CONFERENCE WITH ROY WILKINS 345

some extent this thwarts the entire purpose of my asking Mr. Wilkins
here. It thwarts it because in my admiration for his efforts in civil
rights, the responsibility of his pronouncements, and his outstanding
leadership, I did not want to react or show any reaction to action that
was taken — that I consider to be unfortunate and not in the best
interest of both the white and the Negro communities. I wanted to
have Mr. Wilkins here to show him that we, the white citizens of this
country and particularly those of us in positions of political leader-
ship, do appreciate the kind of guidance that his organization and he,
individually, is offering. I wanted to show that we can make efforts
and make progress to afford equal rights for all our citizens — not
because we are worried about some outburst that is taking place, but
because we want to do something on our own initiative once in a
while without the dramatization of turmoil. Unfortunately, we have
had these riots and there will be those who will say that Mr. Wilkins
has been invited here to put out a potential fire in Maryland. I am
sure that he can assure you that this is not the case. We have had
some very fruitful discussions. We have talked about the needs of edu-
cation and job opportunities, the needs in the housing area and ac-
commodations, and we have covered the gamut of the entire spectrum
of the problems that beset our country in its failure to afford civil
opportunity to all our citizens. We have some pretty good ideas about
how to proceed and I certainly want to express to you, Sir, my very
deep appreciation, in spite of your very heavy schedule and in spite
of some persistent requests that you yield to a more immediate need
than this meeting, that you did come here and spend this time with
us. I feel reassured by my conversations with you, and I just want to
urge the Maryland community, white and Negro, that this is the kind
of leadership that we have got to follow if we are going to achieve
what we are really setting out to do.
MR. WILKINS:

Governor Agnew, I want to thank you for the invitation. I cer-
tainly think I can put a date on the first exploration for this meeting
— it was something like June 4th or 5th — long before our Boston
convention, and certainly no one had in mind what happened in
New Jersey. As I recall your letter, it was to explore the situation in
Maryland with a view toward some affirmative action while things
were quiet, and as a policy of the State and not a policy engendered
or stimulated by violence. I am very happy to be here and to learn
what is being done in Maryland. Of course, you were the first to state
that all is not as it should be, but the State is working on these prob-
lems. I took the liberty of suggesting, Sir, both today and in my com-