Evening star., 1948-12-10
DC. Leaders Accused
OF Driving Negroes
Into SIum Areas
Continued From First Page.)

it cannot be found in present codes.
Since there is no record of its re-
peal, according to the committee,
some lawyers speculate that it still
technically may be in effect.
Would Re-enact Law.
The suggestion is made also that
Congress should re-enact for the
District the Civil Rights Law of
1875. This provided that all per-
sons, regardless OF race or color,
should be entitled ito full and
equal enjoyment of accommoda-
tions, advantages. facilities and
privileges" of hotels, public convey
ances, theaters and other places of
public amusement.
The act was declared unconStitu-
tional by the Supreme Court in 1853
on the ground that it invaded
States rights.
mo one, however, questions the
right of Congress to re-enact such
a law specifically for the District of
Columbia the committee says.
The committees report condenSes
500 pages of findings based on the
work of staff of investigators and
research analysis. Director of the
staff is Joseph D. Lohman of Chi
cago, q lecturer in sociology at the
University of Chicago and associate
director Of the Julius Rosenwald
Fund. He is also executive secre-
tary of the committee. Leonard M.
Rieser, Chicago attorney, is treas.
urer of the committee.
Written by Newsman.
The report was written by Kene-
saw M. Lands of Logansport, Ind,
a columnist for The Chicago Sun
Times. He is nephew of the late
commissioner of baseball OF the
same name.
Chairman Shuster was a dele
gate to the 1916 Paris conference
OF the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Commis-
sion.
-Four of the 90 committee men,
bers also were members Of the
Presidents Committee on Civil
Rights.
The report gives, some historical
background on segregation in the
Capital, developing the thesis that
segregation is practiced more today
than formerly.
A large part OF the report is de-
voted to housing segregation and
the health problems coming from
crowded Negro living conditions
The report asserts the white COM
munity has been modified against
o Negro invasion" but that that
invasion is a myth. The proportion
OF colored people to the total pop
ulation has declined, the report
says.
Job Discrimination Seen.
Another major section of the re-
port concerns employment condi-
tons for Negroes. The report gives
instances which, it says, show dis
elimination on the part of stores
and even religious organizations
Segregation in schools and play
grounds also Is treated.
Many Of the statements made are
reiterations Of those In previous
studies of race relations here.
In its discussion Of housing con-
ditions. the report says that, where
~ Negroes formed 1876 per cent Of
the population in 1880, the proper
ton was 80. per cent in 1947.
I'm the entire Metropolitan Area,
the proportion of Negroes is no more
than "A per cent, and slightly less
than it was in $780," the committee
says, citing a Census Bureau report.
Between 1880 and 1910, more than
half of the Negro increase occurred
within q radius of ~ miles of the
business district, according to the
report, while almost all the white
increase occurred in the outer zones
Of the District and in the suburbs.
Figures on Population.
These figures are given:
Inner zones - Negro increases,
S8,136: white increases, 2l,S73; ratio,
two Negroes to one white.
Outer zones - Negro increase,
1862; white increase, 99,141; one
Negro to six whites.
Suburbs-Negro increase, $685.;
white increase, 1o4,6ss; one Negro
to 18 whites.
Metropolitan total - Negro in
crease, 61,034: white increase,
225,713; / Negro to 81 whites.
These figures explain the myth
Of a Negro invasion" the report
says. THE tension is caused by
compression, not expansion"
Blamed for Own Pressure.
Elsewhere the report states:
THE Negro gets blamed by the
white people for his own segrega-
ton. Compressed, he Is held re-
sponsible for the pressure His con-
centration, which is the white
mans profit, is regarded as
mobilization. His painful necessity
of paying more becomes fifth
column threat to the racial in
= tegrity of adjacent white areas.
The Minute Men who defend these
rAmparts are gathered into the
citizens associations.
The citizens associations, the re-
port says, originally were neighbor-
hood improvement societies, but in
the 1920s, they became actively con-
cerned in the containment of the
Negroes and fronts for the real
estate interests.
The report quotes the Washing
ton Real Estate Boards code of
ethics as stating, mo property in a
white section should ever be sold,
rented, advertised or offered to
eolored people
Among the active members of
the real estate board and subscrib-
ing to its code of ethics are Is
banks, insurance and title COM
panies and building and loan as
sociations," the report says.
Because of the absence of heavy
industry, these groups hold a posi-
ton of unchallenged leadership in
the economic life of the community.
Because the areas in which Ne
groes can live are artificially limited,
they must pay more for the same
housing than white people," the re-
port states. LAS a result,
the same real estate interests that
make money by excluding colored