Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1961-07-22
Mississippi Negro Progress Before The
Enactment OF The l957-1960
Civil Rights Laws


shire, one of the extreme north eastern states, re-
Gently out with editorial which has attracted
widespread comment, in which the charge is made
that Charles NJ. Johnson, Negro member of the US.
Civil Rights Commission, Howard University Law
School Professor and legal aide to the NAACP is
sponsble for supressing Commission Report pointing
to substantial Negro progress being made in the South
before the enactment of the 1857 and 1860 Civil Rights
Laws.
According to the Editorial Prof Johnson's actions
prompted by the fact that publication of the report
would be acquitta of the south, and would lead to
putting the NAACP out of business.
Speaking with first hand knowledge gained from
direct personal participation 10th editor and pub
Usher of the Jackson Advocate and President and Found
er of the Mississippi Negro Democrats Association,
say that the greatest progress made by Negroes in
this state towards civil rights voting political parci
patton economic advancement and first-claSS citizen
ship started, and made before the advent of the
NAACP factor and influence in Negro affairs in
the state
In 1910 when Negro citizens of the state began to
express their desire for the right to vote and political
participation in order to be able to join with the white
leadership Of the state in helping them to bring about
better conditions for all, both Negro and white at the
local community and state level there little if any
organized NAACP activity in the state. From 1910
until 1916 the number of Negro voters in the state
from practically to around 5000 BY 1854 the
number OF Negro voters in the state had risen around
10000 result of steady growth and widening sense
OF political responsibility on the part of Negro citizens
Of the state .--s . -.e.
Looked upon with extreme suspicion bys some sec
tons of the white leadership of the state when started
IN l94O and subject to the most hostile editorial COM
ment, by the coming of the Supreme Court decision in
the white primary remarkable change in pub
TIC opinion IN the state already taking place. and
Negroes were beginning to be encouraged register
and vote by responsible white leaders as we'll as re-
Sponslble Negro leaders, and widely read newspapers
IN the state saying tt the time had come when
Negroes should have the right vote and the rgh of
political participation in the state
Moreover, public opinion favorable to the cause
of Negroes the state had so far advanced that the
state could pass through the period of the Hearings r
volvlng the late Senator Bibo without single Negro
witness who from all over the state to testify
being moested after the hearing despite nationwide
press reports that such would be the case This hap
pened without single assist either financial or other
wise from the NAACP and on the actual date of the
nearing IN Jackson with representatives from the press
and organizations from all over the world present
there was not single representative of the NAACP
present.
1t not until the early 195O's that the NAACP
began to loom factor and influence in Negro affairs
IN the state with marked decline in Negro progress
becoming more and evident as the influence of
the NAACP increased
We hold that the program projected in 1910 under
the leadership OF mississippi Negroes, without the aide
OF the NAACP would have led eventually everything
that Negroes really need in the state would have pre-
served their traditional pride in their schools,
churches businesses and other institutions and would
have strengthened the spirit of friendship goodwill,
and cooperation between the Negro and white people
of the state.
In conclusion say that Negroes in Mississippi
were not only making greater progress towards civil
rights voting, political participation economic adj
vancemen and firsclass citizenship before the 1857
and 1860 civil rights laws and without the help of the
NAACP, but also that NAACP leadership and especial
y its Interpretation of the Supreme Court decision
demand for immediate indignation rather than an OPP
portunlty to demand true educational equality for Ne
groeS IN the SOUTH made the 1854 mark the close
of the period 1910 to 1854 the brightest and hope
full in Mississippi Negro history.