Evening star., 1962-10-07
FROM OXFORD, MISS - ;
Town and Gown United in Segregation Fight

strangers. So does Attorney Omar
Craig, who also is the United
States commissioner here. So do
Mayor Richard Elliott. who is an
undertaken, and Mrs. J. c. (Nina
Goolsby, editor of the Weekly
Eagle.
Mayor Elliott says that the
State troopers stood by and did
nothing about the riot in oxford
in obedience of orders from the
State Commissioner Of Public
Safety. Asked how he felt about
this lack of action by an agent
of Gov. Barnett, Mayor Elliott re-
piled: II didn't appreciate it"
Said another merchant, Ross
fixed It so we had this riot and
then where were his State police?"
A lawyer, who admitted to being
no admirer of the Governor to
begin with, said he thought Mr..
Barnett "has lost lot Of ground"
since the battle of Ole Miss.
Last Thursday (before the
riot) he was the most popular
man in the United States to the
people of oxford. He's not any
more" said the lawyer.
"a politician has to talk out
of both sides of his mouth to
get elected" said another oxford
merchant, "but the Governor
should never have let this happen.
He ought to Of known you can't
buck the whole United States
Government"
Scored and Angry
The people. of Oxford today are
scared and they are angry. They
are furious at the foreigners"
from Alabama, Georgia and down.
state who nearly brought their
town to ruin. They are angry at
the Kennedy administration for
sending marshals and troops to
what Mrs. GooIsby called "Occu-
pied oxford" in her lead editorial
in the Eagle Friday. -
The marshals, now largely de-
parted, are objects of scorn to
both Ole Miss students and resi-
dents of the town. The troops,
even when they search every car
entering the town, are not re-
sented and 1t is generally ac-
cepted that they are Just doing
their job.
The Rev. Mr.. Gray laid the whole
mess at the feet Of Mr.. Barnett.
"The Governor of this State Is q
symbol of lawlessness," the Mis-
sissippi-born pastor said. Hes
got these students and some Of
the people to the point where
they actually identify themselves
with the Hungarian freedom
fighters. But the great majority
in oxford want law and order re-
stored. They have a dawning sense
of responsibility and I hope they
will do something about it instead
of just wishing it were So"
CoIored Soldiers Role
But If the intervention oi
United States troops in OxforC
was welcomed by the populace, tn
presence of colored soldiers anon
them was not. This situation
which one oxford man said wa
like salt in our wounds" wa
quietly rectified "a hours late
when the Negro troops were giver
duties in their bivouacs, out Of tht
sight of the public.
Thus did the autumn Of 1861
come to oxford, Miss. In the
nearby countryside, beloved by
the late William Faulkner, who
called it "Yoknapatawpha Coun-
ty." the cotton is ready for pick
ing. The dogs bugle loudly in the
misty night as they pursue foxes
without interference from human
hunters.
Oxford is insulated from the
rest Of Mississippi and the South
by the Army roadblocks. Many
travellers report the State is a
powder keg," but the oxford peo-
pie shake their heads in sorrow
for they already know the conse-
quences Of lawlesSness.
Gov. Barnett's term is up in q
little more than a year and he
may not succeed himself by State
law.
In oxford. he might not be
elected. dog catcher If the unhappy
residents were voting today.
To them the Merdith-B Barnett
affair is a bad dream but 1t Is
dream that will not go away.