Arizona sun., 1962-08-23
ANOTHER LETTER
TO KENNEDY


The President of the United States
The White House
Washington Is, D. c.
Dear Mr. President:
| want you to know that | per-
sonally hail the announcement on
Sunday, June oath. of your appoint
ment of Citizens Advisory Com
mittee to investigate and recon-
mend to you measures to ellml-
nate continuing racial diScriml-
nation in the Armed Services. Per-
haps you may know that through
out my entire service of almost
eight years in the United States
Congress, l have personally pur-
sued with the past Administration
and to current date with the pres
ent Administration the issues of
this continuing discrimination aim
ed primarily against Negro Serv-
icemen but inclusive of other mi
nority racial groups.
| first urged the establishment
of the Citizens Committee you have
commercially brought into reality
in August, 1861. You will know,
therefore, how heartened | was,
after all these years. when Secre-
tary of Defense Robert Mcnamara
directed letter to me on March
6. 1862, saying you will be happy
to know we are planning the es-
tabliShment of Citizens Com
mittee, such as you have pro-
posed. to consider the status of
Negro service members in the
yA.,.-.cG TcrccJ and We kc9c 20 re-
lease announcements regarding this
committee in the near future.
The study to be undertaken by
your Citizens Advisory Committee
is admitted by the Secretary of
Defense to be the result of many
hundreds of specific incidents of
racial discrimination in the Armed
Forces and comprehensive reports
with supporting affidavits which
| have personally submitted to the
Defense Department and Service
Secretaries and Pentagon Officials
as the result of complaints COM
ing to my office from service peo-
pie, their relatives, human rela-
tions groups and other concerned
civic organizations and leadership
and as the result of special investi-
gative field trips l made at home
and aborad at the invitation of
service branches. / know and CRATE
fully acknowledge that added to
this has been the weight of such
complaints from other concerned
Members of Congress in the House
and Senate
To meet the problem of off-base
discrimination, as referred to in
your announcement, in April 1859,
| introduced bill HR $500, de-
signed to prohibit discrimination
against Armed Services person
mel in public or semi public places
and transportation.
In 1860, was invited by the
Secretary of the Air Force, with
the cooperation of other Branches
of the Services, to make sixteen
day tour of military, MARINE, ma
val and air force bases to investi-
gate the actual status of integra-
tion in the Services.
On the completion of that in
vestigative trip, | submitted tO|
the Secretary of the Air Force
hundreds of Individual complaints
taken in personal group interviews
with servicemen on this trip, and
to both the Secretary of Defense
and Air Force Secretary, thirty
page comprehensive report on my
observations, findings and recon-
mendationS.
Remedial action was promised
and taken in a number of the COM
plants and observations cited in
this report. However, it is a fact
that much of the discrimination
in the areas mentioned in that re-
port, and in most other areas,
continues unabated, sanctioned, and
aided.
In June, 1860, following receipt
of letter citing most humiliating
treatment of Negro servicemen