The Omaha guide., 1955-11-25

The DeCeiIlDcT ISSUE, mi. ooAiCS
tells how this wise move pre-
served for the people of Teaneck
the market value Of their homes
and their own integrity as well:
"Until Jay Payne, a Negro, be-
gan working on his house, this
part of Teaneck was additionally
"a l-w hite', although it housed
members Of various nationalities
and diversified religions. When
the Paynes moved in three years
ago, their white neighbors did not
openly voice their resentment.
They sat tight watching and wait
ing. Property values did not fall;
in fact, the r~eal-estate market
rose slightly in keeping with the
rational trend. Anxieties were re-
Taxed and although the Paynes
made no lasting friendships with
their white neighbors, they were
not made to feel unwelcome.
During 1854 other Negro FAM
lies began to move into the COM
munity. Most Of them bought
homes in a few streets on the
fringes of the area; only one or
two Negro families moved into
the broad white avenues in the
Heart of the community. By the
end of the year the total had
risen to % Negro families, with
property vaues still intact.
"The trouble didn't start until
cary in 1855, when a t%oo-enter-
|prising real estate firm in a
neighboring town. hearing of
the i~nterracial trend in Teaneck,
began to use scare tactics in the
hope of forcing sales and collec-
ting commissions. In a sudden in
vasion of the neighborhood. the
company's agents opened a high
pressure door-to-door campaign
They told each home owner: You
are living in a fringe area. Ne
groes are moving in all around
you. Why not put up your house
for sale now while you can still
get a good price for it?
ct was then that the selling
began. It soon spread through
the entire community, even to
streets seven and eight blocks
from the house Of the nearest
Negro family. Before long Henry
Deissler, Teaneck's nonpartisan
mayor, quit the big house on
! Shepherd Avenue in which he
had lived for years.
"To keep business booming, the
soliciting realty agents began to
sow distrust among neighbors.
AS these tactics went on, the Ne
gro families in the community
sensed a growing hostility. White
neighbors began to eye m an
other suspiciously. The inquiry,
fare you selling out?' became a
challenging question met by 81
Hence, hesitant denials or en-
~Ibarrassed admissions.
"But the tide stopped when
Isome of the residents, reluctant
Ito leave a community they liked,
began to hold block meetings in
an attempt to talk the thing
Through. AS one resident said at
la meeting, Unless we want to
sell at a loss, there's only one
thing we can do. Take it easy.
TRY to persuade your neighbors
to stop these panic sales, and let's
try to get those ~real-estate men
Ito cut out scare tactics. After
that we ought to get in touch
with our new Negro neighbors
and get their cooperation. I've
a notion they don't want this to
become a rundown community
any more than we do
"At the end of the meeting,
the neighbors had already de-
cided to remain in their homes
and had promised to try to per-
suade others to do the same.
Meanwhile an emergency COM
mittee was formed to track down
local JUNIORS and to find out how
other communities were dealing
with similar upheavals.
"Within a week a promise had
been extracted from the Offend
ing real estate firm that they
would stop their scare tactics.
With research that took commit
tee members to libraries, state
housing authorities, dozens of
real estate offices and such ex-
pert organizations as the Nation
al Committee Against Discrim-
ination in H ousing, answers