>
Page 4
WINSTON-SALEM
CHRONICLE
NDUBISI EGEMONYE CHARLES T. BYRD, JR.
Publisher Business Editor
ERNEST H. PITT
Editor-in-Chief
ISAAC CARREE, II CHRISTINE DUPONT
Advertising Secretary
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. SATURDAY JANUARY 10, 1976
The Campaign
? Against Dr.King
by Bayard Rustln
. A. Philip Randolph Institute
\ >
"It is no surprise that J. Edgar Hoover hated Martin Luther
- King, Jr. But even in this cynical age accustomed to dirty tricks
and deceit it is shocking to learn the desperate and despicable
lengths Hoover and the FBI went to in order to destroy King.
During the time when I worked with Dr. King, we knew that
the FBI had sent spies into the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference-arid we suspected that we had been bugged as well.
In recent weeks it has been revealed that the FBI went much
further -- that they organized and Carried out a campaign
designed to destroy Dr. King. The FBI tried to prevent a college
from giving King an honorary degree, they hatched a plan to
keep the Pope from granting him an audience, and tri0d to
undermine the financial support for the S.C.L.C. '
The FBI did not stop at trying to destroy King as a civil rights <
leader. Nor did they stop at a slanderous whispering campaign
planned to destroy Dr. King's personal reputation. They went
so far as to send a note and taoe recording to Kina in 1
* O O ? """ WV'
in an effort to drive him to suicide.
Paradoxically the revelations about Hoover's six-year
campaign to destroy Dr. King make it clear that it was not
King's reputation that was damaged by this effort but the
reputation of Hoover and the FBI. Hoover's suspicions about
King, if they could be called that, tell us more about him than
about King.
Certainly in his later years Hoover was a petty man, jealous oi
his reputation, and deeply resentful of any criticism. It is
unclear what aroused Hoover's suspicion of King, but perhaps
it was the very largeness and charity of King's character.
If it could be said that King and Hoover were foes, the way in
which they conceived of their contest and the manner in which
they reacted to each other show the stark contrasts between the
quality of man that each was. While Hoover used a federal
agency to carry on a personal vendetta against King, Martin
was engaged \n a great battle for social justice through
nnn-iitnloMAA I ?'
ivii -vivsiv'iiVrC anu v.nrisu4Jp IOVC.
^ One incident during my ten year association with Dr. King
illustrates this difference. Apparently angered by Dr. King's
criticism of the FBI for appointing conservative agents to
investigate civil rights violations in the South, Hoover publicly
attacked King as the "biggest liar" in the country. Many of
King's advisors, myself included, urged Martin to make a
counterblast at Hoover, demanding that Hoover produce
evidence to back his charge.
But public denunciation was completely alien to Martin's
character. Whenever someone was in error and especially when
they wrongly attacked him, Martin always sought a personal
conference to attempt to reconcile the differences. Thus he met
with Hoover and asked the FBI chief to explain just what he had
done that Hoover considered deceitful. Hoover, of course, was
unable to supply any basis for his attack.
I don't imagine that Martin would have been too alarmed at
;he knowledge that the FBI was out to destroy him. What would
have distiirhr*H Kim o*\A ti;Uof A * ?1? * - ?A -11
? ? ?. wu ukvi ?? uai 3MUUIU uisiuiu u9> iuu<iy 1 b Ifldl ?LII
the time and effort devoted to tearing down King could have
>?aved the lives of many people who were killed during the great
crusade to gain civil rights.
The good that men do does live long after they have died. Dr.
King did mu^h good in his life. It is our responsibility to make
sure that that good continues and that it be expanded. For what
King did wiU be regarded one hundredyears from now as one of
the greatest contributions to mankind. Martin took the strategy
of non-violence a step even beyond Gandhi. He showed that it is
possible for a minority using the principles and tactics of
non-violence to win concessions from the majority, an effort
Gandhi attempted but failed to achieve in South Africa. He
showed that it is possible to secure justice and realistic to dream
of a better world. . (
-v
. \
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
Jul
Trl
r~ irnm
V(r*o
To Be Equal \
? _
Three main themes will
dominate the course of the
new year, and they are all
interrelated. How the nation
handles them will tell a great
deal about what kind of a
people we are and what sort of
future we'll have.
First, 1976 is the Bicentennial
Year. After all the hoopla
and fanfare over the past
several months, the real thing
has finally arrived.
It started early with last
summer's displays of fake
militia battles and wearing
revolutionary-era costumes
and in the coming months
we'll be hearing a lot about
America's struggle for freedom
200 years ago.
But if that's all we hear,
chalk the Bicentennial down
as another commercialized
non-event to be yawned at and
ignored.
If America's birth 200 years
ago is taken seriouslv. th??
Bicentennial ought to be an
occasion of putting our society
under the microscope and
analyzing our shortcomings as
well as our triumphs, the work
that still needs to be done to
attain our ideals, as well as
celebrating the progress
we've made.
Above all, it should be the
occasion to come to grips with
the gravity of America's
historic racial injustices. The
44liberty" the colonist fought
for did not include their black
slaves and blades have
continued to be excluded from
the fruits of this society while
being disproportionately included
in its dirty work and its
poverty statistics.
So instead of blind
celebration, the Bicentennial
I SCEAie bp
s>9,.
(_OfrtPA
APftw. % *c'b*'
^rtor &/
vrn?v. <sru.
I./. II , "||
.LY Pu II e<^
Vernon E. Jordon.Jr
ought to be a period of rational
discourse, reflection and formulation
of action plans to
overcome the heritage of
racisfn^
The second 1976 theme
ought to reinforce that. This is
a presidential election year
and already we're heavily into
political debate with both
parties fielding a full slate of
contestants for the top prize
and more waiting in the
wings.
Ideally, a presidential
election ought to be an
educational experience for the
nation, with lines drawn on
issues instead of personalities
and an opportunity given for
full citizen participation not
only in choosing candidates
but also in debating the key
issues.
This election looms even
more important for the future
because of the presence of
extremist candidates in both
parties whose hidden message
is dismantling of social
programs and halting black
progress at home while
pursuing military adventures
abroad.
I have faith though, that the
American people are sensible
enough to reject demagogues
and send them a message of
their own, namely that there's
no room in a progressive
country for dubious leadership
devoted to fomenting racial
hatred and economic warfare
against poor and moderate
income people.
But it's a long way till
election time, and months till
the conventions, and there's
little evidence to suggest that
the coming campaign will be
devoted to rational, issue
Janiuuy 10, 1976 l
ijJsJ
~ -r ? I
oriented politics that explains
alternative policies and the
reasons for them. Our
elections have all too often
turned into circus events
dominated by personality and
media manipulations. It would
be sad if this one too,
degenerated into another lost
opportunity to build an
educated citizenry that understands
the complex issues our
nation faces;
The final theme of 1976 is
bound to be a campaign issue
itself, and that is the economic
Depression that's doggeg the
country for over a year-and-ahalf.
Real income is down and
unemployment is up and our
mismangled economy hasn't
shown any real signs of
coming out of the slump.
So the time is ripe for
candidates to tell us what they
plan to do to increase
economic opportunities for
blacks, minorities and poor
whites who have been frozen
out of the system. It is clear
that the old economic rules
don't work any more and that
it will take massive job-creation
programs to get people
back to work again, and I
predict that candidates honest
enough to spell this out will do
a lot better than those' who
keep repeating that everything's
all right, it's just that
several million people can't
find work and maybe they're
too lazy to.
So it all shapes up as a
potentially crucial year for our
nation, certainly an interesting
one. Which may not be too
comforting though, since
4'may you have an interesting
year," is an old Chinese
saying used as a curse!