Q: So you felt suddenly that you had a friend in the White House?
A: Oh yes. Over a period of time, most black people were struck with the genuineness and the feeling that she was for real, not only just her statements, not only the so-called sympathetic statements. Her statements were empathetic rather than sympathetic. She showed empathy. And she appeared to be thoroughly convinced and progressively, as time went on, that America could not live up to its promise of being a democracy unless it did something about the racial problem in this country. I think she was thoroughly convinced of that. Now, maybe when she first got in, she wasn't, because part of her heritage is southern. One author suggested that she might have used words like "pickaninny" and "darky" in describing black folk. But once she began to see what the black experience was like, she changed. And did she change! You had to put her into context of her time, in order to really appreciate this woman. I didn't appreciate her as much as I should have then. But when I look back on what it must have required for her to take the positions she did, you had to assume that she was truly a committed woman, not only in her words but where she placed her body.
You know, she was on several committees organized to dramatically change the climate pertaining black people. She helped organize some in the South. Many people who saw it thought it was most remarkable when she attended an anniversary meeting for Bethune-Cookman College. And of course, Mary McLeod Bethune was there, her close friend. The way they greeted each other as they met on stage, you saw a genuine warmth. There was no holding back. And when Mrs. Bethune spoke and her voice became hoarse and sort of crackled, the President's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, got up and poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. That was a gesture that said more than all the speeches she ever made.
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