Newspapers / The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / July 5, 1952, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE FOUR The Carolinian SUBSCRIPTION RATES Six Months $2.00 ....... .One Year $3.50 PAYABLE IN ADVANCE ADDRESS ALL COM. MUNI CATIONS AND MAKE ALL CHECKS AND MONEY ORDERS PAYABLE TO THE CAROLINIAN interstate United Newspapers, /i»e„ 542 Fifth Avenue N. Y. 17, N. Y., National Advertising Representative. This newspaper 1« not responsible for the return of unsolicited news, pictures, or advertising copy, unless, necessary postage accompanies the copy. (Published by the Carolinian Publishing Company, 118 East Hargett Street, Raleigh, North Carolina ——Telephone: 9474) JUR PLATFORM : We Stand for Full and Ekmal Constitutional Rights and Privileges and Civil Liberties of All People, Regard ing of Race, Creed, or Color. Entered ns Second Class Matter, April 8. 1940, at the Post Office at. Raleigh. North Carolina, under the i ; <«7B PAUL R. JERVAY, Publish a UN HOLLOWAY, Mwi aging Editor tbirorfiAiTj%, VifWPQIWT TOO MANY PISTOLS N OTHER unnecessary and tragic death in Raleigh has resulted frol the irresponsible use of firearms, and the victim is just as dead and his family just as bereaved as if he had been killed intentionally. It is deplorable that there should be so many pistols around, and that so many people know no better than to regard pistols and other firearms as things to be used for idle afusement. Hundreds of people have died from lead discharged from guns that were not loaded. ' Firearms are intended to kill, and the pistol is primarily for kiting or maim" ing human beings. Very few persons should have the right to possess a pis tol. In England even police officers do not carry pistols, except when on spec ial missions. We in this country would be infinitely better off if there were not so many guns around. DIDN’T GO THROUGH rr SEEMS that the bill to bar Negro Negro players from the rosters of white league clubs performing in the State of Louisiana has been squelched 1 : According to an Associated Negro Press report the bill was tabled by a 1.3-1- vote, which would mean, apparently, that it will not be enacted during the present session of the legislature. The bill would have barred Negro players in the Texas league from play ing in Louisiana by prohibiting whites '•>groes from competing in athletic . Shreveport is in the Texas lea gue, and there are Negro players on the Dallas team of that league. The use of qualified Negroes has .spread to minor leagues, and recently to southern major leagues. Neither the players nor the public seem to have any serious objections, but this Louisi ana solon purportedly was acting to keep the Texas League from being “broken up” by the advent of colored players. Apparently there were enough other Louisiana senators who did not feel the danger of the eminent dissolu tion of the Texas League because of the presence of a few Negro players on the roster of one or more teams. Good! MAY DECENCY BE RESTORED A LI, DECENT North Carolinians and Americans should be gratified by the arrest of two persons charged with circulation of the scurrilous handbills just before the primary elections, in which an attempt was made to injure the cause of candidate Olive by appeal ing to race prejudice. The appeal was based on falsehoods and or half truths, and irrelevancies, to say the least. North Carolina will not be back to what is normal for North Carolina until propaganda attempting to exploit ra cial bias is removed from political cam paigns. For many years until recently North Carolina had been happily free of such tactics, but there was & revival of them in the Graham-Smith contest with the purpose of discrediting Dr. Graham. The full force of the law and decent public opinion as well should be which obtained a new lease on life in brought to bear to stamp out the evil this state two years ago. Perhaps the arrests in Kinston, especially if they are followed by convictions, will turn the tide. NOT ENOUGH y*HE FINAL conviction and finding in Federal Court; of some of the offi cials involved in the shameful riots in Cicero, Illinois last summer erases some of the stain from that unsavory town and from the State of Illinois. Bui other .officials, including some of the higher ones, were acquitted ofiicials who seemed to have shared, either by wn&t they did or what they failed to 'flu. in the responsibility of the local govern ment for the three-day debauch of vio lence, hoodlumism and racial intoler. cnee. A great, deal remains to be done in Cicero. As long as Negroes continue to be excluded from residence within the borders of the Chicago suburb, best known historically as the residence ot ,t,he late, unlamented AI Capone and his notorious gangster mob, Cicero will re main on the list of disgraceful Ameri can communities. Illinois has little claim to superiority over Mississippi while .Illinois condones and tolerates such a condition as exists in Cicero. And it must be remembered that the Illinois courts did nothing toward the punish ment of either the mob participants or the municipal ofiicials who contributed by their negligence or by siding with the rioters, actively or passively. The convictions and light punishments were it he result of federal court, action, while the local courts went after the owner of the apartment building and the coun sel for her and the victims of the mob violence. Cicero in Illinois remains a communi ty with Nazi characteristics. A CONVICTION FT SHOULD not be so, but it is, ihat the conviction of the white man in Alamance County of assault to commit rape represents progress. The man had been indicted by the superior court grand jury and tried before a jury made up of white persons, including three women. It is true that the convicted man wad accused of rape, and the jury which found him guilty was probably convin ced that rape was what he was guilty of. It is also true that a Negro defend ant in a case involving the same circum* stances, but with the charge brought by a white female, would almost certainly have been convicted of rape and sen tenced to death. But the facts remain that the white man charged with rape of the Negro coliege student was found guilty of assault; that this verdict rep resented the unanimous action of nine white men and three white women citizens of Alamance County, selected by the usual process of jury selection; and that the defendant was immediate ly' sentenced to eight to ten years in prison. It is reported even so that the ver dict represented a compromise. If this is so it must be that there were some members of the jury, or at least one, who favored an out-and-out conviction of rape, which would have involved either a life sentence or death, depend ing on whether or not the jury recom mended mercy. The significance of the conviction will not escape the attention of those know how very r rare it is for a white man to be found guilty of a sex crime against a Negro female. The defense usually, though not always, follows the line of admitting that there was a sex ual relation, though not always, follows the line of admitting that there was a sexual relation, but asserting that there was acquiescence on the part of the alleged victim of rape and that plea ordinarily is honored. So it was in the fairly recent case in which a number of soldiers were acquitted of the mul tiple rape of a Negro woman in eastern North Carolina, in one of the most FIREWORKS GALORE kr'iv' ~ - uSgEttd, sordid epiiOdt'v, on fin rouri record'; oi the state. ( It has officially been recognized now that a Negro woman can be victimized by a white man that is, that I.Tfe crime of rape is possible when a white male and a Negro female are the per sons involved, (I is not often that such an admission has been openly made, .though of course if has been widely C D """ Ji| SECOND THOU GHTS A problem of which only a few people are aware, or one might say, more than vaguely aware is the problem of school attendance in the rural areas of the South. Recently the Al liance for Guidance of Rural Youth, v.ith the cooperation of the Department of Rural Edu cation of the National Educa tion Association, made a guid ance survey of a rural school district in the tobacco section of northeast South Carolina, and the report of the study has been made public. One of the early chapters of this repo cl tells how the study came to be made: For some time the State De partment of Education has been trying to decide what to do about the large number of chil dren of school age who v/ehe not in school. The problem was especially acute in the rural areas of the state WHERE THREE - FOURTHS of the people live .(Italics ours) A tabulation was made of state enrollment records for children enrolled ; n the first grade in the 11)36-195” school year and the enrollment by grade was faced each year up to the eleventh grade in the 1946-47 school year. (The state did not add the twelfth year to the high school until 1946-2949.) "A study of the enrollment figures of white children show ed a greatly reduced numbei in school each succeeding year, and those for Negro children reflected an even more serious problem. Some 39,67-1 white boys and girls were enrolled in the first grade in the 1936-1937 school year. By the fifth grade only two-thirds of the original number of white children were enrolled, according to state rec ords. The considerably smaller number enrolled from the first to the second grade occurs fre quently in schools and can be explained by the fact that chil dren enter school at five, six, or serve years of age and are passed on to Grade II only after hey have learned to read ■ rice many of them are too irn taUtre at that age to learn !o read. and. since par ents ti, not send them to school regularly during these first years, there is a great deal of holding over in the first grade fr at least two years, and in some cases three years While in tile enrollment sta studies for the primary grades reflected problems re quiring attention, the decline In the number of pupils en rolled in each of the succeeding grades also cause* dserious con* tern among the staff members of the State Department of Education.” Here we have a startling situ ation drop-outs, and early drop-outs, at that, and irregu lar attendance, re - enforcing and affecting each other. The report gives more concrete fi gures reflecting this situation. THE CAROLINIAN a It '-■"ntijvces: ■*The educational status ot the people of the state as re vealed oy the lU4O census show s dthe result of the large num ber oi children and young peo ple leaving school early. The following figures give the edu cational attainment for adults 25 year oi age and over for the State of South Carolina and for the entire uatiorr Percentage of Population Less than 5 years l MWW<MßßaW*K»««i)tß‘vvw,»a»«*JWww'OT«Beo» nap*.--* . v .»iWKfMu-. - i n*«tw**( wwmmnrain Till” • 111 irinn Gordon 3. Hancock s BETWEEN Mi THE LINES |||l§ ♦ •** - - mi..* .1.11 II i .■lint mi I iWatM A CANDIDATE AND HIS COMPANY The company a man keeps is quite as important as what he is. “By their fruits shall ye know them,' 1 says the Good Book. With equal truth can it be said 'By their company ahall ye know them.' The moral impoverishment of the Republican party neads no better indication than the cur rent attempts of Taft and Eis enhower to win the Republican nomination for the presidency. It i» difficult to believe that in this late day of i 952 of the Year of Our Lord, we have two such men as Taft and Eis enhower aspiring to the presi dency of these United States. Both are avowed and tacit Dix.iecr,iis. committed *» th states rights platform, which platform runs counter to a platform of civil rights. Nocody familiar with the Taft tradition could expect any thing different. Did not Robert Taft’s father, the Sate William H. Taft .while campaigning for reelection to the presidency, break his political neck trying to break the Solid South? His 'flagrant disregard of the civil rights of southern Negroes pH.it him at crow - purposes with the hard-hitting straight-shoot ing Teddy Roosevelt, who ran on the Bull Moose ticket and utterly destroyed the weak kneed Ta ft. Not only did Taft, fait to break the Solid South but he failed to succeed himself, which Js one of the most powerful indications of the weakness of u.e men, it takes a mighty poor JPresident to fail to suc ceed himself. Yet this is the known these hundreds of years. So another official racial myth may he on its way into the discard where it has always belonged. This myth is one of the most vicious of them all, and if ilu. conviction of Eugene Reed indicates that its .flatus has been undermined, then a great deal happened when Reed was found guilty, even of assault with intent to commit rape. including none 34 7 13.5 5 to 8 years 31.3 46.0 1 to 4 vears of high 'school 22.8 29,1 1 to 4 years of college or more 9.4. 10.0 Not reported 1.3 i. 4" The facts and figure; quoted above are hardjy less than ar rest in," There are many impli cations some of which will be examined in this column in coming weeks. hhey.pyhalißn.aS. shrrf shrdl cm record of the late William Howard Taft, father of the cur rent Robert Taft who is worthy to succeed his father as a poli tical flat tire. We do not expect more from a Taft, but we must admit that we had expected more from Eisenhower. But as may be re membered, this column as ear iy as last summer, predicted that Eisenhower was throwing political sops to the Dixieeratic south when he delivered him self to the effect that better race relations cannot be legis lated. Who said they could be legis lated? Neither do the white lines on the highways of the nation or the red. amber and green lights completely change human nature. These traffic signs were never devised or de signed to change the nature of reckless drivers. They were put there to safeguard the peo ple, who travel the highways and. by-ways of the nation. These traffic signals and regu lations do not change human . nature but they make life com paratively safe on the high ways. It is more than passing strange that the impotency of law' L-. quickly pointed out when the law is directed tow ard securing civil rights for Ne groes; while the potency of law is always seen when directed toward denying civil rights lo Negroes. In <jfher words the Dixiecrats and their symepthizers invoke law in one instance and reject it in another Law is regarded as a convenience and not as a necessity. Os course certain elements of the south have long THwnunMwir run mn ■im-nff —i- r —- JAMES A, SHEPARD’S fTI HIS and THA 1 ■■ ——— We would like to pass on to you a lew OX the comments we have received concerning what we had 10 .say lust week about the propu.seo new hos pital lor St. Agnes Uu In built with public money). One reader asked us why did we think St, Agnes trustees would voluntarily give its pro perty to the county. That would be a good quesuon ii it had been suggested by any one that. St .Ag'nr.i do such. Aa Xm as we have been able to as certain, no one ha.-' asked or suggested that the trustees ui . b,, ,i„!i>s give the. county any- I thing. It is purely a county on- 1 ligation to • iumish hospital Xa cmtite lor Us residents, Wake County not excepted. Recent ly there has been such an up roar about this matter that, tne waters oi tne situation have oe ■ come quite muddy and it seems that tn.ru tais mud someooay is attempting to puli off a big steal, not ti om r>l Agnes but trom the unsuspecting public in favor of tit. Agnes. The County Commissioners know or suOuiU. know there is no way they can justify virtually giv- j mg a minion and a quarter I dollar, tax buj.lt Negro hospi tal to a group of white rnen to administer as they see fit. No, 4 * ao not. think St. Agnes should be expected to give its plant to the county, unless the ooaru jeany wants to get out of the hospital business, vvt do not: think that St. Agnes has any oDngation to furnish a ao • pnal tor the county, m fact, v.e can't see where there it any coneotion what.-.oevei be tween what the county SKOiriiD do and what St. Ag nes want;, to do. The ic-v.n.-. aie noi even related. Another reader wants to know wouldn’t it be setter to let this proposed plan go thru rather than endanger the pro spect of getting a new hospi tal for our group .Ail riant, suppose v.e pu; that one under tin microscope of potemmi uc vuality and see what can w« lirid. In the first place, should we follow that Uni of re-j.-on ing we would be doing what we have been doing tor nearly one hundred years, compro mising principle for the sake of expediency. And because v.e ha\ * been so ready to back u pand give ground, the major ity group has. no respect for ns and doe.-: not over seriously consider u- when he makes his plans to spend our money. The whAe man nas fought and is still fighting ail over the world to get the things he want: and it has, always been a mys tery to iis that although we try to imitate him in so many ways, we have never seen fit to follow his example r, fight ing for what we warn. Taxes are high, undoubtedly they are too high, int high or low, v.e cannot escape and should not even want to escape paying our just share. Beceause that is true, should not we demand to be called in for consultation before plans are made to spend our tax money and should we yield, on me grounds of ex pedience when plan, are made without our knowledge or con sent to tax us to pay for some thing over which and in which v/e have no control, no voice and no representation. Our next objection to the above com ment is somewhat similar to the first, we should stop dod ging responsibility, By now we should consider ourselves an adult group. Being grown up, we should act and behave like grown ups. We have shed a way from assuming the duties and the responsibilities of first class citizens so much and for so long, it is little wonder that the other man feels we are not capable of exercising these duties. Are we? What about our children, are v.e satisfied to . keep on having them grow up with the self-imposed stamp of inferiority upon them simply because we are too lazy, too shiftless and too indifferent to accept our -responsibilities m regarded law merely as an in* Ktrument to keep tie Negro "in his place’ of subjugation. But it is difficult to imagine that a Taft or an Eisenhower couid stoop to the level of the post belluin bush - waeker of yesteryear. A great nation's impending tribulation could hardly be more dramatically depicted than the current candidacy of Taft and Eisenhower, Personal ly this writer has mere re spect for the Dixiecrats them selves tha nfor an Eisenhower o r& Taft who is willing to bar gain away his moral birthright for a mess of political pottage How different is Harry Tru man! Here is a man with a conviction and with a princi ple. He lias been beaten and buffeted because of his stand on the civil rights question but he stands heroically defying his traducers and hecklers. Beside Truman, Taft and Eis enhower are moral pigmies When a nation even debates re lacing a Truman with an Eis enhower or a Taft it evinces » moral bankruptcy that is a farming. The feverish attempt of the Dixieeratic South to put a Taft or an Eisenhower in the While House shows just who is the company of the Republican candidates. A candidate is best known by the company he keeps. Eisenhower and Taft are Re publican Dixiecrat*. What say ye, incurable Negro Republi cans? WEEK ENDING SATURDAY JULY ft, 19£8 citizens, by demanding equal representation u p o ri every board, commission or agency having to do with our affairs. Negro children growing up, su ing eve ythin': that «K'hCs, their live-,, being conducted, carried on. adminis'er-d and governed by the white mar*, can no* help fi cling inferior. We wouldn't expect the white man to even want anything iContinued on page 5* OIK AGING rOVULATION Preliminary sample data frofn the 1950 Census indicate that approximately 12 million ,or 8 per cent of the total popula tion, were 65 years old and over The com- ponding figure for persons 00 arid over were about 18 million, or 12 per cent; for persons 55 and over, 25.5 million ,or !7 per cent; and for per on.-. 50 and over, 34 mil lion ,oj 23 per cent of the total population. The American pop ulation of 1950 ws a consider ably older population than that of 1850. In this hundred year period the medium age in creased from 18.9 years to 30.1 years. For example, the pro portion of persons 40 to 49 years o sage in 1950 was about one and one-half times as great a.-; in 1850: the proportion 50 to 59 years was more than twin as great as in 1950; and the proportion 70 years and over more than three times as great. The foregoing' is: a significant testimony of the achievement of medical science- in caring for tie: health of the human race. Wnen asked at the begin ning of 1950 to comment on the events of greatest significance which had occurred in the first ha if of this cent ary, Mr. Ber nard M. Baruch lifted the In ere.re of man’s life span by eighteen years in a period of fifty as having even more pro found medical, economic, and social implications than such things as atomic energy, air transportation, and communica tion. As desirable a* the foregoing may be a large number of ag ing people in our opopulation has given rise to grave social problems: Where do the aged people into our complex and machine industrial order? Where do they fit into such things a education, recreation, politics, etc? And, despite our wide coverage in ihe old age and survivors, insurance of the Soei&i Security Act, a large number oi people reach old age and who are unable to care tor themselves financially Oth ers reach old age and who ara able to care for themselves fi nancially. but do not have any place to stay. Example of such are people where the husbafuj or the wife her .pii: .u.d, or pi‘4* pie who have never been rospi ried. In writing this article I am •thinking especially in terms of our aged people who are finan cially dependent as well as those who are financially in depndent but for various rea sons find themselves all alone. It seems to me that what Is needed is a large number of comunity homes where the aged dependent could go and live as well as those who would be able to pay for their expenses The point am endea voring to impress upon my readers is that t is very desir able to enable aged people to spend their last days in the comma ities where they have lived the greater part of their lives and. therefore, have a large number of acquaintances and relatives. It would scene to this writer that the building of commun ity homes for the aged would be a fertiU-, field of activity for our many religious organ izations. Reverend A J Wright of Bennettsville, S. C. has done just such a thing. The aged people in the home built by his church are happy because they are confortable and at the same time in the community of their acquaintances . Neither here nor there, but permit, me to digress from my topic to say that 1 sincerely believe that our schools of re ligion and theology would do well to send, their students to work under Reverend Wright as a part of their course of stutdy. 1 sincerely believe that a year's work under Reverend Wright would be quite benefi cial to any young person pre paring to do some form of re ligious work. Back to my topic, let us make more and better arrangements to care for our aged people right in the communities where they' have lived longest. And by so doing we shall be carry ing out the injunction of James, the Apo.lJe who said; ‘Pure religion and undefiled be fore God and the Fattier is this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself Unspotted from the world.
The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 5, 1952, edition 1
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