Causes Of Negro Problems Found, But Not Remedies

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31449, 16 August 1967, Page 5

Causes Of Negro Problems Found, But Not Remedies

(From FRANK OLIVER, N.Z.P.A. special correspondent) WASHINGTON, Aug. 10.

A perplexed and worried nation is, individually and collectively, seeking for the causes of violence and what can be done to prevent it. And by prevent it people mean

what can be done to change the Negro point of view which is behind the violence.

In general terms they seem to be succeeding in finding some of the causes but can so far think only of palliative measures for coping with the problem. When people were still staggering under the impact of Detroit, a fire chief in New York city put into use giant sprinklers which poured down gentle cooling rain from a height of 20ft in and out of which Negro youngsters ran with glee and comfort in the hot sticky weather. A law-maker in Congress! suggested that all unfilled' seats at baseball parks should be filled, free, by underprivileged childrenin New York the Mayor went up in a passenger airliner with 86 Negro children to show them the wonders of their city from the air. Attractive Headlines Such events make attractive headlines but have little or no impact on the root causes of the violence which has shocked the world this summer. It now seems clear to almost everyone that the main causes of the trouble are hunger, unemployment and consequent poverty and ratinfested slum property in which these people have to live because they can afford nothing better. The Vice-President, Mr Humphrey, in recent days has been pointing an admonitory

finger at Congress, accusing that body of failure to enact Great Society legislation that would help fight the evils of the slums. From other sources Congress is getting its share of the blame but states and cities are also having to shoulder their share. Money Not Collected

It has just been disclosed for instance that various states are not collecting money which the Federal Government is trying to hand them because they decline to put up their own share for the projects concerned. Take Mississippi, where, it is agreed by all except i the state authorities, there i is much hunger, poverty [and unemployment, especially among Negroes. By putting ' up a mere $7 million of its own money the state could immediately collect $lB million from the Federal* Government to feed and care for the children of needy families. In simpler and more direct terms, Mississippi is now putting up $1.55 a month for each needy child and the Federal Government $7.75 or a total of $9.30 a month a | child. If Mississippi would I increase its contribution to $B, the Federal Government [Would put up $24. $lBO Million A Year At this time the Federal Government is putting up $lBO million a year for needy children and half of this goes to four states, California, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Most of the states forfeiting a great deal they could collect are in the South. The $lBO million from the Government may be called peanuts, but it could be considerably more if only the various states would put up their full proportional share owards seeing that tomorow’s citizens are fed today. Food, however, is but one part of the problem. Probably the biggest is unemployment. The Labour Department has just disclosed that employment in the country reached an all time high last

month. But a survey made by the “New York Times” shows that in the poverty areas of San Antonio (Texas), New Orleans, and in Phoenix (Arizona) between 40 and 50 per cent of the potential labour force is either looking for jobs unsuccessfully or has given up trying and getting along with part-time at low rates of pay. Negro Teen-agers

It adds that in New York, in the Harlem and BedfordStuyvesant areas (where riots have occurred during the last three years),.between a quarter and a third of the potential labour force is sharing a similar fate. The worst feature, however, concerns Negro teen-agers who have been so prominent in all the riots that have occurred this summer. Across the country as a whole 25 per cent of all teen-age Negroes are unemployed. As the “New York Times” comments: “These figures are in striking contrast to the country’s general prosperity and riiearly full employment of the white population.” The two nations are living side by side, one rich and privileged and the other poor and miserable. “No better formula for civil disorder could be devised.”

To The City

Many Negroes have come from farmlands to the city, having been forced out of regular employment by automation on the farms. They are no longer needed to pick cotton and tobacco or harvest the fruit crops and having almost no education and almost no skills they find it difficult to get work. Moreover, they appear to pay through the nose for their necessities. A survey made recently in “New York City” disclosed that food was priced higher in poor neighbourhoods than in middle class areas.

It is unnecessary to dwell on the fearful conditions of slums in all cities. Housing is in poor condition with no modern conveniencies, repairs neglected by landlords and all infested with rats. Cases of small children being bitten in their beds by rats are unhappily common. But there are some signs that look slightly hopeful. One is the formation of a body of public-minded men who later this month will hold a convocation in Washington. It is made up of such people as David Rockefeller, a banker, I. W. Abel, president of the Steelworkers’ Union, some industrialists and some forward-looking mayors, including Mr John Lindsay of New York. This urban coalition, as It

calls itself, wants a revision of national priorities, Federal action, and asks that the private economy be directly and vigorously involved in the crisis of the cities. It calls for investments, job training “and all other things necessary to the full employment of the free enterprise system and also to its survival.” The mere names in the list encourage the belief^ there will be vigorous action.

Another is the effort by a Democratic, Senator Ribicoff, and the Republican, Senator Percy, to get established a fund of a billion dollars for use by the administration to combat the evils of the ghettos. As Mr Ribicoff says: “This is a hard Congress to get money out of” and the idea is to trim from appropriations already made. This would mean lopping a good deal from the space programme and the supersonic aircraft project and other things to go into this fund. It requires Congressional action but the authors of the plan believe they have a fair chance of success. New money is very hard to get from Congressmen, but the law-makers might well agree to slicing parts of the budget already adopted. The space programme would not die because of it nor the supersonic plane be much delayed.