St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1947-12-12

crow is the worst ever WOW
conscience.
How did l learn this? Well, /
travelled the worst crazyquilt bus
circuit ever attempted by a think
ing man who values his life and
well-being and hopes to return TO
his destination in one physical piece.
started my trip at Savannah,
Georgia, where ! hustled into the
bus terminal to buy a ticket. I'm
agine my surprise when | crossed
the threshold only TO learn that
eOlOred patrons must buy tickets
and check their bags in the
white Waiting Room" and then
hustle back into q tiny niche to
wait until bus time.
After your notification Of the ar
rival Of the bus you must scramble
out the back door and dash to the
front Of the building, board the
bus, and then slump back in ex-
haustion on the rear seat as the
vehicle plods through the night.
Rough road signaled your arrival
in Brunswick, Georgia. There you
enter a tiny closet with glaring
letters shouting "C0L0RED." You
enter. There are two identical
washrooms, but there Is a catch to
II. To enter one exposes all occu-
pants, whether male or female, to
the full view Of those hapless
travellers sitting in the cubicle.
But waltz You haven't claimed
your baggage yet. To do this you
must 90 In the white Waiting
Room" where IL il all right to
buy q newspaper and claim your
bags, but 70 eat you must 20 10
the opposite end Of the building
and enter still another door, then
stand while the eOlOred waitress
goes TO the white waiting room to
get your food.
Now, you buy your ticket through
. tiny window hole in the "Colored
Waiting Room" and go back into
the 'White Waiting Room" and
check your bags and you're of
again.
At Waycross, Georgia, you are
stunned. You see women loading
trunks and suitcases In the back Of
. bus. The trunk Is one Of those
massive steamers used by travelling
statesmen. The women strain and
grunt while the bus drivers look on.
Yet, the bus station Is as isolated
from their lives as q trip TO the
moon.
Alighting from the bus, you
look In vain for the "COlOred
No compassion, no mercy in those
Rlances.
Then the women took the
trunk key, locked the back Of the
bus, and wheeled the truck to-
wards the trunkro0m. A few sec
Onds later they were sweeping
and hopping around the bus sta
ton.
Before left I saw them hosting
another trunk into the back Of n
bus.
Waycross fiagrantly violates
Negro rights. You have to stand
at n window out-of-doors TO pur-
chase a bus ticket. Tackled on the
back Of this station is the eolored
waiting room. Here they keep the
mops and the brooms and cleaning
equipment. You stumble over these
and you are in your seat. Yet, to
check your bags you must hustle
In the white Waiting Room" Then
you're off again.
You have q half-dozen rest
stops at tiny towns where there
are no separate facilities for
eolOred and white people. At one
you see eOlOred and white people |
seated together eating and drink
ing In Rmiable fellowship.
You travel on. 0cilla, Georgia,
Is your next stop. You alight. ONE |
waiting room. Negroes and whites
seated back-to-baek at this one.
You buy your ticket at the same
booth with the whites. You check
your bags the same way. You get |
on at the same spot. This town is |
. study in contrast.
Fitzgerald, Georgia, Is the next |
stop. Separate waiting rooms. The
one for eolored people is in the rear. |
You buy your tickets in the white
waiting room. You check your bags
and you're Oft again.
You're on the last lap Of your
journey home, now. Macon, Georgia,
looms like a massive jewel as your
bus sweeps through the night.
Now, here Is a paradox. The bus
station is situated in the Harlem"
area Of Macon. Sepia ladies' and
gentlemen parade in bright finery.
Waiting Room" After you bolt
into the white Waiting Room"
purchase \ ticket, check your
bags, and prepare to embark for
Atlanta, the bus driver siEnaIed
for q cop.
You're in the arms Of the lawll
The gendarme banks THAT Civil
Rights report don't mean nothing
10 Us down here. You can't break
the Jim Grow lawsl" Three hours
later we have paid our fine Of
eleven bucks and made a dash for
the railroad station.
Now, back, where I started. You
have TO be a prophet to divine your
way about the South. Segregation
Il q erazyquilt There Is no uni