Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-11-04
We'll So. JouFn0l
Predicts Negroes
TO Beck Kennedy

as wen as Mr.. Eisenhower and
a bit better. The reason:
A preoccupation by many polite
ians with civil rights an area
where neither contender has a clear
edge.
Harplng ON Civil Rights
Accordingly, the current CAM
paigns for the Negro vote harp on
civil rights. Harlem's Negro Rep.
Adam clayton Powell, back in the
Democratic fold after brief per-
Tod as an Eisenhower hacker, dis
plays to Negro audiences a photo
static copy Of a 1851 Washington
home lease signed by Mr.. Nixon
containing a covenant against fu-
ture sale to a Negro; the Vice
President Is, says Mr.. Powell, "the
great pretender." Signs plastered
on Harlem lampposts declare: Get
off the plantation now and join
Harlem Democrats for Nixon and
Lodge" Republicans distribute cop
les Of newspaper columns written
by ex-basebal star Jackie Robin
son, now working In the Nixon
cause; the columns belittle Sen.
Kennedy's civil rights record
But conversations with Negroes
show only the upper-income, better
educated minority is primarily con-
cerned with civil rights. Most Ne
groes are skeptical that civil rights
promises will be redeemed They
all give a bunch Of big promises, |"
complains Mrs. Marlyn Coleman,
a 25-year-old Philadelphia house
wife who plans to cast her first
vote for Sen. Kennedy.
But once they're in, it's a differ
emit story" Jay Thornton, sales
clerk in a Harlem shoe store Is an
enthusiastic Kennedy
But ask him about civil
rights, and he replies: 1T don't
know anything about civil rights.
That's something that's going to
go on for a long time"
Given this standoff on civil
rights, Sen. Kennedy gains from
the widespread feeling among ur-
ban Negroes that the Democratic
Party is the party of the working
man.
1--WE Need q Change
II think we need a change" de-
clares former Eisenhower voter
Anderson Of Los Angeles,
4 mail handler for the Union Pac-
Ific Railroad The Republican
Party hasn't done anything for the
railroad worker" James Pernell,
a Chicago post office employee,
says he is switching because Of
the unemployment situation. I
know the Democrats would do bet
ter for the working people"
On similar grounds. other Ne
groes are sticking firmly to old
ways. II never vote
for the Republicans" says William
Wallace of Baltimore, a warehouse
man at nearby Fort Meade, Md.
when the Republicans get in,
everything nops." Keabee Golden,
4 San Francisco mortician who
voted for Mr.. Stevenson last time,
argues: We've almost got Hoover
lays now. The Republicans do
but for the rich man"
Aside from switches based strict
" on the pocketbook, Sen. Ken
nedy is gaining heavily from Ne
groes who normally vote Demo-
cratic in the absence Of such a
COP. magnet as Mr.. Eisenhower.
Il voted for Ike last time" says
David Mitchell, a lathe operator
from the Detroit suburb Of Ham,
tramck. But III go for Kennedy
this time. It's the party idea, you
know. I'm really a Democrat"
Margaret Long, who works in a
Ohio, flower shop, says:
I'm really a Democrat, but !
liked Eisenhower" Now her choice
% Sen Kennedy.
Tghtly-Knit Organizations
This Identification with the DEM
ocrats is fostered by tightly-knit
Negro Democratic organizations in
many big Northern cities. The
strongest Of them is Rep. William
Dawson's organization In the First
Illinois Congressional District on
South Side, which not
only performs the pedestrian polit-
Ical tasks Of getting voters to reg
Ister and transporting them to the
polls but also serves the citizens
In paternahstic Tammany Hall
fashion. Explaining his preference
for Sen. Kennedy, Chicago bus
driver Paul Whiteman says: The
are more helpful when
It comes to getting a job. You can
go to your precinct leader, and he'll
steer you on the right course"
Among the few Negroes who
place primary stress on civil rights
many former Eisenhower support
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