Previous | Next
Session: 1234567891011121314 Page 491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567 of 763
looking at racism as one of the disturbing things in our society, but not necessarily one of the defeating things. That you don't have to be defeated. For example, America has not, in spite of its ghettoes it has not yet developed concentration camps. While it is true that while we recognized and fought to protect the large majority of blacks who are oppressed to the point of not having adequate educational opportunities, not having adequate developmental opportunities and rights, we believe that those who can escape that (and many have) have done so in terms of their own individual--no, obviously no one escapes things like that alone. You have luck, or family, or some situations that help you to escape and help you to develop personal qualities that, if rightly used, will help you to help others. I don't whether I'm making this clear or not. Obviously, from our writings you can see that we didn't deny racism. But what may not be so clear from our writings is that we didn't succumb to it.
In the context of recruiting blacks for jobs, recently in Northern Virginia there's been discussion, if not debate about the hiring of blacks, particularly in northern Virginia, which is economically booming. It's been pointed out that, with all the new construction going on (I believe that Fairfax county down there is the fastest-growing county in the country at the moment) the construction outfits are not recruiting much if at all in the District [of Columbia]. They're recruiting workers from “outside the beltway.” Which of course means that there are not so many blacks outside the beltway. The debate that's been reported here is, is
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help