What Price Freedom - 1963

The negro in the south lives under a complex system of customs and traditions, that have all the force of law, plus the actual Jim Crow ordinances. The system says in effect that the negro is a citizen of this country: that he should pay taxes and defend his country from its enemies, but he should not vote, have equal protection under the law, equality of education or job opportunities; and that he should not have access to public eating places, parks, even hospitals. Every negro in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama understand this system, but although it is part of the southern whites “way of life” few of them have taken a close hard look at it. We have lived it, been burned by it every single day of our lives. Contrary to the beliefs of many whites, negros have never accepted the system that deprives him of his manhood, his dignity, never been happy with it, never gotten used to it.

A few years ago a negro who spoke simple truths about justice, freedom, human dignity, was not tolerated. Most white, south era lived under the illusion that they alone understood the negro and were thoroughly imprisoned in a culture that said the system was for the good of those whom it suppressed.

Then there were the good “whites” who tried to keep negro in line by telling him of their disapproval of the K.K.K and other racist organizations- of their shame, that they could counted on if the negro got in trouble. But all this has changed. Negroes, especially the new negroes have lost their illusions about the “good whites”. They have seen “good whites” equivocate endlessly and finally grow silent in time of crisis.

The new negro is the product of this painful disillusion. He sees that in order to enjoy his rights that are being withheld from him he has to fight for those rights- even die, if necessary. A few days ago the whole nation was horrified to see police dogs set loose in a crowd of 2,000 persons during an anti-segregation prayer meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. Rev. Martin Luther King, leader of Southern Christian Conference, says love is the answer. The same day this happened a friend from Birmingham called me in the evening. She was laughing and crying at the same time. I asked if she was hurt? She said no, I have never been so happy. There were over 2,000 in the park and hundreds stood on the sidewalks, as the demonstrators were being driven to she. She said “I know Rev. King says love us the answer, and I think the negro are really trying, but you should have seen the looks on their faces as they watched Rev. King being led to jail. Daisy will the white man learn to love before the negro learn to hate?

Indeed this is a question we all should ask ourselves. How long will the militant negro be willing to pay for his freedom, his manhood? How long will America stand by and allow negros to be beaten and jailed for simply trying to register in order to vote. Twenty million Americans would like an answer now.

As you sit in the jail in the lingering shadows of the black stillness of the night, the stink of an unclean jail surrounds you, penetrating your body, your mind, your soul, until you feel like a living nothing. Sitting alone in the jail cell you ask yourself, why?… am I here? Why does God permit this to happen to me? Oh his love is so great. If he is so powerful he can move mountains, why does he permit these atrocities to be perpetrated against 20 million negroes daily?

Somewhere between mid-night and morning you recieve the answer. Everything falls into place. Your faith in the rightness in what you are doing cleanses your body of the stink and rejuvenates your soul. Your mind is now functioning clearly and sharp. You see yourself not as a nothing but as a man or woman free-er now than before you entered the cell. You realize that no matter how many chains they bind you with the fight for freedom boiling inside you can never be suppressed again.

The racist realizes this. That is why now they are resorting to the use of deadly weapons against our young people as in the case of young voter registration workers in Greenwood, Mississippi.