• .12lli a.-== Return 7 to 12th street A follow-up survey of attitudes of Detroit Negroes October, 1968 Return to 12th Street shows a good beginning THE OVERRIDING impression emerging from the Free Press survey of opinion in Detroit's riot neighborhoods is that the city has begun to get something to build on. The rising optimism of Negroes about their own condition-coupled with their sense that they have power to alter it-affords an opportunity for further efforts to reconcile them to the American economic and political system. At the same time, of course, the new hopefulness could be a source of great danger. What happens if the police do not continue to improve? If too little is done to help create new housing for low and middle-income people? If the commitment of industry and business to fair hiring p rae tic e s should weaken? If the schools do not improve? Obviously. the danger of an explosion is heightened. But we need not let ourselves be paralyzed by such fears. If we could do no more than tremble' at what might be. then our only mistake would have been to try to alter at all the conditions under which N egroes live. Repression would work better than an aborted attempt to begin playing fair with Negroes. What Detroit needs. then. is to seize its opportunity rather than be overcome by the hazards. One of the most interesting results of the survey is the evidence it is providing that Negroes are accepting in good faith the efforts of business and industry to hire more Negroes and to treat them more fairly. The community's bus i n e s s leaders should be elated at this vote of confidence and try earnestly to reinforce it. It has been our conviction for some time that the dark forebodings of some of our sociologists about race relations, as reflected in the Kerner commission report, need not be true. If trust can be rebuilt. then whites and blacks will discover they have more common interests than sources of division. The Free Press survey, for in- stance) showed a strong undercurrent of concern that police were not available readily enough. This reflects the same concern for an honest kind of "law and order" that many whites feel. Conflict is not inevitable. Blacks and whites, we are convinced, w a u I d like to overcome their prejudices and be able to trust one another. Fear and ineptitude get in our way. This community can do better than most American big cities have done in recent years. And having made a good beginning, we in Detroit ought to make sure that the work goes on apace. that we build better schools, that we improve the police performance) that we open up more and better jobs, that we see that better housing gets built at a reasonable price. Blacks are more determined than ever to change things - and are confident that they can. It is up to society to try to help them get the job done peaceably. An editorial from the Detroit Free Press, October 29,1968 2 Where surv~was conducted Both surveys-1967's and 1968's-were conducted in these two areas of Detroit, one on the East Side, and one on the West Side branching out from the 12th Street. How the survey was made The Detroit Free Press has completed a survey of Detroit Negro attitudes to examine the trends in the year since its pioneering study made after the riot of July, 1967. The new Free Press survey of the riot areas of east and west Detroit is based on a probability sample of 452 Negroes who were chosen so that everr Negro 15 rears old and older hM an al.proximately equal chance of bein~ interviewed. It used the same sampling procedure designed by John P. Robinson of the University of l\Iichigan for the post-riot survey in 1967. A staff of 22 Negro interviewers, most of them with previous interviewing experience, collected the data between Aug. 31 and Sel.t. 25, 1968, under the supervision of John l\Iagney. Information was transferred to computer cards by the Free Press data processing department. Development of this project drew from previous work in in· "estigating Negro attitudes by Angus Campbell, Howard Schuman, and Nathan Caplan of the University of l\Iichigan; Gar y l\Iarx and Thomas Pettigrew of Harvard; T. i\l. Tomlinson, Office of Economic Ol.portunity; and the Free Press city staff. The computerized data will be made available to scholars for further study through the Louis Harris Political Data Center of the University of North Carolina, which has been designated the repository for this and other Knight Newspaper studies. Philip Meyer, who directed this study and wrote the stories on these pages, is a member of the Washington Bureau of the Free Press. He joined the Knight News· papers in 1958 after doing graduate work and teaching American government at the University of North Carolina. He has completed a year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where he studied quantitative research methods in the social sciences. 3 New era dawns among the blacks Riot-area slogan-let's get moving The people around Twelfth black Detroiters who think they have moved ahead since the :riot outnumber by sewen to one those who ,think their lot ds getting 'VIOIIse. St. are waking up. Detroit's Inner City, where scard are fading 15 months after the nation's worst Negro rlat, ds tuning in to the outside world. Its residents express new readiness to join the city's social and economic mainstream. This hopeful finding was uncovered by a new Free Press survey of the riot neighborhoods of east and west Detroit. B I a ck interviewers talked to a carefully chosen probability sample of 452 persons to learn how things are going in the ghetto now. They're going better. Among the signs: • Detroit Neg roe s express more awareness of their own problems than they did in 1967. They are quicker to gripe about jobs, education and housing than they were immediately after the riot. Despite the complaints, • To work within the existing system is the goal of all but the most extreme minority among black militants. Black power does not mean attack· ing whites or building a separate black nation to most Detroit Negroes. Ins tea d, it means self-improvement and organization to get for black people their fair share of political and economic power. "People are getting to be more demanding now,'t reo ported a young Ford assembly .... 'orker living on the East Side, when he was asked to tell how things had changed since the riot. "It used to be everybody was satisfied with the wa;y things were going, .as long as they were left alone." "That's a lot of -the reason e we're' in the position we're now in," said a welder interviewed in his home on the other side of town. "Because we never took no action." These responses and others like them suggest that Detroit's response to the riot is having a positive payoff. Negroes are shedding their passive acceptance of discrimination and lack of opportuni· ty. And they are not looking for relief to be handed to them. They expect to work, organize and apply pressure for a better deal, a'S other American minority groups have in the past. Before the riot, Detroit enjoyed a reputation as a progressive city in matters involving race relations. It has maintained that reputation even after the riot. Where other cities stood still or can· centrated on punishing black communities for disorders, De- trait leaders were busy looking for ways to eliminate the causes of black discontent. The effort, particularly that of the private sector, has been noted. HBefore the riots," said a middle.aged auto worker, HI didn't see as many Negroes in different trades as I see now. Like in banks and these big stores. And I notice on TV, they've got more colored advertising now. "It looks to me like it's getting better. There are more jobs and more opportunities." Detroit still has its race problems, and they will not be eradicated soon. But the survey results indicate that the city has been moving in the right direction in the year after the riot. A full report of these results begins with an examination of the grievances, then and now. What the big chan~ since 1967means The survey's significance All things considered, Detroit inner-city Negroes have a very high level of grievances. In most cases where comparisons can be made with the immediate post-riot study of August, 1967, the grievances now are even higher than they were then. And more people are speaking up now than before. The "don't know" responses were significantly lower in this year's survey. There are several possible explanations for this change: More experienced ·interviewers were used in the second survey, and their skill in eliciting answers may have reduced the undecided category somewhat. Or those interviewed in 1967 might have been inhibited by fear from speaking frankly so soon after the riot. Whatever residents the the cause, the readiness of inner city to gripe can be constrned as bealtby. Tbat squeaking wheels gets the grease is a tradition as American as the Fourtb of July. Further evidence that the new, freely-complaining attitudes are a sign of forward motion came in another part of the survey. Borrowing a technique worked out by Hadley Cantril and Lloyd A. Free of the Institute for International Social Research, the Free Press interviewers asked a question that has successfully been used to measure progress in a wide array of cultures and nations. 4 EACH INTERVIEWER handed each respondent a card with a picture of a ladder, its steps numbered from 1 to 10. "Here is a picture of a ladder," the interviewers said. "Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom represents the worst possible life for you. Where on the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time?" . Those interviewed were subsequently asked to tell where they stood last summer, just before the riot, where they stood five years ago, and where they expect to be five years from now. When averaged, the scores show upward movement, both since last summer and over the long run: Five years ago: Last summer: ..........................•......... Now: Next five years: 1 4.2 4.9 5.7 7.7 The events since the summer of 1967, then, have given Detroit Negroes tbe feeling that tbey are on tbe way to better things. There is still tbe question of bow they are going to get there. The Free Press survey uncovered surprising agreement on that. Negroes have decided they want a bigger piece of the economic and political action. ~y.ond the anger, a sense of Progress Profile of Detroit Negroes in '68: What the Free Press Survey shows Detroit Negroes are franker, more outspoken, and quicker to complain than they were a year ago. Yet, when asked how things are going for them in general, they tend to repLlrt that things have improved since the riot. A paradox? Not really. The new mood is O1:'.e()f bla~k unity, pride, and a sense of rl(-:wly discovered effectiveness. Blacks complain because they expect complaints to lead to action, and this is the Slt,;n of .'3.. people on the move. Since the riot, said a black militant who lives near Twelfth Street, "the w hit e man will stand up and take notice of you when before he has not." A Free Press survey flound that with one cx·eertion, Detroit Negroes J'lav·e the S'table give the percent who say each problem happens to them "often" when they shop at stores in or near their neighbor~ hoods. .orthlrn "orth.rn Onrolt Wilift Unfairly Overcharged for Goods Sold Spoiled or Inferior Good. Treated Disrespectfully lie.... "'lIfO 9 24 55 1 13 15 2 3 7 <. IN THE 15-CITY study, 38 percent of the Negroes interviewed said police lack respzct and use insulting language. In Detroit, 57 percent said so. Twenty-six percent in the 15 cities said this had happened to SOmeone they knew, compared to 41 percent in Detroit_ Thirty-five IlerCent of the Ne!~roes in the 15-city stndy said police rough up people unnecessarily when making arrests and 24: percent said it had happened to someone they knew. In Detroit, 53 percent accused TJolice of using unnecessary force in arrests, and 38 percent said it has happened to someone they knew. There was a difference on the law enforcement side of this picture as well. In the 15 cities, nearly half the Negroes were "generally satisfied" with police protection, compared to Detroit's one-third who were satisfied. In Detroit, there were a few cynical dissenters to the view that police don't come quickly enough when called to Negro neighborhoods_ "Yeah, they're quick to respond," said a rioter arrested on the east side. "We have a red light district up in the next block. The police are constantly around." Although hiring rna!';;: black policemen is general1y considered one solution to the prOblem of police community relations in the inner city, there was not unanimous agreement in the survey. Forty-nine percent a~reelt that "things would be better in this part of ton'" if more of the policemen were black." But 32 percent disagreed. The race of the polkeman does not by itself give ghetto residents any more sense of control over the policing of their neighborhoods. In fact, some believe that black The Black Man's Urban Services A study of 15 northern cities for the Kerner Commission showed that Negroes are less satisfied than whites with the quality of their city services. The Free Press study found that inner-city Detroit Negroes are mar e dissatisfied than Negroes in the 15 cities taken as a whole. The comparisons in the following table give the percent "very dissatisfied" for each group. "Very Dissatisfied" NOI1l1ern Nortllern W~III tilegro Quality of Public Schools 9 Parks and Play~ grounds for Children in This Neighborhood 18 Sports and Recreation Centers for Teen-agers in This Neighborhood 21 Police Protection in This Neighborhood 10 Garbage Collection in This Neighborhood 8 DetroIt 1Ie",1 14 16 27 36 30 40 26 34 15 24 ~Many businesses have reopened - wi.th black rather than white ownership' pOlicemen are harder to get along with than whites. The black policeman is "being used ,as a flunky, go:ng against his own people," said a young father who claimed to have been beaten by police during the riot. * * .J;. "A BLACK policeman. before he would hit a white man, he would thJr,l .. twice. But he don't think twice before hitting a black man. He'd knock him down and stomp on him." Another complaint still high on the list for inner city residents is bad housing. One housewife who rattled off a long list of complaints against her landlord was asked if the riot had changed the landlord's attitude any. "He went up on the rent," she said. "He said it was because of the insurance or something in this area." About the only hopeful note in the housing picture is a strong indication that De· troit Neg-roes are not following black llationalist entreaties to reject integration as a strategy. Asked whether it was more important to improve housing in areas where Negroes already live or to open up new, integrated housing in other parts of the city and the suburbs, they were about evenly divided. And a lar~e majorlty-even larger than a :rear ago-said they would prefer to Jive in Inte~rated housing. Seventy-five percent now hold this view, compared to 61 percent just after the riot. A minority of the Negro families covered in the survey, 46 percent, own their own homes. Most would like to move. Asked, "is this the kind of a neighborhood you would like to continue living in?" 54 percent said "no" TcDcent~gether, the responses suggest that Detroit's inner city Negroes would like integrated neighborhoods partly as a shortcut to better housing and parUy because they still believe in integration for its own sake. But If the quickest way to improve their housing conditions is to improve the exis~ing housing in the ghetto, they'll setUe for that, too. MOST NEGROES in Detroit's inner city tend to see discrimination as a root cause of their problems. They were asked if Detroit city officials pay more, less, or the same attention to a request or complaint from a Negro as from a white person. Fifty-two percent said Negroes get less attention. Thirty-four percent said there was no difference, and three percent said Negroes get more attention. However, asked about city services-----such as scho~ls. parks, and garbage collection -54 percent said their inner city neighborhoods get about the same treatment as other parts of the city. Twenty-seven percent said their neighborhoods got worse service and 12 percent said it was better. In the Survey Research Center's IS-city· stud}', Negroes were far less happy with their city services than whites. And Detroit Negroes, as measured by the Free Press surve3-', are even more unhappy than the Negroes in the 15-city sampling. For example, the 15-city stUdy found that in the urban north as a whole, 8 percent of the whites and 15 percent of the Negroes are "very dissatisfied" with their garbage collection. In the Detroit riot area, 24 percent are very dissatisfied with their garbage collection. In the urban north as a whole, 21 percent of the whites and 30 percent of the Negroes are "very dissatisfied" with sports and recreation centers for teenagers in their neighborhoods. There is significantly more discontent in the Detroit riot area where 40 percent are very dissatisfied with teenage recreation facilities. 7 Top complaints: black bars are 1968 percentages; white are 1967 UNFAIR FAIR Grocery stores Loan offices Real estate Home improvement Furniture stores Insurance Car dealers Automobile repair Many of the kinds of businesses that drew Negro resentment in 1967 are still drawing it today. But some among those most complained about in last year's survey-insurance, 'real estate, auto repair shops and loan offices-showed significant improvement. The comparison shows 1967 figures in white, today's in black. Police brutality Poor housing Poverly Lack of Jobs Overcrowded living conditions Failure of parents to control children Dirty neighborhoods Teenagers Too much drinking Broken political promises Here's how the top 10 complaints among Detroit Negroes in the 1968 SF4T'vey (shown in black) compared with those of 1967 (in white). The nubers are the percentages of those who think the problems listed could have a great deal to do with causing a riot. 8 Negroes and the police Negroes in northern cities have more trouble with insulting or needle6sly rough police than whites, and Detroit inner-city Negroes complain ill more such trouble than other northern Negroes. The Free Press asked questions in Delroit similar to those used in 15 cities by the University of Michligan Survey Research Center. There were minor differences in the phrasing of -the two questiolliS, and the wording given here is from the Free Press study. The numbers show the percent in each group who said, "yes." * * Yes: Northern Negro 38 Yes: Will an integrated Yes: 57 Northern Negro 26 department Detroit Negro 41 7 Northern Negro Detroit Negro 15 17 • • • Some pee-pIe say policemen use unnecessa.ry force in making arrests. Do you think this happens to ppople in this area? Yes: Northern While 10 Northern Negro 35 Detroit Negro 53 Has it happened to anyone you know? Detroit Negro Has it happened to anyone you know? Northern White 11 Northern White * Some people say policemen lack respect or nse insulting language. Do yon think this happens to Pl'ople in this area? Northern White 16 Has it happened to you? Northern Negro 24 Detroit Negro 38 Has it happened to you? Northern Northern White Negro Yes: 1 4 Detroit Negro Yes: ease the Negro-Police Northern White 7 tensions? 9 Black Power means to the Negroes The old Negro militancy is dead. A new, power-oriented, black militancy has taken its place in Detroit. This change is not the alarming development t hat mwy whites might think it is. Indeed, all it means is that blacks are beginning to become as aggressive and ambitious as .whites. The great majority of riot· area Negroes believe t hat their futUre depends on unified activity to vote together, organizing political and business groups together, and, at the same time, working on self-improvement through education and better family reo lationships. Black pow~r defined in this way has nothing to do with the extreme separatists who want their own black nation. It has nothing to do rroting, past wit h -futur.e. It has nothi'l1g to do !w:itJh hatred or .rejeotion of whites. '1'wo University of Michigan oolitical 'Scientists, Joel Alb· ~rbach and Jack Walker, reached much the same conclusion when they reported last month on a survey which asked both blacks and whites in Detroit to define the term, "Black Power." Negroes tended to define it in terms of black unity or getting a fair share for blacks. Whites, in contrast, were so frightened of the s e two words that -they were "almost hysterical" in their response. or • • • A FREE PRESS survey, using a more elaborate statistical technique confirmed the finding that Black PO\"rer, defined as unified political and economic effort, is not related to extremism. The name of the technique is factor analysis, which uses a computer to sift through a set of survey findings and ·determine the basic, underlying attitudes they represent. The Free Press anal.ysis showed that knowing a person's position on black IJolitical and economic power was no help at all in guessing his feeling toward black nationalism. Thus, the analysis bore out the words of a black insurance man in the Twelfth St. area: "Black Power is merely a means of black people com· ing together and b e i n g a united black people for build10 unity ing businesses, building pride, and what have you," he said. "That's all Black Power means. A lot of white people think that when you say 'Black Power,' it .m e a n s rioting. Black Power doe s not mean that. "Now if the final ph a s e comes to fighting, well that could mean Black Power, too. But Black Power does· not mean going up and down the road throwing bottles and bricks." resident of a large but run-down house on the East Side put it more succinctly: ~'White people got the money," he said. "We got to try to get it." Black Power has become the dominant idea among De· troit Negroes at the expense of the older kind of militancy wnich stressed integration and legal action instead of black unity. A ••• IN 1964, a landmark study by Gary Marx, now an 3.iSsistant professor at Harvard, measured the old militancy with a series of questions dealing with open housing, public accommodations, dissatisfaction with the speed with which government was pushing integration, and a sense of being held down as indicated by disagreement with statements like "Negroes who want to work hard can get ahead just as easily as anyone else." Four years ago, attitudes like these hung together statistically. A Negro who favored open housing, for example, was also likely to feel that Negroes could not get ahead just by working hard. Earlier this year, when the Miami Herald surveyed Negroes in its southern environment, the same index s till worked. In Detroit, it doesn't work. The items are no longer relevant to the existing mood or to each other. In the new spirit of pride and for\\'ard movement, a militant can now find himseli agreeing wit h the statement, "Negroes who want to ""ork hard can get ahead just as easily as any· one else." Clearly, Detroit Negroes have found a new direction. To define it and figure out who is following it, the Free Press gave each of the 452 blacks in the n'ew survey a Black Power score of zero to six, depending on the number of items in the Black Power cluster he called "very important." These Black Power items indicated agreement that Negroes should: • Get more political power by voting together to get officials who will look out fot' the Negro people. • Get more economic power by developing strong businesses and industries that are controlled by Negroes. • Be active in political and civil rights organizations. • Have bet t er relationship~ within the family. • Stop quarreling a man g themselves and unite efforts on issues that involve Negroes. • Get m a l' e education. Eighty-two percent of those surveyed said three or more of these actions were "very important." Two-thirds called at least five of the six "very important_" ••• FOR THE purpose of drawing a statistical profile of the new Black Power advocate, the Free Press mterviewees were divided into two groups. Those who called five or more items "very important," were separated from the others for comparison. The Black Power p e 0 pIe tend to be tolerant, thoughtful Negroes who are opposed to violence and favor integration. They are not the rioters. Only 51 percent of tho s e who admitted rioting in 1967 scored high on the B I a c k Power scale, compared to 70 percent of the non-rioters. People who prefer mixed neighborhoods are stronger Black Power advocates: 67 percent of those who want an integrated neighborhood are for Black Power, compared. to 53 percent of those who do not. A telling combination of political sophistication and frustration appears to m a v e people toward Black Power Both political knowledge and personal sense of political effectiveness were measured for each person interviewed_ The outcome: Among people lowest in knowledge of political affairs, only 51 percent were strongly for Black Power. In the group with the highest p!llitical knowledge, 74 percent were for Black Power. The political effectiveness test used questions asking for agreement or disagreement to questions such as, "I don't think public officials car e much what people like me think." It prOduced the opposite result: Among those who felt politically effective, 50 percent were strongly for Black Power, compared to 71 percent of those ;w!hofelt they were ineffective politically. Black Power, therefore, appears to be a raNonal approach to filling a genuine need. • •• THE BLACK Power concept attracts people of strong religious conviction. The exact opposite was true of the older Negro mil ita n c y in other SUTv~eys.The more religious people were, the less likely they were to become militant. Religion was an opiate. But tba t old rule .of thumb does not hold for the new militancy. Among those \\' h 0 call religion "extremely important" to them, 74 percent are strong Blacl{ Power supporters. Of those for who m religion is "quite· important" or "fairly imp'ortant," 0 n 1y 57 percent are strongly for Black Power. Black Power is weakest as a philosophy among the wellto-do and :tJhe very poor. It is strongest among members of families with incomes between $2,500 and $7,500. It is at this level, perhaps;· that Detroit blacks can taste just enough of the good life to want more. "We're not poor," said a young bearded auto worker in the upper part of this income range. "But we're not very well off, either. Seems like every time you get an increase in pay, prices are going up." Getting blacks their f air share of economic power is an appealing idea to him and persons like him. 50%. iii BLACK POWER 40%1 I I I I I 30%1 I I I I I 20%1 1 1 1 1 10%1 1 1 1 2 50% Iii 40%1 3 4 I Iii BLACK NATIONALISM 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 Measuring intensity oj at~itude8 on a 8Cale of zero to six, chart shows that m08t Detroit Ne.qroes are strong believer8 in black power. 20% 10% 0% o Mea.suring intenaitll of attitudu Oft tM 8am41 uro-to-aiz seak. chart 8hows that moet Detroit N sfI'NJU are not strong' black nationali8ts. r I. Here is what black power means to Detroit Negroes. The numbers are the percentage calling each activity "very important." Negroes should get more political power by voting together to get officials who will look out for the Negro people - 80 percent. Negroes should get more economic power by developing strong bUSinesses and industries that are controlled by Negroes - 72 percent. Negroes should be active in political and civil rights organizations - 72 percent. Negroes should have better relationships within the family - 85 percent. Negroes should stop quarreling among themselves and unite efforts on issues that involve Negroes - 82 percent. Negroes should get more education - 95 percent. 11 Black extremism blunted among Detroit's Negroes Hard-core black nationalism remains a potentially dangerous force among Negroes in the Detroit riot areas. But these angry, white-hating extremists are a small minority. There is no evidence they are a growing minority. The importance of this group stems not from its numerical size, but from the intensity of its feeling. These are the people who overreact to tlhe Negro'os bitter history of discr~minaAion a:nd frustratuon. They reject the white man's system, are inclined favorably toward violence, and look with ill-concealed delight on such open manifestations of white racism as tl}e support for third-party candidate George Wallace. Acceptance of Wallace by northern whites, they reason, is proof that the black man cannot do busines with the white devil. "Last week I was in Georgia," said a young millitant who lives in a shabby house not far from Twelfth St. HI saw only four or five Wallace posters down there. But up here, I see nothing but Wallace buttons. "If the American people elect him presiqent, well it will only prove one thing. The black man really will know exactly where he stands and what he was elected for. It is to put the brakes on the black man, and say; 'This is as far as you are going.' " The extreme separatist po· sition could wither away in Detroit, or at least continue to be numerically insignifi· cant, as long as the new feeling of black unity could find expression in the pursuit of traditional American political and economic goals. To flourish, the extremists need a repressive atmosphere, and this is not the atmosphere of Detroit. One indicator of the lack of strength of the extremists is the response to the question: "If the United States got into a big \\'orId war toda:r. would you personally feel this coun· try was worth fighting for?" It reflects a thought expressed by the late Malcolm X, when he spoke at the King Solomon Baptist Church in 1963 and said; "If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and 12 black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us and make us violent abroad in defense of her." In the August, 1967, survey, a few weeks after the riot, 67 percent of the riot area respondents said this country was worth fighting for. In the new survey, that number increased to 77 percent. Another rough indicator of extremism is the belief that Negroes have more to gain than lose by resorting to violence. In 1967, 53 percent said Negroes had more to los e. Their number has now risen to 63 percent. These figures suggest that the extremist position is weakening. But it is still here, ready to grow if the responsible efforts to improve life for blacks do not move forward. Black nationalism was isolated in the new survey through a statistical technique called factor analysis. This analysis produced a cluster of six indicators which measured different degrees of nationalistic feeling. * '" * IN ITS l\IOST benign form, this feeling represents no more than a sense of black·cultural identity not unlike t hat of other American ethnic groups. Far more Detroit Negroes say that Negro schoolchildren should study an African language (60 percent) than say Negroes should avoid having anything to do with w hit e people (five percent). In the analysis of the Free Press data, each Detroit respondent was given a blacknationalism score of zero to six, depending on his approval of six programs, ranging from the popular one of African language study to the extremist proposal for Negroes to build a blaCk society completely apart from whites, Most Detroit Negroes scored quite Iowan this index. Seventy-five percent agreed ,vith no more than two of the six statements. Black nationalism, as meas· ured in this way, has no relationship to black power-when black power is defined as the use of Negro unity to gain more political and economic control. In other words, knowing a person's feeling toward black nationalism is of no help in estimating his feeling toward black power. They are different things. There are, of course, some people who have a foot in both camps. "We believe in' building our nation within a nation," said a member of the congregation of the Rev. Albert Cleage's Shrine of the Black Madonna. "Say we want a separate state. I don't think the white man is going to give us five states - say, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi and South Carolina. I don't think he is going to give us something that it has taken years to build. It is possible, but I think it is highly unprobable. So we have to work within the system. "And that's why we believe in building a nation within a nation, so we can control our neighborhoods, our s c h a a I s and everything that is in our neighborhoods. No \V that's ' ... ·hat is meant by self-determination ... It doesn't mean we want to cut off all communications with whites." * '" * THE MOST striking finding that emerged was the tendency of former rioters to follow black nationalism, Seventy~nine percent of those who admitted rioting in 1967 :r;anked in the upper half of the blaok nationalism scale compa:red with 37 percent of the non rioters. This finding is a good indi· cation of the difference between blaCk nationalism and black power, The black·power advocates were less likely than other Negroes to have been rioters. There is another key difference. Religious people tend toward black power. Those \vllo are alienated from religion tend toward black nation· alism. Of those who called religion "extremely important," only 37 percent had tendencies toward nationalism. Of those who called religion "very important," 44 percent were na· tionalistic. And of those for whom religion was only fairly important or not important at all, 60 percent tended toward nationalism, Black nationalism, the n, may be a kind of substitute for religion. '" * * IN MANY \VAYS, the portrait of the black nationalist resembles the portrait of the rioter which emerged from last year's survey. Income and education are not indicators of h(ack nationalism, although age is, with young people tending to be more nationalistic. The new survey, like the one in 1967, turned up about 10 percent who said they took part in the riot. Most of these said they would riot again if the opportunity came. Both the forlli.8r rioters and those who expressed a readi· ness to riot in the future were drawn strongly to the superficial aspects of black culture. For example, those who said they have worn or have con· sidered wearing African appaJ'cl-dashikis or bubbas 'vere three times as likely to be admitted rioters as those who stick to conventional dress. Even a liking for "soul music" is associated with rioting. There were no admitted riot· ers among the 20 percent of the sample expressing a dislike for soul music. Though this group was small, odds of it not containing any riot· ers by sheer coincidence were less than one in 500. The nature of this connection is not clear, but it may be that people who express themselves freely - by dig:j'in-:;-soul music and wearing dashikis - are more likely to talk about rioting regardless of whether they really are potential rioters. • * * IT DOES SUGGEST t hat support for rioting has become part of the new black culture for some people. But the i r number is small, and it does not seem to be growing. Most DetrOit Negroes do have a new appreciation for black cultural identity, but few have a desire to flaunt it. An African hairdo is "not for me," one young mother said. "I don't have to wash my hair and have it kinked on my head so that you know I'm a Negro. I mean you can look at me and tell. I don't have to kink my hair." And there is far more support for blaCk control of neighborhood business and political organizations than there is for the dream of a separate black nation. "What," asked an assemblyline worker, "are we going to do in a black state surrounded by a white state? We still ain't free, 'cause we got to go to the white state to get something. We can't just grow corn and beans. I figure the only way we can make it, is to integrate." Negroes in politics win praise of black community ~ I ·1 Charles Diggs When Detroit Negroes look for leadership, they tend to stay within the existing polito ical system. The best-known and mostrespected black leaders-with one notable exception-are holders of elective office, Charles C. Diggs Jr., who first was elected by a section of the Inner City to. the U.S. House of R€presentatives in 1954, and who served in the Michigan Senate before that, is the most widely known Detroit Negro leader. John Conyers And two-term Congressman John Conyers Jr., younger a'1~ more militant than Diggs, is second. The Rev. Albert Cleage, pastor of the Shrine of the Black l\[adonna and a pace-setter in the drive for black unit~' and black economic power, is the only non-politician in the exclusive group of Negro leaders whose names are recognized by more than threefourths of the black population. Each of the 452 persons in Albert Cleage the new Free Press survey was given a list of 24 leaders and asked to pick out the names he had heard of. Each was then asked to name the one "you think is doing the most good." In addition to Diggs, Conyers and Cleage, the names of Common Councilman Nicholas Hood and State Reps. James Del Rio and Jackie Vaughn III were recognized by more than three·fourths of those surveyed. The choices of those who How survey measured black extremism Six questionnaire items in the Free Press survey give an indication the extent of black nationalist sentiment in Debroit: of • It is very important for Negroes to avoid having anything to do with white people as much as possible--------five percent. • It is very important for Negroes to build a black society completely apart from whites, either in the United States or in Africa-seven percent. • It is very important for Negroes to be ready to fight alongside other Negroes and participate in riots if necessary-17 percent. • Negoes have more to gain than lose by resorting rights movement-20 percent. • People of African descent are basically superior-23 to violence in the civilpercent. • Negro school children should study an African language-60 percent. have done the most good tended to fOllow the name-recog· nition pattern. Cleage's high ranking on the list is Significant not only because he attained it without the advantage of a public of· fice, but because his positions reflect in many ways the new mood of the black community. "To help black people escape from powerlessness and to make possible sell-determination for the black commun· it3"" is his self·defined goal. His economic orientation of black power, with Negro-run bu.sinesses already coming in· to being under bis direction, is right on target. This kind of activity is strongly approved by the great majority of Detroit Negroes. Seventy-two percent of those interviewed in the survey called development of strong bus· inesses and .industries under Negro control "very important." Where Cleage parts company with the majority of black Detroiters is on the issue of integration. His strategy is to use the racial segregation that already exists as a base for building black unity and self-improvement, in what he calls "a nation within a na- tion." There is very little desire among Detroit Negroes to abandon the tndiUonal civil rights goal of an integrated society. Political and economic power for blacks is a means of entering the mainstrer.m. But Cleage's vision of the 13 Negroes in politics (continued) How Detroit blacks rate their leaders Have Heard Doing the Most Good of Him Nicholas Hood James Del Rio Jackie Vaughn III Coleman Young promised land is all black. "One of the things 1 like about him is that in his church they are teaching Negro history," said one young housewife. "1 don't think he has to push anti-white attitudes to get his point across. Now, my husband, he reads all the Negro history and everything he can about the Negro, but he's not prejudiced at all and he doesn't stop thinking about other things." The t Co n s'i 0 n between the old goals and the new strategies is found. most clearly in comparing the kinds of people who support the two black congressmen, Diggs and Conyers. Enough people rated each congressman as the one who had done the most good, so tpat it was possible statistically to compare their two followings. Although only seven years older than Con y e r s, Rep. Diggs has followed a career much more in the pattern of old·line Negro leaders. Before entering politics, he W:lS in his family's undertaking business _ a career which, like teach· ing and the ministry, was one of the few paths to prominence available to blacks !n a segregated society. In the Democratic Party, he has been a loyal organization man. Conyers is a prodlZct of the post-Korean War period wl:en more v a r i e d o:dportur.ities were opening to Negroes. He first went to Washington as legi£lative '3.ssistant to a white congressman, Dearuorn's John DingeU. He is not an organization man, as evidenced by his involvement with the National Committee of Inquiry, a group which tried to mobilize black influe.lce in the selBctior. of presidential candidates. On racial matters, he is generally more militant than Diggs. * • * AS EXPECTED, the survey showed that Conyer~, appealed to a somewhat younger group. Forly - thre-e perccnt of his followers are under 35, compared with 32 percent of those who consider Diggs the top leader. Dig g s h a oS significantly stronger appeal among those Detroiters who were raised in the South, a group which 1. Charles Diggs 2. John Conyers 3. Nicholas Hood 4. James Del Rio 5. Jackie Vaughn III 6. Albert Cleage 7. Coleman Young 8. Horace Sheffield 9. William Patrick 10. Robert Tindal 11. Edward Vaughn 12. Ray Shoulders 13. ~lilton Henry 14. Francis Kornegay 15. Julian Witherspoon 16. Roy Allen 17. Fred Lyles 18. Frank Ditto 19. Dan Aldridge 20. Marc Stepp 21. Longworth Quinn 22. General Baker 23. Lorenzo Freeman 24. Lonnie Peek traditionally has been less militant than the northern natives, Negroes with strong blackculture identity and those who express complaints about jobs, housing and other fami· liar grievances are more likely to approve of Conyers than Diggs. But when their two followings are compared on the Black-power index-a measure among Negroes for stronger political and economic action and other forms of Negro self-improvement-there is no difference. Perhaps the most striking thing about this effort to find out who speaks for Detroit Negroes is that the best-known leaders are so conventional. Since the riot, it has been all too easy to leap to the conclusion that the most extreme militant leaders are the most important. But Milton Henry, perhaps the most radical separatist to gain public attention in the Detroit area, was known by only 39 percent of the Negroes surveyed_ And activists involved with other specific militant groups 95 86 85 81 80 77 69 63 57 57 43 41 39 37 35 33 31 30 24 24 23 21 18 14 27 22 13 6 4 4 2 2 2 o 1 2 o 2 o 1 1 o o o o o o o and goals- Fred Lyles of the United Tenants for Collective Action; Lorenzo Freeman, formerly of the West Central Organization, and Lonnie Peek of Wayne State's Associated Black Students-ranked below Henry. A I tho ugh Dan Aldridge, a young militant who writes a column for the Michigan Chronicle, was as well known as Longworth Quinn, who edits the paper, most of the young black activists on the list were not so widely known as other leaders who have been around longer. It is worth noting that the leadership question as used in the survey tends to measure past as well as present popularity. The high respect held for Rep. Diggs is the culmination of nearly two decades in public Qffice. ' * '" * Somewhere farther down the list there may be the name of a leader who has a viewpoint that is only beginning to take hold in the black community, and the leaders of tomorrow may be quite differen,t from those of today and yesterday. Detroit is trying harder to achieve racial peace When historians of the next century look back &t the prog· ress of the black man in America, Detroit may have more than one claim to fame. In addition to be in g th e scene of the nation's worst Negro riot of this period, it may be remembered as the city that tried the hardest to do the most for racial peace, Viewed from inSide the dty, Detroit's reservoir of good will is sometimes hard to see. As in all attempts at massive social change, there is far more talk than action, But when you compare De· trait to other northern cities ''\lith similar problems, it looks far better. One team of polito ical scientists which is trJ-'ing to make systematic compari. sons among riot cities has de· cided to give Detroit a high mark for effort. The D e t r 0 1 t response is called "alueliorative" compared to cities which have done nothing or concentrated on punitive action a g a ins t blacks in the wake of riots. The description of ameliorative, which means improving or .making better, was used by David Olson of the Brookings Institute and Michael Lipsky of the University of Wisconsin in a preliminary report to a political science convention last month. Detroit probably responded this way, they suggested, because it had a tradition of trying to improve its race relations long before the riot. The two Free Press surve~'s, one in August, 1967, just after the riot, and the second last month, offer convincing evidence that Detroit is on the right track. The minority that believes in violence and the extreme black n.ationalists have gained no visible ground in the past ~'ear. But whether they will gain ground in the future remains an open question. While the year-to-year comparisons show no hardening of anti-white attitudes, there is a significant tendency for young Negroes to be more receptive to extremist views than their elders. Angus Campbell and Howard Schuman of the University of Michigan noted the same thing in their 15-city study for the K ern e r Commission earlier this year. As they pointed out, the fact that the young tend to be rebellious does not mean they will stay that way as they get older. Nevertheless, it is the young people whose loyalty is the main prize in the competition of ideas. They are flexible, mobile people who should be most directly affected by Detroit's efforts to bring blacks into the economic and political mainstreams. * • * ONE OF the most encouraging findings in the new Free Press survey was that Detroit Negroes believe that 10 c a I business is trying hard to solve this city's problems. But young people feel this much less strongly than older people. Omsidering only those in the survey who had opinions on the private sector's effort, the age differences came out like this: Among those more than 50 years old, 71 per c e n t said private industry is trying as hard as it can. Among those in the 35-to-50-year group, 61 percent shared this view. And in the under-35 group, 54 peTcent credited industry for its efforts. Separatism, readiness for violence, alienation from re!igion, a belief that this country is not worth fighting for ~all attitudes that threaten to split blacks deeply from whites~are strongest among the young. These are stilI minority attitudes in all age groups. But minority attitudes can be important. Of those Negroes who expressed a preterence between integrated and segreg ate d housing, t;le great majority wanted to live in integrated neighborhoods. But the group prererring all-black neignborhoods increases sharply as age decreases: From 9 percent among those over 50 to 23 percent among tho::ie aged 15-24. The Free Press survey isolated two chief clusters of attitudes that are basically in competition: One, held by the vast majority, seeks black political and economic power through the existing social sysILem. The other, a minority view, looks to the black nationalist goal of a separate system with whites shut out. * * , BLACK POWER, though strong in all age groups, is weakest among the young people. Black nationalism, weak in all age groups, is less weak among the young. In the long run, the people in the riot area have more going for them than their parents did. The a v era g e education among all those interviewed -and this includes the onefifth who are still in schoolwas 10_6grades. The fathers of those interviewed had attained only 7.6 grades of schooling, their mothers, 8.8 grades. But the young people are not content with long-run improvement. They want equality now. 1'herefore, the generally en· couraging findings of this new survey must be qualified. Future developments ma~' depend on how well Detroit's ambitious start at making things better is followed t h r 0 ugh and how directl~! these efforts affect the young. Negroes, on the whole, are hopeful. A few, however, see the work of the city's leaders as being unrepresentative of ·white attitudes in general. "I believe that your wealthy, middle-c 1 ass, business white people al'e really try:ing," said oue young militant. "But the hostility is going to build up among the lower-class whilte men against the blacks." This view is carried to an alarming extreme by a small but significant minority. Four- teen pel cent of the blacks in the survey said they had heard s~ories lately abo u t groups of whites planning to attack Negro neighborhoods. * * * CONSIDERING how rumors circulated during the Ion g newspaper strike, this is not too surprising. The worrisome part is that nearly hal! of the people who heard these rumors believed them. There is still much work to be done, then, in establishing communication between the races. Last year, when the smoke from the fires around Twelfth Street still hung in the air, there was a time when no one could be sure that what had just happened was not a general re bellion - a calculated declaration of war of black against white. n was not. The first Free Press survey indicated that the riot was not so much a collective act of political protest as a way of expressing long pent-up grievances and frustration. Negroes did not then and do not now want to destroy the city. They want to improve it. And so the potential for achieving a harmonious balance between black power and white power, at least as far as the blacks are concerned, still exists If Detroit can't solve its racial problems, probably no American city can. How Negro attitudes vary by age groups T,hese figures show how Detroit Negro attitudes vary among the different age gr'oups. Numbers are the percent in each category which holds the indicated attitude_ Prefer segregated housing U.S. not worth fil(hting for Religi,on extremely important Would join another riot Industry is trying hard to make things better Lean strongly to\\,Rrd political, economic forms of black pon-er 15-24 25-34 35·50 Over 50 23 15 12 9 34 24 14 7 46 52 58 73 23 9 6 2 54 56 61 75 55 68 68 74 Table of survey findings 2. Thinking about city services like schools, parks. and garbage collecti.on, do you think your neighborhood gets better. about the same, or worse services than m 0 s t other parts of the city? Better 12 About same ....•... 54 Worse 27 Don't know 8 3. If you have a serious complaint about poor service by the city, do you think you can get city officials to do something about it if you call them? yes 14 No 38 Don't know 48 4. Have you ever called a city official with a complaint about poor service? Yes 23 No 77 5. In general, do you think Detroit city officials pay more, less, or the S'ame attention to a request or complaint from a Negro as from a white person? More 3 Less 52 Same 34 Don't know 11 SEPTEMBER, 1968 Here are the questions in the September. 1968. Detroit Free Press &urvey and percentage g iv i n g eaoh response. The percentages are based on the number who answered each question, which is in .some cases less than the full 452-person sample. and they are rounded to the nearest full percentage point. Because of rounding, some totals do not add to 100. In a sample of this size, the odds are roughly 19 to one that a percentage close to 50 will accurately reflect the total study population within five percentage points, plus or minus. As a rough guide to comparing res'ults of the 1968 survey wit h those obtained in 1967. differences of seven or more percentage points may be considered statistically significant - unlikely to have occured by chance alone. This estimate of the comparability of the two surveys may be conservative becaus-e the people interviewed in 1968 lived in the same blocks as those interviewed in 1967 and probably have similar characteristics. 1. 1'd like to ask how satisfied you are with some of the main services the city is supposed to provide for your neighbor~' hood. What about the quality of public schools in this neighborhood-are you generally satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? 6. Do you think the May· or of Detroit is trying as hard as he can to solve the main problems of the city, or that he is not doing all he could to solve these problems? Trying as hard as he .can 42 Fairly hard 21 Not hard at all 26 Don't. know ,11 A. Quality of public schools B. Parks and playgrounds for children in t.his neighborhood C. Sports and recreation center for teenagers in this neighborhood D. Police prot.ection in this neighborhood E. Garbage collection in this neighbor hood A. B. c. D. E. Generally Satisfied 38 21 18 33 55 Somewhat Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied 25 25 16 36 22 40 34 24 25 18 Don't Know 22 17 21 8 3 7. How about the state government? Do you think they are trying as hard as they can to solve the main problem,s of cities like Detroi t, or that they are not doing all they could to solve these problems? Trying as hard as they can 35 Fairly hard 22 Not hard at all 27 Don't know 16 8. How about the federal government in Washington? Do you think they are trying as" hard as they can to solve the main proble·ms of cities like Detroit, or that they are not doing all they could to solve such problems? Trying as hard as they can .48 Fairly hard 19 Not hard at all 21 Don't knOlv •......• 12 9. How about private industry here in Detroit. Do you think private companies are trying as hard as they can to solve the main problems of cities like De~ troit, or that they are not doing all they could to solve such problems? Trying as hard as they can 52 Fairly hard 1.2 Not hard at all 19 Don't know .16 10. How about the labor unions in Detroit? Do you think they are trying as hard as they can to -solve the main problems of cities like Detroit, or that they are not doing all they could to solve such problems? Trying as hard as they can 52 Fairly hard 11 Not hard at all 18 Don't linow 18 11. If you were employed to the same work as a white person, do you feel you would likely get less pay, about the same pay, or more pay? Less pay 26 Same pay 67 More pay 2 Don't. know 5 12. Here are some com~ pl::tints you hear sometimes about stores and merchants. Would you tell me if these things ever happen to you when you shop in stores in or near this neighborhood? A. Do you think you are unfairly overcharged for goods often, sometimes, rarely, or never? B. Do you think you are sold g.poiled or inferior goods oft e n, sometimes, rarely, or never? C. In such store, are you treated disrespectfully often, so met i m e s, rarely, or never A. B. C. Often 55 15 7 Sometimes 22 40 11 Rarely 8 17 12 Never 11 26 67 Don't Know 3 2 3 13. In general. would you say that business has been more fair to Negroes since the riots last summer, les.s fair, or about the same? More fair .. .. 39 Less fair 14 About the same .47 14. In your own neighbor~ hood. do you think that the merchants in the following kin d s of businesses treat Negroes fairly or unfair~ ly? After I read each type of business. teH me if you think the merchants are fair or unfair to Negroes. ,,"'" .~ S> .~ ~~"'.$t Grocery stores Car Dealers 4;"'.;;;;'>' ,f 39 57 ~ 4 27 33 40 Furniture stores 30 43 27 Auto repair shops 29 28 43 Real estate agents 29 34 37 Insurance agencies Record shops Loan offices Home improvement 51 27 22 66 7 26 21 41 37. 19 42 39 15. Do you think the TV stations in Detroit reported last summer's riot fairly or unfairly? Fairly .49 Unfairly "'39 Don't know 12 16. Do you think the newspapers in Detroit repor,ted the riot fairly or unfairly? Fairly 43 Unfairly 40 Don't know , .. ,18 17. Now I am going to read a list of publications. Please teU me whether you read them regularly, sometimes, or not at all. NotatAlIill Sometimes R~gU~arlY~ MIChIgan Chronicle 48 37 15 Detroit News 47 33 21 Detroit Free Press 35 35 31 The Courier 4 15 81 Inner City Voice 3 8 89 18. How long have you been living at this address: Less than one year 17 Over a year, .. . ... 83 19. How long have you lived in Detroit? Under 1 year 3 Under 5 years 11 Over 5 years' , 63 Born in Detroit 23 20. Where were you brought up as a child? Southern State 56 Northern State 42 Elsewhere 2 21. Do you or your family own this home or do you rent? Own 46 Rent 51 Other 2 22. Is this .the kind of neigh b 0 rho 0 d you would like to continue in? Yes .42 No 54 Don't know 4 23. Would you say this neighborhood is better than the one you grew up in, worse, or about the same? Better 38 Worse 26 Same 33 Don't know 3 24. For the most part. were you raised on a farm, in a small town, t t or in a city? Farm 12 Small town (under 50,000) ..... ,35 City (50,000or over)-53 25, Would you rather live in a neighborhood with only Negro families or in a neighborhood that had both Negro and White families? Negro 13 Negro and white 75 Don't know 12 26. Which do you think IS more important no~to get more and better housing in and around areas where Negroes already live. or to open housing for Negroes in other parts of the city and suburbs? Get more and better housing .... .44 Open up ne,,,- integrated housing .... .41 Both equal in importance 14 Don't know 1 27. Compared to Negroes in -other northern cities. do you think Negroes in Detroit have better than average education. about the :same a:mount of edu,cation, or less education? 1I10re education 13 Less education 8 Same amount of education 64 Don't knol~l ' 15 28. Compared to Negroes in other nor.thern cities, do you think Ne, groes in Detroit have better than average income, or le.ss income? .l\lore income ,44 Less income 4 Same amount 39 Don't know ""'" 13 29. Compared to Negroes in other northern cities. do you think Negroes in Detroit have better jobg, about the same kinds of jobs, or worse jobs? Better jobs .42 Worse jobs 2 Same kind of jobs 44 Don't know '., .... 12 30. In your opinion are government officials pushing integration too slow, too fast, or about right? Too slow 62 Too fast 1 About right 23 Don't know ,. 13 31. Now I am going to ask you some questions about government and politics. Very few people would know all the answers, so if you don't know. plea.se say so, A. How many years does the governor of Michigan serve? Four 54 Other 11 Don't know 35 B. Name one U.S. Senator from Michigan. Hart 37 Griffin "'11 Other, 10 Don·t know 42 C. To what political party did President Franklin D. Roosevelt belong? Democrat 77 other 4 D,m't know ,20 32, Here is a list of Negro leaders in the Detroit area, Please look at it and tell me w:hich ones you have hea"d of. 33. Which one of the black leaders do you think is doing the most good? Heard of Doing Most Cbarles Diggs 95 27 John Conyers 86 22 Nicholas Hood 85 13 James Del Rio 82 6 Jackie Vaughn III 80 4 Albert CIeage 77 4 Coleman Young 69 2 Horace Sheffield 63 2 William Patrick 57 2 Ro bert Tindal 57 o Edward Vaughn 43 1 Ray Shoulders 41 2 Milton Henry 39 o Francis Kornegay 37 2 Julian Witherspoon 35 o Roy Allen 33 1 Fred Lyles 31 o Frank Ditto 30 o Dan Aldridge 24 o lIIarc Stepp 24 o Longworth Quinn 23 o General Baker 21 o Lorenzo Freeman 18 o Lonnie Peek 14 o 34. Now I'm going to read you a Hst of statements. For each statement, please tell me Whether it's true for you or not. No, Yes Not Don't True True Know A. I often feel quite lonely 34 64 2 B. To tell the truth. I would be afraid to take part in civil right demonstration 34 62 4 C. Sometimes I can't help wondering whether anything is worthwhile anymore 44 53 3 D. I think a person nowadays has to live pretty much for today and let tomorrow take care of itself 43 54 3 E. It bothers me to see F'oreigners succeeding more than Americans who were born here 51 44 5 F. Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that .a person like me can't really understand what's going on 71 25 4 G. I don't think public officials care much What people like me think 63 32 5 H, Voting is the only way people like me (my parents) can have No, Yes Not Don't Truei True Know a say about how the government runs things 1. When I make plans ahead, I usually get to carry things out the way I expected J. I often have trouble making up my mind about important decisions K. I don't particularly care for "soul" food L. "Soul music" isn't especially appealing to me M. I don't much care for those new African clothing styles 78 18 3 53 44 3 41 58 1 16 84 0 20 78 2 53 41 6 35. If you could take a Don't know 11 trip abroad. would you 36. Have you ever considrather go to France, ered wearing a dashEngland. Chi n a or iki (bubba) or a tiki? Nigeria? Yes 29 France 35 No 61 England 12 Has worD ODe .•..•• 7 Ghana 14 Doesn't understand Nigeria 29 the question 4 37. Now, I .am going to read some more statements, and I would -like to know whether you agree or disagree with eaoh Dne. Dis- Don't Agree agree Know A. Negroes who get ahead do it by fighting for their rights 78 18 4 B. If Negroes would try harder, they could solve their problems without any help from whites 50 46 4 C. Civil righks groups which have both Negro and White leaders would do belter without the whites 21 70 9 D. Racial discrimination is here to stay for a long time 60 28 13 E. Negroes who get ahead do it by being "Uncle Tom" 13 83 4 F. An owner of property should not have to sell to Negroes if he doesn't want to 38 54 8 G. A restaurant owner should not have to serve Negroes if he doesn't want to 18 78 4 H. Negroes should spend more time praying and less time demonstrating 40 49 11 1. Negroes who want to work hard can get ahead just as easily as anyone else 58 40 2 J. Before Negroes- are given equal rights, they have to show that they deserve them 32 65 2 K. People of African descent are basically superior 23 67 11 L. Black leaders go too far when they praise and encourage vi~ olence 68 24 8 M. There should be more Negro businesses, banks, and stores 97 2 1 N. Negroes should sbop in Negroowned stores whenever possible 83 15 2 O. Negroes should take more pride in Negro history 97 2 1 18 Dis- Don't Agree agree Know P. Negroes should not have anything to do with whites if .they can help it 13 84 2 Q. There should be a separate black nation here 8 87 5 R. Negro school children should study an African language 59 31 10 S. It is better to be called "black" than "Negro" 43 46 11 T. Too many Negroes start acting and thinking like white people as soon as they begin to get ahead 58 84 9 U. Things would be belter in this part of town if more of the policemen were black 49 32 18 V. People with "natural" hair are trying to be different just for the sake of being different 39 49 12 W. Most of our problems would be ',solved if we could take a pill that would make us white 10 86 4 38. Are most of the un- out of life depends upon ability or upon being in the right place at the right time? Ability 71 Being in the right place 24 Don't know 4 happy things in peoples lives due to bad luck or due to the mistakes they make? Badluck 20 Mistakes 75 Don't know 5 39. Do you think that getting what you want 40. People have different ideas about what causes J'liots like the one in Detroit last summer. Let me read you a list of possible riot causes, and you can pick out the ones which you think might be most likely to cause another riot here. As I read each problem on the list, please tell me whether it might have a great deal to do with causing a riot, something to do with causing ,a riot, or nothing at all ba do with causing a riot. A great deal Poverty Lack of jobs Poor housing Black nationalism Broken political promises Not enough integration Teenagers Police brutality Lack of strong Negro leaders Hatred of whites The failure of the schools Anger with the fire department Anger with the police Anger with politicians Anger with local business people The failure of parents to control their children The frustration of middle class Negroes 60 57 61 34 Some- Nothing Don't· thing at all Know 22 25 22 31 16 17 15 2 2 24 11 32 35 14 6 6 5 4 4 2 40 26 43 71 22 34 39 33 31 31 37 29 27 5 20 30 44 6 4 62 28 13 25 75 10 26 42 8 3 4 33 28 32 6 49 32 15 4 16 31 35 18 19 7 j A great deal Lack of recreation familities Disappointment n'ith white public officials Disal)pointment with Negro public officials Poor transportation Dirty neighborhoods Overcrowded living conditions Too much drinking Not enough welfare services 41. If the United Slates got 42. 13. 44. 45. 46. into a big world war today, would you personally feel this country was war t h fighting for? Worth fighting for .. 77 Not worth lighting for 18 Don't know 4 If a situation like the one in Vietn~m were to devellop in another part of the world, do you think the United States should or should not s-end troops? Should 22 Should not 67 Don't kno\"\' ,11 Which do you think is the more important issue facing the country today: civil rights or the war in Vietnam? Civil rights .. ·· 67 Vietnam 9 Bot.h important 23 Don't know 2 Which 'of the following do you think can best help the Negro? Federal government ."" ... 31 State government. .. 4 City government 8 Neither 2 All equal '" .. ' .46 Don't kno\'\-' , 8 All in all. compared \vith three years ,ago, do you think things for you and your family are better, worse or about the same? Belter 54 \llorse 7 Same·· 37 Don't know 2 Now, here is a picture of a ladder. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best poss'ible life for you and the bottom represents the worst possible life Some- Nothing Don't thing at all Know 35 33 25 8 37 31 25 7 19 8 28 45 14 31 71 23 9 7 3 42 26 23 31 2 4 13 23 47 17 43 55 16 for you. A. Where on the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time? (01 to 10) Mean 5.7 B. Where on the ladder would you say you stood last summer, just before the riot? Mean 4.9 C. Where on the ladder would you say you stood 5 years ago? Mean 4.2 D. Where do you think you will be on the ladder five years from now? lI1ean 7.7 47. Generally speaking. do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, or what? (IF R or D) Would you call yourself a strong CR, D) or a not very strong (R. D)? (IF INDEPENDENT) Do you think of yourseU a,s closer to the Republican or closer to the Democratic party? Strong Democrat 71 Not very strong Democrat 10 Indel)endent closer to Democrats 4 Ino~ ;:; ....q) 4 A. Get jobs and hang on to them no matter what B. Get more education C. Be active in political and civil rights organization D. Get more economic power by developing s,trong businesses and industries that are controlled by Negroes E. Get more political power by voting together to get officials who will look out for the Negro people F. Swing their weight by mass demonstrations, boycotts, and other public demands G. Have better relationships within the family H. Depend on the better white people to help the Negroes ~;:." ~ ~o c ~ "04 ;; 't; ot'" '" .~~ ~ t;;'" t;;'" 67 95 17 4 4 1 2 0 o 8 3 0 72 22 4 0 1 2 72 21 3 0 o 4 80 13 2 0 o 4 44 31 7 5 7 6 85 10 3 0 o 2 31 36 14 9 7 3 19 1. Avoid having anything to do with white people as much as possible 5 J. Be ready to fight alongside other Negroes and participate in riots if necessary 17 K. G