Statement of Belief and Intention--May 1, 1968

Today's post is one of the longest and most important posts in the 3+ years of the blog. The bulk of the text is from an item I found in the MS Sovereignty Commission Files. It's a paid advertisement signed by 268 members of the Jackson community. While by today's standards it may read as a somewhat tame call for equality to all, it was quite a courageous action in 1968. There are three parts to the post: (1) my introduction; (2) the text of the document and the list of names--if you are from Jackson you will recognize many on the list; (3) a followup with some links and closing thoughts. While I hope you'll read all three parts, don't skip part 2 or the list of names--it's a group of people who should be remembered for their contributions during this era of Jackson, Mississippi and American history.

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Introduction: From our perspective in the year 2009, there are many things about our country's past that seem perplexing. One of those perplexing things would be the race relations in Mississippi prior to and during the 1960's. The amount of change since that time has been stunning to the point where courageous actions of that era might look insignificant by today's perspective. Don't be fooled.

From personal experience, I know my father was the subject of KKK newsletters, had a cross burned on the front yard, was warned by the FBI that his name was on a KKK hit list, received numerous bomb threats, had his mail intercepted, and the list goes on. The actions that generated this hate and danger would all be considered inconsequential in today's environment. It has to be viewed within the context of its time.

In 1968 the act of signing your name to a statement that calls for fair and equal treatment of all members of society was a courageous thing to do in the Deep South. I proud to say that my father and two uncles are on the following list. Virginia's father is on the list. The parents of many of my friends are on the list. Current Jacksonians like Clay Lee, T.W. Lewis, and Dean Miller are on the list, men whom I admire and certainly view as friends just as my father valued their friendship decades ago. I gave each name a seperate line instead of listing them all run together in paragraphs--they need to be listed one per line to recognize the contribution each made. I wish there was a way to give each name a full post. It's a list of people who should be remembered.

Tuesday I will post a news story where the MS House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the executive committee of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce for a statement they issued in 1964. Wednesday I will post the statement that caused such outrage--quite frankly it would be seen as a racist statement by today's standards but at the time it brought condemnation to those who stood behind it.

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Statement of Belief and Intention (a paid advertisement from the May 1, 1968 edition of the Jackson Daily News in Jackson, MS)

These days constitute the swiftest time of change in our memory. Events hurriedly pile themselves upon events. In our business, or professions and everywhere fast-breaking changes require quick answers and quick actions.

We are threatened with a widening chasm between our people in this State and in our City. Yet, here in this State and in this City there is a vast reservoir of good will, compassion and kindness that is genuinely a very part of our being. This vital reservoir of true neighborly feeling, true friendship must be brought to the fore now and without delay.

We cannot sit back and become prisoners of events. We must cope with them firmly and decisively and manage our own destiny. Accordingly, in the set conviction that the great majority of our people, white and black, desire harmony, good order, a decent honorable family life and a chance to better themselves economically, we, the undersigned Jackson business and professional men and women declare we believe in the following principles, and we pledge ourselves to do everything within our power to see that they are carried out:

1) We believe in the essential worth and dignity of every human being and all that such implies.

2) Fair and impartial treatment must be accorded to all citizens in the enforcement and administration of the law.

3) Every citizen of this City regardless of race, creed or color is entitled to equal access to employment as he is qualified by training and experience to perform, and to earn the continuation of such employment by his own hard efforts.

4) In order that all of our citizens may be qualified for equal employment opportunities, educational opportunities must be available to them on an equal basis.

5) Adequate and properly staffed recreational facilities should be made available for all of the citizens of the City of Jackson. Specifically, with the coming of the summer season, all City swimming pools should be opened. All parks should be open, and should be staffed by competent personnel, and properly equipped to the end that all our people may obtain the maximum benefits from them.

6) Communications between the races should be encouraged on every level of our City. This should include all of us whether we be public officials, civic, business, religious, or professional leaders.

7) There is no place in the life of our City for hate, discord or violence. No man, whatever his cause, or whatever his convictions, is above the law. All of our citizens should work untiringly and unceasingly to bring out to the fullest the best in us in the way of kindness, compassion, friendliness and understanding that we may all progress through cooperation. We owe this to ourselves, our families, the oncoming generations, and the development of all of our talents.

Respectfully submitted,

Fred Adams, Jr. (hard to read--I believe this is correct)
John Quincy Adams
Leigh B. Allen III
Max T. Allen, Jr.
John M. Allin
Fred Allison, Jr.
Joel Alvis
Bob Anding
John L. Ash
McCarrell Ayers
John F. Babbitt, Jr.
John J. Babbs
Travis W. Bain
Battle M. Barksdale
Clay L. Bartlett (my guess at a last name that is mostly unreadable)
Ross F. Bass
Blair E. Batson
Margaret B. Batson
E. B. Beard
Warren N. Bell
John A. Bellan, Jr.
Joe H. Bennett
Richard T. Bennett
Robert E. Bergmark
Perrin L. Berry
R. A. Berry, Jr.
Thomas J. Biggs
Carl Black
Frances B. Boeckman
H. E. Boone
George W. Boyd
G. F. Bracken, Jr.
W. Meredith Bradford
T. J. Brooks, Jr.
George L. Broussard
Rex I. Brown
Edmund L. Brunini
Joseph B. Brunini
Fred J. Bush
Leland Byler
William L. Cabaniss
Shirley Callen
Claude G. Callender
J. S. Camara
William O. Carter, Jr.
P. Stanley Castleman
J. R. Cavett, Jr.
George T. Chambers
James G. Chastain
Reynolds Cheney
James K. Child, Jr.
Joseph A. Christo
Richard D. Clayton
Marvin A. Cohen
Frances Coker
Wilfred O. Cole
Foster E. Collins
Sarah I. Collins
O. W. Conner III
John H. Cook
George E. Cooper
James W. Crook
W. L. Crouch
R. W. Crowell
Emanuel Crystal
H. T. Currie
C. Ralph Daniel
Joe H. Daniel
Charles R. Davis
Mary James Dean
Joe T. Dehmer, Jr.
Paul Derian
George E. Donovan
Richard W. Dortch
Richard M. Edmondson
Lara C. Ethridge
Fred J. Ezelle
Robert L. Ezelle, Jr.
A. P. Fatheree
Ed Fernandez
Ben T. Fitzhugh
William J. Fitzhugh
Al Flannes
Noel G. Foley
John E. Fontaine
Dennis M. Ford
James E. Fowler
Lawrence J. Franck
William F. Galtney
John H. Geary
Sydney Geiger
A. Richard Gemperle
Lucy Gerhart
John D. Gibbons
A. Spencer Gilbert III
James D. Gilbert
Harold Gotthelf, Jr.
Harry J. Goulet
Gordon Grantham
Benjamin B. Graves
Albert H. Green
John M. Grower
John L. Guest
Arthur C. Guyton
Robert P. Guyton
Warren C. Hamby
L. C. Hanes
Paul D. Hardin
James D. Hardy
Elmer J. Harris
William C. Harris
Newt P. Harrison
Stanley M. Hart
Paul Hawkins, Jr.
Charles Head
Robert P. Henderson
Jim G. Hendrick
J. H. Hendrix, Jr.
Eugene Hesdorffer
Ralph Hester
George P. Hewes III
Herman Hines
Duncan M. Hobart
Warren Hood (hard to read--I believe this is correct)
Charles Horwitz
J. Manning Hudson
Joe Jack Hurst
John R. Hutcherson
W. F. Hutchison
James W. Irby
Stuart C. Irby, Jr.
Marshall O. James
John S. Jenkins
J. Harvey Johnston, Jr.
C. E. Jones
Tim Jones
R. E. Jordan
Robert T. Killelea
John T. Kitchings
Maury S. Knowlton
Sam D. Knowlton II
Frank M. Laney, Jr.
J. W. Latham
Clay F. Lee
S. H. Leech
J. Willard Leggett III
Russell W. Levanway
David Levy
T. W. Lewis III
Thomas G. Lilly
J. Walton Lipscomb III
James J. Livesay
John P. Maloney
Jack K. Mann
W. Merle Mann
Alfred C. Marble, Jr.
Thomas J. Marland
Raymond Martin, Jr.
Raymond McClinton
S. H. McDonnieal, Jr.
James P. McKeown
Thad McLaurin
David M. McMullan
James M. McMullan
W. P. McMullan
W. P. McMullan, Jr.
Colin A. P. McNease
Albert L. Meena
Adrian G. Mercier
Joseph Mercier
Calvin Michel
E. E. Michelin
Dean M. Miller
James W. Mitchell
George Mitchell
Frank T. Moore, Jr.
R. Edgar Moore
R. H. Moore
R. B. Morgan, Jr.
W. H. Mounger
Warren Mullen
Edward Neal
Sam J. Nicholas, Jr.
John W. Nicholson, Jr.
James R. Nickles
William (Bill) Nelson
Perry E. Nussbaum
Mary O'Bryant
Andrew W. Orkin
D. H. Orkin
James M. Packer
Robert H. Padgett
James Y. Palmer
John N. Palmer
A. L. Parman
Edward J. Pendergrass
Leonard Pepper
Ford Petty
George B. Pickett
Edgar A. Poe, Jr.
Benjamin P. Polk, Jr.
Barry H. Powell
Richard R. Priddy
George D. Purvis
Julius Ratliff, Jr.
Maurice Reed, Jr.
Thomas J. Reed
Lee H. Reiff
C. R. Ridgway
W. B. Ridgway
Arnold Ritchie
R. W. Ritchie
E. B. Robinson, Jr.
C. S. Roby
Nat S. Rogers
D. S. Rosen
C. B. Rutledge
Charles B. Ryan
H. E. Saunders, Jr.
M. J. Scanlon
W. A. Schmid
Wallis Schutt
Wilbourn C. Shands
L. H. Shornick
Walter H. Simmons
R. Stewart Smith
Thomas H. Smith
J. O. Snowden, Jr.
Leland R. Speed
H. K. Stauss
John Hampton Stennis
Hubert D. Stephens III
Francis B. Stevens
Phineas Stevens
Thomas E. Stevens
R. C. Stockett
E. M. Swart
Robert W. Tabscott
Charles C. Taylor, Jr.
William M. Taylor
J. A. Thayer
Melvin M. Thomas, Jr.
Thomas E. Tiller
Robert C. Travis
Thomas C. Turner
Robert E. Tyson
George E. Uricheck
David J. Van Landingham
C. E. Wallace
H. V. Watkins
Walker L. Watters
James Watts
Robert H. Weaver
Harry E. Weir
Paul L. Wells
John A. Welsch, Jr.
Edwin B. Werkheiser
James O. Wheeler
Julian Wiener
William B. Wiener
Edwin R. Wilson
L. Dudley Wilson
R. B. Wilson
Richard B. Wilson, Jr.
Sherwood W. Wise
Noel Womack, Jr.
Jack L. Woodward
J. Will Young

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Links and other things:

The posts this week will all be about Civil Rights. Some will be new items like today and tomorrow, and some will be posts that were written for my Civil Rights blog in 2007. I wish there was a way to get back to writing that blog, but it was so much effort and there were rarely more than 5 readers a day.

Part of the reason for wanting to continue that blog would be to shine a spotlight on some of the people who are listed above. It muddies up the story of Civil Rights when you included the contribution of white Mississippians, so their efforts have been slowly filtered out of most histories of the Civil Rights era. I have tried to get the Clarion-Ledger interested in telling these stories, but they are only interested in writing about the villians. The stories of the heroes need to be told before time takes away all who can give a first-hand account.

But I digress. Let me give you some links for anyone who is interested in digging deeper into the items that are available thanks to the internet:

Link to the Sovereignty Commission document used in today's post

Mississippi Civil Rights--One Man, One Story: This is the blog that went for a few months in 2007 primarily on the subject of my dad and his involvement in the Civil Rights era.

Sovereignty Commission Online Home Page: Personally, I believe these files were greatly sanitized before they ever were unlocked to the public. Not by the folks at the MS Department of Archives and History, but by the ones who ran the Sovereignty Commission and then had sole access to the files for many years after the operation ceased.

Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archives: You could spend months on this site and feel like you've just scratched the surface, especially if you branch off into the page with links to "Other Civil Rights Resources".

If that's not enough, any search engine result on "Civil Rights" or "Civil Rights digital history" will give you plenty to look through. It's unlikely that you'll find much on the people listed above, hence the need for someone in Jackson to research and write about the subject, but you will find plenty.

Thanks to any and all who made it through all of today's post. I think you'll find the entire week an interesting look back at history and the posts will get shorter after today.