St. Paul recorder., 1962-12-14
We Pause: To Reply To
Hysterical FulminatiOns

j
The publisher Of our local contemporaries, the
Twin City Observer and the st. Paul Sun Is re-
portedly a sick man. Last week he used his sole
editorial in scurrilous attack personal in nature on
the editor and publisher Of this paper because of
stand against the closing of the Key Club.
In the past we have been constrained to ignore
some rather vicious and unprnciped attacks by this
same source because we believed they were the re-
suit of Illustrations, envy, and jealousy
Even II the Observer-Sm publisher is LII we
cannot stand idly by and refuse to state our
position since he made 1t the topic of his main
news" story and his only editorial Of last week.
The Observer-Sun charged the editor of this
newspaper did great and grievous disservtce to
all members of this minority group when he blat-
antly and without any sound basis whatsoever in
jected the racial ISSUE" into the hearings on the
revocation of the Key Club licenses
The race issue was already present in the Key
Club case, did not have to inject it. The Key
Club was the first night club bringing first class
Negro attractions to Minneapolis in the past Is
years to cater to both Negroes and whites.
It's employees, at least IT of them not including
the casts Of shows which sometime play there are all
Negroes Conservatively IT Negro families earned
$104 900 a year at this establishment. With unem-
poyment at high level, IT jobs were an important
subject of discussion and more important because
Our prime interest In Objecting to the closing
Of the Key Club the economic loss Of Jobs
to these members of the Negro community.
Secondly refused to buy the council COM
mittee's argument that a proprietor of a bar or
night club who fully complies with all the laws
and ordinances must take responsibility for the
Iaw-breaI1ers who into a place which Is
open to the public.
Our "disserVice" in objectng to Negro
bartenders floormen, Mattresses cooks, and other
personel losing their jobs in a vice witch-hnt which
las in the past many times) centered place fire.
quented by Negroes.
Jobs and upgrading for people have al
ways been prime part of this papers program.
Milton c. Williams, publisher of the observer-sm
newspapers ought to - instead of criticising our
position the job issue at least - agreed with
us He has long experience employe Of supper
clubs. He started out wash-room attendant in a
dining out place and after 81 years is still employed
in that capacity.
1t is hard for us to believe that he has not
aspired to or deserved to be upgraded either to a
headwaiter waiter, bartender or to some higher
level job. The only reason see that he has
not been promoted is that he is a Negro. At the
Key Club Negroes do serve as headwaiters and
bartenders and Mattresses.
At Murrays where Mr.. Williams supremely
reigns in his other "jOb classification" when not
being editor and publisher of the Observer and
Sun he must have noticed that this well known
establishment, has never had Negro as a waiter,
bartender waitress, despite MIR. Williams well
known influence with the management
Could not Mr.. Williams therefore, sympathize
with our desire to place kept open which DOES
employ Negroes above the level Of washroom attend
ants? His rock throwing" at the people who
frequented the Key Club Is hardly understandable
either. The majority of the Key Club patrons were
respectable persons attracted to the place by the
fine entertainment offered.
Mr.. Williams knowledge Of night and supper
club business gained from very close at hand scrutiny
must also have made him cognizant that there is
hardly public bar In any metropolitan city which
is not frequented by women of the street and men
looking for opportunity to purchase their wares
There Is hardly washroom attendant in the
Twin Cities who doesn't daily nightly in way
or another in contact with the prostitution
business. This should have made Mr. Williams more
tolerant with the plight of the Key Club manage
ment knowing full well he does that ladies of
the evening" cannot even be kept out Of any bar
in Minneapolis including the one where he Is en-
ployed He ought to know that this is not necessar
ly the fault of the bar If it were, every bar
in town could conceveably be closed by council re-
vocation To the chief difference between what
police reports connected some Key Club patrons
with was that the women involved were usually
Negro women, and those who frequent other places
with which Mr.. Williams Is quite familiar are white