Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1958-11-07
Complete Text Of wilkins Address
(see Story Page Two)
Page Eight


am pleased to have this opportunity to meet and
talk once more with the members and friends OF Inc
Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP. pflhs
you greetings, of from the national ofgazatoi
the board of directors and national staff but more I'M
portany from every Branch of the NAACP from eo"s'
to coast.
We are proud of you, with special pride and admra5
ton reserved for the heroic nine students who ATTENDED,
Central High School, and their parents Ihey nave WIZ
stood the staggering pressure of the 1ul power Vi e
state government addition to the persecution by a
vidual segregatonsts.
Our Arkansas mmbers and their brave president
Mrs Daisy Bates household words not only IN our
Association but throughout the nation Your CITY, Lite
Rock is also household woodland that throughout the
world To the regret of many Little Rock cltlzens-anu
| am sure these include both white and colored-the
word does have happy meaning in our country ana
the world
Little Rock is a city that has chosen to go into
panic because Negro high school students sought
an education in the school with 1000 white stu
after the Federal courts told them they had right
do More than that these students presented them
selves according to plan drawn up not by the NAACF
but by the Little Rock School Board The Board offered
its plan include the smallest possible number OF Ne
groes all handpcked by the Board The idea was not TO
"offend" anyone and not to "have trouble
Well, they might well have started with 2Oo IN
stead of In fact with 200 they would have ad no
trouble The white South is fond of saying, Don't go
too fast Don't push Don't flood US" GIVE US
time" year at Central High proved they don't mean
what they say they can't be sincere with nine out oil
2O0O they don't intend to be sincere
Some of the great, powerful, secure and superior
white people of Little Rock and Arkansas apparently are
afraid these youngsters others like them may upset
the doctrine of innate Negro inferiory.
In 1854 Fayetteville Ark also had few Negro
high school Students that city refused to become
historical 1t took the Negro youngsters into its hlgh
school and went ahead with the business of living and
growing.
Not so Little Rock the largest city, the seat OF
governments good with thousands upon thousands
of good sane sober, tolerant people Little ROCK ost
its head to the drum beaters the streets and to pro-
vocatve politician in the executive mansion
And speaking of the man in the executive mansion
did not here to use up whole speech on GoV'
Faubus although / suppose that could be done.
Gov Faubus is valuable enemy. He has AIDED IN
many ways in clarifying the issue of segregation
First he disposed effectively of the interposition
proposal. He used the ultimate in state lnerposluon-
troops-and did not succeed.
Second, he aroused and educated to our point OF
view millions of people here in America and abroad who
had little feeling on the issue. He and Little
Rock have embarrassed our country in its foreign rea
TONS
Third he challenged and brought out the courage
and herosm of the nine children who went to Central
High and through them he fired the enthusiasm Of
countless white and coored people who believed" but
who not been baptized in the spirit They needed
human image and he gave it to them
Fourth, he forced the state legislature and the Lit
tie Rock school board to act in such way to bring
forth the U. S. Supreme Court September 90 thus block
ing others from temporary success should they
try to similar tactics
Fifth he caused temporary ruling to be handed
down forbiddng the leasing school buildings for pr
vate segregated schools
Sixth last Monday October q he further sharp
ened the issue by this statement: There must be no
in hearts for the prejudice that has
been the cause of bombing incidents in other states"