A Town Divided Against Itself

"Right, if he works," said Woltering.

"Why doesn't Washington practice what they preach?" Hack Wilson, a former city manager, asked. "Is there more colored than white working for the federal government in Washington? You'd better believe it, and that's no balance."

"In Washington, D.C.," Smith said, "a black valedictorian of his high school class couldn't even get into Georgetown."

"Education has been going down here for the last 15 years, and the slow learners, the lower economic groups, hold back the others," Motley said.

"My dad was in a lower economic group," Woltering said.

"Well, there are exceptions, of course," Motley said. "Did you know that the blacks in the all-black schools of Mississippi have a better achievement record than they do in mixed schools? They learn better in their own environment."

"We're between a rock and a hard place on integration," Woltering said. "There's too G.D. many geniuses out there, trying to see everybody getting a fair shake."

"The teachers can't control integrated classes, there's too much trouble," said Motley.

"Blacks can't take the discipline," Woltering said.

"Don't talk to me about discipline," Wilson said. "My pa was a Presbyterian minister. I did something wrong, I'd get spanked twice—once at school, again at home."