Press enter after choosing selection

Students Charge Police Harassment

Students Charge Police Harassment image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
September
Year
1976
OCR Text

More and more of Detroit's young people are beginning to get fed up with being blamed for the ills of the Motor City. The city is crumbling, they say, and they're the ones being blamed.

"Well. we want that blame turned around," said Mike Letvin, 20. "And that's why we're demonstrating today."

The demonstration took place last week near the Traffic Court Bldg. Some 30 teens and young adults were on hand, marching peacefully and carrying signs reading "Decent Schools, Not Curfews," and "The young people don't run Detroit, the Big Three do."

The marchers were also protesting the fact that Letvin, a member of an organization called Red Tide, and two of his comrades were scheduled to go on trial that day on a charge of being in a school building without permission.

"Well, we weren't really in the school," Letvin told The Sun. "We were standing outside passing out some leaflets and the security guard took us inside."

The incident Letvin was referring to occurred last February at McKenzie High School in Detroit. Students there had mounted a walkout protesting what they termed the filthy conditions of the school.

"School administrators must realize that the crisis is not caused by young people," Letvin added. "It's there because the administration is willing to let schools, jobs, and recreation go to heil. If social conditions didn't make it necessary, there wouldn't be gangs. So we want the blame turned around. The blame should be placed squarely on the schools, the city, and the Big Three."

Letvin's trial, by the way, was postponed until November 16.