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I STATEMENT by IVAN ALLEN, JR. MAYOR OF ATLANTA, GA. BEFORE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE REGARDING s. 1732 BILL TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AFFE8TING INTERSTATE COMMERCE July 2 6, 19 63 , I . ' �STATE M E N T BY IVAN ALLEN, JR. MAYOR O F AT L A NTA July 2 6, 19 63 Mr. Cha irman and Memb e rs of the Senate Commerce Committee: I am honore d to appe ar b e fore your Committee . . At the b eginning I w ould like to make it clear that I feel qualified to speak on the subj ect under discussion which is the elimination of racial discrim i n a tion, on what I have learned from personal e x perie nc e and ob s ervation in my home city of Atlanta, Georgia. As perceptive m e n of wide exp e rience I feel confident that you will agre e w ith me tha t thi s is as serious a basic problem in the North, East and. W est a s it is in the South. · It must b e d e fined as an all-American problem, which requires an all-Am e r i car_:i solution based on local thought, local action and local coopera tion. The 500, 000 p e ople who live within our city limits consist of 300, 000 w hit e citi ze ns and slightly more than 200,000 Negro citizens. That make s t he popula tion of Atla nta 60 percent white, 40 percent · Negro. That 60 - 40 percentage emphasizes how essential it is for the people o f Atla nta , on their loc a l level, to solve the problem of racial discriminat ion in order to make Atlanta a better place in which to live. Elimina t i on of racia l descrimination is no far off philosophical theory to the more tha n one million people who live in and around Atlanta. The p rob l em is pa rt and parcel of our daily lives. Its solution mu s t b e s tudie d and w o r k e d out on our homefront. As t he mayor of the Southeast's largest city, I can say to you out of fir s t h a nd exp e ri.~ n ce and first ha nd know ledge that now here does t he problem of e liminating discrimination betw een the races st r i ke s o clo s e l y h ome a s it do e s to the local elected public o fficial. He i s t he man w h o cannot pa ss t he buck. From t hi s viewpo int , I speak of t he problem a s h a v ing b een brought into s ha rp fo c us b y d ecision s o f the Sup re m e C ou rt of the \ I I II I . .· ·, . �• United States and then generally ignored by the Presidents and Congresses of the United States. Like a foundling baby, this awesome problem has been left on the doorsteps 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 looked facts in the face and accepted 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 proqlems by local cooperation between people of good will and good sense representing both races. In attacki~g the specific problems, we accepted the basic truth that 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 upheld racial segregation in almost every conceivable form. I 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 have we retained or enhanced the privileges of segregation. It has been a long, exhausting and often discouraging process and the end is far from being in sight . In the 1950's AtlaI?-ta made a significant start with a series of reasonable eliminations of discrimination such as on golf courses and public transportation. We began to become somewhat conditioned for more extensive and definitive action, which has been taking place in the 19 60 's. · During the past two and a half years, Atlanta has taken the following major steps to eliminate racial discrimination: - 2- �In September, 19 61, we b e gan removing discrimination in public schools in response to a court order. 1. 2. In October, 1961, lunch counters in department and variety stores abolished discrimination by voluntary action. 3. On January 1, 19 62 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 foI' whites and Negroes. 6. In March, 1 9 63 the city employed Negro firemen. ago empJ.oyed Negl'.'.o" policeme n. It long 7. In May of 1963 the Atlanta Real 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 with 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 mor~ than 30 of the city's leading restaurants, of their own volition, abolished segregation in their facilities. You can readily see that Atlanta's steps have been taken in some instances in compliance w ith court decisions, and in other instances the steps hav.e been voluntary prior to any court action. In each instance the act.ion has resulted in white citizens relinquishing spe cial privileges which they had enjoyed under the practice s of racial discrimination. Each action also has resulted in the Negro citizen b e ing given ·rights which all others previously had enjoye d and which h e has b ee n denie d . As I mentione d at the beginning, Atlanta has achieved only - 3- ·. .. �t a measure of su c ce s s . I think it would assist you in understanding this if I e xplaine d h ow limite d so fa r has be en this transition from the old segregat e d so cie t y of generations past, and also how limited so far has b e en the pa r ti cipation of the Ne g ro citizens. Significant as is the volunt a ry elimina tion of discrimination in our leading resta ura nts, it affects so far only a small percentage of the hundreds of e at ing place s in our city. And partic"ipa tion b y Ne g r oes so far has be e n very slight. For example, one of Atla nta 's topmo st re staurants s e rved only 16 out of Atlanta's 200,000 Neg ro citize ns during the first week of freedom from discrimina tion. The plan for e liminating discrimination in hotels as yet takes care only of conve ntion dele ga t e s. Although prominent Negroes have been acc e pte d '.3-S guests in s ev e ral Atlanta hotels, the Negro citizens, as a whole , seldom app e ar at Atlanta hotels. Underlying all the emotions of the situation, is the matter of economics. It should be r e m e mb e red that the right to use a facility does not mean tha t it will be used or misused by any group, especially the groups in the lower economic status. The stateme nts I have giv ep you cover the actual progress ·made by Atlanta toward total elimination of discrimination. " Now I would like to submit m y personal reasons why I think Atlanta h a s r es olve d some of t he s e p r oble ms while in othe r citie s, solutions have s eeme d imposs ible a nd strife and conflict hav e result e d. As an illustration, I would like to describe a recent visit of an official delegation from a great Easte rn city which has a Negro population of ov er 600, 000 cons isting of in e x cess of 20% of its whole population . The m emb ers of this de l egat io n at first simply did not understand and would hard ly b e lieve tha t the bus ine ss, civic and political intere sts of Atlant a h a d int e ntly conce rne d the ms e lve s with the Negro p opula t ion . I still do not b e lieve tha t they a r e conv in c e d tha t a ll of ou r civic b odie s b a cked b y the public intere st a n d supported b y t he City Gove rnm e nt hav e da ily concerned thems e lve s with an e ffort t o solve our grave st prob l em - - whi c h i s re lations . bet we en our rac e s. Ge ntlemen, Atlant a ha s not swept this - 4.. · ... �question under the rug at any point. Step by step - sometimes under Court order - sometimes voluntarily moving ahead of pressures - sometimes adroitly - and many time s clumsily - we have tried to find 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 which too often merely becomes a burial place for unsolved problems. .. By contrast, each time a specific problem has come into focus, we have appointed the people involves} to work out the solution . . . Theatre owners to work with the top Negro leaders . . . or hotel owners to work with the top leadership . . . or certa in restaura nt owners who of their own volition dealt with top Negro l e ade rship. 'By developing the lines of communication and respectability, we -have been able to reach amicable solutions. Atlanta is the world's · cente r of Negro higher education. There are six great Negro unive rsitie s a nd colleges located inside our city limits. B e cause of this, a great numbe r of intellige nt, well-educate d Ne gro citizens have chos e n to remain in our city. As a result of their education, they have had the ability to develop a prospe rous Ne gro business community. In Atlanta it consists of financial institutions like banks - building and loan associations life insura n ce compa nies - chain drug stores - real e state de alers. In fact, the y ha ve d ev e lope d bus in e s s o r ganiza tions, I belie v e , in almost every line of acknowle dge d Ame rica n busine s s . The r e are also many Negro professional men. Then there is anothe r powerful factor working in the b e half of good racial relations in our city. We ha ve news media, both white and Negro, whose lea de rs strong ly b e lieve and put into practice the gre at truth that responsibility of the pre ss (and by thi s I mean radio and television as well as the written pre ss) is inseparable from freedom of the press. The leaders hip of our writte n, spoken and t e levise d n e w s m e dia join with the bus iness a nd g overn ment le a dersh i p, both white and Negr o, in w o rking 't q solve our p r oblems . .• . We are f ortuna t e that we ha v e one of the w orld famous edito r ia l spokes m en fo r reas on a nd m odera.tion on one of our white n ewspapers, a lon g with other edito rs and m a ny r e porters who s t ress s ignificance rat h e r t ha n s e n s a t ion in the r e porting and interpre t a tion of wha t happens in our city. , I -5 - �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 other 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 Negro leadership in Atlanta is responsible and constructive. I am sure that our Negro leadership is as desirous of obtaining additional civic and economic and personal rights as is any American 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 th_e 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 harid, following the line of thought of the decisions of the Federal <;;ourts 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 customers. Here again we get into the area of what is right and what is best for the people of this_ 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, boycotts, picketing? - 6- • �Are we going to s a y tha t it i s all right for the Negro citizen to go into the bank of Main stre et to deposit his earnings or borrow money, then to go the department store to buy what he needs, to go to the supermarket to purcha se food for his family, and so on along Main street until he comes to a restaurant 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 legal for the operators of these businesses, merely as a matter of convenience, to insist that the Negro's citizenship be change d 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 merely 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 discriminat,i on under the guise of private busine.ss. 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 ap:i not a lawyer, Senators. I am not sure I clearly understand all of the testimony involving various amendments to the Constitution and the Commerce clause which has been given to this Committee. I have a fundamental respect for the Constitution of · the United States. Under this Constitution we have always been able to do what is b e st 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.i nced that the Supreme Court insists that the same fundam e ntal rights must be held by every American citizen. Atlanta is a case that prove s that the problem of discrimination can be solved to some extent . . . and I use this "some extent" cautiously . . . as we certainly have not solved all of the problems; but we have met the m in a number of areas. This can be done locally, voluntarily, and by private business itself! On the othe r ha nd, the re are hundre ds of communities and cities, certainly throughout the n ation that have not ever addressed themselves to the issue. Whereas, others have flagrantly ignored the demand, and toda y, sta nd in all de fiance to any change. I The , Cong r e ss of the Unite d States is now confronted with a grave decision . Sha ll you pa ss a public ac c ommodation bill that ,I j - 7. .· . �forces this issue? Or, shall you create another round of disputes over segregation by refusing to pass such legislation? Surely, the Congress realizes that after having failed to take any definit,e action on this subject in the last ten years, to fail to pass this bill would amount to an endorsement of private business setting up an entirely new status of discrimination throughout the nation . . Cities like Atlanta might slip backwards. Hotels and restaurants tha t have already taken this issue upon themselves and opened their: doors might find it convenient to go back to the old status. Failure by Congress to take definite action at this time is by inference an endorsement of the right of private business to practice racial discrimination and, in my opinion, w ould 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 I have had, I would ·pass a public accommodation bill. Such a bill, howev~r, should provide an opportunity for each local government first to meet this problem and attempt to solve it on a local, voluntary b asis , with each busine ss making its own decision. 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 problem. What I am t rying to say is t hat the pupil placem ent pla n, which has been widely used in the South; provided a time table approved by the F ederal courts which helped in getting over troubled water of elimina tion of discrimination in public schools. It s eems to me that citie s working with private business institutions could n ow move into the same area and that the federa l government l egi s lation should b e b ase d on the idea tha t those bus inesses h a v e a reasonable time to accomplish such an act. I think a public accommodafion law now should stand only as the l ast resort to assure tha t discrimina tion is e liminated, but that such a law would grant a r eas onable time for citie s and busin esses to carry out this function_ b e for e federal intervention. It might even b e n e cess a ry that the time factor b e made more lenient in favor of smalle r c ities a nd communities, for w e all know tha t large m e tropolitan areas h ave the capability of adj usting to changes more rapidly tha 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 1s. 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- • �