South Africa
Sta,—Mrs. Price gravely maligns me (Spectator, December 18) when she says that I incited students to violence in South Africa. Her allegations are un- supported by the facts or the evidence in the trials to which she refers. Her letter portrays the crisis of decision which all liberals in South Africa have to meet and which arises from the question: how long is mere protest at unjust legislation—protest itself conditioned by apartheid legislation—a sufficient indication of deeply held beliefs? For this reason, Mrs. Price seeks to find an augury of a change of political heart in the practitioners of Afrikaner baaskap and prefers to put her trust in the efficacy of politics on her side of the colour line, to change the South African situation. At the same time, she condemns those who have felt compelled by their beliefs to carry resistance to apartheid to
• the lengths of sabotage because they saw no other honest alternative in a situation where all effective open constitutional methods of opposition to apar- theid are cruelly punished by the law.
The liberal dilemma was well illustrated by a conversation I had with Professor Price at the time of the Universities Apartheid Bill and before he resigned from the Liberal Party, when he said that he knew that all the energy with which he and others had fought the Bill would be spent in vain. While having no other suggestion as to how this law might be further resisted, he nevertheless disagreed with the suggestion that the only practical step• was for the universities to break the law and admit students of colour.
12 Gayfere Street, SW I
JOHN LANG
Previous page
