WE DO NOT APOLOGIZE:
August 19, 1964 letter from the Rochester Liberal Party to Mayor Frank Lamb

(Original newspaper clipping preserved in: Dr. Walter Cooper Papers, Box 4: Folder 16, Department of Rare Books/Special Collections)

WE DO NOT APOLOGIZE…

The lead editorial in the Democrat and Chronicle of Saturday, August 22, 1964, said Mr. Robert Cunningham, Chairman of the Monroe County Liberal Party, "owes an apology to the community” for "playing politics with a riot" in regard to the Liberal Party Letter to Mayor Frank Lamb.

The complete contents of the letter, which were not presented in either the editorial or the news columns of the Democrat and Chronicle, clearly show that this charge is completely unfounded.

We believe, our analysis and program for immediate action are of such importance to the future peaceful growth of our community that we herewith present, in full, the letter from Mr. Cunningham to the Mayor.

LIBERAL PARTY
15 ALVIN PLACE
ROCHESTER 7, NEW YORK

August 19, 1964
Frank Lamb, Mayor
City of Rochester
City Hall
Rochester, New York, 14614

Dear Mayor Lamb:

Some three weeks have  passed since violence erupted in our city. In these three weeks, innumerable statements have been issued attempting to explain why the violence took place. Mr. Mayor, of all these statements, only yours really goes to the heart of the problem. On Saturday, July 25, 1964, just a few hours after violence broke out in Roches­ter, New York, but more than a week after violence had erupted in Harlem and Brooklyn, you said, "Naturally I am shocked. It is unbelievable that such a thing could happen in Rochester".

We submit, Mr. Mayor, that this clear admis­sion of ignorance of the real conditions existing in our community by the highest elected officer of our community, goes to the very heart of the problem —in a manner that none of the other explanations even approach.

Mr. Mayor, violence broke out in Rochester for fundamentally the same reasons that it broke out in New York City and Jersey City and will break out in other communities in our nation—be­cause the Negro people have lost patience with a society and an elected officialdom which has re­mained ignorant of or indifferent to the intolerable conditions of second class citizenship imposed on them.

Mr. Mayor, you and the rest of the power structure of our city refused to listen to the words of warning. You preferred to believe your own propaganda about our "image". Well, the "image" is no more and the cancer that has been exposed in our inner city has already affected our entire so­cial and political body.

The Liberal Party of Monroe County, along with a considerable number of organizations and individuals who have understood the relation of the Civil Rights movement to the health of our society, repeatedly warned that failure to quickly eliminate the intolerable conditions faced by Negro citizens in housing, employment and education could result in a violent outbreak.

But, both the Republican and Democratic ad­ministrations failed to heed these warnings. You both have believed that you could keep the "lid on" by some lip service and with a bit of tokenism here and there. It didn't work and all our citizens —Negro and white—now suffer the consequences of years of neglect and indifference.

Mr. Mayor, when you walk down the streets and alleys of our 3rd, 5th, 7th, 11th and 16th Wards, are you proud of our city? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that the overcrowded slum and blight, obvious all around, was a breeding ground for violence? When you saw unemployed Negroes on the streets without hope and in despair of find­ing employment, didn't you understand that their frustration could give rise to violence?

When organized resistance to school integra­tion developed — neither you, Mr. Mayor, nor any other city councilman said a single word in defense of morality and educational responsibility. Do you think this indifference was conducive to respect for law and order?
Mr. Mayor, we could go on and on to cite the multitude of conditions that were present for all to see, which finally resulted in violence. Mr. Mayor, the conditions that resulted in violence still exist. Only the speedy elimination of these conditions can truly prevent future outbreaks. Nor can our society afford to wait for the time when all our citizens are enlightened on the civil rights question before tak­ing action.

It has been said that we have reached a time for specific proposals. We agree. But it should also be recognized that we are beyond the point where we can afford to play football with civil rights— appealing to those backward forces in our commun­ity who prefer to maintain the status quo — for narrow partisan political advantage. Our proposals are neither original nor new. We have made them in the past along with many others, but they were ignored. Let us hope they will be ignored no longer:

1. Immediately eliminate de facto segrega­tion in the public schools of Rochester.
2. Erect the 12,000 low rent housing units rec­ommended by the New York State Housing Administration in October, 1962. (This program was based upon the 1960 census figures—now hopelessly out of date). These units to be built throughout the entire city.
3. Strictly enforce the Building and Housing Codes with monthly publication of the names of landlords who do not take immediate steps to re­move violations. Establish offices of the Housing Bureau in the 3rd and 7th Ward areas where ten­ants can readily place complaints for immediate investigation.
4. Institute rent control to protect tenants from rent gouging.
5. Initiate immediate urban renewal programs toward the end of eliminating the blight and slum conditions in the heart of the city.
6. Enact a law requiring all firms doing busi­ness with the city to maintain non-discriminatory hiring practices.
7. Under the auspices of the Mayor, develop industry wide hiring and training programs, to in­clude employers and trade unions for the purpose of recruiting Negro workers and other unemployed -youth — supplementing the M.D.T.A. program, which can only point the way.
8. Undertake the rapid completion of the net­work of recreational facilities recommended in the Cumming Report of July, 1958 — for which you, Mr. Mayor, were principal protagonist on council until November, 1961.

Mr. Mayor, much has been said since the vio­lence erupted, about not rewarding lawlessness, and steps have been taken to deal more swiftly and decisively with future outbreaks. The proposals we have made are for the improvement of our whole society — because they deal with the elimination of the causes of the outbreaks. We do not propose rewards—we propose the protection of the indi­vidual rights, and the health and safety of everyone.

And finally, Mr. Mayor, you have the unique responsibility as the highest elected official in our community, of all our people, of being equally indignant against mass violence as well as against the thousands of lawless indignities, which every day do violence to your Negro constituents. The Presi­dent has declared war on poverty. Let us join him and declare war against all forms of lawlessness.

Very truly yours,
ROBERT G. CUNNINGHAM

Monroe County Committee of the Liberal Party
15 ALVIN PLACE   
ROCHESTER, N.Y. 14607

City Slandered in Riot Charge
Democrat and Chronicle lead editorial (Saturday, August 22, 1964)

The Liberal party’s county chairman, Robert G. Cunningham, charged in a letter, to Mayor Frank Lamb that the Democratic city administration ignored or was unaware of conditions that led to last month’s rioting.

Mayor Lamb replied by defending the adminstration’s record in housing, recreation and other fields.  Then he added: “It is simple to come forth with after-the-fact statements that have little basis in knowledge.”

The Mayor could have made it even stronger.  Mr. Cunningham in effect slandered tens of thousands of well-meaning, alert, hard-working Rochesterians.  A charge of the sort he made amounts to playing politics with a riot.  He owes an apology to the community, Negro and white, Democrats and Republicans.