Evening star., 1949-06-14
Defender Of ~GradRaiism"
Proposes SEGREGATION Referendum

II has been most interesting 70 me cG-
ing the past months TO read in your columns
letters Anent segregation. The racial cues
ton IS indeed. q delicate tricky subject
hard 70 handle effectively and yet o. in
creasing urgency. The coming fact 0;
D. c. home rule makes II necessary that
we clarity our thinking on this matter and
not 60 OF haE-cocked Most Of the letters
have read seem 10 have been written By
sincere. pubhc-Splrited citizens The ma
jority were anttsegregation and can agree
with much that they have said. At least
! can agree that all people Of al races
should be treated as American citizens.
which is the premise However. ! think IL
Is high time that the other side OF the
question be given. For. never let be
thought that the antisegregation' forces
though much more outSpoken. are also
more numerous IN Washington.
The crux OF the matter 10 me seems 10 be
gradualism VS. immediacy. Great strides
have been made in the past fifty 70 seventy
fve years in the lot OF the colored citizens
OF our Nation Even in the South there IS
simply no comparison between now and.
say. In 1870. And 10 my way Of thinking.
there Is no doubt that there viii be even
greater strides in the future in the mutual
acceptance Of whites and eolored folks. We
should not overlook possible comparisons
with other countries, Admitting that there
is discrimination against the Negro in our
Nation. how much more would there be in
any country Of Europe? Including the
self-styled democratic countries Of Eastern
Europe? One needs only read past history
or do bit Of foreign travel TO understand
the almost unbelievable animoSitieS between
groups there. And it isn't white VS. Negro
but white vs. white. In nearly every case.
far hA
tween opposing groups-the oppressors and
the oppressed. II you will-than between
American whites and American Negroes.
Opposed to Compulsion.
But the trend among antisegregation
forces now seems to be one thing Removal
OF the color line everywhere. especially in
Washington by law. Or. falling that. by
executive decree Of one kind or another.
Witness the recreation controversy between
the Dept Of the Interior and the Recrea-
ton Board. Here q Federal department
supposedly concerned with the affairs OF
forty-eight States mixes into q purely local
affair. Also witness the demand of q New
York Congressman that certain members
on the board vote his way. He's from New
York but he wants to influence the way OF
life in Washington. In other words. force
is the style. When will we ever learn that
thinking cannot be legislated? Rightly or
wrongly. human nature simply will not be
forced to go against impulses and past
customs by law The dismal failure OF the
Volstead Act or Eighteenth Amendment
should have taught us this. II a law Is
passed or an executive order issued which
Is contrary to the real desires Of q sub
stantial portion Of the populace. it will
simply be ignored. For this reason alone.
no Civil Rights measures for instance
could really be enforced In the South. You
can't jail a whole State.
Many of the letters have read contain
what I believe to be fallacies. The first
is the concept Of democracy extant in them
What is democracy? No two people would
define 1t the same way. Perhaps 1t Is
easier to say what it is not. To my way Of
thinking democracy most definitely is not:
Forcibly changing the long established Gus
toms of a community against its will: re-
quiring any one to accept socially or mingle
with people with whom he does not wish to;
forcing a minority program on q majority:
passing any legislation affecting people
when those same people have nothing TO
say about 1t.
Outside Intervention Criticized.
Much is made Of the fact that Wash
ington should be democratic" 1. e.. no
segregation. because it Is the Capital OF
the United States. Who thought this up?
What should count Is how the residents OF
the city feel about it, noticed that in
the social survey made a year or two back
and the Presidents Report most Of those
doing the surveying were out-of-towners.
1t seems to be that the racial problem-if
problem 1t isis considerably different here
from what it would be in Boston or Mime
apolis. Possible tensions frequency OF con-
facts are quite different in a city with a
SO colored population. for instance, and
one with nearer 40%. Most Northerners
are hardly qualified to judge-in any case
there should have been q few more South
erners. And can q New Yorker or Chica-
goan honestly say that in his home town
there Is no discrimination? 1t exists but
in q more subtle form, am told. IL u
illegal-but 1t exists.
II the Home Rule bill passes and the
question ever comes up. which 1t surely
will, there is only one fair way to handle
the segregation question. BY O referen-
dunn II I, as q Washington resident am
to have my environment changed. should
have something to say about 1t. The social
surveyors have had their say. And 1t Is
my opinion that were a referendum on
segregation taken among the white res
idents of Washington. the result would not
even be close. Segregation would be re-
tanned From the defeat OF the Eastland
amendment to the Home Rule bill. 1t would
seem that the antisegregation forces In
Congress fear Just this.
In closing, I would repeat what said
earlier. Social change can and viii be
made, II 1t comes gradually and peacefully.
But good morals. tolerance. and universal
brotherhood cannot be forced. Any coer-
sive measures-even when for a good cause
will surely be disobeyed and win fail as
have others in the past
LIFELONG d. c. RESIDENT
Plea for Caution
About Driving When Sleepy.
To the Editor Of The Star:
Mrs. Mary Sneed's letter in The Star came
to my notice at time when fatal highway
collision witnessed was fresh In my