Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-02-02
Southland Jimcro
Weakening: Negroes
Use Buying Power
CONTINUED from Page ~


at 10 formerly segregated luncl
counters. In addition, five Negro
women, formerly employed a.
cleaning women at local depart
ment stores, have become sale:
clerks, the first of their race t
hold such jobs here. Negro leader:
here are confidently planning t
seek a start on school desegrega
ton next September.
For a town which until two
years ago was the home of the
Grand Imperial Dragon of the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Ma.
con has surprisingly little trouble
in the course of its moves toward
desegregation. Robed Ku Kluxers
formed a motorcade last October
to protest the steps toward in.
tegration, and later shots were
fired into an empty Negro home
But most Macon citizens appear to
have tacitly approved the lowering
of segregation barriers.
Most of us didn't want any part
of the trouble that cities around
us have been experiencing" says
white member of secret Macon
businessmen's committee which
spearheaded the integration drive.
I'VE contacted cities like Atlanta
and Savannah which have had
trouble in the past, and we found
out quickly what it could mean.
In Savannah we learned a Negro
boycott cut retail sales as much as
50% In some places. Stores weren't
the only ones hurt, either. Bankers,
insurance men, small loan COM
panies-aI Of them felt it."
With these facts fresh in mind,
the committee Of businessmen act
ed quickly when local Negroes
took seats at a lunch counter last
July to open their campaign to in
tegrate such facilities. "As soon
as they began seating themselves
at the counter, walked up to one
I knew well and asked him to talk
things over" recalls one business
man. The Negro agreed, and the
demonstration was halted. Later
we formed a committee Of leading
Negro and white citizens and be-
fore long we had things worked
out"
Impact OF Demonstrations
Macon Negro leaders are con-
vinced the Negro demonstrations
and agitation in other Southern
cities played a major role in speed
ing desegregation in Macon.
There's no question that the ac-
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. Nabrit is a member of a
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
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. It was the
consensus that we should wait un-
til February to avoid trouble" Be-
fore we began talks we had had
sit-ins for 18 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 1t US
ually takes demonstrations to get
action" says the NAACP's Mr..
Lockard. A suit was filed in 1866
To integrate CITY buses, he notes,