Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-01-26
Book Calls Bios
Agoinst Negroes
A Cruzy Quill
Discrimination

- ~bSAV T0sab
New York. Discrimination
against Negroes runs a crazy
quilt" pattern throughout the en-
tire United States, according to a
new book, Where The States Stand
On Civil Rights, published today by
Bold Face Books and distributed
by Sterling Publishing Company
of New York. The book, by Richard
Barnett and Joseph Garai, is the
first of its kind, and documents
Negro and minority group difficult
ties in education, voting, public ac-
commodations, housing, employ
ment and intermarriage in each of
the so states and the District of
Columbia.
In the North or the South, any
attempt to present a consistent
pattern of discrimination against
the Negro is almost impossible,
the book reveals. For example:
Negroes cannot get a haircut in
most white" barbershops in Iowa,
nor can they gamble in white"
casinos in Nevada, regardless of
the color Of their money. They can
eat at many lunch counters in
Georgia, but at almost none in
South Carolina.
State laws in most Northern
states provide that Negroes be ad-
mitted to places of public accom-
but the fact Is often far
removed from the law, two cited
Of which are the refusal
Of restaurant service in South Dak-
ota and the prohibition Of the use
Of public swimming facilities in
New Jersey. Housing opportunities
for Negroes in desegregated neigh
borhoods are almost as restrictive
in the North as in the South, yet
voting rights in the North are u.s.
ually fully delivered, while in many
areas Of the South they are still
denied.
Similarly, employment opportun-
tiles for Negroes do not always
seem to follow geographical lines;
progress in recent years is meas
ured by 1.-The first Negro chain
store manager" (Florida), to "the
licensing of the first Negro master
plumber" (Maryland).,
The education picture is less easy
to document, particularly in the
North. That only 7% Of the public
in Southern states have
opened their doors to integrated
classes in the seven years since the
Supre Court Desegregation
Opinion, is a clear and accurate
figure. However, the book main
tains, the great majority Of North
ern states have at least some de
facto segregation, especially on the
elementary level, usually as a re-
suit Of what Is described as "ghet-
toized" housing. Because Of the
situation, the discrimina-
ton Is hard to prove, but clearly
present nontheless.
More easily documented Is the
status Of laws pertaining to racial
intermarriage. Twenty-Five states,
according to the book, still have
laws prohibiting marriage between
the races. Surprisingly. such states
as Indiana, Colorado, Nebraska,
Wyoming and West Virginia are
joined with Southern states in leg
ally forbidding such marriages.
One state, Utah, allows intermar-
rage between white and Negro,
but prohibits marriage between
white and Orientals.
Interestingly, the two states
that showed the least discrimina-
ton in all areas are Americas two
newest: Alaska and Hawaii.
The book also briefly discusses
patterns Of discrimination against
Jews. Catholics, Indians, orientals,
Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Italians
and other minority groups in spec
ific areas.
The two authors Of Where The
States Stand On Civil Rights are
as varied in their background as is
the pattern Of discrimination in
America. Barnett Is a Detroit-born
playwright and civil rights writer,
currently working on a television
series based on the presidency of
Franklin Roosevelt.
Garai, a professor Of sociology, is
a German-born Jew who experience
ed discrimination first-hand in
Nazi Germany before migrating