University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Nixon Leaves No Alternative

— ed.

I have decided today to participate
in the March on Washington
on November 15. I reached this
decision with some reluctance
because my professional obligations
permit me little free time. But you
and the Vice President leave me and
I believe thousands of loyal Americans
like me no alternative because
you have, in effect, asked us to
stand up and be counted either on
the side of your Vietnam Policy or
against it. You have called upon the
"silent majority" to have faith in
your ability to end the war despite
the fact that your recent public
statements have sounded very much
like these made by former President
Johnson whose war policy has
clearly been repudiated by a majority
of Americans. You and others in
your administration have strongly
implied that those who do not
support your Vietnam policy are at
best unpatriotic and at worst
treasonous.

I love my country as much as
any man, and today being Veterans'
Day I would like to point out to
you that I served in our armed
forces during the Korean War. But
my concept of the American ideal
leads me to protest vigorously
against American intervention in a
civil war abroad in support of a
government which has continuously
violated democratic principle to the
extent of suppressing any, and all
opposition to it. The fact that you
do not admit that the war in
Vietnam is a civil war and you do
not repudiate the government of
South Vietnam is a clear indication
that you are adopting those disastrous
premises that destroyed the
political career of your predecessor.
I intend to carry an American flag
in the march in order to demonstrate
my firm belief that a
genuinely patriotic Vietnam policy
must be one that will prevent the
less of any more American lives on
behalf of the tyrannical Thieu-Ky
regime and that will bring all our
troops home within the next few
months.

When you took office last year,
you announced your intention of
bringing the American people together
again, but how can this be
possible when Vice President
Agnew insults these Americans who
exercise their constitutional right to
assemble peacefully in support of
their political convictions, and
when you invoke patriotism in
support of the unamerican principle
of presidential infallibility. You
know very well, Mr. President, that
this country will not be united
again until the war in Vietnam is
over, and I would respectfully
submit that it is your responsibility
as commander-in-chief to extricate
us from a war we should have never
become involved in before the
bitterness that has been generated
by the war destroys what is left of
American idealism.

My attention was directed this
past Sunday to the half-time show
of the New York-St. Louis football
game, presented by the band of
Southeast Missouri State College. I
don't believe I have ever seen such a
flagrant display of bigotry and
racism in my life. During what was
supposed to be a series of patriotic
American tunes, the band suddenly
formed two flags, Old Glory and -
believe it or not - the flag of the
Confederacy. To top it all off, the
band then played "Dixie." And I
might add that this occurred not
only in front of 50,000 spectators
in St. Louis, but in full view of
countless millions of American
television viewers coast to coast as
well.

Obviously, Southeast Missouri's
band was not fortunate enough to
have read last Friday's issue of The
Cavalier Daily. Otherwise I am sure
that they, too, would have "seen
the light," as you have, and would
have refrained from such a vicious
19th century display of discrimination.
Even more guilty, however,
was CBS (obviously standing for
Confederacy, Bigotry, and Spiro)
for allowing such a fascist exhibition
to reach the public through its
facilities.

This occurrence must not be
allowed to pass uncriticized. I
therefore urge the following steps
be taken:

1) That the editors of The
Cavalier Daily draft a strong reprimand
of the shameful event which
occurred Sunday, and that copies
be sent to Southeast Missouri State
College as well as to Walter
Cronkite,

2) That the Student Council
officially censure CBS and demand
that a public apology be made
during next week's football telecast.

3) That the Student Council also
pass a resolution urging that all
concerned University students
watch only AFL football and
Huntley-Brinkley, and

4) That the Student Council and
The Cavalier Daily jointly draft a
letter to President Trickydick demanding
that he immediately declare
the playing of "Dixie" illegal
and urge that all violators of the
Executive Order be imprisoned
indefinitely.

If these steps are taken, I believe
those two organizations can at last
show the community and the
nation just the type of stuff they
are made!

We wish to thank the
Waynesboro police for their
Southern hospitality and kindest
affection. While joining yesterday
with the General Electric workers
(UE) who are on strike in
Waynesboro, a Waynesboro
lieutenant spoke with us about the
presence of our two dogs who were
locked in a car. The lieutenant
asked us not to bring the dogs to
the GE plant the next time, because
they constituted a possible threat
to the police and strikers. We
promised that we would comply
with his request.

We especially wish to thank the
Virginia State Police for following
us from the GE plant. Two miles
from the plant we were stopped
and questioned about our interest
in the strike, as well as a "show" of
license and student I.D.
Beneficently, the state trooper
directed us to the union hall in
which the GE workers were
meeting.

To paraphrase from former VMI
student, the folksinger Phi Ochs,
"Here's to the state of 'Virginia,'
who tore out the heart of, go find
yourself another country to be part
of."