advised our people to seek equal rights slowly and within reason and he himself went along with us to sit-ins and demonstrations—and to jail, too—but all that time he was cautioning us to keep our heads and not be tempted to resort to force and violence as a policy. This was the kind of leadership we needed at the critical stage when we were emerging from bondage and had the opportunity to consolidate our social and economic gains.
If we can keep this ideal of persuasion in mind and not resort to violence, it won’t be long before we get our complete democratic freedom as Americans.
But there’s danger ahead. There’s already evidence that well-meaning but hot-headed fanatics—and I mean Negroes themselves—are trying to get rid of the calm and proven leadership of the Negro preacher, charging him with being slow-footed and behind the times, and institute a gangster-type racket by putting goons and hoodlums in his place. The white man can jeopardize his cause, too, just as much as the Negro, by indulging in violence.
Maybe I have this attitude about it because I’m not a black man. Some white people have the idea that all Negroes have a common ancestry. That might have been said about African slaves two hundred years ago, but not about us today. I’m a Geechee man myself—a Georgia-born octoroon—and I’m proud of it. This is why the Negro blood in me wants to keep the peace with the white blood that shows in my skin—or vice versa, if you wish. Judging from what I’ve heard about Bisco, he and I have a lot in common as Geechee men. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s striving to keep peace within himself just as I am.
Anyway, I’m convinced that we can gain more for ourselves by persuasion—since we are a minority—and gain it sooner—than we can by violence. This is something that can only be done by voting in every election. Our religious leaders know this and they are constantly reminding us of it. This is why more harm can be done to our cause by hot-headed Negroes throwing their weight around than by the rabid white supremists. You can’t make anybody be your friend by pulling a knife or pointing a gun at him.
As it’s been, we’ve had set-backs when we tried to integrate a school or a hotel or a restaurant, but that was only temporary. History teaches that time is on our side. That’s been proved. It was only a very short time ago when the law of the land forced Negroes to ride in Jim Crow railroad coaches and at the back of the bus. It was Jim Crow this and Jim Crow that wherever a Negro went. All of that’s now been wiped from the books and a Negro can even sleep in a berth on a train if he’s got the money to pay for it.
And another thing. Only a short while ago it would’ve been impossible for a Negro to get a room in any Atlanta hotel or motel and sit down to eat in the restaurant. But now, if he’s suitably dressed, he’ll be accommodated nearly everywhere he wants to go.
The main trouble for us in Atlanta is that there are still some die-hard and over-my-dead-body hold-outs who maintain segregation and so far have been able to resist sit-ins and demonstrations. It’s going to take the civil rights law to budge them, and they’ll go to court and try to get delays on that, too.
Some of those white people run advertisements in the newspapers boasting about their segregation policies—intimating that the Civil War of a hundred years ago may be revived if we don’t go away—and defying fate to force them to conform to the realities of the twentieth century.
We’re using persuasion on those die-hards, and time and civil rights laws are on our side. We’ve come a long way already in just a few years and we’re proud of what we’ve got so far. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop now and be satisfied halfway. The only thing we’ll settle for now is total accomplishment.
Sometimes I get to thinking how ironic it is that in our segregated part of Atlanta, over here on
If we can keep this ideal of persuasion in mind and not resort to violence, it won’t be long before we get our complete democratic freedom as Americans.
But there’s danger ahead. There’s already evidence that well-meaning but hot-headed fanatics—and I mean Negroes themselves—are trying to get rid of the calm and proven leadership of the Negro preacher, charging him with being slow-footed and behind the times, and institute a gangster-type racket by putting goons and hoodlums in his place. The white man can jeopardize his cause, too, just as much as the Negro, by indulging in violence.
Maybe I have this attitude about it because I’m not a black man. Some white people have the idea that all Negroes have a common ancestry. That might have been said about African slaves two hundred years ago, but not about us today. I’m a Geechee man myself—a Georgia-born octoroon—and I’m proud of it. This is why the Negro blood in me wants to keep the peace with the white blood that shows in my skin—or vice versa, if you wish. Judging from what I’ve heard about Bisco, he and I have a lot in common as Geechee men. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s striving to keep peace within himself just as I am.
Anyway, I’m convinced that we can gain more for ourselves by persuasion—since we are a minority—and gain it sooner—than we can by violence. This is something that can only be done by voting in every election. Our religious leaders know this and they are constantly reminding us of it. This is why more harm can be done to our cause by hot-headed Negroes throwing their weight around than by the rabid white supremists. You can’t make anybody be your friend by pulling a knife or pointing a gun at him.
As it’s been, we’ve had set-backs when we tried to integrate a school or a hotel or a restaurant, but that was only temporary. History teaches that time is on our side. That’s been proved. It was only a very short time ago when the law of the land forced Negroes to ride in Jim Crow railroad coaches and at the back of the bus. It was Jim Crow this and Jim Crow that wherever a Negro went. All of that’s now been wiped from the books and a Negro can even sleep in a berth on a train if he’s got the money to pay for it.
And another thing. Only a short while ago it would’ve been impossible for a Negro to get a room in any Atlanta hotel or motel and sit down to eat in the restaurant. But now, if he’s suitably dressed, he’ll be accommodated nearly everywhere he wants to go.
The main trouble for us in Atlanta is that there are still some die-hard and over-my-dead-body hold-outs who maintain segregation and so far have been able to resist sit-ins and demonstrations. It’s going to take the civil rights law to budge them, and they’ll go to court and try to get delays on that, too.
Some of those white people run advertisements in the newspapers boasting about their segregation policies—intimating that the Civil War of a hundred years ago may be revived if we don’t go away—and defying fate to force them to conform to the realities of the twentieth century.
We’re using persuasion on those die-hards, and time and civil rights laws are on our side. We’ve come a long way already in just a few years and we’re proud of what we’ve got so far. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop now and be satisfied halfway. The only thing we’ll settle for now is total accomplishment.
Sometimes I get to thinking how ironic it is that in our segregated part of Atlanta, over here on
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