Minneapolis spokesman., 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 nationalists who
deny they advocate violence but preach a 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
situtonal framework. The distinguished Atlanta
publisher Ralph McGil, writing in the New York
Herald Tribune, warns "One 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 Gen.
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 mininal that the argument
for waiting" seems pointess. The right to lunch
at counter in the same store which will sell black
a suit of clothes but (until now not hot dog;
the right to compete for a better job the basis
Of individual talent the right to participate in the
democratic process by casting ballot; the right
simply to move around in society-these are rights
basic, automatic, that they just ought not to
be questioned by decent men.
DR.. Kings demonstrations did take place in VOL
alton Of Birmnghams parade ordinance. But the
technical legal infraction 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
Dr. King did much the in Birmingham Mon
violent direct action" made the whole community
and nation-hear him, and ugly Negro violence ex-
poded only after the whites started throwing bombs.
Through alchemy which the headlines
both illuminate and obfuscate, the problem Of how
white and Negro Americans are to live with one
another in natonhood has moved beyond the law
into the area of human relations such. It may
be that the lawmakers as distinct from the law
forcers, have done for the Negro about all they
There is limit to what anybodys law can do. It
safeguard the elementary rights of citizens and en-
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 we get to know another as
individuals
No white American can really claim to know
the Negro as an individual Whatever his business
dealings and personal associations, he cannot posi-
bly, know what 1t is to be Negro in America. In
the South the barrier Of caste intervenes. In the
North the urbanized Negro probably to a greater
extent than is true in the South, is faceless man
swallowed up in the black community His white
neighbors conscience is tranquilized by words like
tolerance" and "integraton"-words which are no
longer meaningful enough.
If, by some miracle, complete integraton were
achieved in the us. overnight would still have
ethnic and cultural minorties. The glory Of the
American system is that it has been able to ac-
commodate minorites in climate which permitted
individuals to profit from knowing another. In
that climate the Negro has profited least and suf
fered most Beyond "integrahon" the individual Ne
gro needs to have his essential human dignity
rmed. After he has gained the basic rights Of citi
zenshp 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
Ifa fII