Bronze Reporter

- ~~n person. or: Page Two.

~THE BRONZE REPORTER

Saturday, March 17, 1956

"

_ THE BRONZE REPORTER, INC.

Is Published Weekly
~ Editorial Address ~
1301 Lapeer St. - Flint, Michigan

52 Weeks (1 year)
26 Weeks (14 year)

~-- + 3 ene eee

ee ee ee ee ee a a ee ee eee

EDITORIAL POLICY

- The editorial policy of the Bronze Reporter is: to
reflect the thought of the Negro, to expose those persons
and conditions which prove contrary to (~he American
way of life), to protest acts or policies which deny the
Negro his full constitutional rights as a true American.

The Bronze Reporter is a non-par~isan newspaper.
Its main objective is to render a public service through
good journalism and to this end, The Bronze Reporter
is faithfully dedicated.;

civil Rights Delegatas Demand Action

_ by Lola Gibson, Chairman of Flint NAACP~s
a President Publicity Committee:

Special To Tic Bronze Keporter - - 3000 Americans,
representng hudreds of tnousands of individuals through their respeetive or ganizations, converged on
Washington, D.C., Mar. 4 - 6, to petition their elected
representatives on a matter of ur gent concern to the
nation. The group was the Civil Rights Delegate Assembly. The objective of the assembly was ~o visit and
impress upon their Congressmen and Senators the
need for legislature action before the end of this Congressional season. These delegates represented polit-|~

ical racial and. church groups from 334 states. ~
An eight point program was offered to meet the
civil rights situation: (1) Set up an effective Federal

FEPC to prevent discrimination in employment; (2).

make Federal funds for education, housing, and welfare available only to those programs and projects
that comply with Constitutional bars against segregation and other forms of discrimination; (3) make
lynching and other assults by public officials or private citizens, acting either in concert or individually,
property because of race, color, religion
or national origin, a federal crime; (4) Wipe out-in' terference with the right to register or vote in primary.or general Federal elections, and abolish the poll tax;
45) Create a Civil Kights Division within the Depart~ment of Justice, headed by an Assistant Attorney
~General, with authority to protect civil rights in all
sections of the country; (6) establish a permanent
Federal Commission on ~Civil Rights to make contin
- uous appraisals and to recommend action with respect

to civil rights problems; eliminate remaining segreg
- ation and other forms of discrimination in interstate

travel: and (8) establish majority rule i in the Senate

_ and House of Representatives.

oF

Two of these points, the right to vote and safety of

_ the persons are considered paramount in the light of

- bly. was to get action and comm

~ &

-- recent events in Mississippi and Alabama.

It was emphasized that the. perbore of this assemitment from the legis~

lature branch. of the government to proivde the ex
~eeutive and-the Attorney-General with specific laws}:

~under ~which the Federal government can insure the

EB safety of the person and the right to vote.

The Attorney General has stated that he cannot
proceed under existing laws as they are not specific
enough and cases would not stand up in court. He has
been supported in this statement by eminent lawyers
- ~thoughout the country. ~

~The Flint delegation from Michigan~s Sixth District
included many NAACP~ and union officials. Earl
Cromption, Atty., Herman Gibson, Nat Turner, Frederick Calhoun, -ercy Dunkling, J ohn Hightower and
Diane Simmons were a few of those present. This
the Capito a on Rep. Don Hayworth in his office at

anpl Ay
Hayworth received the delegation very gracbeats, his interest in Civil Rights and stated
- that e ~would wholeheartedly. ~Support the eight points
_ eet forth by the Assembly..

~rine Assembly For Civil Ri Rights

Flint was well represented at the National Delegate Assembly For Civil Rights held at Washington,
D.C., March 4-6, 1956. Earl Crompton, Nathaniel
~Tarnet, John, Hightower, Milton, Frederick ~Calhoun,
Diane Simmons, Marvin and Blanche Seldon were a

few of the Five Thousand strong that Marched on
Washington, over 300 of whom were from Michigan.

If I had to pick the most exciting. and inspiring
event Of the three days filled with exciting events, I
would select the eye-witness account of the: Montgomery, Alabama Incident as thg most poignant and
significant. Montgomery, like Flint, Michigan, seemingly enjoyed good race-relations,.Undernea~h this

veneer of cordiality strong currents of tension and
apprehensions were being ignored and glossed over.

It only needed a spark to set off a chain of events
which would arouse over-powering emotions of resentment and anger: f

On December 1, 1955 the day started just about
like every other day. The Colored People entered
the Buses from the rear, filled the buses up to the ten
seats reserved for White only, the rest standing over
the empty. reserved seats. As the moved out of the
predominant Negro neighborhood, the White would
fill up the ten reserved seats, and afterwards the Negroes had to stand up to allow the Whites to have
their seats. On previous occasions four Negroes had
been arrested for refusing to give up wii seats to
Whites without, any incident.

On December 1, 1955 Mrs. Rosa Parks, one of the
town~s most respected citizens refused to give up her
seat. Perhaps she was tired and just did not feel like},
yielding her seat. She refused to yield her seat upon
request of the driver, and having refused, decided to
take a stand for a principle. Mrs. Parks was taken
from the bus. arrested and thrown in Jail. rl

Rev. R.T. Abernathy decided to support Mrs.
Parks. Three ministers joined in to support Rev. Abernathy. A day of prayer was to follow in- which no
Negro was to ride the busses, December 5, 1955--the
day of the trial. Arrogant authority would not permit
the Mayor of Montgomery to appreciate the: danger
signals. Tensions bursting beyond the point of restraint would not:be checked. The gulf between the
races rapidly spread. Despite Mass arrest on trumped

up charges, Negroes in Montgomery, Alabama are
still: holding out, for the sake, of human dignity.

Flint is a city which seemingly is enjoying good
race-relations. Under this veneer of cordiality theie
lies deepening tensions in the hearts of the Negro

who is chafing with resentment in respect to Segregated housing and the treatment he is receiving at
the hands of the police. The White officer have the
advantage of most Negroes on the question of credibility, they can force some Negroes a ~admit an offense which the Negro did not commit but they cannot make the Negro like it.

Patience is a two-way street over which the Negra
walks alone. Someday blind, arrogant power and aut
jhority is to play court with resentment and futility.|

One day beth races in Flint may have 4 lot to regret.

Subscribe To The ~
Bronze Reporter

Letter To
The Editor

The Editor
The Bronze Reporter
Flint, Michigan

Dear. Editor:

Ihave been reading your paper
since the first copy and think I am
one of your first subscribers. So
far I have seen nothing scandalous
in your column.

As for ~Mr. Race Man~, what
has he to fear if he keeps his nose
clean? Didn~t he see anything good
in your paper? The main trouble
with our race is, we are always
quick to criticize or tear down.
each other. I am sure we all appreciate good sound criticism but
not in the form of a threat. Your
paper is supposed to;print the
news good and bad, rape, robbery
social church, etc. If you printed
nothing but ~holier than thou~
news, you would soon find yourselves out of business..I say print
the news as you see it.

If he gets so mad about the ab
Out. the few items you print, he
must be about ready for a straight
jacket by now if he reads any
other newspaper at all. -

A city with as large a Negro
population as Flint should support
your paper wholeheartedly even
though we don~t always see eye to
eye.

Beep 1 up the good work.

~ H. W. Salhany

Ed - Space will not permit publishing all the letters in response to
~Race Man~s~~~ letter, however, H.
W.~s letteris typical of the react
coming to our defense.

The Editor
The Bronze: Reporter
Flint, Michigan

Dear Mr. Editor:

It is very hedstoientiig & to bene
ize that many. of the business
places that we have been spending
money with over a period of year
are beginning to support our newspaper. I have been guilty of spending money without making it
known that I am a Bronze Reportér reader. You have been plugging
along so faithfully and tirelessly
that I am going to take it upon
myself to tell all my relatives and
friends to get behind the paper.

Keep up the good work and con- _

tinue to serve the community as

ion. Our thanks to all of you for

you have been doing. Your reward |

will soon come.

R. M. Fegh

Ed - Your letter is like music to |

our ears.

The Editor

The Bronze Reporter
Flint, Michigan
1301 Lapeer:

Dear Sir:

What in the world happened to |

the article that Attorney Gibson
was suppose to write last week?

I looked all over for it as sound- |

~chicken~ and refused to write

about the bad treatment some ~
Negroes are getting from some ~

policemen?

HL J. Toles_ |

Ed - | aseabhey Gibson~s article is

one year $4.50

in this issue. -

ed as though the article would be
i}most interesting. Did he turn