Cross-burning called insult to community

Cross-burning called insult to community

Cross-burning, KKK, Black Student Union, Larry Dowdy

This is a student newspaper published in 1971. The front page of the newspaper includes an article which describes that occurred in October of that year. A cross was set aflame on campus with a sheet marked K.K.K. Beside it. A group of black students armed with bats and metal pipes left the nest by Sanderson Hall to put the fire out. There were threats of retaliation, and the Black Student Union pleaded for the end of the violence.

Unknown

Quad Angles Vol. 40 No. 7

West Chester University Quad

1971-10-26

West Chester University, West Chester University Special Collections, Francis Harvey Green Library, Black Students Lives Project, Angela Schaefer, Angela Grabosky

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http://digital.klnpa.org/cdm/ref/collection/wcnp01/id/14278

TIFF Newspaper Scan

English

Student Newspaper

Quad Angles Vol. 40, No. 7 West Chester State College October 26,1971 Cross-burning called insult to community An early morning cross burning on campus last week was termed "a direct insult to the black confmunity here at West Chester" by Black Student Union President Larry Dowdy. Shortly after 1:30 a.m. last Wednesday morning a four-foot wooden cross was set afire at the base of a hill about 100 yards east of Sanderson Hall. A white sheet was spread above and beyond the cross on the hillside. The letters "W.C. S.C. --KKK", painted on the sheet, were lighted by the flames and visible across the field in Sanderson Hall. A group of about ten black students came out of Sanderson armed with baseball bats, sticks, paddles, and a metal pipe, and crossed the field to put out the flames. Members of the group later said that they planned "to get the ones who had burnt the cross" but they had fled by the time the group reached the scene. An eyewitness spotted "four or five" persons leave a car on South Church Street, between Rosedale and College Ave., and walked between Schmucker and the Special Education building carrying the cross and "something white" under one person's arm. The witness followed the group across the field behind Hollinger Field and observed them go over the hill toward Sanderson. By the time the witness reached the top of the hill, the cross was burning. Other witnesses in the lobby of Sanderson reported seeing one person attempting to put out the flame before the black students reached the field from Sanderson. Dowdy, questioned about the incident Friday, felt the incident was "one of the severest of many incidents of racial overtones by white conservatives on campus in recent weeks." He indicated he was referring to a fight in the dining hall between a white girl and two black girls, a motorist who allegedly tried to run over two black girls in the Lawrence parking lot, and a water balloon which was dropped on a group of black students from Sanderson Hall. The BSU president said he had "no plans for retaliation". Asked what he expects from the whites to correct the problems, Dowdy asked for "respect, and appreciation of the blacks for what they are. "The white community has got to stop and look at themselves -- although most are apathetic, their apathy condones the actions of a small minority. "We can't just say we made it by this crisis. Some action must be taken by the students, faculty and administration to have students accept them for what they are." If not, the same thing will happen all over again."

Tom Ramsey, standing at right, turns charred cross over to security police Sergeant Daniel R. Bronson after last Wednesday's early morning cross burning. Ramsey, and Phil Brinn, sitting on desk, were among students who put out the burning cross. Louis F. Weislogel, dean of student affairs, sits at desk is QUAD angles office.

Microfilm