Normally, a complaint filed with the State Commission on Human Rights - especially one about a realtor - would be adjudicated rather quietly, but the summer of 1964 was far from normal. People aired their views more freely than they had in the past, and they took action. And so, once this complaint was filed, the realtor's office on Old Country Road was picketed. Counter-pickets also appeared, and over eight days they yelled racist chants, harassed the first pickets, tried to incite onlookers, and even threw rocks. A squad of helmeted riot police was needed to thwart their efforts to perpetrate assault. In the end, negotiations ended the conflict. Hicksville had refused to be drawn into violence.
Decades later, when Delores Quintyne (a veteran Long Island civil rights activist) looked back at her life, she wrote that the demonstrations in Hicksville were "the only time I was ever afraid on a picket line.
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The Flammable 60s
If you were old enough to read a newspaper in the early 1960s, what you read could be frightening. For readers not that old, I'll try to "set the stage" as simply as possible.
NOTE: In 1964, news media could be blunt. The phrases "hate speech" and "politically correct" had yet to be coined. News reports often quoted people verbatim, no matter how vehement or offensive their language was.
***
All Men Are Created...
Obviously, even before Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, immigrants who had fled the Old World for America felt that personal liberty was essential, and they understood the risks of not extending it to everyone. Just as obviously, however, even some of those who espoused liberty for all still "owned" slaves. Life is complicated today, and it was complicated back then.
After World War II, a growing number of Americans wanted their country to do more to address its traditional social inequalities; they wanted it to renew its ideals. They viewed the Declaration and the Constitution as having laid the foundation of a national social conscience. Although this movement was not universal, it was largely mainstream - even Walter P. Kellenberg, Bishop over all the Roman Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk, wrote a pastoral letter which urged them to come to a better understanding of "matters of inter-racial and social justice."
By the mid-1960s, the children of many of these Americans were growing into adults, and most of them embraced their parents' principles. There was a resurgence of folk music, which encouraged these young Americans, and furnished them with new anthems. By the time I was a junior (1962-1963) at Hicksville High School, a number of my fellow students regularly wore pin-on buttons in support of social causes. For example, the little "equality" pin shown below signified concern for social justice with regard to people of other races.
7/8" Equality Button
oldpoliticals.com
Other buttons might indicate sympathy with political parties (whether liberal, mainstream, or conservative), or with organizations dedicated to improving social conditions through activism. Of particular relevance to this article is the fact that some Hicksville students wore buttons in support of the activist Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
In short, a great many young Americans felt so strongly about politics and social justice that they wore their hearts on their sleeves (well actually, pinned to their collars and their sweaters). In school, they were willing to discuss their beliefs and engage in restrained debate.
***
Where have all the buttons gone....
In 1963, news photos of the March on Washington had led me to believe that a great many Americans were willing to make public their feelings on social reform. Only a year later, when I graduated from high school, did I begin to notice that there were not very many buttons in the "real world." People kept their views to themselves.
I also realized that I had left behind the realm of restrained debate. In school, I had not fully appreciated the risk of publicly divulging one's positions on issues. Now, the headlines of the day were increasing that appreciation, one news item at a time.
March on Washington, August 1963
Wikipedia.org
Typical news from the summer of 1964
Daily News and Newsday
Again and again, the news taught me more about the world I had once thought I knew. In an age in which the color of one's skin mattered so much, it should not have surprised me that so many people's beliefs, character, and integrity proved to be only skin deep.
The first Baby Boomers now were reaching adulthood, and many of them wanted to translate their idealism into social progress. But there was a long-standing reason that such progress was overdue: there always were, and always would be, people who opposed it zealously. Confrontations would be inevitable.
***
According to the Newspapers...
Day 1: Tuesday, July 28th
At about 6:15 PM, picketing organized by the Congress of Racial Equality began in front of the Vigilant Associates realty office at 234 Old Country Road, near the Center Shops plaza. The pickets varied in age; the group included both blacks and whites. During the picketing, their number fluctuated between 12 and 22. They carried signs urging that racial bias be ended, and that existing laws be upheld. The pickets were led by Lincoln Lynch, the ranking CORE member on Long Island.
At least two white clergymen would join the picket line: Rev. Domenic K. Cianella of Hicksville's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, and Father John Murphy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center.
Vigilant's President told reporters that the allegations which had prompted the complaint were untrue.
A smaller group of young counter pickets appeared. They made their motives crystal clear, shouting out what was written on their signs: Vote for Barry, and Would You Want Your Daughter to Marry A N---r? The next day's news reports pointed out that they had misspelled the 'N word' on their placards.
Day 2: Wednesday, July 29th
CORE began picketing began at 6:00 PM, but it ended early, only about two hours later, because of rain. There were 20 pickets, most of them white.
The opposition's original young pickets now were joined by a number of adults, who swelled their ranks to about 40. The misspelled 'N word' had been crossed out, replaced by the word Negro on the original signs, but it reappeared (spelled correctly) on new ones. The adults in the picket line were loud and vituperative. Newsday reported their taunts, including Back to Africa! N---rs Stay Out of Hicksville! and Get Your Spears!
Police likely prevented violence from breaking out when the counter demonstrators tried to penetrate the CORE picket line.
Day 3: Thursday, July 30th
As before, the CORE pickets slowly walked an oblong route. A crowd of about 125 had gathered to watch. There were fewer counter demonstrators than the day before. After a while, one of them suddenly jumped into the center of the CORE route, jostling the pickets as they passed him. Again, police intervened to keep the groups separate.
A counter picket pushes his way between CORE pickets; Lincoln Lynch is on the right
Newsday, July 31, 1964
Once back among the counter pickets, the man tried to incite the crowd to action, shouting Let's run 'em out of here! Another in his group shouted Go Home, Monkeys! at the predominantly white CORE pickets. These two men proudly gave their names and addresses to reporters, and Newsday printed them. They were residents of Hicksville. In response to a phoned-in bomb threat, police searched the realtor's offices.
Lincoln Lynch told the press more about the protest's origin. Black and white prospective clients had separately visited Vigilant; the black client was not told about local homes that were shown to the similarly qualified white client. The human rights complaint had been filed days before, but problems with its wording were discovered, and it was being re-filed to correct them. Picketing would continue.
For its part, Vigilant announced that it was bringing a libel suit against CORE itself, and also against the individuals who had participated in establishing its test case.
Day 4: Friday, July 31st
The counter pickets arrived first, and they decided to walk the route that COREhad walked previously, thereby blocking access to Vigilant just as effectively as their opponents had. Lincoln Lynch set up his pickets nearby, in the parking lot. Several white high-school aged girls left the crowd (which numbered almost 1,000) to walk with CORE.
The counter demonstrators seemed to be in a party mood. Eventually, they formed a conga line, which snaked happily into the parking lot, effectively abandoning their picket route. Lynch's group immediately tried to reclaim it; their opponents ran back, and a shoving / shouting contest ensued. Out of nowhere, police vans appeared. 50 steel-helmeted "special events" police intervened in the skirmish. With the police presence now doubled, calm was restored.
A young man in the crowd told reporters that he was forming an independent "anti-CORE" group. Another man distributed John Birch Society literature that promoted the aggressive use of dogs by police.
Many families stood in the crowd, the parents choosing to let their children witness how events were unfolding. The racist shouts - including the chilling Lynch Lincoln! - persisted, but the crowd rarely responded to them either way. Now and then, someone would shout support for Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.
Day 5: Saturday, August 1st
MISSING!
Alas, the primary source for this timeline is an archive of newspapers, in which Newsday plays a vital part. As Newsday did not publish a Sunday edition in this era, it made no report on Saturday's events. Although Associated Press stories about these events appeared in newspapers across the country, I have yet to find any report of what happened on this day.
Day 6: Sunday, August 2nd
New York Daily News, August 3, 1964
On Sunday, the usual CORE picket line was in place. Again, a number of white female students (they said that they attended school in Hicksville) assembled in the crowd, and then walked as a group to join the pickets. In all, there now were about 50 people on the picket line.
At first, the opposing pickets seemed better organized. Despite the heat, the young women wore dresses and heels, and the young men wore dress shirts and neckties; some of them even wore suits. The group's leader (an onlooker who did not picket) told reporters that they had decided to "look presentable" in order to attract more support from adults. As time went by, however, the suits and ties gave way to jeans and undershirts, and the dresses were replaced by tops and - per the news report - "tight stretch pants." One picket wore a pointed white hood; another carried a sign urging support for the Ku Klux Klan, his sign spelling the organization's name incorrectly.
Crowd size was estimated at 700; news reports said the people were quiet most of the time. Some of the young counter pickets carried a large Confederate States battle flag; occasionally, one of them would run out beyond the picket areas, holding it aloft, and receive scattered cheers. At other times, a few people in the crowd would jeer the counter demonstrators' shouts.
Both picket lines, August 2, 1964
from Verga, Civil Rights on Long Island
As the hours passed, the counter pickets garnered increasing vocal support from the people in the crowd who were closest to them. The next morning's news reports said that by the end of the evening (the pickets always left at 11:00 PM), they had amassed a solid cohort of vocal supporters, hundreds strong, which apparently was led by "young white toughs."
As always, when the picketing ceased, Lincoln Lynch started walking to his car. The cohort then began to chant N---r!, N---r! and it surged mob-like through the police lines, heading for him. It was stopped by a cordon of helmeted special police. Frustrated to be kept away from Lynch, some in the crowd threw eggs, rocks, and shards of glass at the police. Two men, one from Hicksville, and one from East Meadow, were arrested. A white onlooker claimed that a black policeman had assaulted him with a nightstick, but no witnesses or evidence substantiated the charge.
It seemed obvious that the end-of-evening attempt to assault Lynch had been orchestrated beforehand, and that the sympathizers had planned in advance to congregate in that spot. The mixed crowd of quiet onlookers had not spontaneously decided to take sides and indulge in violence. It is interesting to contemplate what might have happened had the police in fact used attack dogs when they were set upon by the very people who had recommended them.
Reported in the next day's news, almost as an afterthought, was the most significant development to date. A group not otherwise identified, but referred to as the Hicksville Human Rights Committee, had started the process that would be needed to establish a dialogue between Vigilant and CORE.
Day 7: Monday, August 3rd
The two men who had been arrested on Sunday were being held without bail, having pled guilty to disorderly conduct. One of them, a white anti-CORE picket, had also entered a guilty plea when charged with 3rd degree assault on the black policeman who arrested him.
Sunday's tensions continued on Monday evening. There were 900 onlookers, 50 CORE pickets, and 40 opposing pickets. Newsday noted that among the latter there were only a few adults, perhaps 10 at the most.
One man in the crowd sat atop a friend's shoulders, waving an anti-CORE sign, publicly (and illegally) drinking liquor from an open bottle. Eventually, he was arrested for disorderly conduct, at which point perhaps 200 people screamed at the police: Who are you for... the n---rs? The partisan crowd unsuccessfully tried to again break through the police barricades. A girl of 16, also sitting atop someone's shoulders and yelling, fell to the pavement. She would require treatment at Meadowbrook Hospital. Meanwhile, another bomb threat was called in to distract the police.
As all this was happening, negotiations were being conducted elsewhere. It was revealed that two meetings on Sunday, called by the County Executive, had failed to reach a solution. On Monday, inside the Vigilant offices, the Regional Director of the Commission for Human Rights had met with the company's President and other executives. Independently, CORE had brought forward an eight-point program to end bias by all realtors.
Day 8: Tuesday, August 4th
During the day, representatives of Vigilant and CORE met face-to-face in county offices in Mineola. The counter-pickets, who had expressed no interest in being at the table (or in resolving matters), did not participate in the negotiations, but two clergymen and an unspecified number of county officials did. At the end of the day, both sides agreed that "considerable progress" had been made. For now, the picketing would continue.
More people than ever gathered that night along Old Country Road. Estimated at more than 1,000, the crowd was unusually quiet. There were at least 100 CORE pickets, and nearly as many counter pickets. A news photograph showed one of the latter, wearing a jacket with a large patch. It showed an Equality Button with a diagonal line struck through the equal sign.
The number of police had been increased to 125. There were no critical "incidents." For whatever reason - perhaps the earlier arrests, the start of negotiations, the increased police presence, or the utter failure of past attempts to incite violence - no onlooker or picket tried very hard to agitate the crowd.
Newsday, August 5, 1964
Day 9: Wednesday, August 5th
There was almost no picketing on Wednesday night. At 4:30 that afternoon, following about 24 hours of continuous negotiations, the adversaries reached an agreement. The resolution was straightforward, and to some extent, far-reaching. Both sides voiced enthusiastic approval.
CORE withdrew its complaint, called off its picketing, and agreed to in the future give any realtor three days' notice in which to resolve problems before it picketed.
Vigilant Associates agreed to "continue to observe the State law," to inform its salespeople about the law, to discontinue its lawsuits against CORE and its members who had taken part in the test case, and to use the words Fair Housing Brokers in certain of its advertisements.
The Nassau County Commission on Human Rights agreed to place the following advertisements in newspapers:
Newsday, Aug 6, 1964
Not aware of the settlement, about 15 counter pickets showed up in front of the realtor's offices on Wednesday evening. Seeing no CORE pickets or crowd, and told that the dispute had been settled, they grew angry - not at CORE, but at Newsday, for having portrayed them in such a poor light.
So they made new signs, which said things like Hicksville Thanks Newsday For Its Slander, and they picketed for a while, but nobody cared. Their time in the spotlight was over.
***
Afterthoughts
Writing this was difficult, for I was present as an observer on some of the nights, and the memory still evokes strong feelings. I have tried to let the facts speak for themselves. I chose to omit names, except for the people whom I believe would still take pride in the roles they played.
*
Perhaps this next point does not matter, but I feel compelled to add it, lest my writing mislead readers about Arizona's Sen. Barry Goldwater. His rather disastrous 1964 Presidential campaign, largely managed by GOP "insiders," left many people with the impression that Goldwater was a racist. He was not.
In 1964, Goldwater wanted to openly repudiate the KKK's offer of support for his campaign, but the Republican Party overruled him. Coming from Phoenix, which was still segregated at that time, he chose not to publicize the fact that for years, he had personally financed efforts by blacks in Arizona to organize, in order to work towards improving their social standing. Although he initially opposed the new Civil Rights Act on constitutional grounds, national events later led him to give it his full support.
Had Barry Goldwater been present at Hicksville during those eight days, he doubtless would have felt greater kinship with Lincoln Lynch than with the counter demonstrators.
***
Sources
- Newsday, all editions from July 29, 1964 through August 8, 1964, inclusive
- Associated Press reports for the same period, as found in the Salamanca Republican-Press and in the Amsterdam Evening Recorder and Daily Democrat
- New York Daily News, August 3, 1964
- Obituary for Lincoln Lynch, Newsday, October 26, 2011
- Long Island: Our Story, Joye Brown, 'The Movement' for Equality
- Long Island Historical Journal, Fall 1996, Charles F. Howlett, The Long Island Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Part Two, 'The Struggle to Integrate Schools and Housing'
- Civil Rights on Long Island, Christopher Claude Verga
- Wikipedia.org, various articles
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