The guardian., 1951-02-24


the Governor would see four
more Of us. He specifically re-
| fused TO see Mrs. Josephine
Grayson, wife of one of the
Martinsville martyrs and mother
of five children. The four that
were selected were Rev. l.
Cicero Weddington of the Inter
denominational Ministers ALI
ance Of Gary, md; Mrs. Anne
Shore, director OF the Michigan
Civil Rights Congress; Mrs.
Mary Bihlo, representing youth;
and myself.
! Governor Battle is a tall
jowly character, sleepy -eyed and
deadly in expression. He lis
tened wit hbored patience to
our pleas for the lives OF the
seven innocent colored men. His
own answers to us displayed the
degenerate white supremacist
attitudes responsible for the
legal murders of colored citizens
He told us placidly that the
schools for colored children in
Martinsville 'are among the
best schools for colored that
have seen" In one breath he
condoned jim Crow schools and
made vicious attacks against
Mrs. Grayson, while in the next
breath he blandly told us that
"the fact that they are coll
ored is utterly irrelevant"
When we told the Governor
that we represented millions OF
people in the United States and
throughout the world, his answer
was that we were all suckers
Of "red propaganda" tAnd let
US note in passing that our ma
tional commercial press, in max
ing the same red-baiting at
tacks against the national cru
sade to save the Martinsville
Seven, has been doing job for
the most vicious jim Grow OPP
preSsionists in the South.
When we raised questions
about the legality of the trial,
the Governor told us that it was
one of the fairest trials of which
he had ever heard.
What actually were the facts
about this "fair" trial? It was
a closed court, barred even to
the relatives of the seven men,
The defense lawyers were court
appointed, and each had busi-
ness and social connections with
both the Judge and the proSecut-
ing attorneys. The confessions
were extorted from the Martins
vile Seven by the threat: Sign
here or wen turn you over to
the crowd outside" One of the
Seven said later, "We decided
that we would rather die in the
electric chair than be torn
/ apart by lynch mob"
Rev. Weddington told the Gov
ernor ia white woman who
SCREENED "rape" to save herself
from legal prosecution as a
prostitute. Gov. Battle angrily
! interrupted him: "If you are
making any insinuations about
the character of this woman
(Mrs. Ruby Stroud, who pressed
charges against the Severn, you
may leave right now. won't
hear of it. She is woman OF
/ high character :" We assured
the Governor that the millions
| of people throughout our coun-
/ try and the world who looked
to him to stop this legal lynch
ing would not be prevented by
| his assurances about Mrs. Stroud
What they saw was that he had
hidde nher. (He admitted that
she was in hospital in a near
by state).
/ We told him that these same
millions sharply questioned the
/ fairness of the all-white court
4 trial and that they would be
satisfied only with a new trial
The Governor would not bulge
To him. clearly, the men were
guilty because they were col
ored. To the 10000 Americans
who had sent petitions asking
for full pardon. as to us, ne
answered you're wasting your
/ breath.
He did not say, then, that
he would not grant stays OF
execution. We therefore left
the Governor. filled with some
hope We felt that we had
softened him a little not
softened his heart, for that was
made OF flint, but softened him
as Joe Louis would soften his
opponent we were 500 AM
erican citizens, representing
thousands and millions.
If we worked hard enough, we
I felt. perhaps, we could yet save
/ the Martinsville Seven.
And now we must work all
/ the harder to prevent more Mar
/ tinsville murders. In building
the colored-white unity that
/ alone can stop more legal lynch
ings. we white people have so
much to learn. Let me illus
trate that with a personal ex-
perience.