Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4526333
label
14th Annual Fund-Raising Banquet, True Light Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, MI, October 23, 1970
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4526333
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
14th Annual Fund-Raising Banquet, True Light Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, MI, October 23, 1970
citationUrl
collections
Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Speeches
subjects
Affirmative action programs
African Americans
Presidential appointments
Welfare
iiifBase
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
4526333
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1970-10-31
month
10
year
1970
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1970-10-01
month
10
year
1970
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
url
mediaId
7ecdadf240d760c0
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "14th Annual Fund-Raising
Banquet, True Light Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, MI, October 23, 1970" of the Ford
Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential
Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Office Copy
NOTE: DICTATED TO GR
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY--
October 23, 1970
From the Office of Rep. Gerald R. Ford
The American people are committed to racial equality and blacks in America
are making substantial progress, Rep. Gerald R. Ford declared tonight.
Ford cited evidence of progress by blacks in a speech at the 14th annual
fund-raising dinner of the True Light Baptist Church.
Ford said gains in real income, education and standard of living have been
proportionately greater for blacks than for whites in recent years, that the
proportion of blacks earning middle incomes has more than doubled since 1950, and
that the proportion of black students in American colleges has increased more
than 50 per cent in the last two decades.
Pointing to black progress under the Nixon Administration, Ford listed
black appointments within the Administration, inauguration of the Philadelphia
Plan of minority group hiring, proposed changes in welfare and manpower training,
the Nixon proposal for health insurance for poor families, efforts at school
desegregation, and support for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Ford said President Nixon has named 64 per cent more non-whites to top
executive positions than the previous Administration. He also noted that although
Federal employment has been declining, the number of minority group members in
Federal jobs rose by about 4,600 from November 1967 to November 1969.
On the subject of school desegregation, Ford declared: "This has been a
very significant year. The volume of school desegregation this year has been
greater than for any other year since the Supreme Court ordered the end of dual
school systems in 1954."
Ford reported that 336 school districts were desegregated in 14 states this
year, as compared with only 55 during the previous school year. He added that in
1967 not quite 14 per cent of the black students in those states attended majority
white schools but that this year the estimate is 33 to 40 per cent.
Turning to black progress on the local scene, Ford cited Federal grants
of $638,430 for the Sheldon Complex, $640,781 for the West Side Comples,
$2,384,000 for the Model Cities program, and $72,893 for anti-poverty program
planning and youth development in low-income neighborhoods.
Ford said the Federal anti-poverty grants, school aid allocations, public
housing and parkland grants to Kent County for 1968 through 1970--grants which in
large measure benefited black citizens of Grand Rapids--add up to more than
$12 million.
###
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford at the 14th annual Fund-Raising Artiquet of the Copy True
Light Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.
7:30 p.m. DCT. 23, 1970
ONLY
READING COPY
MADE
Read
I am t aking my theme this evening from the name of your church, The True Light.
This very event, this fund-raising dinner, is a demonstration of the true
light. It is an outpouring of the love of people for God and the love of people
for each other. This, indeed, is the light that illuminates the world.
We have the true light in America in great abundance if we but look for it.
We have the true light in Grand Rapids in great quantity if we but open our
eyes to it.
Tonight I would like to help open the eyes of all our citizens to the true
that is shining
light
in America and in Grand Rapids.
It is a light that stands in sharp contrast with the
darkness spread by
those who preach the
doctrine of
racial hatred and violence.
It is
the light which can drive away the shadows cast by those who cry out that
only
by violent means can the black man attain equality in America.
In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1969, President Nixon said:
"To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white
together as one nation, not two."
The good people of America, the people who see the true light, are committed to
racial equality in the United States,
The good people of America recognize that the vast majority of black Americans
work every day, keep their children in school, pay their taxes and have never taken
part in a riot--but that the se honest, hard-working,
law-abiding black citizens
are being shouted down by a handful of black militants.
The good people of America are dedicated to progre SS for black Americans, and we
see ample
evidence of that progress all around us although there is still a
long road to travel.
Let's look at the record of that
progress. We look at that record and we can be proud.
We can be
proud that in recent years gains in real income, education and
standard of living have been proportionately greater for blacks than for whites.
We can be proud that the proportion of blacks earning middle incomes has more
than doubled since 1950.
We can be proud that the proportion of black students in American colleges has
increased more than 50 per cent in the last two decades.
There are other areas of black progre s--the number of black appointments in the
Nixon Administration, inauguration of the Philadelphia Plan, the proposed change in
welfare and manpower training, the proposal for health insurance for poor families,
-2-
increased support for black colleges, efforts at school desegregation, and support
for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Let me point out to you that President Nixon has appointed 64 per cent more
non-whites to top executive positions than the previous Administration.
Among t he many prominent blacks named to executive posts are Washington, D.C.,
Mayor
Walter Washington, Equal Opportunity
Commission Chairman William
Brown, Assistant Labor Secretary Arthur
Fletcher, Assistant Housing and Urban
Development Secretary Samuel Jackson, James Farmer at Health-Education-and- Welfare,
and many others.
At the level just below that of Cabinet secretary there are 102 Presidential
appointments of non-whites. This is an increase of five over the previous
Administration.
I would also point out to you that although the number
of Federal employes
is declining at this time the number of minority group members in the Government is
increasing.
During a two-year period--November 1967 to November 1969--Federal jobs dropped by
16,400 in 41 metropolitan areas. During the same period, however, minority group
employment in Federal jobs rose by about 4,600.
In the area of school desegregation this has been a very significant year.
The volume of school desegregation this year has been greater than that for any
year since the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the end of dual school systems in 1954.
Three hundred and thirty six school districts were desegregated in 14 states this
year under voluntary plans. Of these, 227 laiminated segregation altogether,
and 109 were
taking important steps toward complete desegregation in the
next school year.
These 336 school districts compare with only 55 desegregated during the previous
this shows
school year. So
that progress is
being
made.
A look at the percentage of black students in the 11 states still containing the
greatest number of dual school systems shows additional progress.
notquite
In
1967,
14 per cent of the black students in these states attended majority
white schools. This figure rose to 20 per cent in 1968.
astimates for
the
1970-71 school year range from 33 to 40 per cent.
This is real progress, and we can all be pleased that desegregation is taking place
with a minimum of disorder.
The Equal Opportunity Commission now is taking a new policy direction.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-3-
Under President Nixon, the budget for the EEOC has been more than doubled
compared with the previous Administration.
In
fiscal year 1968, the last full year of the
previous Administration,
the EEOC had a budget of $6.6 million. In the next fiscal year, 1969, the EEOC
budget was $9.1 million. In fiscal year 1970, the first full year of the Nixon
Administration, the EEOC had a budget of $13.5 million, more than twice the amount
spent during the last year of the previous Administration.
Commission Chairman William Brown points out t hat many of the EEOC's problems could
be traced to the meager budgets provided the commission during the previous Administra-
tion.
You have all heard of the Philadelphia Plan, which was developed by the Nixon
Administration to increase minority group employment in six higher-paying construction
trades in the
Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. You know the trouble the
Administration got into on account of the Philadelphia Plan. But the Administration
stuck
to its guns and made the Philadelphia Plan stick.
Now thei
Philadelphia Plan is being expanded to
18 other citiest in the
United States.
But of course the
Federal Government is encouraging hometown solutions to
the
minority
group employment problems that may exist in each area.
I have talked much this year about welfare reform. ⑆ I firmly believe we must
overhaul the present welfare system and convert it into a system that encourages
the idle to work,
improves the lot of the working poor, and keeps families
together.
That is the purpose of President Nixon's welfare reform program. It would create
a national floor of income support for poor families and yet would
offer the
incentive to work.
I also have great hopes for another Nixon reform--the consolidation of all Federal
manpower training and job placement programs. Legislation to implement this reform
will be enacted by the Congress yet this year. It will give the States and local
communities greater control over manpower training programs and will create a job
computer bank to match men with jobs.
I turn now to the
President's proposal for basic reforms in health care
four poor families. These reforms will be proposed as amendments to the welfare
reform program, the Family Assistance Act, by the middle of next February.
The new health insurance program will not discriminate against the working poor
and low-income male-headed families the way the present Medicaid system does.
LIBRARY
The new program will be graduated with respect to contributions from families
-4-
participating in the Family Assistance Program.
It would esgablish national standards for eligibility which would be uniform and
would provide a reasonable Federal floor of health benefits for poor families with
children.
These are among the areas of national progress for black Americans.
Now let us look much closer to home. Iet us consider the tremendous amounts of
Federal aid which have been channeled into Grand Rapids for the betterment of
black citizens
and the entire community.
The Federal Govemment provided
$638,430 to help finance the multi-purpose
neighborhood center known as the Sheldon Complex.
The Feder al Government provided $640,781 for the West Side Complex.
The Federal Government provided
$2,384,000 for the Grand Rapids Model
Cities Program aimed at
improving social, economic and physical conditions
within the
Model Cities area.
The Federal Government
last June 30 allocated
$72,893 for anti-poverty
program planning and youth development in low-income neighborhoods.
The Federal Government provided $2,792,760 for acquisition and development of
15 neighborhood school parks in Grand Repids--more than half of them in or near the
Model Cities area.
In fact, if one were to add up all of the Federal anti-poverty grants, school aid
public housing
allocations and parkland grants to
Kent County from 1968 through 1970--grants which
in large measure benefited the black citizens of Grand Rapids--the total would come to
more than $12 million. This is Federal aid entirely apart
from additional millions for urban renewal and sewer and water improvements.
So the good people of American are concerned about the underprivileged, and they
are working for the betterment of individual citizens and of our local communities.
And
blacks thoughout America are making progress, and they are making
progress in Grand Rapids.
Let me tell you now that the
finest
progress you can make is the progress you
make by yourselves--the progress illustrated by what you are doing here tonight.
-5-
Every time people like you get together under a good shepherd like Rev.
Patterson to raise money to pay off a church debt or otherwise work for community
advancement you are making progress and you are living the American dream.
Martin Luther King had a dream, and you here have a dream toog
you are making
it come true.
And
in crowining your queen
tonight you are saying she is
the best, she is tops in making the American
dream come true.
No ow there is one more thing I want to tell you. I want you to know that I
am a friend to all of you here and that my door is always open to you.
I have an office on Cherry Street, and if I am not there my assistant will be
there to help you with any problems you might have.
I am your congressman, and that means I am at your disposal. I will help you in
any way I can. Let us go forward together.
This.
As
are
I will
add
I said at the outset--blessed
those who have seen the
true light for that is the path to
happiness.
#######