Arizona sun. [volume], April 15, 1960, Image 1

About Arizona sun. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1942-196?

Image provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

                
ARIZONA SUN
Vol. XVII, No. 45
Negro Economic Growth Lags
State Must Keep Pace: Udall
Las Vegas
Hotels Drop
Color Bar
* LAS VEGAS, Nev. Removal
of the ban against Negro guests
ai this city’s plush hotels and
casinos was hailed this week by
NAACP leaders locally and na
tionally.
The change in policy was an
nounced after the Las Vegas
NAACP said it would stage “sit
in'* demonstrations in the opu
lent hostelries and gambling
houses.
Disclosure that Negro guests
can now expect equal treatment
♦"caused Dr. James McMillan. Las
Vegas NAACP president, to com
ment:
“This is a red-letter day for
Las Vegas. This city should be
the cosmopolitan center of the
country.”
Until the local NAACP brought
greater pressure, the Las Vegas
situation for Negroes was anoma
lous. In nearby Southern Califor
nia, mainly Los Angeeles, there
is a large and well-integrated
Negro community. The Los An
p, geles Negro community alone
ranks third in size behind New
Yth'k City and Chicago with a
population of 470,000.
Yet the many Los Angeles Ne
groes who could afford the lux
ury accommodations found they
were not welcome at this desert
playground.
An even more curious situation
existed until the NAACP stepped
up its protests in that Negro per
formers for years have furnished
the Las Vegas strip with its most
entertainment. But
with the exception of a few top
headliners such as Nat (King)
Cole and Eartba Kitt, Negro per
formers were denied integrated
service at the establishments
where they were working. They
and Negro visitors were referred
to West Las Vegas, this city’s Ne
gro sector.
o
President's Committee
¥ Surveys Agencies
The President’s Committee on
Government Employment Policy,
headed by Vice-president Rich
ard Nixon and chaired by Archi
bald J. Carey, Jr., plans to get a
current picture of how Negroes
are getting along within gov
ernment agencies.
The survey to be made as of
March 31, 1960 will test the met
ropolitan areas of Chicago, Los
Angeles, Mobile, Ala., St. Louis
and Washington, D. C.
The study will discover the
ratio of Negroes in grades above
GS-5 to the total number of
whiles employed.
THE PEOPLE'S NEWSPAPER
Udall Cites
Social Upheaval
In a forthright talk to the sec
ond Brotherhood meeting last
Sunday evening, Stuart Udall,
U. S. Representative from Ari
zona, said that no one can be a
spectator in this changing world.
Tracing carefully the various
evidences of a dynamic social up
heaval, he praised Governor Le
roy Collins of Florida for his fair
position relative to the students’
protests in the south. He thought
that Collins has set a new pattern
of thought for southern leaders.
Udall called the southern stu
dents’ demonstrations “a high
form of making one’s needs
known.” He said it was an “Am
erican way of producing change.”
Recently, he said he had toured
Arizona and found no great prej
udice but added that there is
much “unfinished work in this
state.”
Illustrating, he pointed to the
example of recent public accom
modations integration in Las Ve
gas, purely on a business basis.
He thought Arizona could at least
do as much.
A highlight of the meeting was
the presentation by Attorney Wil
liam P. Mahoney of a certificate
of recognition to Joseph Stocker,
Phoenix free lance writer. Mr.
Mahoney praised Stocker for his
steadfast devotion to the cause
of fair play and liberalism.
In selecting Mr. Stocker as a
recipient, the sponsoring organ
izations showed appreciation for
the years of service to such ef
forts in Arizona as school inte
gration, public accommodations
legislation, breaking the Aldrich
hate campaign, service to youth
and his effectiveness as a writer.
It was Mr. Stocker’s article in
Look Magazine (May 4, 1954)
which brought national atten
tion to school desegregation in
Arizona.
The audience was moved by
contralto solos on democratic
themes by Mrs. Roberta Brate
man accompanied by Martin Sha
piro.
A reading by Libby Diaz ad
ded to the spirit of democracy in
the meeting.
Opening the meeting, the flag
ceremony was conducted by Girl
Scout troop No. 5 of Dunbar
School, led by Mrs. Wardell
Moore.
This second annual Brother
hood meeting was sponsored by
B’nai B’rith, Arizona Indian As
sociation, Chinese Chamber of
Commerce, Jewish Community
Council, NAACP, National Con
ference of Christians and Jews,
Phoenix Council for Civic Un
ity and Phoenix Urban League.
Phoenix, Arizona, Friday, April 15, 1960
Attorneys Herbert B. Finn and William P. Mahoney, Jr. with
State Supreme Court Justice Levi S. Udall congratulate Joseph
Stocker, recipient of brotherhood award. (See story page 1.)
Housing Gains In New Jersey
Three Negroes who were re
jected as would-be purchasers of
homes built by Levitt & Sons,
Inc, in Levittown, New Jersey, I
and by Green Fields Farm, Inc.,
filed complaints with the New
Jersey Division Against Dis-;
crimination charging violation of
the Law Against Discrimination
which bans racial, religious or
ethnic discrimination in “public
ly-assisted housing accommoda
tions.” After the D. A. D. found
probable cause to credit charges
of discrimination (which had
been admitted publicly), efforts
to settle the matter by persua- .
NAACP LEADER WALKS THE LINE—NAACP Executive
Secretary Roy Wilkins, leads members of Association's national
office staff on picket line in front of F. W. Woolworth outlet
in New York City.
sicn and conciliation failed. Lev
itt and Green Fields thereupon
brought an action for an injunc
tion to restrain the D. A. D. from
proceeding further with the mat*
ter on the grounds that the D.
A. D. had no jurisdiction over
their housing projects and the
New Jersey Law Against Dis
crimination was unconstitution
al.
The Trial Court dismissed the
petitions of Levitt and Green
Fields and the Appellate Divi
sion affirmed, upholding the con
stitutionality of the statute and
(Continued on page 4)
Study Reveals
Illusion Os
income Gains
NEW YORK—The frequently
cited economic progress of the
Negro population was described
as illusory by an official of the
National Urban League after a
review of previously unpublished
statistical materials from the Bu
reau of the Census on income
comparisons of non-white and
white families for the period
1950-1958.
According to the census fig
ures, the income of non-white
families increased 45 per cent,
from $1869 to $2711, whereas the
income of white families in
creased 54 per cent, or from
$3445 to $5300 during the period.
Thus, Negro families in relation
to white families lost ground.
In 1950 Negro families earned
about 54 per cent of the income
of white families, but in 1958
they made only 51 per cent of
the income of white families.
Lester B. Granger, the League’s
executive director, said, “This in
formation shows that the rate of
economic growth of Negro fami
lies lagged behind that of white
families. It further demonstrates
clearly the urgent need for in
creased action at all levels, on
the part of both public and pri
vate agencies.
“The gap must be closed, Mr.
Granger said, by removing dis
criminative job and education
barriers that Negroes face, for
without the elimination of these
practices there is very little hope
of substantial improvement in
the Negro’s economic position. At
the rate we are moving now, the
faster we move the farther be
hind we fall.” According to the
census, 95 per cent of families
classified as non-whites are con
sidered to be Negroes. Mr. Grang
er said that both groups showed
an improvement in their income
position but Negroes were still
less well off than whites econo
mically.
There are, however, acute re
gional variations, Mr. Granger
pointed out. The census figures
show that non-white families in
the West enjoyed an income of
$4095 as against $5763 for white
families in 1958. In the north
central states, the income of non
white families was nearer to that
of other families than in any oth
er region. Here, non-white in
come was equal to 72 per cent
of the income of white families,
as white families had $5249 while
non-white families had S3BOO in
comes. Income in the northeast
region was second highest among
the various regions for both white
and non-white families 55677
and $3491 respectively. In this
region, non-white income was eq
ual to 69 per cent of white in
come.
Os all regions, family income
was lowest in the South, the re
port shows. White families had
(Continued on page 4)
Bulk Rate
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Phoenix, Ariz.
Ten Cents