North Carolina Newspapers

PAGE FOUR I I More Ways To Kill A Cat? ■ 4 series of editorials in the columns of our distinguished contemporary, the Raleigh New* ■rod Obmrver, has made it very clear that that Bjewspapter is opposed to the Pearsall plan, ■hough It takes pains to maintain a respectful Rttitude toward the promoters of that plan. But whether as part of its strategy to influ ence voters in the September election on the Borstitutional amendments or for some other Season, the more recent editorials have more Bbr less openly indicated that the newspaper’s Biolicy on the general principle of avoiding d«« Segregation does not differ too fundamentally ■rom that of the Hodges •Pearsall group and vast majority of the General Assembly, Budging the. General Assembly by the way it ■'o+ed. |! Bluntly, the New * and Observer'?: line ns of new seems to be that lust about as much could Ri» accomplished in avoiding or blocking de segregation by the state's already adopted jfcupi! assignment law as by a private-tuition- B’rant plus-emergcncy-closing-of- the-schools a- Br-endment, with the added advantage of not B>P«ning away for the disappearance of the B-übhc. school in North Carolina. P The News and Observer * stand seems to Vis' Bo be as cynical as that of the Pear sail-Hodges The Other Side Os It New York 5s not the only locality in which Negroes trained and qualified for teaching in sublic schools have been welcomed to apply 'or positions. Some time before the Supreme "our!, decision created a crisis for Negro teach ms working in states affected, a definite move ment had begun in many non-southern lo calities to employ qualified teachers regardless yf their racial background. The plight of teach tr* displaced only because of the progress of desegregation has speeded up this process. Earlier in the segregation-desegregation de bate. throughout the nation southern apologists for continued segregation used to point out thst segregation was beneficial to Negroes in the -.caching profession by citing how many more STegroes were employed in the public schools of ‘‘Jorth Carolina or Georgia than in any North urn state, or possibly in a!! of them combined This rgument neglected the movement going >n in many parts of the country outside, the south to add to the number of colored teach ers already in service, as well as the other fact, that Negroes in northern communities who ate smployed in the public school system hold their jobs on their merits in general, and not by vir tue of a system which rigidly restricts Negroes Light Punishment A* this is written the court martial has just handed down the sentence of Sergeant Mat thew C McKeon, amounting to nine months at; hard labor, reduction to the rank of private, and dishonorable discharge. This sentence is subject to review, and Mc- Keon's counsel had previously declared he wou.ii appeal any sentence involving dis honorable discharge, ft is not easy to arrive at exact justice In a ?ase such as this one. The sergeant should not Ibe judged by the bare fact that six men were drowned in the course of the inarch he ordered. His legal guilt is* necessarily to be determined not by the fact that; men die, but rather by the extent, to which Sgt. McKeon was responsi ble by bis actions for the deaths of those in his charge There ts no question of murder. No one has charged that McKeon deliberately [brought about the deaths of the six marines [who perished so tragically and so needlessly. A Savagely Earnest Protest The Georgia chain gang has s long and un« sledge hammer. By the same token, their prn savorv history. Not much had been heard of tests is guaranteed as absolutely authentic, and it lately, however until a few days ago, when , t ig ceftain a!so that thfv had amp!e grounds some thirty of Georgia's allegedly toughest criminals broke their own legs or had a leg nr Protf-fit broken by one or more of their ringleaders, in One is amazed that the commissioner of protest against what they described as intoler- correction for the State at first said that there able conditions in Georgia's special prison for was no need for an investigation and therefore its toughest customers. there would be none. Os course he quickly ■There is no reason to doubt that the rrn-n changed that tune People don’t bust their logs, whose legs were broken by their own choice or have them busted voluntarily just for fun, were troublesome and hard-boiled convicts. or to get a vacation, or just to make trouble for Tljfy had to be a pretty desperate sort volun- someone; and no one but an arrant fool would tarfJr to break a leg or have it broken with a think so for a minute. But Is It In Som« ortric* are saying that the 14th Amend ment w«« adopted by coercion; some allege that It was adopted as the Tesult of fraud. It is crorte possible that, it would not have been adopted except under unusual circumstances existing at the time. So w« may be glad that it did become n part: of the law of the land. It would have rough sailing if it were up for adoption now, we fear. The purpose of the 14th Amendment was to tnakA ririjisn* out of people Who had been ’ THE CAROLINIAN Published by the CaroMnian Publishing Company, SIS E, Marlin Street, Raleigh. N. C. Entered &% Second Class Matter, April 6, 1940, at the Post. Office at Raleigh, North Carolina, under the Act ol March 1879. Additional Entry at Charlotte, N. C. Subscription Rates? Six Month® $2.75 One T ear* $4.50 Payable in Advauoe—Addres* all eomimmieatiow and metko oil check* and money or der* payable to THE CAROLINIAN. Interstate Tfc*Ke« Newspaper*, few, fi«« Fifth AreniM, N, Y. IT, N, Y. National Advert Mag Repre tentative. I This ne-wwpsjxar Is not reeponsftrfe tar the return of unsolicited news, pictures,, or adverttsij&g copy i smles# necessary postage accompanies the copy. F. ». JEHVAY, IhshHdher Alexander Bam©* Advertising 4 Promotion ■ Chas. Jon«* .News & Circulation E. R, wsin ■»**•«***«#••„s**«,,,,,,,,,Plant Superintendent J, C, Washington « •«, Foreman, Mechanical Department Mrs. A. M. Hinton .Office Manager Opinion* expressed is by-e«tP«»ns published la fUa a*w*»anet <a« s»i neeeMMnly those «f th* pels lieetfea. boys. Maybe more so, since it sems to be based on the implication that North Carolina can obey the Supreme Court by continuing to ; practice racial segregation while naming it something other than racial segregation, and so maintain th« public schools intact with seg regation as ironclad sx ever, or nearly so. Or f appears that tne News and Observer s advice "** that more drastic measures to fight deseg regation should not be adopted at least until it is seen how much segregation can be main tained by the pupil assignment law* the pur pose of which was obviously to maintain as complete racial segregation as possible as long as possible within the framework of the pre sent public school system as far as possible The most charitable interpretation which can. be made of the News and Observer’s posi tion is this! That it is strongly opposed to en dangering the present public school system; that it places preservation of the school sys tem intact above other considerations; that it believes that if people of North Carolina can be convinced that they can keep the public school system operating substantially as it I* now by application of the pupil assignment law, if is the newspaper's duty to try to do so. to schools for Negroes only and mans those schools entirely, as a matter of policy, with Ne gro teachers. (It has not been too many years, however, since the principals of the Negro schools in Richmond, Virginia, were all white.) The South has no ground for pride in the number of Negro public school teachers work ing in the South, since the policy is part and parcel of the general segregation pattern. On the other hand, the apologists for segrega tion should be reminded that the relatively small number of Negroes teaching in the non southern public schools, even if it were not be ing steadily increased is to an undetermined but large extent offset by the many other ave nues of employment open to educated Negroes which are absolutely closed to them in the South. Opportunity in public employment is hermetically sealed to southern Negroes except in the limited area in which segregation makes way for Negro workers in public service of a professional or clerical nature to be employed in serving other Negroes. This is to say noth ing of the infinitely wider Opportunities for employment of Negroes in the North in pri vately operated industry and business, To some extent the Marine Corps itself has been on trial along with Sergeant McKeon. There seems to be much evidence that the ill fated sergeant was following disciplinary prac tices which were common in the Marine Corps, and these have been vigorously defended in the testimony given by witnesses. At one point in the trial it appeared to observers that an attempt was being made almost to imply that the six young men who died did so de liberately just to get. their sergeant in trouble. * We believe the public will think that Ser geant McKeon got off very lightly in receiv ing the sentence handed down by the board. In view of the fact that he was found guilty by the board of negiegent homicide and drink ing on duty, though acquitted of manslaughter The sentence is quite gentle. But in any case we think it will be some time before, a marine sergeant disciplines a platoon of recruits by marching them into a. creek at night. slaves, History may show that there were punitive elements in its proposal and approval by some; but it is certainly true that it was aimed by accident or design, to bring about an eminently worthy objective; and if it: was joined to the Constitution of the United States at the only period of our national life when that could have been brought about, there is all the more reason to be. thankful that it did happen. THE CAROLINIAN “Our Failure in Civil Rights Legislation It. —~ C. D. Halliburton’s SECOND THOUGHTS * (Continued from last week* It is true that a vote for the Democratic nominees for pres ident and vice-president would, not so much be a vote to send to or keep in Congress the white supernmeists who are there or may go there. If that were so only a very few Ne groes would cast votes for the Democratic candidates for the t.wo top executive offices in our government. But it is true that should the Democrats win the national election for presi dent they would likely main tain and very probably in crease their majority in one or both houses of Congress, and that would intrench in their po sitions of legislative Influence and power the southern Demo cratic members of the Senate and the House, Who by the seniority rule have influence and power disproportionate to their numbers whenever the party to which they belong, actually or nominally, has a majority in Congress. A lot of Negroes are soberly consider ing that fact.. It will not keep those who live in the right places from voting for individ ual Democrats as members of the House and the Senate, But it will have its effect on the presidential balloting, (it is a striking fact that ail three. Ne gro members of the House of Representative?, are technically CAPITAL CLOSE-OP By CONSTANCE DANIEL 'The biggest, problem, now, is to get over the river bet,wen the two races so that there can be better understanding.'’ —Thurgood Marshal! Liberia's 109th “Declaration” Year On July 26, the Embassy of Liberia marked the 109th an niversary of Liberia's official request, (July 26, 1846) to the nations of the world for recog nition as a free and indepen dent sovereign State, with, all the rights and privileges of such a State. This request—Liberia's De claration of Independence—un like that of former subject na tions, Including the United States, is not a declaration of political independence, since Liberia has been ‘free, sove reign and independent," sine* the first American Negro im migrants landed near Capa Mesurado and took possession of territory ceded to them on December 15, 1821, by six na tive West African kings. The anniversary of the De claration of 1846, Liberia's manifesto of membership rights in the Family of Nations, was the occasion of the Embassy's recent, observance, of the De claration since Ambassador George Pad more took office, here, as his country's envoy to the United States. Secretary Mitchell fs Address Jhih Insurance Confab Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell will address the 36th Annua! Convention of National Insurance Associations, at the Statler Hotel, here, on August 30, when the President's Ban quet, honoring the presidents of *>B member companies and associations is held in the ho tel's Presidential Ballroom Some 600 or more delegates *nd gu«tfs from 3ft States and of the same party as Slam-land and Talmadge.i On the other hand (speak ing for myself), I feel that vot ing for Eisenhower Is voting against TVA, is voting against the policy of conservation of our natural resource lot the benefit of the people as a whole. A vote for Eisenhower is a vote for the philosophy summed up in Secretary Wil sons' famous pronouncement that what is good for General Motors is good for the nation, while GM .is under suspicion of being a trust. I feel that a vote for the Republican candidate for president is a vote in sup port. of a tax policy which will be angled as much as A plausi ble in favor of the rich individ uals and corporations. I a Ist believe that it .would be a vote in approval of an administra tive policy which is against participation of the executive in any positive.way in promot ing legislative action in the civs* right* field, though he will be ready to follow a moderately progressive civil rights program within the strictly executive sphere. So w r e stiU weigh the pros and cons of voting for Eisen hower. But there is still an other question, and an impor tant one, Eisenhower seems at least as worthy of trust in the matter of crvii rights alone as the District of Columbia are scheduled, to attend the con vention of the Insurnaee As sociations. which were incor porated here in 1921, but have not met here, since Everyone.'s Victory The Arlington, Virginia decision, which was everyone's victory and no one's victory, was significant to us as it quite precisely reflected the analysis ol integration situations as discussed by the Negro educa tional hierarchy (as close as were getting to names) sev eral years back, i.e., that area conditions are the controlling factor in how and how fast. Federal Judge Albert .Ryan's ruling to end racial segrega tion in the schools of Arling ton ,& few minutes drive from 7v ashing ton, was uudeiucu! ed b.v the Judge's statement that; m granting an injunction end ing racial bars as of January 31 1567, ho iuui taken iuto consideration the fact that only 7 percent of Arlington County’s pupils about 60 boys and girls, all told —are Negro, But the judge also maintained that his ruling did not nullify any state or local rules for as singmenl, of pupils to schools no long as the assignments were not based or> color. The case was about as un typical as any case South of the “Line” could be. But is should be helpful for purposes of evaluation. M'eritt Employment and the Quakers "Merit Employment, Why and How" is the title of a 16- page illustrated pamphlet, re cently released by the Ameri can Friends Service Com mittee, which is calculated to quicken the interest of average Americans in the manner in which the employment of their any of the Democratic hopefuls that, have any chance of norm - nation. But. tv hat are the odds that Mr. Eisenhower, if he de feats the Democratic nominee land 1 believe he will, grant ing he i,\ the candidate and on his feet at the time of the elec tion), will be the president the four years following January 1957? I could vote for Eisenhower. Under no circumstances do l wash to vote for Nixon for pres ident if and when I mark my ballot for Eisenhower, though. Harold Stassen is trying to help out. ii he succeeds, maybe one of my mental conflicts will in solved. If Nixon is Eisen hower's running mate I shall certainly want to hear more from the President's physicians before I cast a Republican vote. Should Hardman somehow win the Democratic nomina tion, it is possible that I shall not need to hear more from the physicians. But there is Eastland, and both Han Jinan and Eastland belong to the party in which the laU er has too much influence, which can not possibly be diminished too much if there is a Democratic president (It cannot be dimin ished but- so much no matter how the election goes.) What to do? Well, anyway, I don’t have to make up my mind today. fellow- Americans of minority origin affects the Nation and themselves as well as the minorities involved. The ten paps of thought provoking findings, moderate ly but. attractively and effect ively offered, are a question and narrative-answered synop sis of the Service Committee's ten-year .experienc in the pro motion of merit employment in key industrial centers through out the country. At the conclusion of its brief introduction the pamphleteers state that visits by Committee representatives with a wide variety of employers and em ployers' representative:; in all sections of the country, lead to the conclusion '"that the ma jority of employers believe m merit employment--but need help in implementing a policy they know is right • Interviewers report that ''many employers have asked the Committee’s job opportun ity staff for how-to-do-it sug gestions." The pamphlet is of fered to outline “some success ful techniques and procedures" for employers seeking "to im plement. their convictions," but cautions that “there .is no de tailed outline applicable to every situation involving min ority employment*'—simply a broad framework within which <pch employer “may tailor the complete plan to fit his needs." The pocket-sized publica tion- -wise and unpedantic—is much needed in these times when the all-important matter of minority employment has become a controlling factor in the health and education of the Necro—and. less urgently —of other minorities in Ameri ca, WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1955 Gordon Hancock : s BETWEEN the LINES State Rig titers VVin The adjournment of Con gress without the passage of the civil rights bill was a great victory for the. state lighters. The working agreement be tween the representatives of the Old South and the conser vatives of the North is an ef fective obstruction to civil rights iegistaion. The defeat of civil rights legislation is a defeat for the cause of righteousness: it is a defeat of the democratic for ces of the world, ft is an in vitation to communism, and he ia poorly informed who does not set how the communists will take lull advantage of the situation, it becomes more and mon a puzzle how tins great country can play such dangerous poli tics; how thu Old South is rif ting so pretty in. Washington. We hear from the past how Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. We wonder sometimes if our great democracy is not on fire while the Old. South fiddles and Congress vacillates in times of great danger. Is it really later than they think ‘ The whole nation in general and Congress in particular, seem to be afraid to irk the Old South and the amazing thing is. that the Old South is not worse than it is. It is no won der that the Old South holds the Supreme Court in con tempt: instead of the other way around One of the brightest aspects of the whole ugly situation is tiie way the state righters are trying to be decent in their ap peal —£ov public approbation. They do not appeal in the name of white suprmacy but u the name of "state rights:" this appeal lends an air of respect ability to a dangerous and dia bolical objective, The fight, the Old South has chosen t,o make for the per petuation of white supremacy is not made in the name of white supremacy, but. in the name of slate rich Is which in its last analysis means the right of the Old South to hold the Negro down and to hold him down perpetually. In other words, stale rights are none other than the rights to eter nalize the subjugation of the Nc—roes of this country When we see our fond hope* of civil rights legislation blast ed in the Congress of th6 na Along The Colonial Front By A 3. SIGGINS, BRITISH JOURNALIST Bit Fight In Nigeria LONDON (ANP . Dr A/D kiwee, prime minister of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, whom everybody calls ''Zik", is the central figure m a fight which may retard Nigeria's progress to self-government. As there is on action for li bel due to be heard shortly, many things are not being said by both sides. But you can take it. from me that plenty will be said before the fight is ovet In articles which I wrote when in Nigeria in 1952, I hinted at what was going on. But 1 realized shat, quite a few good mn- both European., and Africans--were striving hard to do right in the midst of great, difficulties. I stayed some months wop my ear close to the ground I got enough mate* at w; a "•.' el and many articles might have caused a sensation but would have done little if any good at all. I did not write any sensa tional articles or a book for the n-ason I have given above. What. 1 did predict, however, was that none of the leaders of that tim would survive and that many split* in existing political parties would take place. And T saw then that the Great African Rift was widen ing and, under existing con ditions and with existing machinery, was unbridgeable. Zik was moving between Catholicy and Moral Re- Armament in an endeavor to find allies and financial Hack ing He sought, also Moslem help and get some, But Zik was committed irrevocably to hope in the East. Western ways and could see no SENTENCE SERMONS BV REV. FRANK CLARENCE LOWRY FOB ANP THE OVERCOMING SPIRIT 1. The English language is very descriptive, a word or phrase to tn. every cose, noth ing so vague to be beyond ex pression and no type of thought beyond its embrace 2. The term, ‘'overcome" cov ers a multitude of things, such as bad disposition::, bad tem pers and many other destruc tive aides to sins, sins of com mission and ommission of the head and heaiL combined, bringing unhappiness to some one, out of a thoughtless or evil design 3. Every rational being with his right of choice can over power and overcome this evil flow, that some times strikes with vehement strength and in flicts a shattering low blow, 4. These moral and spiritual deficiencies, all men should strive, to overcome, for the ga mut of life with such impe diments cannot successfully be run. 6. The Adversary of men's tiorn, it is no time for cry-ba byism. It is no time for weep ing and gnashing the teeth. It is time for the Negro to gird his armour on and prepare to renew his determination to fight, unto the bitter end for the rights and opportunities vouch safed unto him by the Consti tution of the United States The Negro is not going to be. carried to the skies on flowery beds of eti.se, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody sea.-: The road to freedom is rough and rugged and (hua it has been from ancient, days. When the white man came to America he faced the In dians with their tomahawks and if the Negro cannot fate the Negrophopes and outlast them then ther-e :s some Ques tion ax to our worthiness for the citizenship we seek. H has been said that ■'you cannot whip a man who comes back to, oile more round The Negro roust keep coming back until every foe, is van quished. Ah of the responsibility for our advancement does riot rest Btor- the Congress of the Unit ed. States, with its effective coalition between represents- WvesUvs of the Old South and the reactionary North. A great responsibility rests upon Ne gro? themselves There is an answer t.e the Dixiecrals and demagogues; there an answer to the Tal madges and the Byrds and all the rest who are committed to massive resistance to the edict of the Supreme Court. These . enemies of Negro advance are ■All elected at the ballot that has been placed in his hand. The ballot is power) It has put the Negrophobes in the if place of power and it will take thorn down. There is sill an answer for the very discouraging situa tion made by the side-tracking of the civil rights bill, which died on the steps of the Senate -killed by the adjournment of Congress. The Negroes' indifferent em ployment of the ballot is one of the greatest mysteries of rue current situation. Throughout the nation there are millions and millions of potential Ne gro voters who could turn the tide of Negrophobism which ;•> now' running at full swell, State righters win temporari ly! That is where we split i realized that the Western tin tioris could not help African ; to gain the full stature of man hood while the. present world set-up was maintained as tin-’ possessed neither men n money enough. Many Africans accepted m: plans for a new alignment., tiv Pacific, and Indian Ocem:' Peoples’ Federation, V -T r, > United States of Oceania a. the dynamic core, linked to -■ United States of Africa be tween the Tropics of Cam r r and Capricorn and to z Medi terranean Peoples' federation, but others firmly believed that. Western nations could cue them all the capital they need ed to become independent.. And Z;k was among those. 1 remember at one meeting at the Niger Club I war. asked whether 1 thought, Nigeria. was ripe for indepudence. l re plied that no country could be independent I then asked ho\« my interlecuter hoped to. find the capital necessary for Ni geria. to become independent He said that thy hoped Britain would give it—or lend it—to them. “Thai " I replied “would be a funny kind of independence ’ Strange as it may seem, how ever, it was exactly the kind of ‘ independence" many Nigerian laders, including Zik, visualiz ed. One wonders whether Afri cans will learn by the lesson Now the fallacy of such “in dependence’ j being exposed, though Capital for the development of all undeveloped countries must be created, as no nation or group of nations can find th vast sums needed so urgent ly alone. souls is ever watchful for * chance to inveigle and an- .. trance, and if prospective vic tims aren i watcuiuj every moment, they will soon find themselves over-balanced with a lot of Satin's torment. ti. The most powerful force at man’s command if his "WILL", arid with this every lav. of God he can fulfill, hut what » travesty to allow it to commit fraud and with diabolic du plicity rob his God 7. This faculty with which only mankind is endowed, should cause every human bc inr to be exceptionally proud, .for he can willingly grow in the likeness of his Maker and con tinue to advance in His high est favor. 8. The OVERCOMING spirit then becomes his delight, for gladly for his God and Master will he courageously fight; and think not of self as he enters the fray but desires only io be found faithful each successive day.