Greensboro Chamber
Fights Racial Bias
By PAUL CLANCY
GREENSBORO - Ask a
I poor black person in this city
where he goes when he ras a
nlem and chances are he'll
name the Chamber of Commerce.
Chambers of cimmerce are
| generally viewed as fortresses
of the status quo, the white
seekers of commerce, the
backbone of conservatism.
But consider this evaluation
of the Greensboro chamber by
Charles E. Smith, Deputy Chief
of the Defense Department's
Contract Compliance Division,
a black man who spent eight
weeks probing the city.
"It is a militant champion of
what the chamber calls free
enterprise in the marketplace
of ideas."
The chamber has. actively
sought Negro membership, won
concessions for b&tVs students
in a high school tlispuU seen
that Negroes wire appointed to
official bodies and acquainted
policemen with the nature of
prejudice, among other things.
The reasons behind the
chamber's posture were laid
out in a recent speech by its
executive vice president, William Little.
"There is no question that "The chamber must insist
| the most effective organization that good human relations is
the civil rights field in absolutely, unquestionably, its
' South's Blacks' 1st
Battle Was Here
GREENSBORO - Ten years
week, four young
Negro students from A&T
University mustered their courage and marched into Wool-
. worth's Department Store and
I sat down at the lunch counter.
It was the beginning of the
civil rights movement in the
South and the beginning of the
end for segregated public
accomodations here.
Being the site of the first sit-
ins has, ..in fact, become a
source of community pride and
this week a movement was
begun to aid one of the original
demonstrators.
David Richmond, now 28,
never finished college and has
been struggling to support a
i family as a mill worker.
So a group of businessmen
announced Friday the formation of the David Richmond
Fund. Its purpose is to gather
donations to send Richmond
back to college where he needs
just 12 credits to graduate.
Richmond still believes
| Greensboro has a long way to
go but is optimistic. He is even
a member of the Greensboro
F£«3- 7- i^lo
Chamber of Commerce.
"I like to think positive," he
"I get in heated arguments
with some of my soul brothers.
They're only looking one way,"
Richmond said.
During the sit-ins, he said,
"We made sure we were inside
the law." And that's the way
he thinks the movement should
continue.
"The movement today
moving toward violence. But
that's what I call the impos-, ;
sible revolution. Nothing can be*'
accomplished that way. Th<
violent will never prevail, not|
in America."
"Greensboro is aware
what happened here last May
(when an A & T University
student was killed)," he said.
"It is just beginning
appreciate the magnitude of the
sit-ins. No incident of violence
occured and changes
made.
"The effort is being made to
stop problems before they
start. Dedicated members of
the establishment are using
their influence to bring things
about."
business and that the time has
come to recognize that racial
prejudice and racial discrimination are the community's
most expensive, most destructive cMjnterforce to anything thatLUeN Chamber of
Commerce Tfetarojs for and
should stand W \.
"What is good for the community is good for business."
Many chambers believe that
taking care of business needs
creates a healthier economy
and more jobs and ultimately
solves social problems.
But the Greensboro Chamber
believes the social problems
can't wait, and that even with
an abundance of industry, there
are planty of people out of
work, living in substandard
homes and running up against
discrimination.
"We think chambers are
going to go out of business
unless they really get down to
talking about what the community is about," says former
chamber president Allen Wan-
namaker.
In publications, speeches and
c o n t r oversial neighborhood
"discussion cells," chamber officials talk about minimizing
"the effects of cultural racism," and establishing a "unified community, an open community, an equal opportunity
My."
At one recent "discussion
cell," businessmen, a city
councilman, policemen, teachers, community action workers
and an assortment of self-
proclaimed revolutionaries discussed black history and the
chamber-library project to
compile a list of black history
books.
Not all the chamber's members approve of the chamber's
open community push. About 50
members have dropped out
during the past three years.
And last year when the
chamber intervened on behalf
of students during the Dudley
High School dispute it was
roundly criticized.
But, said Wannamaker, a
broadcasting executive, "we
listened to the objections and
went right ahead and did what
we had to do."
During the last three years,
400 members also came in,
"primarily becausse of the po-
sitions we were taking," he
said.
And during the same time, •
the chamber's budget was
doubled to nearly $400,000.
(Charlotte's estimated popu- ■
lation of 261,400 is nearly twice .
the size of Greensboro's 142,000.
The Charlotte chamber budget -
is expected to be around
$327,000.)
A recent survey indicates
more than three-fourths of the
members support the chamber's role, and more than four-
fifths believe the chamber
should be community-oriented
rather than business-oriented.
Greensboro hasn't been immune to the racial tensions
plaguing other cities — it was
the site of the first lunch
counter sit-ins and, last year, a
black student at N.C. A&T
University was killed during a
riot stemming from the Dudley
High dispute.
But the chamber is building
bridges by talking about community needs rather than busi-
nes needs.
Before talking aloud, it made
sure it could deliver.
"You can't communicate until you build a basis of trust,"
said Hall Sieber, chamber public relations director.
"Make sure you can do
something before you start
talking," he said in his office,
which is dominated by a painting of a youthful black Christ
on the cross done by an A&T
student.
Sieber, a white who says he
is "somewhat committed" is
considered one of the most
powerful forces behind the
chamber's activist role.
Another is former Mississip-
pian William Little, executive
vice president for the past 14 ,
years.
You've got to be damn
straight in what you say and
you've got to produce on what
yon say," Little said. "If you
fail once in being honest and
being consistent, you might as -
well forget any chance of
bringing about a unified community."
He is not complacent.
"We don't have a lot to brag
-about," he said, referring to
" 3,700 homes surveys indicate are needed.
'Our principal job is seeing
that Greensboro has the leadership 16 years from now to
confront these problems."
'People say they are sick
and tired of hearing about race
relations," Little says. "Well,
sick and tired of hearing
about it, too, and we need to
start acting."
