Where the Guilt Lies

That doughty old warrior of Negro labor rights, President Asa Philip Randolph of the Sleeping Car Porters, took the rostrum at the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in St. Paul last week to blast liberals and labor alike for the color bar that keeps Negroes out of countless union locals. Chief offenders: locals in the building trades and, south of the Mason-Dixon Line, steel, textiles and Walter Reuther's United Auto Workers. "The entire labor movement bears guilt for the existence of racial disadvantage to workers of color," said Randolph. "The large majority of the leaders of the great, powerful labor unions are not likely to voluntarily move vigorously to [abolish discrimination] unless there is some political leverage of pressure brought upon them from time to time. It is unfortunate that so many of our liberal friends, along with some of the leaders of labor, even yet do not comprehend the nature, scope, depth and challenge of this civil rights revolution which is surging forward in the house of labor and all areas of American life." To begin, Randolph will bear down with the "leverage of pressure" on both political parties. At the national conventions, he promises, Negro unionists and churchmen will lead "massive protest demonstrations . . . against both parties' failure to enact meaningful civil rights legislation." While Randolph was disowning all the candidates, N.A.A.C.P. Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins made a bow to Richard Nixon. The Vice President, said Wilkins, has a "good record on civil rights." As for the Democratic presidential contenders:

KENNEDY has a good voting record, but he made "one or two slips" on civil rights legislation.

SYMINGTON "has always been what we call 'straight' on our [Negro] questions."

STEVENSON. "Disenchantment with Mr. Stevenson among thoughtful Negro voters stems from his apparent moderation on school desegregation."

JOHNSON. "Fewer colored people would vote for Johnson than for any other candidate. He has a heavy cross to bear."

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