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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, 1967-1970

1967-06-15 Newsletter, Fort Madison Branch of the NAACP Page 2

-2-
"If one is permitted to treat any group of people with special disfavor because of their race or the color of their skin, there is no limit to what one will force them to endure, and, since the entire race has been mysteriously indicted, no reason not to attempt to destroy it root and branch.  This is precisely what the Nazis attempted.  Their only originality lay in the means they used.  It is scarcely worthwhile remembering how many times the sun has looked down on the slaughter of innocents.  I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States.  But I am also concerned for their dignity, for the health of their souls, and must oppose any attempt that Negroes may make to do to others what has been done to them...Whoever debases others is debasing himself.  That is not a mystical statement but a most realistic one - which is proved by the eyes of any Alabama sheriff - and I would not like to see the Negroes ever arrive at so wretched a condition." - James Baldwin in The Fire Next Time

Riots have broken out in several of the nation's larger cities in their Negro neighborhoods....but the conditions which we allow to exist without doing any-thing which is constructive and realistic to bring about the changes which would decrease the chances of riots must be deplored, also.  Now, there is much talk about the riots and the rioters, while all of the time, it has been proven that poverty, unemployment, inadequate education and discrimination are widespread and growing rapidly in the center of our cities.  Those exact conditions may not exist...right here...,  but the do exist not far from here, and each and every one of those areas is only a magnified mirror.  The people who are living in the ghetto have nothing to lose... or at least they feel this...for, for the most part they are closed in/  Granted, gains have been made in the area o poverty, for all...but these gains are very small, and the feeling among most people not affected by the conditions of ghetto living is one of unconcern...  in fact, the very existence of these areas is ignored.  The ghetto is very much a part of life in these United States...and so is the filth, poverty, unemploy-ment and inadequate housing which make them what they are.  We can help if we do nothing more than write to our Congressmen and ask them to stop just making critical comments about the riot torn areas and set up constructive programs which will realistically produced a   solution to the existing problems.

"Let America make haste!  It is considerably later than we think...The conditions of the American Negro is today's bitterest joke about freedom and justice."

DO YOU KNOW ... the Negro MAYORS in US Cities in 1967?

             City                     Population                  Mayor
Flint, Michigan             196, 940                 Floyd J. McCree
                                      34, 521 - Negro
Saginaw, Michigan        98, 265                 Henry G. Marsh
                                      16, 550 - Negro
Springfield, Ohio           82, 723                 Robert E. Henry
                                      11, 838 - Negro
Ypsilanti, Michigan        20, 957                John H. Burton
                                     4,    671 - Negro

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-2- "If one is permitted to treat any group of people with special disfavor because of their race or the color of their skin, there is no limit to what one will force them to endure, and, since the entire race has been mysteriously indicted, no reason not to attempt to destroy it root and branch. This is precisely what the Nazis attempted. Their only originality lay in the means they used. It is scarcely worthwhile remembering how many times the sun has looked down on the slaughter of innocents. I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States. But I am also concerned for their dignity, for the health of their souls, and must oppose any attempt that Negroes may make to do to others what has been done to them...Whoever debases others is debasing himself. That is not a mystical statement but a most realistic one - which is proved by the eyes of any Alabama sheriff - and I would not like to see the Negroes ever arrive at so wretched a condition." - James Baldwin in The Fire Next Time Riots have broken out in several of the nation's larger cities in their Negro neighborhoods....but the conditions which we allow to exist without doing any-thing which is constructive and realistic to bring about the changes which would decrease the chances of riots must be deplored, also. Now, there is much talk about the riots and the rioters, while all of the time, it has been proven that poverty, unemployment, inadequate education and discrimination are widespread and growing rapidly in the center of our cities. Those exact conditions may not exist...right here..., but the do exist not far from here, and each and every one of those areas is only a magnified mirror. The people who are living in the ghetto have nothing to lose... or at least they feel this...for, for the most part they are closed in/ Granted, gains have been made in the area o poverty, for all...but these gains are very small, and the feeling among most people not affected by the conditions of ghetto living is one of unconcern... in fact, the very existence of these areas is ignored. The ghetto is very much a part of life in these United States...and so is the filth, poverty, unemploy-ment and inadequate housing which make them what they are. We can help if we do nothing more than write to our Congressmen and ask them to stop just making critical comments about the riot torn areas and set up constructive programs which will realistically produced a solution to the existing problems. "Let America make haste! It is considerably later than we think...The conditions of the American Negro is today's bitterest joke about freedom and justice." DO YOU KNOW ... the Negro MAYORS in US Cities in 1967? City Population Mayor Flint, Michigan 196, 940 Floyd J. McCree 34, 521 - Negro Saginaw, Michigan 98, 265 Henry G. Marsh 16, 550 - Negro Springfield, Ohio 82, 723 Robert E. Henry 11, 838 - Negro Ypsilanti, Michigan 20, 957 John H. Burton 4, 671 - Negro