St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-06-24

to real change-when the whites
realize that the Negroes just aren't
having it any more"
The leaders and representatives OF
the new generation of Southern
Negroes who have shown that III
spite of jeers, threats, jails or mobS
they just aren't having it any,
more" assembled Easter weekend
at Shaw University in Raleigh
N. c., and affirmed that the move.
ment they began with the lunch
counter demonstrations was only
the beginning of their struggle for
full equality.
II there had been any possibility
that the spirit Of protest born in
the student sit-inS that have brok-
en- out in every state in the South
would peter out as a passing fad,
there was no such possibility after
this conference. The meeting, which
was sponsored by the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference
"a new organization led by the
Rev Martin Luther King, Jr., and
other young Southern Negro min
isters) established goals, strategy
and lines Of communication for the
future in a series Of discussions
and workshops held by the students
Up to this point, the student dem
onstrations have been spontaneous;
in the future they will not be. The
students now have their own or
ganization, which will work with,
but not be led by, adult groups
such as the Southern Christian
Lea d ership Conference, CORE
Congress on Racial Equality and
the NAACP, as well as local church
and civic groups.
Young vs.. Old
The question of the role Of ad-
ults in the student movement was
a ticklish one, for in a sense the
movement is a protest not only
against segregation practices, but
against the older Negro leaders.
Where many sit-ins have taken
place, older Negroes have been
skeptical and fearful of the re-
suits, feeling that the students
were going too far" at the pres
ent time. At a recent meeting of
the Montgomery Improvement As
ISOLATION, the organization which
carried out the Negro bus boycott,
the Rev. S. S. Seay chided his
fellow elders by saying that "A
lot of our people don't seem to
understand what the young people
are doing they say they don't
agree with them. Well, that just
means they aren't catching the
significance of events-it's a case
of intellectual sluggishness."
The conflict on tactics has ac-
tuaIly been going on for some time
throughout the South. In Atlanta,
for instance, the local NAACP
lawyer who had led the Negro COM
munitys battle for civil rights for
several decades opposed a group of
younger Negroes, in their late
twenties and early thirties, when
they wanted to boycott the city's
segregated trolley cars several
years ago. The elders felt that
it wasn't the right time, but the
Young Turks" won out, the boy
colt was successful, and the young
er men emerged as the more in
fluential leaders in the Negro COM
munity.
The sit-ins have brought the stu
dents feeling of protest over the
adults "slow' tactics into the
open, and after some initial reluct-
ance, most Of the adults have got
ten behind the movement with
moral, legal and financial help.
The student action has, in fact,
become a great source Of pride
and new morale for their elders,
who have been in the battle so
long.
Miss Ella J. Baker, executive di-
rector of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, told the
adults at the rally that The
younger generation is challenging
you and me-they are asking us to
forget our laziness and doubt and
fear, and follow our dedication to
the truth to the bitter end"
And King. in the evenings main
speech, hit hard at the same theme,
saying that the student movement
lis also a revolt against the
apathy and complacency of ad-
ults in the Negro community;
against Negroes in the middle
class who indulge in buying cars
and homes instead of taking on
the great cause that will really
solve their problems; against those
who have become so afraid they
yielded to the system"
Continued Next Weekly