White Liberals and Civil Rights

To The Editor Of The Harvard Summer News:

Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, in my considered opinion, is partially wrong in his recent public statement concerning the Civil Rights struggle and the role of white liberals in this struggle. Mr. Powell is right, if he means that the Negro must stand primarily on his own personal and collective powers to help to equalize his position of citizenship in the American stream of life. He is wrong, if he asserts that the liberal or fairminded white person must now "step-aside" or "step-down," to let the Negro leaders alone fight for Civil Rights.

I would rather think that the principle that "things are neither all black nor white, but shades of gray" is applicable to the problem of full Civil Rights for the Negro in America. The same Civil Rights that the Negro is struggling to realize through constitutional processes, are the same Civil Rights that every American has a moral and civic duty to uphold. There is no racial monopoly on these rights and duties. How can any American, committed to these rights for every other American, be expected to "step-aside" or "step-down" in this crucial period in America's effort to realize its full potential for the cause of freedom within the frame-work of law? I would ask Representative Powell to reconsider his thinking on this issue, and I am sure, being a reasonable man and not politically motivated, he will see clearly that the Negro needs the support, verbally, actively, and financially, of every liberal and fairminded person, without regards to race, creed, color, or nationality. James S. White,   Member, Board of Directors   Springfield Urban League