PAGE TWO
tiffi CAROLINA TIMES SATUBDAY, JULY 3, 1954
IDE DURHAM COUNTY liUN-OfF acaiON
For oncc the opposition MAY be right. Whether it’s ri|^t or wrong. THIS
COLUMN thinks that it’s }ugh ^or us to do some serious thinking about
local politics.
If we are to go forward the things we do must be based upon the com
posite opinion of our best minds and our actions should be tempered with
the utmost in friendship and understanding of the whole community.
NORTH CAROLINA'S FIRST NEGRO TEACHR
IN A WHITE SCHOOL
You read in this newspa
per last week the story of
Mrs. Winfred Daves, North
Carolina’s first Negro teach
er in a white school. Although
Mrs. Daves was employed
under the auspices of the fed
eral government to teach in
a school in Camp Lejeune, it
proves conclusively that it
can be done. To those skep
tics which are always saying
that it can’t be done it might
be interesting and reassuring
to them to note that none of
the white children have died
because they were taught by
a Negro teacher.
It is most interesting that
North Carolina’s first Negro
teacher in a white school
should come from Greenville
where seeds of the most rabid
“Uncle Tomism” were sown
many years ago by one of the
greatest of that clan the state
has ev«r produced. His
worthy successor has kept
well his traditions and teach
ings to the flight of Green
ville white follu and at the
expense of Greenville Ne
groes.
According to Mrs. 'Daves,
at first she was not readily ac
cepted but after about two
weeks, she began to gain the
favor of her white co-woTk-
ers. Says Mrs. Daves further,
“It was merely a change of
jobs,” with the parents be
ing very cooperative and
both parents and children
presenting her gifts on Moth
er’s Day.
For the half frightened-to-
delith Negro teachers of the
state who are afraid that un
der integration they will lose
tlieir jobs, the Daves case
ought to give them courage.
For in the end the only teach
ers who will lose out will be
those who Will not be able to
measure up, which is as it
should be. For if a teacher is
unfit to teach a white child,
she or he is unfit to teach a
Negro child. When the call
came Mrs. Daves was quali
fied and therefore was able to
keep pace with the best in her
profession.
PATRIOTISM BY CONVENIENCE
When the Constitution and
the Supreme Court of the
United States were estab
lished, no Negro was there
or had anything to do with
either of them. Both of these
important instruments of our
government are products of
the minds of white people
and white people only. Since
the adoption of the original
Constitution, Negroes have
had little if anything to do
with the enactment of amend
ments and up to the present
hour, no Negro has ever set
on the Supreme C^urt bench
of the United States. That
part of the Constitution and
the rulings of the Supreme
Court guaranteeing equality
to citizens of all races have,
therefore, been solely the
business of white folks.
Prior to the adoption of the
Constitution and the estab
lishment of the Supreme
Court, the Declaration of In-
' dependence, written by a
southerner, Thomas Jeffer
son, and signed by 16 other
southerners declared:
“We hold these truths to
be self-evident that all men *
are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Crea
tor with certain inalien
able Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and
the pursuit of happipes..”
It is most ironical that in
spite of the great part south
erners had in tthe birth or
establishment of these three
great pillars of our govern
ment that today it is south
erners that would repudiate,
denounce, and tear down all
three of them to keep in a po
sition of second-class citizen
ship the 15 million Negro
citizens of the United States.
Further irony is added to the
present situation when it is
realized that three of the
members of the Supreme
Coart lhat Handjr flown the
ruling, striking down segre
gation in public schools, are
southerners and that it is the
South that would defy that
ruling by seeking devious
ways by which it may cir-
cument it.
So the Negro citizens of
the South look with horror,
if not contempt, on their
white folks who from all ap
pearances are frustrated, hi^
wildered and confounded by
a fate of their own design.
These same people who write,
talk, preach and proclaim
respect for law and order ^ow
have {in opportunity to prac
tice it. Thus it will be inter
esting to watch the course
some of them will take to out
do the law of the land. It will
be interesting to discover if
the patriotism many of them
claim to have is merely
patriotism just so long as ev
erything goes their way or
should we say “patriotism by
cbiivmrence.”'
A NEW KIND OF LEADERSHIP FOR A NEW DAY
. This newspaper is happy to
1 wngratulate Dr. Alfonso Eld-
w of North Carolina College
for his forthright stand on
the U. S. Supreme Court’s
ban against segregated public
schools. In an adless in Col
umbia, South Carolina, Dr.
Elder admonished that Ne
gro teachers should “move
enthusiastically behind the
U. S. Supreihie Court’s ban
against segregated schools
and to work for the principle
of non-segregation in all
areas.”
The statement is clearcut
and leaves no doubt as to
where the North Carolina
College president stands on
the matter of segregation in
public school education. It is
the finest thing that has come
from the office of the presi
dent since he was elected
seven years ago and it puts
Dr. Elder way out in front of
other Negro college presi
dents of state schools in
North Carolina. The stand is
in keeping with that of all
forward looking citizens of
this state and could not have
been otherwise withbut rais
ing serious doubt as to Dr.
Elder’s loyalty as a citizen of
the United States.
,Under the right kind of
leadership, North Carolina
College can become a new
star in the heavens pointing
the way to a higher and nob
ler life where men of all
races, creeds and colors can
live as free men and not as
underlings. The statement of
Dr. Elder ought to be follow
ed by similiar ones from the
presidents of A. and T. Col-
Fayetteville State Teachers
College, Winston-Salem
Teachers College, and Eliza
beth City State Teachers Col
lege. The time has come now
for all Negro leaders to stand
up and be counted or be
counted out.
No weak, apologizing, com
promising Ne^o college head
is capable of inspiring Negro
youths for the kind of world
they must face today. There
is now no middle-of-the-road
stand. It is either you do or
you don’t. The Negro leader
who is neither hot nor cold
will be spewed up and out
and will eventually arrive at
the place where he will have
no followers.
The old game was for cer
tain classes of Negro leaders
to play both sides of the
fence. Thus we often found
them making one speech in
the South and another in the
North. There was one kind of
talk to be delivered when
there was no white man
around and another when he
was present. Both the stu
dents and the faculty knew it
and where they might not
have lost respect for their col
lege president, the college
president lost respect for
himself.
It now appears that Dr.
Elder is blazing a new trail
for Negro educators in state
schools. If he holds out, both
the youths and the elders of
his race will rise up to call
him blessed. This newspa
per is happy to felicitate him
for an act which apparently
no other Negro educator in
a smiliar position has had the
courage to do.
SATURDAY
Ou
JULY 3, 1954
h. 9. AII8T1N, Publisher
/etAIHAN M. BOSS, Mtter
J. AtUCN CASm, Muuciaf Bdltar
■aturdar tj tha DMITBD
7USUIHBU. laoorvanM at lU K. rutUtnm Bt
M. E. JOHNSON, Business Matutfer
B. J. HAYNESj Advertlsinif Manager
No cuarmntM of publication ol unaoUctted mata-
rlal. L«ttan to Iha aditor for publication must b«
•icaad and confined'to BOO worda.
GETTING ALONG
By LAUREEN WHITE
NEW YORK I they can. Admittedly, they in-
The most valuable asset any
nation can baye is its people.
When you destroy the people or
when you reduce the effective
ness of the people, you destroy
reduce the effectiveness of
the entire nation. A nation of
150 inhabitants that has handi
capped 15 million of them with
all sorts of educational, econo
mic, and social restrictions, is
actually a nation of less than
135 million inhabitants. Fur
ther, people who have been
crushed and exploited all of
their lives are usually despe
rately on the alert to improve
their condition. Often they lose
their sense of values. When they
are crushed, exploited and unin
formed, they are likely to make
the wrong move toward im
proving their condition. And
this wrong move could be dis
astrous both to them and to
those who expliot them. Unin
formed people are often danger
ous.
It would seem that even Rus
sia understands this, and offers
every encouragement and in
ducement for all of her 200
million inhabitants to learn all
list that their people be edu
cated so that they can be useful
to the state, and it seems they
do not discriminate against any
group on account of race. Their
only motto seems to be: “get
prepared so you can help Rus
sia.”
One of the best ways of
keeping a nation well infoimed
is to have an adequate school
system. Informed instructors,
modem equipment, decent buil
dings, are certainly necessary to
make up an adequate school
system. When any one of those
three essentials is denied a
group they aren’t being pro
vided with adequate schooling.
And it is impossible to over
estimate the damage done to the
individual and the nation when
tliis condition exists.
When the dawn breaks for
some of our more obstinate^
southern leaders, the world
will be a better place. Let us
hope it comes soon,' so that the
Supreme Court decision outlaw
ing segregation in public schools
will not be opposed so ruthlelss-
ly.
ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY
North Carolina Department Of
Motor Vehicles
One Is Too Many....
When Driving
If you’re an HBD, you’re
headed for trouble when you
drive a car.
Those three letters can in
crease the seriousness of any
traffic charge against you, make
it practically certain you’ll be
convicted—and increase the
penalty. HBD, written on the
police blotters, stands for “had
been drinking. ” And if they’re
written alongside a traffic
charge against you they mean
trouble. It isn’t necessary to be
drxmk while driving. “Had
been drinking” is enough—even
if you’ve had only those pro
verbial “couple of beers.”
Only about 1,500 people died
of poisons accidently last year
in the United States. Unless,
(Please turn to •'Page Seven)
UTTER TO THE EDITOR
WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
Dear Editor:
They say that if a man will
hold his head and walk upright,
he will eventually fill his posi
tion in life. The people of the
white race, mostly of southern
extraction, do not or will not
accept tills view.
This country was founded on
just such a principle. The sett
lers of thi^ country were set
in their determination to start
a new way of life where they
could feel free to act as human
beings and have a way of life
that they could call their own—
consequently, we have the
UNITED STATES OF AMERI
CA.
We have been waving the
flag of Independence for 158
ysars, but the jssocle who ex-,
ploited the Indians, bought and
traded the Negro, fellow hu
man beings, so that they could
arrive at a station in life where
they could control the political
and economic status of this
coimtry.
But they have not learned
that the only way that a country
can succeed as an international
power, is to make room for all
the people in its domain with
WASHINGTON AND
open arms. We cannot con
tinuously oppress and not be
noticed by the very people we
try to impress.
One of our great statesmen
stated that, “In unity we have
strength, but divided we fall."
Can we hope to meet the threat
of world peace and stop the
communists in their tracks as
they march toward us if people
like the^ governor of Virginia
and a few other southern states
and the political leaders feel
that one race of people are less
than Americans and are not en
titled to all the privileges pro
vided for in the Constitution?
It is written in the Constitu
tion that people born within
these Unied States are citizens
and are entitled to the privi-
leges therein.
We have often referred to the
people in the back countries as
backward and ignorant, but
when we read some of the news
papers and see the remarks of
our officials, it makes us feel
that some of those same people
have been chosen to fill vacan
cies in our judicial and other
high' offices in this land of
plenty.
Thomas Coleman
SMALL BUSINESS”
Independent buslnaismen «c-
press deep eoncam over farm
problem. First In their minds U
T>ellef that farmers, producers of
wealth, ara keystcoa In natlciial
aconomy.
* • •
b addttioB, taidepeiidart bnl-
nesamen who
proportional
■hare of tunsj
«umot see hi
■Itnation caol
continne. Hm
tenersl leelinc
Is that there
mmt be a biial-|
nessllke soli
Uon.
• *
Here are[
some of the
facts. The same forces seeking to
>low under Independent business
works to plow under tbe indepen
dent farmer, commonly known
as the operator of a family sized
farm. More than a million have
apparently been plowed under
since 193S^y growth of huge cor
poration farm ventures.
• • •
In 19SS nation’a farmlanda ta-
taled 1,«54,5U,0M acres divided
amonf 6,182,3M farms. By 19S2
aoreare Increased to 14U,B66,-
000 while farm nimiber dropped
almost IM milUott to S,382,16>.
• • a
1035 Is also Important In other
ways to farm situation. In that
year reciprocal trade treaties got
underway. Imports of manufac
tured and crude foodstuffs to-
taUed «641,159,000. By 1952 im
ports reached over 13 billion.
« • •
In meantime, dameatio snr-
ploses momt. Oovermnent au
thorities eatlmata by Jane 1985
rovemment owned com will In
crease from present 800,WM bosh-
da to over a billion bnshds,
and so on down entire list of si^
ported commodities.
By C. WILSON HARDER
teoUaB to gtvea V. 8. prodnoan«
farm sb^ihm win
Second !f govamment support
prlcei contlnua on all farming
operations despite scop* of op
erations, mora and more wQl M
produced by corporate farms.
• a a
Big oorporatloa farms, aasnrad
wt cnaraateed prices for tlieir
cropa, oontlBue to pradnoa mora
aad more snrploses.
a a * a
Of course end at all support
prices would stop tax waste. But
blow to independent farmers
might be fatal.
a a a
Secretary JMnsea seems aware
of sitiuticm whereby big oorpora-
tion farms reap the harvest, m
Denver speech he said “operap
tors ef family sise farms receive
comparatively Uttta help from
present program.”
a a a
It is understood Secretary
Benson feels Inclined to some
provision which would limit the
amount of government support
to the first 25,000 worth pro
duced by any farm.
* * *
However It ooiUd be poUtlo-
ally ^kllsh for Secretary Ben
son to pablioiy advance this Idea
because it was a part of aa
called Brannan plan.
a a a
But regardless of politics
strange paradox continues,
a a a
b mid 30’s Congress gave
•way its rights to control pro
tective tarihs to world iride
boendogglers. As flood of Import
ed foodstuffs swelled, programs
were enacted to keep U. S. Inde
pendent farmer from drowning.
Then big Interests who play
only sure things such as monop
oly operations jumped into farm
ing to increase surpluses paid for
bytJ. S. taxpayer.
■a sawmd dess matter at the PoM iMftes
the Aet « Mareb
Subscription Rates:
10c per cop7; Six montlis,
SS.OO: One Ym, S3.00 (Foralcn Countrlaa. f4.
Two facts seem apparent
It la a sitoation iriiioh cannot
cantinDe
First, onieaa better tariff pro-
Nitioul T§i$ntUm tt Tnlinaai1 BifUMi
Will The Challenge Be Met, The World Is Asking
/ -
/ -
*r. ■ i.i'k
Spiritual Insight
"FORGIVENESS: SOUL BEAUTY"
By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAND
Pastor, Mount Gilead Baptist Church
"Some seed fell among thom-
bushes..thorns grew and choked
the life out of it...it bore no
crop. "Mark 4:7.
Jesus reminds us of those
ever-present evil influences
that choke and destroy our God-
given powers of life. Many lives
are smothered and blighted by
the destructive thorn bushes
that choke the life in us every
day. We have felt this influence
struggling for mastery in dur
own lives. We must fight hard
against it. And we have seen its
crushing power in the lives of
others. Many things block and
hinder the growth of life in us.
Jesus reminds us to be aware of
these evil influences. These evil
powers grip the soul and wiU
not lei it grow and bring forth
a harvest of good fruits.
Truly Jesus is right when
He says that the precious seed
of life cannot grow to its full
bloom, beauty, and power In
the midst of thorn bushes. Who
has not seen the seed and the
plant choked and crushed by
the blighting power of the thorn
bush.
We see all around us each
day the thornbush'es of broken
homes choking the life out of
little children. Truly the broken
home shakes the very founda
tion of the nation. Why? Some
life is .blighted by the thorn
bush of a broken home.
Here we have one of the
great perils of our nation. The
home is the bedrock of the in
ner strength of the nation. We
see the blighting effects all
around us. I see it as I read the
montiily reports from the Ju
venile Court. We see lives stun
ted before they get a chance to
grow as God intended that they
should grow.
The thorn of rejection, sepa
ration and denial of love crush
the soul of the chUd so that it
cannot bring forth fruit. Look
at the child cut off from the vi-
tfl ti€s'in a cold, cruel, and un
friendly world...“Thoms grew
and choked the life out of it...it
bore no crop...”
Broken homes choke the life-
giving power out of husbands,
wives, and children.
Then there is the thorn bush
of worry that chokes the life out
of us. Unnecessary worries are
defeating too many of us. Wbrry
is an enemy of life. It is useless.
What have you , ever ac
complished by chronic worry?
Nothing! It saps your powers.
Let us weed out the thorn-
bushes of worry that we may
live more fully. Why waste your
precious God-given powers in
unnecessary worry. Get wise!
Trust God'and stop worrying.
The thorn bush of worry will
choke the life out of you. B?-
wdre lest worry rob you of your
God-promised right to the
abundant life.
Thom bushes grow and
flourish in the soil of sin. Be
alert and keep your life free
from the thom bUsheff that you"
may have the harvest of a good
life.
STRAIGHT AHEAD
T
—By Olive A. Adams
NEW YORK
Don’t look now,, but from
where we sit,, it looks like an
other big-scale investigation of
some sort is indicated. As if we
didn’t have enough to worry
about with the world situation
being what it is, we appear to
have a few subversives in our
midst who are seeking not to
overthrow the government by
force, but to undermine the mo
rale of the people by setting
millions of them to . worrying
about their health.
During the past few months
we’ve been hearing a great deal
about cigarettes and lung can
cer and now many people who
enjoy smoking are wondering if
their days are numlsered be
cause of a publication of the re
port that smokers between 50
and 70 die sooner. Some smok
ers really find themselves con
cerned about it, while others,
with a sense of humor, say that
some kind of bug or other is
likely to bowl them over be
tween 50 and 70 anyhow.
Now, we have never even had
a good puff on a cigarette, but
those who indulge seem to get
a great deal of satisfaction out
of it. All of which prompts the
age-ol'd question; Why is that
somebody is always finding
something wrong with some
thing that is enjoyable?
Whatever the reaction to the
recently released report, the
fact remains that people have
been set to worrying about their
physical condition, and much of
it is unnecessary. They are con
stantly warned against too
much food, too much exercise,
too much work, too much smok
ing...and all for what? So tliat
they can worry al>out being
blown to kingdom come by a
bomb, killed outright or maim-
,ed for life in a traffic accident,
or terrorized by any one of a
variety of "mental cases” that
roam the streets uninhibited.
It would seem that we might
do a little research on how w9
can make life more bearable
while we’re living it, instead of
worrying about how long we
might be here. It would make
sense to try to see if we couldn’t
alleviate some of the many pres
sures that set people on edge to
a point where our mental insti
tutions are o^rcrowded and are
turning away thousands of
people every day who are cry
ing for treatment. Cigarettes or
no cigarettes, their days are
numbered, and it is likely that
the neglect of these patients
will mean that the lives of
others are also in danger.
Medical science has improved
man’s physical condition to the
point where he already lives
much lonier than his years of
usefulness, and the myriad pro
blems of the aged are very real
these days. We would propose
a little more concentration on
how to enjoy life-how to be
a little more decent to each
other, how to lift millions of
people out of germ-infested
slums, how to help more of us
to come to know what “life,
liberty, and the pursuit of hap
piness” really means—in short,
how to help everybody get the
most satisfaction out- of what
ever time any of us must spend
in tills vale of tears.
UNITED NATIONS NOTES
By JAMES B. LAWSON
, (Accredited UN Correspondent)
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y.
VISITORS...Charles C. Den
nis, editor and publisher 'ttf
“The Listener” and President of
the Liberian Press Associatfon,
was in New York last week
and conferred with your report
er about the coming state visit
of President V. M. S. Tubman
to the United States which may
take place in August instead of
September. President Tubman
was impressed with the manner
in which Harlem welcomed the
Emperor of Ethiopia.
President Paul Magloire of
Haiti is now on a three-weeks’
tour of the Caribbean and Cen
tral American Republics. He is
accompanied by his wife and an
entourage of 34. As Haile Se
lassie returned to New York
last week, the Premier of Libya,
North Africa was returning
from a state visit to Turkey.
FOREIGN STUDEl^S.....The
Institute of International Edu-
cition has just recently publish
ed a booklet, “Education For
One World” which gives data
on the 33,833 foreign students
how studying in the United
States. These students represent
129 different nations, gome free
and others under foreign domi
nation.
INDONESIA AIDS AF^II-
CAN STUDENT...With Indo
nesia’s help, a student in British
Togoland will do graduate work
in London. The three-way ar
rangement, announced in a re
port to the United Nations
Trusteeship Council, is the first
of its kind. Under its terms, T.
O. Asare, Jr. will leave the Af--
rican territory which is ad
ministered under the UN’s
supervision, for studies at the
London School of Economics.
Indonesia has- offered two such
fellowships to stud&nts from
any of the eleven territories ad
ministered by the Trusteeship*
Council, and also has offered
four scholarships for study in
Indonesia.