’ , EVERY ~ E SINCE
R 186%
THE HNbICTMEMk o! a hundred or kore. Negroes
in Montgomery for leading , a peaceful mass protest
-mbvernent against segregated, city buses places not
them but thd American nation on’ trial. Whether we
have the courage or candor to acknowledge it, ’the fact
that is that the indictment calls in question every value
“moral, political and constitutional-to which we st^
, I
glibly’pleage allegiance; here and now is a test which
will determine, the loyalty of the entire nation ,toits
,basic ideals and. ,values.
“1 Great issue$ are sometimes difficult to recognize. T h e
,issue in Montgomery ’ is not whether this outrageous
indictment will be upkdd in the courts; one may safely
assume that, ultimately, it‘ will be set aside. Nor is it
primarily a question of whether racial violence i n some
foim or other will occur. This inay or may not happen.
Sonxething far more important, is atstikein Mont-
gomery, “the cradle pf the Confederacy.”, America is
promises. At sta€ce in’ Montgomery is .the fidelity o E lose in Montgomery, tkm ty@ s f resistance is likely to
every citizen to ihe promises whikh are America.
, I t is one thing to ask citizens to be patient in seeking
a redress of grievances; it is somkthing else again when
the right to petition for ‘ a redress of grievances is itself
denied. The Montgomery ’ iAdictrnent strikes at this
rigllt; it:is a crhde attempt ,to intimidate , i n entire com-
munity. T h e Negroes ot<Montgorn&-yare not asserting
+:I narrow ,legal ‘principle;, they are proclaiming to the
worldtheir insistence a n bemgregarded as members
of the hu’man race. T h e movement they have organized
is peaceful. ‘itis .moral. I t is constitutional. Nqt io sup-
porttheir modest proclamation is to repudiate one’s
birthright and heriiage as an American. 1 ,
.What is hapbening in Montgomery is in the nature
of a rnnracle, something that has never happened before
‘ 8
in ‘the ‘history of the SoGth. A community which only
a few years ago, like most Negrocommunities in the
South, $aye’the appearance of b,eing inert And apathetic,
without,structureorform, has, without a7y outside
helpor assistance, organized itself into adisciphned,
articulate,superbly confident community. This trans-
Eormation representsafulfillment of the American
dream, achleved in ‘broad daylight, i n the full but un-
comprehending gaze of the nation and the world. Not
the f&e America? dream of two-tone classy sports cars,
kitchens laden with gadgets and “little” $19,000 ranch
houses (California-style) in the suburbs; but a realiza-
tion of the real American dream of freedom ‘and equal-
ity and the dignity and worth’of every human being.
d J
, ’ I.’
T h e ’South of the White Citizens Council; under-
stands what has happened. I t realizes full well ihat the
Montgomery bus boycott is’ a majdr historic develop
ment with irreversible consequences. If thk Negroes win.
,the same non-violent Gandhian resistance may spread
throughout the South. Hence the “white” Sobth is de-
termined to suppress it.At first theoppositioncould
ndt believe the boycott wouldbesustained. Now an
effort is beingmade , to intimidate the. leadership.
Should intimidation fail, physical violence and terror
may be used. Violeilce, in fact,, has already been used.
Yet the South.should have the wit to recognize that t h e
Montgomery Negroes cannot fail for the’sirnplle reason
that they havealready succeeded. Knowledge once
given, we ,have been told, cannot be recalled.By indict-
ing the leadership of this movement, the “white!’ South
has-most ironicalIy_not only advertised ehe method§
used; it has acknowledged their effectweness. Win or
spread.
AT THE moment what is chiefly ,to be feared is not a
failure of nerve qrdetermination ‘on the part Qf the
peaceful resistewbut of imagination on the, part of the
rest ‘of ,ks.’The“white” South‘ seems incapable of h a g -
ining how ,it looks to the world. T h e rest bf &e nation’
‘views’ theSouth as ‘though i t can ‘hardlybelieve what it
reads .and hears. It acts as though the Montgomery’bus’
boycott were merely another racial “inci+nt”-a ‘pro-
viricial noise that will soon subside. T h e “white” South
stares, incredulously at the Negro, the nation ‘stakes in-
credulously at the, South, and the world stares incredu-
lously at America. This incredulity needs to be banished
all around. What is happening in Montgomery is not
happening in the Union of. South Africa., I t isl not a
nightmare: I t is not z television script q r ,a movie. This ’
is no “Communist” br any other kind of plot. What is’
happening in i’vfontgqmery is an hlX&xn miracle.
Here citizens, acting openly under leaders selected from
their ow? ,ranks, in response td motipaFions which are
rellgious andmoral as well as social and economic,
have banded together to insist that they be recognized ’
as human beings. They ask for nothing more. For -the
nation not to lend them its moral support-and there
will be opportunities to support them in other ways as
well-would be tantamount ‘to a repudmtion of the
I
promise OP American life.
The mirack in Alabama, unheralded, without prece-
 dent, has put the entire nation to the te5t. It is not
merely that the Administration from the President
" down has been placed on notice that the lives and lib­
erties of the Negro residents of Montgomery are en­
dangered; this they have been told. The test is much
broader. It is addressed to the trade unions, the
churches, press, veterans groups, civic organizations­
to the entire nation. It is addressed with peculiar direct­
ness to American Protestantism. The twenty-six Negro
ministers who are identified with this movement have
given their brethren an example of ,Christian social
leadership that is truly inspiring. "If we are arrested
every day," the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.-the
name has a fine echo-told his fellow walkers, "if we
are exploited every day, let nobody pull you so low as
to hate them. We must use the weapon of love. We
must have compa,ssion and understanding for th�se who
hate us. So many people have been taught to hate,
taught from the cradle. They are not totally responsi­
ble." With prayers and chants, with good-will and self­
confidence, the Negroes of Montgomery are determined
to "walk with God" and shun the city's buses. Let it
be noted, too, that at least one white Protestant min­
ister in Montgomery is supporting them-symbol of the
large and growing section of the "white" South that in
one form or another supports this and similar protest
movements.

AS WITNESSES to this magnificent demonstration, we

cannot stand around, in John, Jay Chapman's phrase,
"hke blighted things, like ghosts about Acheron, wait­
ing for someone or somethmg to determine" our destiny
for us. If this dramatic demonstration of the potency
of the American dream does not strike a response in
the nation's conscience, then that dream has been cor­
rupted. But what is happening in Montgomery is the
most convincing proof that such is not the case. For
here, in the heart of the "black belt" of the South, new
hope and confidence and, above all,, a new democratic
leadership has emerged. An entire community has ex­
perienced a rebirth of freedom. The men and women -..
who compose it now stand erect. Unafraiid, in. high
spirits, without malice, they are walking with chants
and prayers towa�d freedom's future in response to the
American promise.

...

170 The NATION