An Address Before the National Press Club Summary and Analysis

The time for desegregation, integration and justice had come for the Negro. Some people fought the progress with bombs, mobs, and economic retaliation. Roadblocks of partial integration were among the most problematic challenges of the movement. Four main forces enabled the problems to be overcome. These were, first, economic growth through industrialization, which increased the purchasing power of Negroes and all other poor people there. Second, federal actions, court orders, and executive decrees restrained the heartless and encouraged better morals among the majority of the people. Third, the churches began to preach integration, accepting people of all ethnic groups. Last, and most powerful, was the growth of self-respect among the Negro people. This emerging sense of self and respect would not allow the people to revert to a subservient...