PAGE TWO
THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY, AUG. 3, 1957
AnmiDE Foe compiiance abseni
An attempt to judge North Carolina’s po
sition toward the Supiome Court desgrega-
^ '■n Older f.cni the action of three school
rds in deciding to abandon segregation
. lUiit ultimately re;>t in assessing the stage’s
tt tude toward compliance. Despite the
iv.ct that state«officials have tended to
minimize the meaning of the high court's
ruling by asserting that it 8oes not require
integration of schools, if the court is to be
obeyed in good faith, the decision does re
quire a basic change in attitude by the state
with regard to the status of its Negro citi
zens. Apprehensive lest North Carolina
join the soUd core of resisting states, the
gieat mass of law abiding citizens must be
iieaitened by tne fact ot desegregation at
Ciicirioite, OieensDoro and Winj»ton-t>aiem, it
remains an open question as to whether this
action IS indicative of a change in attitude by
North Carolina officialdom in the matter of
compliance.
The state’s attitude toward compliance is
expies>:>ed m tne i:'earsall Pian, an instrument
Uaugnt witn paraaoxes and one genumeiy
repieaentative of the system out of which
It was spawned. The admitted purpose of
tne Peaisail Plan is to preserve segregation
m the bcnools. But now it appears tnat to
preserve substantial segregation its must
provide for limited segregation. But the in
tent oi the plan u circumvention of the court
decree and not compliancy. It would allow
a bit of desegregation over here to maintain
a wnole lot of segregation everywhere else.
The great wealcness of the plan was the
fact Uiat so far in practice, it had failed to
come up with any instances of desegregation.
Nortn Carolina's leaders, reading well the
lesson of Virginia whose school assignment
plan was destroyed by a federal court be
cause it provided no desegregation, knew
tnat unless the state could produce some de-
segiegation under its plan, a federal court
wuuiu ueat it in a similar fashion. Thus, the
stage was set for the sacrifice made last week
in Charlotte, Ureensboro and Winston-Sa-
lem.
The explanations by the school boards in
thei>e turee cities were almost identical in re
ferring to the plan as the basis for their ac
tion. They made it abundantly clear that
they approved the Negro pupils’ transfer
oniy alter it became apparent that they could
au nothing else under the plan. Moreover,
by tiiCir own admiskion, the tiiree boards bad
acuiu in concert. They had met together in
bttciet for over a year and heard advice from
roes where it would really change things. It
. is basically a token grant of constitutional
rights. The plan would grant the constitu
tional rights of twelve Negroes in the whole
. tate while denying it to thousands of others.
With the apparent constitutional weakness
of the plan shored up by action in the three
Piedmont cities, the rest of the state can pre
sumably forget about complying with the
court order. A school board “dt^wn east”
(where Negro population is heaviest) can re
fuse .the right of a Negro pupil to attend a
white school next to his house and plead its
defense on the grounds that it was operating
under a plan which had proved its con
stitutionality by permitting desegregation
elsewhere. The board would be like a con
fessed murderer, asking for mercy on the con
tention that his father was law abiding, or, if
you are a believer in religion, like a sinner
believing he does not have to be virtuous be
cause God is good. .
The Pearsall Plan Is an illogical, impos
sible monstrosity, it says to the state that
segiegttUon can be maintained and the Su-
pieiue Court order obeyed at the same time,
ic iries to dely while attemptmg to give the
appeaiance ot remaining withm the pale of
uie law. This kind ot thinking is indeed
circuiuous, and is a credit to the^ mental
agility ot our state leaders, though it says
iilue lor tneir morals, in £act, so staunch a
hegxegationist as Dr. Beverly Lake, apparent
ly a man wnose mmd cannot think m such
uevious circles, said in ettect last week that
he could not see how one plan could say that
a i'legro pupil had the right to attend a wiiite
scnooi in Meciuenburg County and at the
same time say another INegro pupil had no
rigut to attend a white school in Warren
County. Apparently, the plan is too con-
trauiciory to maKe sense to Or. Lake.
The real danger of the plan, however, is
not so mucn m me denial ot tne constitution
al rigiits ot many while panting those of a
lew. it IS dangerous because it prevents the
uevelopment oi an attitude for compliance
Wiimn uie state, 'i ar Jtieei citizens are large
ly law aoiding and have respect lor the law,
even wneh uiey aon t like it U they know
tiiat tiiere is no other lawful course, given
uiue ana pieparation, we believe they will
tu&e uiat couise. But ii they are entrenched
tn tneir mistaken belief that tne state can
pie^eive segregation in tne puohc schools
Miiu yet leuiain law abiding, tniey will never
imd tne opportumty to tnink in terms of
ij^e'
LEIIECS TO THE EDITOR
Editor'* Not«a FolUnoing f« a
letter jrom Mi** WlUon Whit
man, noted author and member
of the Southern Conference
£duc4tionaI Fund Board, to
Senator Ervin. The TIMES re
ceived Mi*« Whitman'* approval
to reprint the letter.
I write a* a relatively new
resident of North Carolina
who, votinf a straight ticket
in ignorance of I individual
qualification*, voted for you.
Thi* give* me a nagging seiue
of re*pon*ibility for your pub
lic statement*. Also I am In
terested in legal action in the
South because my grandfa
ther and my great-grandfa
ther were pioneer jurists
down in Texas.
In moving to North Caro
lina I was under the impres
sion, not yet wholly abandon
ed, that thi* wa* the most en
lightened and progressive
’ Southern state. But in order
that some shreds of thi* repu
tation may be retained, may
I make a suggestion? In the
civil rights fight, Senator,
vote if you must against the
bill. Talk If you must against
it. In a filibuster, read into
the Record at taxpayers’ ex
panse the works of Sir Walter
Scott or the latest Reuters
dispatch from Johannesburg.
But please do not talk as you
did on the air last night about
“a government of laws and
not men.’’
You see, Senator, this is
precisely what our dvU
rights trouble involves. It the
South were satisfied with a
government of law, new leg
islation would be unnecessa
ry. The Constitution, fairly
interpreted, already .gives
Ddta Negroes th* right to
vote. It is men in Misslaaippl*
who have seen fit to deny
these legal rights, and been
sustained by other men on
Juries who laughingly flout
the law of the land.) Civil
Rights Legislation is intended
to remedy this on the theory
that in localities where the
law is unfamiliar or unwel
come, judges who must swear
to support it are more re
liable than jurors.
Certainly an iUustetion of
this 1* furnished by the cur
rent Knoxville trial in which
members of the segregated
jury have already expressed
prejudice against the law.
And, as a fifth-generation
Southerner, I under stand
your fear tluit legislation de
signed to implement voting
rights might also be used to
insure schooling rights, not
only for Delta Negroes but
for the white children in
North Carolina who have a
right to leam in school how
to live in friendsiiip with
other children whose skin
color is, in the world as a
whole, more popular.
But let’s be honest about
it. Senator—this fear is in it
self an admission that all
along the line, from schooling
to voting, Southern men have
been conducting a filibuster
against federal law ever since
the Dred Scott decision was
nullified. Keep it up If you
must but don’t talk “a gov
ernment of law instead of
men,” or some snurt Yankee
will hear you and low-rate
the intelligence (or the sin
cerity) of North Carolina.
Yours very triily,
WILLSON WHITMAN
Life IS Like That
By H. ALBERT SMITH
AN INESCAPABLE IMPRESSION
c»iHpiiann«.
inciuditig men who had helped draft the
Pearsall Plan. One of the leading architects
of the plan, CoL William T. Joyner, had as
early as last December warned that con-
tmued life of the plan depended on the ac
ceptance of desegregation somewhere in the
state. It appears that the foremost con
sideration in the minds of the board members
was the salvation of the Pearsall Plan, and
the granting of a right to the Negro pupils a
necessary, if unhappy, aonsequence.
It is apparent that the Pearsall Plan does
not provide for compliance in good faith nor
does it require the necessary change in at
titude. It is of the genre of so many other
southern tecimiques of maintaining absolute
lily wtiite control, even at the denial of con
stitutional guarantees to a part of its pop
ulace. It is no different from the technique
of allowing a few Negroes the right to vote
in a part of the state where their vote will
be outnumbered while denying it to Neg-
POttraaU Plata may 'a^ij^ed to the' legal
scrap neap by some federal court, it will have
succeeoea during the time of its operation to
stilxen resistance to compliance. When com
pliance IS Imaily ordered by some federal
court, it is subject to meet with the kind of
vioience whichaUended the CUiitQn action.
What is even worse, the plan, by permit
ting some desegregation, may lull Negroes
into thiniiing that the state has seriously em
barked upon a program of compliance. Once
tiiis happens, we may relax our efforts to ob
tain full freedom only to find ourselves, on
reawakening, firmly entrapped by a neat
network of legal and administrative barbed
wire.
Desegregation in the three Tar Heel cities
is an improvement over none anywhere. But
we fear it was done for the wrong purpose.
As T. S. Eliot put it: “the last temptation is
the greatest treason, to do the right deed for
the wrong reason.'
FEAR INVADES FOURTH ESTATE
We have observed somewhat sadly the
growing uneasiness and gradual capitulation
of the editorial position of the state’s major
daily newspapers to what can be described
in no other terms than an unwarranted fear
of desegregation. Although immediately
following the now historical court ruling,
those newspapers located in the principal
cities of Charlotte, Winston-Salra, Greens
boro and Raleigh stated their opposition to
the decision, they were quick to state that
the wisest course lay in a gradual acceptance
of the decree. However, as the time for some
action on the issue draws nigh and as law
suits in and aroimd the state increase, the
editorial pages of these newspapers, with the
exception of the Raleigh News and Observer,
have reflected something of this fear.
The Greensboro Daily Ne^s, despite its
dislike for the court’s position, has for some
time been able to maintain in its editorial
statements the logic which such Meriting de
mands. However, that newspaper, which
now boasts of covering the second largest
city in the Carolinas, has shown some ten
dency to allow its feelings play havoc with
its reasoning. A good example of this situa
tion was displayed in one of its recent issues.
The Daily News was commenting unfavor
ably on the Supreme Court and took the oc
casion to refer to that body as the “Warren
court.” Obviously, the intention was to en
gender disfavor for the court by labelling it
with the name of a man who, largely be
cause of his former political affiliation and
his alleged contribution in rendering the his
toric desegregation decision, has acquired
the stigma of dislike in this region.
During the heyday of the late Senator Jo
seph McCarthy, the Daily News fought in the
front ranks of those who opposed the smear
tactics of the late Senator. Now, in attenipt-
ing to smear the Supreme Court with the
aura of unpopularity, the newspaper
charging that the other justices have no
mind of their own and are servilely following
the opinions of the Chief Justice. It has taken
a page from the Senator’s book.
THE CAROLINA TIMES
MAIN OFFICE — 436 EAST PETTIGREW STREET
Phones 5-0671 and 2-2913 — Durham, North Carolina
Published At Durham, North Caroline Every Saturday By
THE UNITED PUBLISHERS, Inc.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Durham, Ndrth Canlina un
der the Act of Match 3,1879.
$3.00
12.06
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year Ten Cents Single Copy
_ Six Months 14.00 — Foreign Countries.
I have a card in hand
from an out-of-town person
who has been receiving issues
of our paper by mistake. Tills
happened because the paper
wa* subscribed for by a local
citizen bearing the same
name. Quite by accident, the
name was listed under the
city of our out-of-town friend.
Tbie card explains the inci
dence of bei^ billed lor a
^^^^^^r^^^Kontinued. Un
der the circumstance*, tliat
was a proper procedure be-
cau*e nobody wants to pay
for something sent to him
without ill* authorization.
A Conlusinj! Word
The tone of the communica
tion is in the main polite. But
it concludes with a statement,
not only out of harmony with
the tone of preceding state
ments, but which leaves me
puzzled as to the author’s real
reason for the requested dis
continuance; although, on the
surface, the reason seems
quite evident.
The statement is tills: “I am
a white citizen therefore do
not want your paper". If the
statement had been made
verbally in a face-to-face con
tact, this difficulty would
hardly exist. Voice inflec
tions, the pitch and tone of
spoken utterance, plus facial
expression, would iiave clear
ly indicated what the written
word failed to do. No writer,
however brilliant he may be,
or alive ills composition, can
put on paper meaningful in
flections of voice and expres
sions of face. And so it re
mains that the gentleman’s
written word: “1 am wbdte
therefore do. not want your
paper,” makes it tiard for me
to stiake off the impression
that somehow he has reached
the conclusion that he, be
cause he is white, should not
read a Negro publication.
Unshared Feeling
If tliat is his feeling (1 itope
it is not), I am thankful that
there are many wiiite people
who do not share it. I person
ally know a few who read Ne
gro publications...tills paper in
particular. This I Icnow be
cause I sold them.
With the editorial policy of
this paper, the vast majority
of white people in thu auc
tion would quite naturally
disagree. Although, I suspect
that, when confronted with
the realities of their own con
sciences, they secretly en
dorse the spirit and view
point this policy reflects. Ves
ted interests and privilege,
white or black, in no age can
be expected to agree with and
endorse a philosophy that
calls for change in their sta
tus. Human nature does not
work that way, although it
can work tliat way.
One wtiite man with whom 1
talked said to me: “I not only
read the editorials of the
paper; but I agree with them”.
May ills tribe Increasel
I iiava seen entire editorials
of tills paper reprinted In
white newspapers. This did
not mean any acceptance or
endorsement of the editorial
viewpoint of the Times, or In
clination to support Its posi
tion on the race question. But
it loudly proclaimed tliat
wiiite people read our paper,
white people of no mean-.In-
tellig^tee andg*'!'
A Deeper Season
1 take and read two local
non-Negro papers a day.
Their editorials, as regards
race, fall far short of being
Uberal. But, by reading them,
I at least know what is being
tiiougirt ^ by white people
whose viewpoint those papers
reflect.
Should I decide not to read
them, it will not l>e because "I
am colored, therefore, I do
not want your papers." My
reason would haye to have
rootage in a reality more
solid than racial prejudice.
I trust that the author of the
card which inspired this com
ment did not mean wliat he
said—that ills statement was
just an unfortunate use of
words, that his spirit is not
as little as his words imply,
and that his evaluation of an
idea is not determined by the
color of its originator.
''His Ideo Of Ciril Rights Low Will Destroy
Our World Leodership"
^GEORGIA
iHHCfiOw
•' :n
Spiritual Insight
"FILLING HIS PLACE"
By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAND
PoMtor, Mount GUead BaptUt Church
“To take Vie place in this
ministr]/ from which Judat
turned otide ..." Acts 1:29.
He failed to fill his place
of honor. These are sad and
tragic words. Have you ever
failed in a place of honor?
One of the liighest honors
in the history of man went
to each of those humble men
chosen by Jesus to t>e called
Apostles. Eleven of the chos
en filled tills rare place of
honor with an eternal kind
of glory. But one man had
this place of honor but he
aUed Ignobly, Ye% Judas
failed to fill his place of hon
or granted him by the Son
of God, the Savior of the
world. He betrayed a sacred
trust, and forsook one of his
tory’s rare places of honor in
his spiritual blindness.
Judas failed in his rare
piBffp of honor. Thus his j>lace
had to be filled by another.
It is always a sad affair
when a human being fails to
fill a place of honor. Have
you ever faltered or failed in
a place ot honorT The engi
neer falls at the switch. A
parent slumbers in moral de
cay and lets the cliildren
down. A teacher loses her
self respect and falters with
children committed to his or
her care. Judas failed in ills
place of honor. How did he
lose bis place of honorT In
spiritual blindness he chose
greed rather than sacrifice.
He chose greed rather than
self-forgetting service. Thus
he lost his place of honor and
it had to be filled by another.
Are you living up to the
noble jKMsibilltiea of that
place of honor you holdT
What is your record in your
place of honorT Do you have
the sense of duty required by
your place of honorT Are you
faithfully filling your place
of honorT Are you careless?
Are you really filling tliat
place of honor with honor
and dignityT Do you use that
place of honor selfishly or
are you working 'ifor the
fication and enrichment of
those committed to your
stewardshipT Are you a faith
ful steward in your place of
honorT Are you Just and im
partial in your place of hon
orT Do you work big-hearted-
ly and fairly in your relations
and dealings with othersT
Could it be that you hold
grudges and do spite work in
your place of honor?
Faithfulness in fulfilling a
place of honor brings one of
the deep abiding satisfactions
in tiiijs life. There is no sub-
stiti^
donS
sweet fragrance in the soul.
If you have been honored
with a place of honor, fill it
with dutiful, faithful service.
For this is the way to satis
faction and true fulfillment
in this life.
Strive diligently too fill
your place of honor to the
glory of God and the best
welfare of man. And your
place will not have to be fill
ed by another.
By Robert Spivack
Watch on the
Poto]
Author Chides
Enrin On Civil
Rights Stand
NEW ORLEANS, La.
Miss Wilson Whitman, author
and SCEF board member of
Southern Pines, North Carolina,
wrote to her Senator, Sam J.
Ervin, Jr., chiding him at>out
ills Civil Rights broadcast.
“Please,” Mis* Whitman wrote,
“do not talk as you did on the
air la*t night al>out ‘a govern
ment of laws and not of men.’ ]
“You lee. Senator, this is
preciaely what our civil rights
trouble Involves. If the South
were satisfied with a gov«»4|
ment of law, new legislation i
would be unnecessary.
')..As a fifth generation
SouthernerI imderstand your
fear tliat legialation designed;
to implement voting right*
might also be used to injure
schooling rights, not only for
Delta Negroes but for the white
children in North Carolina who
have a ri^t to leam in school
how to live in friendship with,
other children whose sUn color
is, in the world as a whole,
more popular.
“But let’s 1m honest about it.
Senator—this fe0 is in itsdf an
admission that all along the
line, from schooling to Voting.
Southern men have bean con
ducting a. filibuster against
federal law ever ahice the Dred
Scott decision was nullified.
The Assault On The NAACP
The right of freedom of as
sembly and freedom of asso
ciation is guaranteed by the
U. S. Constitution. The men
who founded tills nation re
duced those guarantees to
writing in the First Amend
ment, which lias come to be
regarded as the cornerstone
of the Bill of Ri^ts.
The right of free assocatlon
Is now under severe attack
in several of the Southern
states. The attack is directed
primarily against the Nation
al Assn. for the Advancement
ot Colored People, in retali
ation for its effective work In
Ijreaking down bias and se
gregation.
The severity of the attack
and the violence it does to
American constitutional guar
antees is l>eing overlooked
these days as the tSreat De
bate over civil rights con
tinues In the U.S. Senate.
Thoae who are concerned
with dvU liberties, a* well
as dvU rights, are, therefore,
indebteded to the American
Jewiah Congress lor compil
ing all the available data in
a booklet entitled, "Assault
Upon Freedom of Assoda-
tion.”
The story begins in the
Spring of 1056. The Attorney
General of Alabama started a
Keep it up if you must but don’t
talk ‘a government ot law in
stead of men,’ or some smart
Yankee will hear you and low-
rate the intelligence (or the
sincerity) of North Carolina.’*
The full text of Miss Wilson’e
letter appears on page two.
lawsuit against the NAACP.
He charged it with failure, as
an out-of-state organization,
to register a copy of its Cer
tificate of Incorporation and
with having broken other
AlatMima laws.
Of course, what he was
really concerned about was
the NAACP’s work in the
Autherine Lucy case and la
ter in the Mratgomery bus
boycott. The organization was
found guilty of contenqtt
(without a Jury trial) and
fined $100,000.
From Alabama the efforts to
“get’’ the NAACP spread
through the South. In Jan.,
1057, the Arkansas legislature
passed two bills designed to
“frustrate” antl-aegregatlon
activity, niey were signed by
Gov. Orval B. Faubus.
Although Faubus is con
sidered a liberal on many
issues, his liberalism was not
apparent this time. Winthrop
Rockefeller, who is very pow
erful in Arkansas politics,
warned Faubus that the state
anti-NAACP laws “would set
up what you mi^t call an
Arkansas gastapo. No organi
zation would be safe from
embarrassment ot an investi
gation and behind closed
doers, too.”
Thi* is «iiat baa happened
in other statea:
Florida—The Govamor was
given new “emergency” au
thority under which be could
cancel a peaceful NAACP
meeting called to discuss
school integration.
Georgia—^The attack bare
has baan via tax statutaa. Al
though Incorporated as a non
profit organization, Georgia
Revenue raided the NAACP’s
office, demanded all records,
including membership lists,
presumably to find out if the
organization “owed any state
taxes.”
S' Louisiana—^The NAACP was
Accused of failing to register
under a 1024 law that applies
to “fraternal, patriotic, chari
table, benevolent, literary,
scientific, athletic, military or
social organizations...” The
law has never been Invoked
against the KKK.
Mississippi—The legislature
established a 12-man State
Sovereignty C-ommlsslon
which Gov. Coleman said
would "enable us during the
next two years to maintain a
successful fight for preser
ving separation of the races
in thi* state." It’s budget is
9290,000.
THE SCAPEGOAT-t-F e w
Southern iwllticians ever
blame themselves or Dixie’s
know-nothings” for racial
tensions. It’s all the doingf ot
thosf "outside agitators’'.
In this connection we are in
clined to agree with the Rev.
Eugene C. Blake, president of
the National Council ot Chur
ches ot Christ:
"No one who knows the
facts can blame the NAACP
for the racial problems in our
country or think of this or
ganization as made up of ex
tensions. It’s all the doings of
opposite the extremists on
the other side who make up
the White Citizens Council
and the Ku Klux Klan.”