Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-08-02
By TOM HENsHAw


Associated Press Staff Writer
One day in June, 1862, q rea
estate broker dropped In at
home in a town far out on Lonl
Island,
Were the owners interested
in selling their home? They
were not.
They should be. the broker
advised, because soon 1t woult
have no value. The reason: Ne
groes were living in the neigh
borhOod.
The owners, who are white
still were not interested SO the
broker left his business card ir
case they changed their minds
He went next door to pay
similar call.
The brokers enterprise wa'
nipped in mid-spiel when the
New York Department of State
lifted his license for block
busting" which New York con-
siders to be against the pub
lie interest"
Blockbusting, or inducine
the panic sale Of property at
loss when Negroes move into Q
white neighborhood, is only
one Of many ways in which in
dividuals can profit from rae
ial segregation and discrimi-
nation, a facet Of the econom.
les Of prejudice.
There are other ways ir
which the Negro is exploited
not necessarily because he Il
black but because being black
has placed him in a vulnerable
social, cultural, economic posi-
ton.
Exploitation in; housing has
been the subject of numerous
inquiries In Northern Metro
politan areas. SubStandard
housing reaps enormous profits
for landlords through a variety
.of techniqucs: reducing large
units into many small ones
charging high rents on the
basis of persons occupying the
quarters, drastically reducing
services and upkeep.
Even in such things as the
purchase Of food, Negroes con-
tend they have paid q double
premium: Higher prices anc
lower quality. A large chair
recently was accused Of having
different price structures ir
New York in stores dealing
with predominantly white GUS
toners and those with Negro
and Puerto Rican customers
The Negro customers paid
more for the same goods, &C.
cording to q survey by New
FORKS East River Democratic
Club. The company attributed
the situation to local store
management error"
One Of the major complaints
of Northern Negroes is that
they have been shortchanged
In job opportunities. While nc
man may directly profit from
such a system, in a sense the
white worker profits in reduced
competition for his job. It is.in
the struggle for jobs that the
North has witnessed some Of It's
worse violence.
In New York, Philadelphia
and other Northern cities, the
Negro has been demonstrating
In demand Of jobs. CORE has
been particularly active, and
heads have been cracked as
pickets blocked movement of
supply vehicles or sought to
keep workers from going on the
job. Construction at various
sites was halted by pickets.
It is almost automatic in the
Negro communicated q ma
jor irritant IN these days OF
deepening crisis-that Negroes
pay more for less. Reginald A..
Johnson, associate director for
housing Of the National Urban
League, calls it "the race tax
Since the business Of prof.
iteering in race is a shadowy
operation, there are no good
estimates of its profits. But a
self-proclaimed blockbuster for
example, wrote under an as
sumed name in the Saturday
Evening Post and said in eff
feet:
"If you can't make 100000
q year, you're loafing."
Under ideal con ditions,
Elm Street Is all white. The