BLAST DETROIT MAYOR IN COP WHITEWASH: U.S. Troops Patrol City To Enforce Quiet 4th After Riots, p. 1

BLAST DETROIT MAYOR IN COP WHITEWASH: U.S. Troops Patrol City To Enforce Quiet 4th After Riots, p. 1

"DETROIT – (ANP) – With the state and federal troops on hand at Belle Isle park and other places of amusement through the Fourth of July Detroit spent one of its quietest holiday weekends in its history, with no further indications of a repetition of the race riot which shocked the nation on June 21.
Because of widespread rumors to the effect that trouble would break out again on July 4, the recently appointed Interracial Fact-Finding committee asked Gov. Harry D. Kelley to keep a contingent of the troops that have been patroling [sic] the streets since the day of the riot, either in town or in readiness in the event trouble broke out.
In asking for the troops, the committee pointed out that, despite the reports of Police Commissioner John Witherspoon and Mayor Edward J. Jeffries, it would be chancing more killings to depend upon the Detroit police department to quell rioting. The armed troops will be gradually withdrawn from Detroit, Governor Kelley said, but will stand in readiness at a point where they can reach the heart of the city within half an hour.
Ask Probe of Police
Other important developments in racial relations as a result of the riot which cost 25 Negroes and nine white persons their lives, are as follows:
1. The mayor’s fact-finding committee of six Negroes and six whites-Mrs. Beulah
Whitby, Louis E. Martin, editor, Michigan Chronicle; Rev. Charles A. Hill, chairman, Detroit Citizens committee; Rev. George W. Baber, pastor Ebenezer AME church; Walter Hardin, international chairman. UAW-CIO interracial committee; W.H. Mahoney, deputy state labor commissioner (all colored) and William J. Norton, chairman of the committee, John Ballenger, Fred Butzel, Eugene Schaeffer, Mrs. Ardelia Starrett and Dr. Benjamin Bush (whites) outlines the following plan of action: (a) hold conferences with the mayor and police commissioner and examine charges of police brutality during the rioting; (b) review the work of settlement houses and social agencies in the Detroit area and make recommendations for improvement and expansion, and (c) hold conferences with local defense plants with known policies of discrimination or segregation to effect better understanding of the Negroes’ problems by these employers.
2. Councilman George Edwards, R.J. Thomas, president of the UAW-CIO and the NAACP joined with the Citizen’s committee in demanding an investigation of the conduct of the Detroit police force in the recent riot to determine (a) why police brutality was brought into play only in Negro communities; (b) to what extent, if any, did police incite whites to riot by refusing to protect Negroes and (c) how many Negroes were actually killed by police a charge that has been frequently made since the riot;
Seek 200 Policemen
3. A movement has been started to add at least 200 more Negroes to the Detroit police force after Mayor Jeffries said that “if you get me the men I will see to it that they get the jobs” and Police Commissioner Witherspoon admitted that more Negroes are needed on the police force but stated, “I doubt if there are 200 Negroes in Detroit who can pass competitive examinations.”
4. Realizing that Mayor Jeffries has jeopardized all chances of being reelected mayor of Detroit, there is a widespread demand for UAW-CIO president R.J. Thomas to run for mayor. Thomas, however, has not indicated that he would run for office.
5. Rehabilitation of Negroes left homeless as a result of the riot and also business men in the Negro section is nearing completion, with the majority of the 250 stores ready to open and Mayor Jeffries promising police protection against vandals and looters.
6. Several law suits, naming the City of Detroit and policemen as co-defendants, as an outgrowth of police treatment of Negroes during the riot, are expected to be filed this week. Attorneys here said that damage suits amounting to more than $1,000,000 are ready to be filed
The NAACP meanwhile renewed its effort to get federal action taken against rioting.
In a memorandum to the White House, the association tersely outlined the causes and results of these outbreaks and made 13 recommendations for the alleviation of racial strife in the 17 or more fever spots in the United States where rioting is likely to break out at any moment.
The suggestions, which were specific respect to the Detroit situation, were also applicable to the country at large, the NAACP said
Justice Department Meeting
The NAACP told the President that it was gratified by the report that the Department of Justice has summoned all United States attorneys to meet in Philadelphia this week to discuss the obligation and duty of each of them to preserve civil rights of American citizens.
The full answer to Mayor Jeffries’ efforts to absolve completely the Detroit police force in a “white paper,” the NAACP declared, are to be found in the more than 100 action pictures it has on file that were taken by newsmen during the height of the riot. Among these pictures of whites maiming helpless and hopelessly outnumbered Negroes is the now famous shot of a Negro on Woodward avenue surrounded by a crowd of civilians and mounted police and supposedly in the custody of two policemen who grip his arms while a white assailant strikes him full in the face. Another is a picture of a cowering fear-stricken Negro on whom several white police are closing in…
The NAACP again asked why Jeffries and police commissioner Witherspoon could not make arrests out of the nearly 1000 white rioters whose faces are clearly identifiable in these pictures and who could be easily apprehended by even a mediocre detective."

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The Chicago Defender

1943-7-10