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.. ... I STATEMENT by . IVAN ALLEN, JR. MAYOR OF ATLANTA, GA. BEFORE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE REGARDING s. 1 732 BILL TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AFFE8TING INTERSTATE COMMERCE ., July 2 6, 19 6 3 ' �STATEMENT B Y IVAN ALLEN, JR. MAYOR OF ATLANTA July 26, 1963 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Senate Commerce Committee: I am honore d to appear before your Committee. ~ At the beginning I would like to make it clear that I feel qualified to spe a k on the subject under discussion which is the elimination of racial discrimina tion, on what I have learned from personal e xperie n ce a nd obs e rva tion in my home city of Atlanta, Georgia. As perceptive men of wide experience I feel confident that you will agree with m e that this is as serious a basic problem in the North, East and West as it is in the South. It must b e defined as an all-American problem, which requires an all-Ame rica n _solution based on local thought, local action and local cooperation. The 500, 000 people who live within our city limits consist of 300, 000 white citizens and slightly more than 200, 000 Negro citizens. That make s the popula tion of Atlanta 60 percent white, 40 percent Negro. That 60 - 40 percentage emphasizes how essential it is for the people of Atlanta, on their local level, to solve the problem of racial discrimination in orde r to make Atlanta a better place in which to live. . . Elimination of racial descrimination is no far off philosophical theory to the more than one million people who live in and around Atlanta . The proble m is pa rt and parcel of our daily lives. Its solution mus t b e s tudie d and worked out on our homefront. A s the mayo r of the Southeast' s la r ge st city, I can say to you out of first ha nd exp e ri~nce and first hand knowledge that nowhere doe s the p r oble m of e liminating discrimination between the races st r ike s_o close l y home as it doe s to the local elected public officia l. He is the m a:n who ca nnot pa s s the bu ck . From t his v iewpoint, I s peak o f the p r oblem as having b een b r ought into sharp focus b y de cisions of the Supreme Court of the f �United States and then generally ignored by the Presidents and Congresses of the United States. Like a foundling baby, this awesome problem has been l eft on the doorste ps of local governments throughout the nation. Now to take up specifics. You gentlemen invited me to tell you how Atlanta has achieved a considerable measure of comparative success in dealing with racial discrimination. It is true that Atlanta has achieved success in eliminating discrimination in areas where some other cities have failed, but we do not boast of our success. Instead of_boasting, we say with the humility of those who believe in reality that we have achieved our measure of success only because we loqked facts in the face and accepte d the Supreme Court's decisions as inevitable and as the law of our land. Having embraced realism in general, we then set out to solve specific problems by local cooperation between people o( good will and good sense representing both races. In attacking the specific problems, we accepted the basic truth tha t the solutions which we sought to achieve in every instance granted to our Negro citizens rights which white American citizens and businesses previously had reserved to themselves as special privileges. These special privileges long had been propped up by a multitude of local ordinances and statewide laws which had uphe ld racial segregation in almost every conceivable form. In Atlanta we had plenty of the props of prejudice to contend with when we set out to solve our specific problems of discrimination. In attacking these problems , I want to emphasize that in not one single instance h ave we retaine d or e nhanced the privileges of segrega tion. It has been a long, exhausting and often discouraging process and the end is far from being in sight. _ In the 1950's Atlanta made a significant start with a series of reasonable eliminations of discrimination such as on golf courses a:r:id public transportatio'ii. We began to become somewhat conditioned for more extensive and definitive action, which has be en taking place in the ·1960 1s. During the past two and a h a lf years, Atlant a has taken the following major steps to eliminate racial discrimination: -2.. · ·... �,' 1. In September, 1961, w e began removing discrimination in public schools in response to a court order. 2. In October, 1961, lunch counters in department and variety stores abolished discrimination by voluntary action. 3. On January 1, 1962 Atlanta city facilities were freed from discrimination by voluntary action of municipal officials. 4. In Ma"rch, 1962 downtown and arts theatres, of their own volition, abolished discrimination in seating. 5. On January 1, 1963, the city voluntarily abolished separate employment listings fo1: whites and Ne groes. 6: In March, 1963 the city employed Negro firemen. ago employed Negro policemen. It long 7. In May of 1963 the Atlanta R e al Estate Board (white) and the Empire Real" Estate Board (Negro) issued a Statement of Purposes, calling for ethical handling of real estate transactions in controversial areas. 8. In June, 19 63, the city government opened all municipal swimming pools on a desegregated basis. This was voluntary action to comply w ith a court order. 9. Also in June, 1963, 18 hotels and motels, representing the leading places of public accommodations in the city, voluntarily removed all segregation for conventions. 10 . . Again, in June, 1963 more than 30 of the city's leading restaurants, of their own volition, abolished segregation in their faciliti e s. You can readily see that Atlanta's steps have been taken in some instances in complia·nce with court decisions, and in other instan ce s the ste ps hav.e been voluntary prior to any court action. In each instan ce the act.ion has r e sulte d in white citize ns relinquishing spe cial p r ivile ges which they had enjoyed under the practice s of racial discrimina tion. E a ch action also has resulted in the Ne gro· citize n b e ing give n rights which all others previously had enjoye d and whi c h h e ha s b e en deni e d . As I me ntione d at the b eginning , Atlanta h a s achieve d only - 3- • �a measure of success. I think it would assist you in understanding this if I e xplained how limited so far has b ee n this transition from the old segregated society of generations past, and also how limited so far has been the partic ipation of the Negro citizens. Significant as is the voluntary elimination of discrimination in our leading restaurants, it affects so far oniy a small percentage of ·- - ·- -the hun d reds- of eat1ng pla ces in-our city. And partic".i.pation by Negroes so far has been very slight. For example, one of Atlanta's topmost restaurants served only 16 out of Atlanta's 200,000 Negro citizens during the first week of freedom from discrimination. The plan for eliminating discrimination in hotels as yet takes care only of convention delegates. Although prominent Negroes have bee·n accepted as guests in several Atlanta hotels, the Negro citizens, as a whole, seldom appear at Atlanta hotels. · Underlying all the emotions of the situation, is the matter of economics. It should be r emembe red that the right to use a facility does not mean that it will be used or misused by any group, especially the groups in the lower economic status. The statements I have givep you cover the actual progress made by Atlanta toward total elimination of discrimination. Now I would like to submit my personal reasons why I think Atlanta has r e solved some of these problems while in other cities, solutions have seemed impossible and strife and conflict have resulted. As an illustration, I would like to describe a recent visit of an official delegation from a great Eastern city which has a Negro population of over 600, 000 consisting of in excess of 20% of its whole population. The members of this delegation at first simply did not understand and would hard ly believe that the business, civic and political interests of Atlanta had intently concerned themse lves with the Negro population. I still do not believe that they are convinced that all of our civic bodies b acked b y the public interest and supported by the City Governm ent have daily concerned themse lves with an effort to solve ~ur grave st problem - - which is re lations betwee·n our races. Gentlemen, Atlanta has not swept this -4- •· �question under the : rug a t a ny point. Step by step - sometimes under Court orde r - some times volunta r ily moving ahe ad of pressure s - some time s a d r oitly - and m a ny time s clumsily - we have tried to ·f ind a solution to each spe cific problem through an agreement between the affected white ownership and the Negro leadership. To do this we have not appointed a huge general bi-racial committee whi ch too often merely b e comes a buria l place for unsolved problems. .. By contrast, each time a specific problem has come into focus, we have appointed the people involved to work out the solution . . . Theatre owners to work with the top Negro leaders . . . or hote l own e rs to work with the top leadership . . . or c e rta in resta ura nt owne rs who of the ir own volition dealt with top Ne gro leade rship. 'By d ev e loping the lfue s of communica tion and respectability, we -hav e b e en able to reach amicable solutions. Atla nta is the world's cente r of Negro highe r education. There are six great Ne g ro univers itie s a nd college s located inside our city limits. Beca us e of this, a gre a t numb e r of inte lligent, well- e du cat e d N egro citi zen s h a v e chosen to r emain in our c it y . As a result of their education, they have had the ability to develop a prospe rous N egro business community. In Atlanta it consists of financia l institutions like banks - building and loan associations life insurance compa nies - cha i n dr u g store s - real e state d eal e r s . In fa ct, the y have deve lope d busine s s organi zations, I belie v e , in almo s t eve r y l i n e of acknowle dge d Am e r i can business . There are also many Ne g ro professional men. Then the r e is a nothe r powe rful fa ctor working i n the b e ha lf of good raci a l r e lati ons in ou r city. W e ha ve n e ws m e dia , both white and Negro, whose l eaders strong ly b e liev e and put into p ractice the great t r uth tha t resp on s ibility of the ·p ress (a nd b y this I m ean radio and t e levision as well as the w ritte n pre ss) is inseparable from fre e dom of the p r e s s. The leade r s hi p of our w r itten, s poke n a nd t e levise d n ews i:nedia j oin with t he b u siness and government l eadership, both white and Negro, in w o rking 't o solve our p r ob lems . -·' · We are fo rtuna t e t ha t we hav e one of the w o r ld fam ous e ditorial s pokesrµen f o r reas on a n d m o deration on one of our whit e newspapers, along with other editors and many reporters who stress significance rather than sensation in the reporting and inte rpreta tion of wha t happe ns. in our city. I,. -5- I . ·.. . �And we are fortunate in having a strong Negro daily newspaper, The Atlanta Daily World, and a vigorous Negro weekly, The Atlanta Inquirer. The Atlanta Daily World is owned by a prominent Negro family the Scott family - which owns and operates a number of qther newspapers. The sturdy voices of the Atlanta Daily World and the Atlanta Inquirer, backed by the support of the educational, business and religious community, reach out to our Negro citizens. They speak to them with factual information upon which they can rely. They express opinions and interpretations in which they can have faith. As I see it, our N;gro leadership in Atlanta is responsible and constructive. I am sure that our Negro leadership is as desirous of obtaining additional civic antj economic and personal rights as is any Americari citizen. But by constructive I mean to define Atlanta's · Negro leadership as being realistic - as recognizing that it is more important to obtain the rights they seek than it is to stir up demonstrations. So it is to the constructive means by which these rights can be obtained that our Negro leaders constantly address themselves. They are interested in results instead of rhetoric. They reach for lasting goals instead of grabbing for momentary publicity. They are realists, not rabble rousers. Afong with integration they want integrity. I do not believe that any sincere American citizen desires to see the rights of private business restricted by the Federal Government unless such restriction is absolutely necessary for the welfare of the people of this country. On the other hand, following the line of thought of the decisions · of the Federal Courts in the past 15 years, I am not convinced that current rulings of the Courts would grant to American business the privilege of discrimination by race in the selection of its customer!3. Here again we get .into the area of what is right and what is best for the people of thi~ country. If the privilege of selection based on race and color should be granted then would we be giving to business the right to set up a segregated economy? . . . And if so, how fast would this right be utilized by the Nation's people? • . . And how soon would we again be going through the old turmoil of riots, strife, demonstrations, boycot.t s, picketing? -6- �Are we going to s ay that it is all right for the Negro citizen to go into the b a nk of Main street to de posit his earnings or borrow money, then to go the de partment store to buy what he needs, to go to the supermarket to purchase food for his family, and so on along Main street uritil he come s to a resta ura nt or a hotel -- In all these other business places he is treated just like any other customer -But when he comes to the restaurant or the hotel, are we going to say that it is right and l e ga l for the operators of these businesses, merely as a matter of convenience, to insist that the Negro's citizenship be changed and that, as a second class citizen, he is to be refused service? I submit that it is not right to allow an American's citizenship to be changed m e rely as a matter of convenience. If the Congress should fail to clarify the issue at the present time, then by inference it would be saying that you could begin discrimination under the guise of private business. I do not believe that this is what the Supreme Court has intended with its decisions. I do not believe that this is the intent of Congress or the people of this country.

I a.p:i not a lawyer, Senators. I am not sure I clearly understand all of the testimony involving v a rious amendments to the Constitution and the Comme rce claus e which has be en given to this Committe e. I have a fund a mental r e spe ct for the Constitution of the Unite d Sta t e s. Unde r this Cons titution we have always be en able to do what is best for all of the people of this country. I beg of you not to let this issue of discrimination.drown in legalistic waters. I am firmly conv ince d that the Supreme Court insists that the same fund a m e nta l rig ht s mu st b e he ld by eve ry Am e rican citize n. Atlanta is a case tha t prove s that the problem of discriminatioh can be solved to some extent . . . and I use this "some e xtent" cautiously . . . as we ce rtainly have not solved all of the proble ms; but we have m e t them in a numbe r of a rea s . This can b e done fo cally, volunta rily, a nd b y p riva t e· busine ss its e lf! On the othe r hand, _:the r e are hundre ds of communities. and cities, certainly throughout the nation that have not eve r addresse d the m s elve s to the i s sue . Whe r e as, others have flagra ntly ignore d the de mand, ·a nd t oday, s t a nd in a ll de fia nce to a ny change. I The . Congress of the Unite d Sta t e s is now confront e d with a g rav e de cis ion. Sha ll y ou pass a public accommoda tion bill that - 7- �forces this issue ? . Or, sha ll you cre ate a nother round of disputes over segre gation by refusing to pas s such l e gislation? Surely, the Congre ss realizes that after having failed to take any definite action on this subject in the last ten years, to fail to pass this bill w ould amount to an endors e ment of private business setting up an entirely ne w status of discrimination throughout the nation. Cities like Atlanta might slip backwards. Hotels and restaurants that h av e a lready t a k e n this issue upon thems e lves and opened the ir: doors might find it convenient to go back to the old status. Failure by Congress to take definite action at this time is by infere nce an endorsement of the right of private business to practice racial discrimination and, in m"y opinion, would start the same old round of squabbles and demonstrations that we have had in the past. ., Gentlemen, if I had your problem armed with the local experience ·1 have had; I would pass a public accommodation bill. Such a bill, however, should provide an opportunity for each local governme nt first to m ee t this proble m and attempt to solve it on a local, voluntary ba sis, with each bus ine ss making its own decisi on. I realize that it is quite easy to ask you to give an opportunity to each businessman in each city to make his decision and to accomplish such an objective . . . but it is extremely difficult to legislate such a proble m. , Wha t I am trying to s a y i s tha t the pupil place m e nt pla n, which has been widely used in the South, provided a time table approved by the Federal cour ts which helped in getting ove r troubled water of elimina tion of discrimination in public schools. It se e ms to me that citie s working w it h priva t e busine ss institutions could n ow move into the s a m e area a nd tha t the fe de r a l g ove rnment l egi s l ation should b e base d on th.e idea tha t those bus ine s ses h a v e a reas onable time to accomplish such an act. I think a publi c ac c omm oda tion law now should sta nd on ly as the last r e sor t to a ssure that dis c r i m ination is e limina t e d, but that s u ch a l aw w ould grant a r eas onable t ime fo r cities a nd busin e s ses to c arry out this funct ion b e for e fe de ral i nt ervention . .·'- It might even b e n e cessary tha t the t ime factor b e ma de mo re l e nie nt in favo r of smalle r cit ies. and c omm unities , fo r w e a ll know tha t l arge metropolita n areas h ave the capabilit y of adjus t ing to cp.anges more rapidly t h a n smaller communities. - 8..· ·, �Perhaps this, too, should be given consideration in your legislation. But the point I want' to emphasize again is that now is the time for legislative action. We cannot dodge the issue. We cannot look back over our shoulders or turn the clock back to the 1860's. We must take action now to assure a greater future for our citizens and our country. A hundred years ago the abolishment of slavery won the United States the acclaim of the whole world when it made every American free in theory. Now the elimination of segregation, which is slavery's stepchild, is a challenge to all of us to make every American free in fact as well as in theory - and again to establish our nation as the true champion of the free world. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I want to thank you for the opportunity of telling you about Atlanta's efforts to provide equality of citizenship to all within its borders. _). - 9- �