The Reformer, May 19, 1968

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THE REFORMER

Vol. 1, No. 38

May 19,1968

Washington Association
Calls For Neighborhood
Improvements

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*

Mr. S. Lawrence Webb of
the West Washington Associ-
ation presented a seven point
request for improvements in
the Washington-Walnut area
to the South Bend Board of
Public Works at its regular
meeting on Monday, May
13th.

The seven points were:

1.	Install crosswalks and
signals at Washington and
Birdsell St.

2.	Halt all-night basket-
ball and other activities on
the Linden School play-
ground that distrubs sleeping
residents.

3.	Install more powerful

street lights on Birdsell.

4.	Pave Orange St. and
nearby alleys.

5.	Assign walking beat po-
licemen to Washington and
Walnut.

6.	Devise a street-clean-
ing program for Washington,
Birdsell and Linden Ave.

7.	Prevent children 7 to
12 years of age from roam-
ing after midnight in the
Washington-Walnut area.

Mr. Webb is a neighbor-
hood businessman, and Pre-
sident of the People's United
Democratic Club on Wal-
nut Street. He asked for a
reply within ten days.

THOUGHTS FROM A JAIL
CELL.AND AFTERWARDS

i

BY JOE SCHNEIDERS

Every citizen ought to be
arrested at least once in
his life so that he can per-
sonally experience the basic
sadism of our jail system.
For we are judged not by
how we treat the affluent
and empowered in our soc-
iety, but by how we treat
the poor and the disenfran-
chised.

A community, such as this
one, which hires only part
time policemen, degrades
the office of policeman and
invites the hostile, the puni-
tive, the sadistic, and gives
them an opportunity to work
off their hostilities, their
need to punish, their sadism
on the poor and the disen-
franchised.

There are good men in the
police force, but they are
caught in this evil system
and rendered ineffective and
forced to remain silent.

Here are some of the ex-
periences of students, social
workers, housewives,
clergymen, college profes-
sors, teachers, factory
workers, who were arrested
the night of April 29 and kept
in the South Bend city jail:

A man with a bad heart
condition had his medicine
taken away from him, which
was not given back to* him
until ten hours later when
the other members of his
cell became worried about
his condition and demanded
it.

An accountant began at
three in the morning to ask
to make a phone call and
was repeatedly answered by
having the jail door slammed
in his face and denied the
privilege.

Women were answered
with "This isn't the LaSalle
Hotel" when they asked if
(Continued on Page 6)

REGINALD
HOWARD
ATTENDS

NAACP
CONFERENCE

Reginald Howard, chair-
man of the Housing Com-
mittee of the South Bend
Branch NAACP, attended a
conference on Fair Housing
Saturday, May 11, at the
Sheridan Blackstone Hotel in
Chicago, Illinois.

The conference for
NAACP branches in Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan and Ken-
tucky, was organized by Wil-
liam R. Morris, national
housing director for the
NAACP and former resident
of South Bend.

Mr. Howard moderated a
panel dealing with imple-
menting and strengthening
fair housing laws. Appearing
with him on this panel was:
Mrs. Margaret Hamilton, a
councilman from Wheaton,
Illinois, Mr. Louis Garland,
DuPage County and chair-
man of the NAACP Housing
Committee, Dr. Maurice
Rabb, a National NAACP
Board member from Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and Edgar
Holt, NAACP Branch Presi-
dent, Flint, Michigan. Each
of the panelists discussed
open housing and open oc-
cupancy ordinances passed
in their respective cities.

One conclusion derived
from this conference, was
that a good open housing or-
dinance should establish an
administration agency that
has its own legal counsel
and the authority to police
the ordinance. The agency
should be empowered to hold
administrative hearings and
the power to make findings
of fact and to issue final
orders. The complain tant
and the charged party should
have the right to appeal,
through the regular court
system.

' 'Several new bills are now
pending before Congress to
(Continued on Page 5)

Methodists Respond To
Racial And Poverty Crisis

DALLAS, Texas — A
$20,000,000 four-year res-
onse by the United Method-
ist Church to the racial and
poverty crisis in the nation,
incorporating a youth ser-
vice corps, has been approv-
ed by the denomination's
Uniting Conference.

The wide - ranging pro-
posal is included in a qua-
drennial emphasis designed
to motivate America's

11,000,000 United Method-
ists toward "A New Church
for A New World." Its plan-
ners hope it will be as new
as the denomination itself,
which was formed April 23
by union of the former Meth-
odist and Evangelical United
Brethern Churches.

In a news conference pre-
ceding introduction of the
plan to the church's 1,250
Uniting Conference dele-

gates, Bishop James K.
Mathews of Boston, Mass.,
acknowledged that no single
denomination could respond
with action "drastic enough"
to solve the crisis in the
nation, but said that United
Methodists could create a
public climate in which gov-
ernmental and private pro-
grams could operate more
effectively. Bishop W. Ralph
(Continued on Page 2)

Youth Council Has Pray In

Part of the group of people at the Sunday prayer meeting of the NAACP. (2nd. row,
holding hands) L. to R.: Mrs. Robert Stewart, Mr. James Roseman, Mr. Grady Ross,
unidentified, Mr. George Neagu (Executive Director of the South Bend Human Re-
lations and Fair Employment Practices Commission), Mr. Charles Maxwell (whose
son Valdez was involved in an incident with one of the school guards), and Mr. David
Thompson. (1st. row, beginning third from left.) L. to R.: Mrs. George Neagu (Adult
adviser of the NAACP Youth Council), Miss Barbara Harges (President of the Coun-
cil), and Mr. Kenneth Brown of the NAACP National Office). Photo by Herbert
Luckert.

Rev. Daniel E. Peil (center), pastor of St Augustine Catholic Church on West
Washington Street leads a group of people in prayer at a prayer meeting sponsored
by the local chapter of the NAACP at the School Administration Bldg. on Sunday, May
12th. Photo by Herbert Luckert.

Catholic Interracial Council Calls
For Local Diocesan Action On Race

The Board of Directors
of the South Bend - Misha-
waka Catholic Interracial
Council recently issued eight
specific proposals for action
on the part of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Fort
Wayne - South Bend in
problem of area of race

relations. The public state-
ment read:

The Kerner report has in-
dicted WHITE RACISM as
primarily responsible for
the racial problems in A-
merica. The Black Catholic
Clergy Caucus formed at
the Catholic Clergy Confer-

ence in Detroit has stated
that the "Catholic Church
in the United States is pri-
marily a WHITE RACIST
institution". If one accepts
these statements, it follows
that the American Catholic
Church must share the re-
(Continued on Page 7)