This is levittown, pennsylvania, a new suburban community of 60,000 people, midway between philadelphia and trenton, new jersey. With a giant Shopping Center, winding lanes, it is typical of communities all over america where families are pursuing the American Dream to fir their children a better chance at life. Levittowners are people of modest means. Theyre mostly young people. A large proportion are veterans. There are a few agencies and while many have had social churches, they have not adequately served the community. Most are proud and happy in their new environment. For many, it is the first house of their own and it represents a major financial investment. Social life is mainly confined to visits with the neighbors. Occasionally there are communitywide residents. Its too early yet for most residents to become identified with the broader aspects of community living. Levittown is built by one man for whom it is named. Like Many Developers he set the initial policy and provided the minimum of essential services. When the houses were sold, naturally, he waited on its slender resources. In 1957 they attracted International Attention when a man and his family moved into a house at daffodil and deep green lanes. They have three small children, the youngest only 1monthold. Meyers served for 2 1 2 years in the army and was discharged as a staff sergeant. He works as a Laboratory Technician and is studying for a degree as an electrical engineer. His wife, daisy, is a college graduate. The meyers home is modestly furnished and their latemodel car was bought on time. They are very close to the Levittown Community except in one respect. Mr. Meyers and his family are negro negroes in an allWhite Community. The town reacted in a number of ways to the new arrivals. They congregated on the street in front of his house. Some of those felt strongly enough to throw a rock through the picture window. But there was another large group who were repelled by this kind of behavior and organized to help levittown accept its first negro neighbors. The vast majority of levittowners went peacefully about their daily activities but at the stores, in the schools and on the front lawns, levittowners discussed the matter. I first read a small article in the newspaper that the first colored family had moved into this community, and following that, why, i began to hear on the radio or read in the newspaper that there was some disturbance around this home that these people had bought. What was your initial reaction . I was terribly shocked to find that there was people in the community who would be so violently opposed to it. I rather thought that everyone would just accept it as i would. Was the community prepared in any way for the entrance of the first negro family into allwhite levittown . Well, there was an attempt by a group of ministers who formed a group called the Human Relations Council, and they were just Getting Started on their work. I dont know how they expected to ultimately accomplish the purpose of educating everyone, but i know that they had an open forum one time, and just within the last three or four months, and the results of it were published in the paper. Do you feel it was effective . No, im afraid it was just a drop in the bucket. Not many people read or were aware of the article or the meeting that preceded it. Although there had been little interest in the Human Relations Council some weeks before, the meyers became the topic of conversation for the people of levittown within a few hours of their arrival. In the absence of fact and authoritative information on a situation like this, rumor and gossip sweep through the community. As the stories pass from one person to another, because hardly anybody knows the truth, whatever has said becomes the fact. O i heard lots of rumors. I was busy telling people not to believe them. What kind . Well, that they had been sponsored chiefly, i think, people resented, after they heard this rumor, that some outside group had deliberately moved these people in, that they were sponsored and paid by an outside group to do this very thing. And i had been told on Good Authority that that wasnt true at all. And so i told people that it wasnt true. Do you feel that understanding the facts of the situation will help . Oh, yes, im do. Im sure that a more reasonable attitude will prevail in this community i have great faith in the people here, and that theyll soon find out there is nothing to be afraid of. Some view the incident calmly and indicate acceptance of the fact, but for others, the meyers moving in to levittown constitutes an infringement of their own liberties. Under the impact of this situation, they react with anger and force. What they say reveals their deepest fears and frustrations. Why did you select levittown to live . We were looking for a place to buy a home. We looked at levittown and we liked the homes here. We liked the advantages that levittown seemed to offer in comparison to other cities, and we understood it was going to be all white. We were very happy to buy a home here. How about your children, have you talked to them about the meyers . We have tried to keep the discussions away from the children. I figure i feel that its something that we adults should solve without bringing the children into it any more than we have to. Were doing it for the children, but i dont feel that they are old enough to understand the problem as it is. Do you think a negro Family Moving here will affect the community as a whole . Definitely. In what way . I think the Property Values will immediately go down if theyre allowed to move in here in any number. Can you give a basis for that judgment . Yes. We used to live in washington, d. C. , and we saw a very good example of that before. A repetition of an experience that was distasteful. Is there to be no escape from living near negroes . And what of the dream of middleclass respectability . If a negro family can afford what you can afford, how do you justify your feeling of superiority . The illogic of ones own position becomes apparent. And the old tribal myths are invoked. What other objections, aside from the effect on Property Values do you have against the meyers . The whole thing centers around the word integration. As mr. Meyers said, his home has been anything but peaceful since he moved in. He has three children. And evidently he feels they be accepted socially. And i dont feel they ever will be. But the whole trouble with this integration business is that in the end, it probably will end up with mixing socially. And youll have well, i think their aim is mixed marriages, and becoming equal with the whites. But the only way theyre going to do that is by education and by bettering themselves, not by pushing in the way they have here. Do you intend to move . At the time, no. Its a pretty impossible situation. We have our home here, and if the colored move in and run real estate values down, there are a lot of us, the g. I. S particularly, who are going to be more or less stuck with their homes. As the lines are drawn, those on either side become more adamant. Tension develops and feeds on suspension and mistrust. What has been the effect of the meyers coming here . Well, its created a great deal of tension. Not among the neighbors, because we all feel the same. But its naturally made everyone tense in their home. I mean, this is affecting our homes. And its bound to create tension. Its a subject thats talked about all the time. But there are others who are for the meyers . Yes, ive read about them. For what reason do you think they support the meyers . Frankly, i dont know what reasons they can have for it. If theyre homeowners in levittown, i dont see what reason they could have for it. Do you think the meyers will be able to live here comfortably . Comfortably, no. What course of action are you willing to follow . Ill do what i can to help, to get them out legally and peacefully. And as far as accepting them socially, if thats what you mean, i could never do that. To take sides in such a situation is more than a matter of ones own conscience. For those who believe, a man has a right to live anywhere he wishes, the answers are simple and straightforward. Has this affected your relationship with neighbors . No, we discussed it freely. Weve found people for and against, but weve tried to keep it being discussed. That was the important thing. Have you heard any rumors . Many. Many. I wont repeat them because i dont like to repeat rumors. I dont think it is fair to keep them alive. Do you think rumors contributed to the reaction of those opposing the meyers . Surely they did, but we had some very interested citizens here who pledged themselves to a factfinding group, and they tried to dissolve those rumors as quickly as they were started, by facts. Do you think the meyers will be able to live comfortably in levittown . I think so. I hope so. I think the majority of people here will grow accustomed to it and realize that, oh, they can be Good Neighbors, which im sure they are. And i think the majority of people here are not well, the Violent Group that we have heard so much about. Do you think the meyers staying in levittown will affect Property Values . I dont think the meyers have anything to do with the property decreasing or increasing. I think it is purely a white problem, not a negro problem. In what way . I think it is the feeling of the Majority Group which will influence the properties, not the minority group. Those who want an integrated Community Take their stand based on their own deep feelings of what a community should be. Do you feel that the meyers will lead to large numbers of other negr os coming here . No, i dont think so. I think there will probably be a normal entrance, and not a deluge. People who want these homes will come here. Its not what people say influx. There will be no such thing. There will be a normal i hope, because i would like to see an integrated group here. And i would like to see, well, my child, and i hope my children go to and live in a group that is representative of the world. And not being an integrated group that it is not now representative of society. Of course, we will discuss this. Of course we just said that the answer to the problem is eventually when you find that there are no more areas to which a white person can move without having a negro family in, that would be the best end that there could be to segregation and is probably something that will happen in the future, perhaps in the near future. For some, the answer is tremendously complicated. Tied up in a maze of past associations and present influences. Sometimes opinions are expressed with grave misgivings and a sense of guilt. The past slips through despite what is said. Some of the people are definitely against integration. And they have told my children that they have to marry niggers. My child doesnt even know what a nigger is. But from the sound, it has scared them and they have come home, just crying. Mommy, do i have to marry neg negroes . And my answer is you can marry whomever you wish. By the way, we both seem to be below the masondixon line. Where do you come from . I came from kentucky. Have you known any negroes before you came to levittown . My father had a business in an area where there were several colored people. And i can honestly say one of my best friends was a colored girl. And as children have no prejudice, we became very close friends. And in her later years, she has become a registered nurse and trying very hard to raise her children in a clean atmosphere. And we have talked now, since we both have been married, and its such a disadvantage to see her children try to grow up healthy, in the atmosphere that they have to live in. A personal relationship and sympathy with a negro that is trying to improve her circumstances seems to make a difference. I have found several colored people that i have enjoyed their friendship. I would not let that determine whether i become friends with them, by the color of their skin. Have you heard any rumors . I had heard several rumors of which i had just taken as rumors go, but the one that bothered me most was the fact that the Meyers Family has moved in to several allwhite sections and trying to be the first colored family to move in, to start the other ones to come in. That they have done this before. Now i believe that if they do come here to cause trouble, im against what theyre doing. Their principles. But if theyre just trying to find a better place to live and bring up their children, then im for them. There are those that live in levittown that like it and intend to stay. They have no intention of affording the same privilege to the meyers. Some of them find it more comfortable to talk in a group. Youre aware that a negro family has moved into levittown . Yes, i heard about it. What was your reaction . Dynamite. Dynamite. What have you done about it . I guess we just discussed it. How do you feel about the meyers moving in . Im definitely against it. Before coming to levittown, had you had any contact with negroes . Well, i came from a small town where we didnt have any colored people. At that time, i had no feelings either way. While we were waiting for our house to be built, we lived in trenton for nine months and, well, that was my First Contact with them, beth in work and going through colored sections to work. And i was very happy i was moving into an allWhite Community. Have you ever discussed the meyers at home with your children . Never before in our house was anything mentioned pro or con about colored people. Because i feel that they have to be in contact with them to a certain extent, and why should their minds be prejudiced . But since they have moved here, they have heard remarks. And, well, im afraid to say that ive grown to dislike the idea. There were colored children in the school my son attended last year for the first time, and he often came home and said there had been trouble between them during the day at school. It becomes convenient to exaggerate ones own fears and help a neighbor increase hers. My boy likes sports and he used to go down every saturday with a few boys from the neighborhood. And there was an argument that occurred, Something Real silly. My boy and a colored boy got in an argument. Well, from that time on, for the whole remainder of the summer, the boy was afraid to go down there, because the colored boys got a gang together. And every time they would get near my jimmy, they would beat the devil out of him. I went to the principal and everything about it. A major factor is fear. Fear of economic loss, loss of status, fear of violence, and fear of intermarriage. Do you think other negro families will come to levittown . Definitely. Yes. What do you think happen . Just what is happening already. There was a rumor i read in the paper where they have two colored School Teachers now in levittown. Thats just a good example of what is going to happen. What is wrong with that . I do not like that. I have two daughters and two sons. If there is too many colored people around here, i definitely will get out. I dont want them associating with colored people, period. Im very definitely against mixed marriages and that is eventually what it will come to. If children are raised together theyre not going to think anything of marrying together. I just could not live beside them. I dont feel they should be oppressed, but i moved here, one of the main reasons, was because it was a White Community. And that is the only place that i intend to live. If i have to leave levittown i will do so. For some levittowners, the basic issues have nothing to do with intermarriage, Property Values, loss of status, fear of crime, neighborhood decline or of being in the minority. They saw it as a test of democracy. What was your reaction to the meyers moving in . I was happy to see this become more of an American Community. There seems to be a large Group Opposed to the meyers. What would be your attitude toward them . I dont know if there are large groups of people opposed to the meyers. After all, we have some, i dont know, i guess close to 60,000 people. Those mobs are more than 500 or 600 people. I think if you go down to a Shopping Center you would have seen 100,000 people at the Shopping Center. Those who are violently opposed to them moving in, they are engaging in what they were engaging in. You dont think then that a large majority is against the meyers moving in . Thats not true. I know some of the immediate neighbors right here. Are right here. I would not hazard a guess as to who is opposed or for. I dont they is the main issue involved in this case anyway. What is the main issue . The main issue is the right of these people to live like americans. To be accepted as Good Neighbors. What are you going to do about it . I intend to try to be a Good Neighbor. Do you feel that the meyers coming to levittown will lead to large numbers of other negroes coming here . I dont know. Do you think the meyers will be able to live here comfortably . I think it will take a little time, but i think they will eventually. Have you heard any rumors about the meyers . Dozens and dozens of rumors. What kind . That he was being paid by the naacp. That the reds were behind it. That the jews were behind it. That this group and that group were behind it. There was all kinds of rumors. I guess some were being spread deliberately, some were just a result of his teara. Theres all kinds of malicious rumor. Some were so ridiculous you couldnt see how people could accept them, but in the atmosphere some people did accept them and spread them. What course do you think the future of levittown will take . Well, i tell you, i dont think levittown san island. Its part of the usa and i think it will integrate like the rest of the country. In levittown there are those who believe that the rights and privileges of citizenship long to all, regardless of their race, color and creed. And there are those who believe in equality, too, but in a somewhat more limited sense. In my business, whoever has money and good credit or wants to pay cash, can buy a car there is no discrimination, or. Color, or anything of that sort. Has it affected your home life . Personally, not my home life whatsoever. The average white person was four or five children. Lets put it this way. If the levittown is migrated in ho hoards of negroes that have a right to come here, pretty soon they will have a negro soninlaw. How would that look . Was it in his rights to live where he pleases . Im no better than them. They can go anywhere they want, they have god given rights in there. Being a Good American they have the rights to the civil rights. They have the right to the pursuit of happiness. By the same token, we have mixed communities, and its a proven fact that those mixed communities are over a third empty. He could have stayed there. He had a beautiful town there. The only reason that mr. Meyers came into levittown was to show people he could get here. It wasnt that he wanted to come to levittown. My personal opinion is this. There is something bigger behind this. Is that your personal opinion only or is it a fact . No, i would say its a fact. I would tell anybody, and i mean anybody, i would tell them in a meeting, including the gentleman at the head of this committee for bringing mr. Meyers here i would tell him. When did you first hear of meyers moving in . I heard that he was having coffee in a restaurant where he worked as a utility man, dishwasher, i dont know. It was supposed to be a parttime job. I see him 7 00 in the morning until 9 00 at night and then the paper said he was a engineer. Where did you hear it . Thats where i heard it, from the waitresses in there. They asked if i saw my new neighbors and i didnt care to discuss in public. What did you do . I didnt do anything. There you have it. An American Community currently in a moment of crisis. Neighbor set against neighbor, as they differ about what should be done about one negro and his family who have come to share with him the American Dream of a better way of life for their children. Many seem convinced that Property Values must decline when a community or a neighborhood becomes integrated. But studies which have been made prove the opposite to be true. Property values go up, provided theres no wave of panic selling. And even when there is panic, after the situation is stabilized, prices climb back and frequently go even higher than they were when the initial sale to the negro was made. Does the integration of negroes into a White Community result in a higher rate of crime, violence or juvenile delinquency . Not at all. They show a lower incidence of crime than average for the general population. Is intermarriage the ultimate goal of negroes in seeking to integrate into previously White Communities . The studies show that of all the reasons negroes have for seeking equality, intermarriage is the least. And of all the fears that whites express, this is the greatest. Negroes seek only the right to buy or rent the kind of housing on the open market which they can afford. This basic principle of Free Enterprise system, of which we are justly proud, is now denied to them in many communities. The exclusion of negroes from White Communities and the restriction to all negro neighborhoods fixes ideas about them that are carried over from generation to generation. These false notions cause the abandonment by the white population of large areas in our great cities at a tremendous cost to the nation. Aided by prosperous, postwar economy, negr oechlts have heldt to their wartime gains and sought to improve their lot in life. Advances against discrimination have been made in many fields. A larger class has grown up. Able, ambitious, and confident. These families are determined to leave the old, densely packed, segregated neighborhoods, and theyre economically able to do it. They have the money to buy their way out of the slums. What happened in levittown is merely the beginning of what is to follow in communities all over the country during the next few years. As negroes, like all other americans, get better education, better jobs and accumulate more savings. Can we prepare our communities to receive these new neighbors in dignity and peace . Or will we wreck our communities with violence and abandon them in panic . This is a challenge as levittowners sum it up for themselves. You cant take a middle of the stand here. Either youre for them or against them. I took a stand for peace, nonviolence, and no intimidation of the meyers. I have no prejudice against colored. Its just that i wouldnt like to have one as a neighbor. We will act towards them as we would any other neighbor. We will be friendly towards them and speak to them. I would not care to live in a community where the negroes would be living. I think the majority of the people here will accept things and believe, as i believe, that a Good Neighbor is not one whose color is white or black, just as a good citizen is such. Mr. Meyers and all the negroes have the right. Theyre as good as i am. The reason they came into levittown was to show people he could get here. I just feel that it is within their legal rights to move in here. And if they move in and theyre lawabiding citizens i have no complaints. If more colored are allowed to move in, levittown will go downhill. I dont think the meyers have anything to do with the property decreasing or increasing. I think that is purely a white problem, not a negro problem. The right of these people to live like americans, as they choose, be accepted as Good Neighbors. Weeknights this month, we feature American History tv programs to preview what is available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, we look at the American Revolution with historian John Buchanan and his book the road to charleston. It lead to the defeat of the british in south carolina. Watch at 8 00 p. M. Eastern and enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Tonight on the communicators, chief officer for policy for parler, amy peikoff. We believe it is the best approach when you talk about hate speech, misinformation, or anything else, to address the problems with more speech, not with any types of content restrictions. We act accordingly. Watch the communicators tonight at 8 00 eastern on cspan2. Next on reel america, from
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