Arizona sun., 1961-07-13
Affidavits From
Both Races
Pin-Point Bias

HI VhuhM 0hOS fQ4
Affidavits indicating alleg-
ed racial discrimination at the
! Litchfield Park naval facility have
presented in the hearing Of Willie
Williams, now in its fourth week.
Williams, a Negro, has charged
that racial discrimination was in
voIved in his resignation from his
job. .~
Testimony has been offered from
both Negro and white employees
describing discriminatory prac-
tices against Negroes. Almost one
hundred per cent of the Negro
employees at the facility have
signed statements testifying to
these practices. H. B. Daniels, NJ
IAACP attorney Representing Will
liams, has also presented state
ments from Negro job applicants
charging discrimination in hiring.
The signed and sworn state
ments of the employees present
a picture of varied discriminatory
practices. One retired white en-
ployee of the base said that he
is acquainted with Mrs. Kelly, the
present Industrial Relations Of
ficer at Litchfield Park, that he
knows that she is racially preju-
diced and has exhibited such at
titude toward several persons OF
the Negro race"
Negro employees have apparent
lily been dropped in work "cut
backs" and never called back even
though new workers were hired.
A Negro worker said that though
he has applied and re-applied to
regain his former status at the
facility, he was informed there
were no openings in his status
''yet whites have been hired" A
combat veteran of World War IL
with Veterans Preference, the enl-
ployee further stated that his work
performance was highly Satisfact-
ory" and that he had never re-
ceived an unsatisfactory rating. z
Many employees commented
concerning transfer requests. One
employee stated that Negroes are
kept in transportation because
there is no chance for advance
ment in that department. It was
also stated that no new Negro
workers have been employed at
Litchfield Park since 1857.
Some workers charged that leave
requests are granted on a diScrim-
inatory basis. White employees
have been able to receive leave
without pay for many rea-
sons while Negroes have had
their leave requests denied, they
said. Denial of a leave request has
resulted, on occasion, in the en-
ployee being forced to resign his
position
Promotions are hard to come by.
many affidavits said, One EN-
ployee said that rather than pro-
mote him to a higher rating, the
job was abolished on the theory
that there would be no more odd
ball rates; yet there was an odd
ball rate created to place white
person"
Negroes who had applied for
jobs at LitchfieId Park told their
experiences. One man, ten point
preference veteran (which is sup
posed to give a man high prior
ity in obtaining a civil service p0-
sition,) was told by the examining
doctor to jump up and down on one
foot Is times. At the end of the
period, his blood pressure was
taken and he was informed it was
too high for him to obtain a job at
the base.
my personal DOCTOR" the state
ment continued, suggested that
l go to the Veterans Hospital for
an examination; / was examined
and given an electrocardigram and
| was checked out all right" Still,
he was not hired, though he stated
further that he had missed only a
week of work in the last IA years
because of illness.
Rev. George Brooks, president
of the Maricopa County Branch,
NAACP, has commented as fOl-
lows concerning this case: "The
facts revealed in the Williams case
are shocking, but even more shock
ing is the fact that many large
Phoenix firms holding government
contracts have no Negroes In conn
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