Evening star., 1948-05-04

fOr lIlS o-yedI -OluS III llle Iuu
block of Bryant street NV, it
was all pretty confusing.
1T means / have to move said
Dottie Purdue, who lives at l46,
Mother says our house goes on sale
tomorrow"
Gee" said Irene Endo of l20.
do l have to move, too?'
Dottie shook her head. Il guess
not, probably she said. You're
Japanese, and that's different"
All up and down the block, news
of the Supreme Courts decision
that racial covenants are unenforc-
able evoked its particular reaction
on each particular family. This
was where it had all started, with
the legal battle of the white families
to prevent the sale of Covenanted
properties to three colored families
and a man who said he is a Mohawk
Indian.
87-Year-Old Perks Up.
One of the colored families in
volved is that of Miss Pauline B.
Stewart. at No. $50 She was away
when the word came but the rest
of the family was there. Her
brother-inlaw, Charles E. Reed,
explained the development to her
s7-year-old father, Paul R.
Covenants voided?" said the old
man. when he finally heard what
was being said. "Oh. thank God y
The family said later they hadn't
seen old Mr. Stewart perk up SO
much in years. He rocked in his
chair for moment, then said:
Il never have been able to see
why mans color is a question.
II you live decent, respectable
life. what more can they expect of
you?"
All up and down the block, that
was the nub OF the question. The
white people had nothing but
praise for their colored neighbors
They are, they agreed, good peo-
pie; they keep their homes nice, are
quiet ana polite.
Negroes Fine Neighbors.
Mrs. Purdue. for instance-Dot-
ties mother-came from Georgia
and said the colored folks next to
her are fine neighbors, much bet
ter than some white ones we had
once" Why was she going to
move, tEen? She had a two word
answer. I'm white" she said.
Like many white owners in the
block, Mrs. Purdue was more re-
lieved than anything else by the
courts ruling Previously, she had
considered the covenant prevented
her from selling to a colored per-
son, anG now she could sell to
anyone who would buy.
I'm kind of glad OF It," she
said, since the colored people have
already got in
The only ones who were reluc-
tant to talk about the decision
were the white people who had
brought the original action to pre-
vent the Negroes from taking pos
session OF the covenanted prop
erty. They had tried hard to hold
the white owners to the covenant.
Some of their white neighbors re-
sented the idea they had been led
up a dead-end street so these
people were a little embarrassed.
Family to Stay.
The GiancolaS, one of the losing
families in the case. were not at
home yesterday afternoon Mr..
and Mrs. Frederick E. Hodge were
however. They live at 1876 Mrs.
Hodge said she was not surprised"
by the decision.
No matter what happens, we're
going to stay here" she said. That
sentiment was echoed by the wife
in another defeated" household.
Mrs. Victoria de Rita of 1913. She
said she did not know whether the
decision was good thing or not
With one exception. no one in the
block seemed particularly aware of
the broad implications the ruling
had evoked Most of them were
thinking OF it as a decision directed
Al their neighborhood and their
special problem.
The exception was Mrs. Isabel
J Rowe of No. ll8, one OF the
colored purchasers involved in the
case. She is registered nurse.
employed at Freedmen's Hospital.
Il hope We have settled this thing.
once and for ALL" she said Not
Just for Bryant street, but for the
whole country.
Doubts Problem is Economic.
Mrs. Rowe said she thought her
white neighborS were motivated only
by a prejudice they could not con-
troll in resisting the entrance of
Negroes in the community. She liked
them. she said. and they liked her.
But she doubted it was an economic
problem that had caused the trouble.
The colored people pay more for
their homes than the whites do"
she pointed out
But for all the talk, the kids still
were pretty confused. 1t was all so
complicated. The Endo children,
for example-Eddie. 10; Irene, 8,
and 5-year-old Cary, the baby
sister. When they first came to the
block last August, the white chill
dren didn't play with them be-
cause they were japanese. So they
made friends with the colored chill
oren, and played with them.
But because, as japanese, they
were allowed to go 70 white school.
they soon were accepted, too, by
the whites. Now they have friends
IN both groups-but the two groups