New York Amsterdam News — 1963-00-00955

Amrf.TSSX'k.W. $ C. B. POWELL President k Editor P. M. H. Savory, Secy Trees. • J. L. Hicks, Executive Editoi w. a. AdvarUatag Dtractor; Warraa Comptroller, K. A. Wall. Duplay rt J. M. Water. City Editori J, W, Advorttonl Maui Edttarlal Manaaar D. Stoppard. BrooAlya Manasar, Dava Published weekly by the Powell-Savory corporation at 2340 Xlfhth Ave., N. Y. Telephone ACademy 2-7800. Brooklyn office, 1251 Bedford Avenue. Telephone ULster 7-2500. rate: 1 yaar IT M — • Editorials Courage — AU Around Contrary to the cries raised in other quarters, this newspaper feels that President Kennedy was demonstrating the profile of courage with which he has become identified, in his recent revampings of the Civil Rights Bill now before the Congress. For any politician can start a bill through the Congress and watch it die, but it takes a man of courage to act to save it, and this is exactly what President Kennedy has done. The President started a good bill through the Congress, but his lieutenants on Capitol Hill, be­ gan to play politics with the bill and suddenly found themselves in a political mess which threat­ ened the very life of the bill. Had President Kennedy so desired he could have done like many of his predecessors and thrown up his hands as his bill was being killed and said, “I tried". But the President did not do that. As a practical politician he saw that the opposi­ tion had mousetrapped his lieutenants and that the only way to save the bill and get any civil rights legislation passed was to appeal to the opposition for cooperation. This took courage. It takes a lot of courage, particularly a few months before election time, for a Democratic pres­ ident to appeal to his Republican opposition for aid on any legislation. But President Kennedy made that appeal and we are proudto say that to their eternal credit Repre­ sentative Charles A. Halleck, Republican of Indiana, Representative John Lindsay, Republican of New York, and many others on both sides of the aisle in Congress rallied to his side. This auction which called for true statesman­ ship, took the bill back out of the field of petty politics' and put it back on the high moral plane where it belongs. This also required courage. The result is that proponents of civil rights now have a bill on its way through the Congress which is comparable to President Kennedy’s original bill. The bill is further strengthened by the fact that it not only has the support of the Democrats but the sup­ port of strong Republicans as well. President Kennedy certainly must be given the lion’s share of credit for bringing about this situation. But the Republicans must be given full credit too. It gives us pleasure to congratulate all concerned. Now let’s pass the bill! Brutal Teachers For more times than we like to remember, this newspaper has called the attention of the Board of Education to racial incidents in which Negro chil­ dren have been slapped, kicked, beaten and humiliated by white teachers. And although the law under which the Board of Education and its teachers function, specifically forbids a teacher striking a pupil, nevertheless, we know of no instance where the Board of Education has punished a teacher for such violations of its rules with more than a “reprimand”, which amounts to a rap on the knuckles. This week we have another “confession” which follows the same pattern as previous cases. A white teacher confesses to slapping a Negro boy and the principal of the school gives the teacher a “repri­ mand”. When the AMSTERDAM NEWS brought the inci­ dent to the attention of the Board of Education, the Board called on an assistant superintendent to conduct a “hearing” in the matter, and after such a hearing was conducted, the teacher once more got a “reprimand”. There are many things wrong with our schools in New York City. But none of them are greater than the dismal way which members of the Board of Education dismiss violations of its rules. We repeat, the law is clear on a teacher striking a pupil. But this law is being broken every day. And instead of firing the people who break the law, the Board of Education spends its time begging for more money to conduct studies on the pupil victims of these teachers in order to try to find out why they (the pupils) are as hostile as they often are. We think it is aboyt time for the Board of Educa­ tion to stop making studies end look at the front of the classroom. White people have been attempting to teach Negroes in our schools for nearly a hundred years, and slapping them around is no more effective to­ day than it was 75 years ago. We are inclined to agree with the African leader who said if after a hundred years of teaching the pupil still falls, perhaps we should not blame the pupil — perhaps we should blame the teacher! Sir Alec Home’s Feudal Background By MARCELLE FOUQUET “The conservatives seem to have decided to commit suicide,” a member of the Labor Party declared when the appointment of Lord Home was announced. In fact, never in modern British History has the Prime Minister been selected in such controversial circumstances. MacMillans* successor was greeted as an “exotic”, even an outrageous” choice. AMSTERDAM NEWS These reactions are due partly to the symbolic significance of Sir Alex­ ander Douglas-Home’s feudal back­ ground. And it is true that symbolism matters in politics. Had he been a* plain commoner emerging as the com­ promise Tory leader, the reactions would have been different. Neverthe­ less, the mere fact that Sir Alec was the fourteenth Earl of Home was not the only cause for the excite­ ment and bitterness aroused. JeatiJit Actually Sir Alec’s approach to some of the ex­ plosive international questions have not revealed an impressive liberalism. For instance, in 1950 for the first time he had to deal with the world beyond Europe when Anthony Eden appointed him Minister of the Commonwealth. Although he tried hard to understand the Africans, Asians and Arabs, he has never succeeded in making the imaginative jump needed to understand their somewhat bitter approach to life. He can appreciate their rational attitudes such as their desire for non alignment, their anti­ pathy to racial discrimination, and their ambition to remove poverty. But he has openly expressed his dislike of their emotionalism, and the tactics that it produces. In a recent speech, he warned that the United Nations “should not become the vehicle by which the Afro-Asians can practice a double standard of morality.” A Some considered the speech candid, others tact­ less. The Afro-Asians thought it was offensive. It is true that, the new Prime Minister, the famous “wind of change” in Africa remains a rather light breeze. i j Right Wing Both at the Commonwealth Relations Office, and later in 1960, at the Foreign Office, Lord Home has identified himself with his party’s right wing on three crucial questions affecting Britain’s relations with Afro-Asians. He opposed the application of political pressures against Dr. Verwoerd’s Government, and was against South Africa’s exclusion from the Commonwealth. Although he does not agree with Salazar's policy in the Portuguese policy of Angola, at the same time I Continued on Page 49 > Symbols In Africa By OLIVIA PEARL STOKES • AFRICA HALL in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia, is one of the most beautiful buildings ort the continent. It is the home of the United Nations Economic Com­ mission for Africa. The building was given to the United Nations by the Emperor Haile Selassie. There are three major stained glass windows which sym­ bolize the struggle of the African. They were done by an outstanding young Ethiopian artist about thirty years of age. The first window is predominantly red in color and represents Africa in its bitter struggle against the heavy shadow of ignorance on one side and on the other the pressure and storm caused by the impact of colonialism. The theme of the work is symbolized DR- STOKES by a disunited family with a lost child in the middle foreground. Upon further looking, one discovers that a group of Africans are carrying the burden which in Africa is ignorance and illiteracy. Another symbol is that of a dragon with a shrewd face on it which repre­ sents the colonial days. On another side of-the window there is a figure clad in red in the form of a skeleton lashing a group of Africans who are carrying the burden. This skele­ ton represents the evil dragging the continent into backwardness. The artist has also gotten in the color green representing the rich and virgin landscapes. The first stained glass window represents the horror, the suffering, and the struggle and the urn broken black chain of slavery. This window is called “AFRICA THEN.” ■ Harlem Symbols _____ ' These symbols can be found fn Harlem in the broken family, the large number of school “drop outs,” and ignorance because of the American sys­ tem of education for those who can afford to pay or those who are more privileged than the average Negro has been. Colonialism doesn’t exist here, but racial dis­ crimination does, so that AFRICA THEN is symbol­ ized in the United States by the problem of racial inequality. The currant struggle evidences great suffering for millions of American Negroes, a tremendous struggle and the horror of seeing four young children die in a Birmingham church. The aspiration of Africa is symbolized in the second lovely window which is predominantly yellow in color. It is called “AFRICA NOW AND IN THE FUTURE." Here one sees two adult figures and a child advancing forward with a burning torch symbolic of knowledge and re-awakening and the people march- (Continued on Page 49) Z*' nnle In Action By DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING. JR. Life In Birmingham Many people are unaware of the severe crisis that still exists in Birmingham, Alabama. For years the Negro community has weath­ ered with great patience the most extreme provocation to resort to violence. It has been a long night of mayhem, bomb­ ings and murder that could have prompted the most passive people to erupt in retalia­ tion. DR. KING In recent days, since our nonvio­ lent direct action campaign in the early Spring, the Negro commun­ ity has demonstrated an unmatch­ ed capacity to be restrained in the midst of continued violence that added to all the previous ills, the use of police dogs on nonviolent, demonstrators and the pressure hoses of the fire department against school children. It is no wonder that the cup of the Negro community nearly spill­ ed over following the dastardly bombing of the Sixteenth St. Bap­ tist Church that brutally snuffed out the lives of four little girls in Sunday School. Before sundown that same Sunday, two more youths were needlessly slain. Who can wonder that Birmingham has not already exploded into racial chaos. The opposition to self-respect and human dignity for the Negro screams inceggantly, in Birming­ ham, as elsewhere, “progress cannot be made with a gun at our backs.” Keep in mind that the agreement to halt demonstrations was MAY 1ft—nearly six months ago! Not very much has been done during the interim of “peace and calm” save that which has been done to the Negro commun­ ity by the dynamiters. New Government How many recall the indignant hue and cry of the enemy and many liberals’ voices, North and South, who complained that we did not give the new city govern­ ment a chance to deal with the critical issues in America’s worst city in race relations? < It has been five months since they were seated officially by the Supreme Court of Alabama—they have been obstructionists only to progress in race relations. Abso­ lutely no influence of the city fathers has been exerted in any wise to correct the ills of Birming­ ham. Mayor Boutwell & Co. have only made true our earlier prediction that they were segregationists just like Bull Connor’s crowd, not so noisy perhaps, but segregation­ ists, nonetheless. It is apparent that the present power structure will do only what it is forced to do by the incessant demands for jus­ tice and morality through nonvio­ lent direct action techniques. Birmingham suffers from twin tragedies: on the one hand, there is a complete lack of leadership in t the white community, sufficiently courageous or sufficiently wise enough to recognize that the prob­ lem will not go away if let alone; on the other hand, fear runs ram­ pant throughout the city, com­ pletely paralyzing those forces that might be inclined to help bring peace with justice. Those who like to think of them­ selves as “moderates” were so sure that President Kennedy’s team of Blaik and Royall would bear some fruit. Their report has been made and no tangible prog­ ress is yet evident. My readers must know that as this is written, no communication exists between the white community and the real leadership of the Negro commun­ ity. Militancy Is Key Despite the deu actors and the critics, there is no gainsaying the fact that if Birmingham is to sur­ vive as a community, its salvation depends upon the forces of mili­ tancy in the Negro community keeping the pressure on the com­ munity in such a manner that the conscience of the nation demands a resolution of the problem symp­ tomatic in Birmingham but preva­ lent all over the nation. The nonviolent forces have tried desperately to channel the ^understandable feelings of agres­ sion in the Negro community into a creative expression by which disaster and calamity would be avoided for both communities. If the nonviolent way is deemed in­ valid and troublesome and sum­ marily dismissed by the decision makers and armchair sociologists, then they will have chosen to light the fuse to a keg of sociological dynamite called Birmingham. Pulse Of New York’s Public The Am/terdam Newt welcomee letter/ on either tide of any eubfect. It to preferred that letter/ not exceed 250 word/ and they mutt be tigned. Name/ will be withheld o n reguett. No letter/ can be returned. All mu^t be addretsed to the Sditcr. Embarrassed! Dear Sir: If you knew bow many^timea I hive fought the oattie or negro vs. ntegro you could appreciate Juat bow DE- LIGHED It wai when I read your article in thia issue of the Amsterdam News. In some instances where this error is committed, I am not greatly shocked, but, when a university educator makes such an error and gives as his reason the fact that he did not “cap* Hallie” the adjective “whit a". I am shocked indeed. The only thing I can say re­ garding Dr. Daniel E. Griffith is that I am glad thqt I did not pay MS.00 an hour to re­ ceive instructions from him. It is also hard to believe that "no racial discrimination was intended’’ for then the only rea­ son must be ignorance. I have been a student at New York University for many years and I must admit that I am embarrassed. Thank you for this great ser­ vice. Name Wltbehld Upon Request. Ossining, N. Y. Misunderstanding Dear Sir: Mliunderstsnding is the cause of most dissension. This is not a unique observation but a (act well known. When you think of war, mur­ der, racial strife, the high rate of divorce etc. the word mis­ understanding seems inadequate to say the least yet many of these things stem from just that. Many people are tired of hear­ ing about the racial “Issue”. They fall to realize that it is more than an issue, it is a mat­ ter of survival It is a misunderstanding on the part of the Negro if he thinks he will get equal opportunity by depending on the conscience of those in power. Very few people use their conscience if indeed they have one. jects were concerned.'as used in Portuguese and French deriva­ tions but that there were distinc' listings of the words, both with the capital letter relating to the members of the Negro race, and the small letter “n” relating to the several meanings as far as the latter was concerned. Since Dr. Griffiths admits that he knows a proper noun when he sees one and that he sanctioned a grammatical error, to Ms dis­ It is an equally great misun­ derstanding on the part of the white man If he really thinks things will ever be the same again. Most will admit that the Negro has a c«s4 but believe Mt derived from proper nouns timing is off. Perhaps he thinks so because he has not as yet taken that last gold nugget out of Africa. credit publicly, possibly he can retrieve his reputation as an edu­ cator by enlightening others, who deliberately misuse the word, cf the fact that proper adjectives If a proper noun is used as an adjective, it becomes a.proper adjective and retains the same spelling. There is another proper noun in the dictionary which also has the name of a people with a small letter, as well as a capital letter, with the different mean­ ings listed for the spelling with the small letter. But, there Is never any controversy or mis­ use ia that particular instance Let me conclude by saying, for Dr. Griffith's benefit, that I am a member of the “Black” race (if he wants to refer to color) or the Negro race, (if be wants to refer to the proper title) and proud of It, far beyond any words which he either singly, or with the aid of Ms associates could possibly convey. Marilyn Dyling 60 West 142nd St Grataful! Dear Sir: I wish to thank you for your article on Dr. Daniel Griffilhe la toe Amsterdam News of November 2, 1963 For years I have waged a woman crusade in instances where the small letter “a” has been used in referring to the Ne­ gro. and in one instance when 1 received a reply from a newspa­ per. to which I had written re­ garding the same. Informing me that the small letter was used as a result of conferring in the dic­ tionary. I replied that in the unabridged version of Oie aarne dictionary, the word "negro” with the small letter “n” referred to the color black as far as inanimate ob­ Defends Our Kids Sir: I am a Negro teacher and I have Just finished reading Marian Adams' letter referring to our childrea as barbarians and having jungle manners. I have seen our children knock­ ed and slapped around by many white unhappy frustrated teach­ ers These same teachers wouldn't dare strike a white child If they were teaching one I’ve taught in integrated schools -They virtually hate our chll dren and should find work else­ where. but thetr test scores were too low to be placed anywhere else. r If our children did not carry weapons to protect themselves from white sadists in disguise as teachers, the race would become extinct within twenty-five years I feel that every child should be equipped with some kind of wea­ pon every morning he leaves home for battlefield. James Burke Jr. Negro Teacher M HemiMon Terrace N.Y.C Successful Bazaar Sir; We are grateful to you for your support of our recent Baz­ aar Publicity Campaign. We feel that much of the success of the bazaar was due to your generous cooperation. So many of us are grateful to you for the article, that I wish to thank you again In their be half. On behalf of the Committee and the Children of the Found ling, may I express our heart felt thank? Viols Llewellyn 295 W 150th St N Y C., N Y (Mrs.) Marion A. Cool Publicity Chairman N. Y. Foundling Hospital 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