By Dr. George D. Flemmings Nationa President Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Press Release
December 14, 1955

Cite this item
-
Press Releases, Loose Pages. By Dr. George D. Flemmings Nationa President Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., 1955. 135a4227-bc92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/ba988eaa-c348-4c74-bc35-9c9cb6b6674f/by-dr-george-d-flemmings-nationa-president-phi-beta-sigma-fraternity-inc. Accessed April 28, 2025.
Copied!
PRESS RELEASE® a NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 107 WEST 43 STREET + NEW YORK 36, N. Y. © JUdson 6-8397 ARTHUR B. SPINGARN ose THURGOOD MARSHALL 5 ‘¢ Director and Counsel President ROBERT L. CARTER ROY WILKINS Assistant Counsel Secretary ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS ARNOLD de MILLE Press Relations Treasurer FOR RELEASE: Upon receipt December 1h, 1955 NOTE TO EDITOR: This is another in a series of articles written by outstanding leaders in American life supporting the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. in its efforts to obtain through the courts full citizenship and "equal justice under law" for all Negro Americans. DR. eed 3. FLEMMINGS National President Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. People throughout the world know that on May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court declared that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, Then on May 31, 1955, the Court further stated that all school dis- tricts must integrate public schools as soon as feasible. To the NAACP Legal Defense Fund which spearheaded the fight, this was a momentous victory. The cases were won, but the fight has not been won, and will not be won as long as Negroes and other minority groups are discriminated against in any phase of our democratic structure. Intense and arduous labor on the part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has brought us far along the path of eliminating second-class citizenship. History and current events have demonstrated beyond ques- tion that the patriotic work of the organization is bringing the actions of this nation into conformity with its preachment and ereat historical documents of freedom and equality. It is giving greater stature to our nation and enhancing it as a moral force in international affairs, Legal victories, vast in their scope, have enabled us to envision suc- cess in our strucgle to be free by '63. In 1939 the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. was formed and incorporated. Its purposes were to render free legal aid to Negroes who suffer legal injustice because of their race or color and cannot afford to employ legal assistance; to seek and promote educa- tional opportunities denied to Negroes because of their race or color; ef s @ -2- to conduct research and publish information on educational facilities and inequalities furnished for Negroes out of public fundss The many victories the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has won to ensure first-class citizenship for the minority race is, in a very large measure, due to the efforts and contributions you, Mr. Average Citizen, have made to the Fund. But despite these victories there remains many years of intensive toil and labor, together with financial sacrifice. We shall meet these challenges with determination tempered and forti- fied with the knowledge that our cause is just and our methods legal and our devotion unwielding. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund assures any individual or group that every action in every sphere of human endeavor to eliminate every mani- festation of inequality based on race shall be meted out. It will work untiringly to eliminate job discrimination -- the right to work is the basic to man's existence. First on the must list on the Civil Rights Program of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is getting Congress to pass Fair Employment Practice Act -- with full enforcement powers. Your contribution to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund now means a guarantee for the right to vote -- every- one must have an equal right to vote if America is to be free. The free ballot is the cornerstone of democracy. Ask yourself a few pertinent questions. Are Negroes safer today from lynching than even a few years ago? Can Negroes live in better neighborhoods today than they could a few years ago? Are our teachers and children being given better advantages for equalization of educa- tional opportunities and better pay than ever before in the history of the world? Can Negroes today be served on dining cars where and when ever their appetites call for food without being humiliated or embar- passed to be seated behind a drawn curtain or in a cage separate and apart from the passengers of other racial groups? Can Negroes travel from one state to another in the Deep South without being forced to sit in a Jim Crow car? Can Negroes attend universities and colleges throughout the south today on the same bases as any other student, regardless of race or creed? The answer to all of these questions and a thousand or more others is YES.... and the organization which led the fight is the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. It has fought brains with breins, law ce . a =3= with law; it has harnessed the hearts, minds and hands of whites and Negroes into working for first-class citizenship for Negro Americans, and for the promotion of democracy. If the United States of America looks a little brighter and better before the world today, it is be- cause the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has won through the courts and forced the changes which now are taken for granted as a pert of the democratic American way of life. But gains and advancements do not last forever. Freedom is never free. Must be fought for over and over again. He who wins today may lose tomorrow, unless eternal vigilance is exercised. It is our duty to keep the Legal Defense Fund strong. Your contribution can secure its strength and help hold the gains made. The support from all liberal people means the necessary finan- cial strength. As you know, it takes money to hire lawyers, prepare cases for the Supreme Court, and conduct the educational programs which bring about changes and improvement in our status. Your contribution at this time is needed as an investment in our all-out struggle for complete democracy. With your help we cen make the final push now, or we shall stand at a later date once again We must work together as never before, so as to enable the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to achieve its objectives -- a great moral force which duty is to safeguard and promote the moral welfare and the political liberty of all Americans, Never in the history of the world has an organization done so much, with so little, for so many people as that of NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Dontt be a parasite. Do your part for freedom now. Make your contribution today to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 107 West 43rd Street, New York 36, N. Y. Oe [Editor's Note: Contributions to NAACP Legal Defense and “ducational Fund can be deducted from your income tax.