The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1963-05-10
Crime In the Capital

WASHINGTON, d. C. = If you
have ever been mugged, yoked,, as
saulted, or simply robbed of your
money, the official statistics on crime
in Washington, D. c., will be of little
comfort and entirely unconvincing.
1t is no fun to get hit on the head,
never has been, no matter whether
it is on the New York waterfront, in
Mississippi, or a few blocks from the
White House.
But now as a result of recent
events there appears to be methodi-
cal campaign, directed from segrega-
ZIONIST sources, to make it appear
that Washington is one of the most
dangerous cities in America. 1t might
be instructive to put things in per-
spective.
Crime in the capital usually means
NEGRO crime. Those who generalize
about it take pains to point out that
the Negro population of the District
of Columbia is over Sc per cent.
From this statistic you are supposed
to draw several conclusions. AS the
segregationists see it this proves that
Negroes are more violent than white
men, and that they are not yet
"ready" for equal rights.
We are indebted to Berl /. Bern
hard, intelligent and well-informed
staff director of the U. S. Commission
on Civil Rights, for challenging these
conclusions and the basic data.
To start, the Negro population of
metropolitan Washington, w h C h
takes in nearby Maryland and Vir-
ginia suburbs, is "a per cent in the
whole area-not much different than
it was 100 years ago.
While the crime rate is admittedly
bad, some people are exaggerating
it to prove their point about Negro
behavior. Bernhard notes that the
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting sta
tistics show that Washington instead
of being first in crime, ranks 18th
among the nations rs largest cities.
While there was nationwide in
crease in crime of z per cent for
1862. in Washington the rate went
up 40 per cent.
No one can find comfort in
these statistics, nor is there any
need to be complacent about Physi-
cal violence on the streets, whether
in the Capital or other cities. But
we need not be carried away by
inflammatory propaganda designed
to Justify the Old Order in Ala
bama and Mississippi.
Before drawing hasty conclusions
about conditions in Washington it
might be instructive to read dusk |
at the Mountain, an excellent book
written by Haynes Johnson, a re-
porter for the WASHINGTON STAR. |
1t is an objective, we'll written and
thorough examination of the NEGRO |
problem in the nations Capital.
Johnson is white.
What seems particularly note |
worthy in the present hyper-tense at
mosphere is that certain politicians
have been exploiting capital crime
for the last 40 years. In 1919 one
Congressman, calling for an investi-
cation, said that Washington had
sfor the past month or so been in
tested with the vilest criminals in all |
The land. Larceny, burglary, assaults
Of various kinds and attacks ON many
women have occurred within the
shadow Of the Capitol building ITSELF.
In 1889 a House subcommittee con-
,luded:
'sThis investigation has established,
On the basis of fact, that Washington
mas a disgracefully high crime rate
and that law enforcement here is
neither aggressive nor efficient"
The fact that politicians make an
ssue of crime does not mean auto
natically that it ceases to be a prob
EN-. But at least we know the present
situation is not something new. From
he intensity of the present cam