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COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION 1203 CITY HALL ATLANTA, GEORGIA MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION HEARING IN THE DIXIE HILLS AREA June 19, 1967 Hearing on Dixie Hills, Wednesday, June 19, 1967, EDA Center, 2193 Verbena St. The Executive Committee of the Commission met at the request of the Mayor. Present: CHAIRMAN: FIRST VICE-CHAIRMAN: SECOND VICE-CHAIRMAN: EXECUTIVE QIRECTOR: Mr. Irving K. Kaler Rev. Samuel Williams Miss Helen Bullard Mrs. Eliza K. Paschall Also present were Senator Leroy Johnson, Alderman Q. V. Williamson, Rep. J. D. Grier, Rep. J. c. Daugherty, Mr. Cecil Alexander, Mr. Johnny Robinson, and Mr. B. L. Lowery, City Inspection Department. Mr. Kaler explained that the session had been called at the request of the Mayor to hear from residents about the events of the past few days, and invited anyone to speak. SPEAKERS: (In Order) Mr. Howard Watson 49 Shirley Place Mr . Willie Fordan 346 Wadley St. Mr. Charles·Weber Am. Frds. Ser. Miss Dorothy Shaw 2232 Verbena St. Mrs. Albert Ford 2235 Verbena St. Mr. C. W. Smith 2261 Verben a St. Mr. Marion Wa rd 31 Shirl ey Pl. Mr. Jerry Carlton 31 Shirley Pl. ~;rs •. V•.;; .Jae kson 215 0 Verbena St . Mr. William H. Furlow 2166 Vesta Ave., #B Mr. Johnny Billingsley 2225 Ve r bena St. #5 Will ie GlazE 155 Wadley ~ Mr. Howard Watson, the Youth Corps Co-chairman, was the first speak e r. He expressE his complaints, and what he thought precipitated the rioting was (1) inadequate play lots for the immediat e area, ( 2 ) better treatments in the sto r es, (3) apartments, (4) police prutality, and (5) unpaved streets, with holes in them. The apartments are owned by private owners , and the owners should be made to repair the apartments, and rents are too high for the way they are unkept by the owners. Streets need paving, some large holes are in the middle of them. The sewage is very bad, when it rain, water floo-dsup in the streets. He felt that th e stores in the Center, should treat the childre n , as well as others with respect. The brutality is another factor for unrest - w~en tr.e official was arr esting the girl the y used brutplity with her, and the people didn't want their women treated that way. The policemen seem to feel that the people in the low-income brack et, can be treated anyway, and talked to anyway. The rioting did not just stem from the trying t o get recreation facilities, but mostly "po.J.ice brutal ity". �Page 2 Minut~-s, Go)'riffli-ls.i.$fll M:a,a-~i1'1t· in Diixie Hills, ~-t' _ Weg., June 21st DOROTHY SHA ~I: Sha s t ated tna~ -n.e.- ·g KieelJlai'IGes~ o eantpl.aiti<ts were (1) play- lots for th-e ch.ildren; (2) E.-D,,£1., shttuld ha,,,e f'li..e.1.d trips ~ the smaller children ( ~) the selli:n·e ff lieu aJ:ld sWi':na to l ndt Dtiil d~e.n in the store should be stop;pa"d. ( t'his cOfflJjllaint lilmi ,hfJt been futmlally ~e-p·o rt:ed to the authorities. BULLARD: ··" (Question.) De you thiiA·k t hat Mr. Carmichael I s pres-&n:ce precipitated: this rioting? SHA.W: De you thi~k this would coma about ooyway2 The disturbance would come about soonez oi later, mainly becatJSe our kids are on the streets. was shot.~ treetetl, and relea-sed, stated that he waited in the streets in arder to help the fell,o:w who waa shot (.tater he died). After waiting on the pol..ice.,. he we.nt to get l'ds superior offt:ee.- ( the police), he f\ever came bade t.ca nelp the oth1u- man. :tfe told the Commis-sion that he heard tour §lots, th.et the officer pump the gun four times. That the man who threw the fi~ bomb (Ma.lo-tov Cocktail} was net near them. The Molotov Cocktai:l went juat a f .e w fe,et in frcnt ~f the of"fi.cer who shot these people. He saw the police etart t.o eb.oot, the poli.ce wae under a stree·t light. He stated that he could iden-tif~ M.a, if he saw llim Qg.ain. Tbe other man ( who died) was just lying in tt:Je s -t reets 11 face d01r1n8., and the boy waa· not bleeding, unless he was ble·eding on the inside, bot.h unattended. tte stated that he 1rJae t.rea-ted aM reler~ .!J't Grat:ly's Hospital . The ambulance took about two houre ta eooma He s ~ he had started to bleed a gain, that it was about 30 ~inutes after he got to the hospita l before he received any 5ervice. He was a-sked to make a statement to detactivee befo re he began to get service. MARION W-.ARD: the man wh There are no ~lay lot s for mur children, the rent is too high, an.cl nothin g is off~ fer th~ ~. (Ul P-tt j 6~. 00 per mon th; no utili ties are included") He has tttne cl\ibtnn .himself , :end that the apar tments are infestecl with roaches, cats, and cthu in-&ects: t h.a~ the owners ~ould 11et- r-id of. WILLIAM H. fURLmJ: Feels tnat pre vious pzel:tle~ cause t his th.i.ng to ceme After t.ha ~i.oting he came hack ta ~hie area to ,-ee what wae ha ppening , *"9 :flu3le t ~ thi--a sitU,liJtiott came ebauct b 1;ause of the brutality of t he ,aelici!! l'r&ett.Ag af t~e ul (Georgia). Th.ie CG)lfflrqtlHllity this large do net need a Jew Store, with iJ!rices skyhigh, am1 littl..e quality. A community this si1e needs e store l .i. ke A&. P or one sintilar . The city should maka the owners rep a ir the apartments. There are hole& in the wall, where children get into them to play. This is dangerous. Also play l o ts are needed for our children. to a po.i nt. WILKIE J ORDAN: Get property ollfners ta fix up the property, keep placL a clean. felt that if the polic emen werti to parole the erea, it shoulc be in such a large quanity, and Mot harass the people. As lon g as the r f' .-,ple are treat e d like p ople, there wi l l be peace. If the officic:. l::. i. ' i. c' mean t them, they will continue to gather in crowds as s u cl 1. T:-."" H , , ;,, ,c1 1d be an effort if the policemen are needelll they should tn ;:v ls '. c:

.-.::: .., :'i the a r ea i n 5 t o 8 minutes.

The people fe e l that tli 1:.: ·o'. :i 5.n""• .~· ....;.., l >c1::l us ed ·; h ·, :~iotin g was : ( '. ) when t t. e police used brut in a :::-::t, ,; ci ~ ::1 +, c: 11G, -.. , . • A mee t i ng 1,..· 351 c alled on Sunday to find out the pE ct! ·· ·-' .1 • .t e v ~·r, -:-e, a r. ,j t o s tap the pa i:n t roubles of the c amm uni ty with the :;ec :..i-;:- i.. ~\, g u c: rds , pla y · lots for our sma ll childre n. He tho ught t hat this th i n ~ woulj come �Page 3 Minutes, Commission Hearing in Dixie Hills, \!Jed. , June 21st about eventually , even i f Mr. Carmichael did not come into the area. MRS. ALBERT FORD stated that these problems were here before this thing happen. She felt th a t the City transit gave good bus service in the area. A bus comes in here every five minutes, and during the Xmas holidays, one came about every minute. The police brutality is not wanted in the a rea. The community decided that they will not shop at the store (Dixie Hill Store). She stated that, " We are not violent people", if some of the polic e is t a ken from the area, the people could go back to their normal way of living. Shes ys that she realize that a lot of people do not have respect for the la w, but this comes from the brutality fro m the policem en. ·· IKIE J ORDAN said that the people he ld a meeting that night, ( Mo nday) Vfo called this meeting to hea r from t ri e people their complaints. A comm~nity preacher made arrange ments as to where this meeting was to be held. Their c a mplaints we re as follo ws: (1) work, (2) the stores in the Center , (3) EDA, the y a , e not helping the people with their problems, (4) Poor Sewage, (5) Play lots, and recreation are not doing what could be done with the apartment. We would like someone from the Cit ~ to guard this area as a re gular beat, someone who kno ws everyone . And the y should t a ke a huma n-r e lations cours e, similar to the one given in colleges. Then the ~ would know how to handle these people. Also EDA do not show to much in t erest to the people in the area, and a r e not r e ally giving a ssistance to them. The counselors do not take interest . MRS , ALBERT FORD: Police brutalit y is dra wi ng attention f r om the people . JERRY CAR LTON: The police are not protecting t he people, and they should be gotten out. He stated further that he s aw the little boy who was shot , in the hosp i ta l, and that the kid wa nts to kill every cop tha t comes i nt o hi s s ig ht -- that t his is t he react i on a s mall child has fro m such brutal i ty - - - a nd t hat he i s too youn g to t hi nk like that but the pol i c e are t eachi ng hi , th i s wa y beca use of th e way they treat pe op l e . The sec uri t y guar ds are given a gun and a ba d ge an d t ha t is t he i r licens e t o kil l , or harass a n~one t hey want . Q. V. WILLI AMSON: 11 The onl y t hin g the police a re t he re f or is t o pro te c t life an d pro perty. I f t he y are ta ken out no w what wi ll ha ppe n "? JOH ~N Y BILLI NGSLAY: "T his c ommun ity onc e had a bu t the city took him a 1Ja y, and gave us a nother bully ev e ryone. He wa s remove d after he s hot a and t he gr i ll hir ed a Sec urity Gua r d . The ma n Mr. Colli e r " . fe l l ow who was real ni ce, pe rso n he re who tried to ma n here . Then t he store who everyone liked wa s CH AI Rr,1AN: " Cou ld th i s ma n be brou ght bac k t o help us with th e pe ar•'? , an d the ir problems " ? g1LLINGSLAY: "T he on ly th ing we want here i s 'pe a ce'" · .-'. ll/.\ RLES vJEBSTER, AFSC: "Chairma n , I a '::l r e e with Mr. Billi'l -> l --: _c1 , --.r ,.·J Carlton. This community needs s omeon e who t he pe opl·, > .:.J'- . ·: r--:! ·: r ,Js t . " ' ·1 -,-. �Page 4 Minutes, Commissi9n Hearing in Dixie Hills lved., June 21st 11 tJ e have a nurr.ber of complaints 11 • C. 1. / . S~1 ITH: He wor k s ~"i th EDA as Area Block Chairman o f their lighting committee. He states that they had a number of complaints, i n addition to the other complain t s, is proper lighting in the area . This c omplaint has been brought up be f ore the pro per autho ritie s, but nothing has yet been done about it. VIRGINIA JkCKS ON: J erks with And a rson School's PTA, and talk to the boys in the area. The people here fe e l that the people with the EDA are better than them, the way they are treated. Since most of these people are not high-school g raduates, they (EDA) in coun s elling them · should tell t hese kids, not to expect to make a lot of money on the jobs tha t they are sent out on. Some o f them have gotten into the tra inin g program, bu t th i s ma kes them f ru st rated, bec ause if they ha ve f a milies, the sa l ary th e y ar e given are not enough. The cou n selors should le t th e m know what is to be ex p ected. HELEN BULLARD : "Some people wil l n o t res pect the police men if the childre n are told that the policemen go a bout and beat up the people. Wh a t could be done abo ut thi s " ? VIRG IN IA J ACKSOf\l: "My sug g estion is, as I tell my children, ( and I ha ve five) that whe never a po lic e man u rders y ou to d o something , do it. If y o u are arrest e d go with t hem peacefully , wheter you are wrong or r ig ht. Then t hi s i s when you exerci se y .. ur r ig h ·~s by h i ring a la wye r" . CHAIR f·iA N: "I f t he Ci ty r e mov es t h e po l ice men f r om th e area, wil l i t make t h is area less d ist u rbed "? VI RG Ir,J IA J ACKSON: " tJ e don't ne e d a n y on e here, who cannot get o rde r . Th e polic emen a r e c a using d isorde r. " ~nL LI E GLAZE : "Some o f t h e people in th e area fee l that t h e people who the cops s hot an:! eit her t h ,, ir friend o r relati v e ". CHAR LES B. HART : Asked what wo u ld t h e i r r ea c t i ,n s b e i f Mr. Carmicha e l came ba c k into t h e a r ea, o n ce th e p o l ic emen ure removed . Wo l d the y b e able to g uarantee anyone tha t t h ey would n ot b e motivated b y his speec hes and riot again ? He also s t a t ed tha t h e is a volun teer worker with EDA, as an area r - prese ntati v e, a nd that a bo u t three mont h s ago they expressed a desire for a "good Guy to pat r ol this area. We ha v e not had f u ll cooperation with t h e comm u nity wor king with EDA. We ha d also tried to get the City to cuild two playlot s for o u r children. Mr. Hart is to s u bmi t a written report to t h e committee on these effnr.~s . 1 The meeting wa s adjo u rned at 6:3 D P. M., in o r d er to meet with th ~ Mayor a t City Ha ll. �