We are all aware that this equality has been bitterly contested and that even today there are those who seek to perpetuate practices of secondclass citizenship. which have been outlawed by the Supreme Court of the United States. But it is shocking to me that the executive branch of our Federal Government is willing to share in this responsibility. It is one thing for the Government of El Salvador to deny the issuance of visas to United States citizens on the sole ground that they are Negroes. but it is quite another thing for our State Department to close its .eyes or turn its head to an episode of this sort. Who can question that the silence of our State Department implies acquiescence and acceptance of secondclass citizenship in our own country. The time has come.