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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, Fort Madison, Iowa, 1969
Page 004
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-4- should be especially responsive to communications from their own districts. Be certain to note those Committees of the council or the General Assembly or the Congress on which your elected legislator serves. This will indicate to you at what point your influence may be most substantial." -taken from CIC NEWSLETTER - June 1969 Davenport, Iowa If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness." -Victor Hugo Whitney m. Young, Jr., executive director of the National Urban League, on how whites should direct their energies: "Use your energies to combat white racism. Don't ask me to go down and talk to the Black Panthers unless you're going to talk to the Klan." "Strange, isn't it..., that, here, where so many people, (black and white), say there are no racial problems, there was a cross-burning? This isn't the first time it has happened! ! ! And,... there never is much said about it,...perhaps to "keep down trouble", or perhaps, because we don't want to be classified with Blackhawk, Scott and Polk counties with all of their publicized problems. Publicized or not,...the fact is that Lee County shares in the sickness of racism which permeates America. Ignoring the symptoms will not cure the disease. The reason for such actions are racist in origin...no matter what other explanation is given. It has been proven time and time again, that most violence in racial incidents, comes about because of whites. Here, in Lee County most Negroes or Blacks, "involved" or not, have condoned the non-violent, legal methods which have been used to improve inter-group relations and the conditions for minorities, in this area. Today, more than ever before,...those of us who realize the dangers involved in not trying to eliminate the ignorance which results in racially hostile acts, such as "cross-burnings",...know that now is the time for all of us to put our shoulders to the stone and get the job done. Nothing will be accomplished by complacent apathetic people who close their eyes and pretend that everything will "go away" if they keep them shut long away. That is not the way it is! ! ! We of the NAACP, have been confronted with enough situations which take place only because of the existence of racist attitudes. They have not and will not stir us to act in destructive or violent ways,... rather, we have chosen to direct our energies constructively in non-violent, legal and educational projects which, we hope, will make this community better for all people. We have made our "choice of weapons". Remember, "All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." "Ethnic solidarity has an honorable tradition in this country. When the Polish stuck together and helped each other, nobody called them racists. But, when we do the same, everybody says racism is our motive." -Julian Bond Interested in learning something about the "real" History of the Negro? Tune in Channel 7 or your CBS - TV station, every morning at 6:30 AM for their "BLACK HERITAGE" series. The lectures have been extremely informative. JOIN THE NAACP University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives
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-4- should be especially responsive to communications from their own districts. Be certain to note those Committees of the council or the General Assembly or the Congress on which your elected legislator serves. This will indicate to you at what point your influence may be most substantial." -taken from CIC NEWSLETTER - June 1969 Davenport, Iowa If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness." -Victor Hugo Whitney m. Young, Jr., executive director of the National Urban League, on how whites should direct their energies: "Use your energies to combat white racism. Don't ask me to go down and talk to the Black Panthers unless you're going to talk to the Klan." "Strange, isn't it..., that, here, where so many people, (black and white), say there are no racial problems, there was a cross-burning? This isn't the first time it has happened! ! ! And,... there never is much said about it,...perhaps to "keep down trouble", or perhaps, because we don't want to be classified with Blackhawk, Scott and Polk counties with all of their publicized problems. Publicized or not,...the fact is that Lee County shares in the sickness of racism which permeates America. Ignoring the symptoms will not cure the disease. The reason for such actions are racist in origin...no matter what other explanation is given. It has been proven time and time again, that most violence in racial incidents, comes about because of whites. Here, in Lee County most Negroes or Blacks, "involved" or not, have condoned the non-violent, legal methods which have been used to improve inter-group relations and the conditions for minorities, in this area. Today, more than ever before,...those of us who realize the dangers involved in not trying to eliminate the ignorance which results in racially hostile acts, such as "cross-burnings",...know that now is the time for all of us to put our shoulders to the stone and get the job done. Nothing will be accomplished by complacent apathetic people who close their eyes and pretend that everything will "go away" if they keep them shut long away. That is not the way it is! ! ! We of the NAACP, have been confronted with enough situations which take place only because of the existence of racist attitudes. They have not and will not stir us to act in destructive or violent ways,... rather, we have chosen to direct our energies constructively in non-violent, legal and educational projects which, we hope, will make this community better for all people. We have made our "choice of weapons". Remember, "All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." "Ethnic solidarity has an honorable tradition in this country. When the Polish stuck together and helped each other, nobody called them racists. But, when we do the same, everybody says racism is our motive." -Julian Bond Interested in learning something about the "real" History of the Negro? Tune in Channel 7 or your CBS - TV station, every morning at 6:30 AM for their "BLACK HERITAGE" series. The lectures have been extremely informative. JOIN THE NAACP University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa Women's Archives
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