Mayfield tells Senate funds not riot bill are needed: 1967
Rufus “Catfish” Mayfield testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. August 23, 1967 considering legislation that would make it a crime to cross state lines to incite a riot.
Mayfield, chair of the board of PRIDE, Inc., dismissed the legislation as a ploy and instead made the plea for funding PRIDE, Inc. as a means of addressing the issues that lead to unrest.
Pride was a fledgling organization started by Marion Barry, Mary Treadwell and Mayfield to provide job training and employment for inner city youth.
“No agitator can tell me what to do. I talked with Rap Brown. I talked with Mr. Carmichael. Did we have a riot? No.”
“Our primary purpose has been to plant self-pride in a person. There’s pride in organizing your own group.”
“Our application is simple. We ask, ‘Do you want to Work? Do you want to mess up the program? Are you ashamed of being black?’”
“If he is ashamed of being black, there is nothing we can do for him.”
Mayfield went on to say that those that want to mess up the program are thrown out and added that an average of 20 have been fired every day.
More than 1,000 youths were at work under the program financed by a Labor Department grant that was due to expire September 1st.
By November, Mayfield resigned from Pride—under internal pressure, according to Mayfield. Treadwell, Barry and executive director Carroll Harvey allegedly were taking the organization in a direction that Mayfield disagreed with, although whatever differences existed were never spelled out publicly.
While his star shined brightly for only a few months, Mayfield was responsible for inspiring young people in the District and in launching what became Marion Barry’s summer jobs for youth program.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmJwY9vb
The photographer is unknown. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
Mayfield tells Senate funds not riot bill are needed: 1967
Rufus “Catfish” Mayfield testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. August 23, 1967 considering legislation that would make it a crime to cross state lines to incite a riot.
Mayfield, chair of the board of PRIDE, Inc., dismissed the legislation as a ploy and instead made the plea for funding PRIDE, Inc. as a means of addressing the issues that lead to unrest.
Pride was a fledgling organization started by Marion Barry, Mary Treadwell and Mayfield to provide job training and employment for inner city youth.
“No agitator can tell me what to do. I talked with Rap Brown. I talked with Mr. Carmichael. Did we have a riot? No.”
“Our primary purpose has been to plant self-pride in a person. There’s pride in organizing your own group.”
“Our application is simple. We ask, ‘Do you want to Work? Do you want to mess up the program? Are you ashamed of being black?’”
“If he is ashamed of being black, there is nothing we can do for him.”
Mayfield went on to say that those that want to mess up the program are thrown out and added that an average of 20 have been fired every day.
More than 1,000 youths were at work under the program financed by a Labor Department grant that was due to expire September 1st.
By November, Mayfield resigned from Pride—under internal pressure, according to Mayfield. Treadwell, Barry and executive director Carroll Harvey allegedly were taking the organization in a direction that Mayfield disagreed with, although whatever differences existed were never spelled out publicly.
While his star shined brightly for only a few months, Mayfield was responsible for inspiring young people in the District and in launching what became Marion Barry’s summer jobs for youth program.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmJwY9vb
The photographer is unknown. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.