Evening star., 1949-08-14
Racial zoning Dispute
Erupts in Bombing of
Two Ministers Homes
BY the Assoeiofed Press

BY the Associated Press i
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Aug. 13.-I
A tense racial zoning row erupted
today in the dynamiting OF two
Negro ministers homes and an
swering gunfire by Negroes guard
ing the houses.
Two midnight blasts. seconds
apart, rocked the adjoining Negro
houses in an area zoned for whites
only. Windows were shattered
and a few planks knocked loose.
There was little damage al
though the heavy explosions were
heard over most OF Birmingham.
The Rev. E. B. Deyampert, one
of the Negro ministers. said three !
of four Negroes fired with pistols
and shotguns at speeding auto
mobile from which the bombs were
hurled. The shots apparently
missed.
Ministers Won't Move.
Eighteen Negroes were on the
porch or in the houses at the time,
he said, but none was injured.
Asked by reporters if he planned
to move, Mr.. Deyampert replied:
This is my home and I'm going
to stay here" The other minister.
the Re. Milton Curry. said the
same.
The houses are a half block
from three others that were heav-
lily damaged by bombs March "a.
Throngs of Negroes gathered
within a few minutes. All avail
able police rushed to the scene
in patrol cars. One Negro was
arrested and charged with refus-
ing to obey an officers command
to move on.
Mr.. Deyampert said the dyna-
mite was thrown by an unmasked
white man riding on the running
board of the car.
One bomb fell on the lawn about
20 feet from the front porch OF
Mr.. Curry's house. 1t dug two
foot crater. The other struck a
.curbing and shattered the stone.
Were Waiting on Porch.
MIR. Deyampert told officers he
was seated on the front porch OF
his home with seven other men,
bers of his race. He said he had
called them to join him earlier
because he feared trouble
About two hours before, B. w.
Henderson. who also lives in the
Curry house, trailed car with
dimmed lights that halted briefly
across the street.
He said he followed it several
blocks to where two other cars
apparently were waiting for it. He
wasn't able to, get the license tag
numbers. Mr.. Henderson said he
told Mr.. Deyampert and they
called others.
Police Commissioner Eugene
Connor charged the Negroes ARE
partly to blame for the incident
for not informing police"
They (the Negroes) had tip
from Negro that something was
going to happen last night" he
said in statement. Instead of
calling the police. they called in
their neighbors. I understand
they had shotguns and pistols and |
were waiting for them when the
dynamiters came"
The commissioner said police
could have prevented the incident
If they had been notified.
Long Controversy.
The months-long controversy
stems from the slow encroachment
of Negroes into areas restricted
to white occupancy. This is partl-
cularly so in the North Smithfleld
area in which the houses were
bombed. It adjoins the Smithf1eld
federal Negro housing project.
The city sought to set up a
buffer zone between white and
Negro residences there. City at
torneys later said they believed
the ordinance was illegal.
The three houses bombed last
March had been bought by Negroes
for occupancy. but were vacant
at the time they were blasted. The
case has never been solved.
Mr.. Curry and Mr.. Deyampert
later moved into their houses.
They were ordered by city officials
to move. They refused. Anony-
nous phone callers told them to
get out.
No legal action had been taken
against them.
Last Tuesday, the city commits
sion adopted a new zoning ordin-
ance barring Negroes from NOV
ing into white areas, and whites
from occupying houses in Negro
sections.
The law directs that neither
white nor Negro could move into
an area generally and histori;-
cally" considered as set aside Tor
members of the other race.
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