St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-02-02

cities played a major role in speed
ing desegregation In Macon.
There's no question that the &C
ton in other cities has accelerated
our progress here" declares Will
liam Randall, a Negro building
contractor and director Of the Ma
con chapter Of the NAACP.
In Memphis, Negro and white
leaders alike point to demonstra-
tons as the key to the rapid in
tegrating pace being set in that
city. Every advancement we've
had can be attributed at least in
part to demonstrations Of some
sort - sit-ins, marches, stay-at-
homes" says the Rev. H. c. Nab
rit, a prominent Negro leader.
Rev. sNabrit is a member Of
biracial committee set up on an
informal basis some months ago to
ease racial frictions quietly, some
times secretly. He and other Ne
gro leaders confirm that an agree
ment has been reached with mer-
chants to desegregate downtown
store facilities - eating places.
restrooms, drinking fountains-on
or before next Feb. 20. Memphis
newspapers have made no COM
ment on the plans, and white lead
ers are also remaining mum about
them.
The agreement to integrate store
facilities was based on a compro-
mise. The Negroes agreed to stop
sit-ins during the Christmas rush
and January sales events provided
they were promised action by Feb.
20, says H. T. Lockard, state
NAACP president. Explains Rev.
Nabrit: There are a goodly num-
Der of outsiders from Tennessee,
Arkansas and Mississippi who
come in for Christmas shopping
and the January sales. 1t was the
consensus that we should wait I'M
til February to avoid trouble" Be
fore we began talks we had had
sit-ins for 10 months, but we
agreed to desist in November"
Though Rev. Nabrit is convinced
the white merchants acted in good
faith, he asserts demonstrations
would be redoubled if the deadline
passed with no action.
Desegregating The Zoo
The move to relax segregation
rules at Memphis stores has been
preceded by a whole series of de-
segregation steps in other fields,
often traceable, at least in part, to
public agitation by Negroes. I'VE
try first in the courts, but it US
ually takes demonstrations to get
action" says the NAACP's Mr..
Lockard. A suit was filed in 1856
to integrate city buses, he notes,
but it wasn't until Negroes started
sitting where they pleased and sew
eral arrests were made that in
tegration was finally carried out
in nid-196O. Demonstrations also
preceded the Indignation of the
Overton Park Zoo in the fall of
1860 and public library facilities
early last year.
The pace of desegregation in
Memphis has picked up in recent
months. After the fall term of
school started, IA Negro students
quietly entered previously all-white
schools. Then two weeks ago the
city desegregated three municipal
golf courses. Last Tuesday the
Memphis Park Commission prop
osed a plan of gradual desegrega-
ton" which would integrate all the
city's parks and Fairgrounds over
the next 10 years. Negro leaders,
however, indicate the plan would
move too slowly to suit them.
While there's ample evidence
that public demonstrations have
softened white resistance to integ-
ration, it's also clear that in some
communities the marches and sit
ms have made whites more de-
termined than ever to maintain the
status quo. This is particularly
true in Mississippi and Alabama,
where segregation forces are the
strongest. Most white leaders in
these states maintain the Negro
tactics will lead only to further
racial friction in factories, business
dealings and wherever else whites
come in contact with Negroes.
white people around here are
growing more resentful about this
whole business, and I've never seen
them so determined to resist"
states Everette C. Truly, a Nat
chez, Miss, attorney and treasurer
of the local White Citizens Coun-
Gil, a segregationist organization.