AlflPnL '^Mareh 23,1980 (
He the editor: , n J '^'
twelve year* age I hrlefly met James Waller,one ef the
fire peeple killed la Greenskere.so 2 was very interested in
what Rekert Watsen kad te say akeut the events that led up te
te the killings.Unfortunately,the artiele was glaringly defie-
ient and reduetienist in its pelitleal and personal perceptions.
Wkile it might ke inpesslkle te precisely lakol what happened en
that Saturday morning,it was clearly net "'gang warfare"1 that
"heeane In tke eyes ef the world an eutkreak ef racial violence."'
Gang warfare,whether fought ky teen-agers er organized crime,is
usually concerned with turf and its concomitant aspects of power
and control.What happened in Greenskoro,regardless ef hew. fanatical and marginal the participants might appear,was much mere
peltical and ideological with at least seme racial implications.
Nazism,Communism and Klanism all have historical and philosophical roots that can't kc ignored.While none of the groups appear
en the same dekate platforms with the Kaagens,Ga£tors,Kennedys
held
er And»rsens,they also didn"t Just drop from outer space ts^a
violent spectacle for the six 3"el»ek news. Mr.Watson is correct
in saying that "as usual,the networks loft unanswered the mere
instructive questions "' of whefwhore fremnant hew many t But,
even mere important are the questions efwhatf' and what were the
Issues ? Just kecause these people were extremists doesn''t mean
there weren't issues involved.As for the manipulation of the
media,that seems te ke a favorite taetie ef almost everyen* in
this pseudo-reality media age,and when five people die in a
political confrontation that certainly is mere newsworthy and
real than seme democrats or republicans holding a contrived news
eenferencc er kissing a few kakles.
Two page letter from Barry Fagen to the editors of Harper's magazine regarding Robert Watson's essay "Media Martyrdom", published in the March 1980 issue, about the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan rally, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Fagen criticizes Watson for his portrayal of the event at "gang warfare." He argues that the event was more politically charged than Watson admitted, and that says that he reduced the victims to cliches by leaving out their personal histories and reasons for joining the CWP.
Type
text
Original format
correspondence
Original dimensions
11" x 8.5"
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Language
en
Contributing institution
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
AlflPnL '^Mareh 23,1980 (
He the editor: , n J '^'
twelve year* age I hrlefly met James Waller,one ef the
fire peeple killed la Greenskere.so 2 was very interested in
what Rekert Watsen kad te say akeut the events that led up te
te the killings.Unfortunately,the artiele was glaringly defie-
ient and reduetienist in its pelitleal and personal perceptions.
Wkile it might ke inpesslkle te precisely lakol what happened en
that Saturday morning,it was clearly net "'gang warfare"1 that
"heeane In tke eyes ef the world an eutkreak ef racial violence."'
Gang warfare,whether fought ky teen-agers er organized crime,is
usually concerned with turf and its concomitant aspects of power
and control.What happened in Greenskoro,regardless ef hew. fanatical and marginal the participants might appear,was much mere
peltical and ideological with at least seme racial implications.
Nazism,Communism and Klanism all have historical and philosophical roots that can't kc ignored.While none of the groups appear
en the same dekate platforms with the Kaagens,Ga£tors,Kennedys
held
er And»rsens,they also didn"t Just drop from outer space ts^a
violent spectacle for the six 3"el»ek news. Mr.Watson is correct
in saying that "as usual,the networks loft unanswered the mere
instructive questions "' of whefwhore fremnant hew many t But,
even mere important are the questions efwhatf' and what were the
Issues ? Just kecause these people were extremists doesn''t mean
there weren't issues involved.As for the manipulation of the
media,that seems te ke a favorite taetie ef almost everyen* in
this pseudo-reality media age,and when five people die in a
political confrontation that certainly is mere newsworthy and
real than seme democrats or republicans holding a contrived news
eenferencc er kissing a few kakles.
