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GRAND RAPIDS PRESS September 1 7 , 19 6 7 Whitney M. Young Jr. Biracial C'oalition, Leadership Crucial This summe.r 's r a c i a I vio-1 Jenee has caused a crisis of leadership. The riots have made , it easy for "backlashers" to i justify resistance to necessary social changes. But this leads to a dangerous polarization of attitudes which could lead to more violence . Negro leadership has lived up to its responsibility by speaking oul against riots and by proposing rational programs to end their causes. Now it is time for white leader-1 ship to speak out and condemn the backlash e r s and start doing something to end the ghetto's problems. Churc h e s, liberal organizations, politiYOUNG cal clubs, business and labor, interracial and human relations groups, all, have to speak out now and re-' gain the initiative from th~ backlashers. They have been silent for too long. There are signs that some leaders realize the urgency of t he situation and are willing to join t he coalition so despe~ateIy needed if our country 1s to have peace and progress. _I took , part in a r ecent meetmg to i form just such a group. It is called the Urban Coalition, and our first meeting included leaders of business, labor, religion, city mayors, and 1 civil rights groups. From this l came proposals for an emergency work program to provide . jobs and training for the unem- 1 ployed, the establishment of job. centers in cities, and the com- ' mitment of private industry to · take all steps necessary to insure full employment.

This last item is especially: significant because business has: not done enough to provide the . jobs and training needed. Negro workers are unemployed at! I a rate more than twice that 1 for white workers and Negro, family income is $3,000 less per: year than for white families. · Something has to be done about this-now. Many business leaders understand that they have a tremen-. dous stake in urban peace and some of them realize they can 't' affor d to continue old ways of doing things. But the r eal test will come at the local level. Businessmen . and community leaders are going to have to come forward with vigorous support for r adical changes. That is why various local ur-1 ban coalitions are now being ' formed. In New York, for ex- 1 ample, Mayor Lindsay, who! was at our meeting, has set up, a New York Coalition of local l leadership to attack ghetto problems. Other cities and re-1 gions will do the same. ' The Urban Coalition could he the most exC!tTllg MW development in a long time-hut only if its members are sincere in 'pushing for radical change. The : ·time is long past for mere lip service to the ideals of equality. Responsible leaders and estahlished organizations must be given the resources to deal adequately with ghetto problems. Negro citizens are tired of being promised jobs and not getting them, they have been lied to once too often. · The business and civic leaders now formin g such coalitions in their communities will have to deliver on their promises. This coalition will have to create jobs and strengthen the economic life of the ghetto. It will have to end racial barriers in housing, health and education. These can't be temporary steps to stave off a riot; they must be steps which get at the heart of the problems caused by racism and solve them permanently. We really h;we little choice. This country can take the high road to social progress and iequality by a strong commitment to far-reaching progra ms to create jobs and better living conditions for the urban poor . or it can take the low road to social disaster and violence by letting the backlashers speak for it and allowing ghetto conditions to wor sen. We have to take that high road. �