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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. - \