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I, December 1968 I Community The following statement is an excerpt fr.om a recent speech by John W. Gardner, cha(rman of the Urban Coalition: l Today one of the gravest handicaps to the local community, dne of the things that prevents it from pursuing any of its.purposes effectively, is the fragmentation of the community itselfand the fragmentation of community leadership. I saw_this at first ·h and when, as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, I had to visit all of our major cities-and many not so major. I found that the typical American city was split up into a variety of different worlds that were often wholly out of touch with one another. The suburbs were out of touch with the central city. Business, labor and the universities were three wholly separate worlds-as far apart as worlds can be, City Hall was usually out of touch with the ghetto and often out of touch with the ablest and most influential people in the city.

The most omin6us rifts, of course, were the rifts

involving various minority communities, most commonly the black community, but in some parts of the country the American Indian or Mexican-American_community. As I traveled around, I observed that these fragmented worlds were often terribly ignorant of one another, and that the ignorance bred fear, and the fear bred hostility. These cities were not communities. They were encampments of strangers. Is it surprising that cities so fragmented have great difficulty in solving their problems, great difficulty in even formulating their problems? Long before the riots, it was apparent to everyone who studied these matters closely that communities so riven could not weather a ~to:rm without cracking wide open. , The stqrms came-and they cracked wide -open. One after another. Like all structures under stress they cracked along the lines of their internal weaknesses. The rift between black and white communities was usually the main issue but when the city tried to pull itself together to face that issue, it found its capacity to do so greatly c:Liminished by the other rifts within the community-between business and labor, between suburb and central city; between police and citizen, between young and old. Nothing is more clear than that no major city can or will solve its problems without first repairing some of those devastating gaps in communication. _ In some respects it is harder to accomplish that repair after the troubles that have occurred. In some respects, of course, it is easier. Some people respond to trouble affirmatively, redoubling their efforts to act constructively. But others, both black and white, respond to the interplay of violence and counter-violence with deepened anger, fear, hostility and a desire to strike back. We shall see a good deal more of those emotions before we're through. But they won't ,5olve a thing. Sooner or later we are going to have to sit down together and figure out how we can create communities that we can all live in, all believe in, all be proud of, all defend. �i The sooner we get on with it the better. There are issues so explosive that if we ignore The Urban Coalition was formed precisely them we shall be overtaken by events-and then with that task in mind. I would emphasize the every problem on the list will be infinitely importance oithe coalition principl\;!. Some harder to solve. people think of the Coalition as just another The goal that takes precedence over all organization tackling the tough urban problems others is to begin to heal those rifts that are now of the day. But it is unique. Our distinction is ,makin& many American cities quite incapable that we bring together segments of American of any kind of healthy problem solving. We can life that do not normally collaborate in the heal those 'rifts. We can heal them through the solution of public problems. ' process of coalition, if the PJOSt influential Becaus·e of the need for such collaboration at citizens in the community will lend their ~trength the local level, the national organization has and their presence, if all significant elements in helped to form local coalitions. There are now ' the community are fairly represented and if all local coalitions in 39 cities. As in the case of concerned are unsparingly honest in facing the national, each local organization includes the toughest issues. , representatives from a variety of leadership In a number of American cities today those segments in the community-the mayor, busicondifions are being met in local urban coalitions ness, labor, minority groups and religion. And -the most i.nfluential citizens hctve stepped we encourage .the participation of other relevant forward, all significant elements in the commuelements-the u~iversities, the schools, the nity are represented and the toughest issues are press, the professions. being faced. The coalition principle requires that minority Once the significant elements in the commugroups be represented in the effort to solve nity begin to work together, once they begi~ to community problems. And such representation think as a community and act as a community, is itself a step toward solving the toughest proball kinds of things are possible. Then they can lem of all-effective dialogue between minority give city government the kind of intelligent communities and the dominant elements in support it needs; they can make the needs of the city. their city felt at the state and Federal level; they Such communication is difficult. It requires can see how all the various Federal, state and bard work and patience and imagination on the local programs fit together; they can provide part of every person involved. But there is no strong citizen support for Federal programs alternative, unless we are willing to see our cities that are working and strong citizen criticism torn apart. The one encouraging thing I can say of those that are not working. to you is that communication is possible. We And most important of all, perhaps, they can have proven th at over and over again. look ahead. When a crisis strikes it is too late to begin the Ion~, arduous process of building effective ( ch annels of communication. If there is to be fruitful collaboration between black and white communities it must begin and be tested in a National Relations Office non-crisis atmosphere. Then when trouble strikes, if it does, men who have learned to work An Office of National Relations has been estabtogether and trust one another can go into lished within the Communications Division of action together. the Urban Coalition to "broaden support for the I have not dealt with many substantive probCoalition and its objectives," John W. Gardner, lems of the cities-fiscal and governmental chairman of the national Coalition, announced. problems, housing, jobs, education , health servThe new office is under the direction of ices, economic development and so on. The Christopher Mould, former executive assistant Urban Coalition is interested in all those probto Mr. Gardner. Before joining the Coalition last lems, but we are not free to choose the year, Mr. Mould was chief of the Federal particular problems to which we shall give our Programs Division of the Justice Department's attention . The priorities are thrust upon us. Community Relations Service. 2 The associate director of the new unit will be Fred Jordan, who is leaving the post of Deputy Assistant Director for Operations and Technical Assistance of the Model Cities Administration. Mr. Jordan is a former deputy director of the California Office of Economic Opportunity, a division of the governor's office. Brian Duff, vice president of the Communications Division, said the mission of the National Relations staff will be to establish liaison with other national organizations and with Federal agencies and to seek ways for the national Coalition to cooperate with others in so ving urban problems. Action in Newark The Newark, N.J. , Urban Coalition has a shorter history than many of the 3 8 other Coalitions launched since August, 1967. But its formal incorporation in April of this year has been followed by planning on a large scale and some substantial steps toward improvement of the city's economy. Newark has the second highest proportion of Negroes in its population of all American cities; it is more than half Negro, and another 10 per cent is Spanish-speaking. A report by the city's Office of Economic Development showed that generally this 60-plus per cent lives at a much lower economic level than the rest of the population: It is largely unskilled and untrained, and it has few resources except labor to offer to Newark's economy. Projections indicate the downward trend will continue as the gap widens between the character of the population and the types of jobs available. Growth is expected to 1 come in the non-production industries that require the greatest skills, not in trade employment which could absorb the unskilled workers. The Greater Newark Urban Coalition, in a broad "Plan of Action," has proposed the establishment of a Community Development Corp. that could be the key to the city's economic development. As the Coalition sees it, the objective is to "forge for Newark a communitywide organizational capability that will be able to deal effectively with the wide range of problems th at are rooted in the economic dependency and weakness of the indigenous popul ation of the ghetto." The Community Development Corp. would be owned, operated and managed hy ghetto residents. It would run all antipoverty _ services, but more importantly would also own and manage businesses, own and manage housing and represent the community in renewal planning and other phases of public policy. One of its goals will be to become involved in businesses which are job producing with a market for its products or services both inside and outside of the ghetto. The Coalition is now organizing this corporation so that it will qualify for 502 loans from the Small Business Administration as well as grants and loans from the Economic Development Administration and other sources. <' Solid impetus was given the Coalition's " Plan for Action" by tbe establishment in early October of a $1 million fund by four commercial banks to provide loans to ghetto buisnessmen who cannot qualify for financial help elsewhere. 1 Two staff members of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs have been assigned to administe1' the loan program through the Coalition office. The Coalition and the private, nonprofit Interracial Council for Business Opportunity will help loan applicants di agnose the problems of their businesses and try to improve their operations. Coalition president Gustav Heningburg followed the loan fund announcement with word that the organization would move into sponsorship oflow-income housing within the next two months. To enter this field , it will establish a housing development corporation with a separate board of directors composed of Negroes and Puerto Ricans. The corporation will provide fin ancial and technical assistance to community groups which wish to sponsor low- and middleincome housing construction under various fed eral and state assistance programs. The "Plan for Action" outlined by the Coalition to the community includes effortsnow underway-to organize and charter a blackcontrolled bank in the city. "The benefits of a full-service commercial bank with a special concern for the fin ancial needs of the minority com munity are obvious," it said. It is working also to deepen the commitment of the private sector to a personal loan program for lowincome residents. The state has promised to 3 �commit $150_,000 to create a guarantee fund if a matching amount is commi~ted by private interests. Gerald L. Phillippe Gerald L. Phillippe, chairman of the board of the General Electric Co. and a merpber of the Urban Coalition's steering committee, died Oct. 17 at the age of 59. Mr. Phillippe had worked for General Electric since his graduation from col1ege. He became the company's seventh president in 1961 and was elected chairmar;i of the board in 1963. He was present at the Aug. 31, 1967; emergency: convocation at which the Urban Coalition was launched, and for many years lie had led efforts ~o join ~he private and public elements of society rn fightrng poverty and unemployment in the cities. Fresno Expands From an initial focus on improving 1ocal housing, the Urban Coalition of Fresno, Calif., has turned its energies to attacking a broad spectrum of community problems. Since Mayor F loyd H. Hyde called meetings of leaders of all segments of the community to set priorities last January, task forces have been organized in jobs, youth opportunities, housing, entrepreneurship and education. · The first task fo rce to get fully underway was ~n housing, and the city responded by trading its street beautification and tree planting program ~or an effort to set up a municipal mortgage msurance fund with an initial appropriation of S10,000. The experiment lets the city insure home loans which do not qu alify for conventional financing. To administer the mortgage program, a Housing F inance Board was established by city ordinance, and it ruled that loan applicants must participate in the HOME (Home Opportunities and Management E ducation) program. HOME was developed by Fresno State <?~lle~e, at the city's request, to assist people llvmg m substandard conditions to rehabilitate or replace their present housing. 4 The Fresno Ho.using Development Corp. was cr:eatep by members of the housing task force as a nonprofit corporation to assist the city's renewal efforts, and the task force is also assist. ing the civic redevelopment agency with its General Neighborhood Renewal Area Plan covering 1,900 acres in West Fresno with over 5,000 .q_wellings. The pilot project, San Joaquin Par~, cove~s 400 acres. Another part of the poverty-stnck~n West Fresno area, the Baison ~anor neighborhood, was helped by the Coalition_ task force in activating a FACE (Federally Assisted Conservation Effort) project to halt deterioration. , " W~ile housing activities were getting started last_wmter, _the mayor invited a Los Angeles bu~messman_who had headed that city's rehabilitation committee after the Watts riots to speak to Fresno business leaders. H . C. McClellan described the Management Council for Merit Em~loy_ment, Training and Research, which was findmg Job and ,training opportunities for minority grou~s. By M arch 6, t~ree me~tings had been held m Fresno, and 28 industrialists initiated a lik~ program for that city. The Management Council hired an executive director to serve through the summer months, called 200 !arge c~mpanies to a general meeting-and 1mme~iately g1ot to work distributing job applicant b1ograph1es and unemployment fact sheets along with its statement of purpose. A raft of personal interviews followed and a follow-up survey was made later to find ~ut how many disadvantaged Mexican-American and Negro workers had been hired. By midSeptember, 401 full-tim e and 114 part-tin1e workers had been signed on by 146 companies who responded. And by that time, a three-year budget for the Management Council was prepared, a full-time director recn:rited, a fulltime person assigned to work with the Council by the Model Cities Program, and a contract signed with the Concentrated E mployment Program to help secure jobs and training for 100 persons in the six months ahead. High p~i_o rity has been assigned also to youth opportunities and services. In April a chairman and the nucleus of a task force were selected and this body was subsequently charged with pr~viding a meaningfu1 summer program for ( Continued on page 9) Action The 90th Congress and the Urban Crisis A pamphlet briefly summarizing what steps the 90th Congress took in 1967 and 1968 to meet the crisis of the cities has been published by the Action Council. It is available upon request to the Urtian Coalition Action Council, 18.19 H St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. Although the 90th Congress never agreed to "reorder national priorities," as the Urban Coalition Action Council urged, the pamphlet concludes that the Congress "nevertheless showed increasing interest in solutions to the urban crisis and tQok many positive actions to promote the welfarc of the cities." Legi lative subjects covered in the booklet are Hou ing, Employment, Antipoverty Programs, Food Programs, Education, Health, Law Enforcemlfnt and Transportation. Legislation in 1968 The 90thCoog;ress adjourned October 14 1968 with a record that w nt about halfwa}t in meet~ l ative goal of the Action Council. Tbij gr test achievements of th ear e,; in the housing fi Id-a landl,U housing act focused harply on the ne ds of low and mod teinco families and a fair bonsillg bill, b.n~na racial and religiou discrimination in n.e al an~ r ntal of homes. Tho N:tion Cou.o · orkcd bilrd f 'Con~ sioDal apprO\' of th measurea. The fair housing law had to weather a Senate filibuster before it came to a vote, but its enactment had the support of both parties in Congress. The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 grew out of legislation submitted by the Democratic Administration, but it also encompassed many Republican proposals. Its enactment was a major bipartisan achievement. 1968 was a year in which Congress was mor than ever conscious of the rising federal budget, and the action taken on appropriation bills reflected this concern. Passage of the tax surcharg and the failure to enact a Public Service Employment bill also were linked to the state of the budget and fear of growing inflation. The Action Council supported the tax surcharge as necessary to solving the problem facing the nation, but it urged that no n:ducti.ohs be made in essential pro~aIDS such as jobs housing, ducation and oonununity services. CMgre&s, howev r, exempted only the education l})propriations from the 6 billion spending cut tluf.t it decided must go hand in hand with the tax increase. The exemption. for education activities oam.e only after 11,ppropriations for c major urb education program-ti&J. I p( th J!l m tary and Secondary Education. Act, providing aid to schools in impoverished areu-.-were QQt sliah below 1 t year's figures. Apptop.r;i bou ing, antipoverty activities d o4 ,gram for the needy, how ver-1 ros abe year s totals. �I Here are some examples: • The Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and -Title I education funds. Last year, Sl.191 Control Act, which was changed from an experibillion. This year, Sl.123 billion. mental demonstration program to a more per-Grants for model cities. Last year, $312 manent program largely under state control. million. This year, S625 million. • The Mass Transportation Act, which fur-Office of Economic Opportunity, the basic nishes federal funds for improved local transit antipoverty agency. Last year, S l. 77 billion. This operations. year, Sl.95 billion. • The Federal-Aid Highway Act, which fi-Food stamp program for the needy. Last nances major urban highways. New provisions , year, $185 million. This year, $280 million. were added to the Act requiring that when hearAt the very end of its 1968 session Congress ings are held on proposed routes within a city considered the appropriations that were needed the effect of the location of the highway on the by the Housing and Urban Development Depart- community environment must be considered. ment to get a quick start on the new programs in the Housing Act and to administer the fair hous- Desegregation Amendment. A serious threat to ing law. The results were disappointing to the the drive for effective desegregation of schools Action Council. Of S 15 0 million in con tracts was barely beaten in Congress this year. The that HUD planned to sign under the new home- Action Council cooperated with other organizaownership and rent subsidy programs, Congress tions in working to defeat the proposal. approved only $50 million. And the appropriaThe provision was sponsored by Mississippi tion under the fair housing law was even slim- Rep. Jamie L. Whitten (D). a high-ranking mer-$2 million compared to the request for $8 member of the House Appropriations Commitmillion. tee, and was written into the Committee's approThe Secretary of HUD, Robert C. Weaver, priation bill for the Health, Education and 1 said October 29 that the cuts in requested approWelfare Department. After the House of Reprepriations might set back for as much as a year sentatives approved the Whitten amendment in the goal in the Housing Act of achieving 6 mil- June, the Action Council urged the Senate to l lion housing units for low-income families in remove it from the bill. The provision was not the next ten years. He expressed hope that the deleted by the Senate but it was made relatively next Administration and Congress would ap- harmless by the addition of qualifying language. prove supplemental appropriations for the homeThe key part of Whitten's amendment proownership and rental subsidy programs. hibited HEW from "forcing" children to altend By the time Congress adjourned it had ex- any particular school against their parents' I tended a number of laws that helped meet prob- wishes. The Senate language prohibited forced lems of the cities. Among these were: attendance at a particular schpol "in order to • The Manpower Development and Training overcome racial imbalance." This phrase, which Act. which provides money for training the un- referred to de facto as opposed to discriminatory employed and upgrading the skills of the under- segregation, was already part of civil rights law. employed. The Act was extended for four years, It allowed the Government and the courts to put but the Public Service Employment program an end to "freedom of choice" school plans that which the Action Council supports was not were perpetuating racial discrimination. added to it. When members of the House and Senate Ap• The Higher Education Act, which includes propriations Committees met in conference on the Teacher Corps, financial aid for needy stu- the HEW bill, Southerners had a majority of the 1 dents and funds for college construction, and the votes and they struck out the Senate's qua lit\ ing Vocational Education Act. New programs to language concerning rncial imbalance. In effect, 1 lidp disadvantaged students were added to the Whitten\; purpose was achieved. two Acts. Action Council Chairman John W. Gardner • The School Lunch Act, which wa<; amended wrote House Speaker John W. McCormack (D to make fede ral funds available to day-care cen- Mass.) and the Republican leader, Rep. Ciera Id ters, neighborhood houses and summer recrea- R. Ford (Mich.), October 2, a~king them to help tion programs. defeat the Whitten amendment on the House 6 floor. He said the amendment "raises the real threat of resegregation in many Southern school districts" and "implicitly sanctions racially dual school systems." On a close 167-175 vote October 3, the House rejected the Appropriations Committees' recommendation and adopted the Senate phrase nullifying Whitten's amendment. The result is that HEW can continue to withhold funds from school districts that arc not making real progress toward desegregation. } l Block Grants. Block grants to the states were a feature of two major bills passed by Congress in 1968. These were the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, which provides $400 million in federal funds to help improve state and local law enforcement activities, and the law extending the Juvenile Delinquency program. Block grants have become a classic federal versus states' rigbts issue in the last two years. The principal debate has been on whether funds from the federal government for specific programs should go directly to the communities that apply for them, or whether they should go to the state governments for distribution under a state plan. A major argument against block grants to the states was raised by Sen. Edmund S. Muskie (D Maine) during the debate on the anti-crime bill. The block grant approach, Muskie said. will , foster "continuing political controversies and partisan rivalries between state and local governments, between Governors and Mayors, between urban and rural areas." Muskie pointed out that law enforcement is far more a local than a state problem, just as is education-another field in which block grants have been proposed. The chief opposing argument was made by Sen. Everett M. Dirksen (R 111.), whose block grant amendment prevailed on the crime bill. Dirksen warned that if Congress "bypassed 1 state governments by providing funds directly to municipal governments, the system would lead to "imposition of federal guidelin1.:s, restrictions and eventual domination" of the states. Southern Senators joined Dirksen in supporting block grants. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R S.C.), for example, declared that "the federal government !>hould not deal with local communities, cities, towns and other subdivisions" but only with the states. Sen. Sam J. Ervin (D N.C.) added that cities are only "creatures of the state." Administration officials contended that since law enforcement and juvenile delinquency are basically local issues, federal programs should be "community based," involving local people in the planning and operations. The U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, said it would be a mistake to "thrust the state into the pipeline" between Washington and the local area. Arrangements under which state officials could review and evaluate-but not veto-local plans for the use of federal funds were favored by the Administration. Action Council Chairman Gardner, commenting on the Juvenile delinquency bill in a July 8 telegram to Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D Pa.), noted that "most youth services and juvenile courts arc now operated at the local level. Precipitate requirements that all federal funds be channeled through state agencies," Gardner said, "would seriously impair the effectiveness of the juvenile delinquency legislation and in my view would be a grave mistake." Congress, however, wrote into the bill require1 ments that federal contributions to rehabilitation and prevention programs, the basic elements of the legislation, be allocated directly to the states. But, each state first has to draw up a comprehensive plan for distributing the money to its communities and get the approval of the Secretary of HEW. The state also has to pay part of its communities' costs in operating the program. The anti-crime bill allocated in block grants all of the money for planning ($25 million the first year) and 85 % of the money for law enforcement grants ($50 million). Each state was required to channel at least 75 % of its law enforcement grants to communities in the state. The planning money was for setting up and operating state agencies to draw up statewide law enforcement plans. Local Legislation Local coalitions have been active this year in urging legislative action by the state legislatures and by city government. They have also made recommendations on bond issues to be voted on by the public. In Racine, Wisconsin. the k1cal coalition- t hl' Racine Environment Committee- met with the 7 1 �:J / Mayor and 12 of the city's 18 aldermen to discuss the coalition's program. The Environment Committee urged swift action by the city in applying to HUD ~or planning funds under the model cities program. Another legislative goal was adoption by the City Council of a housing conservation code so that the city would be eligible for federal funds for low-income housing. This effort was led for the coalition by Paul Cody, the urban affairs manager of the Johnson Wax Company. The Louisiana legislature recently enacted a law for local option urban renewal, capping a two-year campaign by the Urban Coalition's New Orleans affiliate, the Metropolitan Area CQmmittee. Members of the committee endorsed a Community Improvement Act sponsored by the city administration, prepared and distributed a pamphlet explaining urban renewal, and testified at hearings by legislative committees in the capitol in Baton Rouge. The legislature did not act on the proposal last year, but when the New Orleans group and other supporters of urban renewal resumed the campaign in 1968, the bill passed and was signed by the Governor. The city is now actively working on its urban renewal plans. On the local level the Metropolitan Area Committee has been seeking reform of the tax structure and has endorsed bond proposals within the city of New Orleans and in an adjoining parish (county) . The Saginaw, Michigan, local coalition has been credited by the Mayor's office with gaining support within the city for passage of fair housing legislation and an unprecedented tax levy for education. The Committee of Concern, the Saginaw coalition, al o worked successfully for a county-wide mutual fire assistance pact. The New York City Urban Coalition's Housing Task Force has set up a legislative subcommittee of ten attorneys to examine what provisions in the housing law are being used or misused. The subcommittee will seek new approaches to housing legislation and regulations, as well as advising on community housing prob- lems. T tifying before the St. P.aul, Minn sota, City Council in October, representatives of the local litiou supporttd a budget increase sought by the ciiteot.or of the St. Pa1,1l municipal human and 0ml ri,iit, departmeat. Fresno Expands f rom page 4 disadvantaged youth, as weU as summer jobs. But this didn't seem enough to the task force members; they wanted a year-round role. In July, representatives from youth organizations throughout the Fresno area were convened, and a You th Council was born. It includes a voting representative from every youth group, and accepts as members all youth from 15 to 22 years old. The first official activity was a September panel discussion where a fiery exchange went on among 500 .adults and youths on "The Widening Gap Between Youth and AduHs." This gap between the generations was not the only one to be faced ; one of the specifit goals of the Youth Council is to promote interaction and communication among you,ng people from all parts of Fresno. The Council recognizes no barriers, whether city-county, school, church or racial. It has made plans to study such problems as recreation, high school curriculum and drug abuse-studies to be carried out by youth alone. And the gap between youth and the "establishment" is being tackled by having youths sit in on city commissions and take a role in the decision making- learning about community planning processes at first hand. Case Study: Minneapolis Minneapolis, one of the first cities to form an Urban Coalition, has had its first year 's experience described in a detailed case study. The report, available from the national Urban Coalition office, was prepared by Michael J. McMaous, correspondent for Time Magazine who had been on loan to the Urban Coalition. Sparked by Mayor Arthur Naftalin, 14 business leaders who had worked together after a 1966 riot in Minneapolis agreed that a longrange attack on the city's problems was needed. Each donated Sl ,000 for a citywide study on the possibility of creating a Coalition for com- ( 9 �munity focus on the problems. To conduct the study they hired Larry Harris, organizer of the Hennepin County poverty program, who was white and had the respect of most white leaders. Se,9sing distrust by the militant black leadership, H arris asked for a co-directon T. Williams, black staff director of a local community center. Their study found wide agreement on need for a coalition , but re al apprehension that business -would dominate it. The businessmen responded by minimizing their role, deciding that only seven of them would sit on a 63-man board. One-third would represent minority and poverty groups, one-third governm ent and agencies, one-third business, labor and religion. A statement of goals was drafted a nd circulated to 100 leaders by midNovember, and a temporary structure was designed with six-month terms for chair man, staff director and task1orce heads. Larry H arris became exec4tive director fo r the first six months. In early December, a single meeting of men from 60 corporations raised the $45 ,000 budget, and a six-man staff was planned. " In retrospect, this underestimation of staff needs was the largest single error in launching the Coalition," the report says. "Once the study was completed, things seemed to drag. It was not until Feb. 8 that the first Coalition meeting was held." Task forces were named on employment, housing and community information. T he latter followed up the Kerner Commission Report with . an "Anti-R acism Week" : Church-goers were given a "sensitivity survey," seminars were held on the shortcomings of the wh ite press, housing industry members were confronted with charges of discriminatory housing practices. In the week following the murder of Dr. M artin Luther King Jr., black members, venting their emotions with violent words, charged th at the Coalition was useless and formed a Black United Front to p resent fo rmal demands. T heir 14-point "Recommendations fro m the Black Community" impressed the white members with the thoughtfulness of the demands and the unity of the community. "The Coalition committed itself to a series of specific actions in direct response to the 14 points," it is reported, but "as p ainful as it was for the fledgling Urban Coalition to bow (some said 'capitulate' ) to the demands of the black community, producing action on the 10 promises was far more difficult. The white man had made new promises, but he did not provide the staff to do the hard work to produce results." The outcome : frustration on all parts, culminating in an explosive me~ting on the six-m,onth annivers ary. It was time for a new loo1c at purposes and methods . L arry H arris' temporary assignment as executive director eIJ.ded at this meeting, and he submitted a series of special recommend ations. One was carried out immediately, as Harry D avis, the man the blacks had chosen to negotiate their 14 points, became the new executive director. The appo intment had " profound symbolic value," McManus says in his report. "To have a Negro in that post underscored the city's long-term commitment to press the battle against racism and poverty." Finding th at the sh arpest cry was fo r blaok entrepreneurship, 17 fa mily and corporate found ation s form ed a consortium and pledged $225 ,000 for an equal opportunity fund. A predomin antly ql ack subcommittee of the business developm ent task force was fo rmed to decide which applicants fo r enterpri se are to be helped ; other committees give technical aid. By early October, Sl 7,000 made in "soft" loans had drawn another S64,000 from traditional lending sources to help Negroes open their own businesses. T he housing task fo rce also had produced results. By October the city had added 14 building inspec tors to fo rce landlords to maintain property stand ards; leg islati9n to protect tenants was in the works; the consortium had approved 51 applications and was reviewing 175 more fo r down-pay ment fu nds for needy fa milies. T he employment task force help ed fill 600 full-time jobs and fo und 1,470 summer jobs. Lessons learned in this year : T he Coalition cannot be "solely a behind-the-scenes catalytic agent . .. ," the case study concludes. It must actively strengthen the black leadership on a broad base, and there must be persistent communication among all parties. I t must be fu nded to afford enough fu ll-time staff to do the job; bor rowing personnel initially is only a stop-gap solution . Finally, says the report, the principals "must recognize that they are blazing new trails through perilous terrain. Like explorers, they must have goals, enthusiasm, strength and a vast capacity to be flexible when confronted by the unexp ected. " Communications Brian Du.ff, vice president of the national Urban Coalition in charge of communications, has announced the appointment of William A. M ercer as deputy director of communications. Mercer has served since April 1964 as executive director of the Business and Industrial Coordinating Council in Newark, N.J. , an organization of business, civil rights, industry, labor, education, the major religious faiths and social agencies that has developed more than 15,000 job and training opportunities for the disadvantaged in that city. Mercer is a graduate of the New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance and has done graduate work at the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 11 �I ,, \ ·/ " - ,,, I I 1 ,. The Urban Coalition ort~ Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Washington, D.C. Permit No. 43234 1819 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 J1bird Class 100 �