In Oneness We Are BEING.
“Now this opportunity is at hand to make good this promise to extend all Americans regardless of race or religion the normal, everyday privileges that many of us take for granted– and to which we pay lip service” (Menke).
On October 22, 1963 a civil rights citizen named Wayne G. Menke from 1120 Wendy Way Chico, California had written a letter to Harold T. Johnson stating his deep concern for equal rights to ALL Americans. Menke’s deep passion for this pressing matter awoke something within me. He wrote the letter in a manner that stood out to me coming from this time period. The way he expressed the need for the House of Representatives to whole heartedly support “…the civil rights program proposed by President Kennedy” (Menke), gave me reassurance that he had personal experience with this issue. The words Lip service caught my eye (in the same respect that I have to those around me) wouldn’t be possible without people like Wayne G. Menke who participated in this so called “service”. He talked about things being right and just to where in that time period, it didn’t seem possible. People like Menke had hope and held onto that because it seems to me like that’s really all people of color from the 60’s could do. They weren’t asking for white priviledges, they were just asking for minimal respect from society. Respect, the importance of this word reminds me that we’re ALL one.
“I think that the greatest fear of the whites is Negro domination of our government” (Carpenter).
In the other perspective, on October 5, 1963 a white woman named Joan Carpenter from 2124 Zune Avenue Chico, California had written a letter to Harold T. Johnson addressing her point of view on segregation. This eye opening letter confirmed for me the naivety of the pro segregation side of society. It was as clear as day when reading that Joan Carpenter thought that, “..the Negroes on the whole are just a little bit lazy and tend to be more delinquent” (Carpenter). This is the kind of lip service that I despise looking at. Judgement not only takes away the credibility of the writer but gives them no evidential basis to stand on.
“The committees are considering each and every one of these in drafting a bill (Civil Rights Act of 1963) to be presented to the Congress” (Johnson).
Coming back to civil rights, I believe we can all agree on the need for equality. This is a sense of comfortability in an environment that comes from the underlying respect that we have for one another. How can we have that respect now if it was’t addressed back then? I properly see that all Wayne G. Menke wanted to see was practicality in the actions of racial equality in society. As the Member of Congress, Harold T. (Bizz) Johnson responds in the uncertainty of how The House of Representatives will go about this issue, it gives me a greater perspective on the government’s lack of immediate support for civil rights.
