Do things really change?

In our clean-up, I found a copy of Life Magazine (remember that?) from September 22, 1961. I had saved it because the cover story was about Hurricane Carla, which hit Galveston and Houston, Texas on September 11, 1961.

It was great fun to look through the magazine, reading the stories and looking at the ads and prices.

However, what really caught my eye was one of the two editorials in this issue. Since I can’t put a link on it, I’ll copy it all here. It brings up some old memories, and makes one wonder how many changes have been made.

Our Salute to the South

“Ronnie, keep your chin up, you’re among friends.” This was the greeting Principal W. T. Puryear gave 6-year-old Ronnie Daniels, one of the first Negroes integrated in a Dallas public school. And Principal Puryear was right. Ronnie was indeed among friends. And so were the 17 other Negro first-graders who were integrated in what had been the nation’s largest segregated school district. For Dallas, after six years of vain resistance to integration, including a long series of court fights, had had a change of mind - and heart.

It began when business leaders started to worry about the “public image” of Dallas and the damage that violence would do to business. It also involved a “no foolishness” police chief, Jesse Curry, who announced beforehand that violence would be severely dealt with. None occurred. A 19-year-old youth who was caught preparing to put a gasoline-soaked cross on a school lawn said later, “It was a silly thing to do, and I’m sorry I did it.” Reported Dallas School Superintendent W. T. White, “We just couldn’t have had a smoother beginning…Everybody was polite, Negro and white alike.” One white man watching colored children entering their first day of classes told police officials, “If there’s any trouble, you call on me and I’ll be around to help you.”

The same sort of thing that happened in Dallas also happened in Atlanta. A determined mayor, Willie Hartsfield, a good police chief, Herbert Jenkins, and an earnest school superintendent, Dr. John W. Letson, all had the support of enlightened community leaders - and particularly of a strong newspaper, the Atlanta Constitution and its editor, Ralph McGill.

What happened in both cities is typical of a new spirit that, though it still has far to go, is making itself felt in the South. It represents the triumph of good, moderate citizens over the rabid minority that gave the U.S. a bad name all over the world when riots flared at Little Rock and in New Orleans. This month 48 Negroes went to school with whites at Little Rock without incident (“We couldn’t care less,” said a white student). New Orleans - this time with overwhelming community support of peaceful compliance - had no trouble.

We are glad to salute the responsible leaders of the South who have made these notable contributions to better race relations. These leaders have not only begun peaceful desegregation of schools, they have also brought about orderly desegregation of lunchrooms in Nashville, Dallas and Savannah. They have proved that where responsible public officials and authorities take a firm stand on the side of the law and order, significant social changes can be accomplished without inciting violence and discord. They are worthy of a deeply religious people who are beginning more and more to tell one another that discrimination and brotherhood cannot be reconciled. And they are worthy heirs to the leaders of an older South who did so much to create the very institutions of American freedom, and especially of that Virginian who struck off the immortal lines about the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.