Page Four ._ SCARLET AND BLACK Friday. November l3, 19M Grail Describes Mississippi Experience — Wow About Us. ' (EDITOR‘S NOTE: The following is taken from a let- ter written by Vicki Mittle- lellldt, ’63, who is now a stu- dent at the Yale School of Di- yinity. The letter was written on Oct. 8.), Last week the National Coun- cil of Churches issued an emer~ gency call for ministers to ome down to McComb, Mis- lissippi. l was one of the three from here who went to McComb for a week. Bear with me for awhile for I would like to take the time to relate some of my experiences. First a little background on ' McComb. . . . McComb was the first city to have any “north- ern agitators" enter and try to attempt to organize the Negro community. This initial action was done under the auspices of SNCC in 1361. Because of lack of interest on the part of the northerners and a lack of mon- ey the project was discontinued As soon as the northerners moved out of the community, the White citizens of McComb took the opportunity to put the Negroes “back in their places." ,There followed a prolongEd pe- riod of bombings, beatings, po- lice harassment, and the like. It was not until a year ago that SNCC moved back into the oommunity to stay no matter what The program expanded this summer under the direc- tion of COFO (Conference of Federated Organizations), which sponsored a strong Mis- sissippi Summer Project. Then came the fall when many of the students working there had to leave to return to school. Again the retaliation of the white citi~ zens was felt. As you may have read in the press reports ,(what ones there were), there have been sixteen bombings, eight burnings of homes and churches, plus continual arr rests, beatings, and police ha- rassment since th e begin- ning of July, with the majority of these occurring in Septem- ber. The total Negro commun» ity was, needless to say, demor- aliZEd. The National Council of Churches wanted white and Ne- gro ministers from the North to go into McComb to offer some balance of power. Hope- fully some of the retaliation could be stemmed by having persons in the area who could, at any time, call out of the state and to their local news- papers issuing stories on the condih'ons in McComb. Moving on from an ”objec- tive” account of what was happening, I would like to enumerate some of my person- nl impressions about the trip. Dave, Jim and I flew from New York to Jackson. The air- port in Jackson is outside the city, so we climbed into the back of a limousine for the trip into the city. No one said a word to us the whole trip, ex- cept one southern gentleman who asked me if it would be all light if he smoked a pipe. (My first and last contact with the white, deitistic approach to the white woman.) All during the trip the three of us, were con- otantly watched in the side mirrors. What amazed me was how we were immediately tak- en for “outsiders." I later asked a student here from Mississippi why this was. His answer was that the way we dress, our mannerisms, and, especially, the cut of my hair gave us away immediately. When we arrived in J aekson, the other gentlemen in the lim< ousine had their bags _carried by Negro porters in one direc- tion. The three of us picked up our bags and walked in the op- posite direction into the Negro community. I did not realize it at the time, but with that ac- tion of entering the Negro com— munity I was thereby barred from any further possible con- tact with the white community for as long as I was to be in Mississippi. In a sense, we had changed identities and were now, for all practical purposes, black (This was less true for me because I am a white woman. The hierarchy of life in the South seems to be a very funda- mentalist God, the white wo< man, the white man, the Negro, and the ”Nigger lover.” Given this hierarchy there w ere months when 1 was an asset to the group I was with, and there were other moments when I was decidedly and frightenly (sic) a death warrant.) Once Within the Negro com- munity we went to the office of the National Council of Church- es (NCC). There we were briefed somewhat on how to act in event of violence or po- tential violence, Oddly enough this session helped to calm me somewhat. For the night before, before going “calmly” off to sleep, 1 had'spent some time trying to think out how I would act in the different situations. In one instance I had decided that the best manner to con- front a hostile mob would be to attempt to establish some rapport with the person who ap- peared to be the leaderl This could be done by asking if he knew my name or where I was from. This was precisely the strategy described to us. It’s odd. . . . once in a new‘irame- work of thinking the fears that bothered one at the beginning are the accepted facts of living. The problem then is not what the situation is, but how to best cope with it. From Jackson we went to a small town about twenty miles away. The car We traveled in was a Hertz rent-away car, They are fast, and air condi- tioned. The air conditioning helps because all traveling is done with the windows closed, the doors locked and the seat belts securely fastened. Hertz now when renting to the NCC immediately disconnects the dome light with all the doors. ’ This is so that one will never be silhouetted in the dark and thereby be an easy target This was a precautionary method learned by the death of Med- gar Evars. ‘ In Edwards we changed cars It was dusk; we had over eighty miles to travel; We did not know the way for sure; the man who was guiding us had been picked up by the police on the road to McComb just that afternoon; and now the car was integrated. Since white women civil rights workers had only been allowed into the McComb area two days earlier, one of our. con- cerns was would my presence be an assetor not? As we trav- eled we were followed by p0< lice in various small towns along the way, but were never stopped for “supposed” traffic violations. This was an encour- aging sign. We arrived in McComb and went immediately to the COFO groundsr COFO has two houses to house the workers and one building used as an office. Now there is a permanent staff of eight workers from all over the nation — Oregon to New Yorkia‘lso there is a girl from Germany, one fellow from Can- ada, and another from England. I was very impressed with the calm, pervading atmosphere Each person was there by choice and that is all that is asked. There is a job to be done and it is carried out in a calm and effective manner. Every night persons take turns standing guard. The pur- pose of the guard is to warn mose who are sleeping of im- pending danger. Earlier this summer the Freedom House where the workers slept had been bombed—no one was in— jured, but this was due in part to the warning system, The SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE SUMMER SCHOOLS IN: FRANCE—From June 20 lo July Is in Paris at the Clio Unlvmilairs. a corner (or sludenl: from all pm of the world in addition n. the courier origin in previous years. we m .er offering .i. advanced literature course language program .i all levels. conducted entirely in French and an intensified on». mm. high in Englixh and centered on Modern Franco—literature. 37‘). and social and political hisiery. Board. room, tuition, and two excursions I'ALY—Frcm June In to July 19 in Florence at Tam d. 3700 glimmer, ml. Cenl’ury Villa. Chums taught in English and centered on the Italian Renniuance— rt. literature, music or theatre Ind Florence under the Medici. Spec | advanced work it provided for art history majors. Seminar in Run m Intuitive work m It GREEK mun philoropliy for history and philoiophy rind-m. an: beginning. intermediate and ndvancnd. Board. room, lumen, mi lwo .xcuniom __ $550 A two-week tour of 6mm and ti»- omk island: i. also coma tal- lowing oh. smlr Lawrence Summer Sehooll—from July 2? he Airgun l2. A sml. Lawrence faculty mmbu uccemplniu "in group. 1». notary l... been planned to includ- ill. molt important liirvarlul and .rchnloqiul rim, For information and applicntlom writer SUMMER SESSIONS JUNIOI YEA! AIROAD SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE BRONXVILLE. NEW YORK Sarah Lawrence College .lw scoop” nus...“ entering mi. junior year iron. other wing... in in JUNIOR YEAR ABROAD program in P. , Geneva and Rome. Instruction is therefore, . knowledge of rum. inquire: given in the language of w. country: or lino" l. required. JUNIOR YEAR ABROAD SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE HRONXVILLE. NEW YORK guard also serves to take down the license plate numbersof the cars (which are not police cars) that constantly circle the Freedom House grounds every night. Theefirst night I slept in Freedom House. The only disturbance that night was two investigations, one by the FBI and another, just a casual in- spection by the local police. The next day Dave, Jim and I spent canvassing the Negro neighborhoods for potential voters and young kids to at- tend the Freedom Schools. Al~ though this was our assigned task, I think we accomplished the most just by being friendly white people in the area. All day we were followed by the police and, at times, by white men in unidentified cars. Perhaps you have read about the three women from McComb‘ who went to see President Johnson about the bombings. These women’s homes all had been bombed and they went to the President to request some form of federal enforcement of the existing national laws. They had just returned our first full day in McComb, and I was to he the guest of one that eve- ning “to sleep." Mrs. Dillon who was my host- ess is truly a magnificent per- sonll Her home had been bombed (nine sticks of dyna— mite were thrown, but fortun- ately only one exploded) on August 28th The next day she was held for a short period of time for the bombing. Her hus- CIVIL RIGHTS— Continued on Page 5 Forecast for Ski-Burbia: Fair and warmer, authentically, Wife Stay For the ski slopes, or the lock of the ski slopes every day of your busy life. This is the “Arctic Turtle”...named for the wonderfully warm way the notched collar rolls softly into c cuddly turtleneck. The fabric is Polara pile of 100% Acrllan' acrylic, nylon quilt lining. 35.00; Poynier's 4th Ave. Fashions Grlnnell's Complete Style Shop for Women "Somelhing New Every Day"