Nebraska Newspapers

    LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWS ^ Per Copy AND WORTH IT— “To Sell It, ADVERTISE**
L M
HEWTOTHE LINE\
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PHONE HA.0800
~ i -—■ i Mu ———— *
★ ★ SATURDAY, NOV EMBER 30, 1946 Our 19th Year—No. 43 Entered as 2nd Mass matter at I'nst Offioe. Oni.'iLa. Nebraska, t'mier Act of
--—... - " — ' ___ March S. 1874. 1*1 RI.INTTIXO niPFlPFS at oj>>n nitivr c'r
LINCOLN, J
'OUR 1
GUEST
. Column
(Edited by VERNA P. HARRIS)
THE CASE FOR EQUALITY
By Melvin Douglas,
Columbia Pictures' star, currently
co'starring with Rosalind Russell
in "The Guilt of Janet Ames"
If it were not for the present,
chaotic conditions surrounding
the whole question of Negro equal
ity, the race prejudice and lynch
ingB which have disgraced the
national social and political scenes
it would be presumptuous for any
white Americas to comment on
the matter at all.
But those conditions do exist,
and I have been asked what is
the case for Negro equality. My
answer to that is there is the
same case for Negro equality as
there is, let us say. for white equ
ality or for religious equality.
In the first place, Negroes are
people. As such, they are equal
to ull other people, neither below
them nor above them in the hu
man scale. In a world gravely in
danger of being blown to bits by
its own Frankenstein thinking and
acting, it seems to me some sort
of new high in idiocy for one kind
of human being to place himself
in a superior position to any other
And no contrary law of natural
selection, to my knowledge, or
ever has existed.
In the second place, Negroes in
this country are American citi- 1
zens. As such they are entitled
to enjoy all the political rights
and privileges enjoyed by other
Americana be they white or red
or brown or yellow or black. If
political justice and and democra
cy exist, there simply can be no
dividing line between one sort of
citizen and another.
If they taught me nothing else |
my years years in India with the
American forces taught me that j
bitterness and violence must al
ways accompany race prejudice.
It was evident 50 any observer in
that field that much more detest
ed than the economic exploitation
which the people of India resented
was the arrogance and assumed
superiority of those who had been
sent to govern them.
In my opinion, the bill for a
Fair Employment Practice Com
mission is the most important
piece of unenacted legislation in
the country today and its early
adoption should be urged by every
one able to make himself heard.
—APA—
SEMPER GETS N. H. A.
APPOINTMENT
' Appointment of Joseph Semper
as reporting analyst for the region
al office of the National Housing
Agency was announced today by
Clrarles J. Horan, regional ad
ministrator for the agency.
Semper, former assistant chief
of training with Illinois State of
fice of the United States Employ
ment Service, will have charge of
reviewing housing reports for the
planning and program section of
the agency, and will serve “as an
administrative assistant to the pro
gram planning chief. Semper has
served with the USES in Chicago
for the past six years.
For two years Semper worked
closely on studies of business pro
blems in Chicago *areas with hea
vy concentrations on Negro pro
blems, and cooperated with the
authors of “Black Metropolis” in
making their study of this city.
He is a graduate of Wilberforce ’
University and took two years of'
graduate study in soci'al admini
stration at the University of Chi
cago. For three years he served
as research assistant in social an
thropology at Yale Institute of
Hum*an Relations. Semper is a
veteran of World War H, having
served in the Navy in the United
States and Hawaii.
JEBR.
White Students Join Fight On Texas "U”
HOUSTON—That the fight for
Equalized educational opportuni
ties is not restricted to Negro ef
fort was shown when a large
group of University of Texas stu
dents joined NAACP representa
tives in discussing means of rais
ing funds to carry on the court
fight for Herman Marion Sweatt
to enter the University of Texas
Law School.
Sweatt has emphatically declar
ed that he plans to enter the law '
school if the “doors are opened."
He has also indicated that he
will not enter any State-sponsored
school with facilities not equal to
those of U. T.
Sweatt applied for admission to
the University of Texas Law
School last February and was de
nied admission. He later filed a
suit against the Board of Regents.
LINCOLN MO. PUBLIC
RELATIONS OFFICE TO
SHOW MATERIAL IN OMAHA
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Nov.
23,—The Lincoln university office
of public relations is preparing
the third in a series of requested
exhibits for display at the Public
Relations conference, meeting in
Omaha, Nebr., Dec. 1, 2 and 3.
Injured In
Auto Crash
Syvella Brown, 26. 2302% Grace
Street, suffered face cuts Satur
day night in an auto, truck col
lision at Thirteenth and Dodge
Streets. She was treated at Doc
tor’s hospital and released.
Miss Brown was riding in a car
driven by Arthur Mitchell, 2807
Charles Street. Myron Nelson.
3332 North Thirty-eighth Street,
was reported as having been the
driver of the other auto. Police
said both drivers were booked by
them on charges of reckless dri
ving.
| FOB THE BEST IN NEWS.
1 READ The Greater OMAHA GUIDE'
ilowans Give $1,000.00
To Isaac Woodard Fund
NEW YORK. Nov. 21st—Isaac
Woodard's appearance at mass j
rallies held in his behalf have been
heartily supported by NAACP
branches throughout the country,
as is attested by the returns com
ing into the national office.
Ike Smalls, president of the
Iowa State Conference of branches
which held a rally for Woodard
when he was there on November
17th sent in $700 from the rally.
In addition, the Des Moines NAA
CP branch gave $300 making a
total of $1000. i
Harvey Parham, ^ treasurer of
the St. Louis, Mo., branch brought
a check into the national office
for $500 as a contribution to the
Isaac Woodard fund. Of this, $392
was raised at the mass meeting
for Woodard on October 27th and
$107.83 was contributed by the
branch.
Mr. Parham also brought with
him, as a gift from the St. Louis
branc, the original of a cartoon by
D. D. Fitzpatrick which appeared
in the St. Louis Post Dispatch
during the Lawrenceburg trials,
entitled, “New Method in Law
renceburg, Tenn.”. The cartoon de*
picts a judge referring to a big
book, labeled, “Legal Lynching.”
Inatl news I!
I REVIEW
i i
Liberian Republic Buys
Home In Queens
NEW YORK—Global—Mr. Jas
Suozzo of 29-04 Gilmore St., East \
Elmhurst, Queens, has sold his one
family brick dwelling to the Re
public of Liberia. The purchase
was completed through Dr. Fred
erdrick Price, Consul General of
Liberia, according to the Corona
Holding Co.
U. S. Marines Manhandle
Filipinos
MANILA—Although a published
report from the presidential palace
issued last week supporting alleg
ed manhandling of Filipinos by
Marines, the report stated that
these cases emanating from the
Olongapo naval base, were isola
ted cases, not following any set
pattern.
Rep. Ramon Magsaysay made
the original charge.
Crowd Boos Name of
Field Marshall, Jan Christian
Smuts at Meeting
NEW YORK—Sen. H. M. Bas
ner, white representative of four
million natives in the South Afri
can Parliament, brought jeers and
boos from the audience of a mass
meeting held at the Abyssinian
Baptist church Sunday, November
17. Field Marshall Smuts is head
of the African Delegation to the
U. N. Senator Basner called Mar
shall Smuts, the architect of a
system which has reduced the na
tive population to a shameful so
cial and economic condition.
Frank Anthony, who shared the
speakers platform with the head
of the Indian delegation, Mrs. Vi
jaya Lakshmi Pandit, called the
union’s incorporation plan a viol
ation of the U. N. charter. He
said 'what we want is the setting
up of a trusteeship council to ad
minister Southwest Africa”.
The administration of the for
mer German colony, now a union
mandate, jhe said, has been so
discreditable that he would not
consent to the union’s being given
administration of the territory
even under a trusteeship council.
It could not be trusted to ad
minister a trust territory he said.
Mrs. Pandit asked for fewer
U. N. words and more U. N. ac
tion. She said “the great need to
day is a speedy implementation
of the promises which the charter
holds out to the people of the
world.”
Pvt. Lem as Woods Granted
New Trial by Truman
WASHINGTON, D. C—The War
Department announced last week
that President Truman had gran
ted a new court-martial trial to
Pvt. Lemas Woods, jr., Detroit
G I who was found guilty of kill
ing his tentmate in the Philippines.
THE MORE YOU TEIX--THE MORE
YOFXL BELL I
ADVERTISE IT!!!
* • •
CNS NEWS ROUNDUP i
On His Trail
NEW YORK. (Calvin's News
Service)—Now’ that Representa
tive May has escaped investigation
by a Senate committee, the docket
is being set up in earnest to give
Senator Theodore Bilbo the work3.
It is predicted that Bilbo will
only resume his seat for a few
weeks, it at all, in the next Con
gress. Meanwhile a petition that
will contain one million signatures
is being circulated to unseat ‘ The
Man” on the grounds of fraud and
intimidation.
Boom—Then Bust!
NEW YORK—Max Lerner. not- I
ed newspaper and radio commen
tator said in a recent broadcast,
that the cost of living would rise
another five per cent, mid..‘after
the boom has spent itself, the bust
will come sharper and sooner.."
A Full House
BERLIN—If you’re wondering
how the Army of Occupation is ^
making out in Germany, here is 1
an item that will give you a slant
on one side of it. The Berlin jails
are so badly overcrowded that on
ly those persons accused of the
most serious crimes are held for
trial.
Hot Bananas!
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—Despite
a revamped labor policy, the Uni
ted Fruit Company still has its
troubles with the natives in this
paradise of bananas. Recently it
wras necessary to have troops sum
moned to quell a disturbance by
the natives who threatened to set
fire to the plantations.
Back Again!
INDIANAPOLIS—The Ku Klux
Klan and its spawn are under in
vestigation in this community.
Masquerading under a dozen inno
cent-sounding names, the Klan off
sheets are dedicated to the prin
ciple of ‘‘White Christian Ameri
canism” only.
Gov. Griswold
Designates
Christmas
Seal Week
The Period of November 25 to
December 25, 1946, has been offi
cially named by Governor Dwight
Griswold as “Christmas Seal
Month” in Nebraska.
“This year,” said Governor Gris'
wold in his official proclamation
"in keeping with its tradition, the
Nebraska Tuberculosis Associat
ion will conduct its Fortieth an
nual Christmas Seal Sale to ob
tain financial assistance in carry
ing on the fight against tubercu
losis. The sale began November
25 and will continue through the
Christmas season’’.
"People of Nebraska are well
aware of the great and effective
work that is accomplished through
the use of Christmas Seal funds.
L<ast year, tuberculosis claimed
more than 173 Nebraska lives and
there have been 523 newly-report
ed cases of this disease in our
state during 1946. The battle a
gaint tuberculosis continues un
abated, and I know that Nebras
kans will give their support most
willingly to this struggle which
means so much to the health of
our people.
"NOW THEREFORE, I, Dwight
Griswold, Governor of the State of
Nebraska do hereby proclaim Nov
ember 25 as the time for the in
auguration of the Fortieth annual
Christmas Seal Sale and respec
fully urge the people of Nebraska
to respond to the Association’s
appeal and to cooperate by pur
chasing Seals in keeping with
their financial ability.
“IN WITNESS WHEREOF T
have hereunto set my hands and
caused the Great Seal of the State
of Nebraska to be affixed.”
With 523 new cases of tubercu
losis reported in Nebraska up to
November 2—77 more than were
reported during all of last year—
the Nebraska Tuberculosis Assn,
hopes to top last year’s Seal Sale
figure of $131^273.45 in order to
step up the tempo of the fight a
gainst this highly contagious di
sease.
~ha1l WORK OF CIO.
In Fight For
Race Equality
NEW YORK, Nov. 21st—To the
CIO convention, meeting this week
in Atlantic City N. J. Walter
White, executive secretary of the
NAACP sent the following tele
gram addressed to Philip Murray
CIO president:
"National Association for Ad
vancement of Colored People ex
tends heartiest greetings to the
convention of the congress of in
dustrial organizations. Negro A
mericans and others active in tne
struggle to secure equality of ec
onomic opportunity and full citi
zenship rights for miority groups
hail the endeavors of the CIO in
this area. Realizing that the goals
of labor are identical with progress
and security for all we have recent
ly added to our staff a labor sec
retary, Mr. Clarencce M Mitchell
jr., in the hope that even closer
cooperation will be developed in
the future in our common right
against bigotry, exploitation and
poverty’,
Louisville Branch NAACP
Pickets Segregated Theatre
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 15th_
To protest the policy of segrega
tion in a municipal auditorium, the
Louisville branch of the NAACP
threw a picket line around the Mu
nicipal Auditorium tonight where
Billy Rose’s ‘‘Carmen Jones” is
being presented.
According to Alfred M. Carroll
president of the branch, while the
general policy of the auditorium
years ago had been to segregate
at all attractions, under former
Mayor Wilson Wyatt, a new policy
had been put into effect of no se
gregation when Negro attractions
appeared.
To make clear to the citizens of
Louisville that there were people
and organizations which resented
the present Mayor’s policy of se
gregation, the NAACP will con
tinue to demonstrate throughout
the run of this popular all-Negro
musical.
PRESIDENT TRUMAN GREETS
NAACP YOUTH CONFERENCE
NEW ORL-ANS. La., Nov. 21—
From the White House, President
Truman sent greetings to Mrs.
Ruby Hurley, NAACP. Youth Se
cretary. in recognition of the NAA
CP's Eighth Annual Conference,
which is meeting this week in New
Orleans, La. In his message, which
was read at the opening session
this morning, the President said:
“I take pleasure in sending greet
ings to the Youth Councils and
College Chapters of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People on the occasion
of their Eighth Annual Conference
“The Youth of today will inherit
the world now being shaped—will
inherit its hope and its despair, its
idealism and its cynicism, its de*
mocracy and its autocracy. Youth
will have had little share in de
termining the shape of that world
yet from among the ranks of
youth, the leaders must come who i
can take that inheritancce, work
with it, build on it, improve it and
eventually pass on to other hands
the task of guiding it.
“The task of our future leaders
will call for great skill and wis
dom. It is well that the Youth of
the NAACP should gather to dis
cuss the great problems of our
time—the achievement of a more
perfect democracy in our own
country, and an enduring peace a
mong the nations of the world.
“I wish you every success in
your present deliberations and in
your future activities.
Pledge Respect To
Negro Womanhood
RICHMOND, Va—From now on
if you’re a female of the Negro
species in Virginia ‘and a white
man comes up to you. tips his hat
and calls you ’’Miss” or “Mrs."
more than likely the tradition
smasher will turn out to be a
Baptist.
Last week, white Baptists meet
ing here in their annual state con
vention passed an unprecedented
resolution recommending that, ‘‘a
Negro maid be called Miss, a Ne
gro lady be called Mrs. and that
hats be tipped to them by white
men ‘as to white women.”'Only a
few delegates dissented when the
suggestion was introduced by the
Rev. W. Wesley Shrader, pastor
of First Church, Lynchburg.
Des Moines YWCA
Dissolves Branch;
Ends Segregation
DES MOINES,—The Blue Tri
angle branch of the Young Wo
mens’ Christian Association which
has been in existence as the Ne
gro unit o fthe YWCA since 1919
has joinned its forces with the
Central association here as the
first step of the local YWCA’s
plans for complete integration.
STEPS ON RIDER’S TOES; MAN KILLED
vv aannwiu.'l, U. is_Police
are vigourously searching for the
trigger-happy street car ride who
shot to death Geoge E. Janey, 34,
early Sunday as the later attemp
ted to ‘apologize for stepping on
the stranger’s foot in a crowded
tram.
Passengers told police that the
gunman whipped a .38-caliber pi
stol and fired two shots at Mr.
Janey just as the victim good-na
turedly began to beg pardon for
treading on the man’s toes. The
shooting took place at Tenth and
H Streets, N. E.
The murderer then stepped on
the treadle of the car’s center
door and escaped before passen
gers were aware of what h*ad hap"
pened, according to police. Mr.
Janey died several hours later in
Casualty Hospital.
THURGOOD MARSHALL, NAACP.
COUNSEL NEARLY JAILED
BY COLUMBIA POLICEMEN
! __
NEW YORK. N. Y._Thurgood
Marshall, Chief Counsel for the
NAACP was arrested and nearly
jailed in Columbia, Tenn., on a
trumped up charge of "drunken
driving” when a determined con
tingent of deputy sherriffs and
members of the Tennessee State
Highway Patrol set out to 'get'
the lawyer who defended Negroes
charged with participating in the
riots in February.
The car in which NAACP law
yers Thurgood Marshall. Z. A.
Looby, Maurice Weaver and re
porter Harry Raymond were rid
ing was stopped three miles out
side of Columbia by State Patrol
cars. The lawyers were on their
way to Nashville following the end
of the two-day trial of William
Pillow and Lloyd Kennedy, which
culminated in the acuittal of Pil
low and a sentence of five years
for Kennedy.
The three patrol cars, con
taining about eight troopers, pull
ed up in front of the lawyers’ car
and charged them with carrying
liquor in their car. In their inves
tigation for the imagined liquor,
the troopers ordered the men out
of the car, tore out the seats and
demanded that th four men submit
to a personal search of their cloth
ing. Looby and Marshall refused
to allow a frisking unless a war
rant was shown. The police then
produced a John Doe warrant,
charging that] liquor was being
transported ih violation of the
Maury County local option law.
The officers seemed considerably
i puzzled by the presence of Harry
Raymond, a white man whom they
apparently could not identify.
Finding not contraband, the
troopers held a quiet discussion
among themselves, out of earshot
of the NAACP counsel, after
which they came back to the car
and told the group to be on its
way.
Five miles further on. the law
yers were again overtaken and
stopped by the same three cars •
of patrolmen, who flashed bright i
lights inside the car and demand
ed that Marshall show his drivers
license, although Looby had by
now taken over the wheel from
Marshall. Upon seeing the license,
the troopers let the group continue
on its way.
Just as they started the car the
troopers returned and said to Mar
shall, “We’ve got to charge you
with drunken driving,”. Then then
insisted that Marshall get out of
his car and into theirs to be taken
to Columbia. Instead of heading
in that direction, however the 3
cars, bearing Marshall, turned
into a dark back road, which did
not lead back to town.
looby, Weaver and Raymond,
after a hasty conference, decided
to follow the car. After they had
gone about ten miles further, the
three cars ahead stopped, realiz
ing they were being tailed, and
turned around, setting off this
time in the direction of Columbia.
The procession turned in at a
magistrates in Columbia, where
Marshall was charged with drunk
en driving. Said Marshall to the
judge, “If you believe I’ve been
drinking, smell my breath”, and
he blew it into the magistrate’s
face.
The magist. had to admit
that Marshall a, arently had not
been drinking. He therefore re
fused to hold him. This apparently
angered the policemen, who seem
ed to want to see Marshall put in
to the Columbia for ‘safe keeping’
This is the same jail where two
Negroes were shot to death by ]
State Commissioner of Safety
Lynn Bomar's patrolmen follow
ing their arrest after the riots’
Following his release by the
judge. Marshall, Loobby, Weaver
and Raymond drove to the Negro
business section where they felt
they’d be reasonably safe. There
Negro residents provided them
with another car, and, getting into
the lawyer’s car themselves, all
drove out to the main road to
Nashville. This ruse successfully
threw the trooper filled cars off
the trail of the NAACP laywers.
In their borrowed car, the men
reached Nashville safely, via a
back road.
Immediately upon arrival in
Nashville, Marshall sent a tele
gram to Attorney General Tom
Clark demanding an investigation
of the matter and asking that cri
minal charges against the officers
who participated in the outrage
be pressed. Said Marshall: “This
type of intimidation of defense
lawyers charged with duty of de
fending persons charged with
crime cannot go unnoticed.. ”
TEACHERSTELL
OF RACE STUDY
Speaking •at an Omaha meeting
of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews Saturday
noon. Mrs. Lillian J. Doherty of
Kellom School said the Chicago
Worshop of Human Relations
which she attended last summer
considered it improper to refer to
racial or religious groups as “ty
pical”. *
Other teachers who appeared on
the program were Mrs. Laura
Heacock, principal of Howard
Kennedy; Miss Mary E. Patterson
Mammouth Park; Miss Lucille
J'alas, principal of Florence and
Miss Verna DQIow, Benson High.
The Workshops were described
as seminars in which most races
and creeds are represented and
where students study inter-cultur
al problems. They learn tolerance
by association as well as study,
the te'achers said.
Northside Branch YMCA
To Move Into
New Quarters
Atty. Charles F. Davis, chair
man of the Committee of Manage
ment of the Near Northside
Branch YMCA, announced this
week that the “Y” would move to
2307 North Twenty-fourth Street
on December 10th, since the lease
on the present quarters expires
on that date.
The present lease was secured
last December by the Youth Cen
ters Inc., affiliate of the Commu
nity Welfare Council of the Com
munity Chest, for the establish
ment of the Northside Commun
ity Center. With the *advent of
the YMCA program into the com
munity the Northside Community
Center was dissolved and the lease
on the building was assigned to
the Omaha YMCA for the balance
of its term.
The building has been repurch
ased by Mr. James C. Jewell to
be used as *a business center. Da
vis also announced that although
the new location is somewhat
smaller than the present quarters
the same program will still be
carried on in an effort to meet
the needs <and interests of the ci
tizens of the community.
The gymnasium of the Urban
League together with other com
munity facilities will be used by
the “Y” groups.
Renovation and decoration of the
quarters will start on December
10th, with an official opening
scheduled before the holidays. No
interruption in the activities is
anticipated during the moving and
renovation. The committee of man
agement and staff appreciates the
cooperation of the entire commu
nity in the “Y” program and con
tinually urge them to participate
in the “Y” <activities.
COLUMBIAN"
FLOORED
ATLANTA—Assistant Attorney
General Dan Duke, with a single
blow of his fist, floored .Emory
C. Burke, hate-crazed president of
the Columbians, Saturday in the
Fulton County Courthouse after
the two had engaged in a verbal
tilt.
“I’ve taken all I can stand from
you”, shouted Duke before drop
ping Burke on the courtroom
floor. Burke sustained a gash over
his eye as a result of the blow.
Recovering shortly after he hit
the floor he shook his finger and
yelled, “You’ll answer for this.’’
He was quieted by his attorney.
The cl’ash occured after Burke
TWO AME. BISHOPS
Expelled at Gen’I. Conference
LITTLE ROCK, Ark_African i
i Methodist Episcopal church dele- 1
| gates and members of the extra j
session of the General conference j
meeting here in the Joseph Rob- j
inson Memorial ^auditorium Nov. i
20 to 22, votSfH unanimously to I
expell tw» bishops, suspend a
third and exonerate a fourth.
Bishops David H. Sims of the
New York conference and Bishop
J George Edward Curry, formerly
of the 12th Episcopal district were
erpelled as bishops of the AME
church by a vote of 999 to 35 and
812 to 94 respectively. There were i
1183 eligible to vote. Bishop W.
i A. Fountain Was exonerated.
Bishop Sims was accused, and
found guilty of actions which dis
played no respect for the laws,
doctrines or government of the
church and was in open rebellion
causing humiliation to the church, j
Sims did not appear.
Bishop Curry was accused snd ;
found guilty of four charges, seek
ing to nullify the authority of
the Bishop’s council in a decision
made in June, 1946, in Kansas
City, Kansas, embezzlement, fraud
and maladministration.
Bishop H. M. Davis was sus
pended without pay from now un
til the regular session of the Bi
shop's council which will be held
in February of next year. If the
Bishop’s council sees fit it can
however, extend the suspension.
Savs Act Illegal
Sims said Saturday that his ex
pulsion as a bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal church was
“illegal”. He added that he had
protested the action by a special
general church conference at Lit
tle Rock. Arkansas.
Mr. Sims declared that under
laws of the church he should h ave
been given the privilege of appear
ing before the conference to an
swer complaints against him.
Distribute “Oust Bilbo” Buttons
Gloria Chaplain of Ashville, North Carolina (left) and Kitty
\ Reed of Oxford, Mississippi, joined the “Oust Bilbo” Cam
paign by filling bushel baskets with Oust Bilbo Buttons at
the Civil Rights Congress headquarters, 205 East 42nd St.,
N. Y. C. The buttons, along with petition* urging the Sen
ate to refuse to seat Bilbo, are being circulated throughout
the country by the National Committee to'Oust Bilbo, which
is sponsored by the Civil Rights Congress.
‘BILBO IS NATIONAL ISSUE’
-CIVIL RIGHTS CONGRESS
A strong plea that the open
hearings on the fitness of Senator
Theodore G. Bilbo to take his seat
in the new Senate not be confined
to Mississippi or to residents of
Mississippi was directed today to
the Senate Campaign Expendi
tures Committee by the CRC.
Applauding the decision of the
senate committee to open its in
quiry in Jackson, Miss., on Dec. 2
the civil rights organization warn
ed that certain witnesses, espec
ially Negroes, would be reluctant
to give testimony in the "restric
tive and threatening atmosphere
which pervades, the state.” Call
ing such witnesses to Washington
would assure fuller and freer tes
timony, it was asserted by Milton
Kaufman, executive director, in a
letter to the senate committee.
Testimony concerning Senator
Bilbo’s campaign statements can
hardly be confined to Mississippi
sources, since the campaign was
covered by the newspapers and ra_
dio on a national scale, Kaufman
stated.
The Civil Rights Congress also
urged that the inquiry should ex
tend beyond the issue of denial of
suffrage resulting from the cand
dates open exhortations to violate
the constitution and incitation to
lawlessness.”
“No inquiry into Senator Bilbo'*
fitness to sit,” he declared, “can
fail to include his espousal on the
floor of the Senate of policies of
anti-Semitism, rabid race supre
macy and the approval of Nazi
, doctrines. His correspondence with
i citizens throughout the nation, on
' Senate stationery, vituperative and
| insulting to their race, religion or
birthplace, should be also studied’’
"We also urge a public declara
tion by the committee as a whole
or by the chairman in behalf of
the committee, that all Mississippi
witnesses who appear to testify
will receive the fullest federal pro
tection of their person. Without
such open and unconditional as
surance, considerable evidence
that the committee has the right
and duty to study, will be with
| held.”
Asserting that it had assisted
in the preparation of the material
now before the committee, the or
ganization offered "the services of
our counsel and investigators who
had helped gather the statements
and^affidavits from citizens in
centers throughout the state of
Mississippi
- - — -----
and his attorney had been confer
ring with two judges over the
state’s suit to revoke the charter
of the anti-Negro, anti-Jewish
Columbians.
NEW YORK V. NAMES
NEGRO ‘MISS VARIETIES’
NEW YORK.—The forces of
democracy took another step for
ward when New York university
broke a precedent in the spirit of
real Americanism. The college
magazine “Varieties” named Miss
Edna Besson, 21, a junior in the
school of education at NYU, ‘Miss
Varieties of November.’ Miss Bes*
son is the first Negro girl to be
thus selected in the school’s his
tory.
MAXINE BROWNLEE
Dismissed O n
Slaying Charges
- i
Maxine Brownlee, 21, of 1831
North Twenty-third Street, charg
ed with manslaughter in the fa
tal stabbing of Raymond L. Union
last Saturday morning, was dis
missed by Judge Perry Wheeler
after a preliminary hearing in
Municipal Court Wednesday, Nov.
27th. The Judge said evidence in
dicated she acted in self-defense
when Union started beating her.
Maxine claimed Union, who also
lived at 1831 North Twenty-third
Street, began beating her about
1 a. m. last Saturday morning
after the had left a tavern at
Twenty-fourth and Cuming Sts.,
in the company of Leonard Wilson
2623 Seward and Mary Johnson of
1806 North Twenty-second Street.
Maxine Said she picked up a knife
dropped by Union and stabbed him
once. He died an hour later at_
Doctor’s hospital.
Urge Pres., and OPA
TO RESIST
LIFTING RENT
CEILINGS
NEW YORK, Nov. 20th_Alar
med at the rising cost of living
Walter White, NAACP executive
Secretary, today sent an appeal to
President Truman urging him to
resist pressure to increase rent
ceilings. In a strong telegram to
the President, Mr. WTiite said:
On behalf of all Americans, we
urge you to stand firm against
pressure to increase rent ceilings.
Record shows lowest vacancy rate
in history, almost no expenditure*
for repairs and redecorating, and
profits of real estate operators
above 1939. Contrasted with these
profits are pinched budgets of
American families forced to pay
inflation prices. Any increase in
rents now will will cut into food
and health expenditures of Am
erican people and seriously en
danger standard of living of the
country. Rent controls mutt con
tinue at present levels.”
In addition to this message, the
NAA£P wired its larger branches
and those in strategic areas, ur
ging that they and their members
telegraph Paul Porter, Admini
strator of the Office of Price Ad
ministration in Washington D C
demanding that he, too stand firm
against pressure to eliminate rent
controls.
This action is in line with a tele
gram sent by the New York Con
sumers’ Council to Prevent Pres
ident Truman urging him to act
to prevent lifting of rent Ceilings
Over a dozen organizations, in
S!SLU“' NAACP