Recently a dear Southern friend instructed me passionately in the theory of “equal but separate.” “It just happens,” he said, “that in my town there are three new Negro schools not equal but superior to the white schools. Now wouldn’t you think they would be satisfied with that? And in the bus station the washrooms are exactly the same. What’s your answer to that?” I said, “Maybe it’s a matter of ignorance. You could solve it and really put them in their places if you switched schools and toilets. The moment they realized that your schools weren’t as good as theirs, they would realize their
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