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CONTINUE TO MARCH    LEE

think in terms of skilled and semi-skilled jobs we are still the "last hired and the first fired." It is in the non-professional job category that America is having pains that can lead to her destruction. If automation is putting whites out of work and creating problems for the labor force, think of what it is doing to Negroes that are already out and those who have had hopes of getting in. It is depressing to hear my people in the underemployed category feeling it is better to be on the welfare rolls as long as they can get more money by staying home.

We are not going to listen any more to those who tell us we are not trained, for that may be a fact, but the truth is that there are no jobs. It is the responsibility of the federal government to provide jobs, just as it did during the 1930's, for there is an acute depression in the Negro community. When I see my people in the Black Belt of the south trying to escape from plantation life; when I see my people being colonized in northern ghettos then I can't get excited about a man walking in space for two hours knowing the billions of dollars spent for that walk, while my people can't walk on this planet as men.

The very things important to manhood are not available to him- jobs, housing and education. There is nothing wrong with the Negro family that a guaranteed annual income of $5,000 wouldn't solve. A man will not riot when he has the basic necessities of life. What we witnessed in Rochester, Harlem, Chicago and Los Angeles, was not simply policeman against Negro. Negroes see the nation they helped to make wealthy deny them a share of that wealth. Their anger is directed toward the "establishment."

war on poverty

At first hearing, the Negro thought the War on Poverty was to be the first step in the thousand mile journey to give us new breathing power. We had high hopes this program would alleviate some of the economic strangulation we suffer from. This program sent us to the polls in large numbers. Negroes wanted to personally let Goldwater know that his platform was 100 per cent at variance with the destiny of our country and our people. We said in that astounding vote: "Welcome 'Mr. Great Society.' Man, it took you a long time getting here. We know you had a tough fight with Goldwaterism; boy we are glad you made it! We had heard a little about Vietnam before the campaign began and we went to the polls knowing

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 12:29:51 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 12:47:55 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:10:51 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:20:24 - don't mark bold, underline, italics, etc. Don't end with half a word at the end of the page ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:26:07