University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Make Yourselves Heard

Vice President Agnew yesterday
(Nov. 10) continued his attack on
those protesting the War. Dismissing
demonstrations as pointless
and intended to "inflame emotions
rather than stimulate solutions," he
called on the "silent young majority,
who go to school, and to work,
and to war if necessary" to make
itself heard Feeling that "their
idealism is disciplined by reason,"
Agnew characterized this majority
further as "the non shouting concerned,
the non radical responsible,
the non complacent constructive activists
of the under 30 generation."

Since I fulfill all of the Vice
President's qualifications, I have
decided to accept his challenge and
let others know how a representative
of this majority feels.

If Mr. Agnew believes that the
young majority will withhold their
sympathy and "speed the demise of
carnival in the streets," I think he is
sadly mistaken. Whereas I think the
immediate withdrawal of all U.S.
troops is unreasonable, I wholeheartedly
support the basic ideas
behind the Nov. 15 Moratorium.
Anyone who has taken some effort
to inform himself about the War
must feel concerned about the way
it goes on and on, with no prospect
of peace in sight. Mr. Nixon's ideas,
in his speech last week, of how we
should positively work for peace
can only increase that feeling of
concern immensely.

Since the Administration feels
that the protests are coming from a
small group of radicals, and that the
Administration can afford to ignore
all dissent, I urge all others to at
least start expressing your opinions.
Make yourselves heard as the Vice
President requested, even if it is not
what he wants to hear. Democracy
is only as strong as the people. If
you never do anything, someone
else will do as he likes, since there is
no opposition. Make Yourselves
Heard!

Dixie Syndrome

The editorial Friday was the
most interesting manifestation yet
of the "Dixie" syndrome. While we
are purging our souls of racism,
may I offer a few more suggestions?

To begin with, the "Star-Spangled
Banner," pathologically
concerned as it is with jingoistic
flag-waving, containing as it does
cynically misleading references to
the "land of the free," should
obviously be banned. It would be
dangerous, though, to replace it as a
national anthem with "America,"
since that song perpetrates the false
image of our polluted, trash-ridden
land as "beautiful." "Columbia, the
Gem of the Ocean" - was a more
self-satisfied complacent song about
our country ever written? - is
obviously no candidate. And a vote
for the "Battle Hymn of the
Republic" is nothing more, nothing
less, of course, than a vote for the
hated (I quiver at the word)
"military-industrial complex," what
with this imperialistic song's unrelenting
emphasis on the destruction
of our imagined enemies (insert
"commies" here) with the divine
help, naturally, of that greatest
American yet, God. Spare us!

Is there then no way out of our
terrible dilemma? Must our country
be without a national anthem?
Suggestions are welcome. But
please hurry - our nation, naked,
waits.

One Single Flaw

The song "Dixie" our campus
liberals tell us, represents more than
a century of racism in the South. If
this is true, then the "Good Old
Song" represents one hundred and
fifty years of the same. The great
heritage of the University seems to
have only a single flaw, that of
racial injustice, but this flaw should
certainly be sufficient to make us
all ashamed of our association with
the University. The single flaw of
racism also overrides all else which
the banner and the song of Dixie
stand for, although the soldiers of
the Confederacy (four out of five
of whom never owned one slave)
might take issue. Of course, they
are all gone, and so we must accept
the interpretation of our campus
liberals as to what the Confederate
flag stood for.

I urge everyone who attends the
next football game to bow his head
in shame if either "Dixie" or the
"Good Old Song" is sung, because
our heritage as University students
and as Southerners, not to mention
Americans, has not been perfect.

Flowers For Dean

I would like to use this media to
thank the anonymous individual(s)
for the flowers I received on
Friday, November 7.

The flowers are beautiful, but
the gesture is even more so.