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Thursday, March 2, 1S31
Pago Two
THE DAILY TAB HEEL
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its sixty-eighth year of editorial freedom, unhampered by restrictions
from either the administration or the student body.
The Datty Tar Heel is the official student publication of the Vublica-
I Hons Board of the University of HQT.tk.Catoljna, Richard. Overstrtft, Chairman,
1 All editorials appearing in The : Daily Tar Heel are thepersonal expres
I sions of the editor, unless otherwise credited; they are not necessarily represen
ts tative of feeling on the staff, and all reprints or quotations must specify thus.
I March 2, 1961
Volume LXIX, Number 111
'AM. V '.
Reflections At Midcentury:
America At The Crossroads
Kicks are big business: the sallow hucksters needle the nerves.
Through radios drumming rock and roll and blurred girls crooning on
TV
they hammer on the wracked nerves:
buy, '
buy speed, buy horsepower, buy chromium, buy happiness in a split
level ranchhouse, elegance in shocking pink lipstick, passion in a jar of
Parisian perfume,
or that portable transistor set
you can take along on your vacations
so that even beside the thunderous ocean, or camping out in some
hidden intervale green in a notch of the hills, you'll never be free
from the clamor of salesmen.
John Dos Passos,
in Midcentury
If America is going to hell in a
handbasket, it is because America
has woven the basket and placed
herself inside. In an age of world
wide revolt, upheaval and vio
lence, the Land of the Free has
committed itself not to a Wilson
ian mission or a Lincolnesque
credo but to unabashed worship at
the altar of self-indulgence.
The image of America has
changed at midcentury. No longer
do the people of the world look to
the Marines heroically implanting
the Stars and Stripes firmly in the
crest of a barren hill on the island
of. Iwo Jima; the words of Frank
lin Delano Roosevelt, exhorting his
fellow countrymen to bring the
"Four Freedoms" to the people of
the world, have died and passed
into the dusty forgotten pages of
history; the little nation that once
battled a colonial empire now wal
lows in the fruit of its own labors.
Americans live now not to act
but to be acted upon. Sterile minds
ferment in a sterile atmosphere.
We sit, lumps on a log, receiving in
splendor the products of a society
based not on the ideas in men's
minds but the dollars in their
pockets.
We still the anger of protest in
the name of those ideals of which
we ourselves lost sight when the
land lost its youth and became old;
our, ideals now can be counted out
on a cash register, totalled on an
adding machine and recorded on a
balance sheet.
The dignity of mankind that
moved Washington, J efferson,
Franklin and Hamilton can be
bought and sold now if the price
is good enough. Man's stature is
measured not by accomplishments
but bv the. skill with which he
combats a system based upon con
sumption and aggrandization.
We cry. out bitterly against the
injustices committed by our fel
low man; we are shocked when, in
Korea, twenty thousand students
riot against a treaty signed by the
nation, with its American friends:
when the people of Hungary rise
in revolt, spurred promises of aid
from the Home of the Brave, we
JONATHAN YARDLEY
Editor
Watkx KnG, Ma by Stewart Bakes
Associate Editors
Mabgaret Ann Rhymes
Managing Editor
Edwahd Neax. Rineh
Assistant To The Editor
Hznbt Mayer, Jem Clottelteb
v News Editors
Llyd Little
Executive News Editor
Eusas Lewis , Feature Editor
Frank SlusserJ- -JSports Editor
Harry W. Lloyd Asst. Sports Editor
John Jueticz, Davis Young
Contributing Editors
TrM Burnett
Business Manager
Richard Vfzmm Advertising Manager
John Jester. -.Circulation Manager
Charles "WnzDBESSubscription Manager
' The Daily Tar Heel Is published dally
except Monday, examination periods
and vacations. It is entered as second
class matter in the post office In Chapel
Hill, N. C, pursuant with the act of
March 8, 1870. Subscription rates : $4
per semester, $7 per year.
The Daily Tar Heel is a subscriber to
the United Press International and
utilizes the services of the News Bu
reau of the University of North Caro
lina. - v;."i
Publishafl by the Colonial Press,
Chapel Kill. N. C. - -
cheer them on at a safe distance;
the great salesman of democracy
deals only in self-satisfaction.
If the starving ' thousands of
China are but instruments to their
leaders, they are nothing else to
their saviors across the Pacific. We
have come to view the other na
tions of the world as pawns in a
gigantic, terrifying chess game;
mere playthings, to be bandied
about by the great powers in the
unceasing battle for world su
premacy. We no longer look for
the betterment of the world's peo
ple; we look for alliances with the
world's nations.
The magazines and newspapers
are filled not with words of im
portance but with advertisements;
our television sets bhnkingly ad
vocate dishwashers, electronic
razors and chromium-encased auto
mobiles. We look, unceasingly, not
for truth or wisdom but for the
good buy. Life, at a discount.
' In our halls oi government we
stand stagnant, each, department
pitted against the others in the
singleminded pursuit of satisfying
interest grouo wants. Our legisla
tors battle over trivia, while the
world and the executive, branch
pass them by.
Walled into a prison of his own
making, the American stands at the
threshhold of greatness and rejects
it. Instead of zeal, he chooses 'toxv
por; instead of ideology, he chooses
neutrality; instead of action, he
chooses lethargy; instead of f er
vor, he chooses nonchalance. Calm
ly, heroically, he exhorts his fel-Iows-rnot
for advancement, not
for ideals, not to win the battle
for and of men's minds but, in
short, not to sweat it.
Like lemmings we move inexor
ably toward the sea, knowing
neither where we are going or why
we are going there. Prodded by the
demigods we chose to embrace
many years ago, we resolutely
march always together, always
unseeing, always in complete ac
cord. There are, to be sure, voices of
dissent and discord. One or two
stand forth to change this over
bearing flow of events; but they
are turned, pebbles in a swift
stream, and plunged headlong into
the onward tide. Their protests,
drowned out by the omnipotent
uninterest of the faceless mass, go
unheard.
If there is hope for America, it
must be grasped and clung to with
a strength that this nation has not
known for many, many years. We
must regain that strength, or lose
the race.
We must, as our President ob
serves, "begin anew the quest for
peace."- But we must do more. W.e
must re-examine ourselves and
gain perspective on ourselves until
we are able to cast aside the sel
fishness that has made us weak
and regain the asceticism that
made us strong.
If we do not, the nation that
rose from the wilderness will die.
of an overdose of civilization, -
World-Wide Non-Missile Gap
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Amendment j
If
I
Proposed
To Expand Su
ffrage
Tom McHaney
Residents of the nation's capi
tal are over the halfway mark on
the road to suffrage. But as the
road turns south it may become
bumpy and possibly lead to a dead
end.
A proposed constitutional
amendment which would give
District of Columbia residents
the vote for president and vice
president is in the hands of state
legislatures.
It was put there when Con
gress passed a measure last ses
sion proposing the amendment.
Two-thirds of the states, or 38,
must ratify the proposed amend
ment to give Washingtonians the
right to participate in national
elections for the first time in
history.
To date, 22 states have ratified
and one Arkansas has rejected
it. In seven states it has ' been
passed by one legislative House,
and the measure has been intro
duced in 12 other state legisla
tures. There has been no action in
two Southern states currently
meeting, and two other Dixie
states do not meet until April and
May. Three legislatures do not
meet this year, and one meets for
budget considerations only.
. This means that 16 of the re
maining 23 states must ratify for
the proposal to became an amend
ment this year.
The four states where the
measure has not yet been intro
duced are all in the South: Ala-
A Picket Tells How It Feels To Walk On The Picket Line
A writer to the Tar Heel, stres
sing his opposition to the theatre
picketing, applied the label, "a
bunch of clowns with signs," to
those of us who have been walk
ing in front of the Carolina and
Varsity. Obviously, he meant to
be derogatory.-But I -find a-great
truth in his observation: one he
must , have overlooked when he
selected the term, "clown," from
the current list of collegiate
cliches.
He showed the particular
short - sightedness which marks
those who oppose the full eman
cipation of our country's citizen
ry, for it doubtless never occurr
ed to him that a clown, too, is a
man, and that beneath the cos
tume lies a life no less precious
or precarious than his own, one
no less joyful and tragic in its
turn! My own life, for instance,
or yours.
On' the picket line I betray
none of my fears, none of the
wrenching sickening disgust
whenever a heckler, shouts, none
of the immeasurable happiness
when a passing face smiles in
understanding; there is no way
for my appearance to say all that
I feel to these, or to those who
cross the picket line, failing to
understand. The only way I be
tray my humanity is that I seem
physiologically to possess the
proper components of eyes, arms,
legs, and so forth. Yet, because
I oppose this man's indefensible
position, I must be labeled, I
must be stereotyped. Still, he
cannot, were he reflect a mom
ent, label away the fact that I
am, after all, just as he is, a man.
I would like to speak from this
position, simply as a man. But
I cannot. Because as long as
there exists here in Chapel Hill,
or anywhere, South or North, a
social dichotomy that gives me as
a white man the undisputed ad
vantage over many of my fellow
men, just because they are not
white, then I have no right to
delude myself and you with pla
titudinous praise for the work we
Men are doing.
I could be the most reckless
radical, the most pious moralist,
the bearer of good tidings and
mutual admiration. But when I
walk out on the street, I may
visit any of my friends without
rupturing neighborhood relations,
I may apply for a job, with hope
for success based on my ability
and the availability of a position,
I may greet anyone on the street
Letter To The Editor
Clarification By Bill Hobh
To the. Editor:
I have found it very interesting
that those who have recently
written letters' to you concern
ing one of my articles not only
missed the entire point of the
article but by writing their let
ters have shed light on the point
which I wished to make.
The article in question was
headlined, "Voiceless Students
Impede Integration." I did not
write this headline and do not
approve of it because it does not
really apply to my article.
The whole point of my article
was that students were not act
ing, were not speaking, were
generally avoiding the whole in
tegration problem here. I never
in that article advocated segre
gation or integration; I only ad
vocated action and expression, on
any and all sides of the ques
tion. The letter writers I refer to
cannot be criticized for missing
the point of the article. This was
probably due to faulty expression
on my part or to the fact that
some sections of the original ar
ticle had been deleted before it
appeared in print, presumably for
the sake of space.'
Messrs. Skinner, Fairchild, and
Cheek are not among the inactive
students I criticized. They have
expressed - themselves, they are
aware of the problem among us
and are doing . something about
it.
Many others have expressed
themselves in the DTH columns,
on the picket lines, and in the
theatres. We are apparently be
coming more interested in this
problem, but there" has still been
no campus-wide expression on
the matter.
I suggest that the time has come
for the Daily Tar Heel to spon
sor and or conduct a campus
wide poll on the issue. In this
manner every individual student
would have full opportunity to
make his views known. Thus the
theatre managers, the picketers,
and the people of the state and
nation would know exactly where
our support and feeling stood.
To lend authority to the poll
and to promote responsible an
swers, the names of everyone an
swering the poll could be printed
with their names in the manner
of the recent faculty statement
and the statement for the sup
port of Frank McGuire.
I feel that a poll of this sort
would promote responsible deci
sions by everyone since every in
dividual questioned would have
to consider his answer seriously
and take it as a means to express
his feelings in some concrete
manner.
Bill Hobbs
with a smile or a frown and have
little thought about it either way.
Because I have two arms, two
legs, and so forth? Because,
though a clown, I can communi
cate my innermost feelings, my
humanity, to everyone I meet?
Hardly. Just because of the most
absurdly important event of my
life: birth. Born white; born
free.
We may erase this distinction
in our meetings, on the picket
line, or in our personal attitudes;
but so long as it exists of itself,
beyond here and now, then we
are met with a particular prob
lem and a challenge this is, for
the white community, enduring.
I cannot let this attempt at the
theatres stop. I cannot say, "I
give up for now." Because I am
giving up nothing. I am gaining.
I will simply drop back into my
old routine, gently and ignorant
ly accepted by the remainder of
the community who confuse my
color with my ideas and my
ideals.
And I cannot stop for another
reason: I would be untrue to my
generation, to my contempor
aries. Despite all the attempts
to label us as Silent, or Beat, or
Babied, there is one series of
events that will, I think, in the
fture apply here. It is the "Sit-In
Generation" to which I belong,
however weakly I may have con
tributed. While the majority of my fel
low white students seem already
older than their fathers, the Ne
gro student has put his father to
shame, has engaged himself in
the struggle for human rights
with a will and a purpose and a
fearlessness that shines so bright
it will not be dimmed. No one
from the outside can draw this
lustre down on himself; here is
where stands the leadership and
to this movement we all owe our
allegiance and our hope, both as
a nation and as a world.
We have grown up together in
an era of impending crisis. We
have been educated, most likely
unequally, to hold the same
ideals. We are all asked to serve
the nation in the same ways.
But many of us have become
passive and apathetic, seeing in
the world too much of what the
Satan figure in Archibald Mac
Leish's play, J. B. describes as: .
"Millions and millions of man
kind burned, crushed, broken,
mutilated, slaughtered, and for
what? For thinking! For walk
ing around the world in the
wrong skin, the wrong-shaped
noses, eyelids: Sleeping the
wrong city wrong night
London, Dresden, Hiroshima.
There never could have been
so many suffered more for
less."
But the Negro student, he who
had already more to suffer than
most of us can understand, man
aged to -step above, the concern
for his present and to set an eye
on the promise of the past and
the hope of the future, to see his
rights as they should be and to
get about gaining them. In do
ing this, he has awakened many
to a reality that well could have
been forgotten. He has given the
lie to Bible Belt Christianity, he
has attacked the Cotton Stalk
Curtain,' and in doing so he"has
brought the extremeties of the
nation to re-evaluate their own
subtle inhumanities.
Thus, as long as we live in
this unjustly dichotomized so
ciety, we cannot simply say, "We
sympathize," nor-"We feel it in
convenient to continue," nor give
any of a thousand excuses that
relieve us of responsibility and
return us to "white respectabili
ty." We will, of course. We are
not so involved. That is why the
Negro communities must build
their own leadership, must never
depend so strongly on an uncer
tain outside help that they can
not continue of themselves or in
spire with their own example.
And we all must continue, in
every way that we can, but with
an earnestness and a purpose. We
must say to both sides: the heck
ler and the stand-off liberal
"Shout me no shouts, and pat
me no pats on the back. I am
only trying to be a Man."
bama, Florida, Georgia and South
Carolina. The four legislatures
that cannot act this year are Ken
tucky, Mississippi, Virginia and
Louisiana.
Under the law, the states have
seven years to act on the propo
sal. Congressional approval of the
measure was an outgrowth of the
District battle for home rule. The
movement towards self-government
for the District was spur
red by the award of statehood to
Alaska and Hawaii.
But some bitter opposition
from the South to granting the
District home rule repeatedly had
snuffed out hopes for its pas
sage. In the past 13 years, the Senate
passed the home rule bill at least
five times, but the legislation
was repeatedly bottled up in the
Southern-dominated House Dis
trict Affairs Committee.
The proposed amendment ap
parently was pushed through
Congress to appease District resi
dents clamoring for some type of
representation in government.
But some Southern support
still is needed. And as the num
ber of states who have ratified
approaches the two-thirds mark,
Arkansas' rejection indicates that
the proposal may have trouble
there.
One reason for this is that the
District's population is almost GO
per cent Negro. Another is that
the message spelling out what
the proposal means may not
reach the Southern legislators in
time for their vote.
Northern states have been
quick to get behind the proposal,
and much of the hard support
for the measure has been voiced
by northern states. But the South
has voting problems of its own.
Tennessee a border state
could be the force that locks the
door and throws away the key on
the proposal. Its Senate unani
mously passed the measure, but
a House committee tabled the
motion, despite backing by Gov
ernor Buford Ellington.
The District vote amendment
has been ratified by Alaska, Cali
fornia, Colorado, Delaware, Ha-
Hi. Idaho. Maine. Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mon
tana, Nevada, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, Oregon,
South Dakota, Utah, Washing
ton, West Virginia, Wisconsin,
and Wyoming.
One legislative body has passci
it in Arizona, Indiana, Michigan,
New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pen
New Hampshire, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
U. P. I.
The Daily Tar Heel soliciis
and is happy to print any lei
ier to ihe editor written by a
member of the University
community, as long as it is
within ihe accepted bounds cf
good taste. NO LETTERS
WILL BE PRINTED IF THEY
ARE OVER 3C0 WORDS
LONG OR IF THEY ARE
NOT TYPEWRITTEN O R
DOUBLE SPACED. We make
this requirement purely for
the sake of space and time.
Chapel Mill After Dart
4,
i
With Davis B. Young
Monday morning we rode over
to the Trustee meeting in Raleigh
with a new member of the Uni
versity family Sibley Dorton
who will serve as Escheats Officer
of the Consolidated University.
A Davidson graduate, and mem
ber of the upper echelon of Man
teo's Lost Colony summer pro
duction, Dorton was introduced
to the Trustees by President Fri
day. We welcome Mr. , Dorton to
a new and challenging position,
as well as to the South's finest
community.
i
A University administrative of
ficial jokingly mentioned that he
might like to take over this col
umn as a one-day guest.
"After all, I know about Chapel
Hill After Dark, too. Every Sun
day morning I find a few well
tossed beer cans on my lawn."
In Raleigh on Monday, we
dropped by the state's number
one office to see our old friend
and compatriot Tom Lambeth, as
sistant to the Governor. ;
Lambeth has . gone further in
less time than any University
graduate we know. Three years
ago he was working on a Mas
ter's Degree in History. Today's
he's one of the State's big men
of the future.
We also saw a darling little
girl Jane Yates the eight-year-old
blond beauty from Kings
Mountain who'll be the State's
1961 Easter Seal Child.
Little Jane, badly crippled,
posed for pictures with Gov.
Sanford. She's graphic proof that
the fight against crippling dis
eases is far from over.
And what Jane wants most of
all is for other small boys and
girls not to go through the same
ordeals she has faced.
Busy University students might
take time out to buy a sheet of
Easter Seals. You, too, will be
parents soon. And there's nothing
sadder than watching a child
who can't partake in normal ac
tivities with her friends.
We'll have more to say about
Jane as soon as we've procured
a picture of her to run with a
later column.
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