Law Professor Asks City To Take Action on Rights

A Law School professor last night suggested that Cambridge sponsor a permanent committee to attack the city's civil rights problems.

James Vorenberg '49, head of the private Cambridge Civil Rights Committee, said in an interview that "I would much prefer to see a high-level, city-encouraged committee doing the same thing."

He reported that although his committee had made progress since its founding a little more than a year ago, there was little behind it "except the energy and resources of the people who come to our meetings." He stressed that the resources and prestige of the city administration were needed to speed action in civil rights.

Sources Not Symptoms

In a recent report of his committee's work, Vorenberg leveled mild criticism at the city. He asked that "the city take more responsibility in recognizing the problem Cambridge has in the civil rights area and in seeking ways to eliminate the sources of these problems rather than finding expedients to deal with the symptoms when they become visible or vocal."

Vorenberg stressed that any city-sponsored civil rights committee should be "action-oriented" and not limited to just "advisory" or "mediation" roles.

He said the most pressing need was to lay out an overall program to deal with problems of minority groups, particularly Negroes.

Vorenberg also criticized the emphasis of some Cambridge groups and individuals. "I don't think we should find our-selves so concerned with problems of building roads and buildings and of NASA and sycamores that we forget the human problems of civil rights," he said.

Outlining his own committee's work, Vorenberg emphasized three general problem areas: employment; communication between city and the Negro community; and housing.

The committee meets once each month. Among other things, it has handled some complaints of job discrimination, arranged a meeting between city officials and a neighborhood group in a predominantly Negro area, and reestablished a Fair Housing Committee for the city.

In the employment field, the committee is presently setting up a group to gather and disseminate job information. Vorenberg's progress report stressed that lack of information was one of the Negro's chief handicaps in the job market; last night, he suggested that, under city sponsorship, an information program could be more successful.

As for communication between the city and the Negro community, Vorenberg said last night that it is now only "sporadic" and there is a need for "considerable two-way communication."

In 1962, there were nearly 7000 Negroes living in Cambridge, representing about seven per cent of the population, according to statistics of the Cambridge Planning Board.