Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-13

low his name to be used. Some came
close but changed their minds.
Better leave me out of it," said
a middle-aged farmer Of about 100
acres. who changed his mind. after
all. I got niggers on my place. I
got to get along with them.
Matter Of fact. there isn't a place
in the whole country where niggerS
and whites get along better. We've
got no hard feelings. I've gotten up
in the middle of the night to drive
them to the doctor or do some other
favor.
1.-THE niggers themselves don't
want integration. They want things
equal for them and that ought to be.
But they don't want to mix with us
any more than we want to mix with
them"
MY girls will never go to school
with niggerS." said tall, barrel
cheSted Storekeeper. "The Bible says
the Lord never intended for the
races to mix"
Asked where the Bible said that,
the man looked annoyed, said he
couldn't rightly remember at the
moment and walked of.
A pretty, white school teacher said
integration may work in the North
but couldn't in the South.
1--WE got so many Of them here, :"
she explained. 1T would be bad.
"Your Northern Negro may be diff
ferent. Down here their morals are
low. There are very few you can
trust. I'd hate to have a big Negro
boy in my class. If he got mad he
might pull knife"
A middle-aged farm woman, a
lady with charm and dignity, who
occupies a house more than $50
years old, politely but firmly refused
to discuss the subject beyond say
ing:
eff Mrs. Roosevelt likes the Negroes
so much let her come down here
and live with them. We're dead set
against any mixing"
A lawyer leaned back in his swivel
chair and said that what was needed
was calm appreciation Of the prob
lem by the North.
cts been said before but it's still
true" he said. "You in the North
love Negroes as q class but deSpiSe
them as individuals.
1--WE take individual Negroes into
our family-they cook for us, they
raise our children, and we're loyal
to them and they to us. But we
don't want the whole class forced
on U.S."
One farm woman agreed at first
that she could be quoted by name.
She said she had only the kindlieSt
intentions toward Negroes, that they
were entitled to equal educational
opportunity, that they themselves
preferred to be by themselves, and
that Northerners had to understand
that Southern Negroes are different.
81 declare, we've got to keep the
two races separate down here. If
they mingle in the schools, they'll
want to mingle in the churches and
the drugstores and everything. Now,
what's that going to lead to but
intermarriage?"
A little later, the woman grew
uneasy. The next morning she said
she had thought the whole thing
over and preferred that her name
be left out of the story.
The Negro Attitude
With the whites feeling the way
they do, what's it like to be Negro
in the Summerton area?
The question was put to the fam
lily Of William Hilton, 4S-year-old
tenant farmer. who has Is children.
Mr.. Hilton says he feels no bitterness
to white people in the area. He rec
ognizes, he says, that they can't help
feeling the way they do any more
than he can. He is an active member
Of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and
feels that segregation in all forms
should end.
It would be difficult to tell wheth-
er majority of the Negroes in Sum-
merton share Mr.. Hilton's views.
Some say they want segregation to
continue as long as facilities are
equal. Some are against it. Many
won't say either way.
Economically, the Hiltons would
seem to represent O. middle-claSs
Negro farm family In this area.
Some families, especially share
troopers. live in smaller, shabbier
Shacks. Some. especially those who
own their own farms. live in bigger.
better houses complete with modern
conveniences.
The HiltonS have o six-room
frame house under q roof Of gal
vanized tin. in the shade Of two
huge oaks. Outside. the house has
q thin coat Of paint. which makes
it better than many. Inside, there is
no paint. no plumbing. no electricity.
One room has irregular wall paper.
In the others, along the walls and
the floors, you can see daylight be-
tween the bare wooden planks.
Behind the home stands q sag
ging clubhouse. Q smokehouse and
two small barns. The family con-
veyance is q pickup truck. Three
mules provide the mobile force for
farm work.
Mr.. Hilton supplies the equip
ment, the mules, fertilizers and
other materials. His white landlord
who owns many farms n the area