The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1957-03-22

we call progress does not come
easy and neither does it come over
night.
"While looking over your prof.
ects, for example, noticed that
in 1860, only rs Negroes families
in Person County had telephones.
AS of December 81, last year, ATS
Negro families in the county had
telephones and applications for
1856 others were pending.
Gas you remember, | hope, while
was Governor, 1 was very in
terested in the expansion of tele-
phone service for rural people. 1t
was day-to-day task, and at times
it seemed as though very little
progress was being made.
"But when / saw those figures
for Person County, l realized that
the day-to-day progress might
have seemed small but when a
few years were added together the
results were amazing.
"You have also learned as re-
suit of this contest, l am sure,
that in order to reach the goals you
set you must work together hand
finland with your neighbors and
others who are interested in the
overall progress of the county.
"The list of groups that cooper
ated is long and it touches all
areas of your daily lives. Govern
ment agencies, local, state and
Federal-aA joined in the effort
with churches, schools, farm or
CARNATIONS, civic clubs, banks,
merchants, newspapers, radio sta
tons and many others to help you
attain your goals in this contest.
"The contest showed very clearly
what can be achieved when every
body works together.
"The contest also shows some
thing that is even more important.
1t demonstrates that the people
of North Carolina, the Negroes
and the whites, the farmers and
townspeople, the wage-earners and
the businessmen, know how to
work together in harmony.
"In addition to the cash award
you are getting today, l think the
people of Person County deserve
some sort of award for showing
the world an example of good race
relations in very difficult times.
81 say these are difficult times
for good relations between the
races because it is the truth and
we might as we'll admit it.
events in the South have been
exaggerated in such fashion in
the last year or so that it has
been extremely difficult to main
tain the normally good relations
between the races that we have
had in past years.
"Demagogues in both races have
had field day and they have set
US back a whole generation in the
good relations that we did enjoy
only few years ago.
!. "Day-by-day, there is less and
less room for calmness and a level
/ headed approach to the problems
we have. ;.
Il eve have had too much outside
advice about how to handle the
problems we are capable of hand
ling ourselves.
"We see a lot of glaring head
lines about racial strife and abuses
and injustices, but it is hard to
get across the story of the hard
work both Negroes and whites do
; and do together in such, projects
as the Rural Progress Campaign.
"There have been some regret
table Incidents in the South in the
past two years, but we have been
fortunate here in North Carolina.
We have avoided outbreaks of vio-
lence in spite of the facts our rela-
tons have been sustained.
"Firecrackers have been popping
around us but so far none have
gone off under US.
Somehow we have got to show
the radicals, and there are radical
elements in both races, that set
. ting off bigger and louder fire
crackers is no way of preventing
explosions.
sit is difficult job but we must
make efforts to re-establish the
lines of communication we once
had between the races in North
Carolina and cement the good rela-
tions we have demonstrated in the
past.
! "We have got to show the
trouBemakers that we can solve
our own problems.
"This is very essential because
nobody gets anywhere when each
and every little problem, real or
fancied, is taken into courts for
settlement. Once that chain of
events takes over, then nobody
really wins in the long run.
! Certainly a point of law may
be won or proven, but when the
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