The following excerpt was written in 1958:
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At the root of all the present racial trouble is interference in the internal affairs of Southern States by people not at all interested in an amicable settlement of any problems arising between Negro and white Americans.
This interference comes from organizations and individuals in the North seeking to use the Negro. Among them are found Communists, crypto-communists, fuzzy-headed liberals, eggheads, pacifists, idealists, civil disobedience advocates, socialists, do-gooders, conniving politicians, self-seekers, muddle-headed humanitarians, addle-brained intellectuals, crackpots and plain meddlers. Like “missionaries,” they descend on the South ostensibly to change or alter it to benefit the Negro.
In fact and in implication, all of them seek to by-pass the responsible white and Negro leaders in the South to effect a solution. They employ a pattern of setting up provocative situations which inflame and agitate the white populace and then using it as propaganda here and abroad against the South in particular and all of America in general.
White Southerners who oppose these “missionaries” are pounced upon and labeled “race baiters”, “reactionaries”, “Ku Kluxers”, “white supremacists”, “persons outside the law” and so forth.
Negro Southerners who oppose these “missionaries” are also attacked and labeled “Uncle Toms”, “traitors of the race”, “handkerchief heads”, “white folks niggers” and so forth.
Obviously such name calling is a deliberate attempt on the part of these “missionaries” to scuttle all the progress made by the Negro since slavery by creating an atmosphere of distrust, fear, and hate. Like a witch stirring her brew the “missionaries” stir up all the sectional and racial bitterness that arose in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction. They open old wounds. They thumb the pages of closed chapters. They rake over the dying embers of old grudges, old grievances, old fears and old hates, that time has been gradually consigning to history in the onward sweep of a young, lusty, healthy and growing nation. (From the book Color, Communism, and Common Sense (1958). Written by Manning Johnson. He was a Communist Party leader for ten years, during which time he served on the National Committee. He later worked with the F.B.I., investigating Communism. He was also a Consultant for the Department of Justice, Investigations Division. )
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Both Jesse Jackson and Maxine Waters are now trying to milk the situation in Louisiana for what its worth by turning this situation into an anti-war demonstration.
According to Salon.com, Louisiana Senator Cleo Fields hatched an idea to…
“… house the displaced residents at the Air Force base instead of shelters and sports stadiums like the Astrodome, many of which are full anyway. They haven’t gotten permission to do that, but that’s not stopping them. The black leaders say racism is behind both the late response to the emergency and the dispersal of rescued residents far away from New Orleans.”
Ahh, here comes the racial angle…
“[City Council President Oliver] Thomas complained that many people had been turned against New Orleans refugees because of media emphasizing stories of looting and violence, and he asked why they couldn’t be housed closer to home. “Texas is being neighborly, while Louisiana is rejecting people. Why do we have to send our people to Texas?”
“The people in Jefferson Parish,” Thomas continued, referring to a mostly affluent and white area to the northwest of New Orleans, “have been very clear; they don’t want them here.” (more…)
Nevermind the fact that states all over the country are taking in folks, but for some reason this military base is the missing link.
Mind you, while all of this is going on, Maxine Waters’ own district continues its reputation as a poverty-stricken shooting gallery where she continues to do just enough to stay in office so she can take “missionary” trips like this.
To his credit, Jackson has helped out with the effort of getting folks out of there, but then he (like Waters and the gang) slams the Federal government with the racism charge of not getting there fast enough WITHOUT ANY PROOF TO SUPPORT THIS ACCUSATION (“help was delayed, must be racism”).
Jackson then poses the expected question that further proves that he is determined to make this more of a racial issue than a rescue mission:
Jackson questioned why Bush has not named blacks to top positions in the federal response to the disaster, particularly when the majority of victims remaining stranded in New Orleans are black: “How can blacks be locked out of the leadership, and trapped in the suffering?”
First of all, I do not recall hearing any of the folks who have been waiting for help for days being concerned about who’s black in the management. Nevertheless, the truth is revealed:
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, head of the military task force overseeing operations in the three states, is black. His task force is providing search and rescue, medical help and sending supplies to the three states in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency . (more…)
On Sunday, Gen Honore gave somewhat of a full explanation as to why it took the military so long to get to the area on Fox News. His explanation was that during natural disasters, taking precaution, the military moves its hardware and soldiers AWAY from the expected disaster area for the simple reason of keeping them safe so that they can be readily available for relief efforts. Just imagine what would have happened if military trucks had either stayed or moved towards the area during the storm. According to him, there was only one highway into the city and part of that was underwater. He also mentioned that many of the military personnel also suffered great loss AND had to be contacted when there was little to no way to communicate. He also said that in most cases, the military was taken back almost 100 years in their ability to communicate with the people on the ground. The “racism” tag is just simply inaccurate—DON’T BUY INTO IT!!
Most, if not all news agencies are reporting that the situation down there is slowly improving. One of the major problems of this relief effort was that there was no centralized headquarters to manage the largest relief effort on American soil. Now that the relief is flowing, leave the people alone! This is not the time to stage some kind of demonstration.
According to what Manning Johnson wrote, there is nothing new under the sun.
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