PAGE TWO
THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY, AUG. 3, 1957
Not Conducive To Interracial Goodwill
Mayor E. J. Evans’ abortive attempt to
justify his action of not voting for R. N. Har>
ris for the Durham City Board of Education,
at a meeting of the City Council on last Mon
day night, is about the poorest show of states
manship we have seen in a public official in
many years. Every word smacks of cow
ardice arid is evidence that the man, instead
of speaking from a conviction, was struggling
to beat back his conscience that was leap
ing at him in full fury. Had the mayor mere
ly voted against Mr. Harris and let it go at
that, Negro citizens would have at least felt
that his action stemmed from intellectual
honesty rather than the lack of courage to
meet a situation head on. Ihinking Megro
citizeus will always respect a person who
has the courage of his conviction even though
it may not be in support of their cause. They
will never forget one who apparently would
rather hold public office than to be right.
Mr. Evans’ play to the grandstand, which
he apparently leels is packed with anti-Ne
gro lans whom he would like to garner into
his political camp, should elect him to the
oflice of mayor of Durham for life. His state
ment of last Monday night will certainly be
interpreted in certain anti-Negro circles J of
the city as coming from “a Daniel come to
judgment.” When it finally gets around to
the right spot that he is basically and funda
mentally for the status quo on the race ques
tion and that he has now entirely lost his No-
gro constituency, he should rise to the top of
the political maggot heap where no man or
group of men will be able to dethrone him.
Governor Hodged, Senator Ervin 61 this state
and Senator Eastland of Mississippi all know
the art of climbing to political illfaiwA by
lambasting the Negro.
More than 10 years ago, the late Dr. James
E. Shepard arose from his sick bed to appeal
to the City Council to appoint a Negro to the
Durham City Board of Education. At that
time the late Mayor W. F. Carr stated that
Dr. Shepard had certainly made an eloquent
plea for Negro representation. The Council
turned a deal ear to the plea. We think it was
in li^53 that Negroes again appeared before
the Council to plead for representation only
to be turned down a second time. Last Mon
day nignt was, therefore, the thii'd futile at
tempt mat has been made to secure Just token
representation ior one-tliird of the city’s citi-
zensmp and 40 per cent of the school pop
ulation.
In Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Rocky
Mount, Southern Pines and Tabor City Neg
roes are already serving on city boards of
eaucaiion. Lven as far South as Atlanta,
Georgia, they have representation. We would
like to know whether the trouble is in the
Negroes of Duriiam or the members of its
City Council?
Said the mayor last Monday night, “I feel
that within the area of conflict whoever is
chosen from the Negro group would be the
target of bqth groups, white and Negro.
Now Negro citizens of Durham do not ap
preciate this play at paternalism from Mayor
Evans. In fact many of them look on such
with the uttermost contempt. Whoever the
race offers for the City Council, the Board of
Education or any other public office will be
passed on by Negro leaders here in advance
and will need no paternalistic protection by
the mayor or any other person from the usual
attacks that come to any one holding public
office.
As we see it, the City Council, along with
the mayor, sank to a new low in statesman
ship last Monday night and plainly showed
that it is studded with too many little men
who are not only unfair to the Negro citizens
here but are afraid to do what their con
sciences must telf them they should do, and
that is provide Negro representation on the
City Board of Education. The action of the
Council is not conducive to the interracial
goodwill
Democrats Fail Again
Senate action which destroyed, for all
practical purposes, the President's civil
rights legislation last week should make it
crystal clear to Negroes that to trust their
political future to the hands of the Demo
cratic party is like taking a walk down a dead
end street. The blame for the destruction of
lUst rest squarely on the shoulders
the Democrats. The President woulq d».
the cause of liberty and freedom a greatf ser
vice by affixing his veto to the measure
which has now been wrecked beyond effec
tive use.
Although the attack upon the bill in its
original form was led, as was expected, by
southerners, in the end it was the so-called
liberal Democrats from the northern and
western states who joined forces with the
South to wrench all effectiveness from the
bill. At the beginning of the long summer
battle, the South could count no more than
28 Democratic votes, all southerners, to op
pose the measure. During the courre of the
lenghty arguments, the South decided to
shift its tactics from assulting the measure
frontally to disarming it by subtelty, a tactic
which southerners have long since mastered
in preserving the status quo at the cost of
democracy. Southerners first decided to
ruin the part of the bill (part IV) which
would implement the 15th amendment. They
did this by ridding it of all of its enforce
ment provisions, persuading the Senate that
to enforce this amendment would be grant
ing dictatorial powers to the federal govern
ment.
Up until last Thursday, there was still
some hope that Negroes would be extended a
significanV grant of the ancient constitutional
guarantees. At that time, section three, the
section which would insure the right to vote,
was still an effective instrument. It was on
this last remaining vestige of effectiveness
in the measure that southerners began mov
ing, well in advance of last Thursday’s show
down. Senators from Dixie had painted a
picture which showed the section to pose as
a sinister tnreat to tne right of trial by jury,
and as matters turned out, persuaded eleven
ot tneir nortnern and western brother party
members to jom tnem in voting to attacn the
crippling jury trial amendment. When the
voie was taKen, some 39 Democsats had cast
their vt>tes on the side of the az^i on
ly nine voted with Republicans to save the
measure.
Northern and western Democrats who de
scribe tneir action in joining with the South
in tne showdown vote as a compromise are
iouiing nn nn^. avnartf r^^ciKU> ^ .
O JVVOOAMIJT l>llWliaVXVCS>«
i or every. Negro, North or South, knows full
well that the remanding to a southern Jury a
case involving denial ol constitutional rights
of Negroes by southerners will result, not in
justice, but in frustration of the law. Even
the addition to the jury trial amendment
which seeits to guarantee the selection of
Negroes to federal juries is not of much help.
Most Negroes in the South ar^economically
captive to whites. Even if there were one
on such a jury whose decision would not be
determined by his white employer, he could
hardly do more than hang a Jury, resulting
in the eventual freeing of the defendant.
Thus, in reality, the so-called compromise
was no compromise but a resounding victory
for the South.
If northern and western Democrats cannot
see that the result of their action in playing
ball with the South is to nullify the prom
ises of the U. S. Constitution to Negroes, then
they are not intelligent enough to deserve
the vote of Negroes. If they do see it and
went along simply for the sake of party imi-
ty, then that party is certainly not the one
for which Negroes should vote. However the
situation may be viewed, the fact remains
that out of 48 Democrats in the Senate, only
nine were in the comer of justice and fair
play when the test came. It is certainly time
that Negroes ditched such a party.
CIi£ Carwisa
(i. E. AUSTIN, Publisher
M. E. JOHNSON, Controller
WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE — 304 N. CHURCH ST. — PHONE 5-0861
Mrs. Dorothy M. Robinson, Managxb
MAIN OFFICE •— 436 EAST PETTIGREW STREET ’
Phones 5-0671 and 2-2913 — Durham, North Carolina
Published At Durham, North Carolina Every Saturday By
THE UNITED PUBLISHERS, Inc.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Durham. North Carolina un
der the Act of March 3,1879.
13.00 -
$2.06
SUBSCRIPTION
One V*ar
— Six Months
BATES
Ten Cents Single Copy
14.00 — Foreif^ Countries.
INSIDE CIVIL RIGHTS-
Eisenhower Bill Would Have
No Compromise With Fair Play
EDITOR’S NOTE: The ponlbiUty of enactment of cItO
rifhU lefitUtion by the current Congress appean dim at this
wrltinc. The bill now faces a possible Presidential veto be*
cause it has been so transtormed Irom Its orlf inal chaiactar by
crippllnf amendments- But because so much propaganda has
been generated over the bill, largely by southern opponents
who sought to make it appear an instrument of dictatorship,
the TIMES la presenting this frank, down-to-earth explanation
of the measure as it appeared in its original form by Val Wash
ington, a veteran observer of the national i>olitical scene and
a high echelon member of the administration's policy mafciny
advisory staff. The discussion will Im printed In two In
stallments.
A number of people, includ
ing several members of Con
gress, iiave ailced my opinion
of the Eiseabower Civil
Rights Bill. At the outset let
me say there can be no com
promise with right. In a de
mocracy all of us, as citizens,
should share and share alike
or the term is meaningless.
An attempt is being made to
penalize Negroes lor iUstori-
cal facts of the past that were
not of their own making. Our
forebearers were brought
here as slaves in 1619 and
held in servitude until 1863.
After the Emancipation Pro
clamation they were set free,
ignorant and without organi
zed friends. For over 90 years
they have been treated as in
feriors, their ciUidren in most
cases sent to inferior schools
and until recently allowed
only four or five montiis
schooling a year, then rushed
to the fields to pick cotton,
wiiile the wtiite children re
mained in school the full
term -of 9 months. Negroes
have l>een given what was
left (in the way of work)
economically. Yet in spite of
all these injustices the South
would continue to penalize
them because their constitu
tional rights were finally re
cognized by the Supreme
Court and because the Eisen
hower Administration decided
to do sometliing about recti
fying these inequities.
There are more good people
tlian bad. There are more
fair-minded people who would
not want Negroes to continue
playing at democracy with a
staclced deck than those who
would. There are more law
abiding citizens by far than
lawless people. It is these
good citizens who must be
looked to tor tlie pr
tion of jiustice.
First, wiut is there to com
promise in this mild ^en-
hower CivU Rights Bill? It
calls for a Commission of 6
members—three Republicans
and three Democrats—to in
vestigate allegations under
oath that certain citizens are
being deprived of their right
to vote by reason of their
color, race, religion or nation
al origin. The Committee is
limited to a two year life
and within 60 days after the
submission of its final report
and recommendations shall
ceass to exist.
Most certainly if the South
ern Senators who oppose this
bill did not intend to continue
taking advantage of minori
ties, they would not object to
investigation by a bipartisan
commission.
To prove this point Senator
Olin D. Johnston, Democrat
of South Carolina, on July 9
offered an amendment to the
Civil Rights Bill which would
"provide for homeward ship
ment of deceased members
rei^rva
and employees of the Presi
dent’s Civil Righta Commis
sion at Federal expense. 1 Just
want the boys taken care of
in case sometliing happens to
them. I hope nothing does.
But if they try to act too fast,
they might cause a lot of
bloodshed, some of it tbelr
own.”
Secondly, the bill calls- for
an additional Assistant At
torney . General, appointed by
the President, who slutU as
sist the Attorney General in
the performance of liis duties.
His duties would l>e to bring
any persons to justice who
are engaged in any acts or
practices wiiich would give to
a cause for feeling tiiat they
were going to interfere in the
voting rights of any person.
Our Southern friends could
not be opposed to tiUs unless
they intend to continue de
priving Negroes of their vot
ing rights and do not want in
terference from the Federal
Government which is the Ne
groes’ only real hope for jus
tice.
Tiiirdly, the biQ attempts to
strengthen the Civil Righta
statutes now on the Iwoica
without changing the old
Civil Rights laws. Thus it
would solve the probion
where subterfuge and suble-
ties are resorted to in order
to deprive an individual of
his rights. It attempts to do
tills by first providing ttiat
the Attorney General may
institute for the United States
a civil action for preventive
relief whenever a person has
committed any acts or prac
tices which would give rise to
a cause of action imder the
existing law. It also confers
jurisdiction upon the U.S. Dis
trict Court to proceed and
further, provide that such ju
risdiction should be enter
tained without regard to
whether the party aggrieved
had exhausted any local ju
dicial remedies. T^ is asked
for because It iias been inl-
possible for Negroes to get a
fair trial in the local courts.
This section also provides a
civil remedy for damages to
the damaged person as a result
of conspiracy to deprive one
of certain civil rights. Tills
is notiiing more than enabling
legislation to help enforce
ment of the law as now writ
ten; establishes liabilities for
damages against any person
who conspires to intimidate
or injure parties, witnesses,
or Jurors involved in any
court matter or who conspires
to obstruct the due process of
Justice in any state court
made with the intent to deny
to any citizen the equal pro
tection of the law; established
liability for damages against
any person who conspires to
deprive another to vote in
elections affecting Federal
officers.
(Continued next week)
Life IS Like That
By H. ALBERT SMITH
BUT F
There is one fundamental
weakness that seems to af
flict the average man and
that is to blame somebody
other than liimself for the fail
ures he makes in life, or lias
made of his own life. And, if
he doesn't blame some person
or persons, he will solemnly
swear that he has l>een the
victim of an unkind and un
friendly fate all of his life;
a man who, however hard he
tried to succeed, never could
l>ecause every time the door
of favorable opportunity
had opened for him it had
been slammed in lUs face by
the hand of hahi luck.
Placing Blame
The first recorded instance
of placing blame for an un
fortunate circumstance that
had overtaken him involves
a man called Adam. He vio
lated a law wtiich had been
placed upon him. He liad been
told what the penalty of vio
lation would be. He blamed
hl» wife for the resultant mess
this violation made of hla
life, which seems to me to
liave bera both a cowardly
and unkind tiling to do, not
to mention Its useleasnoas as
OR ME
a means to escape Ills un-
iiappy plight.
A ciiaracter seen in more t&-
vorable light belongs to our
own times. He is descrit>ed
by F. V. Smith in the Satur
day Review as a down-and-
outer. As he watched a suc
cessful man whirl by in a
Cadillac, he exclaimed:
“There but for me go 1.” I
like tiiis order t>ett«r: ‘Hiere
go 1 but for me."
Now, here was a man Who
liad tiie courage to place the
blame where it l>elonged. He
was a failure. But for tliia he
did not blame anybody but
himself. He was indeed a sell
made man, self-made in re
verse. Hard luck had slam
med shut no opened doora be
fore lie could cross tlireshold
to success. The doors liad been
slammed shut by himself. He
had hamstrung his own chan
ces to be a man of means aad
an asset to society. That is
what be meant as lie gazed
wistfully at his Cadillac-rid-
ing brother and acclaimed;
"There go I but lor me-’’
Di//erent UmuUngs
Now, lirt it be understood at
(Please turn to page 7)
IHE SOUTHERN SENATOK DID IT AGAIN
HIGH i
COURTS:
1^.
Spiritual Insight
“THE UPPER ROOM”
By REVEREND HAROLD ROLAND
Pastor, Mount GU&td Baptist Church
"They went to the upper
room where they were stay-
in0..." Act* 1:13.
The upper room has tiecome
a spiritiud symbol of far-
reaching importance. It is
originally the place where
the Apostles and followers of
Jesus stayed, after Jesus had
assended into heaven, to
await the heavenly gift of the
spirit. It luis l>ecome a place
of fellowship, prayer, medi
tation. and unity. It lias be
come a symlwl of cleansing
and preparation lor the com
ing of the^Holy Spirit. It has
become a syml>ol of spiritual
clearance for the Divine in
vasion tlirough the spirit. It is
a symbol of trustful obedi
ence. It is a symbol of our
deep need to pause and wait
for God to come in power to
strengthen and consecrate us
for his work...“They went to
the upper room where they
were staying...”
We all need a place of quiet
communion with God. The
saints, in a measure, liave los^
the iiabit of stealing away
from the world lor enrich
ment through quiet com
munion with God and one an
other. We are now so busy
trying to get ahead or keep
up until we do not have time
lor the spiritual quietness of
an upper room. We are lost in
the grind. We keep our noses
to the grinding stone so we
have no time left for the
meditative communion of the
upper room. We all need each
day to steal away from the
grind to some quiet place for
communion with God—tliat
the soul may be bathed and
refreshed in the presence of
the Eternal.
\ The upper room gives spiri
tual deptlis to life. What
richness and strength came to
those who waited in the up
per room. Life took on a new
look and a new meaning for
the little band wiio waited in
the upper room. It will do the
same thing for you. and for
me. Tills is one of the crying
needs of our times. There are
so many empty, meaningless
lives about us. Our emptiness
leaves us in a state of fury,
confusion and bewilderment.
Life apart from the upper
room is a lot of sound and
fury. Someone had a great
I insight into the spiritual
needs of our times when ha
said...*"rhe cocktail party has
t>ecome a symt>ol of fellow-
sliip lor so many in our
times..” This is a sad and
tragic commentary ol our
times tiiat we are spiritual
DPs—cut off from God—v/e
iiave indeed l>ecome spiritual
ly Displaced Persons.
The upper room means a
rich spiritual fellowship with
God and man. Fellowsiiip—
a sense of. belonging to ft
meaningful and satisfying
society— is an inner need ol
all so-called normal human
beings. In human fellowsiiip
we feed and nurture the souls
ol others and they in tutn
leed and nuture our hungry
and thirsty souls. The soul
needs communion with God.
Without this Divine contact
ol fellowship the soul pmish-
es and dies.
Let us find some quiet place
for daily communion, prayer,
meditation and a deep inner
peace that life may become
rich, beautiful and livable for
us. The saints of old found it.
you too need to find it dur
ing the mad rush of these
times.
By Rob^ Spivfwk
Watch on the
Potomac
Hoto Bod Are Our Roads
The American Automobile
Assn. lias come up with a
generally favorable progress
report on the status ol the
huge ledeial roadbuilding
program authorized by Con
gress in 1056. But its report
also warns ol possible trouble
ahead wliich may delay com
pletion ol the program on
schedule.
Wiiat bothers the AAA is
that several state legislatures
have failed to provide ior
adequate highway revenues
and paaa other needed bills.
This worries lilghway offi
cials in Wasiiington, the AAA
says, because “state coopera
tion Is the Iny to the vast
program...”.
To those who are travelling
over the big highMrays this
summer some ol the diffi
culties are 'apparent. Cars
around the big cities proceed
ed at a snail’s pace, bumper-to
bumper, If you should happen
to be driving through around
S pjn. or In the early morn
ing.
The need lor big city by
passes has long been with us.
Their absence la a constant
aource of Irritation to motor
ists traveling by car on vaca
tions that are limited In t«mi»
The AAA reports some
other headaches. Many ar«.
strictly financial.
There is great prisasure on
Congress and the Administra
tion to increase the mileage
of the 41,000-inite tnterstate
iiighway and defense system,
since the federal government
pays 90 per cent of the cost.
It’s not siuprising tiiat the
states want the most highway
for the least outlay of tiieir
own funds.
But the statea are asldng for
too much, the AAA argues.
They want 12,000 miles more
of federal highway tiian now
planned. Tliia could upset
present financial plans. It
might delay the program.
The price tax authorized by
Congress was $23,500,000,000.
Our “creeping inflation”
might send iiis figure higiier,
the AAA warns, because road
construction costs are going
up. Tills probably will lie a
$30 billions program before
the Job is done.
The Modem Rockefellers
So much lias been written
alK>ut old Joim D. Roclcefelier
and ills well-publicized chari
ties Uiat we are sometmies in
clined to forget tiiat tlie pre-
sent-day Rockefellers l)ear
little resemblance to the old
tycoon.
One of the brightest and
most enlightened memt>en of
tiie family is young David
Roclufeiler, an heir to Stan
dard Oil’s milliona. Tiie first
time I ever heard of tiim was
during the days when Fiorel-
lo LaGuardia was Mayor of
New Yoric. Old “Butch” could
always detect a promising
yong man and oae day he put
young David on his staff as
a petaonal aariatant
But now young David ~hu
grown up and he is vice
chairman of the tniard ol di
rectors ol tiie Ciiase Maniiat-
tan Bank in New Yorlc. Un
like some of his Wall Street
associates, he is full of ideaa.
Hia latest is a proposal that
all those hundreds ol millions
in oil profits tiiat are taiceh
out of the Middle East be
plowed iiack into the region
to help raise living standards
there.
Some system might be work-'^
ed out, David Rockefeller
told a group of Aricansas ban
kers, to use tile maasive oil
earnings "to promote the eco
nomic development of an
area tiiat is of crucial impor
tance to our future security
and prosperity.” *
Wiiat does he suggest?
First, oil money teuld be
used to develop the watera of
the Nile lor uae in modem
agriculture tiiai would help
not only Egypt but alao
Etiiiopia and the Sudan.
Second, oil profits could de
velop hydroelectric power on
tlie Jordan River, with tiie
benefits tliat would flow to
the neighboring lands from
such a project.
Tiilrd, the oil men could pay
lor widening and deepening
the Suez canal ao tiiat It
would accommodate the huge
tanicera (100,000 tons and
more) that now must sail
around the aoutliam tip of
Africa.
(Plaua turn to paf* 7>