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Civil Rights in August
(From the Christian Science
After all the battling over civil rights
planks at both national conventions.
Washington dispatches sa.v there is little
prospect for major action in the short
session remaining in Congress. But New
York senators and other advocates of
efforts to overcome discrimination
through federal laws are introducing ex¬
tensive legislative proposals.
This -has been described as a Republican
attempt to white the Democratic plank
into law. But Democrats regard it simply
as art effort to embarrass and split them.
They contend tha1 it is not a bona fide
move to advance civil rights and will
divert attorn ion from completing other
needed legislation. This argument has
some basis, for the nature of the proposed
legislation makes it extremely difficult to
deal w ith quickly. In the spring Congress
required two moflfchs to enact a much less
Editorial Opinion from The Nation’s
( by the Associated Xcyro Pa ss
Her** are editorial expressions from the
nation's press on subjects of current in¬
terest :
Numbers. North and Smith
TlWiBsKA^C -"wf nf-th Mfrimri J^BHraw**** Nashville
' time in a,few weeks,
federal . 1 «-* agents “ Vrave "fur cracked t 1 m.ncu uuvvil down on UN num- HU III-
the berj 1 i I racketeer- i \ i,i in Mashviikf /A Once more
<p ostian jar raised wity cilv police
canfpu^ti. thcfti.”’ ■f
AMjatlCAN. “wfip Kg*!! y t;bk-RKo ton city Uounc BHob vtatsl*
tholgUv, sh m Hi .nit 4ir.it tv the. shuiiVl c§W*s Ipic'county ffi i.g
yr ne.\«i|i<lice ipi; i/ry» T? hr state’s 41 iittor-
in |'d Yubrnd), ut a .Wifcpylky ttiakiis it wJh. plain operation
that the
ponce force ffas hot,’been tldhijj
its work and it is important to find out
'' liS basmt
Tims
“ntuincss is taking a new lead In South¬
ern race relations. The Negro did not
sit in on the South. He came to help
build Southern agricultural economy and
he is an important producer and consumer
in the contemporary South of increasing
urbanization and- rising industry. This
fact is getting recognition.”
CONSTITUTION, Atlanta
School Integration in North Far
Different front That In Southern St; tes
NE W YORK (ASP) — South¬
ern nylstawce to public school de¬
segregation Sri the six years since
it was decreed by the United States
Supreme Court has oyer-shadow¬
ed efforts being m«de in north¬
ern cities to achieve facial integra¬
tion.
But educators arid public offi¬
cials in such cities as New York,
Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles
and Cleveland have devoted long
hours of study to bow the enroll¬
ments of their public schools can
be made to re flee i th# democratic
ideals of the nation, -v
In the South, Wk&blneks to
school Integration up*: tHgid segre¬
gation laws, customs that are
generation old, strong ingrained
racial' prejudices aid!, of course,
conscienceless politicajrit who are
exploiting ignorance to perpetuate
themselves in power.
In the North, the obstacles are
riot so obvious. There is no segre¬
gation in the schools by law, but
bias in other aspects of community
life, particularly housing, has re¬
sulted in de facto racial segrega¬
tion in the classrooms.
Though other cities in the
North have tackled the problem.
New York appears to have made
the most conscientious effort to
bring about democracy in its pub¬
lic school system.
To be sure, the steps taken by
New York have met with some re¬
sistance, but the determination of
the city is gradually bringing
about the desired results. If the
methods are faulty and the results
slow, cor. ;«>dr in one can quar¬
rel with the intent.
National Advertising Representative*
Associated Publishers
55 West 42nd Street
New York 36, New York
166 W. Washington 8t.
Chicago 2. 111.
Mr. Robert Whali y
Whaley-Simpson Company
6608 Selma Ave.
Los Angeles 28, California
Mr. Gordon Simpson
Whaley-SLmpson Company
700 Montgomery St.
Ban Francisco 11, California
drastic and complex civil-rights measure.
Bid it can also be argued that the hear¬
ings and debate then devoted to the sub¬
ject should have clarified most problems
— provided there is a real purpose to
make good on the parties’ promises fre li¬
ly inscribed in platforms. This conten¬
tion also has validity, for it is the resolve
to act which is mainly lacking in Congress
Which party gains the more from these
arguments is not clear. For both have
made civil rights platform pledges they
have reason to believe cannot be enacted
in Congress, much less put into effect
against southern resistance — either in -
this short session or any long sessions
within the next four years. But the Demo¬
crats are the more vulnerable to vqter •
resentment over unfulfilled pledges. For •<
they are more divided and they do con- 1
troi Congress.
plain recognition of a fact regarding
segregation. The fact is that an eating
facility in a tax-supported building, even
ii privately leased, can be legally challeng¬
ed by a Negro taxpayer if it bans hi
So long as thu 1 state • Nri'iygt, k
whites them alike, it is bqqhd uuirni’j olVipi. 1# ,
treat alike in the services ii
Civil Rights ; i ;V< j
TRIBUNE, Chicago !■ !
“To say, as many, are saying ihaULfe
rating ofstlw '£k civil rights quvYinvni,*,
*■#) ig 1 tt Id < 4h o, vi 11 oki 1 egj - tip m* j»i•»>” r%i
because tl(> WfittierhVj'f w<u»W f'Lkisih
against the measure is to siat,- a. truth,U it
an irrelevant one. The Senate ijnesi'f!
have to permit a filibuster and if the
Democrats were sincere in their platform
promise they would not tolerate one. To¬
gether with the Republicans, they could
block it.”
Rowell and Jack
NEWS AND COURIER, Charleston, S. C.
“In view- of the failure of a New York
jury to convict on fraud charges another
prominent Negro politician. Rep. Adam
Clayton Powell, Jr. who is riding high
in his white Cadillac the New York
press may be justified in viewing the Jack
case with alarm because of a possible
| students of all races. Population
i shifts make ibis policy difficult
to put into practice, however.
Fourteen of the 33 new elemen¬
i tary buildings erected in thp last
three years are integrated schools.
4. Teacher Assignments to Seg¬
regated schools.
The Board has attempted to pro¬
vide a greater proportion of re¬
gular teachers to the under-privi¬
leged schools. Criticism has been
leveled at school officials because
the better teachers are assigned
to the “best schools, with the re¬
sult that the “poor” schools get
a high proportion of substitutes.
Under the new Integration pro¬
gram, regular teachers have been
assigned to Harlem and to other
areas de facto segregation exists.
Teachers seeking promotion to
higher positions within the sys¬
tem are required to spend two
years in a so-called “special ser¬
vice” school.
Integration is half the program
that the hoard set for itself. The
other part, and probably equally
important, is the raising of edu¬
cational standards in the under¬
privileged schools.
During the past 1 years the New
York City School Board has spent
millions of dollars to equalize edu-
rational conditions within the
As one of the educators said. “If
we can’t have integration, at least
we can strive for separate but
equal facilities.”
The New fork officials have an
added problem; that of the influx
of Puerto Ricans. In the last sev¬
1 eral years the number of elemer-
tary children from Puerto Rico has
According to Dr. John Theobold,
,N e w Y o r k superintendent of
schools, here are some of the steps
that have been taken to integrate
the public schools.
1. - Changes in the zoning regu¬
lations.
Pupils are permitted, in certain
instances, to go to schools outside
their own districts. This permits
Negro children, for example, to
attend formerly all-white schools.
2. —Permissive Bus Scheduling.
This has been the most contro¬
versial of all steps taken. Thou¬
sands of pupils have been trans¬
ferred, with their parents’ consent.
from overcrowded schools to un¬
derutilized schools.
The purpose of bus transport,
in addition to better utilization of
the schools, is to reduce segrega¬
tion. For example, Negro pupils
have been transferred from Brook¬
lyn to “white” schools in Queens.
Additional transfers of children
have been planned for this Septem¬
ber when schools reopen. These
changes involve 5,560 pupils from
48 schools. Although the
is to bring pupils from
ed schools to those that have room,
the end result will be more inte¬
gration.
3. Construction of New Schools
in “fringe” areas.
A majority of the 60 new
schools that have been built since
1057 have been placed in fringe
areas, so that both Negro and
white children will be able to at-
end. The school board has de¬
finitely committed itself to the
pcliey of buildirg, wherever pos¬
sible, schools that will draw from
THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
| Pats Civil Rights Legislation Now And Solidify Our Leadership With South
* America
Fayette County Citizens Still
Live Under Much Pressure
SOMERVILLE,
With his tanks filled to
ing, John McFerren gas
operator, wasn’t telling where
got the gasoline that was denied
L hirh t A, f.... for so . . l long ...... as one ... phase .1 of r
the enonomic squeeze imposed on
Negroes here.
>His *>nl.v comment was
(rtul keep a good man down if
lie Jms friends.
\Vmsii, someone asked McFerren
"■vc kind of gas was he selling, seuiug,
the quick thinking little merchant
replied, “Mine is ‘Independent’
w.iji V Pp* he added that it might
Rquee^p^ ,Jh* called the “Tennessee
! gasoline.
_ln spite official of the opinion of
county that the pressure
is letting-up, McFerren feels
that it is getting worse.
It is generally known that the
FBI has moved into the area and
is malting an investigation of the
situaffojt. ./jJ ,
Perhaps that accounts for some
of the stores selling necessary pro¬
ducts to some of the Negro farm¬
ers who were previously denied,
things Shepherd Towles.
1 his 5,1-year-old farmer, the
'•'that oi U> children, said he was
sul prised on August 1, when he
walked into a store and asked
"00 pounds of poison known in
Unit area as cotton dust.”
lie went into another store and
asked for some “cotton-sacks.”
the merchant only had one the
size hq, desired so he purchased
that one.
-In still another store he order-
mi Srime fruit jars and plastic
bags used tor packing frozen foods,
and again he was served with no
domment. ’
He said he didn’t know whether
tilings were “easing-up” or whe¬
ther’ an FBI agent was somewhere
around. Prior to this he said he
hadn’t been able to buy anything
in the county since February.
Towles who had a prosperous
business bailing hay for the farm¬
ers around the county, in addition
to bis Tegular farm work had been
completely deprived of this extra
income when farmers refused to
hire him for the job.
In spite of this freeze he is still
grown tremendously.
Next fall the total number of
Puerto Rican pupils in the elemen¬
tary grades will top the 100,000
mnnber o^Negro f 'pupils * ^attending s
,, the city .. schools , has been increas-
ihg.
Both these ethnic groups are
concentrated in Manhattan. At
present, the Manhattan public
schools show an equal division as
between white students, Negroes
and Puerto Ricans — a 3-3-3 ra¬
tio.
To raise the educational level of
the “special service schools” —
this is tlie name given by the
school board for schools located
in under-privileged areas that arc
jtO per cent or more segregated —
various steps bave been taken.
Reading clinics hav* been set
in the forefront of the battle.
Last week he carried his tru.-l:
| office to the Memphis pick branch
I to up what he estimat-
I ed as :i or -LdOO pound: of
ing inn* cowt sent f to /x the 4 ItTT* Fayette i ,, f County t .
citizens by the students of Ten
nessee A & I State University.
The nation has been very re
sponsive to the appeal for cPfl;
j n( , f„ r th«.*s** suffering people.
j *pj, e majority of them a; ■ raiVine
| well-wishers vegetables on their farms, ju,.|
have been very help
ful in sending food staples which
the stores refuse to sell them.
Since these areas are
taken care of. the county land
lords have now applied the pres-
sure on housing by fmvii,.:- out
their tenants, many tim*- making
| them leave their crops.
I A spokesman for the Fayette
County Civic and Welfare
reported that between 3(M) and 400
families have been evicted or
threatened if they insist upon re-
gistering to vote. A typical ex-
ample is the L. T. Anderson fam-
i ily.
The Andersons have 1! children
with ages ranging front 13 years
| to the six-week-old twins, Thev
| were forced to leave a 13-acre e u i..
I ton crop because Anderson went
into town one day to get some
| medicine for his sick wife.
| jt was.reported that bis “bn “
talking with some people in the
registration line.
This family is destitute.
meager furniture was left behind
and they are afraid to pick it up.
They asked some colored frien.l,
to move it for them hut they, too
were afraid ot suffering bodily
barm.
Then they appealed to some
white neighbors to move it fur
them, but they refused because
they were afraid of making one-
mies.
Willis Olds has 78-acres of land
but has been unable to borrow suf-
ficient money to build a house. He
said he could build a house cheap-
ly because he is a carpenter and
would do his own work.
Since he has no house he found
it necessary to lent one while cul-
tivating his own land. He said
three days after he had register-
ed in November, he was asked to
up, special teachers have been as-
signed, the class size has been re-
duced, more supervisors and
ancs counselors have been added,
i f tionship f has school been established, - hc ^ f
~
t
V. P. Nixon
(Continued from Page One)
son, Greenville, Ala.; Deputy Ex-
tension Administrator Paul V. Kep-
ner in the shadow, and the Vice
President.
In next photo below, Under Sec-
rotary of Agriculture True D.
Mor,e slio •' z- i th? Lilt- g: i. : p some .•t’U't Ui
the Department’s research
, vu■ te the house.
It wag coki> he recalled> and
s; iow was on the ground. When
J he refused to “get-out” a sheriff
ca . ne an( j I)Ut hi m ou t.
| “-squeeze” Another area in which the
j is moving is that of de-
, ’’landing payment before due dates
' ro1 ” those who were fortunate
: enough to borrow money,
| Loretta Johnson said she
”’id her husband were able to bor-
r °' v •'’’211 on their crop because
’ ,h *y t>ad not registered. The note
1 was due in November after the
cr °P had been harvested. But the
■ l° an company demanded the pay-
onml, in September.
When they were unable to pay
'*• that time the deputy sheriff
i rame to their farm and took their
i two horses.
the “squeeze” has converted in-
j “scare” tactics by trumped
j charges and arrests of innocent
! l ,e °pl®. One man was picked up
i "’hen the tail light went out on his
\ < al u ”'l was fined $50.
| Richard Wilkerson was picked
U P ‘ n *-he field where he was pick-
>•»**- pens and arrested for failure
pay two-year-old road tax bill,
t he unlearned farmer tried to con¬
v ‘ u <--e the officers that he had been
‘ l ' xi -*mpt from this tax because he
j In’d lost the sight in one eye. He
aa ' had received no notice
the road tax is only
*1 Per year. This did not satisfy
the ollicers who placed him in
| J al1 aa(1 fmed him $80. |
i Another young farmer Paul Har- |
well, the father of eight children,
was picked up the same way and I
carried to jail foi failure to pay j
road tax. Since he had no money
”1 the time he was kept in jail for
1 a week and finally released on pay-
I nicut of a $30 fine,
j A young school teacher, Allen
Yancey, Jr., was released from his
job in the Somerville High School
because of some relationship he
j ; allegedly girl in had with a 16-year-old
j Paducah, Ky. six years
ago when he was still a teen-aged
| college student.
I In spite of these, and many other
j charges, Mayor 1. P. Yancey says
; the situation has been greatly ex-
j j aggerated. “There’s no emergency | j
here,” he said.
j
vements disease resistant onion j
J and a plastic garment made from j
inedible animal fat. With him
are Assistant Extension
tration Gerald Huffman, Elliott I
Graham, Morse, Marian White Springs. Fla.; Mr. j
Coss, Henderson,
T ’« Di T“
W. Va.; Isador Brown, Jr., Bat-
chelor La.; and Director M. O. I
Watkins of the Florida Extension'
Service. I
At bottom, Dr. F. D. Patterson, j
of the Phelps-Stokes [
Fund and former head of Tuskegee ]
Institute, is shown at center with j
three rural leaders who were pre-
j stilted plaques by the 18th Reg-
,------ local 4-H —--------- Club Camp r at — an ---------- awards
dinner at Howard University, Sat-
| today J evening. The a. lie honorees uuuu;,cco are. aic.
Mrs. Flora D. Parrish, third from,
Bv Bean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP
IN THE RAW
Down in Fayette County, Tenn¬
essee, there is unfolding a drama
of human meanness that makes
the nobly-inclined sick at heart.
A flagrant attempt is being made
by the whites of the community to
starve into submission a few Ne¬
groes who are seeking to imple¬
ment their right of suffrage.
It is human meanness in the
raw. It is worse than a lynching
in that it is cold and calculated
and pitiless. It would take bread
from hungry mouths; it would
withhold milk from crying babes;
it would fly into the face of the
teachings of the lowly Nazarene
No doubt the arch designers of this
wicked conspiracy are members of
the Church.
We solemnly wonder what the
ministers of the churches in Fay¬
ette County preach about on Sun¬
day. While Russia is building-
forts at our very gate, our great
nation is being afflicted with Fay¬
ette County, Tennessee, and its
rampant race prejudice.
It all goes to show how great
and imminent is our danger. Will
our country wake up before it is
too late, or shall we let Fayette
County-ism destroy us? What
makes the drama more dramatic
is how the Negroes of Fayette
County are meeting the raw mean¬
ness of the prejudiced whites with
raw courage.
Not only did Negroes register
in impressive numbers but they
went to the polls and voted. Here
we have the raw courage of Ne¬
groes meeting the raw meanness
of whites and the courage of the
Negroes makes more disgraceful a
bold attempt to starve the Negro
into submission.
We have Negroes here and there
and everywhere receiving medals
for this and that and more glory
to them; but what we need are
medals for those courageous Ne¬
groes down in Fayette County,
Tennessee.
They are Reaping condemnation j
throughout upon millions of voteless Negroes j
the country who could )
vote but who will not. Jesus '
Christ said on one occasion to the 1
unbelieving Nineveh will Jews, rise “The condemn men of j j
up and
this generation, because 'they re-'
pented at the preaching of Jonah !
and behold a greater than Jonah j
is here.’ j
And so the hard-pressed Negroes ;
of Fayette County, Tennessee will!
stand at the judgment bar of the j
Twentieth Century and heap deri- i
sion upon the voteless Negro who '
stands idle in the market-place ■
1
when the political fields are white
Mrs. Davis Named Campaign
to VC in Charge of
Demo. Women’s
Mrs. Margaret Price, Vice
ap p oin t m ent of Mrs. Christine
Davis as Campaign Assistant
the vice Chairman in Charge
f Cooperative Women’s Programs,
Mrs. Davis, who is staff director
the Committee on Government
of the House of Repre- |
will take leave from
position to work with women’s
of all types on be-
of the Democratic nominees, j
Before becoming staff director j
the Committee on Government
Mrs. Davis worked as
and administrative assis
to two members of Congress
15 years. ,-a.ir-* As 4 = staff director, j: ______!
Davis supervises a highly
professional and clerical
including the staffs of eight [ |
In 1951 Mrs. Davis accompanied
of Congress Iround"'the” and Govern-
officials world
an inspection and investigation
U. S. operations, military and
_________^ ____ j
and our foreign aid pro- I
1 " a id,t)on to her other duties J i
‘
'*‘ DaV;s has lor many y ears j
' Ved as the , execut]y e assistant I
” ent Madison ( ounty. Miss.;
- fannie M - Boone - at Dr. Pat-
’ s left retired district home)
-
of Arkansas; and James I
third from right, 400-acre!
of Marion, S. C. With the !
are 4-H’ers who partiei- 1
in the awards ceremony. At'
are Elizabeth Walton, Holly i
Miss.; and O’Neal Smalls, j
S. C. At right are The- |
Lee, Shcrill, Ark.; and Sarah I
Huntsville, Ala. Dr. Pat-;
UbDA son was Photo. the tU' dinner speaker, — j
unto harvest.
Haw meanness is revolting. Raw
courage is inspiring. Raw mean¬
ness is a plague and curse to our
country; raw courage is a blessing
that will extend to unborn genera¬
tions. Raw meanness is a danger
to our much beset nation but raw
courage is its hope and stay.
When the writers of another
generation write the sages of the
century they will tell about the
courage of the Negroes of Fayette
County, Tennessee, who went hun¬
gry to the ballot box to refute the
implication that they are second
rate citizens of a nation for which
their fellow racemen poured out
their life’s blood.
It is not enough for Negroes
everywhere to admire and glory
in the raw courage of the bele¬
aguered Negroes in Fayette Coun¬
ty, Tennessee, such courage can
only be rewarded by the deter¬
mination of Negroes everywhere
to emulate their great stand for
their rights and responsibilities of
full citizenship.
Much of the good that has come <
to Negroes came as a result of the
suffering of sympathetic whites,
even our emancipation. But the
time is at hand when Negroes
must learn to suffer for their own
deliverance from an Egypt on
bondage designed by the Pharaohs
of race prejudice.
It is not how well and how much
have suffered for Negroes
counts, but how well and how
Negroes can suffer for their
cause. When Negroes meet
meanness with raw courage
are pointing the way to bet-
things.
It is true that the white man
great privilege and power
the world, but suffer¬
was the price he paid.
It is just as well for Negroes
understand that we are enters
the suffering stage of our
0 for full ---- citizenship,.,;,J.p --------------- .qn
lier stage our white friends
greatly, in this and sue-
stages the Negro will “be
eipon to carry the burden of
The htiirrble Negroes in Fayette
hffe showing the way. They
showing the world how dis-
it'us for Negroes to live
comparative luxury and mani-
such great unconcern for his
’ght of suffrage,
The time is at hand -• N*e-
must cease to have a-gdod-
while delegating unto the
man the voting privilege.
meanness in the raw --- and
courage in the raw.
to Congressman William L. Daw-
son in his capacity as Vice Chair¬
man of the Democratic National
Committee.
She is a member of the Woman’s
National Democratic Club of
Washington, D. C.; she was named
“Outstanding Woman of the Year”
by by the the National National Council Council of of Negro Negro
Women in U4b; she was present-
ed the “Woman of Achievement
Award” by Iota Phi Lambda Soro¬
rity in 11>52; she was designated
"One of the Ten Outstanding
Women of the Year” by Afro-
American Newspapers in 1957;
she was presented an award for
Notable Achlievement” by Came-
!.!'" School in Nashville,
’ ennessee, in 1958; she was pre¬
sented the “Citation of Merit” by
the Department of Education of
the l,le International 'bternatu.nal Benevolent Brae Pro-
teetive °‘ der of Elks.
Mrs. Davis received her educa-
tion in the public schools of Nash¬
ville, Tennessee, Fisk University,
Tennessee State College, and
Catholic University, Washington,
' s married to Lt. Colonel
isteve G. Davis of Chicago, Illinois,
who >s assigned to the Office of
the Deputy Chief of Personnel,
U. S. Army, and has one daughter,
Pamela Elaine, 5.
Wins
MerecphciUC Hl-Fl Set
bevera _ members .
’ mpm c of n . St. John T .
® a PDst church sponsored a
con ' ;es t if order to raise funds
Donor of the thirty-third an-
n i ver sary of their pastor. Rev.
E - O- S. Cleveland. The mem-
ber raising the highest amount
of money was to receive a
stereophonic hi-fi set. The
contest closed recently and
Mrs Jannie Jenkins of 302 East
38th street was the winner.