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Freedomways Third Quarter 1966

dates who are presently doomed to lose, by increasing the program of political workshops on the beat and precinct level, run by community leaders, we can change the old concept of political leadership in the community. We are deepening the concept of grass-roots democracy in which the community gets a chance to speak collectively, for itself, and when necessary to select its representatives. Conversely, a leadership is emerging which recognizes that any power to which it can aspire is nothing more than an expression of the unified and collective strength of the community, and that it is only to that base that its responsibility lies. In this way the community will have a real choice, rather than being obliged to vote for machine candidates selected "downtown."

What is possible for such an organization? Of Mississippi's 84 counties, 29 presently have outright Negro majorities, eleven are between 40 and 49 per cent Negro, and twelve are between 30 and 39 per cent Negro. At a minimum it is possible for a cohesive and unified political effort in the black community to elect candidates in 29 counties and to determine the outcome of contests in 23 others. This would drastically alter the composition and politics of the state legislature. Municipal elections are also vulnerable. Of seventeen cities with over 10,000 population, five (Yazoo, Greenwood, Greenville, Natchez, and Clarksdale) have very slim Negro majorities. None of he other large cities has less than 20 per cent Negro populations. 

Our job must be, then, to continue organizing these black voters into an independent political  organ capable of unified action on the state level. If this appears to "introduce racial politics and further polarize the state," as the national Democrats like to claim, that's all right. Once we have this organization functioning, white allies of all stripes, moderates, liberals and even radicals, can blossom in the ranks of the white party, for ultimately no politician is going to ignore that kind of organized voting strength. But by the time these overtures come-when the majority of Negroes have the vote-the independent and democratic organization of the Negro community must be so established as to enable the community to negotiate with the white power structure from a [[italics]]position of actual political strength[[italics]] and in a unified manner. So, when this dialogue takes place, it will not be to individual Negroes on terms of patronage and prestige, but to the true representatives of the community and in terms of governmental power. It is only in this manner that the vote will become an implement for social change in Mississippi.

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