Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1957-02-01

They are ON tho brink of being
unable TO thina their own
thoughtaH tho fiery Negro leader
asserted in speech which also
attacked President Eisenhower for
not using his high office" TO
curb lawleSaneaa and violence n
Rainst the Negro In the South.
OF the situation OF the white
southetner. wilkins added
Their ministers are not free TO
preach unless their aermona up
hold segregation Even those who
believe In segregation, but do not
believe In the wild words and tho
cowardly crimes Of the eNtremlats,
do not dare 10 offer mild dis.
sent"
The NAACP officer said tho
President can aee the plight of the
Hungariana, no gives the drouth
area his personal attention, but no
chooses TO remain Ailent while
American citizens are being blud-
geonod out OF their freedoms and
their rights"
wilkins said "onr churches have
been bombed, our ministers ar
rested, our boys and girls driven
from school by mobn, our families
uprootcd and made to flee for
their lives" and no rebuke has
come from any high official.
lie added The wave Of terror
and Intimidation that has swept
sections OF the South In recent
weeks without rabuke from our
president OF from any other re-
sponnible federal or local official
la a rsproach 90 our nation and 10
human decency."
wilkins noted that 0eorgia's
Gov Marvin unffin. In q recent
address TO the legislature. called
for ths preservation OF racial seg.
rsgation mo matter what any
court may rule"
By this declaration. wilkins
said. Griffin was telling NIL ir.
responsible elements In Georgia.
and indeed. IN the south. that they
need not pay attention TO the
courts. He was giving green
light 10 the hoodlunH The dyna-
miter, the Hniper. the poison pen
artists. tho cross burner and tho
run Of the min mobatar have all
been given absolutlon In advance
by Gov. Griffin and others like
him In high places who speak NJ
he has spoken
Referring 10 an iron pattern Of
conformity" In tha South, tho
NAACP official pointed out that
despite all tho talk about settling
these matters thegregationl on the
local level. certain states are not
permitting local action"
Georgia was among the first
states 10 pass law cutting off
funds for any school which admits
a Negro. even in response 10 a
court order. White people In tho
South are finding o,It that their
bosses nj the top. much like tho
bosses nj the top In Moscow, will
crush any expression of freedom
Al the local and community level
''rhs method IL adopted by pri"
vats groups operating AT thu thug
level, and by legislatures operat-
ng ut the ao-calied legal level.
nggest that thc leaders are not no
sure that II communities had a
free choice all of them would defy
The Supreme Court" he continued.
We may yet have a sort Of Hun
tansn revolution over this quas-
ions. for II In Uncomfortable that
White southornsra Will submit in
definitely 81 tho stultifying gags
icing stuffed down their throats"
As for southern Negroes. VIII
slna declared Il do not have 10
emind you that the Negro citizen
tas also suffered during this dark
me. lie has been an easy target.
specially since his attackers have
zen assured IN front that they
rli suffer no punishment for their
seeds
The officisl cited bombinRs, AR
aaia mob violence, shotgun
blasts, threats and economic pres
sure directed against Negroes.
But, hs said. nothing that has
been done thus far has frightened
any Negroes from their deter
minati0n 90 secure their rights"
He pointed 10 Montgomery. Ala,
aA An example Of Negroes who
tho struggle 10 attain
rights after the MA
ACI>was barred from the state.
1T does little good 20 bar the
he asserted. The truth
Of the matter In that this kind Of
action only makes our people more