Friday, August 11, 1967
Page 4
Slj ar ffrfl
Letters And Apathy
We appreciate all the concern that has been shown in
letters about the pictures we ran of luxury cars in the
slums of Durham. Of course, most of the letters didn't
deal with the plight of the Negro sympathetically.
The fact of the matter is that most of the cars are not
"$4,000 cars" as alleged by one correspondent. They are
cars with motors which burn oil, in various states of
depreciation, which the slum dweller buys from some
less-than-honest used-car dealer. The slum dweller gets
stuck with his piece of junk, and the car ends up junked
beside the dilapidated home of its owner.
There is not a single resident in the slums who could
possibly afford a $4,000 car. That is obvious.
One writer went on to say that if the slum dweller could
keep up a luxury car, he could keep up his house. That
statement might bring comfort to the slum lords, but it is
nonsensical. It is not the responsibility of the tenant to
replace a broken window, it is the responsibility of the
landlord.
Not only is the landlord derelict, but also public of
ficials of Durham. When slum residents complained that
cockroaches were taking over their "houses", the Health
Department replied that roaches were only a "nuisance",
not a health problem.
We don't really understand why people will argue
about cars in the slums in Durham, when there are so
many things here in Chapel Hill that need their attention.
We are not minimizing the importance of slum conditions
in Durham, and we urge students to be concerned about
them. But we wish that people would be concerned about
"slum conditions" in Chapel Hill, about the parking pro
blem, about hikes in student insurance rates at the discre
tion of three individuals .
People get concerned and write letters about the war
protest march and rally. They get inflamed and rightly
so about a war on the other side of the world. Yet they
don't give a hoot that they have to pay $5 not to park on
campus, or three more dollars for insurance than is
necessary, or that women live under Victorain rules.
If we were the activists that some people on this cam
pus are, we'd like to hold an apathy-vigil, and see just how
many people wouldn't bother to show up.
Public Transport System?
FROM THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY
Sometime soon, with luck, there is a chance the Town
Board of Aldermen will take another look at the
possibilities of a public transportation system for Chapel
Hill.
The preliminary report of a traffic and parking study,
made by a professional firm in Raleigh, already has sug
gested a mini-bus transportation system here. And there
are reports the University is considering a modest mini
bus system to transport students free from some of the far
reaches of the campus.
With student and faculty cars in super-abundance and
campus parking spaces in critically short supply, the
University needs to come up with some innovation. A
mini-bus system seems as likely as anything to offer
relief.
In our opinion, however, any lasting relief in the traffic
and parking situation here will have to come from the
University and Town moving together.
The campus and Town traffic problems are so inter
related that action by the one without supplementary ac
tion by the other will be sadly inadequate.
If the University is planning a campus transportation
system it should be a part of a community system. That,
of course, would have to depend on action by the Town
Board.
We would like to see the Aldermen do something on the
recommended bus system either accept the idea and
begin working on it, or junk it and begin seeking other,
possible solutions.
In the meantime, the traffic situation can only get
worse. -
Don Campbell, Lytt Stamps
Editors
Reggie Graves
Business Manager
In Letters -
Slum Cars Still Chugging;
Pro And Con On Protest
To the Editors:
After reading the letter by
Messrs. Wood and Brown in the
August 8th issue of The Tar Heel
in reply to an earlier letter by
Mr. Fields, I am at a loss to
determine exactly what they
wish to advocate the status
quo?
Messrs. Wood and Brown in
dicated that if slum dwellers in
vest the money which they ap
parently allocate for a car in
home improvements, the money
is ill spent. They say it is better
to spend the money on a car
(which certainly depreciates
rapidly) and "at least ride in
stead of walk to a new slum
area, WHERE THE PROCESS
WOULD BEGIN ALL OVER".
They apparently advocate a
vicious circle of slumism and ig
nore the basic cause of poor and
condemned housing (no
maintenance and overcrowding),
rat infested areas (filth and ex
posed garbage), and unpaved
streets (property owners must
pay most of paving costs).
As for the implication that
slum dwellers better know how
to allocate their money than Mr.
Fields, it is ridiculous!
Robert L. Bryan, Jr.
March Cowardice
To the Editors:
What is it that causes students
to march in protest to the war in
Vietnam. Some say that it is
because of brotherly love toward
their neighbors all over the
world. I, too, am an advocate of
brotherly love and peace. We
are not going to attain peace by
being the little boy who gets
picked on. You may say that we
are not being picked on, but I
say that when our values are
being atacked, we are being
picked on.
I feel that there is another
reason for such behavior. That
reason is cowardice. It is much
easier for our long-haired, shaggy-faced
friends to carry signs
than it is to carry rifles. I think
that if this "dirty dozen times
ten" were to go to Vietnam the
flii4iKj!fi?ewf
You ask Challie how
Challie tell. Import No. 1 lickshaw service,"
mere sight of them would drive
the Viet Cong back to Hanoi.
I have friends in Vietnam who
have seen their buddies killed
who still want to fight for their
country. In light of this I cannot
understand the motives of our
Monday morning quarterbacks
who want to hide behind signs
and call the plays.
I am quite confident that the
majority of the boys my age do
not want to go to Vietnam, but if
called upon will have enough in
testinal fortitude to heed their
country's call. I am quite sure
that you will find more than 120
boys on the U.N.C. campus who
feel this way.
Also, I would like to contend
that the ones who went to the
program without participating in
the march went only to see a
circus.
Henry Funderburk
March Courage
To the Editors:
As the anti-war demonstrators
marched down Franklin St. last
Saturday, I was walking along
the sidewalk and was amused to
notice a member of some
veterans' organization holding
up a sign which declared that
although he hated war, he also
hated Communists and
"cowards." What amused me
was the charge that the
marchers were cowards
because, somehow, despite the
displays of two-fisted bravery
that I've seen all my life in the
movies and on TV, raw physical
courage is not something I
particularly admire. My middle
class upbringing has led me to
believe that brawling is not the
sort of activity which a civilized
man engages in. Although I
suspect that I am less ag
gressive than the average
American male, I also suspect
that most men of my social
class would agree with me that
pugnacious drunks and sailors
should be dealt with by turning
them over to the police rather
than by fighting it out with them
on the street.
On the other hand, "coward"
solve plaking ploblem.
that I am, I don't think I would
"chicken out" in battle. Mainly
because the Army is careful to
see that one never gets the feel
ing he is facing the enemy
aiune; the fighting man is part
of a "team," surrounded by
"buddies" he can count on to
support him when the going gets
rough. Under these
circumstances, I feel sure that
even I, a "coward," would fight
just like that Veteran I saw
holding the sign.
But what about the marchers?
Frankly, it takes quite a bit of
courage to march down the mid
dle of the street to demonstrate
in favor of an unpopular cause
in a conservative town like
Chapel Hill. If anyone thinks
those people were making any
friends by what they were doing,
be didn't see the looks of disgust
and undisguised hatred on the
faces of some of the townspeo
ple, and even on the faces of
some of the students, that I did.
I, for one, didn't have the
courage to join them, despite the
fact that I would like to see the
war in Viet Nam ended as
quickly as possible by a
negotiated settlement. The
marchers were not facing much
threat of physical violence, but
they did display a great deal of
moral courage in daring to
speak out for what they believed
before an audience of townspeo
ple, many of whom are simple
minded enough to equate
disagreement with the
government's - war policy with
treason.
It takes tremendous courage,
it seems to me, to stand up and
say what you think when you
know that many of those who
hear you are incapable of
responding rationally to what
you say. I keep thinking of the
young lady who took up a col
lection at the end of the rally to
help pay the rental on the sound
system. She looked a bit nervous
and I can understand why: Just
after she passed me, she passed
a young man who I think was a
student. He gave her a look of
fierce hatred the likes of which I
have never seen before except in
pictures of the faces of people in
angry mobs. I don't know
whether or not she saw that
look, which unnerved me but
she may have seen others like it.
To be willing, like that girl, to
face the unreasoning hatred of
your fellow men to support a
cause you believe in takes a
great deal of moral courage. I
just wish that Veteran had been
stauding beside me last
Saturday: it would be com
forting to think that after seeing
that look he might perhaps have
changed his mind about the
courage of the marchers.
Tom Cabarga
W
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