Jackson advocate. [volume], November 16, 1957, Page 5, Image 5

About Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current

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Hwadreds of Modern Dwellings Rise
Builders Pound OutNewHopeforWestAfrican Housing
Government Office of Information. French West Africa Reprinted by special permission of the
Christian Science Monitor
Crude Huts in French West Africa and Ghana . . .
By Patricia Bailey
Special to ThetThrirticn Science Monitor
Accra, Ghana
Drums of West Africa are be
ing drowned out these dajrs by
the sounds of hammer and saw, j
the rumble of cement mixers, j
the chant of enthusiastic car- ;
penters. Across the.vast reaches !
of French West Africa (it is al
most as far from Dakar to the
Sudan as it is from San Fran
cisco to New York), and
throughout newly independent
Ghana, I have seen clusters of
crude grass and mud huts giving
way to modern and practical j
dwellings, designed by archi
tects keenly familiar with :
Africa’s western bulge.
Some of the homes I visited j
obviously were for those who !
can afford the best. Such new !
houses had two stories, four or
five bedrooms, more than one
bathroom, spacious living and
dining areas, with servants in
a separate building in the rear.
In French West Africa the
owner may derive his income
from a large peanut plantation
In Ghana, he may own a big
cocoa grove. The well-to-do buy
their homes from private r.Y
semi-private building organiza
Government Office of Information. French V. esc Africa
. . . Give W ay Gradually to Modern Dwellin’!!*
tions at prices that would be av
erage for all except the most
high-priced areas in the United
States. But the housing program
that is being vigorously pushed
by the governments in Dakar
and Accra is designed to bene-,
fit the family that most needs
organized help, those just be
ginning to climb the economic
ladder.
“Only the improvement of
conditions under which the
family is housed can transform
the whole family group,” one
young African political leader
told me. “Othe social, political,
anci economic norms may di
rer!'" reach or infect only cer
tain persons in < community.
But when squake .»ncl filth giva |
way to order, comfort, and soinn
personal privacy, the thinking
of every member of the family
is affected. A sense of depressing
and hopeless limitation begins to
be challenged.”
New, inexpensive homes are
being erected in both Ghana
and French West Africa that
may consist of only one large
room inside, with outside cook
ing patio, toilet, and shower. Or
they may have one to three
bedrooms. Rentals range from
about S3 to $30 a month. Where
possible, a family may buy the
home wi.h a down payment bf
20 per ceni. the remainder in i
monthly p*\mints over an ex
tern eu o- riod, usually 20 years.
Although small, the homes are
substantial, built from cement
blocks made on the spot with
handy native earth and a mini
mum of cement. And they are
both charming and functional.
The hundreds of low-cost
modern dwellings thal have been
completed, are being built, or
may still be in the blueprint
stage, are evidences of the con
tinuing development of West
Africa.
In both area.-—Ghana and
French West Africa—the hous
ing program is being correlated
v itb improved communications,
trad building, expanded educa
tional opportunities, agricultural
reform, the e couragement of
small indusi im and of technical
ti ain'ng.
Russia...
(Continued from Page One)
Sally and Samuel.”
The group is an educational or
ganization working for interna
tional student exchanges. Its
award recognized the Bowles fam
ily’s “outstanding contribution to
ward peaceful understanding be
tween nations on the people-to
people level.”
The former Ambassador said it ]
was imperative that this country
restore the world military balance
“dangerously upset” by the Soviet
satellites.
But Mr. Bowles said that it was
also necessary to make “a sweep
ing resentment of our relations to j
the world, politically, economically.!
ideologically.”
Russians Well Trained
The challenge of Soviet educa
tion, he remarked, “extends far
beyond Sputnik into this whole
field of international relations.”
“A heavy proportion of Russian
engineers, public health officials,
technicians, scientists, doctors and
other specialists who are now mov
ing into the underdeveloped areas
have had long training in the cul
ture, history and ways of the na
tion to which they have been as
signed,” he said. “Many of them
know the language. Those who
do not are busily at work learning.
“Nothing could be more subtly
flattering than this to sensitive
Asian African and Latin Ameri
can peoples who are accustomed to
hearing Britishers and Americans
say, 'what’s the use of learning the
native language? Everyone who
really matters here speaks Eng
lish’.”
New Type Of Envoys Urged
Mr. Bowles advocated scrapping
the “traditional concept” of an
Ambassador—“a man of elegance
and charm, moving confidenly in
high circles, at his ease in any
gathering, skillfully picking up
useful bits of secret infoimation
over a teacup or a glass of cham-1
pagne.”
"American Ambassadors with
sufficient courage to reject such
artificialities will find themselves
gaining new respect for themselves
and their country among those peo
ple who count most in the nations I
to which they are assigned,” he
Pres. Names...
(Continued from Page One)
confirmation of congress. However,
until Congress reconvenes, the com
niision has power to subpoena wit
nesses, and swing into action as
soon as it is organized.
said.
He suggested that Ambassadors
talk with members of cooperatives,
businesses, labor unions, farm or
ganizations and student organiza
tions.
The anniversary dinner also hon
ored Dr. Donald B. Watt, founder
«<f the Experiment in International
Living.
In a congratulatory telegram to
Dr. Watt, President Eisenhower
commended the group for “help
ing the young people of the world
appreciate their common humanity
and common human goals.”
The anniversary celebration also
saluted the 7,000 young Americans
who served as unofficial ambas
sadors of good will when they live
with families in 27 countries
abroad. The Experiment also ar
ranges reciprocal visits by foreign
ers to this country.
Call Northern...
(Continued from Page One)
President Eisenhower urging him
to meet at once with Negro lead
eis, and urged the immediate ap
pointment of the Civil Rights Com
mission, including thereon a qual
ified southern Negro.
A letter of congratulates was
also sent to Pleasanton, Tex., on
its achievement of peaceful inte
gration a« an example to the na
tion.
Seventy-five leaders from 40
communities in eight Southern
states voted to raise $200,000 for
the first years budget.
Tentative plans include holding
20 simultaneous mass meetings on
January 20th throughout the
South. Important Southern Negro
leaders will speak at these mass
meetings to point out that “a vote
less citizen is not a citizen.”
The Crusade will include “edu
cation and action.’’ Voting clinics
will be set up in every possible
country. Thousands will be taught
to read, to write and how to reg
ister.
The Crusade of Citizenship office
will be set up in Atlanta. In ad
dition to the Executive Director,
the staff will include two travel
ing assistants, legal advisor, and
educational and literature person
nel.
In a statement Dr. King said:
“The Crusade for Citizenship seeks
to double the Negro vote in the
South. The Civil Rights Rill is
meaningless unless we go out and
make use of it. Negroes must
vote because every problem we face
can be, in large part, overcome by
a short walk—a few steps into the
Rallot Rox.”
Pointing out the urgency of the
Civil Rights problem at home and
abroad the Negro leaders urged
President Eisenhower to meet with
Negro leaders “as soon as pos
sible.’ In a letter to the Presi
dent they said, “Little Rock points
a dramatic finger to the urgent
necessity for the President to eon
fei with Negro leaders from across
the nation.
They further told the President
:hat such a meeting "will do much
to give heart and courage to white
neople of good will who remain
-ilent when their voices are need
id.”
Commenting on the Civil Rights
Reds Exploit...
(Continued from Page One)
ploited by the Communist press
and that Italy and the rest of
Europe has eyed the thorny inte
gration situation with a great deal
of attention.
In New Orleans to confer with
members of Loyola University's
faculty in conjunction with a study
he is making to compile material on
Commission, Dr. King urged the
President to appoint the commis
sion immediately. He then added,
“We further urge you, Mr. Presi
dent, to include on this commission
two qualified Negroes one of whom
should be from the South.”
In a letter to the Mayor ami
Supeiintendent of schools of Pleas
anton, Tex., the Negro leaders ex
pressed to the townspeople "our
warm satisfaction with the peace
ful manner in which integration
of school was accomplished in your
community.”
The letter concluded, “We sin
cerely believe that your handling
of the situation is an example for
the whole Southland and a source
of pride to our nation.”
State NACCP...
(Continued from Page One)
Hill Baptist Church, and the final
mass meeting Sunday afternoon.
Speaking at College Hill Baptist
Church, on the subject of “Sputnik
and Integration,” Gloster Current,
National Director of Branches of
the NAACP, described Governor
Orval Faubus, of Arkansas, and
other segregationists as “Misguid
ed missies in an era of sputniks.”
He said that too many southern j
whites are day-dreaming of sweet j
magnolia blossoms and Negroes in 1
cotton fields, while refusing to face
the hard facts of life.
Commenting on the troubles
NAA( P officials are now having
in Little Rock because of the re
cently enacted city ordinances,
Current stated, “We will never sur
render the names of the members
unless the U. S. Supreme Court
passes on it.”
Clarence Mitchell, Director of
the Washington Bureau, was the j
pi incipal speaker at the closing
mass meeting Sunday afternoon,
during which he said the NAACP
will seek new civil rights legisla
tion at the next session of Con- i
gress. Commenting on the vote,
he said the new civil rights law
puts Lnde Sam behind you when
you go to vote, adding that the
sti ict enforcement of the new civil
the situation in the South, said he
had just visited Little Rock and ;
that “there didn’t seem to be any '■
tension. Everything seems “very
(juiet upon talking with many citi
zens there, he said.
The .‘10 year old journalist as- !
sorted that he is still “reluctant to
reach conclusions” about the South,
after being here such a short length j
of time.
( hanging the subject to condi
tions at home, Biraghi stated that
the vast majority of the Italian
people “strongly approve” Italy
taking part in .N ATO and also the
Atlantic Pact.
He explained: “Only the Com
munist and a few other left wing
groups” oppose cooperation with
the West.
rights laws would put all elected
officials in Mississippi subject to
the will of all the people.
Commenting on Senator East
land, Mitchell said, “The Russians
can have their sputnik as long as
you give me Eastland."
On the Senator’s statement that
he kept the civil rights bill in a
special pocket, Mitchell said the
statement was one of the major
factors in the passage of the bill
as “many members of the Senate
felt that the Government of the
t nited States is too big for any
body’s pocket."
Cautioning Negroes against'
making the mistake of leaving
the South" Mitchell said when you
enjoy the right to vote, there’ll be
some changes made in the Mis
sissippi Congressional delegation,
which he said is bad on the de
segregation issue.
Mitchell ridiculed the State Sov
ereignty Commission, saying the
state appropriated $250,000 to get
information that was available free
from any “Uncle Tom" Negro,
adding that from the recent pub
lication of the commission’s ex
penditures the NAAOP learned it
could get free the identity of
traitors it had been spending mil
lions to learn.
W ell informed observers noted
a sharp drop in attendance during
the three days session which is
made up of visitors and delegates
from the various branches, and
various sections of the state. The
number of delegates was far be
low that of recent years, including
last year, the number attending
the Freedom Fund dinners, was es
timated at slightly more than 100
paid, with the attendance at the
Sunday afternoon mass meeting,
which has heretofore attracted
ft om 2500 to .1000, was estimated
as being around 000 persons.
T"- " *
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