Oregon daily emerald., January 12, 1973, Page 5, Image 5

Rita Moran: A soft-spoken revolutionary
By LINDA WELCH
Of the Emerald
Wednesday night. It was 8 p.m. and a
group of about 60 people had gathered in
the Dad’s Room of the EMU to bear Irish
American feminist Rita Moran speak on
the strife in Northern Ireland.
When Moran was introduced, a woman
in the front row got up and calmly detailed
the sufferings of the Irish Catholics.
So this was Rita Moran. Not exactly the
stereotype of a revolutionary, but the
softness of her speech did not seem to
detract from the firmness of her con
viction.
Moran accused the press of overem
phasizing the religious aspects of the
conflict in Northern Ireland and
suggesting that the problem lies in the
country’s lack of modernization.
“This is a total simplification of the
question,” said Moran, “and one that does
nothing to clarify what the real struggle is
about or what’s going to have to be done to
solve Ireland’s problems.”
According to Moran, the religious
conflict came about only because of anti
Catholic propaganda initiated by the
British in the 17th century. She said these
anti-Catholic sentiments were used to
justify crimes of genocide against the Irish
people and also prevented British colonists
from becoming assimilated into Irish
society.
“It’s the same virulent religious
hatred,” she said, “that is today being
used by the Unionists to carry on the age
old social, political and economic
discrimination against Catholics.”
Moran said that the Catholics have a low
wage scale, a high unemployment rate,
poor schooling and are forced to live in
slums. She said the Unionists (those who
favor union with Britain) want to maintain
the status quo because the economy
depends on the cheap labor provided by
the Catholics.
Moran likened the struggle of the Irish
Catholics to the struggle of the Vietnamese
and the struggle of the Blacks in America.
She sees Ireland as one more
Irish-American feminist Rita Moran
speaks in the EMU on the problems facing
Northern Ireland.
manifestation of a world wide problem
which can be solved only through a
socialist revolution.
“If the Irish Republican Army (IRA)
can develop a strategy that will link up
national and social demands of the Irish
people, they can tap some enormous latent
revolutionary energies. If they fail to do
this, they'll be threatened with isolation
and repression.”
On the subject of violence, Moran
seemed vague and one-sided. She said the
Catholics held in prison camps have been
“consistently tortured” but she never
explained or denied any of the acts of
torture committed by the Catholics. And
as far as terrorist bombings go, she
merely mentioned that sympathy for acts
of violence as a form of protest is growing.
After Moran’s speech, a group of people
gathered to question her further. One man
was an Irish Catholic, and another was an
Irish Protestant. Neither seemed to agree
with Moran, and they didn’t agree with
each other. Moran finally slipped away,
but the two men didn’t seem to notice.
Eugene family featured
on 7-part network series
A Eugene family will be featured on “An American Family,” a
twelve-part series to be televised nationally Thursdays at 9 p.m., with
repeats on Fridays and Sundays. A repeat of the first part can be seen
tonight, with the second part shown next Thursday.
To be shown locally on KOAC-TV, Channel 7, Corvallis, and
KOAP-TV, Channel 10, Portland, “An American Family” will show
the unstaged, day-to-day life of the William Loud family over a seven
month period.
Bill Loud and Pat Russell were bom, raised and educated in
Eugene. They were children of long-established Eugene families.
After their marriage, Loud began his business career in Eugene as
well as his family.
The Loud family now lives in Santa Barbara, California. Producer
Craig Gilbert of WNET-TV, New York City, selected them after a two
month search for a family that would put up with a major invasion of
privacy and one “composed of attractive, articulate people who came
close to a realization of the vaguely-defined American dream.”
The marriage of William Loud to Patricia Russell began in
“dream” fashion; she was “the girl next door.” The marriage held for
more than 20 years, then collapsed during the filming period.
Producer Gilbert based his “natural” filming techniques on
methods pioneered by anthropologist Oscar Lewis in “La Vida,” a
study of Mexican street society. Another anthropologist, the well
known Margaret Mead says of the series, “I think it may be as im
portant for our time as were the invention of drama and the novel for
earlier generations, a new way to help people understand them
selves.”
The series will be repeated twice each week—at 10:00 p.m. Friday
and at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Oregon’s Public Television stations.
Feminists slate term’s actions
Trie University Feminists met
Tuesday night to map out a
schedule of activities for the
term.
Members of the group ex
pressed concern over rumors
that the Equal Rights Amend
ment is not expected to be
ratified by the Oregon State
Senate. Tliey urge people to write
in support of the amendment to
Senate President Jason Boe,
House Speaker Richard Eymann,
Rep. George Cole or Sen. Betty
Browne.
The Feminists have planned
three open meetings winter term.
On Jan. 23, theories of feminism
will be discussed. Strategies for
improving the status of women in
society is the topic for the Feb. 6
meeting. On Feb. 20 the
discussion will be on women in
the local media. These meetings
are open to anyone interested,
including men.
Elusive fire ‘found’
At about 2:45 p.m. Thursday the Eugene City Fire Department,
answered a campus fire alarm.
Speeding down 13th St. with their sirens screaming, the firemen
quickly spotted the plume of steam coming from the kitchens at
Carson Hall.
They searched the kitchens. They searched the whole dorm. There
were firemen going up the elevators and firemen going down the
stairs.
Students asked each other, “Where’s the fire?” but no one knew. So
students asked the firemen, “Where’s the fire?” and none of them
knew either.
Finally the truth came out. There was no fire. A fireman said that a
“naughty electrician” at the Student Health Center had got some
wires crossed and the alarm went off accidentally.
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Women’s hikes will be spon
sored by the Feminists each
weekend this term. The trips will
be a day or a half-day long.
Other activities for the term
will include the sponsoring of
feminist movies on campus and a
women’s dance or party.
University Feminist meetings
are held each Tuesday at 8 p.m.
in the EMU. Room numbers will
be posted. Any interested women
are invited to attend.
Dates of activities and further
information will be posted at the
University Feminists office,
room 306 EMU.
‘one night when
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