Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TWO
Let Freedom
Ring
By Lonnie King
“Let’s not forget that the stu
dents are going to jail not only
for their freedom but for yours
and mine; not only because they
have been hurt by the indignities
of segregation but because we
have all been hurt.
As I watch them, as I see the
movement spread from college to
college and city to city, I am
deeply stirred as are millions of
other Americans. What is it we
feel? What do we hope for? I can
answer only for myself: for me
it is as if the No Exit sign is
about to come down from our age.
It is the beginning of new things,
of a new kind of leadership. If
the white students will join in
ever - increasing numbers with
these Negro students, change will
come; their experience of suffer
ing and working together for what
they know is right; the self-disci
pline, the refusal to act in vio
lence or think in violence will
bring a new spiritual life not only
to our region but to our entire
country.
But you and I must help: first,
by understanding what non-violent
resistance means, what its pos
sibilities are; and second, by giv
ing these students our personal
support. They need money, yes;
but they need even more to know
that we are with them.’’
The words above were written
by a Southerner. Ten Atlanta stu
dents visited with the author Sun
day. She is Lillian Smith, and she
lives in Clayton, Georgia, on top
of Old Screamer mountain. She
asked us to come because she
likes young people. She was not
afraid to have an interracial group
visit her in her home because she
believes that all men are equal.
We ate and talked. We exchanged
viewpoints. It was an interesting
and informative session for all of
us.
* * * *
The re-opening of the Ashby
Street Colonial Store with quali
fied Negro employees is a sure
victory for Atlantans to be proud
of. We have seen what a pro
cedure of selective buying can do.
Intelligent negotiation at a High
tower Road Food Town store be
gan to solve the problem of dis
crimination before picketing and
boycotting became necessary.
♦ * * *
The Student Non Violent Coordi
nating Committee will hold its
conference in Atlanta on the week
end of the 14th of October. Among
the speakers will be Dr. Martin
Luther King. Jr.. Miss Ella Baker,
Lew’is Wade Jones, Wyatt Tee
Walker, and James Lawson.
* * * *
When Senator Kennedy was on
TV last week, he said, “If a Negro
is born ... he has about one-half
as much chance to get through
high school as a white boy . . .
one-third as much chance of get
ting through college . . . about a
third as much chance to be a
professional man, about half as
much chance to ow n a house . . .
about four times as much chance
that he will be out of work in his
life. I think we can do better. I
don’t want the talents of any
American to go to waste.” Let’s
hope Senator Kennedy means
what he says.
a I : qsd
; I
HO
eh is r “T*
"x /l- W L <- J
’ ( — —i
i ’ r . S : —
I ■■
i •
'B F 8 b
***** UK i flKrl B
SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN
Which Congo
Is Which?
In a move to reduce the con
fusion between the two Congo’s of
Africa during the current sessions
of the General Assembly, the UN
has designated that one be called
Congo Leopoldville, while the
other will henceforth be known as
Congo Brazzaville. Congo Brazza
ville, the former French colony
situated on the west side of the
Congo River, has heretofore been
called the Republic of Congo by
the press. Its bigger and more
notorious namesake, the Belgian
Congo, has been known as “The
Congo.” Congo Leopoldville and
Congo Brazzaville will be used
until the two countries can agree
upon a different name for one of
them.
The Inquirer
Speaks
(Continued from page 1)
Atlanta or the South. Turn on the
television set and except for the
old “Our Gang” comedies or the
appearance of an occasional but
ler or maid you might easily get
the idea that America is indeed
a lily-w'hite country. Ditto the ad
vertisements in our national mag
azines. TV, radio, the movies, the
major hotels and night clubs con
tinue to feature stars of limited
talent to the exclusion of more
gifted tan-skinned artists and en
tertainers who presumably might
disturb somebody’s health or
peace of mind.
After Africa — Our Turn?
But perhaps things are looking
up. With the new nations of Africa
being courted on every hand and
even Southern establishments pay
ing a certain amount of respect
to dark faces if they are accom
panied by an accent or a turban,
it may soon be the American Ne
gro’s turn. The day may even
come when we will be considered
grown up enough to see movies
which suggest that the “Southern
way” is not the only w’ay of life,
when Negro ministers or teachers
or bricklayers will appear in the
press or on the air simply as citi
zens who preach or teach or lay
brick, when programs ’for all the
kiddies' will be just that —-
whether on television or at an
annual Fair.
Until that time we will pay par
ticular attention to such straws in
the wind as the anti-censorship
suit.
THE ATLANTA INQUIRER
Act of Faith
The vote of the Board of Ai
dermen last week, killing the
so-called “Parade” ordinance,
strikes us as a wise action.
Some have interpreted it as a
rebuff dealt the Mayor, the Chief
of Police and certain ‘uptown’
business interests. That may be.
We choose, however, to see it as
what may turn out in the long
run to be a victory for all con
cerned.
A law which would have been
difficult to understand and per
haps even more difficult to ad
minister has been nipped in the
bud. Any forces which felt that
the City was panicking into hasty
measures which could easily be
exploited by them must now
choose another avenue. For the
citizens who expressed their pro
tests and the aidermen themselves
by their vote have said, in effect,
that they feel Atlanta can solve
its problems without creating even
greater ones.
Any vote of confidence is an
act of faith. In this case we think
the faith is justified.
The Inquirer Wonders..
Why so many white leaders appear before Negro groups on
a speak-and-run basis, allowing no opportunity for the give and
take of discussion on matters vital to both the speaker and his
audience?
* * * * * *
Why some of the same people who complain of academic and
athletic shortcomings in the colleges they graduated from cannot
be found when alumni contributions are called for?
******
When it will be realized that today’s student leaders are more
than capable of thinking, writing, talking, and acting for them
selves?
******
If the Negro driving the new’ police department paddy wagon
will be allowed to transport w’hite 'passengers’?
******
If the new fire chief and his superiors have come up with
any new answers on the long-needed fire station on the West Side?
******
Whether Atlanta's Negro community is keeping in mind the
courage and self-sacrifice of the children in the local school de
segregation cases, and of their familiest whose lives have not
been made easier by their decision to stand up and be counted
in the cause of freedom?
MARGIN OF SAFETY
A serious accident is a shocking
thing, no matter where it happens
or who the victims are. An air
| plane crash, a chemical plant ex
; plosion, the death of two workmen
i in a sewer — all these touch us
j because the lives of human beings
i like ourselves have suddenly been
I snuffed out.
The same questions are asked
whenever fatal accidents occur:
Why did it happen? How did it
happen? Could it have been pre
vented 9
The wreckage of any plane that
crashes as did the the airliner
that went down in Boston Harbor
is minutely checked for answers
to these questions. A similar pro
cedure is followed in cases of fire
or explosion by industrial firms,
which work hard to keep their
accident rates down. We trust
that the City of Atlanta has in
vestigated the circumstances sur
rounding the deaths of the two
workmen who were overcome by
sewer fumes and is already taking
steps to guard against any pos
sible repeat of this unfortunate
i incident.
There will never be any
j one hundred per cent guarantee
against accidents in this world.
What we can and should do is
try constantly to increase the
margin of safety.
19 Billion
Needn't Beg
According to the national pro
gram secretary of the NAACP,
the nationwide Negro market has
now hit 19 billions of dollars an
nually.
That’s not peanuts, though we
all well know that the figure
could and should be higher. It’s a
lot more purchasing power than
is represented by many nations
which are courted by the United
States and others. It does not deny
the reality of rural shacks and
hungry children in Negro slums,
but it does clearly indicate that
poverty and dependence cannot be
taken as an accurate and com
plete picture of the Negro’s place
in the economic scheme of things.
Nobody is giving away split
level houses, washer-dryers, de
tergents and dental creams, soft
drinks and quality-label suits to
any customer out of compassion
for the color of his skin. The
Negro worker must earn what he
gets and the Negro customer must
pay for what he buys with no tax
exemptions or special benefits.
That being the case, as Mr.
Farmer points out, there is no
need to spend our money “to
perpetuate the very system of
segregation which verbally we
seek to destroy.” Those who are
too shy to stop buying where their
sons and daughters cannot work,
those who feel it is their bounden
duty to order by phone or sneak
purchases home in disguised
packages might remind them
selves that they represent a slice
of 19 billion dollars. That much
money need not cringe, crawl nor
take a back seat.
Why not let those dollars come
right down front and sing out loud
and clear for job equality and
human dignity?
A. U. Art Show
The Atlanta University Con
temporary Art Collection, after
having been closed since the end
of the summer session, reopened
to the public this week. Gallery
hours are Tuesday. Thursday, and
Saturday afternoons from 3:00 to
5:00 and Sunday 4:00 to 6:00. The
exhibition gallery is the Trevor
Arnett Library at the corner of
Chestnut and Greensferry streets.
The collection is composed of
more than fifty works purchased
from a $50,000 gift to the Uni
versity by Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey
Waddell of Neu’ York and some
thirty pieces selected from the
University’s permanent holdings of
works by Negro artists, purchase
awards from the annual exhibi
tion. Among the artists exhibited
are Jacob Lawrence. Doug King
man, George Beattie, Hale Wood
druff, Charles Alston, Isabel
As if the sonic boom wasn’t bad enough, citizens in one of the 1
neighborhoods on the West Side had to be jolted from their TV sets
the other night by what sounded like a running gunfight in the true
Hatfields and McCoys tradition . . . Several householders ducked (
discreetly below window-level. The bold ones who peered out through
the blinds were somewhat miffed to find two boys pedalling furiously
across the darkened landscape, taking pot-shots at each other with
cap pistols. ,
******
The case of the true-blue Klan leader arrested in another state
for stealing pigs, will probably cause indignation in some quarters.
Things have come to a pretty pass when a Southern patriot can’s*
engage in a little harmless fund-raising for the cause.
******
Yankee fans on the Eastside Thursday afternoon rested from
counting their earnings long enough to remark that Mickey Mantle
might not be a preacher but he “sure did make Christians out of a
whole lot of people.” . . . National League fans refused to comment,
on advice of their lawyers.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1960
Atlanta Loses A
Valuable Citizen
John A. Brittian, retired build
ing contractor and construction
foreman, was buried on Wednes
day, October sth, from Warren
Memorial Church. A member of
the Steward Board, the Methodist
Men, and a Leader of Group 6,
Mr. Brittian was characterized by
Reverend C. S. Stinson, who, with
the Reverends W. S. Mercer and
E. Webster, officiated at the bur
ial services, as “a churchman of
the first magnitude, sincere in his
church work, always on hand to
do his duty.”
j
JOHN BRITTIAN
Bom in Greenville, Georgia, Mr.
Brittian spent his early years in 4
Troup County. He was graduated
from Georgia State Industrial
College, now Savannah State Col
lege. As a contractor, Mr. Brit
tian worked on several Spelman
dormitories and the Spelman
Gymnasium, dormitories at Clark *
College, and the Trevor-Arnett
Library at Atlanta University.
A tireless civic worker, Mr. •
Brittian would readily take lead
ership responsibility for the entire
community. He was always will- .
ing to guide and counsel young
people and was especially inter
ested in matters of racial uplift. I
He was a key man in the ef
forts to organize the support of
skilled labor and a veteran cam
paigner for such worthy organiza- •
tions as the NAACP, the YMCA,
and the Community Chest. As a
member of Bricklayer’s Union
Number 9, he was instrumental
in getting large contributions
made to these organizations each
year. *
He is survived by two daughters
and sons-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
Erskine L. Boazman of Atlanta*
and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hough
of Washington, D. C.; two grand
children, Robert and Christine |
Hough; a sister. Mrs. Leila Gray*!
of Buffalo. New York; and several
nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Bishop, Edwin Dickinson, Lena
Gurr, William Palmer, and Mer
ton Simpson.
Special arrangements can be
made for school groups wishing
to see the exhibition during times
w’hen it is not regularly open.
