Voices in Our Blood (89 page)

If Grady had been a few years younger, she would have gone down the road taken by her sister and cousin. If she had been white, the public-education system of Alabama would have bailed her out despite her poverty. Even in 1950, fatherless white kids who zipped through high school were not allowed to fall through the cracks in Alabama. But Grady had bad timing and black skin, a deadly combination.

At some point during our reunion lunch, it occurred to everyone in the room that of all the people who knew Grady Williams as a girl, there was one group that could have sent her to college. That was my family. The next morning, my sister told me of a regretful conversation that took place later that same day.

“Mother said at dinner last night, ‘If we had just known, if we had just known, we could have done something,' ” Mary Jo said. “Well, how could we have not known?”

Yes, precisely, how could we not have known—and how can we not know of the carnage of lives and minds and souls that is going on among young black people in this country today?

In Washington, where I live, there is a facile answer to such questions. Fashionable philosophers in the think tanks that influence this Administration's policies will tell you that guilt, historical fairness and compassion are outdated concepts, that if the playing field is level today, we are free to forget that it was tilted for generations. Some of these philosophers will even tell you that Grady could have made it if she had really wanted to.

But I know where Grady came from and I know the deck was stacked against her and I know who stacked it. George Wallace is old, sick and pitiful now, and he'd like to be forgiven for what he, Bull Connor and the other segs did back then, and perhaps he should be. Those who know him say that above all else he regrets using the racial issue for political gain.

I often think of Governor Wallace when I hear about the dangers of “reverse discrimination” and “racial quotas” from President Bush or his counsel, C. Boyden Gray, the chief architect of the Administration's civil rights policies. Unlike some of the old Southern demagogues, these are not ignorant men. Indeed, they are the polite, well-educated sons of privilege. But when they argue that this country needs no remedies for past injustices, I believe I hear the grown-up voices of pampered white boys who never saw a wound.

And I think of Grady and the unrepayable gift she gave with such wit, such generosity, to such a boy, so many years ago.

Grady told me that she was moved when she went to a library and saw my book, an oral history of the civil rights movement entitled
My Soul Is Rested.
It is widely used on college campuses as basic reading about the South, and of everything I have done in journalism, I am proudest of that book.

I was surprised that Grady had not instantly understood when the book came out in 1977 that she was its inspiration. That is my fault. I waited much too long to find her and tell her. It is her book really. She wrote it on my heart in the acres of afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

^*1
Their political and economic value is the measure of both the positive and negative characteristics of American democracy.

^*2
The NAACP was not the first organization to offer aid to the students. At the invitation of Dr. George Simkins, president of the Greensboro, North Carolina, NAACP branch, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sent field workers to the scene several days before the NAACP moved into action. An unimpeachable source told me that Dr. Simkins has been severely criticized by NAACP officials for this.

^*3
See Erik Erikson's Young Man Luther for a brilliant study of the development of the revolutionary impulse in a young man, and the relationship of this impulse to the father-figure. Although it is best to be wary of any heavy psychoanalytical emphasis, one cannot help believing that Nat Turner's relationship with his father, like Luther's, was tormented and complicated, especially since this person could not have been his real father, who ran away when Nat was an infant, but the white man who owned and raised him.

^*4
But many white reporters sympathetic to King, who thought the most important thing that could happen in America last year was or King to succeed in Chicago, consider his Chicago program a failure and a great tragedy. The problems had just been too great, the divisions within the Negro community too sharp, and the Daley machine too clever for him. The Daley machine was like nothing he had ever been up against before, with its roots in the Negro community. To this day there is no love by King for Daley, but there is considerable respect for Daley as a political operator. King sees Daley as a man for whom the machine is an end in itself, a man with little social vision, but with a sense of how social uses can be tailored to the perpetuation of the machine.

^†5
Yet there is an increasing difficulty in covering racial news. Two years ago if a white reporter even hinted that there was division in the movement, he was accused of trying to create that very division. As the divisions became more obvious, each time you were with an established leader like Roy Wilkins, he would complain how the press invented radical leaders, created by the white press because of its guilt feelings. The next day you might be in Harlem talking with one of the more radical Negroes, and he would give a bitter discourse on how the white press played up only Whitney Young and Roy Wilkins; the white press was out to make the Negroes think that this mild leadership was all they had.

^*6
The battle cry actually was the signature phrase of a locally popular black disc jockey, and, before Watts, it had nothing to do with Molotov cocktails. To “burn,” in the black argot of the day, actually meant something like to “groove” or to “wail”—to improvise brilliantly in singing, soloing or just living.

Acknowledgments

This is a highly personal anthology. No attempt has been made to be exhaustive or encyclopedic. I have tried to avoid straightforward political manifestos in favor of narratives or journalism. The movement is a vast subject, and readers will no doubt argue with the book, wondering how such a collection could fail to include a favorite author, or a memorable piece. So be it: I welcome the debate. My goal was to give a flavor of what life was like as the movement unfolded, to capture its ambiguities and lingering tensions, and to give readers a chance to see, in one place, what a handful of the nation's best writers had to say about our most important twentieth-century domestic drama. The choices are not driven by ideology, but by the editorial instinct to lay out as many of the key perspectives as possible; in other words, the fact that a piece is republished here should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that particular voice or view.

The most important thanks, naturally, go to the writers, living and dead, whose work is included here. I am grateful to Russell Baker, Ellis Cose, Stanley Crouch, Marshall Frady, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Peter Goldman, David Halberstam, Howell Raines, William Styron, Calvin Trillin, Bernard Weinraub, Garry Wills, and Tom Wolfe for sharing stories with me about the writing of their pieces.

John Egerton and David J. Garrow answered many questions; I am one of countless readers in their debt, and I am fortunate they are my friends. Egerton's
Speak Now Against the Day: The Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement in the South
(1994) and Garrow's
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(1986) are essential reading on America in the twentieth century. I also owe thanks to Barbara Epstein, Lewis Lapham, Harry Evans, Jack Bass, Julia Reed, Malcolm Jones, David Remnick, George Plimpton, Manie Barron, James H. Cone, the late C. Eric Lincoln, Holly George-Warren, Richard Somerset-Ward, Peter Osnos, Vern Smith, Kathy Deveny, Kenneth Auchincloss, Nancy Cooper, Chris Shay, Mike Hill, Janelle Duryea, Sofia and Herbert Wentz, and the terrific Research Center staff of
Newsweek.

I drew on numerous secondary sources for the essay that opens the book and the subsequent section introductions. The following volumes were especially useful: David Bradley's introduction to the 1988 Thunder's Mouth Press edition of Richard Wright's
Twelve Million Black Voices;
Victoria Glendinning's
Rebecca West: A Life;
Alex Haley's
The Autobiography of Malcolm X;
James H. Cone's
Martin & Malcolm & America;
and Joseph Blotner's
Robert Penn Warren: A Biography.

At
Newsweek,
I am grateful to Rick Smith, Mark Whitaker, Ann McDaniel, and Evan Thomas for their innumerable kindnesses. Thanks, too, to Amanda Urban, friend and counselor; and without ICM's Richard Abate's tireless efforts to obtain permissions, there would be no book at all. Richard was a thoughtful colleague whose good cheer and wise insights were invaluable. At Random House, I was the lucky beneficiary of Jonathan Karp's formidable editorial gifts. And to Keith, of course, I owe the most.

Permissions Acknowledgments

“The Negro Revolt Against ‘The Negro Leaders' ” by Louis E. Lomax was originally published in
Harper's Magazine.
Copyright © 1960 by Louis Lomax.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:

AMERICAN PLAY COMPANY:
“American Segregation and the World Crisis” by William Faulkner from
The Segregation Decisions.
Copyright © 1955 by William Faulkner. Reprinted by permission of American Play Company.

JAMES BALDWIN ESTATE:
“The Dangerous Road Before Martin Luther King” was originally published in
Harper's Magazine,
1955, by James Baldwin. Collected in
The Price of the Ticket
(New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1985). Copyright © 1985 by James Baldwin. Reprinted by arrangement with the James Baldwin Estate.

DON CONGDON ASSOCIATES, INC.:
“This Quiet Dust” from “Voices in Black & White: Writings on Race” from
Harper's Magazine
by William Styron. Copyright © 1965 by Harper's, renewed in 1993 by William Styron. Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.

STANLEY CROUCH:
“When Watts Burned” from
The Sixties
by Stanley Crouch. Originally appeared in
Rolling Stone.
Copyright © 1977 by Stanley Crouch. Reprinted by permission of the author.

DOUBLEDAY, A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC.
: “Liar by Legislation” from
First Person Rural
by Hodding Carter. Copyright © 1963 by Hodding Carter. Originally appeared in
Look.
Reprinted by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

BARBARA EPSTEIN, LITERARY EXECUTOR OF THE MURRAY KEMPTON ESTATE:
“He Went All the Way”; “Next Day”; “The Soul's Cry”; “Upon Such a Day” from
America Comes of Middle Age, Columns 1950–1962
by Murray Kempton. Copyright © 1963. Reprinted by permission of Barbara Epstein, Literary Executor of the Murray Kempton Estate.

FARRAR, STRAUS & GIROUX, LLC
: Excerpt from “Appendix” from
Mystery and Manners
by Flannery O'Connor. Copyright © 1969 by the Estate of Mary Flannery O'Connor. “Mississippi: The Fallen Paradise” from “Life in the South” from
Signposts in a Strange Land
by Walker Percy. Originally appeared in
Harper's Magazine.
Copyright © 1991 by Mary Bernice Percy. Excerpt from “Radical Chic” from
Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers
by Tom Wolfe. Originally appeared in
New York.
Copyright © 1970 by Tom Wolfe. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC.

DAVID HALBERSTAM AND INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT, INC.:
“The Second Coming of Martin Luther King” from
Harper's Magazine
by David Halberstam. Copyright © 1967 by David Halberstam. Reprinted by permission of David Halberstam and International Creative Management, Inc.

HARCOURT, INC.:
“Choosing to Stay at Home: Ten Years After the March on Washington” from
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens
by Alice Walker. Copyright © 1973 by Alice Walker. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.

HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS, INC.
: “A Hostile and Welcoming Workplace” from
The Rage of the Privileged Class
by Ellis Cose. Copyright © 1993 by Ellis Cose. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

JOHN HAWKINS & ASSOCIATES, INC.
: “Inheritors of Slavery” by Richard Wright from
Twelve Million Black Voices: A Folk History of the Negro in the United States.
Copyright © 1941 by Richard Wright. Reprinted by permission of John Hawkins & Associates, Inc.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY
: “The Moral Aspects of Segregation” by Benjamin E. Mays from
The Segregation Decisions.
Copyright © 1995 by Benjamin Mays. Reprinted by permission of Howard University.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER:
“Representative” by Charlayne Hunter from
The New Yorker.
Copyright © 1967 by Charlayne Hunter. Reprinted by permission of the author.

INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT, INC.
: “Letters from the South” from
The New Yorker
by E. B. White. Copyright © 1956 by E. B. White. Reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc.

ALFRED A. KNOPF, A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC.:
“Prime Time” from
Colored People
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Originally appeared in
Harper's Magazine.
Copyright © 1994 by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

LESCHER & LESCHER LTD:
“State Secrets” by Calvin Trillin. Copyright © 1995 by Calvin Trillin. Originally appeared in
The New Yorker.
Reprinted by permission of Lescher & Lescher, Ltd.

THE WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY:
Excerpt from
Segregation: The Inner Conflict in the South
by Robert Penn Warren. Copyright © 1956 by Robert Penn Warren. Reprinted by permission of William Morris Agency, Inc., on behalf of the author.

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS:
“After Watts” by Elizabeth Hardwick from
The New York Review of Books,
March 31, 1966. Copyright © 1966 NYREV, Inc. Reprinted with permission from
The New York Review of Books.

THE NEW YORK TIMES:
“Capital Is Occupied by a Gentle Army” by Russell Baker from
The New York Times,
August 29, 1963. Copyright © 1963 by The New York Times Company. “Grady's Gift” by Howell Raines from
The New York Times,
December 1, 1991. Copyright © 1991 by The New York Times Company. “I Have a Dream . . .” by James Reston from
The New York Times,
August 29, 1963. Copyright © 1963 by
The New York Times.
Reprinted by permission.

NEWSWEEK
:
“ ‘We in a War—Or Haven't Anybody Told You That?' ” by Peter Goldman from “Report from Black America” from
Newsweek.
Copyright © 1969 by Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of
Newsweek.

PETERS FRASER AND DUNLOP ON BEHALF OF THE ESTATE OF REBECCA WEST:
“Opera in Greenville” from
A Train of Powder
by Rebecca West. Originally appeared in
The New Yorker.
Copyright © 1947 by Rebecca West. Reprinted by permission of Peters Fraser and Dunlop on behalf of the Estate of Rebecca West.

RAINES & RAINES:
Excerpt from
North Toward Home
by Willie Morris. Copyright © 1967 by Willie Morris. Reprinted by permission of the author's agents, Raines & Raines.

RANDOM HOUSE, INC.:
Excerpt from
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou. Originally appeared in
Harper's Magazine.
Copyright © 1969 and renewed 1997 by Maya Angelou. Reprinted by permission of Random House. “Harlem Is Nowhere” from
Shadow and Act
by Ralph Ellison. Copyright © 1964 and copyright renewed 1992 by Ralph Ellison. Excerpt from
Wallace
by Marshall Frady. Copyright © 1968 and copyright renewed 1996 by Marshall Frady. “An Interview with Malcom X” from
The Autobiography of Malcom X
by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. Originally appeared in
Playboy.
Copyright © 1964 by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. Copyright © 1965 by Betty Shabazz and Alex Haley. “The Cradle (of the Confederacy) Rocks” from
Go South to Sorrow
by Carl T. Rowan. Copyright © 1957 by Carl T. Rowan. “A Pageant of Birds” from
The Eye of the Story: Selected Essays & Stories
by Eudora Welty. Copyright © 1978 by Eudora Welty. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.

SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC.
: Excerpt from
Parting the Waters
by Taylor Branch. Copyright © 1988 by Taylor Branch. “Bloody Sunday” from
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
by John Lewis. Copyright © 1998 by John Lewis. Reprinted by permission of Simon and Schuster, Inc.

VIKING PENGUIN, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN PUTNAM INC.:
Excerpt from
Travels with Charley
by John Steinbeck. Copyright © 1961, 1962 by The Curtis Publishing Company. Copyright © 1962 by John Steinbeck. Copyright renewed 1990 by Elaine Steinbeck, Thom Steinbeck and John Steinbeck IV. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

GLENDA WATTERS:
“ ‘Keep On A-Walking, Children' ” by Glenda Watters from
New American Review,
Number 5, January 1969. Reprinted by permission of Glenda Watters.

THE WEIL AGENCY
: “Choosing to Stay at Home: Ten Years After the March on Washington” from
In Search of Our Mother's Garden
by Alice Walker. Originally appeared in
The New York Times Magazine.
Copyright © 1973 by Alice Walker. Reprinted by permission of The Weil Agency on behalf of the author.

BERNARD WEINRAUB
: “The Brilliancy of Black” by Bernard Weinraub. Copyright © 1967 by Bernard Weinraub. Reprinted by permission of the author.

THE WYLIE AGENCY, INC.
: “Martin Luther Is Still on the Case” by Garry Wills. Copyright © 1968 by Gary Wills, first published in
Esquire
in August 1968. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, Inc.