University of Virginia Library

Negro Leader

It always makes one feel uncomfortable
to be referred to as "a
Negro Leader" since it may be
interpreted to mean that I speak for
the Negroes in Charlottesville. This,
of course, is far from the truth. The
opinions which were expressed are
my own, although there may be
others who concur.

Since I did not see the article
(March 10) before it was published
I want to clarify one statement
which was misquoted - "We are
the only ones completely cut off
from our heritage, the only ones
who brought nothing with us, etc."

The statement should have read:
"We were the only ones deliberately
cut off from our heritage, even
to the extent of acquiring a new
language, and new names." We did
bring very much with us and we did
not develop here entirely independent
of our past.