St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1958-08-01

are ignorant people. And there are
many Americans who have never
thought seriously about the ma
Sture of our democracy. Many are
oblivious to the fact that Negroes
have never received their fun share
Of this democracy.
According TO a Roper Poll in
1850, the Negro vote has been
determining factor in the change
in public opinion on the subject
OF segregation. And the NAACP
has been the force behind the eN-
tension Of voting privileges to
Negroes. In fighting laws aimed at
DISTINGUISHING the Negro, the
NAACP has also aided many
whites who were Disseminated
against at the polls And no mat
ter what its opponents have
against the association. they must
admit that It operates with COM
plete legality through due process
Of law. This fact is uppermost
in my mind as think OF what the
NAACP means to me.
Operating within the confines of
the law is a slow, tedious process,
Using the courts as battlefield
and the constitutional rights Of
Negroes for artillery, the NAACP
has forged ahead, like a clock tick
ing steadily through a violent
storm. The association has wealth
cred many storms and is still tick
ing. The NAACP won't stop until
its goals are reached. AS the clock
ticks away the hours, days and
years, we move closer and closer
to that year-1963, the Tooth an
niversary Of emancipation.
BY then, the NAACP hopes to
. have erased all forms of discrim-
nation and TO have secured full
Pledged citizenship for Negroes
And II, by chance, the NAACF
falls short of its goals, II will
calmly wind the clock and begin
anew. That's the way the NAACF
is--never giving up or going back
but moving onward and upward
But have no doubts that thu
associations goals in the sky viii
be reached, The NAACP makes III
middle name -- advancement-comt
alive. As we progress, see that
day when the fatherhood OF God
and the brotherhood of man will
become a reality. In the year
1887, Alfred Lord Tennyson looked
to the years ahead
yet I doubt not thro' the ages
one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are
wideped with the process Of
the suns.
Men, my brothers, men the
workers, ever reaping some
thing new:
That which they have done,
but earnest Of the things that
they shall do.
mot in vain the distance bea-
cons. Forward, forward let US
range.
Let the great world spin for
ever down the ringing grooves
Of change
For / dipt into the future, far
as human eye could see.
Saw the vision Of the world
and all the wonder that would
be. &C.. the war-drlm throbb'd
no longer, and the battle flags
were furld
In the Parliament Of Man, the
Federation of the World.
There the common sense Of
most shall hold a fretful realm
in awe,
And the kindly earth shall
slumber. lapt in universal law"
What does the NAACP mean
to me? II means that Tennyson's
visions, Minnijean Browns vision,
the vision Of Negroes in Mont
gomery. Clarendon County and Ne
grOes everywhere, the visions Of
men who died and were killed for
our cause-some simply because
they were NAACP members-your
visions and my visions Of a true
democracy win become a reality.
II means hope. courage, advance;
victory through non-violence. II
means that mems thoughts win be
widened; IL means that the dis
lance doesn't beacon in vain and
forward win be the only way for
Negroes TO range. And that the
world win keep spinning. ringing
out the grooves Of change in our
social patterns as well as our
thinking. The reality Of an eternal
freedom and true democracy. the
reality Of doors that never close.
roads that never have detour signs,
the reality Of an America where
the common sense Of most shall
rule, an America that can slumber.
deep in the Supreme law-thats
what the NAACP means TO me.