Friday. Fcbiurry 2. I963

SCARLET AND BLACK

Pogo Thu.

 

I“ By HARRY ANCONA

[ went to the Pizza Pub Mom
dly night to talk to Jim Slehise
kn. Everyone on campus knows
bir name: he’s “the big tough
irom town who beat up Lou
Kelley twice one night last
Spring. and has been harassing
Negroes in town all year” —
or so the story goes. His name
is always the lirst mentioned
when town . college problems
are discussed, and I wanted to
find out why.

when I walked Into the Pub,
Jim was at the bar ~ drinking
u coke. Beer Wasn't agreeing
with him today, he said. With
u remark to the people at the
bar that he was going to a back
room where they couldn’t hear
what he was going to tell me,
we sat down in one of the hack
booths, We each had a coke
Before 1 could ask a question,
Jim started.

“I knoiv why you’re here.
Whenever there’s any trouble,
my name comes up. There's
one reason (or that — Lou Kel-
ley. We tangled one night. He’s
supposed to be the tough col-
lege kid, and I’m the town bad
guy "

Was the fight a racial issue?
"No’ it wasn’t even Kelley’s
light. I was fighting with this
kid # he wasn’t even a college
kid # a friend at a college kid,
1 think. l was down — i guess
he thought he could get a
couple oi good shots at me.
Well, alter the tight there. i
got a phone call — i think it
was Dick Klausuer. He said I
was chickenshit if I’didn’t come
up to the college, 1 was pretty
drunk, so I Went. I looked for
Lawson and Nord (John Law-
son and Nord Brue) but they
weren't around. So I asked
some other kids Where the Ne-
groes were They said ‘down at
the other end (oi the Ioggia)’
so i went down there. We got to
lighting again, and then the
law came and broke it up,

“Sometime latter. three Ne-
gmes and one white guy came
and told me Kelley wanted to
talk to me. I said that if he
brought one guy. and Ibrought
one, we’d talk. They said he
Wanted to talk to me to see
that there wasn’t going in be
any trouble during the summer
-— I guess he was going to be
in town. I didn’t see him all
summer — was he here? (Keb
iey spent most at the summer
In Grinnell With several other
students working on a Sociology
department project)."

Do you consider ynurseli pre
judiced? “I was born and raised
in Grinnell — went to high
school here. Except ior two
years in New Mexico, We lived
here all my life (Jim, 23, is the
youngest of three girls and two

EVERinERE I
5qu .115 we
SAME ow afoot-i.

HATRED “AIRW-
I WIRED ,

AN INTERVIEW WITH BIG IIM

boys, children oi Mr. and Mrs.
Jerome Slehiskak I'm doing
carpentry work [or a man now;
before that I worked on con-
struction — llni a bulldozer op-
erator. When I [Ell Gi‘innell to
go to college, there wasn't a
prejudiced bone in my body.
A buddy oi mine out there (Un-
iversity oi New Mexico) got
cut up by two Negroes. And i
lived with them (Negroes) ior
two years; l mean in athletics,
They were always griping
about the bad deal they were
getting, but they were getting
the same deal as us white guys.
They weren’t all like that. You
know Don Perkins of the Dallas
Cowboys? He was there. He
was a good guy. But most of
them just complained. You
know what i think the govern—
ment should do? They should
buy the Negroes an island
somewhere. but you know
what? They wouldn't go. They
want to stay here and raise
hell.”

Do you have any prejudice
Inward Indians? ”NOW there
are people who do have a
gripe. They've hail everything
taken away lrom them: lend,
money, even their reservations
No, I've got no prejudice to
ward themi I’Ve got friends
who are lndians. This college
kid John (Wabaunsee) who was
working at the Pub is an in-
dian # I'Ve talked to him a lot.
One night a couple oi town kids
said they didn't want him cook-
ing their pizza ~ and i got
really mad."

Did your reputation tor pick-
ing on Negro college kids come
irum just the Kelley incident?
“No, there was one other time.
i was drinking downtown, and
a white girl and a colored boy
came in. Now 1 just can't see
that. i bet 95% or the people
are against that interracial
stuir. but 95% or them don't
have the guts to say it. I mean
it’s the kids 01 these couples
that get hurt. Anyway, it's just
a means of getting attention. I
was out with some of my bud-
dies bdck from the service, you
know, raising hell. Anyway.
there was a businessman in
there, a well»established man
in town. He started antagoniz-
ing them. My buddies started
throwing ice. I threw some too.
The businessman look this
Camera I had and said he was
going to take a picture of the
couple and send it to the alum-
nl magazine or something and
that their folks would get
copies. That’s the thing — I'll
bet most Di these kids wouldn't
do this at home, where their
inlks knew about it. Anyway, i
got the full blame for the Whole
thing."

There was a story on campus

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that you had it run-in with the
Oscar Lindsay Trio when they
were In Grinnell last weekend.
What happened? “That’s What
I mean about getting blamed.
Here's what happened. I was
sitting at the bar when this Ne-
gro guy looked in, went out,
and fame back with two other
Negroes. somebody said here
come the coons: I didn’t say a
word, 1 just got up and leit, and
went to another place, and
stayed there until it closed. i
didn't think anything about it.
The next day one oi the wait-
resses told me that a white girl
jumped up and kissed one ot
the Negroes, but I didn't even
see it. I just cleared out."

Do you think your views
about Negroes are typical oi
Grinnell townspeople? “Well,
the way 1 see it, there are peo

ple in this town who are more
and less prejudiced than me.
But a lot oi the people wﬂsay
they like Negroes have never
lived with them, I have. A lot
oi the people who really hate
them don‘t do anything about
It. I’ve lived with them. and
i'll talk about it. I'm no back—
stabber — I'll tell something to
a person's lace. One night i
was at the Pub, and this guy at
the bar was saying how he
didn’t like Negroes. And there
was a Negro girl sitting in a
booth who couldn't help over-
hearing him — he hadn't no-
ticed her. So I told him to shut
up. some of the high school
dropouts and young kids, [’11
call them punks, get into things
and expect me to help them
out. It's not my ilght. When
that white college kid with thﬂ

Photo by A. .i. Bernhardt

JIM SLEBISKA

Negro wile (the Terry Polands)‘
moved into a house, there was
trouble from the neighbors and
talk oil burning the house down.
People come to me and said
‘what are you going to do about
it'?‘I said 'nothing — it's not
my neighborhood.’

“A lot oi townspeople base
their judgment on stories, not
iacts. And these college kids
seem to be a different breed—
thcy may he more intelligent,
but they’ve got it lot less com—
mon sense. There’s got to be u
lot more understanding around
here.

“College kids get Iollowed
back to the campus — 1 get the
blame. They got called names
— I get the blame. They get
beat up — i get the blame. it
I’m going to get the blame
anyway. I might as well do it!"

LOU KELLEY
A LOT OF TALK CENTERS AROUND THEM

 

STATISTICS SLIM

RACIAL INCIDENTS COMPILED

The 5&3 conducted In In-
quiry into the extent of bar-
essment of Negro students
instigated by townspeople

Out of approximately 5a
Negro students on campus, 46
were lntervlewed by the 5&3
along with three Negm tacuL
ty members Twenty—eight
students and one faculty
member reported no inci-
dents. Ten students reported
verbal abuses and 3 students
and 2 lsoulty members re-
ported othel- disturbances:

Verbal abuse (consisting oi
profanity or threats) was re-

ported by:
.ionu dc Mablor
Scotti: Ray
Quinton rue.
rune rose

in i. ANSWER,

566M559 you‘ke

DiFF‘RENTi MOB‘I out!

'IMM'S wlhl n29
«Hm you. n

Norris Stubbr
Booker Crrter
Adrienne Lemmonr
l-loivam Ward
reggy sunth
rrink 'rhonius

Specific incidents were re-
ported as follows:

Louis Kelly - attacked in
his dorm room by a townie.

Zelte Crawford (RA) # ver—
bally abused and challenged to
a fight by a townsman in the
Pizza Pub.

Mike Dejoie — verbal abuse!
by Jim Slebiska; also ice
thrown at him lit a restaurant
by Sleblska, and other harass-
ments.

As Grady Murdock and Herb
Peguee were crossing Elm
Street last semester, a car
raced out at them, brushing

I‘I'S ’EUQII-
Silva WII [15»

Murdock and knocking him to
the pavement, and narrowly
missing Pegues, The car
stopped abruptly and the occu-
pants tilrew two bottles at Mun
dock and Pegues and shouted
proianities.

Professor Denis de Coteau,
while with his two-year old
daughter has on several oc—
casions been challenged to
right by a town resident. in in-
cidents similar to Murdock’l,
de Coteau has been nearly run
down by townspeople in cars.

Last semester a large group
of town teenagers tried to lurk
round iiubert rarbes shouting.
“Hello Jigaboo, what are you
doing here?" and other derby
ntory remarks.
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EX LOCO

Ex Loco Parentis, Grimell“
oilcampus coffeehouse wil
open this Friday night tor tho
ﬁrst time this semesteri Th0
opening was delayed from last
Friday to prevent competitim
with North Campus Weekende

The coiieehouse will receive
about $500 from an SGA grand
to pay for performing group;
and to assure that the estab-
lishment will remain open In
the test oi the semester.

 

