Races: The Resounding Cry

Birmingham belonged to outsiders last week. They kept the peace—a surly, smoldering lull that fooled no one. State policemen, who had rushed into town to club down rioting Negroes at dawn on Mother's Day, still patrolled the streets, armed with carbines, pistols and shotguns. At any sign of unrest, they stomped about shouting threats, shoving Negroes into doorways and menacingly snapping the safety catches off their weapons. They were 700 strong, ordered into town by Governor George C. Wallace, a militant segregationist who seemed to be spoiling for a fight.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Atlanta integration leader who started the massive Birmingham demonstrations six weeks ago, pleaded for peace in a pilgrimage through Negro district pool halls. Facing embarrassed pool sharks, he said, "We want to thank you for taking time off from your pool game to listen to us. We must make it clear that it is possible to fight against all this evil without having to resort to violence." And at another meeting. King shouted: "Violence is immoral, but not only that—violence is impractical."

Other Negro leaders were on hand too. Jeremiah X, Georgia torchbearer for the militant Black Muslim organization, paused in a recruiting drive generated by the Birmingham riots to sneer at King's passive approach to integration: "King's movement is just a form of sophisticated begging. We are not a violent movement, but we do not believe in getting our heads kicked in, either. Black people have been dying for nothing all these years—now it's time for them to die for something." Jackie Robinson and Floyd Patterson were in town for a day. They made a couple of angry speeches, then flew North again without getting too deeply embroiled in the Birmingham bitterness. Said Robinson on departing: "I'm a firm believer in letting the pros do the job."

"Bayonet Brotherhood." On the other side, white pros did their job with anguished cries. Mayor Arthur Hanes complained about "bayonet brotherhood." He was infuriated by President Kennedy's order—sending 3,000 troops to Army bases near Birmingham after the Mother's Day bombings. The President had said, "This Government will do whatever must be done to preserve order, to protect the lives of its citizens, and to uphold the law of the land."

Governor Wallace, arguing insistently that his state cops could keep order in Birmingham, filed suit with the U.S. Supreme Court, charged that Kennedy's action was "unconstitutional and void." Said little ex-boxer brought the action only hours before he went to Muscle Shoals, Ala., to meet the President, on a tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority.