Arizona sun., 1948-07-23
Dixiecrats Organize Jim Crow Party
CHRISTIAN LEADER GIVES AMEN

the rights of man in Philadelphia's
Convention Hall, a daZed group of
Southerners took the long count
and rose at what seemed to have
been Clusters Last Stand" to
pitch a rebellious political cam
paign in their own behalf.
Meeting in Birmingham, Ala
bama, the Southerners went into a
huddle to organize a Jim crow par
ty and came out with the following
announcement: Gov. J. Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina was
chosen candidate for president, and
Gov. Fielding Wright of Mississippi
was selected as vice-presidential
nominee and running mate of
Thurmond.
Endorsements to the civil rights
legislation proposed by President
Truman at the Democratic Con-
vention brought about the parting
of the ways on the part of the die
hard states Fighters.
The mapping of such program
is a direct move by the Dixiecrats
to defeat President Truman. To do
this, it is indicated that leaders of
the movement in the different
states would seek to place Thur
mond-Wright ticket on the ballot
in opposition to Truman. In some
states they will ask the state con-
ventionS to place Anti-Truman
electors on the ballot as the regu-
lar democratic slate.
Accepting the Dixie draft" with
Gov. Fielding Wright of Mississip-
pi as his running mate, the 45-year
old Thurmond asserted:
1--WE believe that there are not
enough troops in the army to force
the southern people to admit the
negroes into our theaters, SWIM
ming pools and homes"
The action appeared to make
the South's split from the regular
Democratic party irrevocable in
the foreseeable future.
The Dixiecrats, however, held
out an invitation to all states to
send delegations to another con-
ference here next October 1. The
convention loudly endorsed plans
to put up opposing electoral states
in Is southern and border states,
including Mr.. Truman's and Sen.
Alben Barkley's own.
Bitter denunciation of Mr.. Tru-
man and the Philadelphia "civil
rights convention echoed through
the Birmingham municipal audi
torium as the states rights"
took the plunge with
Thurmond and Wright, for better
or for worse.
After the acceptance speeches,
the Dixiecrats adjourned their one
day meeting in a roar of rebel
yells while the band played Dixie.
Gerald L. K. Smith, director of
the Christian Nationalist Crusade,
says he will urge his organization
to support the South in its states
rights campaign.
Smith said he attended Satur-
days states rights conference as a
delegate from Oklahoma. He now
lives in Tulsa.
He said he has called "a conven-
ton of my followers" in st. Louis,
2O-21 when he will ''recom-
mend to our leadership that they
the states rights principle
in every state"
However, Thurmond refused an
offer of support from the Christian
Nationalist Party, headed by Ger
aid Smith.
Thurmond emphasized in an in
terview that the states rights
movement "is not based on racial
hate nor on racial prejudice"
When informed of Thurmond's
statement, Smith, said at Birming-
ham, Ala, that he was "amazed
that Thurmond fails to realize that
the racial issue is the issue in the
Southern revolt"
Thurmond charged that the
South has been stabbed in the
back by an accidental president
with his desire to win the support
of a minority blow" He said the
Continued on Page 81