Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Aug. 19, 1967, edition 1 / Page 2
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—THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1967 2A Dr. King's Civil Disobedience Proposal The mass civil disobedience pro gram called for by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a weapon to be used in fighting racial discrimination in this country, appears to us to be the most sensible presented by any of the other so-called Negro leaders now in the forefront of the recent violent solution attempted in Detroit, New ark and several other cities* Dr. King's mass civil disobedience pro gram, patterned after the non-violent method used so effectively by the late Mahatma Gandhi in India, we think, is the answer to the many in justices now suffered by American Negroes. This newspaper not only refuses to violence and went on to lead the displayed in the above mentioned cities but it opposes it. We oppose it from a practical standpoint because we cannot see any chance of 22 mil lion people winning out in a long drawn out struggle involving vio lence over 180 million. We oppose it from the Christian standpoint be cause it wreaks with revenge or an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth Acts of a Sickened Conscience The entire nation had a front seat view of the white South's imbeded hatred of Negroes on August 3 when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to 5 to approve the nomina tion of Thurgood Marshall for the U.S. Supreme Court. That the five senators who votecf against Marshall were all from below the Mason and Dixon Line should call forth no sur prise among intelligent citizens of this country. It only proves once again just how deep-seated in south ern whites is the hatred of Negroes. The vicious action of the five southern members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in voting against Marshall, can only be equalled by the comedy enacted by North Carolina's Senator (Simple) Sam J. Erwin in questioning Mar shall on the meaning of the sth The Debt We Owe Among the debts we owe, not in cluding those which we must repay painfully in the prevailing currency, is a debt to our community or home town. There are those who never consider this debt, but it is a real debt, and some repayment is due. The key to this debt lies in the first word, the "home." It is a won derful word in the English language, which is never fully defined or ade quately translated in foreign ton gues. And when we say "home," we are referring to a house, a husband and wife, who often become a father and mother, with all the happiness, love, and hope and faith that surrounds a home. The home is protected, shel tered and made efficent by modern day wonders. Let us look a minute at our cul- The famous Liberty Bell, symbol of our freedom, will be 215 years old this month. There were actually four liberty bells cast, two in Eng land and two in Philadelphia. The original purpose of purchasing a liberty bell was to celebrate the 15th anniversary of William Penn's grant ing a charter to the Quaker City. Isaac Norris, speaker of the Penn sylvania Colonial Assembly, ordered the first liberty bell from Lester and Peck of London. His instructions to the bell makers were that the follow ing words, shaped in large letters round it, should be put on the bell: "By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, for the State House in the City of Philadel phia, 1752." Below was to be: "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land un to all the Inhabitants thereof. Lev. XXV 10." The bell was delivered in August Did The Riois Have To Happen? than 50 citiej across the Tuition have a festering boil this summer. Salves and slightly medicated Bandaidr will not work. The only way they can he healed is for the boil to burst—to be squeezed harder ind harder until the skin break* and the boil erupts. When the core of corruption breaks the surface and the blood begins to flow, healing will begin, but not until t.hev. Then some kind of social antiseptic can be applied to keen the infection from spread ing to surrounding areas and some kind of nolitical and economic iodine con be poured into the lesion. It will be nainful to the white people and embarrassing to some middle class block veonle. but it will ituure healing. Newark, New Jersey, is one of those cities. It had to happen there and it must happen everywhere the disease of racism rnnd poverty exists." philosophy and, as always, is certain to come to no good end. Even with overwhelming numbers on his side Gandhi refused to resort to violence and went ont to lead the way in freeing India from the tyranny of British rule, by using on ly the weapon of civil disobedience. While Negroes in America may lack the overwhelming numerical strength over their oppressors, to the extent the people of India had over theirs, it is our opinion that from an economic standpoint they are in a much better pbsition to make them selves felt by resorting to the use of a mass civil disobedience program against their adversary. In placing our endorsemeht on Dr. King's proposal we would add that of a mass register and vote campaign by Negroes from one end of America to the other. As we have said again and again, once the intelligent and massive use of the dollar and the ballot are resorted to by Negroes in this country the walls of discrimina tion, even in the deep South, will come tumbling down. Amendment at a previous hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thus it now appears instead of one clown on the Committee, there are five, all of whom are from the South. Sometimes when you become dis couraged or greatly concerned about the future of your country as you ob serve the degrading performance of such weak and hate depraved men as Senator Erwin and the other four senators, who cast their vote against a man for no other reason than he is a Negro, say a prayer that somehow God will save America from falling into the clutches of such evil men. You will need to realize that a major ity of southern whites are suffering from a sickened conscience which most always inspires hatred and re sults in them doing injury to others. ture and civilization and see what we have received in our home town, at birth. There was a time when we had to roam the woods like beasts, without family or home, without a church, without a government to keep order, without organized society to broaden our social contacts, and without profitable trade. None of us did much to arrange this wonderful inheritance. We came into a world with many modern con veniences, benefitting from the les sons and experiences of the past, and enjoying all the progress which our home town, the state, the nation and the world offered us. It is the obligation of each of us to contribute what he can to the con tinuing progress of the human race, even in a small way. The Liberty Bell of 1752 and the local committee was completely satisfied except for one thing. When it was set up in the ward to try its tone and carrying quality, "it was cracked by a stroke of clapper without any other vio lence." Charles Stow and John Pass of Philadelphia were commissioned to recast the bell. They believed that the old bell was too brittle, so they added more copper to the mixture, with a resulting tone that did not please the purchasers. Stow and Pass cast a third bell, which turned out to be our famous liberty bell, for which they were paid about $303. The bell weighed a little over 2,000 pounds, and measured twelve feet in circumference around the lip. This is the bell that pealed forth on July Bth, 1776. This is the bell hidden in the straw in a wagon and removed from Philadelphia until the British had evacuated the city. Formula For A S SPIRITUAL INSIGHT We Have Found the Best in Life In Giving Ourselves to God •'Brother*, offer your very selves to him." Rom. 12:1 God only is worthy for you to offer to give yourself in holy, loving consecration. You are infinitely precious in the sight of God. Why would you make a total commitment of yourself to anything except God, the highest? Many, blind ly and unwisely, have given themselves to things created rather than to God Almighty the Creator. The biblical ad monition "Thou shalt have no other God before me." is a reminder that we should never give ourselves fully to any thing but God. And in giving ourselves to lesser things we stand indicted before God of the sin of idolatory. Thus Paul rightly calls on us to give our selves to God. In giving ourselves to God we have found the best in life. Why settle for the lesser things in life when you can have the best? Many have made this false move. We have the false contentment of some created thing rathe' than God, the Cre- United Nation's Report Bv CHARLES P. HOWARD UNITED NATIONS, (HNS) - The question of the return of Moise Tshombe to the Congo, and presumably sudden death, remains undetermined as this is being written. Even though the Supreme Court of Algeria has honored the request of the Con golese Government that Tshom be be extradited to the Congo, Algerian President Houari Bou medienne has not yet affixed his signature to the extradition order, a necessary requirement before the order may be put in to effect. Meanwhile frantic efforts are being carried on at the United Nations, in the United States, Belgium, Britain, Spain and France and parts of Africa to prevent Tshombe's being return ed to the Congo and into the "merciful hands" of the Mobutu Government. Tshombe is often described by African Nationalists as "the most hated African in all of Af rica." The reasons for this are many: Of all the Africans, im plicated in the death of Lumum ba, Tshombe was the one held most responsible. The United Nations Commission investiga ting the matter hinted most strongly of the probability of Tshombe's presence at the scene of the murder. ALTHOUGH Tshombe partici pated in the negotiations for the independence of the Conco as a unified country, he promptly re turned to Katanga and began a secession campaign designed to break Katanga away. thus gravely damaging any early ef forts at Congolese unity and en couraging balkanization which , many Africans believe hinders African national growth. Furth er-reasons are: Cooperation with white su premacy governments in South ern Africa which governments are considered the enemy of Af rican independence and free dom. » Cooperation with European commercial interests to enable these interests to retain their hold on Africa'* natural re ■ sources. The use of white mercen aries, especially from South Af ator. Thus we are in for a great let down. Finally we must realize that we are on a wild goose chase in terms of the satisfaction and fulfillment for our lives. Why all the restless ness of our times? Why are so many searching and striving without finding true fulfill ment? Why are so many miss ing a reasonable degree of happiness? Why are so many left with their lives unfulfilled and empty? Could it be that we have given ourselves to the lesser things in life rather than to God and the hightest? It is possible that at this point we have missed the boat. We need to forsake the lesser and come back to the highest— God the Creator of all things. Let us reconsider. Let us make a shift from the created things to the Creator. Let hs give our selves to God, Just give God a trial and see if things will come out right for you. The stakes are great. Give yourself to God and see your life take on a new look and new out look. You must give yourself • rica, Portugal and Rhodesia to further his ends, like secession 1 and his personal return to pow er in the Congo. ■ Being used by the colonial powers to destroy the Organiza tion of African Unity (OAU), and any other nationalist move ment designed to consolidate the progress of African nationalists. MORE people, particularly Africans, have been killed, eith er opposing or supporting Tshombe's schemes of secession or his return to power, than have been killed supporting any -other African in modern times. For all of Tshombe's crimes, he has gone unpunished to date. He has thrown his great wealth around to subvert where ever it served his purpose to do so. On the other hand, for some of the same reasons Tshombe has long been the "favorite Af rican of all the Africans," of the white supremlsts forces of the United States, Europe, Southern Africa and the "power struc ture" that has held on to the wealth of Africa in spite of Af rican independence, and all the forces often described as neo colonialist which prevent or hold back the development, pro gress and independence of Af rican nationhood. TO THE independence - mind ed African. Tshombe is the liv ing symbol of the capacity of the power structure to protect any black man that fights on their side, from any punishment for deserting the cause of free dom and independence in Af rica. There appears to be no case in history where a black African was ever punished for participating in the overthrow of a duly elected African Head of State, or an African who fought on the side of the colonialists a gainst the interests of African rationalism. The white power structure could always hold out the inducement to prospective traitors to the cause of African * independence and African digni ty, their guaranteed protection irrespective of the circum stances. They could point to the fact that no African had ever been punished for fighting on By REV. HAROLD ROLAND to something. Why take a cheap substitute when you can have the real thing. Give yourself to God. And wait for the returns to come in. The results will be victorious living for you. This writer was speaking from a vital experience. He had given himself to the lesser things. But he found no rest nor peace. That to which he gave himself failed to give satisfaction and fulfillment. Look at him running in restless ness and confusion. He is filled with fear and hatred. He is destructive rather than con structive. And then he surrend ers and gives himself to God And his life in holy, loving serv ices of God became rich, full and satisfying. In God he found the highest fulfillment. Why? He had found God and given himself to God. Man, in giving himself to God in Holy consecration, finds the highest and the best. And his life blossoms in sere nity, peace, happiness and a satisfying fulfillment. their side. If Tshombe ever makes it to the firing squad or the hangman's noose, that myth will be exploded. Meanwhile, feverish activitiei to save Tshombe. Presi dent Johnson is reported a« pri vately putting pressure on Pre sident Mobutu to reduce the penalty an l not execute Tshom be. THfe South African lobby, a powerful group here in the United States, appears to be working through Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, ex- Democrat now Republican, and Senator Thomas Dodd, Demo crat, -Conn., an ex - F. 8.1, agent. They have both spoken up in the United States Senate for Tshom be. Tshombe accuses the C.I.A. of infilitrating his organization. There is even talk of an inter national trial of Tshombe that would be held in Algeria, de signed to expose the neo-coloni alist manoeuvers of Tshombe. In addition to all this, reported ly, pressures almost amounting to blackmail are being put on President Boumedienne to not sign the order returning Tshom be to the Congo. Outside and beyond all this, it is reported that Tshombe has anywhere from ten to sixty mil lion dollars, principally In Swiss banks, with any part or all o it available for keeping him out of the Convo. IT IS REPORTED in a South African newspaper "that each man participating in a success ful attempt to free Tshombe will be paid 50,000 pounds" - that is roughly 1140.000 each. According to the British press. Colonel Herbert Julian, a West Indian who reportedly gave up his American citizenship lately, has offered a million dollar ran som to "spring" Tshombe. White mercenaries are report edly arriving daily by plane in Kenshasa. disguised as tourists, to participate in schemes to free Tshombe if he is brought back to the Congo. The British press reports a third attempt is being played in the Congo at a much higher lev el. It is strongly rumoured to be backed by • syndicate of for eign business interests, worried by President Mobutu's move to ward nationalism and nationali sation. *" Oil Pubiuhed every Saturday at Durham. S C. by United Publisher*, Inc. L. E. AUSTIN, Publisher SAMUEL L. BJUGGS Managing Editor J. ELWOOD CARTER Advertising Manager Second Class Postage Paid at Durham, N. C. 27702 SUBSCRIPTION RATES $5 00 per year'plus (15c tax in N. C.) anywhere in the U.S., ana Canada and to servicemen Over seas; Foreign, $7.50 per year, Single copy 20c. PRINCIPAL Ornci LOCATED AT 436 E. PETTICRIW STRMT, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA 27702 ■ To Be Equal By WHITNEY M. YOUNG JR. Coalition For Jobs THIS SUMMER'S racial violence has caused a crisis of leader ship. The riots have made it easy for "backlashers" to justify resistance to necessary social changes. But this leads to a dangerous polarization of attitudes which could lead to more violence. Negro leadership has lived up to its responsibility by speaking out against riots and by proposing rational programs to end their causes. Now it is time for white leadership to speak out and condemn the backlashers and start doing something to end the ghetto's prob lems. Churches, liberal organizations, political clubs, business and labor, interracial and human relations groups, all have to speak out and regain the initiative from the backlashers. They have been silent for too long. - There are signs that some leaders realize the urgency of the situation and are willing to join with others to form the coalition so desper ! ately needed if our country is to have peace and progress. I took part in a recent meeting to form just such a group. S Emergency Program For Jobs It is called the Urban Coalition, and our first meeting included leaders of business, labor, MR. YOUNG religion, city mayors, and civil rights groups. Out of this meeting came proposals for an emergency work program to provide jobs and training for the unemployed, the establishment of job centers in cities, and the commitment of private industry to take all steps necessary to insure full employment. This last item is especially significant because business has not done enough to provide the jobs and training needed. Negro family income is $3,000 less per year than white families. Something has to be done about this now. Many business leaders understand that they have a tremendous stake in urban peace and some of them realize they can't afford to continue old ways of doing things. But the real test will come at the local level. Businessmen and community leaders are going to have to come forward with vigorous support for radical changes. That is why various local Urban Coalitions are now being formed. In New York, for example, Mayor Lindsay, who was at our Urban Coalition mating, has set up a New Coalition of local leadership to attack ghetto problems. Other cities and regions will do the same. 1,000 Leaders To Meet Aug. 24 This month will be spent organizing these groups. On August 24, we will meet again in Washington, D. C. At this meeting, 1,000 community leaders representing the regional coalitions will formulate action programs to be taken to cure joblessness and a host of other social ills. The Urban Coalition could be the ir.ost exciting new develop ment in a long time. But only if its members are sincere in pushing for radical change. The time is long past for mere lip service to the ideals of equality. Responsible leaders and established organizations must be given the resources to adequately deal with ghetto problems. Negro citizens are tired of being promised jobs and not getting them, they have been lied to once too often. The business and civic leaders now forming such coalitions in their communities will have to deliver on their promises. This coali tion will have to create jobs and strengthen the economic life of the ghetto. It will have to end racial barriers in housing, health and education. These can't be temporary steps to stave off a riot; they must be steps which get at the heart of the problems caused by racism and solve them permanently. We really have little choice. Yhis country can take the high road to social progress and equality by a strong commitment to far reaching programs to create jobs and better living conditions for the urban poor, or it can take the low road to social disaster and violence by letting the backlashers speak for it and allowing ghetto conditions to worsen. We have to take that high road. Split Reaction On Middle-Class Today one encounters the same split reaction among middle class Negroes. They cannot condone looting, arson and sniper war fare they are genuinely shocked by such things. But a great many think that rioting may be the only way in which Negroes can finally convince white people that something must be done about slum housing, unemployment, and discrimination. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. strongly deplores riots. But even King can sympathize with the deep-welling spirit of frustration that is being expressed in the orgy of destruction. "A riot is the language of the unheard," he said in an inter view. "It is the last desperate act . . . when the Negro says Tin tired of living like a dog'." Raymond J. Murphy and James M. Watson of the University of California at Los Angeles conducted extensive studies among Negroes of all economic classes in the Watts area which erupted in fire and bloodshed two years ago this month. They warn in a re cently-published report that white people are leaning on a weak reed when they count on middle-class Negroes to serve as a "mod erating influence and to persuade the Negro community to wait patiently for gradual solutions. Deep-Seated Psychological Need Rioting may fill another deep-seated psychological need for American Negroes. Several years ago, a French Negro psychiatrist named Frantz Fanon wrote a book called "The Wretched of the Earth," in which he propounded the idea that "violence is a cleans ing force" for a man accustomed to being treated as a second-class citizen. "It frees him from his inferiority complex, and makes him fearless and restores his self respect," said Fanon. Fanon's book has been translated into English and widely cir culated in America by black power groups. Its impact is plain te anyone who talks to ghetto residents. In Detroit, even as the flames still licked the ruins of their neighborhoods, I encountered Negro** who took a grisly kind of civic pride in the fact that "our riot was bigger than Watts." Another indication that rioting may be an assertion of long suppressed Negro malehood is contained in a report from the Lem berg Center for the Study of Violence at Brandeis University, Walt* ham, Mass. It shows "riots are more likely to break out ia Negro communities with a large proportion of newly-arrived south erners." This sugtests that Negroes who have been subjected to fear and indignity in Alabama or Mississippi may compensate by throwing rocks and setting fires in Detroit or Newark.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Aug. 19, 1967, edition 1
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