“Many Negroes see mass violence coming. Having lived in a society in which church, school, and home problems have been handled in a violent way, the majority at this point are unable to conceive of a solution by reconciliation and nonviolence. I have seen schoolboys in Arkansas laying away rusty guns for the 'time when.' I have heard many young men in the armed forces hope for a machine-gun assignment 'so I can turn it on the white folks.' I have seen a white sailor beaten in Harlem because three Negroes had been 'wantin' to get just one white' before they died. I have heard hundreds of Negroes hope for a Japanese military victory, since 'it don't matter who you're a slave for.'”
About This Quote
Bayard Rustin, 'The Negro and Nonviolence,' 1942
More from Bayard Rustin
“Segregation, separation, according to Jesus, is the basis of continuous violence.”
“War is wrong. Conscription is a concomitant of modern war. Thus, conscription for so vast…”
“An increasingly militant group has it in mind to demand now, with violence if necessary,…”
“In time of war, the general social condition is fertile soil for the development of hate…”