Faulkner, William

Typescript on "the subject of the Negro in the United States," inscribed "Venezuela file" in pencil in an unidentified hand, 1 page (11 1/8 x 8 3/4 in.; 283 x 223 mm), [Caracas, Venezuela, c. 4 April 1961]; 4 horizontal folds, rust stain from paper clip in upper left corner, minor fraying at a fold on right margin. 

Blotner, Faulkner: A Biography, II, pp. 1779–1786.  Not in Essays, Speeches & Public Letters.

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A rebuttal to the Venezuelan press on the subject of race relations in the United States.  William Faulkner's final trip abroad was a two-week State Department-sponsored tour of Venezuela in April of 1961.  The trip was an unqualified success.  Faulkner gave addresses in Spanish and was immensely popular with audiences.  He was awarded the country's highest civilian award, the Order of Andrés Bello.  The only friction on the trip occurred at a press conference on his first full day there, 3 April.  As Blotner writes, "Some of the reporters were primed with questions about American problems and dilemmas meant to be embarassing, but Faulkner fielded them adroitly.  'He handled the subject of racial problems in the United States with insight and sympathy,' Public Affairs Officer Charles E. Harner later reported.  And when a hostile reporter for La Esfera distorted his remarks, he issued a rebuttal."  Faulkner's statement is brief (only four paragraphs) and eloquent. After explaining that blacks in the United Sates have not had the same opportunities as white citizens, he states, "This is no reflection on the negro as a race at all.  He has shown in numerous cases that he is thoroughly capable of any and all of the moral and intellectual qualities of the white man.  I can cite George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington and our own well-known contemporary Dr. Ralphe Bunche."  The rebuttal ends with these three sentences: "A proof of this is the distance the negro has come under the teriffic handicap of his condition in only three hundred years.  I can't think offhand of any other race to have advanced that far under such handicap in that short time.  If many white people in my country did not believe this, we would not make the effort we have made and are making and will continue to make to see that he has the chance to go as far as he is capable of." 

After Faulkner's deft handling of what could have been an unpleasant contretemps, the Venezuelan press referred to him as "el hombre simpático."  At first he was described by journalists as "el Señor William Faulkner, Premio Nobel de Literatura."  It was not long before this was shortened to "El Premio."  Faulkner in turn told reporters that he wanted "saborear el vino del  país."

In his report back to the State Department in Washington, Charles Harner, would write, "Mr. Faulkner is patriotic in the old-fashioned, untarnished sense of that adjective."  Faulkner himself was pleased with the visit and wrote back to his Venezuelan hosts, thanking them for "la buen comida, el puncho con ron agrariano, la conversacione, la cultura …."

This rebuttal to a hostile journalist is one of Faulkner's last, if not his very last, public pronouncement on race relations in the United States, a subject that had preoccupied him all his writing life.