Standing up for humanity:
protesters call for freedom
It was just another Wednes
day morning. My alarm clock
went off at 8 a.m., I got out of
bed, showered and sat down to
breakfast. The last thing on my
mind was that by nightfall I
would be in jail. If someone had
predicted that I would be ar
rested while making a political
statement tin South Africa
ouside of the Eugene Federal
Building, I would have thought
they were crazy. But I did get ar
rested and together with 86
other anti-apartheid protesters,
1 spent Wednesday night and all
day Thursday in the Lane Coun
ty Jail,.
Certainly, I was aware that an
anti-apartheid rally had been
planned for Wednesday after
noon at the University, J was
. one of the scheduled speakers
who, along with several others,
made a strong statement against
apartheid and United States
economic cooperation with
South Africa-. What happened
after the rally, however, was not
in anyone’s plan of events.
The big question is, why did
several hundred people (mostly
students) march downtown to
the Federal Building, occupy it
and stage a sit-in while chan
ting “Free South Africa’’ and
“Divest Now." The answer lies
in the fact that public tolerance
for our government's support of
South Africa, and a growing
anger over the violent apartheid
system has reached an all time
high. On the same day that we
were arrested in Eugene, 63
were arrested at Cornell Univer
sity. 58 at the University of
Iowa. 112 at the University of
California in Berkeley, and 27 at
the University of Massachusetts
in Amherst. This is just a small
sampling of the thousands of
people who have been arrested
during recent anti-apartheid
protests at universities around
the country.
Martin Luther King Jr. once <
remarked that there comes a i
time when the human spirit I
cries, ‘‘I can stand injustice no ]
longer!” After seeing police t
violence against blacks in South |
Africa on television, after i
reading about it in newspapers, t
after learning about it at Univer- <
sity events (films, lectures, s
etc.), students are no longer re- i
maining quiet on the apartheid. j
issue. I
1 was startled at how many i
people showed up for the rally
in the EMU courtyard and I was {
surprised when nearly 500 of (
those people took to the streets f
in a protest march to the Federal {
Building, calling on the state t
and the nation to cut economic t
ties with South Africa. The pro- i
testers included members Of i
fraternities and sororities, law I
students, business majors, ar- I
tists and activists. They -/
represented a group of people c
i
Impressions *
by Costas Christ I
a
who joined together in a cause s
that transcends political v
ideologies. That cause is the F
oneness of humanity and the re
jection of a legal system of *
white racial supremacy — £
apartheid.
By the time everyone arrived c
at the Federal Building, emo- v
lions were running high. In a s
spontaneous action, the mar- 1
chers entered the building and f1
sat on the floor of the lobby, F
chanting “Free South Africa” F
and clapping hands. I went to *
the building's security person
nel and told them that the group F
planned to stage a sit-in that
would probably last about two
hours. But as people sang and F
:hanted in support of divest
nent and South African
reedom, a tremendous sense of
>urpose developed. It was then
hat I realized that the protest
lad transformed itself from a
ally on campus into a conscien
ious act of non-violent civil
lisobedience. People wanted to
end a firm anti-apartheid
nessage that would reverberate
iround the country. By 8 p.m.,
he police arrived in riot gear
nd the arrests began.
Although I had not planned
in becoming a spokesperson
luring the sit-in, I was so mov-.
d by the the inner strength and
ommitment of the protesters to
ake a stand against apartheid
hat I decided to speak out with
riy own feelings. I was not there
n an official capacity as the
Imerald’s editorial page editor,
was there as a human being,
is the protesters were carried
ut one by one to waiting police
ans amid tears and applause, I
nade a public statement to the
aedia on why people had risk
d arrest to support the nation
wide anti-apartheid movement,
t was then that I too was
rrested.
I am not happy with having
pent nearly 24 hours in jail,
with being fingerprinted and
hotographed by the police. But
do not regret having par
icipated in the protest at all. I
onsider it an honor to have
een in the company of so many
ourageous young men and
women who made a personal
acrifice in the name of justice
a South Africa. Like Mohandas
Gandhi, these people went to
lil to protest the inhumane
olicies of apartheid. Like Mar
n Luther King Jr., they believe
lat the world can be a better
lace.
Costas Christ is the editorial
age editor of the Emerald.
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