The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1960-01-28
Address
PAGE TWO

it does have to do with who can
serve on a jury; it does have toI
do with who can seek public
office; it does have to do with
which God a man elects to wor-
ship; it does have to do with his
right to associate with whom he
pleases, the right of access and
since it has to do with his rights,
surely it must have to do with
the rights of every man. Con-
versely, the same is the case -.
The would have the same right
not to associate with whom he
pleases.
He would hold with complete
and total individual freedom in
every respect -. up to point.
He would hold that any man who
so chooses has the unquestlonable
right and freedom to be Jack
Ass. He would give his life, If
the need arose, that any one
might bray. He would hold that
the same man does not have the
right to kick over the traces and
smash the teeth Of any other
man :. there he would draw the
line on the limitation of indivld-
ual freedom. Bray, brother, but
don't kick, he would say.
He would hold that justice,
with regard to law, and, indeed,
anything else, must be blindfold-
ed. Justice must not peek. She
may have prejudices w III &c n
would make a decision unfair.
And if his lot is to suffer unfair
ness, then you and your children
are in danger of so suffering. He
would hold that justice to him is
but Justice to you. Can any one
of us afford not to be just?
He would hold that punitive
laws are unpleasant, but are at
times a necessity. How he would
get it passed is something he
wouldn't know, but he would
like to see any member of the
State Legislature unable to &C.
cept retainer from any business
source whatsoever over which
the state has any authority. In
short, he would like to see men
serving in offices throughout the
state who would willingly put the
public interest before their own
personal interest. Such, he would
know full we'll, is impossible. But
in that connection, he would
veto any bill which reeked of
business sticking its finger into
the affairs of the state -. the
state, after all, is every person
-. him. Since he would not
allow the state to stick its finger
into the affairs of business, UNI
less the public good was concern
ed, he would most certainly not
allow business to NEEDLE with
affairs of state. AS the Church
and State are separate, so should
State and Business be separate,
except as mentioned previously.
He would hold that any and
all persons, race, creed, or color
Notwithstanding are citizens OF
the state, provided they have met
the requirements which entitle
them to citizenship. He would
hold, therefore, that any mem
Der of minority group has the
same rights and liberties as those
of the majority, certainly no
more, nor should they be less. He
would be saying once again that
the law of the land must be obey
ed, not that he likes all the laws
so much, but he would be inter-
ested in the rights of any other
single person, no matter who. His
own interests would be in direct
proportion to the interest of all
citizens of his nation and his
state. He would respect theirs -.
if for no other reason than be-
cause he would want them to
respect his -. and yours, too.
He would hold that if we, as
Human Beings first, American
citizens second, and Mississip-