Civil Disturbances in the 70s

John Price writes:
I remember hearing about the time John Greensmith was looking for a reported uprising in Southeast SD. This was during the days when riots and violent demonstrations were fairly common in LA but had not become de rigueur in SD. As I remember the story, it was while he was on the car radio asking for better directions to where the disturbance was reported to be, that he came up over a hill somewhere around Imperial Avenue and found himself smack in the middle of a wall to wall convocation of Black Panthers, Symbionese Liberation Army supporters and other assorted groups blocking the entire street. One can only imagine what they must have thought as a tall, bald, white guy calmly drove a red and white UT photo car into their midst. I recall what John said HE thought, and which he allowed he may have impulsively expressed over the radio in spite of FCC regulations. He also managed to burn two black stripes on the pavement, going backwards up the hill and getting out of there before the crowd had a chance to take care of Whitey, (a term of endearment used by the angry black community at the time and which would probably be called the "W word" in our enlightened culture today) And that is a remarkable thing to do in a Corvair!


Jack Reber replied:
John: I hate to pass up a good story, but I think I will skip this one. I'm concerned there will be people asking why he turned tail. He was looking for these groups, and he found them, and so the question arises as to why he didn't park his car, get out and start taking photos.
I remember John very well. For some reason, he and I seemed to work together a lot. He was a great person to be around as well as a heck of a photographer. Just a good friend.

John Price writes:

Valid questions Jack.

You are probably right about not including the story. It was a different time then and we have hopefully moved past that kind of thing. That story raises no question of John's judgement or professionalism. It was a lighthearted look at what could have been a very serious situation. It literally could have been a matter of survival when he unexpectedly found himself isolated in very hostile circumstances. There was, and is, no doubt in my mind that if he had stopped he could have easily landed in the next day's police reports, having had the living crap beat out of him ...or worse... by a mob. I am sure John regrouped and covered whatever happened in the professional way he always did. It was simply not very wise for a street photographer to get very far ahead of the police or National Guard lines in that kind of situation. If you remember, those were not gentle times with nice folks out for a little diversion in the sun. They were times when angry "militants" were frequently looking for blood. Any one or any thing connected to "the establishment" was a prime target for destruction and the Copley name was a flag-bearer for The Establishment.

I found myself in that position a time or two and it was frightening. Once was in Horton Plaza, just across the street from 919. The place was jammed by several thousand demonstrators of every kind, there for any number of reasons. Every policeman the department could put on the street was in full riot gear, with standard helmets and face shields, and lined up at both ends of the plaza. I suddenly found myself isolated in the midst of the crowd... near the fountain... in my sport coat, clean shirt and tie... and was jammed up against a large biker-hippie type (I know that is a non-sequitur, bikers hated hippies!) who was definitely not wearing a suit or carrying a briefcase. He said something like: "You better get out of here NOW, Whitey! We are going to bust somebody up because of what the cops did to Willie last night and if you are still here when we do, I will smash that damn camera over your head."

I got my pictures and nobody got beat up... that I know of, but I was right to have taken the threat very seriously.

Unrelated, but similar, was the time Jerry Windle and I were covering a Rolling Stones concert from the outside. There had been a huge number of counterfeit tickets sold and hundreds of fans, many with legitimate tickets, were turned away once the Sports Arena was filled. They were unhappy. The fans got rowdy and started throwing rocks. The police set up barricades and started arresting people. Jerry was in the thick of it when a big rock came flying out of the dark and smashed one of the cameras he had hanging around his neck. There were very real dangers on the street, and we rightfully took them very seriously.