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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, 1967-1970

1970-05-14 Newsletter, Fort Madison Branch of the NAACP Page 2

-2-

Rather it would be a revolution of the Right suppressing not only the black community but also curtailing the basic liberties of the total society. 
Repeated surveys and polls by reputable and impartial opinion testers show that this minority misrepresents the true views and aspirations of the majority of the Nation's Negro population. A September, 1968, survey by the Columbia Broadcasting System found that the "great majority of Negroes still want integration and want to achieve equality through legal means.Only a very small minority of Negroes approve of violent tactics., nine out of ten in the survey expressing disapproval of violence to achieve equality."
Notwithstanding the evidence that the Negro masses remain committed to the program and tactics which have brought substantial gains in the struggle for equality, the voices within the Negro community which express this majority view have been few and, often, lonely. Partly this has been because of a tendency on the part of the news media to by-pass spokesmen for the majority and to project the minority spokesman as the authentic voices of the Negro community. There is the additional factor that responsible leaders who speak out against the extremists have been subjected to threats of violence. Moreover, Negro leaders have traditionally been reluctant to speak out openly in opposition to other black spokesmen.
But the time has come for speaking out loud and clear lest the entire race be branded as hatemongers, segregationists, advocates of violence, and worse. The silent majority must let its views be known not merely in the polls but also in print, on the rostrum, and via radio and television. The time for silence or muted voices is past. The extremists must be answered promptly and forthrightly in the name of the majority. Their racism and anti-Semitism condemned and repudiated. The infantilism of their "governments in exile"  exposed and scorned. Their advocacy of Jim Crowism rejected as retrogressive. Their suicidal call for violence disavowed. 
In a message to the founding conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909, William Lloyd Garrison expressed the hope " that the Conference will utter no uncertain sound on any point affecting the vital subject. No part of it is too delicate for plain speech."
So it is today. Let there be no "uncertain sound" on the issue confronting us. To make the record clear, let us repeat again and again so that none need be unaware of the Truth: Black America rejects and condemns separation, racism, intimidation, suppression of free speech, and violence. Let it be known that the preachers of hate, the defeatists afraid to compete in the open market, the name callers who substitute epithets and slogans for reason, the exhorters who summon Negro youth to death in futile shoot-outs with the police and the military -- let it be known that these media - created "leaders" are not our spokesmen. 
Dissent, protest and militancy, yes, Intimidation, disruption, suppression of free speech, extremism and violence, no!
The time to speak up in no uncertain terms, to rally the silent lack majority to a constructive program of responsible militancy and resistance to extremism, is now. Tomorrow may be too late."
- reprinted from THE CRISIS- November 1968

The above piece, although lengthy, was printed in its entirety because of the fact that it is timely! We cannot afford to sit back... waiting to see what will happen... it is up to all of us, to somehow, stand up and be counted,... now!!!! The dream of America will cease to exist, unless those who are responsible, come forth and speak up for equality and justice for all. 

"A little civil disorder in the streets is a good thing sometimes. After all, a little civil disorder in Boston a while back (the Boston Tea Party) meant that we aren't speaking with an English accent now or having tea at 4 o'clock 
- Julian Bond on violence in the street.

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-2- Rather it would be a revolution of the Right suppressing not only the black community but also curtailing the basic liberties of the total society. Repeated surveys and polls by reputable and impartial opinion testers show that this minority misrepresents the true views and aspirations of the majority of the Nation's Negro population. A September, 1968, survey by the Columbia Broadcasting System found that the "great majority of Negroes still want integration and want to achieve equality through legal means.Only a very small minority of Negroes approve of violent tactics., nine out of ten in the survey expressing disapproval of violence to achieve equality." Notwithstanding the evidence that the Negro masses remain committed to the program and tactics which have brought substantial gains in the struggle for equality, the voices within the Negro community which express this majority view have been few and, often, lonely. Partly this has been because of a tendency on the part of the news media to by-pass spokesmen for the majority and to project the minority spokesman as the authentic voices of the Negro community. There is the additional factor that responsible leaders who speak out against the extremists have been subjected to threats of violence. Moreover, Negro leaders have traditionally been reluctant to speak out openly in opposition to other black spokesmen. But the time has come for speaking out loud and clear lest the entire race be branded as hatemongers, segregationists, advocates of violence, and worse. The silent majority must let its views be known not merely in the polls but also in print, on the rostrum, and via radio and television. The time for silence or muted voices is past. The extremists must be answered promptly and forthrightly in the name of the majority. Their racism and anti-Semitism condemned and repudiated. The infantilism of their "governments in exile" exposed and scorned. Their advocacy of Jim Crowism rejected as retrogressive. Their suicidal call for violence disavowed. In a message to the founding conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909, William Lloyd Garrison expressed the hope " that the Conference will utter no uncertain sound on any point affecting the vital subject. No part of it is too delicate for plain speech." So it is today. Let there be no "uncertain sound" on the issue confronting us. To make the record clear, let us repeat again and again so that none need be unaware of the Truth: Black America rejects and condemns separation, racism, intimidation, suppression of free speech, and violence. Let it be known that the preachers of hate, the defeatists afraid to compete in the open market, the name callers who substitute epithets and slogans for reason, the exhorters who summon Negro youth to death in futile shoot-outs with the police and the military -- let it be known that these media - created "leaders" are not our spokesmen. Dissent, protest and militancy, yes, Intimidation, disruption, suppression of free speech, extremism and violence, no! The time to speak up in no uncertain terms, to rally the silent lack majority to a constructive program of responsible militancy and resistance to extremism, is now. Tomorrow may be too late." - reprinted from THE CRISIS- November 1968 The above piece, although lengthy, was printed in its entirety because of the fact that it is timely! We cannot afford to sit back... waiting to see what will happen... it is up to all of us, to somehow, stand up and be counted,... now!!!! The dream of America will cease to exist, unless those who are responsible, come forth and speak up for equality and justice for all. "A little civil disorder in the streets is a good thing sometimes. After all, a little civil disorder in Boston a while back (the Boston Tea Party) meant that we aren't speaking with an English accent now or having tea at 4 o'clock - Julian Bond on violence in the street.