Legal Drive on Against Inferior City Services in Negro Neighborhoods

    President 
Hon. Francis E. Rivers 

PRESS RELEASE Director Counsel 
egal efense und Jam Brosabey 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. OTs DeVece te 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6.8397 NiGHT NUMBER 212-749-6487 
St 

FOR RELEASE 
FRIDAY 
November 24, 1967 

LEGAL DRIVE ON AGAINST 
INFERIOR CITY SERVICES 
IN NEGRO NEIGHBORHOODS 

LDF Files Two Test Suits in Mississippi 

JACKSON---Two law suits seeking equal trash collection, paved streets, 
sidewalks, and fire hydrants for the Negro sides of towns were filed 
here this week by LDF attorneys. 

The Mississippi municipalities of Shaw and Itta Bena have been 
singled out by lawyers of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 
Fund, Inc. (LDF) as tests against a prevailing trend in many American 
cities. 

The novel suits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the 
Northern District of Mississippi. 

These cases were presented in behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew 
Hawkins, and others, of Shaw and in behalf of Scott Harris of Itta 
Bena. 

These two cases are part of a new LDF effort to counteract a 
residential pattern found across the entire South. The first suit, 
Coleman v. Aycock, was filed by private attorneys in 1965 but has 
subsequently been underwritten by the LDF. 

The LDF attorneys asked for a preliminary and permanent injunc- 
tion to compel the public officials of the two municipalities to: 

* pave the streets of the Negro neighborhoods with a quality of 
materials and workmanship comparable to those employed in 
paving the streets of white neighborhoods; 

* construct sidewalks and gutters in the Negro neighborhoods 
with materials and workmanship comparable to those employed 
in constructing sidewalks and gutters in the white neighbor-~ 
hoods; 

* construct and install fire hydrants, street lights, and 
sewerage and water facilities in the Negro neighborhoods so 
as to give their residents the equal benefits of such faci- 
lities as is afforded the white residents; 

collect trash and garbage in the Negro neighborhoods with the 
same frequency as it is collected in white neighborhoods. 

The LDF also asked that public officials be restrained from 
“expending any funds for the improvement or maintenance of any muni- 
cipal services or facilities furnished the residents of white neigh- 
borhoods until the facilities and services furnished the residents 
of Negro neighborhoods have been brought up to substantially the 
level now enjoyed by white residents." 

The civil rights lawyers also asked the municipalities in 
question to make “every effort to obtain the funds necessary for 
making the improvements" requested. 

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NOTE: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a separate and distinct organization from the NAACP, serving as the 
legal arm of the entire civil rights movement and representing mem- bers of all groups as well as unaffiliated individuals.