New York Amsterdam News — 1963-00-01105

U • N. T. AMSTERDAM NEWS, Sat, Dae. 81, 18*8 Santas Gift I » 1 H«W *©•** -ft! \ Amsterdam Netos C. B. POWELL President Ic Editor P. M. H. Savosy, Secy-Trees. - J. L. Hitxs, Executive Editot O. B. BmU CamstrolMr; K. A. Wan. Dtaetay ASvwtMag DMactari Wi l Mauser; J. H. Wiktr, Clt, Uttar. J W. Wi ri D. Stoppard, Broakipa Maaacer. Dave Published weekly by tne Powell Savory Corporation at 2340 eighth Ave., N. I. Telephone Academy 2-7800. Brooklyn office, 1251 Bedford Avenue. Telephone ULster 7-2500. S7.SS - • “Instantly,” 10 Years Ago We think Dr. Calvin Gross, our superintendent of schools, was taking a lot of weight on his shoulders this week when he sought to chastise the Negro peo­ ple of New York City for demanding what he called “instant racial balances” in their schools. We’d like to know, first, what Dr. Gross means by “instant racial balances?” Does Dr. Gross suggest that the demands which Negro parents are making on him for integrated schools represent the first instance such demands have been made on a New York City School super­ intendent? - If so, he is much more badly informed on our school situation than he at first appeared to be. If not—if Dr. Gross knows—-as he most certainly should know—that Negroes have been asking for in­ tegrated schools ever since the Supreme Court de­ cision of 1954—then what does he mean when he says “instant racial balance?” How “instant” is an action on a request which remains unfulfilled after ten years? And what qualifies Dr. Gross to tell Negroes that they must “wait” and “go slow?” - Dr. Gross suggests that the necessary steps to integrate our schools will lead to “chaos.” We suggest to him. Mayor Wagner and the Stitchman investigating committee, that when re­ sponsible officials of our school system sign away five million dollars of taxpayers* money without knowing what they have signed, and pay school jani­ tors higher salaries than the Mayor or the Governor receives—we already have “chaos.” Picture Editorial The above picture speaks for itself. It says more than a thousand words of contempt for the Police Department of the City of New York, and it goes a long way to show how little some segments of the Police Department think of the Department’s Image. The picture shows the window of an Eighth Avenue bar. This bar was raided by the police because the bar was violating the laws of the City of New York governing gkch places. In accordance with legal procedure When such violations are found, it is the duty of the Police Department to erect a sign in a prominent place in the window of the bar to warn the public that the place has been raided and that it is subject to being raided again. And, in accordance with these legal procedures, : the police did put such a sign in the window of this bar. But where is the sign now? «- Well, to be frank about it its there but you can scarcely see it because an artist was hired to paint “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all over the window of the bar.” The fact that the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year sign made it vir­ tually impossible for the public to read the raided premises sign erected by the police appeared to be •f little concern to the owners of the bar. They didn’t want the sign there in the first place, as it was taking place. But the shocking thing is that it also seems to be of little concern to the police- of the 28th Precinct in Harlem. For, while a policeman stood by and watched the sign being painted in such a manner as to obliterate the Police Department sign the AMSTERDAM NEWS called the captain of the 28th and told him exactly what was taking Tannic In Action What Killed JFK? By DR. MARTIN LUTIIER RING. JR. We stand just a few days re­ moved from one of the most shocking and horrible tragedies that has ever befallen our na­ tion. Men everywhere were stunned into sober confusion at an incredible as­ sassination of John F. Kennedy. It is still difficult to be­ lieve that one so saturated with vim, vitality and vigor is no longer in our midst. As unreal as it seems to our sen- DR. KING «ea, we must face the fact that John Fitzgerald Kennedy is dead. Dead, physically, but the posture of his life has written an epitaph that lives beyond the boundaries of physical death. The epitaph of John Kennedy reveals that he was a leader un­ afraid of change. He came to the presidency in one of the most tur­ bulent and cataclysmic periods of our history. A time when the problems of the world were gigantic in en- tent and chaotic in detail. On the international scene there was the ominous threat of mankind being plunged into the abyses of nuclear annihilation. On the domestic scene the na­ tion was reaping the harvest of its terrible injustice toward the Negro. John Kennedy met these problems with a depth of con­ cern, a breath of intelligence, and a keen sense of history. He had the courage to be a friend of civil rights and a stalwart ad­ vocate of peace. The unmistaka­ ble cause of sincere grief ex­ pressed by so many millions was more than single emotion. It revealed that President Ken­ nedy had become a symbol of peoples’ yearning for justice, economic well being and peace, as well as the importance of a commitment to moral values. We recall the deeply moving words in his address to the na­ tion during the school crisis in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “ ‘We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as dear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal oppor­ tunities; whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.’ ” Our nation should do a great deal of soul searching as a result of President Kennedy’s assassi­ nation. The shot that came from the fifth story building cannot be easily dismissed as the isolated act of a madman. Honesty im­ pels us to look beyond the de­ mented mind that executed this dastardly, act. While the question “who killed President Kennedy?” is impor­ tant, the question “what killed him” is more important. Our late President was assas­ sinated by a morally inclement climate. It is a climate filled with heavy torrents of false accusa­ tion, jostling winds of hatred and raging storms of violence. ' It is a climate where men can­ not disagree without being dis­ agreeable, and where they express dissent through violence and murder. It is the same climate that murdered Medgar Ever? in Mississippi and six innocent Ne­ gro children in Birmingham, Alabama. - So in a sense we are all par­ ticipants in that horrible act that tarnished the image of our nation. By our silence; by our willing­ ness to compromise principle; by our constant attempt to cure the cancer of racial injustice with the vaseline of graduation; our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim; by allowing our movie and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing; by allow­ ing all these developments we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes. His Epitaph So President Kennedy has something important to say to each of us in his death. He has something to say to every poli­ tician who has fed his constitu­ ents the stale bread of racism and the spoiled meat of hatred. He has something to say to every clergyman who had ob­ served racial evils and remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows. He has something to say to the devotees of the extreme right who pour out venomous words against the Supreme Court and the United Nations, and branded everyone a communist with whom they disagree. He has something to say to a misguided philosophy of com­ munism that would teach man that the end justifies the means, and that violence and the denial of basic freedom are justifiable methods to achieve the goal of a classic society. He says to all of us that this virus of hate that has seeped into the reins of our nation, if un­ checked, will lead inevitably to our moral and spiritual doom. Thus the epitaph of John Ken­ nedy’s life illuminates profound truths that challenge us to set aside our grief of a season and move forward with more deter­ mination to rid our nation of the vestiges of racial segregation and discrimination. Pulse Of New York’s Public The Amsterdam Neu mv t he ttpned Nam letters on either side of any subject. It is pra/erred that lettert not exceed 250 words end they he vtthheld on request. No lettert can be returned. AU must he addressed to the tdttor. Imaginative! another leader, then please God. help us all. Is Ha Dead? Sir: Your special supplement on the tragic loss of President Kennedy was tender, touching, and an imaginative Journalistic statement. Isn’t It funny how the rich whites of Texas and California and the Daily News of New York and Malcolm X were the only ones concerned about Madame Nhu? Mrs. E. Banks New York, New York Sir:.I want io find out, Is my, (our) President Kennedy really dead? Please tel me the truth. I haw* heard over radio, aeen on TV read It in newspapers, but seems as though something in my heart tells me be is not dead. Jesse DeVore, Jr. NAACP Director, Public Information. Please Help Us Sir: Regarding the ed late President’s refusal meet with Madame Nhu. □□ % 6 Mos. 4.00 "America's Largest Weekly" NEW Y0M AMSTERDAM NEWS I have cried and prayed but I have no answer that the Pres­ ident is dead. I have read in the Amster­ dam News where Rev. Galami- son said he might rise, this makes me think he’s not truly dead. M he is dead wv people of this country have loot a great father, a great leader, a great President. I believe be did give his Hfe not only for civil rights but for freedom of afl men everywhere Miss Margaret Johnson Bronx, New York You And The World Kenya’s Freedom, A World Test By MARCELLE FOUQUET So many states have achieved independence in the last decade that Kenya’s arrival on the World scene last week was greeted as a commonplace event without anything exceptional but its coming late. However, in Kenya’s case the achievement of independence is profoundly significant, not only for the country itself, but for its neighbors, for Africa and perhaps for the World. AMSTERDAM NEWS One of the greatest challenges con­ fronting the Government of Kenya will be the question of the immigrant minorities. The three great races, African, Asian and European live side by side, and face the task of “nation­ building” at the historical moment when the question of race has become issue on the World political scene. a burning ___ » Only a year ago, it seemed that the unusual structure of Kenyan society had produced an irre­ concilable conflict of interests. The white minority was the crucial question in the struggle for indepen­ dence. Tom Mboya, the young Minister of Justice, of Kenya, recalls that when he had asked British officials why Ghana should be independent and not Kenya, he had often been told that there was a big difference between the West Africans and the East Africans. . And says Mr. Mboya, “I have failed to see any difference except for one: they have more mosqui­ toes than we have.” The lack of mosquitoes led to Kenya’s being labeled a “white man’s country.” Actually in the upper strata, 60,000 Europeans held virtually all the managerial positions, ran much of the commerce, owned the best lands. They pro­ duced four-fifth of the crops and almost all the country’s export income. At the next level, there were some 200,000 Asians. They filled the lower positions, in commerce as retail-traders and in government administration for clerical jobs. Then came over 8 million Africans, mostly'divided by tribal hostilities and the fierce struggle for land. This explosive situation had already resulted in the Mau Mau conflict in the 1950’s. In 1961 with the Europeans leaving and African politics dividing along tribal lines, it seemed that disaster was to be repeated. Facing the prospect of political responsibility much earlier than was generally expected, the Africans began to form political parties in 1959. After a period of confused maneuvers, two organized factions came into, being: the Kenya African National Union (KANU), representing the two dominant tribes, the Kikuyu and the Luo and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), com­ posed of an alliance of the smaller tribal groups. . Although this division of forces originally re­ flected chiefly tribal rivalries, it was hardened in political experience. The emergence of Jomo Kenyatta’s KANU ad­ ministration as a strong and conciliatory govern­ ment is one of the best assets for the New Kenya. His slogan “Freedom and Unity” has replaced the motto “independence”. It is significant enough. He realizes perfectly that he has to rise above tribal groupings and provide a national leadership that would dissipate the insecurity and suspicion of the smaller tribes. Also he has tried to convince the minorities that they would be given genuine protection. He knows that the economy of the country still depends of the efforts of the European fanners and business men. However the Prime Minister has no illusions about the future pressures which could compromise the political stability and the economic development of the new state. In this multiracial society, class, wealth, job opportunities still follow racial lines. In the vigorous tribe of Kikuyu, two kinds of pressures continue: the pressure for land and the pressure for jobs. . In Nairobi, the capital, thousands of young men without jobs and the landless peasants constitute a formidable segment of the population for the op­ position to the government. The wealthy Europeans and the Asian traders would become obvious targets for African dis­ content. The two challenges are to make a success of an agricultural policy based on diversification and to stimulate the growth of industry. At present. If agricultural prospects are uncertain, the outlook for industry is not much clearer. At present the Kenya Government has not many resources. Yet, according to experts, the extra sums re­ quired are very small. Kenya offers an extra­ ordinary opportunity to the Western world to make, the inestimable investment that could bring decisive, results in Kenya’s rational resolution of racial con­ flicts, with repercussions not only in Pretoria but conceivably in regions as remote as Georgia or Alabama. newspaper told the captain that it con- the obliteration of the sign an insult to the of Harlem, to the captain himself who erected, and to the Police Department captain represents. agreed with the AMSTERDAM lign is still covered and the insult symbol of how powerful some bar in Harlem and how weak our Police really is in certain areas. the woman la thing the United States definitely does not stand for, and is against; that is impertal'sro at Its worst where people were treated like animals, the Buddist Monks and students were persecuted be­ yond your imagination. When Madame Nhu’s dynasty reigned, his black Muslims would have been persecuted much the same as the Monks were kad they been located in her country U 'Malcolm X is supposed to be Address kl-4 2340 EIGHTH AVE., NEW YO*K 27, N. Y. Religious Falsehoods Tai. AC 2-7800 State ONLY Sir: The cycle of the color de­ gradation system is gradually coming to an end with the emer­ gence of African and Aslan na­ tions into international promt- ne** The attempt at some hypo­ crites to perpetuate the degra­ dation of people of color using religious falsehoods and histori­ cal untruths cannot withstand the determined onslaught of spiritual truth revealed through Infallible prophetic Insight. Christ and his mother found in Europe clearly show that the mother of Christ and her son had vary dark complexions. The falr- skln Polish people of Custocho- wa, Poland have a painting of Christ and his mother believed to have been done by 8t. Luke who painted Mary while she was staying la the house of St. John. St. Luke painted Mary with a dark complexion, not a light one To Mary, the mother of Christ, the Catholic church applies these words, **I am black but beauti­ ful.” The oldest paintings of Jesus Mo creature of nature Is a god. for God la spiritual net ma­ terial! I challenge any white or Ne­ gro theologian or professor of ancient history to refute my In­ fallible statement that the earli­ est paintings of Mary and her son, Jesua whom the white Christians worship as a God were colored. A prophet auJtea the evil with­ in the spirit of man not his ma­ terial body. DeCourcy Edwards Brooklyn. Untitled Document file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/hello.html2/18/2007 11:01:03 AMThomas M. Tryniski 309 South 4th Street Fulton New York 13069 www.fultonhistory.com