Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 28, 1957, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY, DEC. 28, 1957 Two Of Our Colleges Moving Ahead This newspaper is aware it has been in the past critical of college administrators and, at times, may have impressed our readers as leaning a bit too heavily on the educators. But because we feel that the big hope for the eventual freeing of the race from the shackles of second class citizenship to a large measure lies in the hands of those who train our youth, we feel justified in our inclination to point out shortcomings in performance of school administrators. However, we are pleased that on this occasion we are able to speak of college officials in. phrases of com pliment rather than censure. The recent action of the Southern Associa tion of Colleges and Secondary Schools in ac cepting two predominantly Megro schools in this state, along with 16 others in the region, to full membership *i8 a tribute, we think, to the quiet, painstaking and undramatic labor of their administrators. The action by the rat ing and accrediting organization is tant amount to saying that Bennett and N. C. College are not just good colleges for Ne groes but that their programs of instructions and their standards are on a par with any college in the region. Their acceptance by the association literally removed, to some de gree, the stigma of “Negro education” from these two schools. And, as any Negro can attest, tne stigma in itself can prove^A size able handicap for anyone who tries to make his way in our coimtry. Though acceptance by the Association may not be an earth-shaking achievement, it cer tainly speaks well for the men and women to whom direction of the two institutions are entrusted. In the case of North Carolina Col lege, a state-supported school, it may not have been a heroic task for President Elder and his associates to build the type of institution which could gain recognition from the Asso ciation, especially in view of the fact that many of the things necessary for qualifica tion as a member of the organization—things like physical equipment—are much more readily obtainable from the state than they were a fe\K^ears ago. But many schools similarly situated, schools which can draw upon state treasuries, were not able to meet the Association’s requirements. One thing which pleases us most about the Association’s action was the spirit in-which Nortii Carolina College’s Presidant respond- «d to the news of that institution’s accept ance. “Now that we have been accepted,*’ President Elder said, “we have the responsi bility of maintaining from year to year the standards of exdellence required by the Asso ciation.” He went on to say that the college must not be content to simply meet the re quirement of today’s world, but must look ahead and plan to cope with the needs of to morrow. When more of our school administrators and teachers can begin to feel the mighty responsibility which is theirs to prepare Ne gro youth for a world which moves at an often bewildering pace, we will have come a long way toward realizing tHe rich promise of a modem democracy. The Meaning Of Little Rock Trial Leaves Many Unanswered Questions The disposition of a few days ago of a case involving the fatal shooting of a yoimg A. and T. college student by a special Martin County deputy sheriff did very little to strengthen the faith of Negroes in the work ings of southern justice or their faith in the ultimate establishment of full equality before the law for both races in the South. An all- white jury took only fifteen minutes to re turn a verdit of not guilty for the deputy who had beeh charged with murder in the slaying of the 24 year-old student. The verdict exonerating the deputy of any blame in the slaying left many nagging ques tions unanswered wjiich will undoubtedly be resolved by Negroes of the area and through out the state in favor of an explanation which tb« old double on fiSfiS?' acquittal. In this particular case, the all-white jury which rendered the verdict should not take the major blame, for given the evidence which it had to consider, it is inconceivable that it nr nny ntt^r juryi that matter— could have reached any other valid conclus ion- -rtfcU Only three persons really know what hap pened on the night of September 7 when young Joseph Cross was sent to his death. They are Sheriff Raymond Rawls, special deputy Dallas Halliday, the accused, and Cross, the dead man. It would be too much to expect the sheriff to give damaging testi mony against l\is own deputy, especially since such testimony would tend to indict the sheriff of laxity or malfeasance since he had jurisdiction over the apprehension of law Itreaicet^ in the county. Miss Polly Rober son, the white waitress over whom the whole bu«i.fl»ss got started and who was at the scene, f&id she fainted, and therefore could '*110t>pM$perly be considered by the court as a witness to the shooting. ■ The sheriff’s testimony stated that after several attempts to capture a caller who had requested dates with Miss Roberson and who threatened her if she didn’t comply had fail ed, they set a trap to capture him on the night of September 7. Miss Roberson was to obey his instructions to meet him on highway 64, observe his blinking Ughts signal and follow him to a rendezvous. At the apointed spot, the Sheriff and deputy Rawls, previously hidden from view, got out of the car, attempt ed to arrest the man and shot him as the two of them grappled. The man then fled to his parked car, drove away rapidly and crashed 150 yards away at a bridge. Perhaps the sheriff’s testimony is a true report of what happened that night. Never theless, his story failed to answer many ques tions which still haunt the - crowd which heard the “not guilty” verdict read at and questions which still plague peole all over the state. Among these questions are the following; 1. Why would Cross, a junior at A. and T. College whose reputation was so good that it merited a special commendation from a school ofllcial at Ms funerat and whose stand ing in the Williamston community earned his respect of both races, jeopardize his future by dabbling in such a potentially dangerous relationship? 2. What about the girl friend whom Cross was reportedly on his way to see when the shooting took place? 3. How could he, after absorbing four fatal bullet wounds, get back inside his car and drive it 150 yards into a bridge? 4. Why couldn’t the deputy have held him or prevented him from getting to the car af ter he had shot him four times if they had been close enough to grapple? Miss Roberson may have been molested by a Negro man, but as far as Martin Coun ty residents are concerend, the sheriff’s dep uty shot the wrong man and was freed from blame because of the South’s infamous dou ble standard of justice for the two races. Alabama's Form Without Substance The success of the movement to gerry mander Macon county Alabama is one more example of how desperately southern whites wish to hang onto the symbols of supremacy when the real basis for that supremacy has vanished. White Alabamans voted over whelmingly on Tuesday in favor of a pro posal to abolish Macon County and divide its heavy Ne^o majority among counties which will be assured of white majorities. The ac tion is an obvious flaunting of the spirit of I States Constitution and one of the 9f Ma- of Macon and many other Alabama counties can be traced to two Negroes, George Wash ington Carver and Booker T. Washington. Without the city of Tuskegee, Macon county could hardly exist as a self-sustaining eco nomic unit. And Tuskegee Institute, which was founded through the labors of Booker T. Washington, is the soiurce from which that city draws its growth. The Veterans hospital at Tuskegee, which services many white re sidents in the outlying county, is Negro staff ed and operated, and was situated at its pre- American democracy, ^nt locatio nbecause of the presence of Tus- of government by kegee Institute. Together, these two institu- the red clay Albama hills. Thus, the rural con county. In addition, it was through the discoveries in peanut growth and processing by George Washington Carver that white and Negro dirt farmers in Macon and stirrounding coun ties were enabled to eke a livelihood from the red clay Alabama hills. Thus, the rural poulation of Macon, like its brother town poulace, owes its economic heritage to a large extent to a Negro. It is ironic that the latter ly whites, who have undoubtedly forgotten and Washington, chose to repay their Negro heirs by depriving them of a ' basic democratic right. The financial and intellectual wealth of Macon Coimty—or what was Mad^ Coun- ty—belong largely to Negroes who ara^i- (Please turn to page Five) (Editor’s Note: Following Is the first portion of an excerpt from the Monthly Review, dated No vember 10. The excerpt will be presented in two installments, the second of which will follow next week.) There is probably no politi cian in the United States who has a more highly developed propensity to compromise than President Eisenhower. The prin ciples he believes in are all much too vague and general to define a specific course of action, and he seems to be tempermen- tally opposed to taking a strong stand on anything. It was thus in a spirit of unlimited compromise that he approached the school integration problem. In response to a question at a press conference on July 17th, he said: "I can’t imagine any set of circumstances that would ever induce me to send Federal troopso>into any area to enforce the orders of a Federal Court, because 1 believe the common sense of America wiU never re quire it.” When, less than two months later, Governor Faubus, taking Elsenhower at his word, began for the first time to put into practice the infamous doC' trine of interposition, the Presi' dent riiilly-shallied, begged the Governor not to do it, received him as an official guest, and issued statements conveying totally misleading picture of the real situation—all presumably in the hope that he could somehow muddle through without ever facing the issue squarely. And yet when the showdown finally came, Eisnehower acted quickly and decisively. Federal troopij^ complete with bayonets, were sent into Little Rock where they have since remained giving living, tangible protection to the long-proclaimed rights of Ne groes to equality before the law. Never have soldiers had a more honorable task; never has President acted with greater le gal and moral justification. But why this sudden change in the President’s behavior. Why didn’t he continue the search for a way out—which from the Negro point of view could only be sellout? In terms of the immediate situation, the answer, of course, is that Governor Faubus gave him no choice. Faubus is appar ently not only a narrow-minded ing picture than that of United^ States soldiers accompanying Negro children to school in a Southern city. Here, for the first time iri the lives of most Ne groes living today, is concrete, irrefutable evidence that the law is on their side and that it can protect as well as oppress them. Ironically enough, Eisenhower and the Republican Party want ed nothing so much as not to. have to provide, the Negroes; with that evidence. But the deed is done, and if the Republicans are prepared to maintain the ad vantage thus unwillingly gained, then Little Rock could be made to have profoimd effect on every thinking Negro citizen in the country. By contrast, the Democratic! Party is hopeessly compromised by the events of Little Rock. There is nothing new or surpris ing, of course, in the stand of Faubus and bis fellow Southern “extremists.” But what Little Rock has done as nothing else could have is to show up file "moderates” in both the South ern and Northern wings of tl>e Party. Southerners have in practice aligned themselves on the side of segregation and an indefinite continuance of the status quo. The Northerners have shown themselves to be unprincipled cowards, afraid to split the Party lest they be cast out into the po litical wilderness. To be sure, there are a handful of Demo cratic exceptions, but they are a minor element in the Party as a whole and helpless to mold its actual policies (as distinct from^ Its campaign promises). After the spectacle of the last three months, it would seem that noi Negro could possibly trust any Democrat in power. Federal troops are all that stand between the Negro and the fury of the Southern mob, now aroused as never before. Who, Negro white, could feel hopeful, let alone confident, that a Demo-i cratic president would not quickly find a formula to with draw troops as the only possible way of preserving Party har mony and the spoils of offices. It would be the formula of a Fau bus, of course, but it would be on that account more, not lees/ deadly to Negro aspi^tions. This Vicious Curse On U. 5. World Leadership Must Be Removed hatever his^mbtliPfaVnS it makes little difference whether they were personal or politi cal—he deliberately backed El- senhower into a comer fromi which the only escape was an honorabe one. If Eisenhower had refused to act every state in the South would have "InterpOBed:^ The South would have reversed the verdict of the Civil War without so much as firing a h^t. Faubus, in short, violated the'Hirst result of war and iwlitics which says at all costs to avoid a showdown with a stronger op ponent. In so doing, he made a man of Eisenhower, at least for a brief moment, and opened up for the Republican Party a po litical oilfield of vast but as yet unmeasured dimensions. The reason for this are well known but too little appreciated. The central fact of the American^ Negro’s life, North as well as South, is humiliating inferiority forced upon him by superior white power and the ever-pre sent threat and frequent use o4 violence. Whites can never fully comprehend what it means to be in this position, but if they want to understand what is now hap-> pening, they had better make the best lue of their imagination, they can. To a NeKro, there can be no more satisfying or reassux Spiritual Insight “WHAT THEY SAW AND HEARD” By REVEREflD HAROLD ROLAND Pastor, Mount Gilead Baptist Church not reflected in local and. state elections in New York an^ New Jersey, where the Negrc vote went to Wagner and Mey- ner, and not to their Republican opponents? There are, we think several explanations. Most Important was the aware ness on the part of Northern Ne groes that Eisenhower was back ed into a comer at Little Rock and did what he did out of ne cessity, not principle. When and if the Republicans commit them selves willingly to the principle of enforcement of judicial orders against segregation, when and if they become increasingly sensl» tive to Negro demands, then per haps the memory of the marked gains under Roosevelt and the New Deal will fade. It is clear, too, that the elec tions came at precisely the wrong time for the Republicans: the rising cost of living; the growing fear about the end ol| boom and the possible onset of a depression; the dramatic advent of sputnik which Increased the number of those who were be coming more and more critical of Ike’s lack of leadership—all these undoubetedly had their ef fect. (To be continued next week) FROM THIS HUMBLE BEGINNING* k "For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.. Acts: 4:20 They had seen the Son of God aflamed with the power of Holy love. They heard the noble, sublime words of love and compassion fall from the lips of Jesus. They had seen this same love give itself fully in the sacrifice of the cross. This Holy flame of love and ^d hallowM Ad consecrate)!' them. There bums in them the Holy passion of Divine love, a love that would not let them go. Thus, when they were warned not to speak again about Christ and his love, they cried out fearlessly: “...for we cannot hut 8pealr of what we have seen and heard.” Human beings really in the grip of the consuming passion of Divine love are unable to keep their peace. The flame of this love burns in the heart, and you just cannot keep your peace. Under the influence of this love, men speak and_act. In its i^ery nature, it is'dy- namic. It must find expression and action in the midst of hu man need. True love must reach out to embrace some ob ject. This love is not contend ed to stand in a static state. If he has whispered his love in your soul, you must tell it. It’s true nature is fulfilled in gra cious words and deeds. Thus, "’tm-lRnif those und^ the pow- ; er of tills love saying, “We must teU of what we have seen and heard." This love of God must reach out to save and redeem. Thus, in them, this love goes on its creative way amid the lost- ness of-men. This love finds the lost. It saves from sin, it heals the sin-sick soul. This love with its magnetic power awakens the soul and brings it home to God. This same love had drawn them from their past and the old way and had lifted them to a higher plane. Now they are used by God in holy conse cration. Now they must tell of the wonders of God’s pace. Now they become channels for this love with its power to find men in their ruins and re build their lives with the D1-. vine Plan of salvation reveal ed in Christ and His Cross. Nothing now can moye them- from their determl^tion telLmen for» by Christ and ^ The world needs story Uviiy in its simpU!l&, beauty and power. 1 rqMin the story of salvation trough Jesus ’The story that never grows old. The story oJ^Good News of salvation tHtough Jesus CBrtsrl. " ^ Every redeemed soQ^should have this same urgency tp tell what it has experienced, seen' and heard in Jesus Christ, the blessed savior. Press Comment I Population Shifts And Political Power GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS December 16 North Carolina and the South cannot fail to note the political implications of population chan ges which have been projected for the 1960 census. On the basis of these predic tlons, based on present figures which establish the trend, in creased power in both the Con gress and the electoral college will shift to the West. The out look is for Western states to gain nine electoral votes and House of Representative seats, while the South and the East will lose five each. Florida is the single Southern exception as the Ever glades State is expected to gain three congressmen. Michigan and Ohio will gain two each and Maryland and Indiana one each. But it is in the South that the congressional losses wUl be heaviest. True, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania wUl lose two seats each. But It is the aggre gate loss that counts, with Ala bama. Georgia, Mississippi, N. C. Oklahoma and Virginia expected to suffer single seat losses. Thus it is shown not only whldi way the nation’s popula tion is shifting but how political power and influence go with these shifts. Ttie strong bids that both parties are making fop votes in the more populous states become Increasingly un derstandable. How the South votes means leas and leas in planning nation-wide strategy. The only way for the Southern, states to retain their position la through a strengthened economy and greater job opportunities to keep their young people at home. It is the South which knows the heaviest migration and the Western and Middle Western states to which these Southern emigrees largely go. On the North Carolina level, the outlook is for a congressional redistricting in such a manner aa to make sure that Tarheelia’s loss is a Republican representative. The squeeze will tmdoubtedly operate against Rep. Charles R. Jonas if he runs again. Thus the likelihood grows that he will not seek re-election but will accept the third, or roving, federal judgeship contemplated for North Carolina if it materializes and he should desire to remain in public life. The Baptist Suit THE AFRO-AMEBJCAN November 30 Ten ministers, members of the National Baptist Convention, Inc., filed suit last week asking that President Joseph H. Jack son of Chicago, be enjoined from occupying the convention presi dency. He took over the office of the presidency for his fifth term and now occupies Ur in violation of the constitution which restricts a president to four consecuti^q^ one-year terms. The National Baptist Conven tion, with its 2,500 churches and 4,500,000 members, is chartered in Washington and the suit was filed in that city. Under quo warranto proce dure, the action against Dr. Jackson is brought in the face of the United States. Petitioners include ten pastors of the largest churches in Phila delphia, Washington, Los Ange les, Detroit, Atlanta, Memphis and Little Rock. These men are all responsible persons. The election at the Louisvilla convention in September was characterized by disorderly pro cedures, violtnt protests and the arrest of some pe^ns. The suit of the ten pastors in dicates a desire to transfer the adjudication of this matter fromi the noisy convention floor to the quiet and orderly chambers of the Federal court. Under certain circumstances we should believe that a chiuch denomination ou^t to solve Itf own difficulties, but it is fest that no conventioi^cfn'4^ properly if its sescio^a^ bois terous, disorganized - and disor-' derly. Alabama Gerrymander THE WASHINGTON POST December 20 -Shamans don't seem to real ize yet how embarrassingly they undressed themselves by the cy- . nicall gerrymander they rigged to deprive Negroes of the right oil self-government in Slacon Coun ty. They voted overwhelmingly: j on Tuesday in favor of a state Legislature to abolish Macon. County and divide its heavy Ne gro population among counties with white majorities. "Beie iM one form of integration which, apparently, they are quite will^' ing to embrace. It pretty well shatters the Southern pretext that segrega tion is not discrimination—that Negroes may enjoy equality so long as they don’t seek to mix white persons. The effect of the Macon County gerrymander will be to diminish for Negroes the conc^ of government by the consebt of the governed, to take away from them the means of asserting their interests ihreugb orderly political e:q>ression. What tbe white majority of -Ala bama has done affronts the spirH) if not' the letter of the United States Constitution. It reveals on their part, at the (Please tun to page Sevao)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Dec. 28, 1957, edition 1
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