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Guest Editorial - Rioting and Responsibility

Guest Editorial - Rioting and Responsibility image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
September
Year
1975
OCR Text

EDITORIAL

Guest Editorial – Rioting & Response
by Nadine Brown

Note: Nadine Brown is a regular contributor to The Michigan Chronicle, Detroit's only black community newspaper. She was out on the streets during most of the riot which broke out last month in Detroit.

Detroit citizens, who well remember the 1967 holocaust, when widespread flames and heavy police gunfire left thousands homeless, untold numbers wounded, and a death toll of 43 lives, are still shuddering over the two day civil disturbance on the city's northwest side last month.

When residents in the area learned that Andrew Chinarian, owner of Bolton's bar at 14907 Livernois, had fatally shot Obie Wynn, a black youth, in the back of the head and then had been set free, they staged a protest in front of the bar. It was their means of pressuring for justice. But little did they know that a small group would use it, once again, to try and create a 1967 type disaster.

Mayor Young went to the scene and reported to them that Chinarian  had been rearrested, and his bond changed from $500 to $25,000 on a second degree murder charge. Young assured the people that justice would be done, which they accepted.

"We have faith in the Mayor, because he has shown before that he is in our corner," said one of the group. But a small group in the crowd of about 200, apparently bent on a violent confrontation, began a rock throwing spree. They were later joined by youths who don't live in the community. Their rampage of assault and looting of business establishments along the Livernois strip all the way to 7 mile road, resulted in the beating death of Mario Pysko, who was pulled from his car while waiting for a traffic light to change.

Among the missile-throwers were some youths who were sincerely upset over the killing of Wynn and believed rock-throwing was the way to protest. Many citizens were shocked to learn that so many children were involved in the melee, and that a few so-called adult leaders had misled the young people into believing that rioting and looting were part of the revolution, while they, the leaders, remained on the sidelines.

A true leader will count up the cost of every venture and will not lead his or her followers into certain disaster. Nor will a positive leader continue to use methods that have failed over and over again. Only a self-appointed leader would do that.

Moreover, a true leader remains in front, and not behind the troops, and has the wisdom to know when to go forward and when to retreat.

One of the most serious tragedies, besides the unfortunate killings and destruction, is that children and teenagers have so little parental supervision and guidance that they are able to roam the streets at such late hours and are left at the mercy of those who would front them off in some venture that they don't have the courage to deal with themselves (we call them cowards) or some crime they don't want to be blamed for.

One hopeful development appears to be emerging, however, in the aftermath of that July 28-29 disturbance. It seems to have shocked some people out of their preconceived notions that the soaring narcotics traffic, crime, the welfare of their children and other problems in the city are somebody else's responsibility. Small groups of citizens are now trying to mobilize their neighbors in a crusade against the adverse element, with special emphasis on those who are misleading, and those who buy stolen goods. If this trend continues, and each person does some serious soul-searching, then hopefully the people can bring some sanity to the community. As this writer has said many times, people must be accountable, because their problems will never be resolved until they live up to their responsibilities and become involved.

Next SUN Out Oct. 1

The next issue of the SUN will appear Wednesday, October 1. We see the publication on the verge of an exciting new period of growth and expansion, during which we will be intensifying our editorial, distribution, and promotional efforts in the city of Detroit and throughout the region. In order to plan our growth as thoroughly as possible, to make sure the new SUN is the finest product we can provide you with, and to assimilate new editorial staff into the whole process, we need to skip an issue. Look for the SUN every two weeks beginning October 1.