Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1960-02-13
Over Africa A Wind OF Change
The Christian Science Monitor

Britan's Prime Minister Macmillan in his remark
able speech in Cape Town has added durable phrase to
the language of freedom the wind of change In the
history books of tomorrow shall probably find this
phrase beside Sir Winston Churchils Iron Curtain"
and summit meeting" and Lord Crews Lights are
going out all over Europe" from World War 1.
Mr.. Macmillan has felt the wind of change blowing
pervasively he has travelled Africa: in Ghana
the British Gold Coast in Nigeria only breath
behind Ghanas recent achievement of independence in
the quaky Central African Federation and in the
Union of South Africa where political wndbreaks rise
walls of embatted privilege.
Wind of change" is much more than figure of
speech to dramatic the obvious in Africa 1t registers
the frankes opevel Inference yet heard of British
attitudes toward 1.-THE Union"-the important member
of the Commonwealth of Nations which is out of step
with all the rest and what is probably the central
question of this decade.
To say that this question is the future of Africa or
even independence for African peoples is only to gen.
eraze around the nub of the question without quite
touching it. The of the question the relation
black man to white
Americans conscious of their own outstanding mi
norlty problem will try to avoid holer thanthou at
titude toward dominant white communities in Africa
But relatively few Americans would suppose that the
position of the white be defended very long
with the weapons being used by the white supremacy
forces in South Africa.
Indeed, in the record of these forces there is
warning that the danger of whitesupremacy ideas
not be confined to the problem of whiteback rea
lions. They infect the white mans politics with
rerogresson wherever they cultivated Secret so
cietes and "brotherhoods flourish under them Among
the members of the Nationalist Party in South Africa
In the days of World War III, for example, many
supporters of nazsm.
This is not simply matter of nationality The great
Jan Christian SHUTS found himself divided from his own
Afrlkaners it, although he had been a commander
in chief of the Boer commandos in the with the
British.
Nevertheless, it is true that there has been at be-
tween the British community in South Africa and that
stemmng from Dutch-French ancestry difference ov-
er questions that goes back to Napoeonic times
The British seized control in this region the road to
India in the Napoeonic Wars and introduced relatively
liberal racial policies which led to Dutch settlers pro-
tests and the great trek to Natal and beyond Mr. Mac
milans speech may have wakened memories of this his
tory among many of his hearers
In the face of Nationalist Party talk about South
Africa's leaving the Commonwealth of Nations Mr.
Macmlllans speech courageous statement of the
facts of the African situation and it's bearing on todays
world struggle for freedom for white well as coored
peoples Not many students of African affairs expect
the speech to have much effect the Unions immed
late policies. But it may well give longrange moral sup
port to the more liberal elements in South African poll
tics. f