Inside Story of Little Rock - Page 16

Article in U.S. News and World Report based on excerpts from Hays' book A Southern Moderate SpeaksInside Story of Little Rock "Emerging community judgments were quickly recognized-the bayonets should come off those guns. It was an affront to the community that was not justified in the first place" for this situation rested on the white community. No efforts were made to help the Negroes put into leadership positions their most disciplined and wisest men and women. When a prosecution was begun a little while later under a city ordinance against NAACP officials, including a Negro Methodist minister, for what appeared to be technical violations, it only strengthened the position of the NAACP among Negroes. "Mrs. Bates has no large personal following among our people," said one of the Negro ministers, "but this sort of thing drives them in masses into her camp." The Negroes seemed eager at all times to appear to be just as friendly as ever with their individual white friends, but they stuck to their mental retreat and did not invite discussion. They were aware of the necessities of the situation, and there was a certain pathos in the severing of the pleasant contacts between individuals. McClinton called in October to ask me to see a committee of his group to discuss the future. With him were a Baptist minister and a retired mail carrier. They made clear their determination to do all within their power to prevent violence. The Negro people, they said, were united in this. Further, they thought that the white people should know that the Negroes were also united in thinking that their rights as defined by the United States district court should be protected, even if the troops had to stay. This meant that the nine students should continue in Central High. They hoped that the white people would not ask for troop withdrawal until it could be done with safety. I pointed out that the two races had a common interest here-if the school board kept the school open and obeyed court injunctions, both white and colored students should have adequate protection. This view is consistent with my opposition to military enforcement. I believed these three men as to the unanimity of Negro opinion on desegregation of Central High. Later, professional poll takers confirmed this judgment with irrefutable proof produced by their comprehensive local survey. Skeptical white leaders were convinced. The question whether Little Rock Negroes would seek mass integration is a different question. The people of Little Rock were largely inarticulate during the early days of the presence of federal troops at Central High. I made no effort to find out what the Administration had in mind as to withdrawal. No one could answer that question anyway. We had witnessed violence, and we breathed easier when strong men stood between our city's children and danger. White parents shared these anxieties, of course. They knew that violence directed toward Negro children would expose all to danger. I was a bit impatient during those days with some of the statements of partisans in other States who seemed to welcome a showdown. Had they known the extent of our anxieties I am sure they would have, in expressing their own convictions, omitted the "Let's you and him fight" overtones. We were too close to violence to find any enjoyment in outbursts of that kind. School Board's Side of Case In one of the several huddles of the 26 Chamber of Commerce former presidents, Superintendent Blossom and the six members of the school board were invited to participate, and they did a superb job of informing us of the extreme difficulties facing the administrators and faculty under court orders to teach nine Negro students in what was historically the all-white high school. Blossom spoke feelingly and convincingly. With a short dissertation on the local NAACP decision to rely on their legal rights, he dispelled any idea of an official closing of doors to the nine at that time, and his board sustained him. This, they argued, was the practical side of it. The board's critics have tried to interpret this consistent court-compliance policy as a thrusting of integration upon the people of Little Rock against their wishes. The record will not support that charge, as later action by the board proved. The hours spent by the 26 on these talks were fruitful. These outstanding civic leaders gained new understanding of the educational, sociological and legal phases of the problem. If some had not been convinced by newspaper editorials that yielding to extremists, by sending the Negroes home or closing Central High, would mean a strengthening of lawlessness, they were made fully aware of this point by Dr. Will Cooper, at that time chairman of the school board, and by Mr. Blossom. No one questioned for a moment that a majority of the people preferred the segregated schools. No one argued that the defeat by two of these directors of extremist opponents in a 1956 election carried any mandate to integrate. The issue appeared in clearer outlines every day: law and order as opposed to threats and pressures- chiefly from outside Little Rock. Emerging community judgments were quickly recognized -the bayonets should come off those guns. It was an affront to the community that was not justified in the first place. Military men are tough and they do not take chances, but we did not like that aspect of the policing one bit. The bayonets did come off, and, furthermore, the military men very quickly recognized that, while it might be weeks, maybe months, before all troops could go home, the strong display of power was no longer called for. Soldiers Leave-Tension Eases With the withdrawal of the last of the regular troops about Christmastime and the assignment of the task to the federalized Guard units of our own Arkansas men in greatly reduced strength, there was considerably less feeling about "militarization." The meetings of the 26-they have never adopted a name nor taken any steps toward formal organization-were occasionally devoted to related issues, such as the election of the governing board for the new city-manager form of government on November 5. All were eager to avoid the inclusion of the question of segregation in the election, so the month of October was a period of suspended judgment as to the next steps to be taken. Some sessions were solely to hear reports from those who were observing internal school conditions and to confer regarding measures to avoid a special session of the State's General Assembly, which would, unless the political climate changed, result either in closing Central High School altogether or penalties such as withdrawal of State aid. In view of the desire of some leading political figures who were quite indifferent to Little Rock's misfortune, there was every reason for our disquietude. Modern cities have often been confronted with hostile political forces originating in nonurban areas and injustices U. S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, March 23, 1959 13