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PAGE TWd THE CAROLINA TIMES SATUBDAy, APRIL 28, 1986 SOME PERHNBIT FACTS ABOUT GDADUAIISM AND EXTREMISM We think the Crisis, official publication of the National Association for the Advance ment of Colored People, has made out about the b^t case against the advocates of gradualism and those who screant about extremist! we have seen or heard since the U. S. Supreme Court decision of May 1954, which struck down segregation in public schools. The Crisis argues, and we think rightly so, that when a southerner talks about gradualism, he in actuality means never. In one of its recent editor ials, the Crisb reveals some very interesting facts about how gradual the efforts of the NAACP have been in its fight to secure civil rights for Ne groes in the Soutii. Says the Crisis: Take the case of Auther- ine Juanita Lucy which provoked the mob action at the University of Alabama. Did the NAACP act pre cipitously in her case, since many of our friends, as well as onr enemies, have accus ed us of pushing her entry into the University? Miss Lucy applied for admission to the University of Ala bama, not under the recent United States Supreme Court rulings of May 17, 1954, and May 31, 1955, but under the Court’s ruling on the admission of Negro stu dents to southern graduate schools, a decision handed down in June 1950. It was not until two years later, in 1953, that Miss Lucy ap plied for admission to the University of Alabama. And she spent two years in the courts seeking admission. No court action is ever hur ried or precipitous and neither Miss Lucy nor the NAACP can be accused of unreasonable haste in her case. Miss Lucy was patient. The NAACP was patient. NAACP lawyers were pa tient. Surely this was grad ualism to suit the most technical Interpretation, but what, happened when the Couri, on February 1, 1956, ordered Miss Lucy’s ad mission to the University of Alabama? The whole world knows of the rioting, the mob rule on a university campus, and the threats of lynching when she applied at the beginning of the semester in February. We ask, who were the gradualists in thb case? Who were the unrea sonable, precipitous groups? The incitement to mob ac tion, the stirring up of racial ill-will, the hasty actions were 4dl on the part of the whites, not on the part of Miss Lucy or the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored Peo ple. Or let us take the case of segregrated housing in ' the United States. The Ne gro ghetto, offspring of segregated housing, is one of the most flagrantly pre judiced and unconstitution al practices leveled against Negroes. Though Negroes had long been segregated In housing, it was in 1917 that Louisville, Ky., passed an ordinance to perfect housing segregation. This led to the famous case of BUCHANAN vs. WABLEY (1917) and the United States Supreme Court decision de claring the Louisville and all such ordinances illegal. But it was tjiirty-two years later before the Supreme Court outlawed the restric tive covenant In 1949. Again the NAACP and Ne groes were patient, relying on the orderly processes oi the courts. Negroes worked for thirty years to be allowed to pur chase Pullman accommoda tions in the South, to be permitted to eat in dining cars without being hidden, like lepers, behind a cur tain. And the ICC ruling banning segregation of in terstate passengers in rail and bus transportation and waiting rooms of stations were handed down only last fall—^November 25, 1955. A DEVASTATING BLOW TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF SEGIiE6ATjON Probably the most deva stating blow that has been dealt that segment of white southerners who contend that it is possible in a Democracy to have two different sets of laws governing Negro and white citizens was that of the U. S. District Court in New Orleans last month. In its ruling on the question, the Court said in part; “The magnitude of the problem (integration) may not nullify the principle. And that principle b that we are, all of us, free-born . Americans, with a right to make our way, unfettered by sanctions imposed by man because of the work of God.” While the Court’s ruling was doubtless shocking to many white southerners who wish to perpetuate the right to tax Negroes without giving them the full benefits derived therefrom, it should be en couraging to those of both races who believe in Democ racy for all citizens without regard to race, creed or color. Since members of the Court were all southerners, it proves ccmclusively, that in spite of the ranting and raving of or ganizations, like the Patriots, White Citizens Councils and DUPEC there is in the South a segment of white people who are wiping to take a stand for the principles of a democratic government what ever the cost. We would ehcourage Ne groes in every community of the South to search high and low for such white persons, cultivate their friendship and stand by them whatever the circumstances. Many of them, who are not members of a federal court, are in business, are candidates for public of fice and without your suport, will suffer untold reprisals from their own people. Ne groes can make the burden less painful by spending their money with those who are friendly and registering and voting for them whenever they are candidates for pub lic office. WELCOME KROGER STORES Since the opening of the new Kroger Store here in the Forest Hills area, citizens of Durham have had the opor- tunity to see Twentieth Cen tury merchandising at its best and to secure first hand knowledge of what a modem gigantic super market and grocery store is like and how it operates. The management of the vast Kroger chain has left no stone unturned to make every item attractive and ac- cfessible to Mr. and Mrs. Shop per. The store, at present the largest of its kind in the state, is in reality a wonder land which has enhanced con siderably the city of Durham as a shopping center for peo ple of the entire trade area as well as the city. The Negro citizens of Dur ham join with others of the city ^ extending a hearty welcome to the Kroger Chain. The very hospitable atmos phere which is in evidence throughout the entire store has set a high standard here, wliich we trust will encourage the kind of patronage that will warrant the opening of a super market in the Hayti section and other areas of Durham. It is our sincere hope that the Durham Committee of One Hundred and the Cham ber of Commerce will do ev erything they possibly can to encourage the Kroger Store to make Durham one of its district headquarters. A Kroger warehouse here ^ould, to our mind, help con siderably in the efforts of the committee to bring to Durham new industries. APPRECIATION FOR N. C. COLLEGE We watched with much in- terest the efforts of several cities and towns in North C^arolina to secure the loca tion of a college in their res pective communities. So keen has become the competition that several cities have not only offered free sites, but have also guaranteed the rais ing of several million dollars if a school will adopt them as its domicile. Sometimes in the course of events, a city like Durham, that already has two large educational institutions, will become so accustomed to their presence that it will lose sight of the benefit to be derived and therefore will fail from time to time to show the pro per appreciation for them. While this may not be true in the case of Duke University, we are wondering if the aver age citizen of Durham has stopped to consider just what the location of North Carolina College actually means to Durham. According to information which we have obtained, the annual operating budget at N. C. College amounts to over $1,700,000. That’s a lot of money to be spent by a school in any city and is botind to mean much to the economic welfare of all its citizens. If removed from the other pay rolls of the city, that of the N. C. College would certainly be felt by not only the mer chants, but the average cit izens as well. While it is certain no of ficial, faculty member or stu dent at N. C. College desires any special recognition or favor, it is our feeling that at least equal recognition to that given other educational in stitutions in and near Durham should be shown. Such should come from directives of the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants Association, the Durham Business and Pro fessional Chain, the Durham Committee on Negro' Affairs, the Kiwanis and Rotary (31ubs and other civic-minded or ganizations. SATURDAY gsssiaSaqt Publisher . Ulter L. *. Ausmr CLATHAN M. H08S H ALBEPT SMITH Managing EdHer Publifhed Every Saturday by the UNITED PUBMSHEBS, Inc. at 438 fe. PetU^w St Entered as sec«n4 class matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Caretlnm under tiie Aet of Ifareb 8, ll7t. NetiMial Advertislnc Representative: Inter- (tate ITnJted Newspapeai. M. E. JOHNSON __ W. A. HENNESSEE APRlt 28, 1056 — Businen Manager Advertising Manager No guarantee of publication of unsolicited material. Letters to the editor for publicatien must be signed and confined to SOa words. Subscription Rates: 10c per copy; Six months, $2.00; One Year, $3.00 (Foreign Countries, $4.00 per ysar.) Life Is Like That By H. ALfiEKT SMITH ' MAN M ETERNAL BEING The only abiding and eternal reality in the total realm of existence, aside from God and the world of invisible realities, is the soul of man, individual personality, that indellijable something in man that makes a man a man and places him high above all created beings that wc linow and makes him the crown and glory of God’s creation. Everything else is destined to pass away and belongs to that class or category of realities which the poet' styles as “perish ing things of clay.” Only the ^irit or soul remains untouched by the den\olishing forces of time and the corroding chemis try of age. Brevity OJ Li}e Dr. George A. Gordon, late minister of the Old South ■Church in Boston, Mass., has a passage In the story of his life that calls attention to the fraili- ty of our mortal bodies and the brevity of our present existence, a passage which, if read without faith in the Christian revelation of man’s immortality, adds noth ing to one’s peace of mind and makes our existence here a sort of a hollow experience, a short march through time into eternal nothinlKness. Mere Shadows 'In the old South Church, there are two black marble tab lets on which arc dimly inscrib ed the names of fifteen ministers who, having fmished their la bors here, have gone to their rest, to the unaided eye, these names are invisible, mere sha dows on the wall, fitting sym bols of the shadows that these ministers and their congrega tions have become to the men and women of today, pathetic and at the same time humorous tokens of the fate awaiting the present minister and his people, shadows on the wall-all are destined to become in due ason.” No Escape From this fateful extinction, this complete removal from the scene of our earthly life and ac tivities, nobody escapes. The great and the small share it alike, the rich and the poor Even the corporate immortalit of creative geniuses in the fiel of thought, religion, invention, etc. will at last come to an end because it is tied up with the fate of this time-bound planet; and their very names and works will finally rest in a common oblivion with those of the least among forgotten humans. Have Crumbled For many many ■yearsr achae- ologists, with spade and shovel, have spent labor, time and for tune in search of ancient civili zations which have completely disappeared. Magnificient tem ples, once crowded with serious minded worshippers seeking the favor and blessings of the deity, and vast arenas, the scene of bloody gladiatorial -combats and stirring athletic events witness ed by thousands of cheering, pleasure-loving spectators, have crumbled into dust.» Mute Evidence Streets once thronged with f moving, pulsing multitudes, homes, palatial and stately homes, less pretentious and humble, once the scene of fami ly gatherings as real as ours today; family groups that shar ed in life and death, joy and sorrow, laughter and tears have vanished without a trace. Na tions that once waxed great and powerful and gloried in their might and splendor are no more. Here and there, we find broken relics in crumbling nwrble that mutely point to their former existence, but providing meager or -scant historical information. Must Succumb Such total extinction awaits our present civilization and others yet to come. Even this old earth with its majestic mountains, snow-capped and sun-crowned-with its forested hills and verdant prairies, with its awe-inspiring oceans and tu multous rivers-must succumb to the devastating impact of time Spirit Survives But surviving the destructive fury of these forces of anihila- tion is the immortal spirit of man, individual personality. Man’s body, the abode of the spirit and the temple of God, will perish in the wreckage of the cosmic order. But the spirit, the essential you, the essential me, will live on untouched, un harmed, beyond the forces of disruption and corruption, decay and dissolution. And this be cause man’s spirit is consub- stantial with God's and the ground of individual personality is in the spiritiuil nature of God. Paul Mindful The apostle Paul was evident ly deeply appreciative of this basic truth. And, because he was, we do not wonder that he could contemplate the destruc tion of the natural order with perfect serenity and divine com posure. For he knew that the essential, living Paul was a child of eternity and would live with God forever when his life on earth was done. That’s why he could calmly, and yet ardently, say, “We look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen; foe the things that are. sees are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eter nal. Not Strange Neither is it strange to hear Paul declare, though conscious that the evening shadows were already falling upon his brief day of life on earth, “But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed from day to day.” And It is good to hear his words, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle l>e dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” And we find that no man’s faith in the immortality of the soul has ever been expressed in mood more triumphant than that indicated in the words, “Death is swallowed up in vie tory, “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory.” Timing Of Civil Rights Legislation Brings On Charges Of Politics A New Group Has Been Formed To Carry On His Work Editor’s Note: The following comments represent the think ing of Mr. Baker, whose views are sometimes aired on these pages. These views are not necessarily those of this news paper. By Alfred Baker Lewis More than three years after his election, and as another election approaches, the Eisen hower Administration has final ly come up with a program for civil rights. It is a good pro gram, as far as it goes. A propo sal for a Federal Fair Employ ment Practice Law, with en forcement powers, which Presi dent Truman advocated, has been omitted. However, any person who favors civil rights should hope for the adoption of this measure. The measures proposed dupli cate similar bills which a bi partisan group of civU rights advocates had already intro duced, except for a new propo sal which would give a person denied any of his civil rights the right to a civil suit for. damages against the person responsible. This Is of somewhat doubtful value since. In the South where a Negro’s rights nre most likely to be denied, the chance of get ting a Jury to award damages is very poor, judging by the in ability to convict white men who have killed Negroes. What makes the whole thing look like a purely political maneuver is the timing of the introduction of the program. If President Eisenhower and his Cabinet had really wanted these measures passed, they would have introducied them in 'the previous Congress when Repub licans controlled both houses of Congress, and a Republican was Chairman of the Senate Judici ary Committee wftlch has to re port out these bills. Or, if they had introduced these measures earlier in this Congress, when the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee was Senator Kilgore of Virginia, a supporter of civil rights, there would have been a good chance of having them re ported out and possibly passed. But instead the Eisenhower Ad ministration has acted after Kil gore died, so that by the opera tion of seniority Senator East land, a determined opponent of civil rights legislation, has be come Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Conse quently, the likelihood of any civil rights legislation being re ported out of Committee Is now very little. The Republicans must think that Negroes have very little political intelUgence If they (Continued on Page Seven) WE DON T LUTE YOUR RELIGION OURS IS better! WE ARE AHGLO SftOKIS- RACE-AND , HATE ALL NON-WMTES! y/ELL-WE DOM T UKE VOUR COLOR* YOUR SWNSMRK^ \ ' YOU'RE . ' ' inferior; WE HATE '^^ERICA Spiritual Insight “HARD BUT GLORIOUS UFE” (SALUTE TO REV. T. C. GRAHAM) By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAISD "We mttii prove ourselves genu ine ministers of God whatever we have to go through—patient endurance of troubles....We bless many with true riches...” II Cor. 6:4,9. ^e salute this week a noble representative of the hard but glorious life of the Christian ministry—The rteverend T. C. Graham. We honor one who has placed his life on the altar of sacrificial service in this com munity now for thirty-five yearsi We pause for a word of honor and encouragement for this servant of God in the Chris tian ministry. It is so easy to take for granted those who serve us. Indeed; to serve the same people for so many years calls for the graces and virtues of the Christ in a rare degree. Among contemporary ministers, this-our beloved brother-holds the record in terms'" of yearrof service of God for his blessed ministry of thirty five years. Such a record of service calls for spiritual qualities of a rare degree. He had to have that power which the Christ himself ordered the apostles to wait for in the upper room. Why? For thirty-five years will bring many hardships, trials, tribula tions, criticisms, oppositions, hmdrances and discourage ments. In a long ministry like this you learn what Jesus was telling his disciples under the shadows of the Cross..“In Pa tience ye shall possess your soul...” Understanding is essen tial for a ministry of such du ration. He had to have the, gift of'r'^olvlng nXisunders’tandings. And to stay this long as a minis ter of one group you must have that quality of the Christ called forgiveness. In thirty five years, he had to forgive many and forgive much. And to stand one place for Jesus this long, one must have genuine love of people. We salute him for that rare soul quality called humility. He has humility, that symbol of true Christian greatness. The Master commends and requires this noble quality of soul. To know him and associate with him is to see and recognize in him the Christian virtue of hu mility. There is little of the showmanship of pride and arro- ganceT His human contacts and relations are seasoned with the GRACE OF HUMILITY. His words and actions are set within the framework of humbleness. He seems to have learned well by a rare spiritual discipline the wisdom of the Master’s words...“Pride goeth before de struction, and a haughty spirit before a^.fall...’' Humility vas essential for his long ministry In this community. One is readily impressed by the quiet dignity of this minis ter of the Gospel. There is a halo of holy graciousness about him. This dignity has been a dominant trait of his personali ty. This dignity gives him minis ting a jury to award damages Is men. This dignity must lave carried him through many or deals and turned the tide in many a battle for him In his ministry here for the past thirty five years. Capital Close Up . “Honest Ike" After the President’s veto of the Cooley farm bill, loaded with unsimple, long range im plications of “Farmers in a Changing World,” we can say “Honest Ike,” with heartfelt sin cerity and thankfulness. For in this election year the President has stood fast in his position on the two principal issues which in large part will determine how the voting goes in November— civil rights and farming. On both he has refused to be stam peded into promises or actions which he was convinced were ill-advised. He has done so, ^ot obstinately, but thoughtfully. Cutting throv^'h the Catch Phrase We are not “for Ike” because he leads “the Party of Lincoln.” We know that the GOP is clut tered and impeded with “Party of Lincoln” babblers, and “Par ty of Eisenhower” Up-servers, who, as we have said elsewhere of the local GOP “machine” now meeting its first challenge in the District of Columbia, "neither follow the pattern, think the thoughts, nor speak the language.” Both parties, re gardless of catch phrases, have within them meaningful leader ship, but It is once in a very long time when leadership in either major party (and we are concerned with the major par ties) acts on the facts of national life, rather tthan on the facts of vote-getting, on a critical Issue. In a Changing World In civil rights we have the changing world of desegregation laws posfng grave problems “Tor “the North” as well as for "the South.” In agriculture we have the changing world of rapidly accelerated mechanization for cing new economic and social BY CONSTANCE DANIEL problems on urban as well as farming areas. Sooner or later, as Walter Lippmann has cor rectly pointed out, the social se curity principle will have to be applied to farming, to cancel the need for easing the shock of change with artificially support ed prices for which we all pay, just as we all pay for the kind of action taken 'r. the field of civil rights. CR Omnibus Leaves Sub committee On April 18, the Civil Rights Pmnibus B^l, HR-627, again before the House Sutf-commlttee on Judiciary, was reconsidered by that body, wnich recommen ded it favorably, amended by Administration proposals for the creation of a , bipartisan civil rights commission, and action authority for the Attorney General in civil rights threats or violations. As approved and moved on to the full House Ju diciary Committee, where It Is expected to pass, the CR Omni bus used the language of the Brownell proposals in spelling out the creation of a Civil Rights Division directly under an As sistant Attorney General In the Department of Justice, and in protection for voters In the exer cise of the franchise. The Celler provisions for CR violation pen alties, outlawing school and transportation segregation, and setting up a joint Senate-House CR Committee were incorporat ed. Sostland ^Committee Limbo The Eastland Committee In the Senate, which received the Brownell (Administration) pro posals, last week, has voted to hold hearings on them, but has consigned them to its limbo with other proposed CR legisla tion, 'pending, it may safely be assumed, build-up for a fight-to the finish filibuster on the Floor of the Upper House. Burroughs on Political Support We jotted down these com ments made by Miss Nannie Burroughs, a year ago, in casual conversation, because we thought that they were pithy, pertinent and timeless: “Any national party must state Its policy in race relations, unequivocally, and make local political organizations know that it means wliat it says. Such policy must be uncompromising, unbiased and without color. “I will be a part of anything constructive, but I will not be a thhig apart.” “The Negro vote is not in any body’s pocket. Anyone who tells you so is deluding you.” DAR’s Up One Ring The Resolutions Committee of the DAR, in national convention here, last week, refused to con sider a resolution urged by Southern State delegates in sup port of segregated schools. “After our experience with Marian Anderson we wouldn't think of doing anything along the line of opposition to the Su preme Court ruling. We don't want to get Into that,” said Resolution Chairman, Mrs. Throcmorton of Des Moines, Iowa. Neither, however, did “the Daughters,” voice support of the Supreme Court's desegregation decisions. We'd say that the la dies are up one rung of the lad der on their hard climb toward progress. Omega Head Deplores "Catfish Culture" For many weeks we have marked "Catfish Culture” for (Continued on Page Seven)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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April 28, 1956, edition 1
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