davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1963-09-05


free from this grinding concern
over the purely animal aspects of
his existence. The white hand kept
my mind crammed down into my
discera, and / grew to hate the
senseless degradation of it. All
Negroes do. Life seldom rises
above a mood of smouldering re-
sentiment over such indignities. The
fact that Negroes often hide this
resentment in order to survive
does not mean that they become
Injured to it. The Problem" is the
obsession at all levels of society
in the Negro community.
Like all other Negroes, l soon
found myself imprisoned in the
stereotype which white men have
contrived in order to justify racist
injustice and salve their con-
sciences.
My soul shriveled to sit with a
group of Negroes, sensitive human
beings, and listen to what the ra-
do told us of our plight. A white
woman with marvelously pa
tronizing voice spoke of our
learning" our rights to full citi-
zenship-this in a country where
every American is born with those
rights and where Negroes have
fought in wars to defend them for
all. One night, as, we sat in the
ghetto squalor and heard a poll
tician warn the public that any
move toward racial justice that
might give us the hope of human
dignity was playing into the Com
munists' hands" And he conclud-
ed that the System was "for the
Negroes own good"
We stared at our dark hands and
wondered if he had any idea what
massive crime he was commit
ting. The deepest irony for us was
to see that racists act always I'M
der the guise of patriotism and
Christianity.
Many whites came to our shoe
shine stand on a skid-rOw street
in New Orleans. Many wanted us
to help them find immoral pleas
ures - girls, gambling, obscene
photographs. We learned to spot
them, for they treated us with a
conniving fiendliness and equal
ity." mentioned this to my part
ner, an elderly veteran who had
lost a leg in World War I.
"Oh, yes" he remarked astutely.
1.-THE whites are much more demo-
cratic in their SHINING than in their
worship"
did not Immediately realize
the profound scandal involved in
his words, and certainly did not
connect it with the Catholic
Church. What struck me was that
the racist, who spoke so often OF
the lower morals of Negroes, ap-
peared to live on a much lower
moral level than found among
Negroes. His concern for racial
Purity" did not extend to the col
ored race, as any Negro soon
learns.
That afternoon, as we prepared
to quit work, I asked my shine
partner where I could find the
nearest Catholic church.
81 guess the closest cOlOred
Catholic church would be way
over on DryadeS Street." he said.
The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1963-09-05


sisted in a sin which their religion
abominated. Knowing this, how
ever, was strangely poor consola-
ton. In such areas, the blessed
illusion of sanctuary within the
Church was shattered. We were
hurt there in our deepest selves
We were, in effect, second-class
Catholics, as we were second-class
everything else. 1t was the same
for all other Christian religions
of course, but that did not help
either. And when we Negroes
heard priests and bishops quietly
explain their hesitancy to repu-
diate such attitudes "for fear OF
alternating SOULS we knew they
were referring to the souls OF
prejudiced white Catholics. And
we wondered why they appeared
to have so little fear" of alienat-
ing the souls of Negroes.
How did otherwise decent white
Christians justify such things?
They said: why Negroes are more
comfortable in their place. They
like it that way. It's a kindness
really" I never heard a Negro
say such a thing or in any way
act as though he liked it that way
One of our greatest problems was
the whites willingness to solve our
problems according to his COM
forts. This was true in the North,
South, East, and West.
In the many rural areas and
small towns, the wonderfully
harmonious relations" VIII it e S
claimed to enjoy with Negroes re-
sembled those one might enjoy
with an animal beaten into utter
submission. Here we knew that if
we did not grin and say eyes, yes,
yes" to everything the white man
wanted, we would be taught a
lesson. We accommodated" but
when we went home in the eve
nings, we wept and said how could
the white man twist his mind
enough to think this death of our
manhood, our hopes, and our dig
nifty - this slavery-was for our
own good.
AS a stranger in their midst, l
was taken in by Negroes and
treated with the sort of protective
tenderness that comes only from
those who have suffered to the
point of despair.
One night, / watched mother
feed mashed yellow beans in Car
nation milk to bright-eyed young
sters who did not yet know that
doors into wonderlands of educa-
ton and justice and employment
opportunity were barred to them
They reminded me of my own
white children who could enter al
of those doors. And / wondered
how any human parent could toll
crate a System that arbitrarily
marked my children for privilege
and these children for deprivation
l said to myself: eve are not thai
evil. It's because we don't know
don't understand what a killing
thing it would be to look into
your children's eyes and know
they didn't have a chance" / told
myself that we would shout our
outrages if anyone advocated that
we physically MAIN these chill
dren. Yet we daily implicated
The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1963-09-05


me in that shanty. And I asked
myself what great thing we have
gained that was worth making
them pay this kind of price.
These were people of quality.
With education, the incentives of
fair employment, chance at hu-
man dignity, all of this would have
been different. But we had con-
doned the System that deprived
them of any chance to fulfill them
selves. And then, unbearable
irony, we had attributed their nom
fulfillment to racial defect.
could not understand how Ne
groeS resisted the temptation to
hate. They have remarkable rec
ord for resisting subversion, for
manifesting a deep love of coun-
try. But this is a love of what
the country is supposed to be, the
American Dream-nOt what it is
where racism is practiced. No,
even in despair, Negroes could re-
Sist the temptation to hate white,
and this for two reasons.
First, Negroes understood cle:x-
ly what whites are only beginning
to Understandable whites are as
helplessly entrapped by the "Sys-
tenn" as Negroes are and are as
handicapped by it.
Second, Negroes believed that
their misery came from the white
trash and that the trash, though
powerful and INSCRIPTIONS, were
a minority as oppressive and
painful to the good whites as
to the Negroes. We Negroes sell
dom met these good whites, but
we were sure they were there and
could be counted on to behave cor
rectly and to call for justice when
the time came. A handful Of them
had stood up and been counted.
Lillian Smith, that great and brave
Georgia woman of prophetic Wis
ion, had warned that those who
embraced the strangely shallow
dream of white supremacy were
killers of the American dream of
a society based on freedom, equal
ity, and justice and had been
slashed to bits by racist reprisals.
P. D. East, in Mississippi, had
spoken and suffered. Sara Patton
Boyle, in Virginia, had spoken and
been devastated.
But since I returned to white
society, all of this has changed,
is now changing. The changes are
so drastic that those who knew
something about the South ten
years ago, or even two years ago,
are misinformed if they rely on
that information today.
Can the wounds be cured? Is
death to be the only effective edu-
Gator? We 60 on speaking of grad
ualism, but in the skin of Negro
and through his eyes, it has be-
come obvious that gradualism can
stretch on to eternity. We go on
speaking of Negro crime, when
Negroes know that these are not
the crimes of Negroes but the
crimes of men, the crimes of the
ghetto where we have SO long
forced Negroes to remain. We go
on in the euphoric illusion of prog
ress, while the Negro cries, ut
looks like all Africa is going to
The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1963-09-05

From Page q

I appeared for an interview. Then,
when they saw I was a Negro, l
was courteously turned away.
There is no question but what /
could have earned decent living
as a white man. AS a Negro, the
hest Jobs held were shining shoes
and unloading trucks. Only in the
professions or after long period
of working oneself up could a Ne
gro make a decent living. So l
worked hard for my three or four
dollars a day.
2 In this economic bracket, my
diet was largely reduced to the
'sempiternal rice and beans OF the
area. This was delicious and
cheap, but after week OF eating
little else, my mind tended to
pray, Give us this day our daily
Beans ="
Many whites are poor, of course,
and subsist on inadequate diets.
The important difference is that
they are not kept poor because OF
the color of their skin.
And yet, New Orleans was a
disarmingly courteous city. Indi-
vidual whites treated me with
great courtesy. But all of the cour-
tesies in the world do not long
make the one massive discourtesy
of segregation that inexorably ban
ished the Negro to humanity's
junkheap.
This involves being the victim
of what Negroes call the System.
This System is complex of Gus
toms and traditions so deeply in
grained in the southern white that
they have all the force of law, plus
the actual Jim Crow ordinances.
Though it may vary in its details
from locality to locality, the Sys-
tenn says in effect that American
Negroes are indeed citizens and, as
such, should pay taxes and defend
their country from it's enemies but
that they should not vote or have
equal protection under the law or
equality of educational or job OPP
portunities and that they should
not have the use of public parks
and beaches (even though their
tax dollars help maintain these) or
of public eating places, hotels, IL
braries, concert halls, and hospi-
tails. The System contrives, in
thousand subtle ways, to defraud
Negroes of constitutional rights, to
kill their incentive to struggle for
something better, and to deprive
them of opportunities of develop
ing their full human potential,
thereby depriving this country OF
their full contribution as citizens.
The System plunges a whole
group of citizens into intimate mis-
cry. AS a Negro, I soon felt this
misery. 1t consisted in facing daily
the mountain of rebuffs that struck
me from the very core of the Sys-
tenn.
Those rebuffs are unknown to
the white man. AS white, l had
always been free to walk into a
nearby door whenever hunger,
thirst, or restroom needs made
themselves felt. AS a Negro, I
quickly learned what it meant not
to be free to walk into such doors.
1t can be a humiliating Illustration
to need restroom facilities and to
discover that you must 60 half
The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1963-09-05

gong 10 11nO tndt lot Oh Wnlte
Catholics look on you as a niger
first and a Catholic second, no
matter what the Archbishop says.
And a niger Catholics got to stay
in his place, just like any other
niger"
SEGREGATION IN THE
CHURCH
On Dryades Street, in the Negro
section, mounted the steps of st.
John the Baptist Catholic Church
and opened one of the heavy
doors. Street noises were muffled
with its closing. Soft light filtered
through magnificent stained-glass
windows in this Oldest of New Or
leans churches-once a church for
Catholics, now a church for Negro
Catholics.
/ sat in a pew, dWarfed in the
vast structure, and leaned forward
with my head against the bench
in front. CHANGING down at my
hands, l saw each black wrinkle,
each dark pore. This blackness
condemned me out in the world,
but the blessed illusion of sane
tuary within the church was so
intense that I could not believe
it condemned me here. I was home.
I belonged here as much as any
man. I felt superbly safe from
that incessant threat of humilia-
ton which daily accompanies the
American Negro. I knew the
Church's teaching allowed for no
racial distinction between mem
bers of the human family. 1t re-
garded man as a res sacra, a sacred
reality. God created all men with
equal rights and equal dignity. The
color of skin did not matter. What
mattered was the quality of soul.
I recalled a statement made by Fa-
Their j. Stanley Murphy, C.S.B.
Whenever any man permits him
self to regard any other man, in
any condition, as anything less
than a res sacra, then the poten-
TALLY for evil becomes almost linn
itless." Remembering this in the
skin of the Negro, saw that it
summed up the racist fallacy and
its effects on us.
Later, as I made my way slowly
through the more deprived areas
Of the South, learned some of
those burningly shameful contra
dictions that Negro Catholics have
to face. If it is painful to see that
your country does not practice
what it breaches, it is infinitely
more painful to see that your
Church does not. Though we deny
that segregation exists in the Cath
olic Church, it does in effect exist.
learned the humiliating proto-
col. In areas where there was a
Negro Catholic church, it was
made clear to me that I had bet
ter attend that one and no other.
In areas where no such provision
exised, I attended white"
church. But was instructed by
other Negro Catholics: l was to
sit to one side. If / wanted to re-
ceive Christ, I waited until the
last person had received Him and
had returned to his seat before I
approached the altar rail. Other
wise, I was warned, / would risk
being passed at the altar rail. Ne
groes are constantly affronted by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-14
900 q MOVIE GREATS.


Approximately Hours "Sweethearts'
1885, Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson
Eddy.
q I'm DICKENS, HE'S FENSTER.
Comedy. The carpenter cronies of Charlie
Piedmont (Dabbs Greer arrange re-
tiTement party for him at an exotic
Persian restaurant tRepeat)
$50 q THE PRICE IS RIGHT.
Quiz. Color. Bill Cullen, nc.
"a IT SUNSET STRIP.
Mystery. l Hour. "crashout" Jeff
Roger SMITH helps a prisoner escape
jail in hopes he'll lead police to hidden
100000 robbery loot. Michael Parks
and Don o'KeIy are featured tRepeat)
q ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR.
Drama l Hour. "The Lonely Hours"
A young housewife learns to fear the
presence of a woman to whom she has
rented a room. Nancy Kelly and Gena
Rowlands star. (RepeatO
1000 q JACK PAAR SHOW.
Variety l Hour Color. Bette Davis,
jonathan Winters. GiseIe Mackenzie and
Fred Demara. the Great lmposter. IRE
peat)
The Sunday StOr TV M0sozine,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
SneudTeum
Wins by 3
In Pro-Am

CINCINNATI Oct. IA (AP).-
Sam snead and his amateur
partner, Ed Tutwiler from
Charleston, w. Va. killed off
the competition on the first six
holes and coasted to a 3-stroke
victory yesterday in the $l7,500
Cincinnati pro-amateur golf
tournament.
snead and Tutwiler finished
1o-under-par for the two days
Of best-ball play as they added
a 81 to Saturdays SO for a
1870.
There was a three-way tie
for the runnerup spot, and it
involved the defending cham
pion team Of Jack Nicklaus
and Amateur Pandel Savic of
Columbus, Ohio.
They finished with 68-65-133
to match the scores turned in
by Pro ]. C. Goosie and Jack
Veghte of Largo, Fla, and the
combination of Pro Vic Ghezzi
Of Jamaica, N. Y, and Mort
Oman of Cincinnati.
The tournament was at the
6,45O-yard Losantiville Country
Club layout. where par is IS
1910.
Victory in the tournament
the fourth such affair here
was worth $4,000 to Snead
while Tutwiler carried home ar
elaborate silver serving set.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
Mickey Wright
Takes Fourth
Ladies' PGA

LAS VEGAS, New, Oct. / 4
CAP).-Mickey Wright, the 81
year-old sharp-shooter from
Dallas, has captured her fourth
Ladies Professional Golf Asso-
citation championship.
With q 72-yold total Of 294,
Miss Wright won the s16,500
tournament yesterday at Star
dust Golf Club. Her share of
the purse was S2.45O.
She also won the Ladies PGA
here in 1858, 1860 and 1861 and
yesterdays triumph was her
18th in "a tournaments this
year.
Tied for. second place at 296
were Mary Mills of Ocean
Springs. Miss; Louis Suggs of
DelRay Beach, Fla. and Mary
Lena Faux, Sea Island, Ga.
Each received S1,533,34.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
CIearcut U. S. Ryder Win
Keeps British in Shadows

morning." Palmer said. They
Just got warmed up in tn e
afternoon"
Palmer said he believed the
larger American ball made the
difference. ION Sunday 1t was
windy and the small ball
favored them" he said. But
overall in the three days the
big ball was superior"
Scotsman John Fallon, tn e
British captain, said his coun-
try may have to switch to the
American ball to win in the
United States. Prom tee to
green our ladies are as good as
the Americans" he said. But
the Americans do better on the
greens. The larger ball seems
to help them"
Palmer said this was the best
Ryder Cup match he had been
in from the standpoint Of CO.
operation. I'm tremendously
proud Of all our guys" he said
For example, Johnny Pott
wasn't playing well and he
asked to be benched. That's
real cooperation"
Palmer pointed out that Billy
Casper, the chubby Californian
who figured in four American
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

victories and one draw, said he
was tired yesterday and asked
to be left out Of the afternoon
matches. Billy said he didn't
feel he could help the team"
Palmer said.
Early Surprise
The British startled the
Americans Friday by defeating
Palmer In the opening match.
Brian Nugget and George VIII
beat Palmer and Pott, 30, in a
Scotch foursome. Palmer. who
teamed with Dow Finsterwald
for two victories Saturday, lost
to Englishman Peter Aliss in a
morning match yesterday.
Palmer was high in praise Of
Ireland's ChriSty O"Connor,
whose putting kept the British
in the match until yesterday.
Hes q great player" Palmer
said.
The British team gets a
chance for some measure Of
revenge next Thursday at the
Sahara Invitational tourna-
ment at Las Vegas. Most mem
bers of both teams planned to
enter.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
Steady Grohqm Ties BussIer in Pro-Am Tourney

Lou Graham, assistant pro at
Fort Meade. shot a pair of 37s
yesterday to tie Charlie Bass
Ter for low pro honors in an
invitational pro-amateur golf
tournament at International
Town and Country Club.
Bassler, Indian Spring pro,
fired a IS on the front nine, but
slipped to 80 coming in. Bill
Spore, also an assistant at Fort
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
COUNTRY CLUB COLE
Gen. Ely on Mild Winning Streak

WOODMONT-Jerry Footer
has won the club champion
ship four times and now he's
the fall handicap champion, a
new distinction. Footer gave
away three strokes to Gordon
Abrams, but still gained a
2-and-1 verdict. In another
event, Howard Nordlinger shot
70 and won the seniors cham
pionship over Mike Sklar, who
had 70. Sklar took the net
award after deducting his IL
handicap strokes for 81.
CHEVY CHASE-Edward M
Prince and william T. Brawner
gained an eight-stroke victory
over Admiral George A. Holder
ness and Edward Virgin in the
Presidents Cup. Prince shot
75-77-152 and deducted 20
handicap strokes for q net 1872,
while Brawner shot 78-82-16O
minus Is for l44. giving them
a combined 36-hole sc, = of 276
Admiral Holderness shot
77-77-l54 minus IA for 1870
while Virgin came in with
88-84-l72 minus % and IA
giving them 284.
KENWOOD - Mr.. and Mrs
Roy Lindgren won a match OF
cards over Mrs. E. H. Duttor
and DR.. Spencer Meade after
they tied in the Ruth Hill,
Trophy tournament with net
scores Of 1874.
ARGYLE-Al Coe was ovel
the 18th green and John Nc.
Intyre was Just off the edge
but it was Coe who cam,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

Gen. william Ely Of Army
Navy is on a mild winning
streak. He won his club cham
pionship last week and yester-
day he teamed with Ken Bige-
low to take the Congressional
fall member-guest tournament.
Ely and Bigelow shot 70 yes
terday in the round of scotch
foursomes. Saturday they had
a combined score of $50 and
Friday q best-ball total Of 81,
with handicaps.
They won by four strokes
over DR.. william Ready and
DR.. Dave Francis Of Washing
ton Golf & Country Club.
Ready and Francis had 10 yes
terday. l52 in the aggregate
round and "a In best-ball, for
286.
The best O low handicap
team could do was third. Claude
Wild and Bill Browning of
Manor shot 69-143-75-287.
BELAIR - The club cham
pionship is still In the same
family following Ray Mel
lenson's 5-and-4 victory over
Des Drotos in the final yester-
day. Ray was the champion in
1861, but was replaced by his
brother Jim last year. Now, at
the tender age Of 20, he has
won two titles and lost in the
final once. Mellenson shot
39-36-75 In the morning round
and went to lunch nursing q
one-hole lead over Drotos, who
posted 38-38-76. But in the
afternoon Drotos couldn't keeI
up. B
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

77-10-67, won low net. In a
mixed scotch foursomes event,
Mrs. Scale Giles and Dick
Schattmann tied Mrs. Ben
Frauwirth and Jerry Fried at
n. Mrs. John Henderson and
Phillip Friend shot 82-14-68
to win low net.
BROOKE MANOR-A man
likes to have his career round
count for something and maybe
that's why Lee Ritger feels a
little frustrated today. Ritger
shot 70 yesterday, the lowest
score he's ever had, but 1t
wasn't enough to avoid a loss
in a B team match. Argyle de-
feated Brooke Manor, 1911.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

through with the par that gave
Al and partner Bob CARRIER the
two-man team title over Nc
ntyre and Bob Marshall in
extra holes. Coe wedged his
shot 3 inches from the hole for
a conceded par. Mcintyre three
putted.
INDIAN SPRING - Press
Burrows shot "a and won the
club seniors championship.
Harry Gershenson, with
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
Every bit as
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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

ATLANTA, Oct. IA LAP).-
An early return to the top Of
the golf world by Great Britain.
where the sport got its start,
seems unlikely in the wake Of
the 18th Ryder Cup competi-
ton.
The American team swept to
q 1873 victory in the biennial
competition, which wound up
yesterday. 1t proved once again
that the United States has the
superior players.
The United States team,
called "invincible" by its proud
captain, Arnold Palmer, shook
off morning doldrums each day
in the three-day match at the
East Lake Club and turned 1t
into three straight American
afternoons.
Ban Makes Difference
Britain tied the Yanks, S-8,
in the morning matches, but
lost the afternoon contests
ISL. The lone British point in
the afternoon matches came on
two draws, with the United
States winning all the rest.
Our guys were cold in the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

Meade, and Billy Phillips of
Winchester followed the leaders
with 76s.
The pro leaders:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
Elegance unique in d
compuet-price cor

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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14

Levi Yoder. PincTest - 80 81
Mike Fitzgerald. Kenwood 80
Bill Deck. Belair - --- ~
Dick Wilson, Lakewood - 80
Hugh Mcclellan. Glen Dale 80
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
Make way for the rip-snortin''
sportin'est Comet ever built
the hot new Comet CuIiente

There's new Whom in Comets
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BULLETIN -DaYfonu Beach, Flo. On
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sustained speeds we'll over 100 mph. This