ustxtxb_obs_1966_09_16_50_00020-00000_000.pdf

Whitman Hostile to Negroes After numerous re-readings of my comments regarding Charlie Whitman \(as quotand after having been reminded of certain facts by close mutual friends, I feel obliged to make an amendment to my previous statement. Although Charlie and I were good friends in 1961 and 1962, it is quite possible that we would not have remained friends in subsequent years. Our friendship would have been strained, possibly to the breaking point, by what was in my opinion Charlie’s single prominent character flaw. He was extremely prejudiced, especially toward Negroes. He was overtly hostile in this sense, but he didn’t seem to search out situations in which to vent this hostility. It was primarily vocal. Regretably, this type of hostility was not and is not yet so uncommon in Texas or elsewhere to attract particular interest in the individual expressing. it. David A. Pratt, 5th Replacement Bn., APO New York 09058. \(The report of the governor’s panel on Whitman revealed nothing new except the cancerousness of the tumor in Whitman’s brain, which the panel said could have been a cause of what Whitman did or could have been a secondary influence. The governor said portions of what the panel found out were kept secret. That, from the panel’s 20 The Texas Observer Memories of a 1935 March It occurs to me that the following may be of interest in connection with the Farm Workers march Labor Day. On January 29, 1935, unemployed citizens of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Waco, Ft. Worth, Eastland, Abilene, Paris, Temple, Bryan, Georgetown, Amarillo, and Austin met in the capitol city and marched from the river up Congress Avenue to present an 18-point program for unemployment relief to the legislature, then in session. The number was estimated by the local press at between 200 and 300. The answer of Governor James Allred to questions by reporters about the march was that “they were uninvited and should go home.” \(He might have added, “and slop the hogs,” as did another governor, except that he knew we had no hogswe’d have et for food by the state for the marchers, but said he would contribute personally. He posted Texas Rangers and highway officers around the Capitol grounds to keep the unemployed from sleeping there. He did not see the unemployed delegation. The unemployed chose George Clifton Edwards, Jr., field secretary of the League for Industrial Democracy and an S.M.U. graduate, who was visiting in Dallas, as their spokesman. As chairman of the Central Unemployed and Workers Council of Dallas, I presented the request for a hearing before the legislature. Rep. Sarah Hughes of Dallas \(now a federal district moving that the request be granted. She relinquished her time for Edwards to speak. His remarks and the resolution he presented on behalf of 21 Texas organizations for unemployed relief by the legislature were printed in the House Journal of Jan. 29. The House took no further action. George Edwards has had a distinguished public career since and is now a member of the Sixth District Court of Appeals of the U.S. Government, with headquarters in Cincinnatti, 0. Recently he was awarded the honorary degree of L.L.D. by his alma mater. Carl Brannin, 5614 Ridgedale St., Dallas, Tex. \(Mr. Brannin, who contributed $100 to the Starr County strikers, was one of the Unstable Marines Thank you for publishing the letter by by Dr. Alfred Schild. My only regret is that likely not every man, woman and child will read it. With all our personality testing, the Marines can still easily recruit potentially unstable people by high pressure recruiting tactics that imply “no one has looked up to you yet, but put on our uniform and they will.” . . . The Marines have some what lived down their image of being ego But all military life tends to overlook the individual, especially the raw recruit .. . Let us not forget that the founders of the U.S. recognized the military for what they are, hired killers, and denied them the right to vote . . . J. E. Bourland, Sam Rafael 290, Chapalita, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The Places of Liberalism Texas liberals, like Texas Birchers, bray together. And of course we know, those who bray together stay together. It was a relief to read the perceptive comments which Henry Gonzalez had the courage to write [Obs. Aug. 5]. The word “liberal” is becoming synonymous with group-think and exclusiveness, hardly the definition of true liberalism. There are no baddies from whom we goodies can piously separate ourselves and thus save the. world. We share the human condition whether we care to admit it or not. The liberal spirit can be found in strange places and most often outside the self-styled liberal establishment. Let us unite with this spirit wherever we find it and release the creative energy which is the condition of true liberalism. Svea Sauer, 704 W. 25th St., Austin, Tex. We Need ‘Black Power’ A black man with power is one who is in a position to influence the decisions that affect him. A simple concept. “Black power” should not be mistaken for and-white power. It merely means representation in the power structure of an appreciably large and well circumscribed segment of Ameri, can society. Black power does not indeed “commend itself any more than ‘white power’,” [Observations, Aug. 5] but white power, like union, AMA, and industrial powers, is a given, and as long as there are more than two people in this country, level heads or no, alignments will move the governing body. White power is with us. Black power is not. Let’s get some. G. C. Bagby, Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. A Special Reprint The Observer has published a special 24-page reprint of our coverage of the Valley farm workers strike and march from June through September. It’s entitled “The Strike and the March” and carries the Rio Grande City strikers all the way north to their confrontation at New Braunfels and their climactic meetings in Austin. Order your copy of this historic record now. One copy 50 cents Two to ten copies 35 cents each Ten to 100 copies 20 cents each BULK ORDERS ON REQUEST Send your order to Sarah Payne, Business Manager, the Texas Oboserver, 504 W. 24th St., Austin, Texas.