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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1980)
Ask questions, says activist, for decade of truth Gregory tackles diverse problems By MARK MATASSA Of the Emerald ‘‘Y’all got a big job to do." Dick Gregory, political activist, author and comedian, repeated that message several times to a standing-room-only crowd Friday night in the EMU Ballroom. More than 1,000 people lis tened to Gregory speak for two and a half hours about govern ment conspiracies, drugs, universities and sexism. "You better ask some ques tions in the ’80s or you ain’t going to live to see the ’90s," Gregory said. "Y’all got a big job to do." The 1980s will be a decade of truth, he said. It will be a decade "when tricks will get un covered;” when “we can turn it around.” He repeatedly implored his audience to ask questions. Ask yourself about your drugs, Gregory said. "Those drugs and alcohol that’s put out for you — it’s be ing put out by some people who’s trying to kill you. As bad as drugs and alcohol is, it’s a conspiracy and you don’t even WIUW II. He said when Japanese police arrested Paul McCartney for smuggling a half a pound of marijuana into Japan, McCart ney canceled his concert tour. In this country, McCartney would have done the concert and 200,000 more people would have shown up to watch him, Gregory added. And it was no coincidence that the U S. Army developed LSD, and that the man to make it popular, Timothy Leary, was a West Point graduate, he said. Ask yourself about universi ties, Gregory said. “Those elite universities — the Harvards and Yales — wasn’t put together for niggers and Jews and Italians and poor folks. That's why you all look so silly when you get out. Most of you leave with more hangups than you went in with. “Tell those universities they exist for your benefit, you don’t exist for theirs,” he said. He asked women how long they would read a sexist Bible that says a woman messed the world up for everybody else, and how long into the 1980s they would sit back and let sex Corrections & amplifications A headline in Friday’s Emerald said Democrat Larry Perry is running for the State Senate. Actually, he’s running for the State House of Representa tives. McKenzie Coffee Co. World’s finest coffees Mexican and Swiss Chocolate Rare and Exotic Teas Steamed Bagels Mavflower Building 782 E. 11th_342-2071 _ m Photo by Erich Boekelheide Dick Gregory ist commercials portray them as dumb sex symbols. 'Tell those big companies if they’re going to use you to sell their materials, we’re going to call for a nationwide boycott of their product." Ask yourself about the situa tion in Iran and Afghanistan, Gregory said. The Iranian people say they want the shah back so they can hold a public forum exposing 25 years of crimes, but when the Ayatollah Khomeini came into power they killed the people who could have given them the best forum, he said. “If Iran was hip, they would have offered a $9 million reward for the shah while he was in New York," he said. "The cops guarding him would have brought him back. “And if the shah’s so sick, why is he in Panama? Of all the things Panama might be known for, good medical treatment isn’t one of them." Gregory said with all the sa tellites the United States has, Pres. Jimmy Carter should have known Russian troops were moving toward Afghanistan. "We've got so many satellites up there that they not only know when you light your barbecue, but the quality of your ribs," he said. "How can they have all that hardware and not know four divisions are marching toward the border?" He questioned how the government could seriously offer Pakistan $400 million spread out over two years to "beat up the Russians” when it gives Chrysler $1.5 billion to make cars they can’t sell. And he spoke about cancer, saying the polio shots many Americans were given in 1962 weren’t polio shots at all, but cancer virus SV-40. ‘‘How come when women have their breast removed it’s always their left one and there’s Copies •Reductions •Two-sided copies •Binding 344-7894 764 E. 13th always that vaccination mark on their left arm? It gets that funky.” In April, 1977, a Carter aide responded to a Gregory inquiry about SV-40, admitting the sub stance causes cancer, but claiming it was unintentional and due to a lack of knowledge. "Why is it that the President has not got on TV and told Americans they were injected with a virus?" Ask yourself about income tax, Gregory said. He listed several companies which pay no income tax — among them Bethlehem Steel, r> Tickets available at the EMU Main Desk, University of Oregon Bookstore and Everybody's Records in Eugene and Corvallis, and The Outdoor Store (McKenzie West Shopping Center, Springfield) $1.00 Discount to University of Oregon Students with I.D. -gmu Cultural Forum & FEYLINE Western Electric and Ford, say ing that Ford made $148 million last year and paid no income tax. “One day when you white folks discover there’s only five white folks who are running everything and you discover who the real niggers are, maybe you'll join us and get something done.’’ Gregory said he has documentation the FBI has been trying to kill him for 15 years. He read several FBI in ternal memos calling for his “neutralization.” In one memo, J. Edgar Hoover, former FBI director, instructed agents to inform Mafia heads of a Gregory speech in which he referred to the Mafia as the “lowest scum on the earth.” Gregory said he plans on su ing the FBI for $100 million. “For that kind of money, y'all are going to listen. "They say, America — love it or leave it. I’m not going to love it until it gets lovable, and I won’t leave until I straighten it out.” Gregory said young people have the power to turn the world around. “The whole world stopped in Iran, and who did it? Students,” he said. "If you fraternities and sorori ties will stop all your silliness and deal with your power, maybe we can get something done. "Instead of seeing how much beer you can drink and how much pussy you can get or give away, why don't you ask some simple questions?” But all of Gregory’s speech wasn’t so serious. He warmed up the audience by poking fun at Carter. "Why can’t my President have the energy level of the Pope? "I couldn’t believe it when Jimmy Carter said he was going to run in a 10,000 meter race,” he said. “I figured it out though. "He’s the most powerful man in the world — he controls the FBI, the CIA, all those chemical companies - I figured they’ll give him some injection so he can set a world record in defense of peace. "Then anytime Russia moves into Afghanistan, Carter could challenge them to a 10,000 meter race. The most powerful man in the world could hold the world record in the 10,000. “But instead he runs two blocks and croaks. I wouldn't have been surprised if Jamaica had attacked us that night.”
