[A discussion between Stokely Carmichael and Randolph Blackwell] Page: 13 of 54
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July
Jlget in the notion that one of the real tragedies about the zecodiag c
.aricau history for textbooks to be used in the high schools has been t
seat tendency on the part of scholarly Americans to leave out of the ta:.
xooks the Populist. eriod, where eoig1es* candidates teaded to speak to the
Heeds of people. and they spoke to, I believe, they spoke to the needs of pa
of that period of 18904900, not because they were black o: white, but hecauv
of their ability to define the economic issues of that day, and raiae them to
a level where there was support for them, I might say, quite frankly, that c
of the things that we hope to do is to usher in another Populist period, but,
we're not stuck for just the Populist period for an illustration. It seems ;
me that i t would be a real tragedy to forget that whoa the AF of L spangled o.
into several different directions and out of it came the CIO, one of the fewe
amntal propositions on which that organization was founded was the fact thi
poor people, regardless of race or color, have basically the same needs an'
u tivationa and that they can be organized to push forward those needs and
rctivations. I of ten feel that a new period in Aerican history was rapid
approaching, when it was cut short by the onrush of World War II, that one o
the things that we would hope we could do in our organisation and our cone
muld be to return the nation to the point where we were doing the kinds o
,eking that was being done during the time the CIO came into existence er
:e kinds of thinking that characterized the Populist period of the 1890's.
.ad, of course, what I'm saying, I suppose, is that speaking to the needs
aople I don't think is colored in any way; I think that people arec oapabi
:oth Negro and white, of seeing the issues and speaking to them; and that
Noes not only, I'm not suggesting that onl. out of a Ne-o
there can emerge a kind of poll tical purity
imor: Well, let's, maybe, we should speak as .. . - . .+.,--
some discussions and questions from you. How about throwing the floor open .
just asking questions of any of the speakers. Gentleman over there.
!. C. Wilson: Could you also conclude that the Populist movement was not so pure
as you tried to establish a could you also include Mr. of Mississippi,
.o certainly was a racist from his very existence, and M itit also included
Georgia's Tom Watson, who died as a Populist, but who also died as one of the
greatest racist that this country ever produced?
ackwell: Would you like for me to speak to your question? I have no difficulty
.:ith the idea that Tom Watson died a racist. I like to talk of To Watson calost
as if he were two individuals . I don't think that the late Tom Watson was the
same Tom Watson that was instrumental in bringing into existence the Populist
period. I think you have to also remember that George White, who was a Neg=
congress n from North Carolina, was a part of that. I'm not suggesting that i-
had arrived at the political ideal in the Populist movement. I thilk that ch
'apidly developing industries nation of the 1890's cut short another period
contend very strongly that the e pa; ; as )no '; ; ;
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[A discussion between Stokely Carmichael and Randolph Blackwell], text, July 25, 1966; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1884474/m1/13/?q=%221964~%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.