Benign neglect by Supreme Court
Portland/Observer Thursday July lt> ,972 p ,gi
by Bayard Kuatln
A («cent Supierne Court
dec la Ion
may have tem
porarily marked an end to
that Institution's role as an
Inatiument of civil rights
progress and activism.
In
Haelf, rite ruling la relatively
u n i m p o r t a n t particularly
when lakl aside the momen
tous cases In which the court
Justifiably earned the reputa
tion as a staunch and persis
tent defender of racial Justice.
It Is significant, rather, as
a symbol of the court's new
conservative orientation of all
social Issues. And It Is telling
black Americans that, lo r the
foreseeable future, they must
look elsewhere If the social
and economic Inequities of
society are to 1« rectified.
I ho particular ruling to
which I refer upheld (lie right
of a private club to bar
Negroes from Its dining arxl
drinking facilities.
By Im
plication, the court also said
drat such private organiza
tions could legally d is crim i
nate on the ha sis of race In
the selection of members.
It Is not my intention to
discuss at length the merits
of this decision, although I
disagree with It on both legal
and moral grounds. But I am
complelled to comment, how-
ever briefly, on how such a
ruling affects the whole con
cept of racial Integration.
C IV IL RIGHTS R E E X A M IN E D
•n era of racial "benign ne
glect" on the p a n of the
We are living in a time
courts which could extend well
when many of the philosophies
Into the future.
and Ideuls of the civil rights
movement
are being re
not rejoicing
examined and when fa r too
often both black aixl white
This la no cause for re
• re willing to capitulate on
joicing, for the court hag for
tire most essential ideal of
Ure peat three decades been
full Integration.
Given this
the black man's most reliable
atmospfiere. It la profoundly
governmental ally, it was the
dlstrublng that the nation's
ctxrn which responded to our
highest court would legi
specific needs when Congress
timately dlacr lmbiate with Its
•nd ihe President lacked the
stamp of approval.
commitment to deal with the
Such a decision can only
Injustices which had become
encourage young blacks who
ao deeply imbedded a part
have
demanded
separate
of our dally lives.
d o r m it o r ie s , s e p a ra te
It was the court which. In a
courses, and separate social
sense. Inaugurated the civil
vacliltles at many campuses.
rights era with the historic
On the other hand there
Brown decision.
M ore re
are many whites. Including.
cently, the court outlawed dis
1 am certain, those who so
crimination In the sale or
self-rlghteously proclaim the
rental of housing sndproviried
• Ighl of their club to exclude
an effective counter to the
blacks, who are all (oowllllng
Nixon Administration's ef
to advise us io put our house
In
order,
moderate
our
extremists
and enter tie
mainstream. | find such an
attitude not only repugnant,
txri eminently hypocritical,
particularly when held by the
Ulslness and political elite of
• community who so often
comprise the membership of
fraternal organizations.
This decision also. I fear,
augurs what could well Ire
by Vernon E . Jordan, J r .
forts to delay the Integration
of southern schools.
I do not wish to imply that
the court has suddenly be
come an Implement of racial
reaction.
Its members, in
cluding three of the four
Justices appointed by Richard
Nixon, range from moderate
to liberal on racial cases
lone exception Is Justice W il
liam Rehnquist, who once
wrote that "w e are no more
committed to an Integrated
society than to a segregated
society."
It was, symboli
cally, Rehnquist whowrotethe
decision upholding d iscrim i
nation on the part of private
clubs.
M ANY CASES P E N D IN G
H e r e are msny Important
cases pending before the cour t
which could bear heavily on
the future of blacks and on
the economic condition of all
society’ s Impoverished.
Given the new bent of the
court, we must prepare our
selves for decisions on many
of these cases which are con
trary to the best Interests of
the economically deprived, of
those who continue to suffer
racial discrimination, awl of
humanity In general.
Ih ia does not mean that we
need passively accept what
might appear to be a slacken
ing of our movement's pro
gress.
if, jn truth, we no
longer can rely on the Supreme
Court to redress the wrongs
of our social environment, we
must turn elsewhere R esolu
tions.
We must redouble our ef
forts at building political
stiengtli, Ix>th In and of itself
and in alliance with otherpro-
gresslves, so that what we
cannot
accomplish in the
courts we can win in Congress.
If there's one thing that’ s
obvious
Oldtime Black songwriters
Other American tunes pro
who wrote some of the nation's
duced by Black w riters who
uristandtng songs. Including
face a financial loss Include
**St.
Louis
Blues”
and
"Basin Street Blues.” "o ld
"Honey-auckle Rose," stand
Fashioned Love.” "Darktown
to lose hundreds uf thousanJs
Strutter's B a ll" and "I'm J u s t
of dollars In royalties unless
Wild About H a rry ." Though
Congress gives them legal
many of these w riters are
relief, two Black recordcom-
deceased, tfieir fam ilies bene
pany executives warned re
fit from the continuing royalty
cently.
checks
running into die diou-
Henry Allen, vice president
sana that come to them from
of Atlantic records, and the
ASCAP,
the
songwriter's
firm a sales manager, Rick
association.
WUIard, in a letter launching
the Committee to Protect
•
case cited was that of
American Black Music, (o
Los Angeles resident Andy
members of die Black Con
Razaf, com[xiset of "A in 't
gressional
Caucus
urged
Misbehavin',** who is now con-
members of the Black Con
fur«! to a wheelchair. His
gressional Caucus to seek a
medical bills exceed $18,000
a year.
one-year extension of the 1915
Copyright Law.
Under this
" I h e only satisfaction these
bill a composer's song is
great Black Americans re
protected for 56 years, and
ceived were royalty checks
he receives royalties from It
that allowed them to enjoy
lasing sung or recorded. A fte r
some ol the comforts of life,
that time, lire tune paws* Into
though small In comparison
the public domain and financial
to the millions pocketod by
returns are lost.
singers, publishing firm s ami
hailing Into this category
record ompanles who capttl-
Is " s t. I.uuia Blues,” written
llzed on their words and
by the late Memphis-horn
m usic,"
wrote Allen and
W.C. Handy in I9 H , which
W illard .
became a public domain work
In the late 50s when she
two years ago. In the past
was a blgtlme rock and roll
five years both Houses of
alar, l.avem Baker com
Congress passed a one-year
plained to her Congressman.
extension bill while they de
Charles Diggs of Detroit,
bater! revising the 1915 statute
about other perform ers du
w Ith new amewbnents to pro
plicating her style and a r
long the life span of a sorqj-
rangements from many of her
w rlte r's music heyond the 56
Atlantic best-sellers.
she
years. However, this year’s
also asked him to Introduce
chances of another extension
legislation to prvent pirating
seem slim .
of recotdlngs.
Akl to Fam ilies with Depend
ent Children. "M o re than
eight out of ten w ill he moth
ers, because there are really
few able-balled male adults in
tire A FIX? program ," Secre
tary Richardson said.
About 800,000 persons now
receiving welfare will he
signed up by the end of the
I Your ticket to
the big game:
^...including
transportation
You want to tee the big game
do you do? Just »witch on your
I V »ct Arxl sac more of Ihe action than most
of ihe men on ihe field You've got the
he»t seal in Ihe house for shout 2« worth of
eleclricily per game
So w hat
Sound like a pretty good deal? Il is
* R em edy I t ’s a bargain And we know that
bargains are hard Io find today Almosl
hard
lo find as enough leg room in the grandstand
RicifichMtT
• Lots of easy parking
’
Sl° ' A ‘ w ' ACOOked Rlbs Pork Ham Chicken
lull “
” Î%S0W
n Î
w
S
’ “
nalU,a' W00<’ smoke - some a
• Warm Olde English Decor and a relaxed atm osphere
A new treat in fam ily dining
restaurants
î X ’î - ?hodn e 2 C3r4 S9 3 H m B e a v e r ,o n M a ' ” P h ° " e
6 4 3 -4 8 4 4
alxiut
the
housing
situation It ta that ihe demand
for housing that low- and
middle-income
people can
afford w ill not be met unless
die re are some drastic de
partures from past policies.
Some 60 percent of a llA m e rr-
cans are unable to afford die
price of a new home, arxl
Conditions seem bound to gel
wor se, not hetter.
When you deduct die num
bers of sound housing units
lost each year through aban
donment. which is anincreas-
mg problem In many clues,
and through urban renewal
projects, highway construc
tion and other reasons, there
la probably a net loss of
available housing units, the
half-m illion subsidized units
tu lll each year then, does not
even balance the numbers of
houses and apartments lost,
much less add tu the supply
of needed housing.
When we see that 70 per
cent of the population lives
on one percent of die land,
that the nation's population
will probably glow to some
300 million people In the next
years, and that skyrocket
ing land costs are making
housing for all hut the favored
few too expensive, the case
becomes strong for a national
urban growth policy and a
Iwleral National U rhanCrowth
Agency to implement such a
policy.
Such a national agency could
help to counter the effects of
a fractured societywhichflnds
It difficult to solve Its housing
problems because of the con
flicting claims and Jurisdic
tions of local governments
and local zoning laws. Taken
together this patchwork ol
locally-formulated
policies
«nd programs amounts to no
national policy at all.
one of the first tasks of a
National I rban Growth Agency
would le to acquire land ami
"bank'
it for future urban
development. By taking some
land— and it needn't amount
to very much— off the specu
lative market, one of tie
prime factors in controlling
spiraling costs would be neu
tralized.
phe Agency could
den make rational plans for
future development, with the
opportunity to help create
sourxl, balanced com m unities.
'HOUSER OF LAST RESORT'
I he Agency would also act
as a "houser of last reso rt,"
assuring an adequate supply
of decent housing for low ami
moderate Income fam ilies that
can’t be served by the private
market.
It would also be mandated
to plant and to build where
local governmental units re
fuse to develop fa ir and
rational plans.
A National
Last 3 days
Urban
G ro w th
Agencv,
financed as other government
units and with the power to
sell bonds and to build directly
could well become the means
hy which chaos is replaced
hy fa ir, rational planning and
use of our national resources.
( I here are ample models
for such an agency. European
and other countries have had
excellent
experience
with
planned communities and New
3ork State has a state agency
that is somewhat sim ilar to
what I have suggested.
f Ire re is no alternative to
development. (A ir only choice
lies in the nature of that de
velopment; w better it will
continue to be haphazard and
velopment; whether it will
continue to be haphazard and
unplanned, leading to urban
and suburban blight and the
e»elusion of lower income
fam ilies, or whether it will
he orderly, planned develop
ment that solves problems
and doesn't, as our present
lack ol a system Joes, create
them.
We are too fa r behind In
the national promise to pro
vide decent housing for all
to be able to avoid the Issue
fo r much longer. We know
what tire problem Is, we know
past efforts have failed dis
m ally, aixl now we need the
courage to cteate the tools
that w ill finally gel the job
done.
h
berr wr m«Ae rbr
n m k r t ih m g i n u r r fo r
year as a condition for rucotv-
lng aid. The rest w ill be signed
up as they come In to apply for
aid in the next 12 months.
Ihe massive slgn-up is ac
tually an extension of the
existing Work Incentive Pro
gram, a Joint HE W -Labor plan
to help welfare fam ilies be
come self-supporting.
Previously, the only Indivi
duals in the AFIX? program
requited by Federal law to he
registered fo r the WIN pro
gram were unemployed fath
ers, children over 16 who are
out of school, and Volunteers.
I he new regulations w ill re
quire registration for work or
Job training of many additional
le t sons among those applying
for or receiving A k lto F a m ll-
ies with Depenslent Children.
"But even some who a re not
required to sign up under the
new law will do so anyhow,"
Secretary Richardson sakl,
"because they want to go to
w ork." An estimated 300,000
mothers with children under
six w ill make up the bulk of
these "volunteers," he sakl.
Both Secretaries Hodgson
and Richardson pointed out
that there Is more to getting a
job than Just signing up.
"In order to get work or
train for a J o l\" Secretary
Hulgson sakl, "those women
w ill need child care services.
Sale.15% off all
our quilted spreads
in stock or
special order.
Sale 22
homemaker b el[\ and perhaps
home management, housing,
fam ily planning or other ser
vices."
Federal funds w ill pay fo r 90
per cent of these employment-
related services, he said. The
new regulations call for spe
cial units to be set up In local
welfare offices to help arrange
for these services.
By next June, Secretary
Hodgson estimated, local State
Employment Services arxl oth
e r WIN agencies w ill have eva
luates! the work skills arxl de
veloped employability plans
for half the 1.5 m il I ion persons
expected to sign up.
lhose In Job training w ill
receive their full welfare al
lotment, plus $30-a-month in
centive pay. Employers who
hire WIN participants can also
claim a firs t-y e a r tax credit
of 20 per cent on wages pakl
them. The employees must
remain employed a second
full year, although If they quit,
become disabled, o r are fired
fo r cause, the credit can still
he claimed.
States w ill benefit underthe
new law, receiving 90percent
Federal aid for W IN-con-
nected set vices Instead of the
present 75 per cent. Also the
h nteral share of manpower
costs w ill increase from 80
to 90 per cent.
95
Reg- $27. ‘Zenith bedsprea
with bouquet floral design.
Rayon, acetate with polyester
fill and cotton back.
'-'■ s'.
• ’•
S a le
p rices e ffe c tiv e
th ro u g h S a tu rd a y .
Sale 14
45
full size
R*g- $17. ‘ Princess I I ' bed
spread of Chromspun acetate
with polyester flll/coton back.
Quilted throw style In solid
colors.
ADC Mothers required to register
r/rt /ri< iiy that
’ (6°4O3d4844j keDt D'PinQ hOf ,n Spec,al containers
To Be Equal
Black composers
to lose royalties
Regulations under a law that
w ill require 1.5 m illion able-
bulled welfare recipients to
sign up for work or work Ira ln-
mg were Issued byLaborSec-
letary J . n . Hodgson and HEW
Secretary E lliot L . Richard
son. They take effect July I.
Affected w ill he persons who
receive or apply foi A FIX? -
a place
- topo
on a special day
Although the new regula
tions become effective July I,
persons have 30 days to sub-’
mit suggested revisions.
Comments on the HEW reg
ulations should he senttoiSRS
Administrator, HEW, Wash
ington, D X . 20201. Comments
on Labor regulations should go
to Assistant Secretary for
Manpower, Department o fL a -
hor, Washington, C .C . 20201.
Sale 9
»
Twin or full
Reg. 10.99. 'Diana'bedspread
Is quilted throw style of ace
tate taffets with polyester fill
and backing.
Floral print.
You can
Last 3 days
Sale. 20% off all our
bras and girdles.
S ale prices e ffe c tiv e
w ith a P -0
Person -to - Person
Call
W ant Ad
2 8 3 -2 4 8 7
through
Saturday
JC P enney
The values are here every day.