The petition to the city council began simply: "We the undersigned wish to live in the city of Tuskegee." The 760 signers were former Negro citizens of Tuskegee, Ala. (pop. 4,700), who last July saw their homes jigsawed out of the city limits by the state legislature. The gerrymander bill left exactly nine Negro voters within the city limits (instead of 420), touched off a Negro boycott of white merchants. "My God," said a council member as he reviewed the petition for readmittance last week.'Tf we back down now, we'll lose the whole works." The petition was promptly turned...
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