W F Dykes High School - Equites Yearbook (Atlanta, GA)

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ighiing To Save The Earih From Man

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Qepfember I 4 E? .W X. A . fv- x-as ATLANTA STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING AFTER MADDOX SPEECH Open encouragelrnenf To defiance. TIME, FEBRUARY 2, 1970 bers, lasT numbers, lucky numbers, ill-Ta+ed greT ThaT numbers are beginning To gov- ern our lives. In order To legally play The number games, you have To Travel 2000 miles To Nevada or else be a male ciTizen OT The UniTed STaTes, be nineTeen years or older, and be in your year oT eligibiliTy. On December l, l969, The sagacious men and women who govern us reverTed To The childhood games oT drawing sTraws. The goodie bag conTained 366 birThdays, and The order in which The numbers were Tished deTermined which lucky number owner would win Uncle Sam's Two year plan ThaT includes a Twelve monTh Tour oT beauTiTul downTown Saigon. SepTember TourTeenTh sTole TirsT place and TorTunaTely Tor Bob l-lope, he was over-The-hill. Similarly, CapiTol l-lill reTained The naTion's aTTenTion ThroughouT The Tall. Nixon's policy on VieTnam remains as conTroversial as in The pasT. NoT only in ATlanTa, buT ThroughouT Amer- ica, Thousands wearing black armbands seT aside OcTober TiTTeenTh and November Thir- TeenTh To proTesT peaceTully Nixon's sTand and To mourn Those who died in The de-esca- laTed war. BuT a naTional loTTery game was noT enough. The number bomb hiT locally. ATTer The Su- preme CourT's ruling based on equal inTegraTion, The FiTTh CircuiT CourT oT Appeals moved To enTorce a raTio inTegraTion plan. Dr. I.eTson and his band oT merry men decided To play The number game, also. This Time women were eligible, buT anyone over 65 or wiTh TwenTy- one years oT experience was counTed ouT. The limiTed Tield oT Ten numbers did noT impede a vicTory, buT in Tive shorT minuTes, The Tun and games were over. Maddox encouraged leTTing The air ouT OT school bus Tires in deTiance oT The courT-order, buT sTudenTs Through- ouT The ciTy chose To proTesT by marching. OTher sTudenTs argued and proTesTed ThaT youTh were in Tavor oT 57-43 raTio enTorcemenT and Th aT The bigoTed esTabIishmen+ was The ob- iecTor. Regardless oT who obiecTs, iT is agreed upon by everyone ThaT The primary obiec- Tion is To The procedure OT selecTion. Teachers deny ThaT They are all equally capable and resenT being shuTTled as capsules. ThroughouT The year and across The counTry, ciTizens re- senT losing Their personal idenTiTies by becoming a losT number. BuT our deepesT losses were oT Mr. Lucius Fears Trom our TaculTy and Kirk WighT oT our sTudenT body. Mourning Their deaThs broughT TorTh senTimenTs oT grieT which we seldom display in our pseudo-sophisTicaTed socieTy. l4l4z Numbers, numbers, numbers. FirsT num- numbers. Regardless oT which one, we re-

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In the last year ot his lite, Bertrand Russell said, Three Passions, simple rut overwhelmingly strong, have governed my lite: the longing tor love, he search tor knowledge, and unbearable pity tor the suttering ot man- ind . . . love and knowledge, so tar as they were possible, led upward oward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes it cries ot pain reverberate in my heart. Children in tamine, victims ortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their son, nd the whole world ot loneliness, poverty and pain make a mockery it what human lite should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but l cannot, o l too Sutter. As seniors, we are ready to become a real part ot this world ot con- usion and contlict. It is up to us and not our teachers or counselors or Barents to decide where we will take our place. We can become an pathetic individuoal or a part ot the silent majority. We can be a pro- estor against anyone or anything because the in-thing is to dissent. iut while doing your own thing, remember that the real challenge is o otter our generation and the next, a better way ot lite. So how are 'ou going to tight to save the earth trom man?