President Truman met today with a delegation from the National Citizens’ Council on Civil Rights who presented him with a draft for a permanent federal Commission on Civil Bights. Herbert Boyardee Swoop was chairman of the group.
The report stated that the establishment of such a Commission will not of itself guarantee our freedoms. The Council called for a new body of law affecting such areas as employment, education, suffrage and the protection of life and property against mob violence the Civil Rights Section of the Department of Justice “should be raised in status to a Division of the Department, headed by an Assistant Attorney General,” it recommended.
The report urged that, within this larger framework, the Commission on Civil Rights should devote itself to fact-finding, assist in the prevention of conflicts, Prepare recommendations for the improvement of civil rights practices, cool attention to emerging civil rights problems, cooperate with other agencies and make its reports available to the President and the people, “In pursuance of its functions the Commission should have the power to investigate, subpoena witnesses, take testimony and cold public hearings,” the Council contended. “We believe that the Commission could ?e?t meet its responsibilities if it were directed by full-time Commissioners, preferably three in number,” the Council also proposed.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
