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CHAPTER SIX PROGRESS OR IMPASSE? T he December actions led to a decline of the radicals' fortunes. In early April John Garner left school to work in the ghetto and Gary Patton and Larry Dickson left for other reasons. During the second semester outsiders such as Michael Thelwell and Cleveland Sellers came to Cornell as lecturers and convinced the AAS that the militants were hurting the revolutionary movement as much as they were helping it. Consequently, a coalition or conglomerate of the AAS's factions shared power, moving the leadership toward the center. At a meeting in late January, Garner announced that he was going to resign, which some members interpreted as a ploy to rally the organization behind the radicals ' leadership. In the past the students had always given Garner a vote of confidence when he threatened to resign, but "the December fiasco had done irreparable damage to [Garner's] image." I Before this meeting several students had met at Tom Jones's home to plot Garner's removal. They knew thatJones's candidacy would not succeed because of his unfavorable image with many AAS members. At the next meeting, near the end ofJanuary, Garner again raised the issue of his resignation, whereupon everyone became serious, expecting conflict. After tense debate, a leading activist who was also a possible candidate spoke up and opened the floor to the selection of a president, and Garner nominated Edward Whitfield, a quiet, brilliant moderate. Whitfield was relatively unknown in the AAS, and his ideology was not purely "black." Garner nominated him because he thought Whitfield had no chance of winning, yet Whitfield won with the pivotal support of Robert Rone and others. In spring '68 the AAS had elected Whitfield chair of its Philosophy Committee. In this capacity he studied revolutionary literature. But like Robert Jackson and TomJones, Whitfield had also had meaningful exposure to conservative thought: he had studied with Allan Bloom. Because of Bloom's influence, Whitfield 124 had dreamed of becoming the first black philosopher-mathematician. Long after he had read some revolutionary literature, and indeed, even at the time he led blacks into the Straight, [he] believed that The Republic, as taught by [Bloom], was the world's greatest book.. . . He often remarked, with a good deal of satisfaction, that Bloom had taken great pains to co-opt him and to make him aim to become the black Plato. After the Straight [he] would argue, again with satisfaction, that Bloom was one ofthe few professors on campus who understood the revolutionary implication of the Society's actions and, more importantly, who believed that the black leaders were revolutionaries. He attributed Bloom's insight to the fact that [Jones], [Jackson], and he had studied under Bloom.2 Andre McLaughlin portrayed Whitfield in glowing terms. He was a "very brilliant person, great mind. I felt he really understood the society in which we were situated, that particular historical context. And I think Ed has always been determined not to be defined by outside voices, in terms ofwho he is as a man, a person, regardless of color, that he would shape his own destiny. If I had to say anything about him, that's what I would say about him: a man who is determined to shape his own destiny." 3 Members of the radical faction who could not adjust to the new order became loose cannons, leading to confrontations that we will discuss. The faction fell into disarray. Eric Evans joined the new controlling coalition, leaving Garner, Patton, and Dickson outside the main action. The AAS then established a central committee to govern its affairs until the end ofthe semester. Soon this became an executive committee of five leaders: Jones, Jackson, Rone, Evans, and Whitfield as president. The Kennedy Commission and AAS Pressure On December 21, four days after the major confrontation between President Perkins and the AAS in his office, several members of the administration's executive staff met with Perkins to discuss what should be done over the holiday break to reestablish "meaningful discussions with our Black students." Perkins turned to Keith Kennedy, the vice provost ofthe university, and said, "Keith, we need somebody in the administration to really take charge of this. We have decided that you are the individual to head up such a discussion." 4 Kennedy was the perfect choice: he was close to Perkins, he was an insider, and he knew how to get things done. Kennedy had been director of research in...

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