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C. R. M. Sheppard
P. O. Box 466
Tucker, Georgia 30084
Honorable Ivan Allen, Jr., Mayor
City of Atlanta
Atlanta City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Mayor Allens:
I congratulate you on your splendid efforts to maintain racial
harmony in the City of Atlanta. Your recent confrontation with
rioting Negro mobs was most admirable. However, I am afraid
that you do not understand Negro psychology.
On numerous occasions you have made reference to the grave in-
justices the Negro has suffered over the past 200 years - and
this I cannot agree with entirely. The greatest favor ever done
for the Negro was to capture him, take him out of the jungle
end expose him to civilization - and incidentally, keep him from
eating all of his relatives. These supposed injustices confer on
him no right to murder, rape, mug and commit arson. If this were
not true I would personally carry out a vendeta against society
because General Sherman's men murdered my great-gsrandfather, his
oldets son (16), burned his home, killed his live-stock and left
a widow with three little-.children, This indeed was an injustice
but it does not give the right to go to Chicago and throw bottles
at the police force, kill local residents or set fire to the
Conrad Hilton Hotel.
While on active duty, during World War II, we had a constant
problem with Quartermaster Negro troops rioting after consuming
a few bottles of beer. I was assigned the task of breaking up
these Saturday night melees and I accomplished the mission in
just two weeks. It was not done by talking nicely to these men,
it was done however with a language that they understand. I urge
you to use a firmer hand in dealing with these situations or face
the alternative of losing complete control of the situation.
I am gravely concerned with the state of anarchy that prevails
throughout the nation. Unless our political leaders exercise firm
controls, without regards for the value of the Negro bloc vote at
the polls, the United States is going to develop into an armed
camp and we will all lose as the result of what will take place,
Put down revolt among the Negroes as you would if white people
were involved and you will overcome some of the deep-rooted and
seething resentment that now exists.
With best wishes for your continued efforts in geting with this
gigantic problem, I am ~