Evening star., 1957-12-22
BY RELMAN MORN

1cSA6OENA COQNI1, Miss
This is the Deep South.
This is the Delta. fiat and fer
tile. formed by the mighty Missis-
.slppi. draining a continent.
Dropping willows fringe the
bayous. Pintail ducks and beaver
forage in the reeds. Deep in the
plantation. you hear the dogs bay
ing on the scent Of fox. The
water snake watches his enemies.
man and animal. with eyes Of
frozen hatred.
This is the land Of cotton and
sharecroppers.
Here, in some counties, the
Negro outnumbers the white man
by three to one. and more.
The rickety. weather. worn
shacks lining sandy country roads
often house Negro families of 10
and IL in two rooms.
1t Is here, in the Delta. that the
great social struggle over inte-
grating the schools stands out.
stripped to the raw. The Supreme
Court ruling Little Rock
Nashville the bombings and
beatings all take on a new
and special meaning In the Delta.
Shorp Perspective
Here you feel the full force Of
the words Of q Southern educator.
Prof. A. d. Albright Of Kentucky:
"Integration Is more important
70 the Negroes than the white
man realizes. and segregation Is
more important to whites than
the Negro realizes"
Integration viii be a long time
coming to the Delta. People.
white and Negro alike. guess 10
years. 80 years. so years. Some
whites say never" They agree
on an important point-that the
cropping first efforts of interracial
groups to find solutions to the
many-sided school problem are
now at a standstill.
They say the Supreme Court
ruling Of 1854 first slowed these
moves. and that the use Of Federal
troops at Little Rock brought them
to a stop.
There is less haison now than
at any time since I've lived in
MisSissippi-22 years." says Hod-
ding Carter. publisher and his
torian who Is widely known for
his writings on the South. Re
ligious and educational groups
had made some beginnings. But
we're back at arms length now"
Father John LaBauve. Negro
priest Of the Roman Catholic
Church in the all-Negro COM
munity Of Mound Bayou. said:
There was q growing DISPOSE
tion to meet on an equal basis. as
American citizens. prior to 1854.
This has been set back. tempo
rarily. by the Supreme Court rul-
ing. As for Little Rock, We def
nitely feel it was an unfortunate
occurrence. That's not the same
as saying it was not justified. But
1t upset and disturbed q great
many Negroes"
The original White Citizens
Council, extreme segregationist
group. was formed In Mississippi.
at the Delta town Of Indianola.
July IL. 1854. by IA men.
Attitudes Stiffen
Since Little Rock. they say.
sentiment has hardened as never
before. You hear this everywhere
In the South.
What about the feeling Of the
Negro communities in the Delta?
A Negro professional man in
Louisiana. who asked not to be
identified. said this:
Not even q Negro can say he
knows what q Negro feels today.
In my judgment. though. our peo-
pie are split into three groups.
First. there are those who feel this
thing should be fought out. Bit
terly. right now. A second group
feels that movement, progress. is
the important thing. AS long as
the ball is rolling. they say. it
should be kept rolling. but they
want to make it as painless as pos
sible. Finally. there are those who
have not allowed themselves to
think about 1t. They are concerned