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April 9, 19G8
Volume XLIX, Numbor 18
Dr. King Dies;
Et tu Brute
by Tom Cauthorn
A young Negro stood on the cor
ner of Holt and Vineville avenues
last Friday early in the morning.
It was just before 1 a.m. The day
was new and so was the news. That
is, it was relatively recent news.
Dr. Martin Luther King was dead;
shot to death by some sniper. I
drove by wondering if the youth
knew; if he felt the news as had
several of my friends. He might
have said, in another day long ago,
“Et tu. Brute.”
At this writing the news is scarce
ly eight hours old, but at this print
ing it is almost five days old. So I
will not dwell $m primary impres
sions because I realize that in the
days that have elapsed since the
Cluster's going to press and your
reading of it many documentaries
have been shown on T.V., eulogies
have been attempted, the subject
has been thrashed-out privately and
the Doctor has been laid to rest
The possible “Et tu Brute" of
that Negro youth in the early hours
would be to a country who has
now shown itself to be probable
killer. A man can no longer stand
amazed at the U.S.’s safety, he
may now be struck down.
I do not believe that the discov
ery of the mortality of man is an
American discovery, but it is a re
discovery. It is like the exhuming
of grand Pharoah's tomb. It is
cursed and covered by the dust of
centuries of ignorance.
In Shakespeare’s play—Caesar—
the dying Julius Caesar asks his
friend, "And you too, Brutus” (Et
tu Brute). It is grammatically in
the volative subjunctive of Latin
This places a strong emphasis of
the possible or the probable of the
rhetorical question without settling
infinitely, in Caesar’s phrase, that
it is also Brutus who aids in the
murder. The element of disbelief
is in the statement, as in the prob
able feelings of the youth last Fri
day. 7116 Brutus of death struck
its blow on the Doctor.
Perhaps this allusion is strained
but it hns its purpose. When the
republic of Rome vanished some
what before Julius Caesar and the
Triumpherates took over and later
the Consulates the expendability
of human life became obvious.
Eventually other causes, economic-
social-cultural-international, as well
as political saw Rome fall wry de
cisively. But, one often feels that
if the frailly of the human tife
had not been exploited by politi
cal assasins in gaining ride that
perhaps Rome’s demise would have
been altered. The question arises
as to the relevancy of this fatal
evolution to our modem complex
and world dominating United
States. Several years ago a Presi
dent was rather shabbily and ig-
nomlnously rubbed-out in Dallas,
Texas. The details of this murder
are still not dear today.
Medgar Evers was shot sometime
ago and all last summer radal zeal
ots, black and white, had a gleeful
time dealing death blows to one
another.
Is human frailty so all important
as to become a major factor in so
cial and cultural evolution? Is our
nation changing its moral attitudo
toward death and murder? Obvious
ly the Doctor will not be just an
other statistic, but what of all the
innocent and not so innocent vic
tims of last summer that are rather
calmly spoken of today as mere
statistics? Jonathan Swift was fond
of characterizing man as an “ani
mal capable of reason” rather than
a “reasonable animal”; the empha
sis being on man's ability to be
without reason if he so decided.
Are we prudent and decisive enough
today to become a “rational ani
mal” or rather a cultural beast
exercising our goulish volition to
violence?
We should not exercise our sor
row to go to the extreme of accept
ing a type of “original sin” over
the Doctor’s murder nor should we
comtemplate collective guilt after
the act. These are not constructive
reactions. We should rather realize
that each time we vent our preju
dice in anger or ignorantly display
our reactionary southern temper
toward "our black brothers’’ we
are covertly assasinating a Doctor
King.
As the precedent of assasination
is set, so in the acceptability of it
slowly settling into American cul
ture. I do not believe that any man
can call himself a human who con
dones this or who does not become
hotly stirred by this act. There
may come a time when loaders in
the United States will bo dispensed
with by the gun. Anyone wlto does
not pause at this possibility is a
fool, a fool of the most insidious
sort; He is oonplncontlv resting on
“what lias always been” rather
than attempting to main! tin
nbhorence and avoidance of violence
as a legacy for the future.
Our loaders are not always |>o
litioal some of the most ioqHirtant
ones are social, intellectual and
cultural lenders as was Dr. King.
The answers to the race conflict
are not readily available because?
of its great breadth and pressure
on all facets of our culture. In many
instances the questions around the
conflict are not yet formulated so
they cannot have answers. But the
fact is present—the hard core dich
otomy of races is present—resist
ance to change is pointless. One of
the South's finest sons, William
Faulkner, said in his Nobel Prize
address that he disagreed with the
existentialists and preferred to be
lieve that "man will prevail.” The
southland must wipe away its
blood and become the basis for tho
amalgamation of the American peo
ples. This can come only through
painful circumspection and a re
ligious attention to the desired goad:
Legal, social, moral, religious, po
litical, cultural, intellectual, eco
nomic and personal equality in the
thought patterns of all to oil. Equal-
itarianisra is not a personal pos
session but a personal choice given
to the individual by his creator.
Milton raodo much of the “choice”
given to man but made even more
of the “choice” when wrongly «-
ercised. -
Wo are in a revolution. If we
survive tho revolution we will -be
amalgamated if we d^ not amal
gamate then wo will fail. The an
swer is not personal reflection. It
is group reflection. I hope that my
sons will be able to venture into
the night streets unarmed as I did
Friday morning, I hopo that they
can ixissess the same volition of
movement that I possess and 1
hope that they will be able to ma
turely give thanks for a society i-
which there is no public fear or
hysteria. If they cannot, then we
have failed.
The marvelous cleanliness and
freedom from danger I first ex
perienced when a child alone in
downtown Atlanta should he avail
able to all children, black and
white. Can we keep the tanks off
the streets and the sandbags from
Pennsylvania Avenue in our na
tion’s capital? If we cannot we
have created a domestic Khe Sahn.
We are slowly sneaking our own
covert cultural artillery in the
mountains above ourselves in our
domestic Diem Bien Phu. Will we
realize it in time?
Can we close our eyes to our
brothers? Can we utter the word
brother and not feel corny or fool
ish or resentful? Let us not be
afraid to die for something we be
lieve as Dr. King said in Memphis
on his last Thursday afternoon.
Let us give thanks that we are hu
man and capable of exercising a
reasonable Choice that we can
change.
I will never forget the reverence
of several Negro students at Mer
cer this past fall as they pro
nounced the name, D. King. May
anyone who may doubt the Chris
tian God or who misinterprets our
roles as cultural brothers take
heart at the efforts of the Doctor.
May God give us guidance to ex
ercise our choice as he accepts the
soul of Doctor King.
Do we have a right not to pause
ami wornler? Shall we begin our
own revolution of uiiud or shall
we complacently cx|M>ct things to
remain tranquil for us when wo
ignore and disallow tho Negro bK
brotherhood?
Our first step is in tiro personal
realm and the second step must he
in the economic. One must lead
to the other but they both must
Just Satire
by J. Garfield Goldstein
■id the other day,
“Hey, Garfield, who you voting for
Preaident o/-*fiGA.” I hadn’ really
thought about it so I thought about
it over Spring Break. During re
gistration I saw a rather short man
running about gesticulating wild
ly in tho air, obviously a natural
leader I thought. He had a shock
of dark hair like the late Gorman
fuhrer and although no mustach
he made up for .hat facial absence
with a well cultured German beer
drinker's paunch. He continued to
strut and bray and selectively in
timidated a C in the M through
Z line with the now immortal words,
“I’m Sorry, your too late. Cost you
ten dollars to register tomorrow.”
I had finally made my decision;
this would be my candidate. He
had inspired the student in the
rear of me to great lengths of ob
scenities. Here was the deliverer of
the Mercer under-grad. The peo
ple's choice. Not only was his car
riage that of a German, but his at
tention to the intricacies of tho sys
tem were intricate and madden
ingly precise. He was the natural
leader because obviously he had ap
pointed himself to the role of chief
intimidator. He plied Ms function
with considerable relish* end I later
loomed that be is often known to
take it upon himself to enter other
functions of the university, with
which he has no connection, and
adroitly try to take command.
I asked the student to my rear
what his name might be. He only
cursed lightly and mentioned a
name that I didn’t catch but sound
ed like flower power. Finally I knew
that the Mercer student had fotgid
his leader, the perfect natural guru.
The man of great potentiality is
only once called to leadership, and
that is only a light and whispered
call. I saw that his call was very
quiet, in fact silent.
I am going to write his name in
on the ballot. No matter if mine
is the only vote, it will still cor
rectly assess the potentialities of
this grand guru. May flower pow
er live on.
A Guest Editorial
by Dave Hudson
be nrndj «s one.
a
The violent death of Dr. Martin
Luther King and the subsequent
violence brought about in the cities
throughout the nation presents a
crisis for this country that demands
the attention and concern of each
one of us. In tiroes past when faced
with an internal crisis, we could
feel a measure of security and iso
lation. but today we are extended
abroad with one-half million of our
countrymen 10,000 miles away. Our
foreign policy is dependent on the
prestige of the nation, and there
are {powerful international appon-
enta who have the potential and
desirr to destroy us whenever our
guaird is down.
Closer to Imme, il (he mciel cun
His t is projected to its logintl cun
elusions under tho present stall
of affairs, either of two things w»I
happen;—tho demands of oyr dis
gusted citizens wiH bo mot by
means of Uio white majority or
the minority will be enslaved or
completely destroyed. Tho latter
is most definitely a concrete pos
sibility. The Negro community al
ready wan, and out of fear, the
liberal and moderate whites will
join with the white bigots, the
klansmen and assasins. The out
come of such complete racial con
flict is an inevitable one—this is
a white nation in wealth, in pop
ulation, and of power and the Neg
ro will be destroyed or policed into
confinement The United States
of America will have dealt with its
minority problems like its despised
old foe—Nazi Germany.
To be sure, the alternative re
quires a sacrifice on the part Of the
majority. Legislation to Met the
needs of America’s poor wBl cost
buttons of doBore. Bet in the long
Letters to the Editor
Dear Sir:
Will you please give me a little
apace in which to commend the
team of students who had charge
of tho worship service ‘at Ingle-
side Baptist Church a few weeks
ago. I appreciate the service ren
dered by this group of young Chris
tians who are touring the state in
program they call “Mercer
Spenks. for Christ.” I was greatly
impressed by tho sincerity and
the effectivenesi of these students,
only one of which is planning a
life of full-time Christian ministry.
As members of the Ingleside
Church my wife and I saw Mercer
most favorable light, and as
a member of the Mercer faculty
I felt a sense of pride In the Uni
versity they represented. It may
sound too much like self-praise for
a Mercer professor to say it, but
I cannot help but note with pride
that while so many youth in our
land are busy protesting just about
everything tliat we find here whole
some young people speaking the
faith and hope and Christian love.
The team consists of Hugh Dukes,
tho team Coordinator, who speaks
on religious activities; Ed Bacon,
the Music Director; Dickie Childs
and Roger Anderberg who speak
on academics; Lynn Goyen, the
Program Chairman who speaks on
campus life, and Grace Calvert, the
Fellowship Director.
Sincerely,
Spencer King
porter Cluster
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Tom Cauthorn
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Wright Davie
Reger Poston, Haywood Tumor
——. Bob Johnson
— Dianne Downer
EDITOR-ELECT
Paul Kirk
WaotQyn Mills, Dori Ripley,
Gary Johnson, Mary Riddle,
Oerolyn Hamilton, Carolyn Braun, Anne Dixon,
Sherri Clark, Cornelia Bennett
BUSINESS MANAGER MANAGING EDITOR
; Bob Lanier Stem Darby
Contributing Editors .—. Becky Sins, Ed Beckwith
Business Specialist .... Chrystie Tyler
Exchange Editor 1 WBHmns
Executive Editor Bobby Phillips
Sports Editors —..... Bryant Curiey, Ben Mitchum
Sports Staff . —.... John Kidd,
; y . , Ginny Brhsrer
Ed Bacon, Gory Brenner
' , BUI Wehunt
J. O. Peine, Anthony Stansfeld
Feature Staff .
Den Newell
Devid Sibley, late Smith
—— Carol Bruoe
spent on troops, police, and th
reat oration of burned cities, not to
mention tho priceless Value of hu
man lives. If for no other reason,
economic self interest should mo
tivnte white America to tighten its
belt for a short while and put this
plague behind ns. It would cost loei
than two months of the present
war. It would cost less than what
we spent to restore hated enemies
—German and Japan—after WWTT.
Can we not do the same for our
own citizens? Fear seems to be the
only thing that can move tbs
American pocketbook—fear of Com
monism in the case of Germany
ami Japan and now perhaiw fear
of our Negro citizens.
A ms;
ive move to eltminal*
poverty and economic inequality
is the only solution short of civf
war that is left in America. Negre
America appealed through non
violence and received only tokea
response and Negro America ap-
peab to our baser emotion of few
since we keep tight lock on our
sense of justice and compassion
They lisve no other alternatives.
Somehow we must alter this couras
of events for we have the alterna
tives.
, WMR a fine example we mud
present to the world. A nation
where leaders must always few
the bullet sent on ita way by pie*
judioe and hatred. A nation whew
armed soldiers guard the cilia
and the national capital. A nation
that turns its back on ita Christian
heritage, on the heritage of UberiF
■aid equality, and even turn Mi
back on millions of ita own people
Have w» forgotten what it is to
care?
Our prayer now should be thd
through the tragic death of on*
man. tragedy will not fall upon
‘he many. If one’s death con cauw
others to care and to net, if one*
death can cause others to tejsH
the sword, if one's death con open
our eyes and cause them to t*
filled with tears at what we swt
than this one will have not died
tn vain. * x f. - \