Which Way USA - Julian Bond

[Music] julian bond talking with the people he represents in the georgia legislature has come a long way from the julian bond who fought for civil rights in mississippi in 1964. in mississippi this year since 19 beginning of 1964 there have been five negroes killed by white people one negro in natchez two negroes and natchez beaten by members of the klu klux klan we've had crosses burned in front of our office in greenwood there have been cross burnings all across the state indications we hear are that the ku klux klan is reorganizing in mississippi and there's always a subdued violence in that state there are always negroes being locked up for nothing there are always negroes who are beaten for little or nothing and we don't hear about half of the things that go on there the worse a place is the just the more careful you are but you can't really be afraid because you don't know what you're afraid of you can't expect that every white man you see is going to shoot you or that every policeman is going to lock you up or that every car that passes yours is going to shoot yours and if you adopt an attitude that everything is going to happen then you might reduce yourself to such a state of nervous tension that you wouldn't be able to operate but you have to expect things you have to realize that in some parts of the south white people are willing and eager to kill negroes to stop them from doing simple things like registering to vote so you have to be careful but you can't allow yourself to become paralyzed with fear julian bond's constituents by and large are underprivileged americans there's no question that their needs are great but until bond they had no voice this neighborhood you can see it's very poor the average income here is twenty five hundred dollars a year uh people are living below the poverty level and they need the sorts of things that poor people live in most of america's big cities they have inadequate housing and adequate schooling inadequate services from the city the county and the state and i'm interested in anything that's going to improve their condition particularly in minimum wage legislation and workman's compensation those sorts of things at the 1968 democratic convention julian bond became a national figure he nominated eugene mccarthy for president all over the world people want to be free to speak to move about free to protest free to be heard free to live honorable lives and most of all free to participate in the politics which affect their lives [Applause] that is the freedom we seek tonight through the democratic party in 1968 don't tell us we're going to get that freedom through the policies of the past the american people have rejected those policies [Applause] don't tell us we're going to get that freedom from the leaders of the past because those leaders don't even understand what we're talking about but for me and for millions of democrats and independents millions of young people and black people and poor people there's one candidate who will tell it all that man is gene mccarthy in 1968 the 28 year old bond was nominated for the vice presidency he was however seven years too young to qualify in 1976 julian bond will be qualified [Music] you