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hitney M. Young ·Jr" Sh,igging N egro outfielder Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves, one of the perrenial ter. rors of National League pitchet's, has voiced reserva tions a bout playing in · Atlanta if th'at's wher e his ballclub t urns up next season. Aa ron, w ho stroked 24 home -.runs this year, knocked in ~5 runs and belted a r eSP,eotable .328, is a valued asset t o his employers, who apparently have wearied of (Milwa ukee even il their star out,fielder has not. ow ·he is t orn -b etween his loyalty to the Braves and his obligations to his fam-i1y. \He Is wontlerlng aloud about housing . conditions and other opportunities t here. 1 Wo uld his children a ttend a s egregated · and inferior school? Would t hey be rebuffed, s nubbed or scarl'ed psychologically if the Braves play in · Georgia ? "I just •won't step out on the field" if the club moves there, he told a wire service reporter. "I Jcertainly don't like t he idea· of playing 111 Atlanta and I have no intention of taking my !amily· t here." • • • !His absence from t he Braves lineup might eue the cares of rival National League mana gers 1but it would -be a severe blow to t he· Braves. It would also dash the hopes o! Atlanta's Negro leaders who have worked tirelessly to bring professlo11al baseball and· football clubs to Geongla's first city. _ They've labored in the conviction that integr ated pro teams would dramatically demonstrate what citizens of color can accomplish given equal opportunlties. . It is • their hope that - Aaron's big bat and superstar pop1,1larity' will help knock J im Crow out of town. Atlanta's NAACP Presiden has writ ten Aaron asking hf mind and play._ Atlanta, he said, ls a p t'ojpessive, bulffl city where conditions are ltfll)roving stelldl for Negroes. ' Like other Negr.o leaders, Smith knows tully that Atlanta has its shortcomings. Early t his year, 54 signed a declaration calling for impr ovements that would make · direct aot-1011 protests unn ecessa ry. They heeded Rev. Mal'tin i..tither King's warning that time was "running out" for Atlanta if it 41d not make more rap id strides in race relations; . Since then, virtually all ·public· places were "voluntarily" opened to N eg -either by the presence of · pickets, press u from the Attorney G eneral's office, · pas!ftlte of the Civil Rig hts Act or q uiet, <but e19ctive negotiati~ by the Urban League. ' (Mayor I van Allen, who pleaded eloquently for the Act in Congress, is· regarded as one of . the Sout h's outstanding progressives w ho has helped crea te · a· climate in which change can be made peace~ully. B ut Atlanta has a long way ·to go in bettering · its schools, housing· and job opportunities for Negroes. · · , F or example, one-half of the city's renlal ·un its occu pied by Negroes· are substandard and 80 percent of the adult population over 25 years . of a ge holds no high school diploma. . ' For Aaron, the choice is difficult. To him, doffing his Mt when the "Star Spangled Banner" is piped over the loudspeaker opening day in the city's ne'w $18,000,000 st!l.dium may prove bitter ironr,t It he fears for t he welfare of his family. But such a sacriflc is ee.rifestly desired by Negro leaders who h fu l t hat his 'big bat will help them h an "Open City," one in which opporlllm.tita e translated Into reality "for all. ·· ' . . �