St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1948-12-24

Last month I was sitting il
son, Mississippi. Percy Greene Il
the editor who has spanked the
night for Negro suffrage In Mis-
sissippi; he openly fought the late
Senator Bilbo, and had as much
as anybody else TO do with bring
ing down on Bilbo the Senatorial
investigation which cost him his
seat in the Senate in 1947. Every
reactionary in Mississippi knows
Percy Greene and what he stands
for.
Percy Greene was speaking In
VlCIIsburE that evening. About
5 o'clock he stopped In IN auto
mobile and started across Mis-
sIsslPpi In the night, Just the
same as II he had been closing
his office and going home TO
dinner.
am not unmindful that in the
baclVwoods Of Georgia at least
two men have been lynched this
fall because they urged Negroes
to vote; and there may have been
more lynchings in other places be-
cause lynching has gone under
ground in the South.
But 1t does mean something
that Percy Greene feels secure
enough to drive across Mississippi
at night, make q speech against
race discrimination; Just as 1t is
significant that white citizens of
Georgia are taking the lead in de-
manding that the lynchers in the
two cases cited be brought to JUS
tice.
White men and black men are
challenging segregation at places
in the South today without being
terrorized. Jehovah's Witnesses
distributed their tracts against
violence during war time. Seventh
Day Adventists refused to work
in war factories on Saturdays. A
majority Of the people Of this
country oppose communism and
the witch-hunt against commu-
nists at the same time. The record
for civil liberties In the United
States is not perfect, but it Is
good.
This means that by and large,
taking them as q whole, the Amer
lean people are decent and toler-
ant. Even when they disagree with
what you say, they let you say 1t.
Instinctively they fight fair and
in the open.
Colored people as q minority
would be in an awful fix II this
were not 30. II the 90 per cent
white population was sohdly de-
termined to crush the 10 per cent
colored population. the ten per
cent would not have much chance.
History shows there has never
been a solid white block against
Us. skip the big names such as
John Brown, Elijah Lovejoy, VIII
liam Lloyd Garrison, Charles
sumner, Thaddeus Stevens and
men like them. 1 am thinking of
the hundreds Of ordinary white
men and women who served as
conductors on the underground
railway before the Civil War; the
throngs Of white people who riot
ed in the streets to prevent the
recapture Of fugitive slaves; the
thousands who enlisted In the I'm
ion Army because they hated
slavery, and were willing to die
to stamp 1t out
Sometimes we react 30 violently
to prejudice and the discrimina-
tons imposed on US by some white
people that we forget there are
other thousands of white church
people, organized labor people,
students and Just plan citizens to-
day, South as well as North, who
are ceaselessly fighting every
form Of discrimination based on
race, creed or national origin a.
inconsistent with Christian moral
ity and democratic principles.
There Is a lot to complain about
in this country and 1 intend TO
keep on complaining to the very
end. But when think of all the
decent white people there are, I
am still content TO take my
chances with the U. 8. A.
AMERICAN SCENE"
nv TOLTAy EIurNTTX CLARKE