Letter from James S. Byrne to President Harry S. Truman

P.P.t. (en 2002.48 New Orleans, audubon La. Bldg February 21, 1948 B The President of the United States Washington, D. C. Mr. President : I have read with great interest reports that you are sug- gesting legislature to, I understand, abolish lynching and the laws which seggregate the colored from the white in the Southern states. It is to my regret that I haven't had the opportunity to read completely the entire suggested legislature, and that I am writing this from what I gathered from reports I have heard, but I feel that I have a "working" knowledge of what such legislation would propose. I therefore am writing this to at- tempt to present to you the views of one who has had first hand experi- ence with what the provisions of such a bill would affect in so far as the Southern states are concerned, but more so to present for your consideration a few thoughts pertinent to such legislation. I am a veteran, nearly twenty four years of age and a regis- tered Democrat. A native of New Orleans, I have been for the most part of my life in close contact with what is termed the # Jim Crow " laws, but I feel that the experiences that I had while in service and as well after my return to civilian life allow me to consider the proposition in question in an unbiased manner. While in the army, both in the United States and in the European Theater of Operations, my general contact with the negro race was good. I have eaten with them, and while I cannot focus my memory on any one occasion, I am certain at the same table. I have slept in the same quar- ters and moreso in the partnership of a double-decker bunk. I have showered under the same shower spigot and if my memory serves me correctly I entrusted to a colored boy important papers concerning myself and a goodly sum of money and in all the above mentioned incidents the results were without major re- proach. Having been stationed near and in that section of the United States known as the "North", I have had the opportunity to mingle with the colored in a section of the country with no " Jim Crow # laws. From the results of the experiences I have just mentioned it would appear the abolishment of the seggre- gation laws would be a simple matter. In no way can I see would any such move on the part of either the legislative of judicial branch of the government be simple or as I can see, 2at this time feasable. Before entering into the body of this letter I would like to say that I am in full accord with your suggestion that national legislation be passed abolishing lynching, but I feel the enforcement of such laws should be laft to the state in which the crime is committed. Mob rule has never pro- vided justice. Mr. President, I feel you cannot have a full understanding of the position of the Negro in relation to the South. In the first place, the Negro was primarily brought to this country as a slave he became just a piece of property to be bought and sold or traded as you would a present day automobile. He was either a need or a luxury even as an automobile is today. It is brutal to say this and I am not in accord with the principles of slavery but it is a fact and upon facts we must use in attaining an answer to this question of racial inequality. In the second place when the Negro was freed by