Through African Eyes

Six inquisitive Africans sallied through the U.S. South last week to tour the hottest hotspots of racial strife. Mainly graduate students at California campuses, and sponsored by Stanford University's Institute of International Relations, they went armed with cameras, typewriters, a tape recorder, and nervous expectations. Scribbled Nigerian Engineer Lewis Chik-wendu, 26, as the plane headed south: "I expect we shall be mobbed in certain states, and if care is not taken, we may be rough-handled."

Not a single mob formed. Yet much of what they saw in Little Rock, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Tuskegee and Montgomery was little better than they expected. They were heartened to meet white moderates, disheartened at their caution. "The Southern liberal is the only one who can save the South, but he's afraid of leading," said Kenyan Economist James Maina, 28. They admired the "vitality" of Negro sit-in leaders.

The low point was an interview with Arkansas' Governor Orval Faubus, who helpfully explained why whites oppose sit-in strikes. Faubus went on: "You see, there's been a higher incidence of venereal disease among Negroes than white people in this country. It's not a matter of color. A man has to indicate that he's a gentleman, that he is clean, and that you wouldn't catch anything from him."

The Africans refused to be insulted. Said Political Scientist Fred Savage, 30, of Sierra Leone: "I realized that since Faubus is a politician not motivated by scruples, he would say anything to make his point." Most real racists refused to see the Africans at all. "I do not believe in integrated meetings of any kind," said Little Rock Segregationist Amis Guthridge. In New Orleans, White Citizens Council Leader Sam Irwin Huffed that the Africans "come down here with closed minds. They're bigots."

The segregationists' outspoken readiness to abet the world's impression of a racist U.S. amazed the Africans. Said Economist Maina: "They had no worry about the country, just their local situation."

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