The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1959-07-02
Letter !. /. /.

correspondents made a pair of
points which | feel are important
and should have been introduced
into the public debate over the
Wilson matter much earlier in |
the proceedings; they are that
Wilson has served two previous
nrison terms for grand larceny
and that robbery is a capital OF
Tense in Alabama regardless OF
the amount involved. AS The
ATL ANITA JOURNAL comments
"The question may well be ralseo'
of course, as to whether the law
is overly harsh" but there seems
no question but that had the IN
itial wire-service reports OF the
Wilson case included this lntor-
nation the worldwide hue ana
crv over the Wilson sentence
would have been to degree
modified. Southerns who feel'
however, that these two facts put
an end to the debate overlook
one other factor. There are un-
doubtedly a number OF Alaoa-
mans convicted of robbery each
wear, assuming that robbery is
as common in that state as it is
in the others. The question is,
are all convicted robbers in Ala
bama sentenced to death or did
the fact that Wilson, a Negro,
broke into the home of a white
woman have something to do
with the judgement of the all
white jury that convicted ana
sentenced him? Or, to phrase the
point more broadly, is justice
identical in Alabama for the
white man and the Negro? Per-
haps questions such as these oc-
Cured to Governor Folsom and
were responsible for his commut-
ing Wilson's sentence. Those OF
nv correspondents who object to
his decision would probably more
profitably direct their complaints
to the Governor than to me.
To close on a constructive note
I will comment that it was most
heartening to read the letters
from the six Southerns among my
correspondents who have mod
crate, hopeful, Christian and posi-
tive outlook. 1t is significant that
two of these communications m
c1uded the plea that | hold the
names of the writers in strict con-
fidence, although perhaps 1t is or
equal significance that the other
four did not.
One gathers, too, that the aver
age age of the writers of these
six letters is less than that of the
others. This fits in, believe, with
information that young people IN
the South, in general, have less
rigid social attitudes than their
elders. The decision as to wheth-
err this represents improvement
and hope for the future or a les
SEEMING of moral fibre and the on
set of social chaos will depend
on the prejudices of the indivld-
ua1s formulating the analysis.
In any event may I assure you
of my personal good wishes. A
re-reading of the Village Voice
article will call to your attention
that it is my belief that the diff
ficult problems attending the
achievement of universal broth
erhood are not just problems for
the American South but for all
mankind.
It is certain that any Northern
er who adopts holier-than-thou
attitude toward the South IN the
present difficulty is badly mis-
guided. It seems to me that, more
often than not, virtue is the result
of lack of interest in particular
sins rather than a matter OF
heroic self-denial. If those OF us
reared in the North find less pre-
iudice in our hearts than in those
of our Southern brothers, it ILL
behooves us to feel pride or SUI
periority. Each man has his own
Weaknesses and perhaps in the
maintenance of our unity we will
he able to lend each other streng-