University of Virginia Library

Miami Mess

I am writing in response to
the article "Democrats Gamble
on 'Magic City"' which
appeared in the December 6th
edition of your paper.

Let me say from the outset
that I was dismayed to find
that The Cavalier Daily
published scurrilous and
unfounded essays of this sort.
It is the duty of any
responsible newspaper to verify
the basic accuracy and
objectivity of its articles-The
C.D. clearly has failed to meet
this test.

The article itself, authored
by Mr. Heblich, is truly a
demagogical masterpiece. In
one sweeping indictment,
Heblich manages to combine
the rantings of a right-wing
paranoid distraught with the
lawlessness or crime in society
(eg: Rizzo of Philadelphia,
Daley of Chicago), and the
ravings of a two-year old
radical who fears that his
favorite past time may be
taken away. (The author's
favorite past time seems to be
the violent disruption of
political conventions). The
number of deceptions and
half-truths contained in the
article is monumental (Joe
McCarthy are you really
dead?), nevertheless an attempt
should be made to clarify a few
points.

Mr. Heblich pontificates at
great length on the allegedly
reactionary nature of
metropolitan Miami; the city is
portrayed as a political bastion
of the Elks, VFW, and KKK.
The reader is told furthermore,
that Miami blacks are
"incredibly repressed," that
rioting has occurred, and that
slums-adjacent to fenced
expressways have not been
eradicated.

A large body of data shows
the one-sided and extremely
shallow nature of these
arguments. For instance, one
may compare election results
in Miami over the past two
years with those in "liberal"
New York City and Los
Angeles. While rank
conservatives won 58% of the
mayoralty vote in L.A., Miami
has continued to elect
philosophical proteges of the
late Mayor Robert King High.
(High was long recognized as
the most progressive of big-city
mayors throughout the South.)
And while metropolitan Miami
was giving 70.1% of its vote to
a liberal Democrat who
opposed Claude Kirk for the
governor's office, New York
City could muster only 48.1%
for the liberal Democrat who
opposed Nelson Rockefeller.
(Rockefeller and Kirk ran very
similar campaigns:
well-financed and blatantly
conservative.)

Also in recent years, several
"incredibly repressed" blacks
have been elected to the state
legislature from metropolitan
Miami-by at-large election, in
which blacks constituted less
than 15% of the voters; black
city and county commissioners
and school board members
have been selected by the same
86% white electorate;
furthermore, a former black
Miami city commissioner
(Athalie Range) has been
propelled into a cabinet post in
Tallahassee.

Certainly slums have always
existed in Miami, and probably
they always will exist unless
the federal government decides
to commit more funds to the
cities. I would seem that any
sensible person would realize
that no urban area can solve
this problem alone; until
additional assistance is
forthcoming, it is grossly
irrational and unreasonable to
expect any area to suddenly
eradicate its ghetto. Poor black
areas are not enclosed or
entrapped by expressways in the
Miami area. Of the four
high-speed arteries in Miami,
three pass partially through
black areas-they do not form
boundaries, while a fourth
neither penetrates nor bounds
such an area. (Since the issue
appears relevant to Mr.
Heblich, it should be noted
that these roadways are fenced,
just as expressways and
interstates throughout the
entire country are fenced!)

Mr. Heblich discusses at
great length the nature of
government in the City of
Miami and its alleged relation
to convention law
enforcement. Nevertheless, Mr.
Heblich fails to realize (or
conveniently forgets) that the
operations of the convention
will be exclusively within the
jurisdiction of the City of
Miami Beach-an entirely
separate political entity
Notably, the Mayor of Miami
Beach, Jay Dermer, is a former
supporter of Gene McCarthy;
he presently maintains close
contacts with the McGovern
and Muskie camps.

Senator Bayh was subjected
to the indicated insults in the
most conservative urban area in
the state of Florida, Orlando
(more than 200 miles from
Miami). In fact, Senator Bayh
always enjoyed his greatest
political strength in the Miami
area.

As for George Wallace, no
authoritative source currently
gives him more than 20% of
the vote in the entire state, and
no more than 10% in the
Miami area. A Wallace victory
is not "probable" in any sense
of the word; furthermore, only
the supporters of Henry
Jackson fear the entry of
Wallace into the race
(competition for the same
votes is never welcomed).

In the final analysis, Mr.
Heblich seems unable to decide
whether Miami needs a
generous application of good
old "law and order," or a
"liberation" by Jerry Rubin
and the Yippies. I would
submit that it needs neither.
Along with every other city in
the United States, Miami faces
a myriad of problems;
nevertheless, if we become
content with half-truths and
simplistic solutions, the "shit"
may really "hit the fan."