium down rather than to merely raise clenched
fists.
Jack Tood
Our Man Hoppe ...
Mr. Nixon says
something new
Some cynics claim that Mr. Nixon has thus
far managed to talk for a month without saying
anything. This simply isn't true.
Just the other day in Moline, Illinois, Mr. Nixon
issued a 200-word mimeographed statement to as
ace newsmen which began with the following
startling disclosure:
"THERE IS A Crime University in the United
States. Its enrollment is over 200,000. Youthful of
fenders graduate from this Crime University as
hardened criminals, determined to wreak their
vengeance on society."
Few reporters bothered to read the rest of
the statement, which went on to talk about prisons
and things. Instead we all hustled over to the
nearby campus of Crime University where Dean
L. Fagin Grommet had called a hasty press con
ference. "Mr. Nixon's disclosure and the attendant
publicity couldn't have come at a more unfortune
time," said Dean Grommet, wringing his hands.
"I do so hope it won't spoil our annual Autumn
Homecoming Lust, Vandalism and Arson Festival.
Hark: It's already begun."
On the tree-shaded campus outside the Dean's
window a sexy homecoming queen and a band
of students were gathered around a towering pile
of fence post, porch rails and outhouse doors looted
from neit-iioofing property owners. A young man
with a gleam in his eye touched a match to the
pile as the crowd sang the Crime University theme
song:
"C.U., C.U., Well e'er be true to you, Lechery,
Larceny. Looting and Lust, That's what we do."
"Is that all you teach your students?' asked
an Indignant reporter.
"GOOD HEAVENS, NO," said Dean Grommet.
"C.U. offers a broad spectrum of courses in the
field of Liberal Dishonesty.
"For example, in Forgery, the student learns
to sign his friends in and out of the dorms at
night and to falsify his age on his identification
papers so that he may illegally buy a beer.
"If he has taken the prerequisite course,
Elementary Cheating, which includes cribbing,
peaking and lying about homework, he may enroll
In the Preparation of Expense Accounts & Income
Tax Forms.
"Now In Bribery 232, he learns how to oesent
a policeman with a bottle at Christmastime, how
to recruit football players, bow to , . ."
"Lying, cheating, stealing, bribing," said an
angry reporter. "It's no wonder they graduate t0
become hardened criminals."
"Hardened criminals?' said Dean Grommet,
shocked to the core. "My gracious, no. Thanks
to the thorough preparation for modern life that
we give our students here at dear, old C.U., 78.3
percent go on to become corporation executives."
AFTER SOME consultation, the reporters
decided not to file stories on Mr. Nixon's first
startling disclosure of the month.
"Heck," as one put it, "they're not learning
anything at Crime University that I HHn't 'earn
b college."
Chronicle Features
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Dick Gregory . . .
The name same: a label
Republican Vice-Presidential
hopeful Spiro Agnew has
quite unintentionally produc
ed renewed national interest
in the subject of ethnic labels.
His off-the-cuff references to
"Polacks" and "Japs" are
now famous remarks.
Indignant reactions o f
members of the Polish and
Japanese communities show
that such persons find
Agnew's choice of ethnic
labels as offensive as young
black folks do when they are
called "Negroes."
MANY WHITES are mysti
fied to hear that blacks
do not want to be called
"Negro" anymore, which
assumes that it was alright to
do so at one time. But the
label "Negro" never did
make sense from the black
point of view. When the
Irishman left Ireland and
came to his country, he left
his homeland an Irishman
and remained an Irishman on
his arrival. When the Italians
left Italy, they left Italian and
continued to be known as
Italians in America. It is the
same with the Chinese, the
Polish and other minority
groups.
But it is not so with black
folks. When we were stolen
from the country of our birth,
we left our homeland as
America. If we were African
"Negroes" when we got to
America. If were African
when we left home, white
America owes us an ex
planation about what hap
pened on the way over to
cause the changing of our
name. Of course that history
is well-known. We left our
country with tlie status of full
fledged human dignity only to
be shackled on American
shores with the less-than-human
indignity of slavery.
If labels must be applied,
"Black" is the proper
designation for black Ameri
cans. We left Africa black and
were just as black when we
got here. And, after all.
NEGRO is the Spanish word
for BLACK. So the only
persons who should be allow
ed to call black folks "Negro"
are Spanish-speaking people
and they had better do so with
an accent!
There is another aspect to
the "Negro" label which ex
emplifies the depth of
discrimination. There seems
to be an unconscious, unwrit
ten tradition in America to
day that a first name in
dicates ownership. A tavern
restaurant or nightclub owner
attaches his name to his pro
perty to clearly establish who
is .the controlling party in
determining the policies of
the establishment; Joe's
Place, Frank's Restaurant or
Art D'Lugoffs Village Gate.
The same tradition applies
to the many ethnic groups
which comprise the total
population of America the
Irish, Italians, Spanish,
Chinese and so on. Traditional
terminology refers to these
groups as Irish-Americans,
Italian-Americans or Chinese
Americans. THE UNWRITTEN
assumption is that the Irish,
Italians, Chinese or Spanish
are part owners of America.
America belongs to them,
rather than their belonging to
America. They each have a
role to play in determining
the controlling policies of the
American establishment
There are two glaring ex
ceptions to this unwritten
tradition the American-Indian
and the American-Negro.
The original owners of
America's soil are seldom
referred to as Indian-
Americans. Nor are the
emancipated slaves
designated as Negro
Americans. And certainly it
cannot be said that the term
A f r o - American has been
generally accepted by white
America.
Since the first name in
dicates ownership, the terms
American-Indian or
A m e r ican-Negro . seem to
mean that America owns the
Indian and the "Negro." In
dians and black folks stand
apart from other ethnic
groups in the eyes of America
in being denied their proper
role as part owners of this
nation. Traditional
terminologyis a daily
reminder that America stole
her land from its native in
habitants and kidnapped me
to cultivate that land.
Perhaps when issues
become more black and
white, without the confusing
label of a misappropriated
Spanish word blocking the
path to trust and understan
ding, this country will truly
belong to the people who in
habit it and all the fellow
owners of this soil can begin
to structure justice into the
policies of this land.
Wade Allen Syndications, Inc.
Commeetarj
Inside report . . .
Mayor Daley's
old politics
by Rowland Evans and
Robert Novak
CHICAGO In the face of Democratic calami
ty on the national and state levels here, Mayor
Richard J. Daley's renowned precinct organization
is concentrating its money and muscle on one local
office: State's Attorney for Cook County (Chicago).
Indeed, Daley has aU but abandoned Vicr
President Humphrey, and his handpicked.
lackluster state ticket. While there are few visible
signs of a Humphrey campaign in Chicago, t h
organization's activity is intense and increasin -for
Edward V. Hanrahan, Democratic candidate
for State's Attorney (county prosecutor).
SUCH A distorUon of emphasis might seeir.
incredible, but it is the essence of Dick Daley-.,
old politics. To Daley organization regulars,
politics is essentially a business wholly remove J
from lofty issues. Presidents and Governors ma;,
come and go with no concern to the regulars
because they do not affect their business. But the
mundane office of State's Attorney most definitely
does.
To understand why the prospect of a Repuclian
State's Attorney here chills city hall, it is necessary
only to look at the investigations proposed by
Hanrahan's Republican opponent, Alderman Robert
J. O'Rourke. He would probe the city building
department and its honeycombs of organization
patronage employees, look into the traditionally
scandalous doings of the traffic court, and opei?
the lid on suspect city land deals.
Moving deeper into the heart of the organiza
tion's affairs, O'Rourke calls for investigation (
the habitual' election day voter frauds here an J
a full-scale probe of links between organized crime
and the Democratic organization.
The Campus Scholar . . .
Students need challenge, stimulation
by Bill Mobley
From discussions with
students on all levels of the
educational ladder it appears
that a very few of our courses
or instructors are including
significant amounts of an
important ingredient in our
educational experience.
This all too frequent om
mission is the challenge ex
tended by an instructor to his
students to accomplish for
themselves their individual
development. When present,
this challenge takes education
from a boring recitation of
facts to an exciting en
counter. AS STUDENTS we are
given the task of attending
from fifteen to twenty hours
of classes and labs a week
and only in the rarest in
stance are we given the op
portunity to enhance our lives
and ideas with the "body of
knowledge" so uninterestingly
thrown at us. Very little of
what is taught seems to mean
much to all too many
students.
It is not that this material
couid have no relevance to
our individual lives, it's that
the method of its exposure
encourages, with its ap
parently pre-digested nature,
little more than marginal
speculation and a pa-sive
scribling of it in our fifty-nine
cent notebooks. Se''i are
we confronted in a classroom
with the stimulation to
discover.
More often than V we are
hardened in our conception of
the classroom as not being
the place to question or probe
into the vast area- of learning
which could make our lives as
satisfying and exciting as
they ought to be in an educa
tional community.
The faculty mus be con
vinced that the sense of ex
ploration and discovery is
being sadly neglected in
today's student. He must
come to realize the oblivion
he has to cha!l"e the in
dividual student with his pro
per acceptance of the
respor Ability for his own
ed ration.
He mast be shown that the
most beneficial education can
come only in an environment
hich stimulates and rewards
the student for the exercise of
his unique imagination and
creativity.
The day of the lecture note
"right from the book" tests
with no provision for any
mental activity beyond rote
memorization, the day of the
faculty member who neglects
h i s teaching responsibility
for his research publications,
the day of the uninterested
instructor content to rehash
rusted facts with outdated
methods, all these are gone.
Unfortunately too many facul
ty people expect us to accept
these far from adequate
methods of learning.
It is said to realize that
most of us by now do in fact
accept these as common pro
cedure in our educational
process and very understan
dably are content to "live
with it." As freshmen we are
usually indoctrinated after
our first round of hour exams
and the lesson we learn then
holds well throughout our
security-ridden un
dergraduate careers. But the
willingness to accept the
status-quo just mentioned is
as superficial as the system
we now put up with.
THE STUDENT wants a
challenge and, in addition he
must be impressed with its
importance to him as a
person. The faculty has the
responsibility to present this
initial challenge but i i wide
spread omission in ths area
at the present poses a great
obstacle in the student's road
to educational maturity.
Faculty and students must
work in an environment
where xth cooperatively
challenge and respond to
challenge for the true hap
pening of education to occur.
Dear Mr. Ross:
That it was necessary for
you to explain, through your
October 16, 198 letter to the
Daily. Nebraskan, that the
administration is concerened
about student opinion for
reasons other than pacifica
tion, is a curious state of af
fairs. Why didn't you substantiate
your claims with anything but
the fact that you have eaten
ten lunches with various
students?
WHY IS IT that you did not
site pertinent examples of the
University responding to
organized, legitimate voices
within the student body with
an open, concerned, straight
forward approach?
Why was it necessary for
you to write a letter at all? If
Jack Todd is significantly off
base on an issue it will be
obvious to most people. His
editorials are not dogma. The
group of 7000 new students
you spoke of, of which 1 am
one. "don't need a
weatherman to know which
way the wind blows."
I have had numerous en
counters with the ad
ministration in my short five
Daily Nebraska!.
er--i.d-el(a pOKtage put at lanenlD Net)
TEI EKHOVKS Editor m-VMi 'e C75-SI1S Bairtneae 47I-WW
Snrwenptmr. -M'r are f aei emetei ti oi the academic vw
PaWinh W'Hvlav Werrneaaa Thri'wla w ""rda 4vnnff die whonl war
exce; Turin vacwftrm and arr oena n the fiMtentjt ft lor University
of -hr.k andet the njnndtctior M 'he ,-ilf uhrnmrnitlee mi MurV-ni
PuhiKuriorHi Puh'x-a'lon. h, II fr- trt frmr nmhip b 'b Huhtimimtrl
fr any p-r-o. ivtit 'hr Univerarr flmhr- hrsa v aumwiirt4a
for whal the taoir be printed
ICembe wormier iiietat '". tMnf ytactntmt' .dverttalna tarnee
Editorial Staff
Editor Jack Todd; Managlne rVrtm fc.4 irrnnfflr: Newa Edttoi Lvna Goitacnalit:
Merit tvn Eilim Kent IM-M, Milonai Pace .i.unl Molly Mtinell Awitlapt
Vitrht Newt Rdttar John Kranda; Sport Fi'or Mark Gordon, Aeuriftant Sporta Editor
Randv VorK; Senior Sifl Writer loho nnratt lrrt rXlihoii r.eitree Kiifi-aii.
Julie Moral Jim Pederaen, Junior ftalf Wntera Teirr Grot. R lly Hosenhercer.
BIU SmithTman. Conn Winkler. Senior Copy Editnr Joan Haaoner; Copy Ed tort
Phyllia AilkhHum. Dav Filial. June Wafoner. Andrea Wrjoda; Pnotrirarh Chief
Dan Ladelr: Photographer Jim tm: Artist- Brent Skinner and Gail PieaunaB.
Business Staff
Rutne. Manager J L. Vhmidt. Honfcueeiiei Rotcei Nrye: Production Manager
John Fleming: National Ad tfanaeer Fntr Shoemaker: Rueineiw Secretary pd
tip-.tfied ! Mntta I'lrirh: SubMTiptinti Man-rfcr Jan Boatman, t 'irculaOon Man
af-r Hon Paveifca. Rn-k Dnran; Adverttairg Represent' vea Me Brow a, JoeJ
Uavia. Ciena fner.dt. Nancy GuUliatt, Daa Imi't. Todd Slaughter.
weeks here, and have found
all of them to be extremely
friendly, polite, and willing to
keep quiet while I air my dif
ficulties. But my arguments
and positions were answered
with much too eloquent quotes
of rules and the "reason" of a
never before contested status
quo. Keeping quiet is not
necessarily listening.
..There was another .article
on the same page as yours,
entitled "Uptight grown-ups
fear their. children.". Did you
read it?
I feal this sounds like I'm
trying only to be difficult,
which is not the case; I want
to solve the problem.
Sincerely, John A. Hansen
Dear Editor:
On reflection, we wonder
why the University of
Nebraska with upwards of
18,000 students does not
have (and to our knowledge
has never had) one of the
minority races represented on
the cheer-leading squad?
Even more to the point,
why (again to the best of our
knowledge) has the
overwhelming mass of cheer
leaders been greek?
IT MAY SEEMlike a small
point but if we can demand
. that approved housing be
open to all University
students, can we not demand
that our own campus
organizations follow suit?
If, by the use of popular
elections, we could remove
the inbreeding in this one
of our more public institutions
we would be taking another
small but important step in
removing hypocrisy from the
U.ofN.
Paul S. Lerner
William Kyger
In contrast, Hanrahan, who resigned as U.S.
Attorney here to run for the local office, woul
stick to the business of fighting conventional crim:
and not distrub city hall's sleeping dogs.
Although nobody has ever questioned hi.,
personal honesty, Hanrahan is an organization man
to the core. Flamboyant and hot-tempered, he
detests Democratic mavericks (and once took u
swing at the leading maverick, State Treasurer
Adlai Stevenson HI, at a private party). The major
criticism of his record as U.S. Attorney concerned
his questionable handling of petty organization
politicians intertwined with the crime syndicate.
Consequently, Daley has put out the word:
Hanrahan must win. The army of organization
payrollers has been solicited, man by man, foi
extra contributions to Hanrahan. His campaign is
the most lavishly financed in Chicago: $100,0C(J
for television and newspaper ads exclusive of the
most extensive billboard displays by any candidate
in the area.
Moreover, there is evidence that the frequently
collusive arrangement between Republican and
Democratic leaders at the Chicago ward level Is
working in Hanrahan's favor. Some Republican
leaders are doing nothing for O'Rourke and have
not even put his photos and campaign literature
in their headquarters. The quid pro quo from their
Democratic counterparts: no help for Gov. Sam
Shapiro against the front-running Republican
challenger, Richard J. Ogilvie.
ALTHOUGH NO such overt collusion exists on
a higher level, O'Rourke suffers there, too. Edmund
Kucharski, the new Cook County Republican
chairman, is a staunch Ogilvie man and interested
primarily in electing a Republican Governor, if
his organization's emphasis has been on the state
level, it is not so much that he loves O'Rourke
less but that he loves Ogilvie more.
Yet, Democratic rebels in Illinois believe
staunchly that the Republicans, not Daley, have
established the proper order of priorities and that
only in a wholly irrational political system does
the office of local prosecutor excite more activity
than that of Governor of the state.
Thus, even though Hanrahan's well-financed
campaign and dynamic campaign style are ex
pected to prevail over the soft-spoken O'Rourke,
it may well fuel determination by the insurgents
for a post-election confrontation with Dale,
Stevenson, who has made his final break with
Daley and is prepared to battle for the soul of
the party, is even now making his plans for that
battle.
Daley shows no signs of compromising. While
publicly civil to Stevenson, Daley rails in private
against his audacity. Moreover, even the impending
statewide catastrophe that Daley helped create ia
Illinois won't deplete his power much if he retains
the office of State's Attorney and other county
posts He is, then, the long-range favorite to crus.-i
any Stevensonian insurgency. Daley's old politics
may no longer win state elections but it still runs
the party.
(c) 1968 Publishers-Hall Syndicate