St. Paul recorder., 1963-12-05
ISSUES: GOOD
AND BAD
BY p. L. PRATTIS

to write because wish to do two
things which may not be able to
relate TO each other.
First, I wish to record the deep
sense of sorrow and bewilderment
which overwhelmed me when ]
first heard of the assassination of
President Kennedy.
Second, wish to place on the
record my own feeling Of reUIlsion
for those Negro leaders who, up to
the time of the Presidents death,
were accusing him of insincerity
and treating him with comtumacy.
The President was my friend. ]
cherish the evidence Of that friend
ship which I now retain: letters
in which he simply addressed me
as Dear P. L." and invitations of
various sorts to the White House
The last time I saw him in person
was at luncheon in the White
House. don't think we were poll
teal friends - just friends.
He had a vibrant way Of letting
you know that you were another
person in his world. What was
true of the President Is true of his
family - his father and mother,
his brothers and sisters. They
liked people and long before John
F. Kennedy entered politics, the
Kennedy children and their parents
had forgotten there was a color
line.
OF course, all friends are good
10 have. But it is rare for any of
us to have friends with great
power and good hearts. President
Kennedy was leading the revolu-
ton for the new and real eman-
cipation.
AS this is written, I do not know
who win finally be held reSpon-
sible for his murder. But am pre-
pared to write now that If John
Brown and Abraham Lincoln and
William Moore died for us, so did
John F. Kennedy. I believe he
would be living today had he not
tried to do so much for us. He
need not have gone to Texas had
there not been a Schism between
the liberals and conservatives in
his own party in Texas.
Five days before the President
was assassinated, l listened in
Pittsburgh church to a speech
made by Jerome Smith, a repre-
sentative of the Congress of Rae
ial Equality. The speech left me
puzzled. Smith tossed off the Ken
nedy appointments of Negroes to
high office as so much pap. He
accused him of being insincere
And throughout his speech, he re-
ferred to the President without
due respect - as Kennedy this"
and Kennedy that" not President
Kennedy" or Mr.. Kennedy"
1 must confess that this rubbed
me the wrong way. The Presidency
is an office and a symbol 1t is
the highest honor the American
people can bestOw. It represents
the essence of the high elevation of
the American people themselves,
regardless of race, creed and color.
But if I caught the spirit of
Smiths remarks, the President
five days before his death, had
just become another faceless in
dividual to beat over the head. 7
hope and pray that in our justifi-
able fight for freedom we fight
with both wisdom and honor. We
only bemean ourselves when we
bemean our friends.
These are parlous times indeed
for us. A Southerner is now Presi-
dent of the United States. Lyndon
B. Johnson is a man of astonish-
ing ability. He is a leader of men.
I venture to write that he is going
10 fight just as hard for civil rights
as President Kennedy did. He can
not and must not be brushed off
just because he came from Texas.
We need the great power he wields
oNyaT friap1 op5 foo