The New York State Commission Against Discrimination reported this weekend that it had received fifty per cent more complaints of bias in the first six months of this year than in the same period of 1956. Commission chairman Charles Abrams said the complainants charged that they were discriminated against in employment, housing or other places of public accommodation because of their race, religion or national origin.
Mr. Abrams said his agency received 502 complaints through June of this year compared to 332 complaints filed during the first six months of 1956. This year’s total so far exceeds the number of complaints filed in the entire twelve months of any previous year in the Commission’s twelve year history, with the exception of 1956.
Mr. Abrams attributed the rise in complaints to a greater awareness among minority groups of their rights under the law rather than to an increase in bigotry. He said that the discrimination complained of was found to exist in 14 per cent of the cases investigated this year which is considerably lower than the 27 per cent average over the last ten years.
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