Evening star., 1961-04-20
Pro and Con McGM


The critics Of Ralph Nc
Gill, who are legion, insist
that he is a skalawag and a
South-hater, but kindly per-
nit me to say that Mr.. Nc
Gill has not always been the
kind of writer he is today.
AS recently as the late
forties, when the fair en-
ployment practices drive
failed, he said: Many peo-
pie think that a man has
no more right to a job than
to a bank loan"
He also declared that an
educated Negro, in the
South, was a curiosity; that
the Southern people had
known only two kinds, i.e.,
the happy-go-lucky Negro
who was ready and willing
to work for an honest living,
and the "Biggety Negro" He
left the impression that he
did not especially care for
this latter type.
Mr.. McGill edits the At
lanta Constitution, which is
the property of the Cox
family in Ohio. His style Of
writing, which in general is
anti-South, is not solely his
own. Other Southern editors
learned long ago that you
can't sell to a Yankee maga-
zine unless your stuff is
"slanted."
1t rem in d S me Of the
Yankee reporter who was
sent to Dixie on a racial
case, and he was escorted by
a local reporter, who OBJ
served him flinging around
words like ''red-necked legis-
latorS" and white suprem-
acy' quite often. The local
reporter got the idea the
Yankee reporter was trying
his patience, and he finally
let him have it by a gentle
outburst of his own:
White supremacy? Oh,
yes, I know what you mean.
AS you were saying the other
cay, your great grandpappy,
and my great grandpappy
lived around here. and they
got so tired Of dodging sharp
arrows. they finally drove
the Indians off to Indian
territory, right?"
Both were finally Wash
ington correspondents, so the
story goes, and the Yankee
still gave the Southerner
hard looks every time they
met. E. H. Alexander
-
J. E. Collins complains
about your printing articles
by Ralph McGill. If McGill
annoys him, let him move
on to more pleasing reading.
When David Lawrence pals
on me, I find it very easy
to lower my sights to Miss
Fleeson or Mr.. McGill or
even move over to the edi-
torial page, where on occa-
sion 1 can read pieces by
Gould Lincoln. who I Judge
is about as conservative as
Mr.. Lawrence but sweeter
tempered.
Charles Alldredge
4
Most of Ralph McGill's
critics are avoWedly segrega-
tionists, proponents of
States rights" or ultra-con-
Servatives.
McGill realizes that we are
no longer an isolated Nation,
nor is our prestige as high
as it was when any nation
was fearful of attacking us.
He sees the clouds darkening
the skies and states boldly
what our weaknesses are. He
sees that the South in the
eyes of much of the world
parallels in ideals the racial
aspects of South Africa.
Therefore, he arouses the
ire of those who want to
maintain the status quo in
matters racial.
To many of us, the first
column we turn to is Nc
Gill's. I would say that this
is true of the majority of
Star readers in the Nations
Capital. Not since the late
Tom Stokes or Haywood
Broun has a writer meant
so much of inspirational ma
ture to the Negroes or to
progressive minded Ameri-
cans whose heads are not
buried in the sands.
Some of us who deplore
the constant carping at Dem
ocrats or Democratic policies
by David Lawrence still read
him for his negative articles,
BY all means keep Ralph Nc
Gill'S column coming regard
less of the critics who have
not appreciated the dictum
Of Voltaire.
E. b. Henderson
Publicity Chairman, Va.
Cta4o NAATD