The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, June 17, 1966, Image 2

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The Southern Israelite., June 17, 1966, Image 2

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Newspaper Page TextFife Two THE SOUTHERN I S R A K L I T E Friday, June 17, 1966 THINKING of Travel? Think of The Travel Mart Suit* 413, II Pryor at., *.W. 5*4 - §411 CARY SANDERS TV, Appliance, Air-Condition tv <\l.E8 AND 8ERVICE J759 Roswell Rd., N.E Phone 233-4275 ONE STOP SERVICE azan g Tailers loom P4MHTM, N. I. At Ttiitt TR. «-0*l« Atlanta, Oa. LABIET art SENT IATI PII IBinp m TUXEDO PLUMBING & HEATING • Service • Repair • Installation 305 Pharr Road N.E. 237-5556 DRIGGER’S ALIGNMENT & TRANSMISSION SERVICE riVA Nb.VISSION SPl'A IAL I fecial.... $24.95 Transmission Seal IN REAR O.F 1182 CHESHIRE BRIDGE Rb 873-6444 Nights 938 451 6 or 876 3554 I As We Were Saying fly ROBERT SEGAL (A Seven Arts Feature) Not long after the initial dis turbance in Watts, a pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. H. H. Brookins, made a study of the anguish there and came forth with an evaluation seemingly more significant than the one teased out later by the California Governor’s Commis sion, headed by John A. McCone, former chief of the CIA. Said Mr. Brookins: "The most significant thing about Watts and that which is most difficult to describe, is the quality of the life there—not merely its poverty and filth, hut its hopelessness and despair.” The quality of the life of most of the Negroes of Watts (and Negroes comprise at least 98°f 0 of the community’s people) is de termined not only by the fact that this overpopulated place is the portal through which are passing Negroes not long up from the agrarian South into a throbbing, promise-you-all, sunny Californ ia. Nor is the quality of the life there determined only by the facts that practically every one in two families must live on annual incomes of $4,000 or less, that un deremployment is dangerously high and housing shamefully dec repit. Rather, the quality of the life is rooted in neglect, alienation, the sharp polarization between the Negro enclave of Watts and the shiny affluent, lush communities beyond that range of despair. The quality of the life may be attri buted also to what has been ac curately set down by Dr. Ben jamin F, Payton of the National Council of Churches as "the con ditions of impacted evil rooted in centuries of inequality.” Many who have ventured be yond the textbook report of tim orous sociologists and have made more than passing acquaintances with the quality of the life in Negro areas identity quickly with the articulate and long suffering ghetto dwellers. Not long ago, in carrying out a civic assignment, I sat for 14 hours listening to more than a score of spokesmen in Boston’s Roxbury section where two in every three of all VS. SAYS SYRIA LIED ABOUT LEVY’S CAPTURE WASHINGTON (WUP)— The State Department charged that the Syrian Government had lied in 1964 when it denied to Amer ican officials that it had captured and imprisoned Edward K. Levy, an American citizen, who had crossed the border. Levy, aged 25, who was recent ly exchanged for a Syrian pris oner held by Israel, returned to the United States. He had spent two years in solitary confinement in a prison near Damascus. Interviewed upon his return, young Levy said that he had crossed the Israeli frontier in June, 1964, after working a while at a kibbutz in Ein Gev on the eastern side of Lake Kmneret. Believing that the Syrians would not bother an American citizen, he decided to hitch-hike Amer ican fashion from Syria to Tur key. Rut no sooner had he cross ed than he was apprehended by Syrian soldiers and arrested as a ‘‘spy.’’ the Negroes of Massachusetts live. The facts about public aid ad ministration, slumlords, police practices, merchant-consu an e r antagonisms, inferior education, and job anxieties were present ed in dignity and with great elo quence. Boston’s sharply alert educational television station WGBH (associated with a number of the fine colleges in the area) moved in on the dra matic sessions and showed the whole town the sorry story of expectations unrealized and com munity morale depressed. The shortcomings of the anti-poverty campaign, the mountainous case load of the workers in the multi service welfare center, the fury about inadequate trash collection, the burning anger engendered by lack of recreational facilities and play supervision were all des cribed in detail. There was much to mourn over. The absence from these open meetings of those highly placed officials whose responsibility it is to develop imaginative and effec tive remedial programs was noted by many. Failure of some agen cies to make abundantly known to the people of the area the services available and the aids to which many were entitled was marked. The stubborn refusal of public school authorities to ac knowledge the human erosion resulting from racial imbalance in the classroom stood out clear ly. But most of all, the sickening frustration over the thought that investigation after investigation, hearing after hearing, study aft er study might well be a cover- up for inaction! ‘ What’s going to come of this? What will be done to help us? How can we win enough allies to get through City Hall?” These questions hang over all such proceedings. What will come of the studies? Well, President Johnson is hopeful of putting a man on the moon not long from now. So our national economy should be able to afford the massive assault on the conditions breeding the ills of the modern urban ghettos. Such an attack may cost a hun dred billion dollars. And if we can’t see our way clear to spend ing such a huge sum on pro viding decent housing, on teach ing the illiterate, and making 1»9« Roowell Rd., N.W CE 1 4M1 Lovely Drew Fabric* All Patterna — Trim Complete Drapery Dept whole the ill, we are destined to spend a similar amount on mop ping up after riots and crime waves and civic blight. We have had enough of short term thrusts to know by now that we are in for the long pull. The unconsciously biased, the blatant ly bigoted, and the countless un awakened aren’t up to acknow ledging this. But reality has a way of overtaking the uncon cerned. WaldmtZ. *«**ssr'*~ 1 June 28 to Sept. 6 *80 of 133 rooms INCLUDING MEALS TT ■ Inrt Ims. itmctit Print. Inc. P»#t, \oS«fl Sap*rri«*4 W Ckltdr**'. ActhrWn Write Direct For Reservations I ROARING “SIXTIES” HAND CLAPPING, TOE TAPPING. RAGTIME With the “UPTOWN STRUTTERS” 2581 PIEDMONT RD., N.E. — 231-3175 mo KONG Atlanta's Newest. Larq> «• and Finest CHI NFS b AND AMERICA A AllRANT LUNCH • DINNER A LA CAR?* OPEN 11 A. M. ‘TILL 12 MlDNiGHi DAILY AND SUNDA> ¥ Serving v 0 ur Favorite FREE PARKING Central Parking •araga Co mar luckia 4 Pairlla ft* aftar 1 f v dally and all day Sunday Two houi L«m M Mambar Olnan Club and Amarlcin fixarati Music by Muxak. Prlvara Dining and Aanauaf loow. IN LUCKII ST., N W JA (•round Ploor 0*orgi* Hoi*. OPIN AU N1GH7 Ponce de Leon at Highland STATE ELECTRIC COMPANY ELECTRICAL SERVICE COMMERCIAL and INDUSTRIAL REPAIRING LIGHTING INSTALLATION 1947 BRIARWOOD COURT. N.E. for service cal 633-1421 ATLANTA. GA. 30329