l)ivil Bightr, $egregation, and Providence

Bv Jack Dionne

In our bcck ycrd there are mqny lorge trees. In these trees live m(my birds. In our lolt live olhers. And still more birds come crnd go in secson. This hqs been going on lor innumerqble bird generqtions.

The regulcrrs crre mockingbir& cmd blue icrys. Ire ihe spring come Gr world ol robins to visit with us lor q time, os is the wcy ol robins, their red breqsts plecrscnt to the sight.

All these birds live hcrmoniously, ecch breed cnd species pursuing its own wcy, its own devices, its own living hcbits. For generctions clter genercrtion they live thct wcy.

Yet I hcrve never seen crny oI the diflerent bree& oI birds hcve crnything to do with the others. The robins never mix with the icys, the icys with the mockingbirds, or the mockingbirds with the robins. They mind their own business qs, appqrently, God put it in their hecrts to do. hl the scune ycrrd cnd the same trees they remcin in the gnoups thct Providence scw lit to creale.

In our lolt there qre mcny pigeons, oI mcny colors. They, too, have been there lor generctions. They hcve never mixed with the robins, the mockingbirds, or the icys. Seldom do you wcrlk in the ycrd without seeing spqrrows llying crbout. II the spcrrrows hcrve cny truck with cny oI those other birds, it hcrs never ccught my eye or qitention.

Drive out into the country crnd you find grect grcin lields. These lields in fcll cnd winter crbound with birds. The rice birds lly in huge swqrrns, crnd settle to rest or ecrt in thcrt wcy. In other plcrces there are vcrst llocks oI blqckbir& seeking the grcrin the threshers drop. They, too, herd by themselves.

All these birds live with their own kind strictly, qnd live ot pecrce with the other species. Are these birds all wrong cbout this thing-cbout their wcry of living? Are they guilty oI wronglul segnegcrtion, oI lim Crow laws, ol boycotts? Does the lcrct thqt ihey live crnd do qs Mother Ncrture teqches lhem, mecn nothing? Should they mix with these other species, interbreed, etc? Are there no do-gooders qmong the birds to criticize them lor their isolationism? Are they wrong in stcying crlool socitrlly lrom these other birds oI other breeds, <rnd other colors, cnd other charcrcteristics? Are these birds who do oniy that which Providence tcrught them, guilty oI intolerqnce? Should they h<rve cr Civil Rights Act imposed upon them to mqke ihem live otherwise?

Yet the human do-gooders would hcrve us believe thct whcrt is true oI the bir& crnd ihe becsts, is not true oI mqn. As though the scme God thct mcde one, did not mcrke the others. Is there reqson to believe thcrt Providence intended the rcrces oI humcnity to remain less pure thcn the rcrces oI birds cnrd becsts?

Thcrt we should mix the races oI mcrnkind sociclly crnd biologiccrlly is cr horrid thought thct ccnr hqve no bcrcking in the eyes of cr Providence thcrt tcught the birds crrd the bees cmd the becrsts how to live. When the swallows lly bcrck to Ccpistrcrno every yecrr, the other breeds oI birds tcke wing. A black-cnd-tcrn civilizcrtion, such crs the do-gooderswould creqte, is cbhorrent to men cnd birds crlike. The robins, the jcys, the mockingbirds, the spcrrows cnd the pigeons in our ycrd never mcke that mistcke. Mother Nqture doesn't iecch them such inlcmy. For there is no socicrlism in Mother Nqture. There is no Hcrry Trumqn or Eleqnor Roosevelt to tell them they must live otherwise thcrn God so plcdnly intended they should.