Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-11-04
NJ H,igAhurs

w 81
do You treat everyone who
comes in here like q erook?"
ers have become disenchanted with
Ike apparently because Of the
Presidents moderate statements on
Negro rights and his refusal to
fatty endorse the Supreme Courts
1854 decision against school segre-
cation.
II had 50 much confidence in the
Republicans on the Indignation
problem" complains Mrs. Dorothy
Nichols Of Hamtramcl, a secretary
in a doctors office. Eisenhower
just has not done much about 1t,
so maybe a Democrat viii be bet
ter" Another former Eisenhower
voter switching to Sen. Kennedy,
Baltimore paper mill worker
Charles Dorsey, asserts: Nixon
has been influenced by Eisenhow-
ers policies on civil rights, which
could be improved some"
Some Negroes, almost all Of
them white-collar workers, are
backing Mr.. Nixon because Of
Southern influence in the Demo-
cratic Party. Specifically, Vice
Presidential candidate Johnson def
initely is losing votes the Demo-
Gratis might otherwise have cap
tured.
Don't Trust Sen. johnson"
Nixon could do more to carry
out his civil rights policies than
Kennedy could" predicts Chicago
beautician Olander Hawkins, a
Stevenson Democrat who Is switch
ing into the Republican column.
The Southerners would hold Ken
needy back, like they made him take
johnson as Vice President" Mrs.
Harriet McCrary, wife Of a Pitts
burgh warehouse foreman, Is sup
porting Mr.. Nixon partly because
II don't trust Sen. johnson an
inch"
Yet strategists Of both parties
may be magnifying Sen. Johnson's
influence on the Negro vote all out
Of proportion. COP. campaign lit
erature stresses the Texans OPP
position to extreme civil rights
legislation and quotes his off-the-
cuff remark at a Texas barbecue
that he'll oppose the Democratic
Platforms civil rights plank when
1t gets up in Congress-not in the
November election" Democratic
civil rights specialists fret over
Sen. Johnson's failure to spend
more time delivering pro-ciHl
rights speeches in Negro popula-
ton centers.
Voter interviews, however, show
most Negroes are totally unaware
of Sen johnson. And many who
realize that a Southerner IL Sen,
Kennedy's running mate aren't
bothered by it. Il think Kennedy
will be able to handle Sen. John
son and the Dtdecrats," forecasts
Mickey McElroy, a Pittsburgh
clerk and party-line Democratic
voter.
NixOn's Other Attractions
Actually, the support Mr.. Nixon
does enjoy among Negroes stems
less from his civil rights record
than from other attractions: His
experience as Vice President, his
as a coldwar strategist
who can keep the peace and-to
a few Negroes anti-inflation
policies.
World peace is more important
to me than racial disturbances"
maintains Pittsburgh barber Eph-
rain Crockett, a Nixon enthusiast.
Richard Robinson, a Boston waiter
who voted for Mr.. Stevenson four
years ago, Is switching to the
COP. because Nixon seems to
be more experienced"
In addition, a few Negro votes
have been turned Mr.. Nixon's way
by the surprise asset on the COP.
ticket, Vice Presidential candidate
Henry Cabot Lodge: Il think
Lodge Is more qualified than either
of the two Presidential candidates"
argues 23-year-old Brooklyn ma
chinist Jerome Wilson, explaining
why the Republicans will get his
first Presidential vote. Says Chi
cago bartender Russ Thomas: I'm
for Nixon because he's got a very
good man for Vice President"
But, 30 far, there is little reac-
ton among Negroes to Mr.. Lodges
''prediction"-not backed up by
Mr.. Nixon-that a COP. victory
would mean a Negro in the Nixon
Cabinet.
One reason why Sen Kennedy's
gains among Negroes are SO dram
attic II that there's an almost total
absence Of any switches to Mr..
Nixon Of Stevenson Democrats who
object to Sen. Kennedy's Catholic
ism. Although Negroes predomin-
ately are Protestants there Il al
most no discernible anti-Catholic-
Ism. Rather, a small bloc Of Negro
votes may swing to Sen. Kennedy
because of synpathy by members