St. Paul recorder., 1963-05-30

urgency for all citizens to understand how the
problem has changed.
The drive to achieve equality has united Ne
groes, but the argument about ways and means also
set some of their leaders against one another. The
Negroes feeling that the white mans law has failed
him Is polarized by extreme black nadonalsts who
deny they advocate violence but preach doctrine
which may bring it about. They express contempt
for the efforts Of men like King and the NAACP's
Roy Wilkins to achieve a solution within the
stituhonal framework. The distinguished Atlanta
publisher Ralph McGin, writing in the New York
Herald Tribune, warns lone Of these days the
South, even Birmingham, will be grateful to Dr.
King. If a real hater-a Black Muslim-had come
along with Dr. Kings power Of speech and personal
ity, the South long ago would have been blood
stained"
Many people, including the US Attorney Cen
eral, have criticized Dr. Kings timing and tactics in
organizing the Birmingham demonstrations over the
past few weeks-that is maybe he should have
waited McGin fatty disagrees. There has been
enough waiting" he says. Actually the Negro goals
in Birmingham are minimal that the argument
for waiting pointless The right to lunch
at counter in the store which will sell black
man a suit Of clothes but (until now not hot dog;
the right to compete for better job the basis
Of individual talent; the right to participate in the
democratic process by casting a ballot the right
simply to move around in society-these are rights
basic, SO automatic, that they just ought not to
be questioned by decent men,
DR.. Kings demonstrations did take place in VOL
alton Of Birmingham's parade ordinance But the
technical legal infracton far outweighed by
the broader right Of citizens in free society to
semble peaceably to seek redress of grievances
Gandhi, influenced by the writings of Tolstoy and
Thoreau, forged passive resistance into a weapon
which forced the conformation Of issue in India
DR.. King did much the same in Birmingham Mon
violent direct action" made the whole community
and naton-hear him, and ugly Negro violence ex-
ploded only after the whites started throwing bombs
Through some alchemy which the headlines
both illuminate and obfuscate, the problem of how
white and Negro Americans are to live with one
another in nationhood has moved beyond the law
into the area of human relations such. It may
be that the lawmakers distinct from the law en-
forcers have done for the Negro about all they can
There is a limit to what anybodys law do It can
safeguard the elementary rights of citizens and
force the decisions of the courts But the law cannot
make white and black Americans get to know one
another. That is still the American dilemma which
Gunnar Myrdal explored in his classic treatise 10
years ago-how get to know another as
individuals.
No white American really claim to know
the Negro as an individual. Whatever his business
bly, know what it is to be a Negro in America. In
the South the barrier Of caste intervenes. In the
North the urbanized Negro probably to greater
extent than is true in the South, is faceless
swallowed up in the black community. His white
neighbors conscience is tranquilized by words like
tolerance" and 'fntegrahon'-words which are no
longer meaningful enough.
If, by some miracle, complete integration were
achieved in the us. overnight, we would still have
ethnic and cultural minorities. The glory Of the
American system Is that it has been able to ac-
commodate minorties in a climate which permitted
individuals to profit from knowing another. In
that climate the Negro has profited least and suf
fered most Beyond 'fntegration the individual Ne
gro needs to have his essential human dignity
firmed After he has gained the basic rights Of citi-
zenship already stated in law for all Americans it
will be confirmed 1t is the clear obligation Of white
Americans not to impede this process but to hasten
its fulfillment