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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1963)
7a Dip! MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON THURSDAY. MAY 30, 1963 g j omats Join Residents in Awaiting Action on Racial Bias By JOHN PIERSON United Preii International Washington -"tPD- Hundreds of African diplomats and thousands of Washington Ne groes are waiting to see what will come of the latest assault on racial bias in the nation's ' capital. This time the attack has been mounted against hous ing bias which has caused deep embarrassment to Presi dent Kennedy and the state department in relations with many African nations. The three commissioners of Ihe District of Columbia, who comprise the executive branch of the local govern ment, have decided the time has come for a ban on racial discrimination in housing. But since Congress, which in effect is Washington's city council, has final legislative authority, the commissioners have deferred their ban to gave Congress itself time to act. ' But Congress, divided as it is between liberals and south ern conservatives, may not be able to lake any action. In that case, the ball will be back with the commissioners, who can be expected to run with it, but possibly at their own peril. That is because the House district committee, which is dominated by southerners, has already indicated how little it likes the proposed ban. And the committee, with life-an-death power over dis trict legislation, can make things uncomfortable for the commissioners, who must come to it each year for ev;ry kind of favor. So a battle is shaping up. And among the most inter ested spectators is the state department, which feels, in the words of one of its offi cials, thai the United States ''cannot conduct effective for eign relations when, on the basis of color alone, represen tatives of other nations, along with our own citizens, arc dened suitable housing in Washington. Sentiment for the ban built up last spring when the U.S. commission on civil rights held hearings. The commis sion heard 40 witnesses, in cluding four from the depart ment of slate. Pedro A. Sajnuan, the de partment's assistant chief of protocol, reported on a can vass made in 1961 of 211 lux ury apartments in northwest Washington. Only eight would accept African diplo mats as tenanls. A year later, Associate Professor Named al University Eugene - Dr. Stuart Rich, assistant professor in the Har vard Graduate School of Busi ness Administration, has been appointed an associate pro fessor of marketing in the School of Business Adminis tration at the University of Oregon. The appointment, which is effective Sept. 1, is subject to confirmation by the state ooard of higher education. Rich, a graduate of Wabash college, received his doctor of business administration de gree from Harvard university In lOfil). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, national scholastic honorary. What Nou for Dr. Sam Shcppard ? If 1 XVJ., : m!". JVyf fi-'F V f Htm This famous convict icenied likely to win parole until a beautiful blonde fell in love with him; now people ask again: is he a victim of fale or his own emotions? lawyer-reporter Paul Holmes tries to onswer in the JUNE 2ND Weekend Issue of Weekly v,i1h your COP 0 te MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE a second survey showed even more resistance. This sort of discrimina lion the department felt, is a lam ful thorn in the side ot Unit ed States foreign relations. One African ambassador, after having a door sUmpui in his face and being tuld "We don't take any Negroes " informed the department that he felt his time in Washing ton was going to be ''com pletely wasted." When the hearings were over, the civil rights commis sion recommended th-it the district commissioners issue a regulation prohibiting racial discrimination in sale, rental or financing of housing. The commissioners asked their legal department wheth er they had such authority. The corporation counsel ad vised they did under an 1892 Congressional resolution which authorized them to pass regulations to protect the "lives, limbs, health, com fort and quiet' of District residents as well as their propeny. But In oider to enforce a ban, the council pointed out. the commissioners would have to find that housing bias threatened lives, limbs, a ad so forth. Last fall the commissioners held their own hearings and directed their staff to do a statistical study of housing. As a result, late in March, the commissioners found not only what the civil rights commis sion had found the previc-us spring namely, that there is widespread discrimination in housing but also that this discrimination hurts. Negroes Pay More It hurts, the commissioners found, because Negroes are forced to pay more for poorer housing ihan whiles. It hints because whites see their ornn erty values fall under Negro block-busting practices. Finally, the commissioners found that housing bias hurts because it fosters ghettos and ghettos lead to slums. And slums, in turn, promote illegi timacy, lack of prenatal care, infant mortality, tuberculosis, juvenile delinquency and ven ereal disease. The commissioners con cluded that they had author ity to issue a ban. They would have done so had not Con gress been about to begin hearings on the subject. At the hearings March 28, commission president Waller N. Tobriner made it plain that he and his colleagues would not hold off forever. If Congress docs not "occupy the field," he said. "We would expect to go forward with the regulations' To "occup y the field," Tobriner explained. "Con gress could either pass its own ban on housing discrimi nation or could pass a law forbidding the commissioners to impose their ban. Congres sional failure to act, he said, "would really be a sanction for ih commissioners to go ahead." Ban Extensive The proposed ban would extend to all forms of hous ing, public and private, and would cover all transactions, including sale, lease, rental and finance. It would prohib it discrimination by owners, real estate agents and bank ers. H would even forbid newspapers to mention race in their want ads. There would he two excep tions. The owner of a two family house, if ho lived in half of it, could still discrimi nate in his choice of a tenant for the other half. .So coi:ld someone who rented out an apartment or a room in his own one-family house. In coverage, then, the com missioners' ban would be as strict as the one Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller last month signed into law in New York State. It would resemble the anti-bias statutes of in other states and New York City. Members of the hou-e uli committee wasted no lirno in saying what they thought of t ho commissioners' proposa'. Rep. John L. 'AkMillj.t, (D-S.C). chairman of thP full committee, said: 'Wo feci this proposed regulation is going too far in connection with pri vate property ' Rep. Joel T. Brovhil! (R Va.) said fiat in his year. ar a real c.aate man he had found many persons vh. while having no racial preju dice, just had "their own p culianty and reason for want ing to sell to some persons and not to others." Accuies Officials Rep John Bell Williams, D-Mi&s.), suggested that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple was behind the proposed ban. William called the com misj ioner" Tport a ' propa ganda document." Me charged district nificals with living in all-white neighborhoods and thus failing to practice what they preach. "But you want tn force every one else into a mixed neighborhood. " Willmms said Can you deny that??" Rep B;isil L, Whitencr, (D N C ). chairman nf the sub- committee, has promised more hearings on the bill, which has now been introduced by Rep. Abraham J. Multer. (D ;N.Y.) but after the March 28 (session, it seems unlikely the district committee will re port a bill of the sort the com missioners propose. As Tobriner pointed out. however. Congress might act l by forbidding the commission i ers to act. But the chance of 'this seems equally slim. A 1 number of liberal senators j and representatives say they would oppose the move. This group includes Sens. Wayne Morse, (D-Ore.), Ja cob K. Javits, (R-N.Y.), and Joseph S. Clark, iD-PA ), and Rept. Henty S Reuss, (D-Wis.), Edith Green, (D-Ore.) and Frank Thompson, (D-N J ). Morse, a member of the senate district committee, summed up the mood of the liberals when he said he would "strongly and vigor ously" fight an attempt by Congress to keep the com missioners from acting. Ja ' vits urged the commissioners 1 not to wait for Congress but to go ahead with their ban j Kennedy Firm 1 Moreover, a bill forbidding the commissioners to act ' would face a presidential I veto. President Kennedy has made it plain that he wants an end to housing discrimin ation in Washington and elsewhere. There is a third way Con- j gross might act. Those who regard the commissioners' pro- posa! as extreme might upon j sor an innocuous measure "to occupy the field" for Con gress and thus effectively ex clude the commissioners. But this. too. seems unlike- j ly to happen. First, no matter how innocuous the measure. Southern congressmen might have difficulty explaining to their constituents why they voted for any civil rights measure. Second, the South erners on the district com mittee would be reluctant to report out even a bland bill which, once on the floor, would be subject to amend ment by the liberals. Thus the outlook is for no action by Congress. The next question: How long will the district commissioners wait before proceeding to en act their ban? Tobriner said they will give Congress "a reasonable op portunity' to consider a bill. This might mean that if Con gress fails to act, the com missioners will- move next winter, after the current ses sion is recessed. But when ever they move, it probably will be with some apprehen sion about how the house district committee will react. What a treat for every occasion! IPC P d r a m V,;. '.WW:; w l. j i i r m i-- au nr..-' ST. : I You can depend on saving money every time you shop at Safeway. That s because our shelf prices are low firry dav, all over the store. Also because our many "specials" give vou additional savings. Espe cially nice thing about our low prices is that thev re on the fine quality foods you want. 'Ihe kind for which Safewav is famous. Visit us soon. We re always glad to see you. Every time! We Will Be Open Memorial Day, 9 to 7 Guaranteed W J inn WW . 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