Jackson advocate., 1961-09-30
Jackson Says...
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Wneat street BaptlSt Church,
Atlanta)."
Do you believe, now that you
have been reelected president
after a bitter fight, that the
split in your ranks will be heal
ed?
What split? There has nev-
er been any split in our ranks"
he declared. "There were some
people who decided that just be-
cause they protested, they were
entitled to walk into our con-
vention and take over. Of course
We couldn't allow that"
Following the brawl at the
Kansas City (Mo.) Convention
Hall, last week, that led to the
death of the Rev. A. G. Wright
Ia board member) of Detroit,
many Negroes throughout the
country hung their heads in
shame. Don't you think it will
take your organization a long
time to live this down, and how
do you think this will affect
your efforts to attract young
PEOPLE to the organization?
"Listen," he said, sitting on
the edge of his chair, Negroes
expect unanimity in everything.
How can you expect this? They
don't have it among the Dem
ocrats, the Republicans, in other
church organizations. How can
you expect US to have it?
Negroes must grow up" he
raped. "They must understand
that they have to, at times,
withstand other Negroes. The
death of DR.. Wright dramatizes
how tragically the Negro COM
munity has failed itself. 1t
failed for allowing an element
to arise that disrupts an estab-
lished organization"
Wasn't it somewhat humiliat-
ing to have a court Tin Kansas
City, regulate your convention
activities?
"No court in the world can
run our convention" he snap
ped. (The court-appointed mon
itor was DR.. T H. Holmes of
Kansas City's Salem Baptist
Church). DR.. Holmes was select
ed by me. l stipulated the rules
in answering their (the opposi-
tion's) petition. l said they
could become a part of the con-
vention if they (1) registered,
and, (2) were orderly. They
agreed and the judge signed the
order.
although the opposing for
ces met at DR.. Holmes church,
they didn't know that he was al
ready scheduled to make the
opening address at our conven-
tion," he added. 81 carried % of
the 8 states.
= newspapers are always
lying on me. The UPI Omitted
Press International news serv-
ice) reported in a New York
paper that l collapsed after
my annual address at
the convention. Nothing could
be further from the truth" he
said.
Some people say that you're
not too concerned about fight
ing for civil rights. Is this true ?
"Lies again." he snapped"
GAS president of an organiza-
ton of five million Negroes, l
ought to be challenging Negroes
to do something instead of
whining about what the white
man has. What kind of leader
would | be, if l walked around
with a program for white peo-
pie in my pocket while neglect
ing Negroes?
Certainly, believe in fight
ing for civil rights. But l be-
lieve in Negroes having a sense
of responsibility, too. We will
be the most tragic race on
earth if we do not work to ac-
cumulate something for our
selves, while fighting for our
civil rights" he added.
Citing the record, DR.. Jackson
said: "Our organization didn't
just sit around whining when
those people in Tennessee (Hay-
ward and Fayette Counties)
were driven from their homes
for insisting on their right to
vote. We bought 404 acres of
land for them. We also bought
two tractors and a hay bailer so
they could work their land"
He added the Baptist organi-
cation has purchased 100000
acres of land, at so cents an
acre, in Liberia. "We will plant
rubber trees and start modern
farming there and create an
opportunity for American Ne
groes to make a living and stop
sending missionaries to that
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