The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-08-05
THE FACTS
m OUR NEWS
By HORACE 4. WHITE

Heath II an cid country club. II h
located In the township Of Saint
Claire Shores out Jefferson avenue
on Lake Saint Clair. IL was built
% Q fashionable resort for big
time gamblers" Blossom Heath has
been closed for about nine years.
Recently, . group Of Negroes. with
one or two whites. purchased the
property 70 DO used ~ . resort by
both Negroes and whitea Origin
ally. the building. equipment and
land cost between S250.00o and
$3.50. 900. Il IL . good location for
Q social club.
The public will be hearing .
great deal about Blossom Heath In
the coming weeks. The right Of
these Negroes to operate Blossom
Heath as q social club has been de-
MED by the town ship Of Saint Clair
Shores. The township Of Saint Clair
Shores has denied . license 70 op-
crate Blossom Heath on the basis
that to operate this club would
bring into the community more Of
the kinds Of activities that they
are trying to get out Of the COM
munity. The ofYicials Of the town.
ship also state that the club was
closed nine years ago, because it
was . olive" for gamblers and
other anti-social characters. The
township ofYicials stated that they
would deny . license to operate
Blossom Heath 10 any group whe
a. q sn~tsI Hvvh
The Negroes leading the fight for
the right to operate Blossom Heath
as a social club maintained that
they are being denied the license
because Negroes are connected with
the enterprize. They maintained.
further, that the conducted the
club by former owners should not
determine their right to operate .
legitimate club. Insofar as the ON
Gals of the Saint Clair Township
do this, they are abusing their pow
er TO license business and social
establishments. The present own
ers Of the Blossom Heath club
maintained that there Is q larger
issue involved in the denial OF the
license to them TO operate.
They maintained that II the Ii
cense Is denied them. because they
are Negroes, then il is the same
thing as denying the man q right
| 10 live in a house because he is
Negro. In other.words. the preSe :.
owners maintained that the power
70 license by the township OF Saint
( Claire Shores Is being used TO de-
termine whether Negroes can en-
gage In legitimate activities In the
township or not. Under the con-
stitutions OF the state and the Unit
ed States, Negroes have the right
TO engage in business and other
legitimate activities.
The leaders Of the present Bios
som Heath fight maintained that
the NAACP should be interested
In whether . license 10 granted 10
them 10 operate at this time. They
commended that the Issue h broader
than the denial Of one man o. one
group Of men 70 do business; bat
rather the issue II whether black
men can do business where they
choose without the interferenee q
governmental autherities because
these govsrnmsntal authsrities Do
not happen - like NegresA
IL II maintained slss tha4 The
National Association for the Ad-
vancemsnt Of Colored People viii
forfeit its right TO speak out against
any segregation II Il does not I'M
derstsnd the meaning Of this hght
in relationship 70 its general pro-
gram Of fighting race discrimina-
ton.
There are those In the NAACP
who maintained that this 10 . pri-
vale business enterprixe, and that
Il does not affect the rights and
privileges Of Negroes At all. Such
people make Il clear that 30 far -
they can see. there has been no
denial Of the license on the basis Of
color. II Is pointed out In this
connection that the township au-
thorities are under Obligation 70
grant . license or withhold . IL
cense TO maintain the general stand
ards and aims Of the community.
There are certain Negroes who
are engaged in similar businesses
who are opposed TO Negroes going
into ST. Clair Township. 10 open up
! another business Of this kind. These
business men maintain that il Is,
financially. an unSound venture.
The church people connected with
the NAACP. and they are the lsrg-
est membership holders in the
NAACP, cannot see the NAACP
making a fight for 4 license for q
social club, which club will have
to 60 into a liquor business TO keep
its doors open. Many church peo-
pie In Detroit are aware OF the
fght OF church people in Saint
Clair Shores 10 drive out Of the
neighborhood as many gambling
places and vendors OF liquors as
possible.
II II the feeling Of your columnist
that Negroes will split over this
issue. This split will be very
dangerous for the fight for COM
plste intergration In our dsmoc-
racy on the part Of Negro leader
ship and strong organizations.
There IL no question In my mind.
but that the license has been de-
MED the present owners Of Bss-
som Heath because they are Me-
groes.
There needs 10 be some careful
thinking on the part Of present
Blossom Heath owners and the Me-
gro community Leadership Of De-
troit ~ IL tackles this very knotty
problem. A wrong handling Of this
problem can affect SO many things
for which Negroes are fighting that
mean more ultimately than . social
club. This Is not 10 say that the
license should not be granted; but
II Is to say that foresight and un-
derstanding should be used In night
Ing for the license.