Please help me with my history, but I don’t remember MARTIN LUTHER KING advocating violence as a vehicle for black people to achieve their rights. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the black community on campus should be concerned about the allocation of funds for the publication of “Lifeline.” However, the words used and the action taken by the protestors has me concerned.

As a student on campus, I paid my $1.42 for a copy of The Northern Star. So for this group of people to not only steal over a thousand copies of the paper, but they force me to take part in the demonstration in order for me to get my copy causes an unnecessary confrontation.

The words of RONELL TATE have me concerned. What does he mean by “things yet to come?” Is this a threat? Isn’t stealing newspapers and shedding them in the MLK Commons enough? Do we really need any more confrontations? If Mr. Tate feels that the black community is being misrepresented, then he has a right to protest. However,if they feel they have a legitimate complaint then go to the school, write letters, have peaceful demonstrations, but do not “put themselves on the inside and the caucasian on the outside.”

Three decades ago, Martin Luther King led a peaceful demonstration to Washington D.C. in order to raise public awareness for the ensurance of equal rights. Now, in 1992, it would seem that some people have forgotten the ideals that King was preaching. If the black community wants respect for its actions, they will not receive it with acts of violence, theft, and confrontation. These are not the answers. Peace is the answer.

Sean Porter

English Literature