Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-09-01

men in shirt sleeves standing
around. I said, Davidson. this is
it. I called police"
He then found that the white
men were detectives investi-
eating a false report of q murder
in the basement of his home.
Mr.. Davidson's father. Shelby
J. Davidson. was a lawyer who
founded the real estate business
Eugene took over in the mid-l920s.
The senior Mr. Davidson was the
first executive secretary of the
local NAACP branch which
started up shortly before World
War /.
Eugene Davidson. a Washington
native. is a graduate Of the old
m Street High School" now Dun
bar. and of Harvard University,
class Of 1917. He also holds law
degree from Howard University.
He has been closely associated
with the NAACP only in fairly
recent years. Previously. he
worked with the New Negro Al
lance which opened up q number
of jobs for Negroes locally and.
for a time. in the l940s, he served
as field examiner for the Fair En-
ployment Practices Commission.
Roots in the Post
His deep concern over racial
discrimination seems rooted. at
least in part, in two incidents
which occurred after a rather
pleasant boyhood.
1t was at Harvard. he says. that
II realized ! was colored."
Mr.. Davidson was the intercol-
legiate wrestling champion in the
l25-pound class. While a sopho-
more. he remembers. he drew up
a thesis which held that racial
prejudice was largely a myth.
But as a junior, in a wrestling
match with Princeton. an OPP
ponent. a boy from Texas. refused
to wrestle him. And he was
shocked to hear his team captain
announce to the crowd the match
had been called of by mutual
consent Mr.. Davidson thought
Harvard could at least have picked
up a few points on a forfeit. He
says he later learned that officials
of both the schools. when at
tempts to talk him out of the trip
to Princeton failed, prearranged
the whole thing to avoid an Incl
dent.
Then after the armistice of
World War I Mr.. Davidson, a
lieutenant. had charge of COM
pany OF colored troops who for
days coaled the battleship Vir-
ginia on France. believing that
the big ship was about to get them
home.
Suddenly the troops were pulled
Otto make way for a company
OF white troops. The Negro troops,
says Mr.. Davidson. were close to
mutiny.
Investigating. he says, he was
told colored troops were not al
lowed on United States battle
ships. Eventually he came home
on a Brazilian ship.
Dovidson Speoks
The other day Mr.. Davidson
had these comments on his pres
ent activities:
Sure, the NAACP is a pressure
group. A democracy must have
pressure groups. There has got to
be people who will call attention
to something that's wrong.
They say this fight with the
Police Department is likely to
cause tension. Tensions not a bad
word. It doesn't scare ME. We're
not causing the tension. Stop the
beatings If you want to reduce
tension.
There is a systematic pattern
Of racial discrimination through
out the Police Department. Race
should never be the consideration
In assigning men, but II Is. :.
Chief Murray has always been
a gentleman to me. Colored
criminals break down the very
thing we're trying to do, but 90
per cent Of Negroes are law abid-
ing Brutality and discrimi-
nation are hard to prove. People
come to me all the time with tales
OF beatings or discrimination
Sometimes they're talking
through their hats, sometimes you
can't prove 1t. 49,.
"Nonviolence is the only policy
that'll get us anywhere. No,
I'm not the leader Of the colored
race in the District. / don't think
anybody is"
After the Police Department.
THE Fire Department. And that
fight will be more bitter" says Mr..
Davidson. 4