South's Religious Heritage Called Key to Silence on Discrimination

"The problem of the South today is that of a grand silence, a conspiracy of silence," according to Clifford Durr, a Montgomery, Ala. attorney.

Speaking to a Dunster House Forum, Durr said that the South's Bible Belt heritage means that "Being saved is half the fun of sinning." Because of the South's obsession with sin and repentance, it interprets any criticism as confession of having sinned. Thus, Durr said, a Southerner who speaks out on the race problem is considered to be accusing the South of sinning. Ostracism faces anyone so bold.

"Not race prejudice but conformity" is the problem. "If you speak out, you're afraid that someone will question your Southernness." The Brown Decision in 1954 elicited a moderate reaction even from traditional Southerners, but no Southern leaders called for obedience to the law. Governers, senators, and congresmen by their silence allowed the White Citizens Councils, "outside agitators from Mississippi," to enter, and the Councils did not remain silent. The politicians followed their lead.

The church is also part of the conspiracy of silence, Durr said. He recalled that when he was young, ministers used to give sermons on brotherhood at least once every six months; "I haven't heard a sermon on the general subject of brotherhood in ten years."

The Democratic Party will resurge in Alabama because the state is poor and needs Federal aid, Durr predicted, but to do so it will have to overcome the "McCarthyism" with which the South "has just caught up." "Red and black have become so confused that any action for civil rights is of emotional necessity called Communist-inspired," he added.

Comparing George Wallace to "a sky-rocket which will drop of its own accord," Durr expressed guarded optimism for the future progress of moderation in Alabama. Having "cut himself off from Washington," Wallace will face defeat on "bread-and-butter issues." But after Wallace, he said the "great silence" must still be faced.