Race and Place Newspapers
The Reflector
Newspaper InformationLocation: Charlottesville, Virginia Date of Publication: November 18, 1933 (Wednesday) Frequency: weekly
Article Transcripts
Page 1
Column 01 Negro Relief in Charlottesville Transcript of Article
The press informs us that six hundred and sixty-three thousand will be advanced by the United States Public Works Committee
to the city of
Richmond for Negro relief. This money will be used to erect houses and build parks in the Negro slum area in Richmond. The
housing project
has a two fold purpose; namely, it will give Negro workers six months work or more and it will also tend to raise the standard
of living among the
laboring classes of Negroes in Richmond by the gradual elimination of the aforementioned slum area. Like any other movement,
this proposition
has its defects and, already, Negro leaders of that city have pointed out the fact that the project is likely to mean financial
gain for certain white
business men in the city and at the same time, it does not offer proper security for the government. The arguments advanced
are logical but the
advantages of the movement are obvious for, the plan will give six months work to five hundred Negro workers at the same time,
will raise the
standard of living among the lower and hard-working class by the gradual elimination of this slum area.
In several social centers plans are being made to use public works' money to finance large, self-supporting farming towns
like Dr. Kelly Miller
suggested to the N. R. A. officials several weeks ago. All around us pleas are being made for Negro Relief, which is encouraging;
this fact
suggests to us a Negro Relief in Charlottesville.
We are not advocating a "homing project" or an agricultural center but a City Improvement Plan strikes us as an idea. There
are sections of our
city where the residents have been paying taxes either directly or indirectly yet each rainy day they find themselves knee-deep
in mud and cinder
paths. A loan could be secured from the public works fund and streets and sidewalks could be constructed. The cost of the
work could be paid
by the property owners over a certain term of years with a removable interest. Of course the levy would constitute a lien
on property that would
hold against any other lien except prior taxes and levies. In this way, the government would have security on the money loaned.
It would give our
many idle men work to do, besides it would make the various Negro rental sections in Charlottesville modern, sanitary places
in which to live and
in turn produce citizens proud of and helpful to their country.
Summary of Article An article that advocates a "Negro Relief in Charlottesville" to
parallel the one in Richmond, which was funded by the United States Public Works Committee.
Column 02 True Democracy Transcript of Article
Every American school child is familiar with the word democracy. He has heard the soap-box orator or the high-hatted candidate
for city
sewerage service or for some of the more elevated municipal positions fall back on the grand old word when others failed to
flow. Later, this
Sunday school teacher related the blessings enjoyed by fortunate souls living in this earthly paradise where every man is
free and equal. His first
grammar class in public school convinced him that the noun was derived from the Greek word demokratia, "demos" meaning people,
and
"krateo" meaning rule, the combination having the literal meaning of government of the people. Yes, every American school
child is quite familiar
with the noun and its significance to every American citizen.
Last August, three democratic election judges in Hampton, Va., lost sight of the fact that their party, like every other American
political party,
guaranteed government, directly, by the people collectively and so those gentlemen refused to allow Mr. L. E. Wilson to cast
his vote in the State
primaries because this citizen was a Negro. Mr. Wilson, a staunch, old democrat, secretary of the Building and Loan Association,
in Hampton,
Va., and an active civic worker, resented this treatment and sued the judges for ten thousand dollars. A jury, during the
October term of the
county circuit court, decided in favor of the election judges, that "only white citizens could vote in the democratic primaries".
On Armistice Day,
last Saturday, Judge C. Vernon Spratley of the Elizabeth City County Circuit Court over-ruled the jury's decision and held
that no party could, in
a State conducted primary, make lawful discrimination because of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
Judge Spratley's ruling will be lauded by ALL lovers of true democracy, for it is a fact that cannot be disregarded. Virginia
Negroes are citizens
of the State and, as such, enjoy the right to share the duties and responsibilities of American citizens. In a land that so
religiously guarantees
"Government of the people, for the people and by the people" and based on the principle of democracy, differentiation rules
that are applied to
some and denied others cannot be made.
Summary of Article Claims that the ruling by Judge Spratley of the Elizabeth City County Circuit
Court that no party in a state-conducted primary could discriminate on the basis of race, color or previous condition of servitude
"will lauded by ALL lovers of true democracy."
Column 03 Typitown's Role in the Moulding of Youth Transcript of Article
A committee, upon investigation, reported to the Civic League that Typitown's youth did not have the proper social environment.
Another
committee was appointed to visit the various socials and public dances, and then work out a definite recreational program.
The youth was
immediately exonerated from blame, for it was a known fact that although the public dance hall or side streets were not proper
places for young
people, but the adults had to offer something better if the others were undesirable. So, immediately a public meeting of parents,
guardians and
friends was called and it was largely attended.
The chairman of the committee gave the principal address in which he outlined the purpose of the meeting. He made a very inspiring
address on
the vital importance of moral and social training for youth. After this, he explained the possible remedy for the apparent
indifference to their social
life. It was as follows: In the first place a recreational center was necessary, even before this part was complete, one of
the citizens present, who
had no children, but who felt the spell of the Typitown spirit, offered an old building that belonged to him to the group.
Then, various committees
were formed to engineer drives for raising money, for securing chaperones to be present at the center alternately, each day,
from four in the
afternoon until eight in the evening. Good books were procured for the reading room in this recreational center, gymnastic
equipment was bought
for encouraging athletic prowess; the building was divided and on one side the boy activities were carried on and on the other
the girls. On
Friday, there was a general socialization period when both groups met together for socializing either dancing, cards or perhaps
conversation
under strict supervision.
Then various clubs were organized among them namely, "Etiquette Clubs", "Culture and Refinement" groups, "Tennis Clubs", "Debating
Clubs",
"Cooking and Sewing Clubs", "Clubs training for Leadership", "Reading Clubs", "Poetry, Literature and Art Clubs". Those patrons
or friends
who were most capable were made advisors for these organizations. Because the citizens of Typitown realized that Youth is
restless and requires
diversion, they made proper adjustments and now Typitown boasts of a city whose records show a very low percent of delinquency
among its
Youth.
Summary of Article An article that uses allegorical Typitown to propose an ideal
environment in which youth would prosper.
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