'America--All Races and Religions'

by Rita Wheeler

Universe Campus Editor

". . . All races and religions--that's America to me" and "Ink is black and paper is white; so we learn to read and write. . . A child is black, a child is white; together we learn to read and write. . ."

Provo citizens and Brigham Young University students who attended a downtown forum heard the beloved and lilting melodies of "civil rights" songs as part of a discussion by Albert B. Fritz, Salt Lake City president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

IN PRESENTING the standpoint of the colored people in the civil rights issue, Fritz called the filibustering in the House of Representatives un-American and un-Christian.

Fritz commented that while the President is traveling to foreign countries to proclaim the American way of life, the representatives are "making their beds" in the nation's capital and filibustering. He pointed out that one representative spoke 24 hours "merely to prevent a group of people from voting."

FRITZ TOLD the forum goers that three or four years ago in Provo the civil rights situation was "deplorable." He told of a Nigerian student at BYU who had to live in the attic of a Protestant church because the people of Provo would not rent their apartments to a colored student. Things have improved, he said.

It was brought out in the meeting, however, that Negro entertainers were not signed for last year's junior prom because no motel or hotel would permit them to stay overnight.

AFTER SAYING that the Negro was not seeking a social level but merely an equal opportunity on merit and qualification, Fritz told of incidents in the South, including the recent situation in which a Negro girl was hit over the head with a baseball bat when she wanted to be served.

"It isn't democracy!" Fritz exclaimed. "We're not starting reprisals. . . but we'll defend ourselves," he added.