Angela Davis in Columbia

[ANGELA DAVIS]: The $4,000 was paid in two installments to Hood Washington .They were both granted immunity from prosecution for their admitted part in the stable burning, so forth and so on. Now at the the time, this $4,000 was paid to two key witnesses to testify against the three Black leaders of the liberation struggles in Charlotte, North Carolina. John Mitchell was the one who was the attorney general. The assistant attorney general was a man named Robert Mardian. He was the one who was directly responsible for paying the- these these witnesses so that they would testify against T.J. Reddy, Charlie Parker, and Jim Grant. Robert Mardian. R..Robert ?Mardian? is the one who was indicted last month for allegedly conspiring to seek secret payments for the Watergate burglars. The same Robert Mardian. Further, the observer discovered that these two witnesses lived in protective custody for 9 months -- 3 of which they lived, 3 of which

they lived in a beach front apartment, at a cost to the federal government of $10,800, according to a very high Justice Department's source. And see I, I relate this to you, because I think it's important to see the connections between what is happening in the Watergate trials and what has been happening for a long time to the Black liberation movement, the Chicano liberation movement, the Indian liberation movement, the Puerto Rican liberation movement, and the movement of working people in general. It is part and parcel of this mounting tide of racism, which I've been discussing. And I think that further, we ought to be able to confirm the existence of that racism on the

campuses throughout the country -- right here. Also at the University of Missouri in Columbia. [APPLAUSE] In fact, what I've been able to determine, the situation is even more disastrous here than it is on a national level, and it's pretty bad nationally. It's pretty bad. Not very long ago, the American Council on Education released a report on colleges and universities. And they reported that in 1973, there had been an approximately 11 percent drop in the number of Black students accepted into the freshman class. In 1972, 8.7 percent of freshmen all across the country were Black. Last year only 7.8 percent of all freshmen were Black. And when you talk about students of color: Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Asians, Indians,

the drop has been from 14.8 percent to 13 percent. That's about, what, about a 18 or 19 percent drop in the number of students of color. And then they discovered that there had also been a drop in the presence of white students from working class backgrounds on the college campuses. In 1972, 14.1 percent of the freshman class consisted of students from families whose incomes were less than $6,000, 1973, only 11.1 percent. And there's been of course a corresponding rise in the acceptance of students who come from wealthy families, families with incomes over $30,000. See, I think that what it means, is that they are no longer

afraid of the ability of students to challenge them and to force them to give to us what is rightfully ours. I think that you're going to have to talk about being very serious about developing a struggle against racism, right here on this campus. Because what I've heard, even though the percentage, nationally, of Black students has dropped to the very low percentage of 7.8 percent -- on this campus, you only have 2.5 percent. And you have to talk about struggling for higher admissions of Black students and students of color. But you also have to talk about struggling against the ideology of racism, and against people like William Shockley. I hope he hasn't been around here trying to speak at the university, has he?

And, of course, there's been the attempt on the part of many, uh, so-called liberals to try to convince academia that Shockley has an inalienable right to freedom of speech, and he has his right to academic freedom -- and he ought to be given the opportunity to teach and discuss his so-called controversial theories. See, I think that argument fails to take into account that freedom of speech and academic freedom aren't things that can be considered in a vacuum. Because if they mean anything, they have to mean that they are going to be utilized in order to further human freedom, further human progress. And see, I suppose that these very same people could say that the Nazis, prior to the seizure of power by Hitler in 1933, had the academic freedom, had the academic freedom to penetrate the universities and perpetrate their anti-Semitic, racist theories, pseudo-scientific theories.

You know, maybe they had an academic right, the academic freedom to perform experiments on human beings, on mental patients, on Jews, on Communists, on trade unionists. But see, I don't think that they had that. Because what was the result of it all was mass extermination, genocide. Shockley, recently, and I have to say this before, you know, I conclude because I think it's very important for Black students, students of color, and white students as well to take the offensive against people like William Shockley, who say and I quote, "My research leads me, it's a tragic conclusion," he says, "My research leads me inescapably to the opinion

that the major cause of the American Negro's intellectual and social deficit is hereditary and racially genetic in origin, and thus not remediable to a major degree by practical improvements in the environment. See, I don't think it's coincidental that a a theory like this can be floating all across the country, and then suddenly -- the enrollment of Black students on college campuses declines. Because what he's saying is that Black people are inferior, and that inferiority is genetic, it's hereditary, and no matter how much education Black people have access to, they aren't going to become any less inferior, they aren't going to become any more intelligent. That's what the man is saying! And he goes further than that! I mean, you talk about fascism. He says, and I'm going to quote again, from a statement which he made -- maybe some of you saw that program on Black Journal --

quote: "In the Black community, the birth rate is very high at the bottom end." You know what he means? See, he uses all of these words that are supposed to conceal his racism -- "at the bottom end" -- what he's talking about is poor and working-class Black people, when he says that the birth rate is very high at the "bottom end." He goes on to say it is well known throughout the world that where there are high birth rates and localized populations, these almost inevitably are associated with poor economic situations. So that if the Black community is as I see it suffering as a whole from the very high birth rate of the least effective elements. That's what they call us -- their least effective elements. Then a means of stopping this by voluntary bonuses -- Listen to what he's saying -- which would give annuities.

To the people who are involved, this might be a kindness. To the people involved, this might be a kindness. End of quote. Let me translate it, baby, because see he tries to use all these, you know, words that don't make any sense, but what he's saying is and he went on to say that he was referring, for example, to what they had done in India, where they had given transistor radios to people who voluntarily allowed themselves to be sterilized. Now that's what he's talking about. When he says giving annuities to the people who involved, he means, you know, giving people a certain amount of money per year if they agree to rob themselves of their right to bear children. See, you know, I don't think it's entirely coincidental that we have a situation, you know, where racism in institutions such as colleges and universities is becoming ever more blatant. And

I don't think that it's coincidental that you only have 2.5 percent Black people on this campus, and we're not even talking about the, uh, Black students in the freshman sophomore, junior, and senior class cause you talking about the graduate students as well and you're talking about Black people from many other parts of the world as well. So when it gets down to it, you know, this is just a very tiny minority of Black students on this campus. And, you know, I think that if we don't succeed in pushing back this mounting trend of racism, which expresses itself blatantly and openly through various forms of repression, which expresses itself through the economic squeeze, which Black people and people of color are the first to feel, which expresses itself in the rise of vigilante groups, which expresses itself in the ideological offensive that people like, uh, William Shockley are waging on the campuses.

And as I said before, I came here to appeal to you, sisters and brothers, to get involved in this movement, because it's a struggle for survival. And I'm sure every Black student in this hall this evening knows that it's a struggle for survival. [APPLAUSE] You know, and as I said when I spoke to a group of Black students earlier this afternoon, before I was arrested in 1970, I was organizing around the demand for the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. And one of the things that I said to people when I spoke in various places in the state of California, was that you HAVE to get involved in this fight. Because it is a fight in order to protect your right to be politically active, your right to struggle. And if you don't get involved in the struggle now -- if you don't save three brothers from the gas chamber -- then before you know it, YOU are going

to be the next victim. [APPLAUSE] My sisters and brothers, this evening, I can confirm to you the truth of what we were saying in 1970. Because it was only a few months later that I found myself on the 10 Most Wanted list, running around the country trying to hide from the FBI with their, uh, machine guns and..and..and..and, you know, with their designation of me as one of the most dangerous criminals in the country. It was only a few months later that I found myself, uh, in jail. And I said, you know, I know that if I hadn't been

involved in the fight to free the Soledad Brothers, the fight to free Ericka, and Bobby, and Huey -- the fight to protect the L.A. Panther 18, the New York 21 -- I can go, you know, on and on. Then, sisters and brothers would not have come to *my* aid -- would not have fought for *me.* And I want to end by appealing to you to assist us in building this movement around repression. Assist us, help us in developing this mobilization on July 4 to expose and challenge repression in North Carolina. Get involved in the movement right here. You got the Missouri State Penitentiary right here in Jefferson City, about 30 miles from here. Find out what's happening. And I know, I used to..I got letters from MANY brothers in that prison when I was

in jail myself, and I continue to receive mail from them, and I know that you have issues that you can fight around in that prison. [APPLAUSE]: Get involved in the effort to protect working people, workers from the repression that is inflicted upon them when they organize themselves and fight militantly for their rights. And, see, one of the things you gotta realize, is that, you know, just because you're here on this campus, just because you're getting a little book education, doesn't mean that you can't follow the leadership of sisters and brothers who have been struggling out there in the streets, out there in the shops, and who know where the struggle is at. [APPLAUSE] And, so as I usually conclude the presentations I make, sisters and brothers, let me refer to a statement that

was made during the course of the Attica rebellion by one of the brothers who participated in that struggle. At the very height of the rebellion, when the prisoners that organized peaceful- a peaceful demonstration and presented their demands expose the conditions of Attica and political oppression which they were experiencing, and when things looked indeed very beautiful insofar as struggle goes before the massacre took place -- one of the brothers cried out, "Sisters and brothers, we have got the answer. We have found the solution. The solution is unity...unity, unity,

unity." That is something that we can never have enough of. And I think it's about time that we stop all of this, you know, petty bickering about, you know, who is a Communist, and who is a Socialist, and who is a democrat, and who is a minister, and who is a trade unionist, and who is..who is uh...Black, and who is Chicano, and who is Puerto Rican, and who is Asian, and who is Indian, and who is white. See, I think that we need every single person who is willing to make the sacrifice of getting involved in the struggle. [APPLAUSE] And someone just handed me a note to

remind you that there are struggles going on all over the country. There is the struggle in Florida for the -- a group of workers called the Garment Factory 14. And like I said, we need unity because we -- that is the only way we can free these sisters and brothers. With unity, we can talk about seeing to it that the wounded knee defendants are acquitted . With unity...with unity, we can free the San Quentin Six, Ruchell Magee, the Attica Brothers, Marie Hill, the Charlotte Three, the Wilmington 11...and I could go on and on and on and on [APPLAUSE] But, sisters and brothers, let us recognize, finally as...it was once said to me, that if you talk about struggling, and if you compare that

struggle...the participants in that struggle, to the far fingers of your hand...and if you take one finger and try to inflict some damage upon the enemy with that single finger, you're probably going to do nothing more than, uh, hurt the finger...you'll probably break it. But if you take all five fingers together, and clench them into a fist, then, sisters and brothers, THAT is what unity is all about, THAT is what power is all about. We will be able to knock the living daylights out of our enemy. We will be able to win. Thank you very much. [APPLAUSE] [WHISTLING] [APPLAUSE] [WHISTLING] [APPLAUSE] [WHISTLING] So, sisters and brothers, get it out, and I hope you're going to talk about building a movement right here on this

campus, because applause doesn't mean a *damn* thing unless you get it together! So let's talk about organizing, uniting, and building our resistance, so that next time we come to the state of Missouri, a lot of those brothers in the state penitentiary in Jefferson Mississ --Misssissippi...might as well be Mississippi -- in Jefferson City, Missouri are going to be right out here with you, struggling in the streets! [APPLAUSE]