PAGI TWO
SATURDAY. JTJtY 13, 1957 SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1957
A NEW MEANING FOt MODERATION
Although the Forest Hills tennis courts
case was dismissed for lack of evidence, thus
holding off for the time being action Vhich
would eventually test the validity of the
city's continued segregation at recreational
facilities, one aspect of the situation has once
again exposed the facade of deceit behind
which southern whites operate as advocates
of moderation. It has proven the emptiness
of th^ brand of moderation preached by the
white South.
The course pursued by the defense in events
leading up to the trial should have pleased
the most ardent and honest advocate of
'moderation. With the weight of numerous
court opinions on the matter, the ruling of
the City attorney and the law of the land on
their side, the defense deliberately sought to
settle the issue around the conference table
rather than in the court room. Lawyers for
the defense sought and received a conference
with city officials to work out a solution to
the issue of segregation on the city’s recrea
tional facilities in compliance with the court
rulings. However, the city chose to reject
the opportunity and insisted on taking the
case to court.
The city’s insistence on going to court grew
not out of a desire to meet the issue squarely,
but, as later events proved, from a wish to
continue to circumvent the issue. In court,
the city decided not to make a case and the
whole affair was thrown out, which in effect
leaves the situation as regards segregation
pretty much as it was before.
The city had an opportunity given it by
Negroe.s, who hold the big legal stick, to meet
the issue squarely but in a moderate ap
proach. Instead, it chose to reject modera
tion in favor circumvention. The city's
cleverly executed sidestep in this affair
proves once again that what the white south
means by moderation is not moderation as
the dictionary defines it, but nullification
and circumvei^tion.
THE CITY'S DEXTERITY DEMANDS
CAREFUL PLANNING
The astute oianner in which the city of
Durham warded off by legal nianuever, at
least temporarily, a first assault on its con
tinued segregation in public recreation fa
cilities demonstrates anew the need for care
ful planning and unified action among Ne
groes in our attempt to fight off the shackles
of the degrading system of segregation. The
southern white man has displayed in recent
years a Michiavellian cunning in erecting
apparently defensible jim crow barriers and
then creating labyrinthine circumventions to
protect them when they are threatened by
federal court orders. This ability was never
more displayed to advantage than last Tues
day in the court case in which a young Ne
gro student was charged with trespassing on
the tennis court at Forest Hills, courts which
in the past have been reserved for whites.
For a number of months, Negro citizens of
the city have petitioned the city to comply
with f^eral court rulings and abandon the
policy of segregation at city recreational
facilities, a policy which has been kept up in
defiance of court rulings and the opinion of
the city attorney. So far, every possible
aven^of action to change the policy, except
has been successfully blocked by the
city. The City Council has refused to touch
the issue ,and city officials turned down an
offer to negotiate the matter around the con
ference table. The only other avenue of ac
tion remaining is through the courts. And
it was there on last Tuesday that the first
slurmisb on the matter was won by the city
in a neatly executed manuever.
From all indications, the city planned to
have the case against Joseph Riley, the stu
dent facing the trepass charge, dismissed so
as to avoid the possibilities of a showdown,
which would have resulted in acquittal or
conviction. An acquittal woQld have de
stroyed on the spot the basis for continued
segregation, and a conviction would have un
doubtedly been appealed, possibly all the
way to a federal court where it is likely the
jim crow policy would have been declared
invalid. We cannot reconcile our thinking to
the fact that the city went to court honestly
believing that it had a case against Riley,
especially in view of the time which it had
to put on it (the case was postponed for a
week) and City Manager Flack's assurance
last week that the city was ready to pro
secute. It seems high unlikely that the city
would have put itself in the position of being
declared so stupid as not to know whether or
not it had a case supporting the charge. The
only logical conclusion to be drawn from the
shenanigans is that the city went to court
without a case and came back with what it
wanted, a dismissal.
The effect of the dismissal of the case is
the same as if Riley never set foot on the
Forest Hills courts. It prevents the action
from becoming a test case and leaves the
policy of segregation untouched. Thus, it
appears that the city has effectively block
ed the one remaining avenue of action,
through the courts. There is, however, the
possibility that the defense may bring suit
for false arrest. Such an action would prob
ably halt arrest of Negroes on public recrea
tion grounds or necessitate a conviction, an
alternative which would obtain the desired
results. But in view of the city’s proven
legal dexterity, it goes without saying that
such action would require careful, iron clad
planning.
Th^ Bppliftd by th# city on th?f
first move against segregation in public re
creational facilities can be expected to be
played in other similar instances in the fu
ture. In the face of such evasive action, it
appears that we must carefully plan and con
solidate efforts to attack Durham’s extra
legal jim crow if the benefits of the Supreme
Court’s ruling against segregation are not
to be entirely nullified.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MESSAGE OF CIVIL RIGHTS COMPROMISE
The message which the impending con
cessions to the South on the civil rights legis
lation now being tossed around in the halls
of the Senate carries to this country and the
world is a sad one, if true. The South is de
manding, and it appears that its demands
will be met, that most of the enforcement
powers of federal court orders be stripped
away from the bill.
It is hardly likely that a federal court in
junction for a community to proceed with
desegregating its schools wiU have very
much weight if the court is left only with
the method of trial by jury to enforce its
decision. It is too much to expect a jury of
southern whites, most of whom are com
mitted to opposing desegregation in principle
and in fact, to convict a fellow white south
erner for his efforts in trying to prevent de
segregation.
In the face of such a situation, it is not
difficult to understand why southern sena
tors at'e so upset over what they term the
imminent curtailment of “basic rights” in
elimination of the trial by jury method from
injunctive procedures which would be es-
'tablished by the bill. In most cases their po
litical life is assured because of segregation,
therefore they cannot to expected to turn
against the system.
The sum total of the expected. “watered
down” would say in effect, “we, as Congress
men know that Negroes have the right to
use any publicy maintained facility, but we
are not ready to do anything about making
the right available.”
CkCars
MAIN OFFICE -- 436 EAST PETTIGREW STREET
Phones S-0671 and 2-2913 — Durham. North CaroUaa
Published At Durham, North Carolina Every Saturday By
THE UNITED PUBLISHERS, Inc.
Entered at tecond cUu matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Carolina un
der the Act of March 3, 1S79
. L E AUSTIN, Publisher
CLATHAN ROSS, Editor JESSE GRAY, Advertising Mgr.
M E. JOHNSON, Controller
WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE — 304 N. CHURCH ST. — PHONE 5-OMt
Mrs. Dorothy M. RoBtNSON, Manacbr
Your article In the Caroli
na Times of July 13, “How
Can We Lose Something We
Never Had7” Is very lUuml-
nating and sad.
It Is regretable that In a
State of the size of North
Carolina, with so much beau
ty In nature, there exist only
a lew State Parks, and still
more regrettable that the
right to enjoy recreation in
the parks is determined by
the color of the sldn, leaving
only two parks, one in the
east and one in the west, with
enormous distances between
them, open to the colored cit
izens ol our state.
The State Board of Con
servation admits that there is
no State law requiring segre
gation, l>ut that it is practic
ed “by tradition”. Tradition
is a word used to hide con
veniently the desire to main
tain old privileges.
It is inexcusable that out of
the taxes paid by all the citi
zens, over $500,000 dollars is
appropriated for the nine
white paries and only $90,000
for the 2 Negro parks.
It is bad that boundaries
are drawn )>etween nations
and walls between God’s
creatures of different color.
It reminds one of the cliains
tliat closed off the Ghettos in
which the Jews were permit
ted to live in European cities.
Tliat tMuriiarous “tradition”
has been given up when peo
ple recognized the unfairness
of the limitations imposed on
one group in faver of anoth
er. There is one God and all
human beings are his chil
dren.
But separation of the black
sheep from the white ones in
God’s Nature, so beautiful in
its gammut of color and
shape, exclusion ol one color
is against all ethical princi
ples, worse, it is s denial ol
God's Wisdom.
The officials in the white
parlu have the task to Iceep
color out, but iuive the offi
cials in the two paries for Ne
groes also the task to keep
wliites out in order to make
the separation 100 percent ef
fective?
In speaking of paries, it
seems befitting to quote from
the Balia’i writings, “Ye are
all,fruits of one tree, the
leaves of one branch, the
flowers of one garden."
Millions of people realize
that God’s creation is perfect
and that all life is from God,
whether human, animal or
plant; all in many colors and
many stiapes which enhances
its beauty.
They also realize that all
the barriers between the va
rious memt>ers of the human
race must disappear in order
to get a real world-civiliza-
tion, a united mankind, liv
ing in peace, settling differ
ences in a reasonable man
ner and not through strife
and war.
The World cannot be bet
ter than the people which
populate it, and, as long as
privileged against under-pri
vileged, class against class,
prejudice and separation ex
ist, there cannot be real love
of God and His Creation,
based on love, and Justice.
“Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.’’
In the Kingdom of God on
earth the Golden Rule will be
the Supreme Law. Let us all
in our personal lives through
our deeds promote the com
ing of the prophesied world
unity. ‘To be a Balut’i simr
ply means to love all the
world; to love humanity and
try to serve it; to werk for
universal peace and univers
al brotherhood.” (Batia’i
Teachings)
Your informative articles
are very helpful in opening
the eyes of many who, often
unconsciously, do not live by
the teaciiings of their reli
gion. Let us coUal>orate with
all people of good will for
the highest pui^wse of l>an-
ning all that divide and be
aware ol the writing on the
wall.
The signs of our time point
at survival through love and
understanding, or anniiilla-
tion of all. There is still time.
The park problem is only
a small thing in the mass of
unjust discrimination.
May your paper continue
its policy of putting the lin
ger on what is wrong, so that
justice will be done.
George Van Sombeek
Life IS Like That
By H. ALBERT SMITH
YOUR BUSINESS AND YOU
■Cl 00
«2.»n
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year Ten Cents Single Copy
Six Months $4.00 — Foreign Countries.
A man's business is best at
tended to when he attends to
it himself. Tills is my text
and theme for this week. It
is also my conviction, tlM
fruit of my own experience
and that of others with whom
I have talked and presuma
bly countless millions I do
not Icnow or ever shall.
Sad Recollections
One young man I met not
long ago must iiave vivid rec
ollections of tiuit truth, t>e-
cause failure to observe it
cost him his Job and no light
burden of embarrassment. He
delegated to another a sim
ple responsibility ttut was
not carried out. The result
was flood of telephone calls
and complaints that swept
his employer into a sea of
waste of time and energy and
almost frantic embarrais-
ment.
The young man in a sort
of helpless appeal for sym
pathy and understanding in
formed me that he tuid in
structed his assistant, a atiU'
younger man, to do the one
little thing (not done) tiiat
had caused so much trouble.
And then lamely stated, “I
thought he iuid done it.”
My reply to tiim was: “Re-
meml>er, son, a man's busi
ness is i>est attended to when
he attends to it himself. Cer
tainly, your assistant was
supposed to carry out your
instructions. You should have
seen that he did, l>Mause the
final responsibility is yours
and with it goes a correspond
ing accountability.”
If He b WUe
Now, there are some re
sponsibilities tiiat must be
delegated and left wholly up
to the person to whom they
have t>een delegated. An em
ployer can’t give detailed su
pervision to every employee;
neither can a business man
give individual attention to
every transacation of man
agement. Yet, from what I
luive heard, a punctuation
mark left out or misplaced,
can involve a serious busi
ness loss. What emplcfyer,
then, if he is a wise man,
will leave entirely In the
hands of a typist a letter up
on whose detailed correctness
so much depends?
A story is told concerning
a Negro worker who was ad
vised by an associate to let
the boss hold his money un
til he was ready for it This
particiilar worker replied,
“The boss’s business is bow
ing the job. My business is
holding my money!"
I would advise any man, if
he iuis not made it his busi-
to hold that.
the sooner he makes that his
business, the safer will his
money be and the more se
cure he will be. 1 assume his
intelligence to look out for
himself.
Wide Coverage
A man’s business is t)est
attended to when he attends
to it himself. Tills covers a
vast expanse of life situa
tions. I would say all ol them;
courtaliip, appUca^on for a
job, doing the Job assigned,
maldng choices and decisions
and what not. I speak of per
sonal matters not requiring
professional services which
others must necessarily do.
AN ALL-IMPORTANT
REASON
I liave one reason particu
larly for the contention
made here, and I think it cov
ers all other reasons that
n^ight be given. Nobody is so
deeply concerned ai>out your
business tiiat he will give it
the attention you will; ttiat
is, if you are concerned alwut
your personal fortune.
It happens, therefore, some-
other person, can lurdly l>e
depended on to give the
time, energy and personal
sacrifice tlut you would give
to affairs which are of the
utmost importance to you,
even to tlie affecting of your
destiny.
'SEGREGATIONIST WILL FAIL IN THEIR
EFFORTS TO SILENCE HER."
Howard Dean
Is Awarded
Honorary Degree
WASHINGTON^ D. C.
Dr. Frank M. Snowden, dran
of the College of Lit>erai Arts
at Howard University, was
awarded ^e honorary Doctor
ol Laws degree at tlte recent
commencement exercises . of
Bard College, Annandale-on-
Hudson, N. Y.
Dean Snowden was one ol
five persons receiving citations
during the exercises. Others in
cluded Chester Bowles, lormer
United States Ambassador to
India; the Right Rev. Horace
W. B. Donegan, Protestant
(Continuad iw Pag* 7)
V
Spiritual Insight
"THIS SAME JESUS"
By REFBRBND UAROID ROLAND
Ptutor, MowU GHoad Baptitt Chmreh
"This tame Jesus . . . shall
come In like manner as ye
have seen him go into
Heaven. ..." Acts I-.11.
The heavenly or angelic
messengers saw the Apostles
looking steadlastly toward
Heaven. The Angels spoke
words of hope about the
Christ who had been lost in
the clouds «1 the Heavens.
The clouds ol heaven had re
ceived the Savior out ol the
sight ol the iiuijgr circle ol
his loUowers. Tliclr hearts
and souls ha>;l been made to
rejoice when' they saw him
ALIVE who was the conque
ror of sin and death. 'They
looked steadlastly towards
Heaven. And Jesus, the
Heaven-sent Savio/ now is
lost in the cloud ol His Di
vine glory. But the angelic
messengers remind the elev
en Apostles th.»4i-“Tl»i« Same
Jnsus” is coming hack again.
Not only is Jesus coming back
to tiwell in our souls r.'deem-
ed from sin, but Jesus is com
ing back again in the won
der ol his heavenly glory.
This same Jesus is coming
back again as 'the Holy One
to sit in judgment. He is com
ing back to judge the world.
We aU must be judged one
day lor the deeds done in the
body. Tbo word rightly re
minds us t. at one day we
must all appear before the
judgment aest ol Christ The
holy, sinless Son ol God has
qualified to be the righteous
judge of all ot the earth
Have you made peace with
God? Have yiu been born ot
the spirit of God? Have you
thought iioiut the judgment‘s
Have you decided about your
eternal destiny? You, and you
alone, can choose your eter
nal destiny. Rememlier that
the words of the angelic mes
sengers will be luUilled . . .
"THIS SAME JESUS” is com
ing back again to sit as the
righteous judge ol all the
earth.
This same Jesus is coming
back that there might be a
day at true JXISTICE. One
day, tliank God, we shall all
receive.our Just reward. Here
we are mistreated. Here we
are oppressed and unjustly
the earth is coming back one
day and we shall know true
dealt with. Here justice is
denied us many times. Here
special privilege and lavori-
tism rob us of our just re
wards. Thank God that the
RIGHTEOUS JUDGE OP all
Justice. Yes, when Christ the
Lord comes again upon the
clouds ol heaven we wHl all
receive our just rewards.
Thank God ‘Tliis Same Jesus”
is coming bach again that
there might be a day ol true
justice. Fight on and be com-
lorted by the promises ol
God s word ...” Be stead
fast unmovable. always
aijounding in the work of the
Lord . . . for ye know your
lal>ors in the Lord are not in
vain ...”
Jesus is coming again to
assure that we shall all re
ceive our just reward.
This same Jesus is coming
back again to awaken and
lead us, the ‘ redeemed, into
that realm of Eternal bless
edness. Yes, he promised to
come again to taka tb* re
deemed saints home. ...”
I go and prepare a place lor
you . . . and I will come again
and receive you unto mysell
tliat where I am there ye may
be also. . . . “Let us, then, so
live tiiat we may Join Christ
in HEAVEN THE REALM
OF IMMORTAL LIFE.
Robmrt Sjdvack
Watch on the
Poto]
WASHINGTON
THE REAL EISENHOWER
— It’s sometimes difficult at
the President’s press confer
ences to tell when he is ex
pressing his own ideas or
voicing somel>ody , elaes.
There are times when the
President looks puzzled and
scratches his ear, tiiat he is,
in fact, least puzzled. At oth
er times when he is rattling
off sometliing on wliich he
lias l)een “briefed” it’s obvi
ous iie' is moving in unfamil
iar waters.
^After four years of cover
ing his weekly news confer
ences we readily confess to
our continuing bewilderment
on this point. But we think
— and mind you, historians
may prove tills is totally
wrong — that it was the
“real” lUsenhower who got
off the following comment on
the right-to-vote:
"... If in every locality
every person ottierWise quali
fied, or qualified under the
laws of the State to vote, is
permitted to vote, be has got
a means of taking care of
himaelf and his group, his
class.
"He has got a means of get
ting what he wants In demo
cratic government, and tiiat
is the one on which I place
the greatest emphasis.”
In other words, the Presi
dent was trying to cut
through the carefully con-
trtvad confusion created by
opponents of the measure
who claim to be concerned
about absence of “trial by
jury” and the tiireat that fed
eral troops will keep “black
heels on wliite hecks”.
When all the verbiage is
stripped away, it’s tills right
to vote tiiat really does con
cern the Southern politicians
more tiian anytliing else.
' U the civil rights bill pass
es without being too badly
mangled in the process.
Southern politicians may find
themselves bidding for the
support of Negro voters ex
actly as they claim Northern
politicians now do. And why
not?
They pretend to be virtu
ous about it and claim tliat
their Northern opponents are
for civil rights only for polit
ical reasons. At nearly every
session of the Senate debate.
Sen. Russell (D. Ga.) has
complained tliat the bill is
“siiot tlirough with politics'!.
But it’s not one-sided.
••*•••*«*••
UPSETING THE POLITI
CAL BALANCE — You get
some idea of why the Dixie
demogogues are so worried
when you look at the regis
tration statistics in several of
the Southern states. For ex
simple:
Alabama — The number at
Negroes registered was lO.S
of those entitled to vote.
Arkansas — Only 29.2 per
ment of the eligibla Negroes
were regiatered.
Mississippi — The figure
here was lowest in the na
tion — 4 per cent.
South Carolina — The lat
est figures indicate 2S.3 per
cent of the eligible Negroes
were r^dstered.
Virginio — The total In
this “cradle of democracy” is
only 20 .per cent.
It’s not hard to understand
why the entrenched South
ern politician is alarmed at
the thought 100 per cent of
all eligible Negroes might get
the right to vote, even if only
liaU of them use it.
Dixie politicians, especially
those who have proved mort
responsive to the demands of
Bill Oil, the Power Trust and
similar special interests, will
now have to spend some of
their time worrying about
the needs of less privileged
Negroes. And maybe they’ll
even have to pay attention to
the needs of poor whites, too.
This right-to-vote business
could prove’ awfully tiring
for the mint julep set.
CALLING THE BLUFF —
At one point in the civil
rights debate Sen. Russell
threatened to investigate the
background and birtlqdace of
the federal Judges before
whom civil rights cases might
be tried. Suddenly, with a
rather obscure explanation,
he announced that be was
abandoning plans.
Could the reason have
(Continued on Page 7)