University of Virginia Library

Robert Rosen Speaks

SDS Right Some Of The Time

By Robert Rosen

The Wheatley Affair

This Time, This Place, This Issue,
S.D.S. Is Right

It is true that the Students for a
Democratic Society are everywhere
"looking for an issue" to bring
about crises on most American
campuses. It is true that most rational
people, including most "liberals,"
are scared that S.D.S. will
defeat its own goals by the dubious
means they employ. It is true that
the student Movement is not everywhere
deserving of praise. It is true
that at the University of Wisconsin,
radicals "ousted," in the words of
the New York Times, "students and
faculty from classrooms." But this
does not mean that the local SDS is
not right some of the time. It does
not mean that we should not support
them if what they seek to
change is deserving of change and if
the means they employ are peaceful.

Fortunately for us "liberals"
and "moderates," SDS will not give
up and die. Fortunately for a generation
of Virginia blacks whose careers
and lives depend upon what
we do in Charlottesville this semester
and in the future, SDS will
not settle back and say "Peace,
Peace" and "Change is coming" as
we less radical fellows are wont to
do.

Change is not coming and there
will be no peace. As Editor
Gwathmey pointed out in Friday's
Cavalier Daily, the "consideration
which cannot be overlooked [in
regards to the hiring of a black
admissions officer, that symbol of
progress at the University] is that
he was hired only after extremely
vocal and lengthy insistence by
students..." Now the SDS has
brought to the public's attention
the composition of the Board of
Visitors, and I was appalled at the
genuinely unsavory - is there another
more accurate word? - past of
one Mr. C. Stuart Wheatley. Here in
one man is an issue that permeates
this institution: are we willing to
tolerate racism any longer?

Can a man like Mr. Wheatley,
who strongly supported the racist
actions of this state in the late
1950's, who in point of fact, was
one of the state's leading racist
legislators, can this man help to
lead this University to any good in
the future? Or, if this question is
too sweeping in its generalization,
can this man lead this University -
or represent this University - in the
difficult times we face now and
(because of his actions in the past)
are likely to face in the future? Can
a man who offered the resolution
to establish the segregationist tuition
grant system be said to be "liberally
educated?

The SDS calls for his resignation
and who amongst us does not?
True, the issue is more complex
than one meaningless member of a
faraway Board, but where will we
begin? Are we "moderates," in
times such as those in which we are
living, prepared to condone the
presence of this symbol of the past
on nothing less than the Board of
Visitors? The "liberals" and "moderates"
have spent a great deal of
time criticizing the radicals. But
this issue is beyond dispute, and it
is one in which the entire liberal
community must be united for a
long struggle. If Mr. Wheatley is to
be a mere scapegoat out of anger
and nothing else, liberal apathy
might be understandable and tolerable.
But if a furor can be raised
and sustained over this gentleman,
then the whole character of this
essentially racist institution can be
called into question.

I am not personally given to
violent language in the press. And
so when I use a work such as
"racist" it is not because it is a part
of the standard SDS jargon. I use it
because I believe it to be descriptively
accurate. (All one has to do is
look around.) And I believe it is
accurate because of men like Mr.
Wheatley, whose presence on the
Board of Visitors of Thomas
Jefferson's University is an affront
to decency, an insult to the black
community, and a barrier to
change.

If it is to the Wheatleys we are
looking for leadership, if it is to the
Wheatleys we must appeal for racial
justice, if it is to the Wheatleys we
must look for resolution of longstanding
grievances, we have lost
the battle before we arm. His resignation
is therefore both symbolic
of change and good will on the part
of the Board, as well as practically
necessary to the advance of real
proposals.

It is time for a great deal of
serious thought on the part of every
"liberal" as to whether or not he
will sit by and let this issue die of
neglect. For myself, I can only
hope that we do not let the radicals
face the Board alone. We will all
pay more heavily in the end. It is
time for peaceful, sustained, meaningful
protest.

We can accept a Board of Visitors,
but not racists, genteel or not.
We have learned to our great unhappiness
that there is no progress here
without heated discussion and protest.

And it's progress we demand.