Al Roberts Raps on Racial Conditioning
The "Now, Mr. Lincoln?" period (1968-69) marked a time of increased dialogue in the University of Puget Sound community about race. This involved bringing various speakers to campus, including activists, scholars, and artists of color. The above article, which appeared in the May 9, 1969 issue of student newspaper The Trail, details one such visit by black activist Al Roberts, who as quoted openly spoke his mind about issues of race and race relation [A&SC 30].
Although not much has been recorded about Roberts, he did not shy away from confrontational speech. In stark contrast to prior periods when race was not talked about or was talked about in a conservative manner, the reported summary of Roberts' talk offered a less pacifist approach to the issue which challenged audiences to tackle the issues from the standpoint of perspective-taking [A&SC 30]. This type of open dialogue, even if not always comfortable for those involved, marked a shift in thinking that would spur some community members from passive observation to direct action.
Roberts' talk occurred during the Now, Mr. Lincoln? campaign, but offers a different perspective than backers of the campaign, an interesting and bold (but valuable) move to include in a publication sponsored by an organization supporting it. That is to say, Al Roberts did not approve of Now, Mr. Lincoln.
In his words, as reported in the above article:
"To me, [the NOW MR. LINCOLN program] is pacification. Because every time there's money given to the NOW MR. LINCOLN...program what do they do? They get four or five white people up there and they say, 'Well, we are going to tell blackie how to live'" .[A&SC 30].
In short, his issue with it was how the money was being distributed, feeling that the way the money was being distributed allowed white people who were already in power inordinate levels of financial control over black businesses in the community. He also didn't feel that enough of the money raised would actually make it where it needed to go. [A&SC 30].
Although Mr. Roberts' perspective does not represent the entirety of any one group's feelings on the matter, and indeed there were many supporters of the Now Mr. Lincoln? campaign, the subject of his talks and his words as recorded in the article offer a dissenting, but not overly vitriolic, perspective from a concerned community member.
Allowing this concern and opposition to be part of the University of Puget Sound campus community dialogue, even as Now, Mr. Lincoln? was being advertised and spoken of positively in the same publication, speaks to the ever-emerging habit of community members allowing themselves to question their actions and decisions in an open and (ideally) productive way.
There is nothing in this article to suggest that Roberts represents an interest group or anyone other than himself, and little to no outside information is available about him. However, Roberts' words offer us an otherwise little-considered perspective about the Now, Mr. Lincoln? campaign, and the article marks a valuable shift in community thinking and the style of dialogue around race going on during that time.
