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I PAGE TWO THE CAROLINA TIMES SATUBDAY, MAY 5, 1956 WHAT PRICE POUTICAL OFFICE? It is a reflection on the leadership, statesmanship, in telligence and morality of North Carolina that only in a very few instances is there a candidate running for pub lic office in the 1956 political campaign in this state who has n*t indicated that he con siders segregation the main issue and therefore finds it necessary to violently declare himself in favor of it. In spite of the fact that there are many issues such as schools, roads, atomic energy, foreign policy and farms, the average North Carolina candidate for public office has found only one to scream about, and that is keeping the Negro a victim of segregation. It is a sad commentary that candidates running for public office in North Carolina find it more important to bow to the will of the Patriots, DUPTC and such organi zations instead of that of the U. S. Supreme Court and the Constitution. The state has sunk to a low level when the only way in which one can be assured of being elected to public office is to lambast Ne groes. Even when three North Carolina Congressmen failed to sign such an out rageous document as the Manifesto authored by a group of southerners, it was a si^al to set machinery in motion to get their political scalps. Thus, in the May pri mary, you may see the only three men now running for public office who have shown evidence of having moral courage politcally slaughter ed. This newspaper wonders if white supremacy is what it claims to be if it has to strike down a man- simply because he has a conviction that is in keeping with Christianity and the U. S. Constitution which he has sworn to uphold. Is any man or group of men free who are such slaves to tradi tion that they have to deny the right of other men a free conscience and the right to express it? As long as these conditions obtain in the South, It is certain that we will never in these parts be able to produce men of presi dential calibre. It is absolute ly impossible to feed a man on race hatred, white supremacy and the like from the time of his birth until he is full grown and then expect him to develop into a statesman of national stature. It now appears that Con gressmen C. B. Deane, Harold D. Cooley and Thurmond Chatham are the only repre sentatives of this state who have shown any evidence of moral courage on the ques tion of segregation. It is our sincere hope that the intelli gent white and Negro voters of the state will be sufficient to save all three of them from political defeat. If they are able to weather the storm, it will sound a new day in North Carolina for political office holders, a day when men will not have to stultify their con science just to be elected to public office. WHERE E15E CAN NEGROES GO . BUTT0MNAACP2 A DISSERVICE TO NEGROES Colliers, nationally famous magazine, publishes an arti cle in its May 11 edition en titled “Segregation Is Not Confined to the South.” As we see it, the article can have but one purpose in view, and that is to defend southern segregation and take some of the heat off the South that has been focused on it by the unavenged murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi, the Auth- erine Lucy affair in Birming ham, Alabama, the Montgom ery, Alabama bus boycott and the Nat King Cole episode. THE CAROLINA TIMES hates segregation, whether it be North or South, East or West. But when a mag azine such as Colliers at tempts to convey the idea that segregation above the Mason- Dixon line has a similarity to that in the South, we think it is stretching the truth a little too far. Even the article it self belies the fact when it re fers to comments of Borough President Hulan Jack, a Ne gro. Whoever heard of a Ne gro holding such a high muni cipal office as that of Mr. Jack in a state of the deep South where he would not even have the opportunity of protesting or commenting on racial ghet tos. This newspaper does not intend that this editorial should defend segregation in New York or anywhere else. We have seen conditions in Chicago, Detroit, Philadel phia, New York City and oth er northern and western cit ies that are revolting. The vast difference, however, is that the law offers no pro tection in the north to such and will not uphold the right of men to crush others under their heels. We admit that there are sections of Harlem that are bad. We also know that in a majority of instances these sections are inhabited by Ne groes from southern states who have gone North in an attempt to escape from the toils of segregation in their native homes where they were the victims of inade quate schools, poverty-strick en incomes, poor housing and other vicious southern prac tices. Here they have found to their disappointment that the damage already done is too great and has made them unable to cope with the broader life in a northern city. They however, at least have the satisfaction of know ing that the law protects them from murder, the bombing of their homes and other threats of bodily injury. In many cities and rural sections of the South, Ne groes are fired from jobs, in timidated and even killed for joining the NAACP or ask ing for ^ual educational op portunities. Yes, the riots in northern cities are disgrace ful as well as the often suave methods of segregating Ne groes. We think, however, the difference lies in the fact that such is not deliberately upheld by the law, and a Ne gro is not shot down in cold blood simply because he at tempts to use the ballot to better his lot. We think Colliers has taken a backhanded slap at Negroes of this country. Its article does them a great disservice and was apparently written with the deliberate hope of alien ating northern white friends from helping further in the case of securing human dig nity fo^ Negroes. Editor’s Note: The follow ing editorial was published by the Norfolk (Va.) Journal and Uuide on March 24,1956. Where, Indeed, does itie Southern Negro have to go ex cept to the Mational Association jior the Advancement ot Colored x'eople? It is the only legally inlluen- tial instrument* that is able to get the case fur the Negro’s le gal rights heard before the bar of justice. It is the only instru ment for preventing those who would destroy these rights from doing so. It is the only means of protecting those rights. All but 27 of the 128 members of Congress from eleven South ern States signed the Southern manifesto against the Supreme Courtr Among the twenty-seven who did not sii^n is Ki£PR£- oENTATlVE HAKOLD D. COOLEY of North Carolina, who described the document as "dangerous, calculated to ag gravate the situation.” MR. COOLEY also said that he believed it "holds out a false hope that there are legal means through which the Supreme Court decisions can and may be reversed." MR. COOLEY is a lawyer. Some people wonder why, de spite the sound and fury raised by reactionaries, the NAACP is growing in stature and influence among colored and white people the South. One reason for this is that colored people in the South have no representation in government, except at times a man of MR, COOLEY’s experi ence and judgiaent, will come forward and express a word of caution when the anti-Negro maj9rity appears to be going overboard. There were a few such men in the recently ad journed session of the Virginia General Assembly. What do Negroes in the South have to look forward to from their representatives in Con gress when nineteen senators and eighty-two repreAntatives in the Mouse from XI states pre sent to Congress a joint “decla ration of principles,” which tias for its purpose stripping Ne groes of all legal or personal rights? They chant that “outsiders' have destroyed 'amicable race relations in the South.” Arnica ble for whom? As long as South ern patterns of race relations held Negroes to an inferior “place” in the Southern econo my they were satisfactory to the political and economic interests which formed and maintained the patterns. But these relations were built on sand. They were an illusion. They did not contain the ingre dients of neigbborliness and good-will for Negroes who sought to rise above the level of economic and social destitution. A show of hands had to come. It was inevitable. If the Supreme Court decision in the public school cases should by any chance fall, there will also fall every civil rights de cision rendered by the Supreme Court during the past 25 years, and every social and economic gain made thereby. Virginia has two Republican representatives in Congress, MESSRS. BROYHILL and POFF. - They signed the mani festo along with their Demo cratic colleague.! North Caro lina has one Republican, Mr. JONAS, of the Charlotte dis trict. He also signed. The lone Republican from Florida signed. More and more Negroes in the South will join the NAACP and will throw financial support to it as these stark facts become ihore and more apparent. “THE COURTS HAVE NOW BROKEN THEIR CRIP. NEXT STEP ... r ? ^SOOTHERN PRESSOiRE GROUPS^ Spiritual Insight “ANGER: A DEADLY SIN” By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAISD IKE NOT THE NAN, SAYS UIIB! TO THE EDIIOt By DR. A. H. GORDON, Salisbury, North Carolina YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR - POUTICALLY Of late, there has been con siderable, earnest discussion and soul searching among thoughtful Negroes as to which way we should vote in November. Should we cast our ballot in the traditional way, with the Democrats, or should we align with the Re publicans? This question has become a burning one in Durham since a fortnight ago when Val Washington, direc tor of Minorities of the Re publican National Commit- addressed the April meet ing of the NAACP. It had al ready been ignited by state ments attributed to Roy Wil kins, executive secretary of the NAACP and its usual spokesman, who advised Ne groes in a recent speech to consider “swapping the known devil for the susptect- ed witch.” The “known devil” has been widely interpreted as the Democratic Party and the “suspected witch,” of course, the Republicans. It cannot be denied by the most casual observer that the subject of which party holds the most hope for the race has aroused more interest among Negroes lately than at any other time in the past thirty years. In Durham, as an in dication, some 500 persons turned out to hear Val Wash ington at the NAACP meet ing. That attendance has been excelled only by the appear ance of some national NAACP figure, Uke Thurgood Mar shall. Washington, a high Re publican party official, said it was the first time he had been invited to the state. And, a man of Mr. Washing ton’s long years of political experience does not make trips for the fun of shaking hands only. Notwithstanding Mr. Wil kins’ disavowal of urging partisan support, the predom inance of power of southern reactionary representatives in the Congress has given Ne groes a bad taste in the mouth for Democrats. If one would take the trouble to look a- round in North Carolina, for example, he would discover that in most cases the loud est voices in defiance of the Supreme Court’s decision, from the Governor on down, belongs to Democrats. The elevation of the violently an ti-Negro Senator Eastland to chairmanship of the vital Judiciary Committee has be come the symbol of the par ty’s double-cross of Negroes and is, in the minds of some, the last straw. It is well that Negroes give thoughtful consideration for the manner in which they use the ballot. For under our form of government, it is the most effective means of right ing injustStes. But we would like to insert this bit of ad vice for tho&e who are bat tling their consciences with the problem of switching allegiances in November. It must be remembered that, no matter how many high sound ing platitudes a party plat form may contain or how many overtures a candidate may make for your support, the ultimate, hard political fact of life remains that no candidate nor party will give you something for nothing. If we get any consideration from any party or candidate, it will be because—and only because of thisr-we have sufficient voting Jx)wer to assume a posture of bargaining streng th. In short, if we can assure a candidate or party victory or defeat at an election, we can get what we desire. Oth erwise, all of our soul-search ing about the best party is academic. You get what you pay for in this world—at least in the political world. So, those of us who may be spending needless energy wrestling with the problem of how to vote in November would do well to channel some of this energy into the effort to get more names of Negroes on the registration books. It seems to this writer that Roy Wilkins of the NAACP and others have made a serious mis take, showing lack of political astuteness in advising Negroes to vote for the Republican^j^e- sidential ticket in the gencj ral election. Although many Ne groes and others give Eisenhow er credit for doing something' for Negroes in his administra tion, it is the contention of tiiis writer that the President has done far less than ills duty to guarantee the rights of minori^ citizens of tjiis country, includ ing the Negroes. I hold that Eisenhower is due no credit for the great decision of the United States Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Warren ber cause Eisenhower appointed the great Chief JuiStice merely payment of a oolitical debt for Warren’s aid to ftim in carrying California, and Eisenhower heui done absolutelu nothing as chief executive to imvlement the De cision. Some say that the Negro should support the Republicans this time because when the Democrats are in power, or have the presidency, the Demo cratic reactionaries from the! South, men like Senator George of Georgia, have the chairman ship of important Congressional committees. The falsity of this argument lies in the fact that even if the President is a Re- ^blkan, these ^me isoutbern S&cnonaries are stilt powerful due to the fact that the Demo crats may still have control of Congress as they have now un der Eisenhower, or a coalition may be formed between re actionary Republicans and re actionary Democrats as we also have now,'Jf- the President, is. weak, be he Republican or Democrat, these “dedicated re actionaries” are going to ke^ the Negro strictly “behind the eight ball” in all matters of im portance. Just as a strong President, Abraham Lincoln,^freed the Ne groes with their own assistance, so the Negro’s salvation today can be achieved with the assis tance of a strong president, be he Democrat or Republican. Since we already know that Eisenhower is a weak president we know he cannot and will not help us. It seems that the strong est man in the race now is a Democrat - namely, Estes Ke- fauver. He will do something about the problem. “Sanballat was angry and greatly enraged...“Neh. 4:1. Anger, a deadly, poisonous explosive feeling, has been rightly classed ampng the seven sins. We have here the story of a man who exploded in a fit of anger because a good work was going on. This is anger at its worst. Such anger is the root of much of man’s unhappiness and rnisery. What is anger but a blind, unreasonable and explo sive emotion or feeling? And, as such, anger, is an enemy of Man’s spiritual life. It has an adverse effect upon the whole man—his body,, mind and soul. It upsets the normal body functions. It warps the mind. And above all it hinders noble soul growth. All of us have had angry outbursts followed by a sense of shame and guilt. When anger takes over reason and judgment go out of the window. Thus anger seen in the light of its tragic results of unhappi ness, tears, reg.ets, heartaches and sufferings is one of the deadly sins among us human beings. Anger is the loot cause of so much unhappini'ss. That fit of temper makes you unhappy. And it spreads its poisonous in fluences to those around you. Yes, it affects you and those with whom you have vital re lations. The husband has a fit of anger; the unfortunate after effects spread to the wife and children. A fit of anger at home may upset the teacher in the class room. That explosive fit of anger spoils many a day’s work. A fit of anger may affect all those we touch during the day. Let us then beware of anger, one of the deadly sins. Anger hinders soul or spiri tual growth. Yes, it hinders soul growth because it is childish immatiurity. Anger is a sign of weakness, ht ytrar anger yotr say to the world I do not know how to manage or handly life’s little difficulties. Anger is a sign of littleness rather than nobility of soul. An angry out burst is a signal of sph'itual weakness. Anger strangeles the soul and puts it in a crippling straight jacket. If we are to grow spiritually, we must guard against the deadl> sin of anger. Anger has defeated many a human being in his or her as pirations or 3!ms. Many have stumbled and failed at this point. We all know people whose tempers are forever get ting them in trouble. Too many lack patience and lose their heads too easily. We can bring that anger under control with a process of spiritual discipline. Anger keeps many of us from the noble spiritual achievement of self mastery. I know a man who has been running from place to place. Why? Because of his explosive fits of anger. He has never remained on one job long because of his explosive “fits of anger. We can overcome th tional slavery. How?, and face it honestly; anS God’s help in subduing It. If you are tempted to anger, count to ten. Capital Close Up . lABOR, IHE NEGRO THE SOUIN DURHAM LABOR JOURNAL (March 22, 1956) BE SURE TO REGISTER AND VOTE SATVRDAY L. E. AUSTIN Or CafSila (Otite0 MAY 5, 1956 r If r itY CLATHAN M. ROSS H. ALBERT SMITH . Publisher Editor Managing Editor Published Every Saturday by the UNITED PUBLISHERS. Inc. at 436 E, Pe^igrew St. Entered u second class matter at the Post Otftee at Durham, North Carolina under the Act of ICarch S. 1870. Natkmal Advertising R«preaentative: Inter state United New^iapets. M. E. JOHNSON 1_ Business Manager W. A. HENNESSEE Advertising Manager No guarantee of publication of unsolicited material. Letters to the editor for~publlcatian must be signed and confined to 600 words. Subscription Rates; 10c per copy; Six months, $2.00; One Year, $3.00 (Foreign Countries, $4.00 per year.) The South today is in a state of frenzy caused by the May 17, 1954 decision that segregation is unconstitutional. Many people recognize the problem brought about by the decision. This group can be di vided into several groups. The lead in the battle is being taken by hot-headed extremists and ambitious politicans rather than the cool level-headed citizens who believe that racial differ ences can be worked out in every community by responsible white and Negro citizens. • ***• This decision naturally cre ates a strain upon organized la bor in thte South. Labor has had a bitter struggle to get what little organization they have in the South. A great many large industrial companies have used Negroes to break strikes, and a vast majority of them use the racial issue to hold down wages and working conditions. As a result of Big Business using the racial issue to hold down wages and working con ditions, many unions have in stituted educational program^ to show its members these bread and butter facts. Organized Labor and the Ne gro in the South have made re markable progress because they ibive understood the fact that both must co-operate in order to survive. Big Business has found it harder and harder to turn the white worker against the Negro worker, but the Su preme Court decision is rever sing this trend. Now another development is taking place. It is almost elec tion time' in the South, and from every nook and cranny appears a savior. The story is the same from all of them and it is-I am against segregation and will re sist it as long as I am able to stand—Most of these Johnny come latelys ar eagainst all so cial advances which the work ing people gained under Frank lin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. ^ Labor has not, can not and will not endorse any candidate because of his stand on segrega tion. We are aware that almost all the candidates in the South are for segregation. The things that interest u.s are the bread and butter facts and the candi dates’ past record if any. By bread and butter facts, I mean we want to know how the can didate feels about unemploy ment compensation, workman’s compensation, the minimum wage, the loan shark problem, taxes, child-labur laws and the thousand and one things that go into making good wages better (Please turn to Page 7) Black Middle Class—Again We appreciate a letter to Ihe Editor of the Juarnai and Guide (Norfolk and points East), written from Virginia Union by a Mrs. Olive Layton Harris, in which she disagreed with our comment on E. Franklin Frazier’s “Boiirgeosie Noire” and Fred Morrow of the White House staff—Fred had taken the North Carolina “Guards men” to task for spending money on a vacation cruise. He thought they should have used it for a more worthy purpose. Critic’s View Most of Mrs. Htiris’s lot>g and interesting letter set forth her views—^which are shared by many—on what could be ac complished, economically a'ld clvically, if only Negroes pooled their resources as a group, and spent less for non-essentials. And, as often happens, she pointed to the respect which Jews as a people command by virtue of their financial com petence. Jewish and Negro Backgrounds No correlation There is, of course, no corre lation between the basically ag ricultural background of the Negro, and the historically com mercial background of the Jew ish people, forced off the land, through the centuries, by pro scription. By way ol the ligures, which, unfortunately, will not “substantiate her observations,” we have asked Dr Frazier to send the lady n copy of his Alain Locke Conference ad dress (1955) to which we re ferred. She will find In It much of the data she sneks ' "Kisinff''’ People It happens that we’re Yan kee from "way back,’’ and were reared integrated. In "Old Cam bridge,” around the comer from BY CONSTANCE DANIEL Harvard, where ostentation is still considered one of the seven deadly sins. We agree complete ly that it has no place in cul ture, but know that this is a lesson which most be learned by all “rising” people, Uack or white—and_ there are as many kinds of Negroes cultnrally- speaking, as there are of any other group. Intellectual Ostentation—Just as Bad Personally, we’re “agin” ostentation in all its forms. Therefore we are “agin” the kind of pedantic self-righteous ness which demands that Ne groes as a group go around in sack cloth and ashes, doing pe nance for any pennies they may acquire, or for any relaxation not tagged 'educational,” 'in which they may be disposed to engage, whether that happens to be painting, music, dancing, boat-racing or what-ever-accor- ding to purse inclination. As it umed out, Mr. Morrow’s “Guardsmen,” like many other citizens of the “black middle class,” had been giving gener ously and participating actively in important organized effort — local and natioiwl. We think that the manner in which they and thousands like them choose to relax, is their own affair. They’ll all probably be better and less tense citizens for “let ting off steam,” without a pre scription. Must we be obviously virtuous? From where we sit, our need, as a “rising” group, for avoid ing intellectual and “do-gooder” ostentation is just as great as the need for avoidance of ma terial display. All ostentation is equally outside the realm oi culture. As the Lady from Vir ginia has so well said, “We have a long way to gol” Snowden Is Liberal Arts Dean The appointment of Dr. Ii'rank M. Snowden, on leave from Howard University as Cultural Attache at Rome, to be Dean of Howard’s College of Liberal Arts, succeeding retiring Dean St. Clair Price, is occasioning much rejoicing in the Capital. Dr. Snowden, Harvard all the way tlirough, is as popular on Howard campus as he has been abroad—the kind of educator who wiU attract up-and-coming students. "The Negro” Hummer Theme at Michigan V. Each year, Michigan Univer sity programs its Stnnm*r Sat, Sion around a central theme'. This year the theme is, “The ContribuUon of the Negro to American Life.” Jumping the Bus Decision Gun Faces all q.ypr town were red, laat week, as desegregation- happy reporters, ru«|iing too fast on the Supreme Court’s or der dismissing tne South Caro lina bus company’s appeal, jumped to the conclusion that “Other naU had been driven in the transportation-segregation coffin—and put every paper in town on the spoti What the Court did, as its re- fer^ce tto a sinular case (non- racial), Slaker v. Connor, was to rule the appeal “frivolous” ^ause it had been brought be fore the Supreme Court before a lower court decision had be come final. At this point—as lawyers here unanimously agree all else is assumption and wishful thinking. In all likelihood, however, the Flem ing Bus Case will work its way back to the Supreme Court, properly channeled, before long. ” ®'®8ntime, bus compa-. (Please turn to Pag* 7)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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May 5, 1956, edition 1
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