Evening star., 1947-10-07

in white neighborhoodS We recognize that
colored people have sections of their own and
we feel it would be just as wrong for whites
to move there. People naturally segregate
in great many ways.
Personally I feel some agitation is being
perpetrated here. Who is behind it I do not
know But it is the business of the people
living in q particular neighborhood or street
to use their legal right to form covenants if
they wish 1t is essentially a neighborhood mat
ter and not city-wide ISSUE"
Arguments Against the Covenants.
Woolsey w. Hall, president of the Federation
OF Civic Associations, comprising 26 Negro
organizations here, denounced covenants as
undemocratic, unjustifiable on economic
grounds, and mark of second-rate citizen
ship"
Leon A. Ransom, chairman of the Committee
for Racial Democracy in the Nations Capital
and head of the legal division of the National
Association for the Advancement Of Colored
People, declared the economic argument has
no weight in theory or practice.
In an interview with The Star and in a
recent radio broadcast on the Americans ALP
program on Station WWDC, he said the in
dividual person has right to sell or not to
sell his property, but.not to band together with
others against selling to people because OF race,
creed or color.
THAT amounts to conspiracy to deny to
people who are the objects Of personal preju
dice the fight to buy or live where they
choose" he asserted.
Covenant restrictions force Negroes to live
in slums, he continued.
IF there were no such artificial restrictions
as covenants" he said, economic groups would
find their own levels. Negroes would be able
to move into areas where they could live with
other people in their same general economic
status. The existence Of covenants 50 confines
Negroes into overcrowded and substandard
areas here that in desperation they sometimes
are forced to buy into white neighborhoods at
big prices. There would be no danger of de-
clines in property values if there were no such
restrictions"
Would Denounce Any Covenants.
Mr.. Ransom said he knew of no Negro neigh
borhood covenants. He added he would be
"the first to denounce them" if he found them
anywhere. He also denied there is an Gin
spired campaign" against covenants Naturally,
he said, national and local Negro groups must
provide much of the leadership to end what
they consider a dangerous undemocratic
device.
He urged Negro and white groups to "edu
cate" the general public that these covenants
are blow to freedom Of all groups"
In the opinion of one Of the principal white
attorneys in the court fight against covenants,
this is a problem of real social magnitude"
Census Bureau surveys show that by far the
largest percentage of occupants of substandard
dwellings here are Negroes and that, as in many
other large cities, they are "hemmed in" by
covenants. This, he said contributes to dis
ease, crime, immortality and social unrest.
He declared 1t usually Is the fault Of white
home owners if property values drop after a
Negro moves into neighborhood If they are
swayed by prejudice and sell their property,
deterioration often sets in, he said
Many people who sign covenants are not
necessarily moved by prejudice, but by pres
sure from a few neighbors, he said. But
eventually, in his opinion covenant signers at
tempt to rationalize their position. AS result
he declared, the existence Of covenants causes
prejudice by encouraging still greater restric-
tions against Negroes and minority groups in
general he said