long-haired dope-smoking street-fucking rock-and-roll maniacs

epub or mobi, with thanks to the original sharer

An editorial in the Detroit Free Press thundered against the love-in: “It was not the love which got out of hand on Belle Isle Sunday. It was the hate. The outcasts of a decent society, the organized motorcycle gangs like the Outlaws, revel in harm and destruction. …The love-in was invaded by the greasy-haired, filthily dressed hoodlums who would probably come unglued in a bathtub. Instead of soda pop, pretzels and garlands of dandelions, they brought beer, wine, motorcycles and an itch for a rumble.” Yet again there were calls to get tough on crime. Letters to the papers encouraged the police to be less lenient on the city’s youth and their belligerent subcultures and for the hippies to join the real world. Many commentators dismissed the love-in as part of a wider malaise of a society that had no respect for authority. Earlier in the month, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey had traveled to West Berlin, where his visit was disrupted by hippies carrying what appeared to be a bomb. On inspection, the incendiary device was nothing more than a pie. The European new left understood that stunts, pranks, and spectacles generated disproportionate amounts of free publicity. In Germany the left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof wrote in the underground magazine Konkret, “It is thought rude to throw custard pies at politicians, but not to welcome politicians who have villages wiped out and cities bombed. …Napalm yes, custard no.” The slogan Custard Yes, Naplam No became one of many used to demonstrate against chemical warfare in Vietnam.