Friday, September 20,1963 T HE CAMPUS EC HO Page Three
THE NEGRO “AMERICAN” AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint from the July 2, 1963
SEMPER FLOREAT, the student newspaper of the University of
Queensland Union, Brisbane, Australia.
American Colonies declared their independence and cast off
the economic and political yoke of Great Britain. Their desires
and theory of government were incorporated in the now famous
Declaration of Independence which has since become the Bible
of American Political Philosophy. Derived in part from Jolm
Locke’s theory of the contractual origin of civil society, the Decla
ration of Independence embodied what was considered the natural
rights of man, and the architects of American Democracy held
these truths to be self-evident: “That all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and unalien
able rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.”
In view of these noble and
sacred principles, it would ap
pear that the “Negro Question”
should never have arisen in the
United States. However, this is,
unfortunately, not the case.
The unrest and desire for “the
rights of man” amongst the
American Negroes is but a con
tinuation of the struggle of men
throughout modern history to
gain liberty and personal re
spect.
The anti-integration factions
in the United States have no
moral, religious, social or eco
nomic grounds on which to stand
in their absolute denial of the
right of the Negro to the attain
ment of life, liberty and happi
ness. For a man or a group of
men to assert their belief in the
teachings of Christian religion
and, at the same time, condone
the suppression of a race is the
ultimate in hypocrisy. Such
Christian belief as “Love thy
Neighbor” and “Do unto others
as you would have them do unto
you” and the contents of the
Declaration of Independence
were not formulated for any
race, be it white, black, yellow,
or r^.
They apply to a man identi
fied with Ivimself, and not with
the color of Jiis skin. The great
est condemnation of the actions
of the segregationists can be
expressed on moral and religious
issues since in the United States
a white man is deemed better
than a Negro simply because he
is white. It begins and ends at
this point. The relative stand
ards of education, personal
morals, and individual charact
er play no part in determining
whether a man be denied or
given the rights to which he is
entitled under a democratic sys
tem of government.
It stands to the lasting shame
of the United States that its
armed forces in World War II
contained many Negroes. Did
they fight for the conditions
under which they are now un
justly forced to live, or did they
enter the conflict to protect
their nation? In view of this,
where is the justification for
their present existence.
The religious aspect of the
condemnation can best be un
derstood by a consideration of
a famous painting in which
Christ is depicted blessing
children of all races. The point
here is painfully clear.
At the present moment the
question which concerns the
Government is what will devel
op if the present state of affairs
continues. America has already
lost a good deal of face over
seas; this is not surprising since,
by her own example, she has
shown the democratic system so
openly abused.
Rancor, violence, disunity and
national shame can only ham
per America’s national stand
ing and security. To paraphrase
the words of Lincoln: “In giving
freedom to -the Negro we assure
freedom to the free honourable
alike in what we give and what
we preserve.”
On June 19, President Ken
nedy introduced the “CIVIL
RIGHTS ACT OF 1963” to the
Congress of the United States.
Perhaps the most important part
of this bill occurs in the pre
amble, where it is Stated that:
“Discrimination by reason of
race, color, religion, or national
origin is incompatible with the
concepts of liberty and equality
to which the government of the
United States is dedicated. In
recent years substantial steps
have been taken toward elimi
nating such discrimination
throughout the nation. Never-
the less, many citizens of the
United States, solely because of
their race, color, or national
origin, are denied rights and
privileges accorded to other
citizens and thereby subjected
to inconveniences, humiliations,
and hardships. Such discrimina
tion impairs the general welfare
of the United States by prevent
ing the fullest development of
the capabilities of the whole citi
zenry and my limiting participa
tion in the economic, political,
and cultural life of the nation.
“The Negro’s drive for jus
tice, however, has not stood
still—nor will it, it is now
clear, until full equality is
achieved. The growing and un
derstandable dissatisfaction of
Negro citzens with the present
pace of desegregation, and their
increased determination to se
cure for themselves the equal
ity of opportunity and treat
ment to which they are right
fully entitled, have underscored
what should already have been
clear: the necessity of the Con
gress enacting this year—but
also additional legislation pro
viding legal remedies for the
denial of certain individual
rights.”
The United States government
has taken action through the
courts and by other means to
protect those who are peace
fully demonstration to obtain
access to these public facilities;
and it has taken action to bring
an end to discrimination in rail,
bus and airline terminals, to
open up restaurants and other
public facilities in all buildings
leased as well as owned by the
Federal government, and to as
sure full equality of access to
all federally owned parks, for
ests and other recreational areas.
When uncontrolled mob action
directly threatened the nondis-
criminatory use of transporta
tion facilities in May, 1961, Fed
eral Marshals were employed to
restore order and prevent poten
tially widespread personal and
property damage. Growing na
tionwide concern with this prob
lem, however, makes it clear
that further Federal action is
needed now to secure the right
of all citizens to the full enjoy
ment of all facilities which are
open to the general public.
Such legislation is clearly con
sistent with the U.S. Constitu
tion and with the concepts of
both human rights and property
rights.
Discrimination in education
is one basic cause of the other
inequalities and hardships in
flicted upon the Negro citizens.
The lack of equal educational
opportunitiy deprives the indi
vidual of economic opportunity,
restricts his contribution as a
citizen and community leader,
encourages him to drop out of
school and imposes a heavy bur
den on the effort to eliminate
discriminatory practices and
prejudices from American na
tional life.
Unemployment falls with spe
cial cruelty on minority groups.
The unemployment rate of Ne
gro workers is more than twice
as high as that of the working
force as a whole. In many of
America’s cities, both north and
south, the number of jobless
Negro youth—creates an atmos
phere of frustration, resentment
and unrest which does not bode
well for the future. Delinquen
cy, vandalism, gang warfare
and crime are all directly relat
ed to unemployment among
whites and Negroes alike—and
recent labor difficulties in Phila
delphia may well be only the
beginning if more jobs are not
found in the larger northern
cities in particular.
Employment opportunities,
moreover, play a major role in
determining whether the rights
described above are meaning
ful. There is little value in a
Negro’s obtaining the right to
be admitted to hotels and res
taurants if he has no cash in his
pocket and no job.
The Negro desires for equal
rights have been, admirably
stated by author, James Bald
win, a Negro, the essence of his
argument being: “At the root of
the Negro problem is the neces
sity of the white man to find a
way of living with the Negro in
order to live with himself.”
American History, as Bald
win sees it, is an unending story
of man’s inhumanity to man, of
the white’s refusal to see the
black simply as another human
being, of the delusions and the
Negro’s demoralization.
These serious contradictions
in the practice of Democracy in
America must be removed im
mediately, it is to be hoped and
prayed for that the Civil Rights
Bill will become American Law.
-Letter-
(Continued from page 2)
of the most congenial student
bodies in its history. We need
this unity and togetherness. Let’s
keep wearing those smiles and
being in a jovial mood!
Robert L. Parker
JOIN THE NAACP - TODAY
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