Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-18
SUSPICION
Writer Finds
YouCun'tGo
Home Again
SUSPICION
By Benz PRICE

BIRMINGHAM, Aa.-The real
story In the deep South today 10 Q
state Of mind.
The stories of Autherine ]. Lucy.
the White Citizens Councils, the
Montgomery bus boycott and nulli-
fication are only manifestations.
This is a story more felt than said.
I was born and reared in the
South; in fact, right here. For "a
years Birmingham was home. I
lived II years in Atlanta.
Like most Southern kids of mid
dle-class background. had a Negro
nurse, a strong willed and wonder
full woman named Annie Watkins.
Annie was a sort of second
mother. She put me to bed. fed me.
spanked me when she thought it
necessary and, occasionally. she
would sneak me off to her home
on Alley &C" for a plate of turnip
greens, buttermilk and corn bread.
have always thought that. as
much as anyone, I understood
Southerners, white and Negro.
When come back to Birmingham
I am not a stranger, though l must
admit that former friends some
times view me with suspicion as
one who now lives outside the re-
gion and who has been exposed to
liberal" ideas.
Secession Discussed
Since I have been back, I have
been to suppers where people sit
around and calmly discuss the
possibility of secession. They are
not rabble-rousers. They are we'll
educated, middle-class folk who are
the backbone of any community.
have heard old friends, warmed
by bourbon or two, say angrily
that there aren't enough Federal
troops in the Nation to make the
South swallow the May IT, 1854,
decision by the United States Su-
preme Court that school segrega-
ton is unconstitutional.
In other moments I have heard
friends profess total lack of faith
in Federal court justice if the case
involves race.
I spent more than an hour one
afternoon searching for Nat - I
never knew his last name - who
took care of the city park across
the street from my home. Nat was
the best friend boy could have.
He was a Negro.
Nat is dead, 1 learned. and
though I chatted for awhile with
his successor, found the old easy
relationship I thought I had with
Negroes was gone. I was regarded
with frank distrust.
There is more to this distrust
than just this conversation. AS I
have Travelled about the South I
have more and more felt that the
once easy, often cordial relation
ships between whites and Negroes
are disappearing.
To me there is a real tragedy
building in the South. The white
men and Negroes of good will are
growing farther and farther apart.
There is a toughness about tho
mental attitudes of some Negroes
have met that is alien to my child
hood and youth.
No Middle Ground
Here I feel strongly pressures
mounting for people to choose sides
in what they apparently are certain
is the coming battle. If you are not
for segregation, you are against 1t.
There is no middle ground.
I went to Charles Nice, friend.
a lawyer and a State representa-
tive. Charley's father was the at
tending physician at my birth.
Charles, SO. is former law clerk
for a Federal judge. He counts
himself a moderate on this race
question. Further. he is a man Of
considerable political courage.
He was the only representative
to vote against the freedom Of
choice" school bill which would
permit the Legislature to set up,
white. Negro and mixed" schools.
His reasoning, he said, was
simple: 1--WE can't afford two school
systems very well, and know we
can't afford three"
Representative Nice was one Of
four men who voted against the
Alabama House resolution declaring
the Supreme Court decision null.
void and of no affect
Over a cup of coffee, Charley
said, "In my opinion the Supreme
Court decision was unwise and
untimely, but the appeal is an
archy."
Charley believes that Gov. James
E. Folsom's plan to establish an
interracial committee is good, "but
he can't put his old cronies on it.
They must be men, preferably con-
sentative men, who will act with
dignity"
If such men can be found, Char
ley thinks, Alabama-and the South
can work out it's racial problems,
particularly if the extremists on
both sides will just shut up for
awhile. People like Charley Nice
are few in the South.
Pressure to Continue
Further. there is little likelihood
that the pressure for or against
segregation will be removed.
The Citizens Councils, dedicated
to the preservation of segregation,
continue to grow. In North Ala
bama alone they claim So councils
with a membership of about $4,000.
The council movement originated
in Mississippi and now has spread
across the entire South. 1t is not
a moderate movement.
My chief impression here is that
the ground is being cut from under
those who, while opposed to inte-
grafton, believe the Supreme Court
ruling must be obeyed.
These are the "gradualists"-
the people who believe that given
20 to so years indignation can be