Urban Renewal: Not The Answer

              Urban Renewal: Not The Answer
By JUDY LEONARD
Urban renewal, as it is
presently administered, is not
the answer to ghetto revolt.
This was the consensus of
Thursday's Black Power panel,
which met in the Alexander
Room of Elliott Hall foefore an
audience of approximately two
hundred. It was the fourth event
in the Black Power Forum
series sponsored by the campus
NSA organization.
The panel included Lucien
Stone, head of the Black Power
Commission of the National Student Association; James Turner,
Ph.D. candidate in Social
Science and African Studies,
Howard Fuller, head of Community Organization of the
North Carolina Fund, and lecturer at UNC's school of
sociology; and Mrs. An n
Atwater, staff member of the
United Organization for Community Improvement,
Durham.
James Turner cSflled urban
renewal "irrelevant to us unless
we  can  sit   in   on   the   secret
meetings."
He had two solutions to the
ghetto problem, both involving
economics: (1) Negroes should
take care of their own, keep
their money in the ghetto, and
"demand a just part of the tax
we pay;" (2) Negroes should
realize that "I am what I am,"
and rid themselves of inferiority
feelings. Turner cited the new
"(black national anthem,''
Aretha Franklin's recording,
"Respect."
He added that Negroes were
tired of "white hang-ups," such
as fear of inter-marriage, or
charges that Negroes are poor
because they are lazy. "We
maintain our God-given right.
We want tit-for-tat, foafoy, tit-for-
tat."
Howard Fuller spoke briefly
on the political implications of
unity through Black Power. He
told of precinct take-over
methods used in Durham. He
charged that urban renewal is a
tool used by the white political
machinery to contain the Negro
vote in a few precincts rather
than having it spread across the
city.
"While you're snoring, he's
(white man) thinking," Fuller
warned.
Mrs. Atwater charged that the
white administrators of urban
redevelopment have taken advantage of the Negro residents'
trust. The prob.em could be
overcome by the residents being
made aware of their rights
under the redevelopment code.
She criticized the new developments in Durham, including
Damar courts, formerly property of Duke University, which
she charged "Duke gave to
pacify the Negroes when things
got hot in Durham."
Her answer to the problems
was "Let's get together and
raise some hdM."
This remark was greeted with
shouts of approval and applause
from the audience.
(Continued on Page 4)