“The Use of Vile and Insulting Language”: The Voice of White Radicals

Sharman, Nick

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-55938-8_4

Nick Sharman²

286 Accesses

Abstract

Bobby Seale’s insistence on being heard in court regarding his right to determine his own representation led to his being forcibly silenced. This chapter focuses on two other defendants, Abbie Hoffman and David Dellinger, and their contrasting individual styles of voicing their opposition to the proceedings of the court. Abbie Hoffman was the first of two defendants to testify in the trial. David Dellinger sought to have a voice in calling the evidence of prosecution witness Deputy Police Chief Rochford “bullshit.” Hoffman’s voice was expressed through a legitimate process of the court and Dellinger’s voice through an interjection.

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Notes

1.
J. Anthony Lukas, “Yippies’ Leader Tells the Judge Just what his ‘Party’ Believes”, New York Times, December 30, 1969, p. 14.
2.
See Author Interview with Gerry Lefcourt May 25th, 2005.
3.
See for example Trial Transcript, p. 12406.
4.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005 and Author Interview with Gerry Lefcourt May 25th, 2005.
5.
See Schultz, The Chicago Conspiracy Trial, pp. 110–117.
6.
Trial Transcript, p. 12400.
7.
Ibid., p. 12401.
8.
Ibid., p. 12406.
9.
Ibid., p. 14434.
10.
Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
11.
Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
12.
See for example Trial Transcript, pp. 12467 and 12476.
13.
Ibid., p. 12418.
14.
Author Interview with Rennie Davis April 28th, 2005.
15.
Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
16.
Trial Transcript, p. 12420.
17.
Ibid., p. 12438.
18.
See Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005.
19.
See Author Interview with Len Weinglass May 28th, 2005.
20.
See Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005. Weinglass’ statement is more persuasive to me given the fact that Hayden was well known as being concerned about his image in the antiwar movement as a tough and combative movement leader. Not wanting to put on a defense in one of the most celebrated trials in the history of the antiwar movement may have potentially tarnished that image.
21.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005. Albert stated, “Jerry and Abbie… I think they kind of thought we can’t win this, but it is a great opportunity to use the courtroom—all eyes are focused on us—to make continuous political statements that the media has to cover, so then you should act out in the courtroom—do our little theatrical stunts in the courtroom.”
22.
Free (AKA Abbie Hoffman), Revolution for the Hell of It, New York, Thunder Mouth Press, 2005, p. 81.
23.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
24.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
25.
Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
26.
Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005.
27.
Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005 and Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
28.
Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005.
29.
J. Anthony Lukas, “First ‘Chicago 7’ Defendant Testifies”, New York Times, December 24, 1969, p. 11.
30.
See Ibid.
31.
Ibid., p. 11.
32.
See J. Anthony Lukas, “Hoffman Ailing Trial Adjourned: 1 of Chicago 7 in Hospital—said to have Pneumonia”, New York Times, December 25, 1969, p. 24 and New York Times, “Hoffman’s Condition Better”, December 29, 1969, p. 27. As evidence of Hoffman’s attempt to use the illness as a humorous prop, his lawyer suggested that they hold a hearing at his hospital bed with the judge and prosecutors present to see if he was fit enough to testify. As the New York Times report notes, “Judge Hoffman declined the invitation”, Lukas, “Hoffman Ailing”, p. 24.
33.
See Lukas, “Yippies’ Leader Tells the Judge”, p. 14.
34.
Ibid.
35.
Ibid.
36.
Ibid.
37.
Ibid.
38.
Ibid.
39.
Ibid.
40.
Trial Transcript, pp. 13006 and 13009.
41.
Ibid., pp. 13027–28.
42.
See Ibid.
43.
See J. Anthony Lukas, “Attorneys Clash on ‘Yippie Myths’”, New York Times, December 31, 1969, p. 13.
44.
Washington Post, “Yippie Says he did not Fight Police”, December 30, 1969, p. A6.
45.
Ibid.
46.
Ibid.
47.
Ibid.
48.
R. Homan, “Yippie Denies Urging Violence”, Washington Post, January 1, 1970, p. A3.
49.
Ibid.
50.
R. Enstad and R. Davis, “Abbie Explains his Yippies’ Background”, Chicago Tribune, December 30, 1969, p. 4.
51.
R. Enstad and R. Davis, “Yippie Movement is a Myth Created by the Media: Abbie”, Chicago Tribune, January 1, 1970, p. A6.
52.
Enstad and Davis, “Abbie Explains”, p. 4.
53.
See Author Interview with Gerry Lefcourt May 25th, 2005.
54.
Author Interview with Gerry Lefcourt May 25th, 2005.
55.
See Lukas, The Barnyard Epithet, p. 16.
56.
See Trial Transcript, p. 12468.
57.
Ibid., pp. 12450–12451. Hoffman’s testimony went on to describe how he believed that the Vietnam War was a product of the materialist culture of American society See Trial Transcript, p. 12468.
58.
See Ibid., pp. 12448–12700 for example.
59.
See Murdock, “Political Deviance”, p. 161.
60.
See Murray et al., “‘Not in our Name’”, p. 61. As Murray et al note in wartime it was even more difficult for protesters to get their voice heard as the media often coalesced around the government’s military aims.
61.
See Ibid., p. 62.
62.
See Gitlin, The Whole World is Watching, pp. 205 and 229.
63.
Ibid., pp. 209–210.
64.
New York Times, “Contempt and Response”, February 17, 1970, p. 42.
65.
Tom Fitzpatrick, “Mask can’t Muffle Abbie—he Speaks Up, and Out”, Chicago Sun-Times, December 26, 1969, p. 3. See also James. W. Singer, “Abbie Hoffman 1st to Tell His Story”, Chicago Sun-Times, December 24, 1969, p. 6.
66.
Singer, “Abbie Hoffman 1st”, p. 6.
67.
Ibid.
68.
See Gitlin, The Whole World is Watching, p. 175.
69.
Ibid., p 174.
70.
See Lukas, “Yippies’ Leader Tells the Judge”, p. 14.
71.
Ibid.
72.
Lester, Giving Ground, p. 8.
73.
Lukas, The Barnyard Epithet, p. 17. In the biographies he did on the defendants in his book, Lukas similarly reserves some criticism for all of the defendants in the case except for Hoffman. See Lukas, pp. 12–23.
74.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
75.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
76.
Lukas, The Barnyard Epithet, p. 103.
77.
See Author Interview with Stew Albert April 6th, 2005.
78.
J. Anthony Lukas, “Disorder Erupts at Chicago Trial After Judge Jails a Defendant for Using a Vulgarity”, New York Times, February 5, 1970, p. 18.
79.
See for example Trial Transcript, pp. 17371–17373 and p. 12916.
80.
On Dellinger’s frustration that he could not get his bail revoked because of the insistence by Seale that this was not the best political strategy See Dellinger, From Yale to Jail, p. 354.
81.
Trial Transcript, p. 15139, see also Contempt Transcript of the Contempt Citations, p. 56.
82.
See Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in J. M. Washington, (Ed.) A Testament of Hope: the Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1986.
83.
See Dellinger, From Yale to Jail, pp. 87–89.
84.
Author Interview with Ramsey Clark June 10th, 2005.
85.
See Author Interview with Tom Hayden March 29th, 2005.
86.
Author Interview with Rennie Davis April 28th, 2005.
87.
Author Interview with Rennie Davis April 28th, 2005.
88.
See Lukas, The Barnyard Epithet, pp. 15–16 for a detailed description of Dellinger’s philosophical and political background.
89.
M. Fishman, Manufacturing the News, Austin, University of Texas Press, 1980, p. 154.
90.
Lukas, “Disorder Erupts”, p. 18.
91.
The representation of Dellinger shouting his insult is maintained in the following day’s article on the incident. See J. Anthony Lukas, “Judge Hoffman is Taunted at Trial of the Chicago 7 After Silencing Defense Counsel”, New York Times, February 6, 1970, p. 41.
92.
See Author Interview with John Schultz May 5th 2005.
93.
Lukas, “Disorder Erupts”, p. 18.
94.
See Ibid.
95.
Lukas, “Judge Hoffman is Taunted”, p. 41,
96.
Lukas, The Barnyard Epithet, pp. 38–39.
97.
Wardle, “‘The ‘Unabomber’ vs. The ‘Nail Bomber’”, p. 241.
98.
Trial Transcript, p. 12914.
99.
See for example New York Times, “Judicial disaster”, February 21, 1970, p. 30.
100.
New York Times, “Contempt and Response”, p. 42.

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University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nick Sharman

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Sharman, N. (2016). “The Use of Vile and Insulting Language”: The Voice of White Radicals. In: The Chicago Conspiracy Trial and the Press. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55938-8_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55938-8_4
Published: 11 May 2016
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57387-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55938-8
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