ustxtxb_obs_1970_10_02_50_00011-00000_000.pdf

Page 20

October 2, 1970, 12:00 AM, CDT

Free, while they last. The bumpersticker that says it all. To put one on your car is to make a commitment to building a two-party Texas. They look great alongside fading Yarborough stickers. Or by themselves. =1111 MIMS Gentlemen: Please send me bumper stickers. I want to build a two-party system in Texas. Name Address City and ZIP Call on me to help in the campaign mws.1.11.1mIs Ja.* 1.M1NI 11,11 # 4 ‘ 4. 7 I, it I 1.114 STATE OFFICE’, . 0, Box 1782, At.istin,1″\(;

<div id="pico"><p>Free, while they last.  The bumpersticker that says it all.  To put one on your car is to make a commitment to building a  two-party Texas.  They look great alongside fading Yarborough stickers. Or  by themselves.  =1111 MIMS Gentlemen:  Please send me   bumper stickers. I want to build a two-party system in  Texas.  Name    Address    City and ZIP    Call on me to help in the campaign       mws.1.11.1mIs    Ja.* 1.M1NI  11,11       # 4 ‘  4. 7  I, it I  1.114 STATE OFFICE’, . 0, Box 1782, At.istin,1″\(;<as 7870  Texas Can't Stand 6 Years  of  Bentsen, Or  5 Minutes   More of Smith!  producing these results. A couple of days  of original getting acquainted, a few hours  of passing out leaflets before each meeting,  several days of bull sessions and general  good times with one another did not seem  like a heavy investment of effort.  From the first we were associated with  these organizations and could not abandon  them. The first week in town we were  allowed to see what we would inherit.  There was a meeting of about 40 people  areas, the third meeting in this area. One of  the Vista girls led the meeting in her folksy  drawl. She spent the major part of the  meeting attempting to draw people out on  when and where they would like to meet.  The rest of the meeting was an explanation  of the rationale behind organizing. There  was a general concurrence in her  conclusions. "You can't do anything alone;  you have to get together. It's up to you to  decide what to do." She finally decided to  murmurs of agreement that officers would  be .  elected the next week. Hopes were high.  I heard one man say, "If we can't do  anything this time, I don't know what will  happen."  The election of officers drew a crowd of  65 people of all ages. It was the general  sentiment that a young man should be  elected. A 19-year-old just out of high  school was made president. It soon was  obvious that the people had made a poor  choice. The president was shy, a poor  speaker, incapable of conducting a  meeting. At every meeting thereafter, we  writhed as the president stewed and  fumbled, looking like a wounded animal  needing help. Finally, one of us would take  over and run the meeting. Whoever it was  would later feel guilty. This is not how we  had been trained to operate.  Once officers were elected attendance  fell off drastically. We were soon down to a  faithful 15 who spent an hour each week  talking about what to do. Actually, they  were waiting for our suggestions, feeling  despite all disclaims that if we had gone to  the trouble of getting them together we  must have something in mind. We called on  that old standby of Vista organizers  the  cleanup campaign. It took weeks to get  underway, but finally the faithful 15 and  ourselves began work on a wide ditch full  of undergrowth. The Cleanup Campaign  began and ended one Saturday morning.  The next ' meeting was cancelled.  Eventually, a quilting club was formed out  of the members. By summer's end the  organization had come and gone.  THE OTHER TARGET area's  organization was longer lasting. The area  was the Negro \(I use Negro because the  blacks in the county called themselves  outskirts of the larger town we lived in.  The target area people had the good sense  to elect real community leaders as officers.  The president was a storekeeper, ex-pusher,  gambler. The vice-president was a   community-minded lady who worked for  the welfare department and ran a popular  whore house on the side. These two were  figured that if the federal government was  sending people out to get them together  there must be money in it somewhere.  They were, by chance, proved right. The  local CAP received an emergency food  grant and the local people were told about  it at one of the meetings.  Attendance increased sharply as I  explained how to get this new money. At  every meeting thereafter, the president  would have all rise who had received help.  He would then pointedly blast critics who  had said the meetings would come to  nothing. In addition, the organization held  a dance one Saturday night using my  co-worker's expensive sound system and  made a half-hearted effort at a cleanup. It  was the emergency food money, however,  that was the organizaion's manna. I helped  out with transportation to the welfare  office and a lot Of people got help they  badly needed. In a few weeks, the meetings  became unnecessary and attendance  dropped. The area Negroes became  concerned with the white school board's  plan for desegregation and organized  themselves quickly for mass action. This  community didn't need any strange  organizer to bring them together when a   problem they could do something about  arose. I soon left the area for private  reasons. Before I left, I put the officers in  touch with a black student organization at  the local college who were to help out with  voter registration.  This town which didn't need me much  gave me more hope than anything else I  saw in Arkansas. Most of the residents lived  in the most extreme poverty I had ever  seen. The 'local health official told me he  had seen nothing worse in India. I  remember one family of seven, three of  whom were insane, living in a shack  without heat, windows, or sewage on a  check for $155 a month. I remember a  large family without even an outhouse. I  remember old broken down houses, bug  infested, squalid, not fit for life. But I also  remember a community spirit, a willingness  to help one another out, and the courage  to speak up to the local whites. I am glad  to have known these people surviving and  fighting back under the worst conditions.  LIKE MOST Vistas we had our  problems with the townspeople. Six  strangers in a small town is something to  talk about, especially when they are seen  associating with Negroes. We spent two  weeks or so introducing ourselves to  October 2, 1970   11 L,446,13i1:44" -411:,......  14.4  
</p>
</div>

Republish this article for free

All of the Texas Observer’s articles are available for free syndication for news sources under the following conditions:

Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story:
This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.”
Articles must include Texas Observer alongside author byline (first name / last name / Texas Observer)
Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. Partners must notify [email protected] to make style changes.
Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed.
Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. Outlets must also tag the Observer in all social media posts.
Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at [email protected].

You May Also Like

Did Texas Police Violate First Amendment Rights of Pro-Palestine Protesters?

Texas Exotic Hunts Are Dangerously Unregulated

An Unwinnable Drug War