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PAGE TWO THK CABQ1.INA TIM1S8 SATURDAY. MARCH 2S, 1957 milHG WHITE SPEAKBIS KIR NEGRO AUDIENCE It is becoming more and more risky, and very often extremely embarrassing, to have the average white person as a guest speaker at Negro gatherings. Very few of them know what to say and how to say it on these oc casions, and we would like to suggest that more time and effort be placed on screening the type of white person invited to address Negro audiences. The serious need for this was first strongly brought out several years ago when the late Dr*. F. D. Bluford, presi dent of A. & T. College invited Gov. Luther Hodges to address a gathering at his school. To the consternation of Dr. Bluford and oth er members of the A. and T. faculty and to the admiration of a majority of Negro citu of this state, the students proceeded to the governor’s pronimdation of the word N gro and other offensive remarks and manner- isins. Someone should inform the few remaining Negro "Uncle Toms” on the state payroll that their white boss may be a hero to them because he signs their salary checks or is now a member of Congress and therefore in po sition to give them the nod for a promotion or some other achievement, but in the esti mation of other members of the race he may considered a low stinker, or just another cheap poUtician who will sell his soul for public office. Because of his stand and attitude on civil rights, Senator Kerr Scott was as much out of place at the “Rural Progress" award gathering at Roxboro this week as a pig would be in a parlor. He proved this to be true when he seized the opportunity on an occasion devoted to glorifying farming to lambaste the civil rights legislation of Presi dent Eisenhower that is now before Congress. His abortive attempt to ram hisideas of civil righte down the throats of Negroes of this state will get nowhere and will only result in making them more determined to struggle on until human dignity has been achieved, even for the humblest citizen of this nation. If he got an approving hand and congratulations from the few “Uncle Toms” who were re sponsible for inviting him to Roxboro, he may know it here and now that they do not represent the thinking of the intelligent and respectable Negro leadm of North Carolina, rhether Senator Scott, Governor Hodges other state officials like it or not, there viAl be no let up in the efforts of Negroes to thieve full citizenship in this state and the remainder of the South. Within the frame work of democracy we will fight for our rights in the courts, in the press, churches, schools and in every conceivable place where one or two of us are gathered. In doing so we will not be boastful, we will not resort to violence, we will be calm, courteous and polite, but firm. We fully intend to continue to thimder on the conscience of our white brethern until they accept without qualifica tions the teachings of Jesus that all men are brothers and the teachings of the democratic way of life which holds that “all men are created equaL” Senator Scott probably has his mind set on building his fences for his re-election to the U. S. Senate. Sometimes in the course of such events, men will sell their souls, but alas, “what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” NO TEACHER SH0RTA6E IN NORTH CAROUNA There is no shortage of competent teachers in North Carolina, but there is a shortage of competent white teachers plus an over sup ply of prejudice among state school officials. Both of these, sad to say, are operating to the detriment of our white school children. it intelligent school officials and intelligent parents would rather have their childreni taught by a substandard teacher who is white than a teacher with an "A" certificate who is a Negro appears to us to be about as stupid an attitude as can be assumed by sensible persons. It is an awful price to pay for be ing a southern white person, shows con clusively that slavery still exists in the South and that it is now our white people who are the slaves. The cry over the state about the shortage of first-class teachers in many of our white schools appears to us be foolish when there is an over supply of Negro teachers, many of whom hold the master’s degree from the nation’s leading colleges and universities. If given the opportunity they could supply the unanswered demand for teachers ot grade “A” standing in our white schools. This would be far better than surrendering to custom and employing substandard teachers solely because they are white. If southern white people can endure Ne groes cooking their food, nursing their bab ies, shaving and cutting their hair, we see no reason why thy can’t endure seeing their children taught by Negro teachers. It appears to us that the desired ^oal should be the best possible teachers for all our children, without regard to race, creed or color. AID FOR BOMBED VICTIMS IN ALABAMA The national appeal now being made to raise $100,000 to rebuild the churches and homes in Montgomery, Alabama that were bombed during and after the bus boycott should meet the approval of all persons who are lovers of freedom. The approval should be expressed in dollars and not words, there fore, we urge oUr readers to do all in their power to influence our churches, businesses, fraternities, clubs and individuals to send a donation of as great amoimt as possible to the Montgomery Improvement Association, 530 S. Union Street, Montgomery, Alabama. Two of the churches that were completely wrecked had no insurance and, therefore, will have to be rebuilt entirely out of funds raised in the campaign now going on. If each organization and individual will make even a small contribution, the necessary amount can be raised without any undue strain being placed on any one. Therefore, it is our sin cere hope that the appeal will have a favor able response in every part of the country. The appeal should be of unusual interest to North Carolinians in that it was launched on the birthday of a former native son of this state, Benjamin S. Turner, who was taken to Alabama as a child during slavery, secretly educated, but finally rose to the position of Congressman. Turner was among the first of his race to be elected to Congress after slavery and served from 1871 to 1873. The $100,000 being asked for is small in comparison with what it is going to take to replace all of the bombed churches and homes. It leaves a plenty for Negro citizens of Montgomery to do, and we urge our read ers to lend their financial aid and influence to this most worthy cause. THE CAROLINA TIMES MAIN OFFICE — 43C EAST PETTIGREW STREET Phones S-0C71 and 2-2913 — Durham, North Carolina Published At Durham, North Carolina Every Saturday By THE UNITED PUBLISHERS, Inc. Entered aa second class matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Carolina un der the Act »f March 3,1879. £ AUSTIN, Publisher CLATHAt} ROSS, Editor JESSE GRAY, Advertising Mar. M. E. JOHNSON, Controller WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE — 304 N. CHURCH ST. — PHONE 5-0869 MRS. VELMA HOPKINS. Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES 13.00 - One Ye«r Ten Cents Single Copy |2.00 — Sbc Months |4.00 — Foreign Couqt^jes. National AdvertisiM Representatives INTERSTATE UNITED REPRESENTATIVES, Inc. 545 Fifth Avuro* N«w Yonc 17, New Yon Phomi HUuat HIll - 2-5452 A. H. CORDON'S Dr. Gordon Facing The Issue PEACE AND HARMONY Billions of words are being written and ipoken these days about the iniamous seventy two billion dollar budget President Eisenhower hag proposed as necessary to enable the United States to try to run the world next tors, 'newspaper writers, poli ticians and statesmen have admitted that there is little chance in ever reducing this criminal burden upon the American people unless it is accomplished by reducing the enormous and immoral ex penditures of our government on wars and preparation lor wars. Even Eisenhower him self has admitted tliat he sees no prospect of greatly re ducing our budget unless we drastically reduce our so- called defense and "security” expenditures. These men see no way for us to cut the budget in any significant way unless we give up two ideas: first, that we are obligated to try to run the world, and, secondly, that the best way for us to main tain world “leadership”, by which we really mean world government, is to put our selves in strategic “positions of strength” all over the world, especially in those places where Russia may de sire'to take over leadership. Both these assumptions are strictly asinine. Free World Illusion Let us consider briefly ttiis idea that the .United States is somehow obligated to lead the so-called Free World in its effort to |>r«Mnt l^ing overwhelmned ^faati mon ster Communism.” In the first place the assumption that there is a "Free World,” and that we are a part of ie is an illusion. Ever since the rist to power of the plutocrats, men of great wealtth, who run this by' itlk' government, the liberties of the common people have been gradually disappearing. Un der the leadership of the FBI, ,the Aln^rican Gealtapo^ we are all becoming "suspect” in proportion as we believe in freedom of speech and free dom from want. To raise funds to spread the influence, or more accurately to buy the friendship of our ‘friends’ among the ex-imperalists of the world such as England the masses of the people are being marcilessly taxed so highly that it is impol for the majority of ISb to maintain a decent standard of living no matter how hard we work. The . plutocratic capitalists are the only citizens of the United States who can really maintain our high standard of living without going into debt. Morally .we ate unfit to lead the world. The only way we can really lead the world is to make democracy really work in Uiis country. We must make it work in Miss., Ala., in Georgia and the other sections of our natton. If we would do this it would lead us in the^direction of world peace more effectively and much more economically. W* can really create a Free World by becoming free ourselves, by setting an example before the World. False Assumption The other false assumption is- that we must keep our selves militarily strong at un believable ^pense so as to frighten Russia away from ta king over the resources of the world in the Middle East, in Asia, and the New World. This is atiently false. It is a lie, told the people of the United States, that it is neces sary to spend ten or fifteen billion dollars maintaining military establishments all over the world- These mili tary preparations do not dis courage war, they encourage it . We are told by the pluto crats that we cannot even think aloout cutting our mill* tary expenditures because such will “jeopardize our safety.” The fact 1s the only (continued on page 7) GOD AND «:iEWCE EmODE A MYTH >yvnA;v» 7RurHr^c:^ created]man in his own imase^ a£Mj\zr 5CIENTI5T5 HAVE BEEN PRACTICALLY UNANIAA0U6 IN H0LDIM6 THAT THE RACIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUAAAN5 ^ L0N6 MAGNIFIED bf> BEIKKa BA6IC AND DEEP-ROOTED ARE ACTUALLY SUPERFICIAL. State Probe Quizzles Fla. NAACP Officer TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Coneinuing its probe into the activities of the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored People in Florida, a Joint legislative conunittee this week questioned Robert L. Saunders, the Association’ field In. an effort to prove that Saunders personally handled memberships in the State, Mark Hawes, committee counsel, questioned him closely about the processing .of the member ship application of one Raul Garica of Tampa who, acting as a decoy, sent in a $lS-check to the state office with a letter expressing his “interest in the welfare of Negroes” and asking for literature and membership in the Association. Member ships, he explained, are handled by the local branches and the national office. Further attempt was made to secure information from Saun ders about records ot the Asso ciation, about the structure of the organization, about his du ties as field secretary, and about other NAACP personnel. Par ticularly, coimsel queried the NAACP representative about his duties as compared “with those of the Association’s field secretary in Texas. When he lies, he speolcs ac cording to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies....John 8:48' The word of God reminds iis of the Devil, the father of lies. We human beings who are so easily fooled need to know this great spiritual truth. Evil is a tragic fact in the lives of men. We see its heart-rending results all around us on every hand. The impact of evil is left in many lives. Most of us are easily tfoeled by - tha Sweet Hottalngs' of the evil one. He appeals to the weakness of human pride as he did in the Garden of Eden. Evil influences mar the sweet ness of joyous human relations. Men have refused to believe the truth of God, and we continue to believe the lies of the devil. And we know all the time that “He is a Qar and the &ther ot lies.” HE'S A LIAR By REVBBEND HAROLD ROLAND Fsmtmr, Moimt Qil«ad Baptist Qmreh The ease with which the Devil deceives us himian beings is the said tragic fact of human existence. We go on being hood winked and deceived by the Old Liar, the Devil. Why are we so easily fooled by this Liar? He makes ttimgs look so nice and reasonable. We are charmed and fascinated by the false, deceptive glamour of evil. The Devil sugar coats all of his lies. He can make his evil schemes look so harmless. We forget that V*ry nature of the Evil is false and de structive. tJt us not be deceived by the charm of the Evil. Let us not be soothed to sleep by the sweet talk of the Devil. The Devil comes dressed in the garb of falsehood deception and hypocricy. Remember, when the Devil comes...“He is a liar and ^e father of T16S...” The old liar’s sweetness al ways turns into bitterness. His^ lues have brought many down to ruin, tears and dishonor. Those who listen to the lies of the devil will lose their repu tation, self-respect, honor in' tegrity and character and their very souls. The Devil will make you sacrifice your very soul for nis sweet nothings. Many listen ing to his lies have lost every' thing and were left sitting amid the bitter tears of Shame and ruin. Yes,^the Devil will rob you )vOf bU you ho^ most dearly, andi then he will laugh at you? Be ware of bargaining with the devil, the father of lies. If you play his game with him, he will beat you every time. Beware of the false £ace the Devil wears. It is weU to re^ member that he has nothing to offer except tears, heartaches, Shame, loneHness, sickness andf' death. A^Refugee’s Story Bklltor’s Note: The statement of Gus Courts before the Senate sub committee hearing on civil rights, originally scheduled to be cairied in last week’s issue is reprinted in part here. The second part of the testimony will appear next week. Court’s a former Belzoni, Miss, gro- who was forced to flee the state because of his activity in getting Negroes to register. Mr. Chairman and Gentle men of the Committee, thank you for this opttortunity to tes tify on behalf of the Negroes in the State of Mississippi. My name is Gus Courts, for mer owner of the Courts Gro cery Store, and Trucking Busi-> ness, Belzoni, Mississippi. 1 was bom in Mississippi; my parents and grandparents before me. We helped to make Mississippi rich, and prosperous. Now, just like those Hunga rian refugees from Russian op pression, you see before you an American refugee from Mis sissippi terror. I had to leave my $15,000 a year groeery business, my trucking business, my home, and everything. My wife and I and thousands of us Mississippians have had to run away. We had to flee In the night. We are the American refugees fro mthe terror in the South, all because we wanted to vote. I saw the necessity of getting the Negroes in Humphrey County, Behibnl, Mississippi, to pay poll tax and register to vote. This is a County in which no Negroes have ever voted. After goingfto the office to pay our poll tax, the Sheriff, Ike Shelton, refuwd t oacceirt our money. A few Negroes signed an affidavit and bad the Sheriff brought before the Federal Grand Jury in Oxford, Miss., In 10S3. After the Sheriff had been before the Court, he assured the Court he would let the Negroes pay their poll taxee and quail fy themselves to vote. We succeeded In getting about 400 Negroes in Humph rey Coimty to pay their ]>oll tax and out of this nimiber only about 94 registered. Now, in my cotmty, Himii^- rey County, there are 17,000 colored people and 7,500 white white people. In early 1955, we got 400 Negroes to pay their poll tax. But when they (the Negroes) wo^^ go down to the Registrar’s cffice to register to vote, the Registrar kept putting them off. They would tell them “we’rfe busy today, come back tomorrow.” When they went back the next day, the registrar told them he was still busy and to come back next week. At that time, the legislature was in session passing a law to tighten the registration law. That law was passed and is now ineffect, so that no matter how much education a Negro has, he cannot pass the registration law. When this happened, out of the 086,000 Negroes in Miss., only about 20,000 were regis' terer to vote. The White Citi zens Councils about that time organized. In 1055, the White Citizens Councils, toough the registrars, purged about 12,000 Negroes off the registration books. Al though there are 497,000 poten tial colored voters in Miss., only 8,000 are now on the books. The White Citizens Councils began to put all types of pres sure on the Negroes. We be lieve they were responsible for the killing of Reverend George W. Liee, who was the first Ne gro in Humhprey Cotmty, to register and qualify^ himself to vote. On May 7, 1909, In Belzoni, Mlsslsdppl, he was drivin|{ home in his ear from town. Someone drove up beside him in a car and shot him through the window with a shotgun. The blast tore off all the side of his face. Hm wry next morn ing, one ot the members of the White CltinBa Councils, Percy New Hospital Group To Seek Building Act WASHINGTON, D. C. A national conference on ra cial integration in hospitals, held here last week, voted una nimously to seek an amendment to the Hospital Survey and Con struction Act of 1946, deleting provisions for racial separation. The conference, described by its chairman. Dr. W. Montague Cobb of Washington, as the first of its Idn'd, was sponsored jointly by the National Associa- i tion for. the Advancement of Colored Praple, the National Medical Association, aad the Medico-Chirurglqal Society of the District of Columbia. Dr. Cobb is chairman NAACP National Health Com-, mittee as well as a member ol the Association's Board ot Di rectors. Commenting on the confer ence proceedings, Dr. Cobb said: “A large amount of little^ known inlormatioa was . se cured, which laid the basis for a sound program for future con structive action.” A second, meeting is planned for next year, he noted. Ferr, a planter, came in my store and told me, "They got your partner last night.” I said, “Yes, you did.” He said, "If you don’t go down and get your name off the register, you are going to be next. There is noth ing gomg to be done alxiut Lee because you can’t prove who did it.” I told him I would do just like Reverend Lee: I’d as soon die a free man than live a coward. I was not going to take my name off the register.** A few days after tliat, this same man came back to my store and told me there were two things 1 would have to do, I would iiave to take my name off the register and resign as the President of the NAACP in Humphrey County because they weren’t going to'*let it operate there, and if I didn’t do it I was going to be put out of busi ness. They would see that ttie vi^olesalers wouldn’t sell me any groceries. First, I went to Memphis, Tennessee, to a grocery firm, which is about a htmdred and fifty miles away and bought some groceries and then I went to Jackson, Mississippi, ttdiich is eight mUes away. I made a contract with a firm in Jack son to have groceries delivered to my store in Belzoni, Jdiss. That was the way I had to get my supply of groceries. On Novemt>er 25, 1955, 1 was busy waiting on customers in my store. Someone drove up In a car and fired slugs through the store window with a shot gun. The slugs caught me in my left arm and stomach. The blood began to flow. I called the she riff and could not get him. Tlie chief of police cam* and order" ed me to the hoqiital, which is just two blocks from my store. When I walked out to get In to the car, I told my friend Er nest White, came to take me to the hospital, that I wanted to go to Mound Bayou Hoqidtal, ^rtilch is.ei^ty mllM away. Put OB the whole armour of j God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the derlL—(Ephesians 6, 11.). Temptations to evil sur round us daily; we may suc- eumb although knowing the results will make us suffer.' Some of Bs are steel-willed, enough to resist—but any one. of US can, with God’s help,' fight valiantly, win glorious ly, for then we will not be> fighting alone. Mound Bayou is the colored town in Mississippi. The sheriff ^ came over in thirty minutes to my store after I had left for the hospital, just two blocks away, for thirty minutes wait ing for me. When my wife told him I had gone to Mound Bayou to the hospital there, he dis approved of that. Then the die- riff asked the chief of police why he had sent me to Mound Bayou when be (the Sheriff told him chief of police) to send me to the hospital which is about two blocks from My store. I believe they would have finish- - ed me off if I had landed in the Belzoni Hospital. As a result of the shooting, I have suffered from a nervous condition. It has affected my heart to the extent that I have to be constantly under a doc tor's care. I do not have much use of my left arm. I cannot take this srm and open a door.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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March 23, 1957, edition 1
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