“Race Signs Must Come Down”

Excerpt from a newspaper article about a complaint filed against the railroad company. 

This newspaper article mentioned Hurley’s complaint against the rail carriers. “The seventeen individuals who joined the NAACP in filing the complaint against the rail carriers included: Mrs. Ruby Hurley, NAACP field secretary at Birmingham, Ala.” For Hurley’s name and occupation to be included in the article shows that she was respected and well known. This hints at the respectability politics mentioned in “Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick.” To earn the respect of her fellow colleagues, Hurley had to portray herself in a certain light and work harder than others. Hurley allowed her work ethic to speak for her to show that she is just as capable as any men. Another important thing to notice is that Hurley was mentioned first in regards to the seventeen individuals, above several men. This shows that Hurley’s work surpassed her gender during the discussion of race in this article.