The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 16, Thursday, May 4, 1972, WHITBY FREE PRESS SpeC oi continued from page S I MS: "Okay Marie, do you find that b 1 a c k s who have not yet made it are jealous of your success?" MASON: "Blacks don't get an 'attitude' becse one of them has made It. They are glad and think you're 'super- bad'; 'cause if you can do it in spite of al1 t h e y did to o b s t ruct you, you sure enough deserve it. I mean. . .i" SIMS: "Ilt's a pity that photographers c a n n o t show your personal i ty in the ph o t os they take. We do kriow that it t akes much more than physical beauty to be a good model. Do you think that y ou r looks have helped you to be ac- cepted by all1 races, both in public and in private life?" M A S ON: "No, it comes through my m o t h e r and father and as a blessing f r o m G o d. If p h y sical endowments have helped, it's just the way He want- ed it to be. " S I M S: "What are your views on in- tegrated marriages ? Would you marry a white?" MASON: "Y e s, if he w e r e white of sk in an d black of heart, or black of heart and white of mind. " S I M S : "Both the worst riots in Am- er ican history have occured in this c i t y . I was here dur ing the 1967 one andmany black friends that I had known for some time were unwilling to be seen talkingtoawhite. Firstly, doyou think that riot was racial and secondly what was your attitude towards whites dur- ing this-period?" MASON: "How could a riot be racial w he n b1 ack was stealing from black aswell as from white, and the niggers wwere stealing from everybody? I was onfn-side and nobody elses, as every man had to be for himself. I didn't want to fight, only take cover before one of them fool 'cause-fighters' (mean- ing fighters who fought "jus t because ") g o t m e . However I wouldn't r isk my racial , b i r t h right by being in white company at that time."" S IMS: "Five years after the riot and a f ter masses of legislation on equal r igh ts, are there still parts of this c i t y w h e re you as a black could not. safely visitor live? For instance, are there still pl aces where you and I coul d .not conduct this interview in a public- p I a c e w ithout probable troubl e from extremists of either race?" MASON: "Dearborn comes first to m in d. But where ever my person is not desired, I feel I really don't want to b e. S i x bl1 a ck families (however fictional the number) are a little short of a cool place for me. When you con- s ider that black.3 tend to mul tiply like r a bb i t s, ev idently Dearborn is no place where you can grow...i S IMS: "Wh a t of the future, Marie? models have relatively short care ers, s o would you like to retire and marry one d a y, d e s p i te your comments on housework ? " MASON: "I'm dry on that topic. Mar- r i age is the height of a woman's car- eer. I just hope that some young man c an spot the time of my ultimate glory and ask me!" SI M S : "Finally, your parents spent m os t of their 1ives in the Deep South w h e r e until a few years ago hatreds ran par ticularly high. You have spent mostofyour life in the relatively more liberal Northern States. Do you think p r o g ress is being made at least with the younger generation, so that black and white will become irrelevent skin colours, and we will all get judged by our ne ighbours as just pl ain peopl e ? " MASON: "I mean! Every time I sit in the front of a bus, get a job wherever ltm qual ified, eat in a white restaurant w i th no static, I feel free at last... Free at last - yea for progress. 'l'se been emancipated, integrated and lib- I iberated!" . . . From the cotton fields, through the ghettos to a successful career is I on g w ay for any girl so young. Her s t o r y is similar to many other stor- i e s - o nt1 y the name and perhaps the race changes. Throughout this inter- v i e w t here is no trace of racial bit- terness except for the bigots and those who only want to degrade and destroy. M a r i'e got through by her own deter- mination to make a better life for her- self. Unfortunately there are many in all races who lack her drive, and can only succeed with outside help. Would she have made it in Canada? Yes, she w ou 1ld probably have made it even in the Deep South. Are we any better at accepting im- m igrants of different origins than our c ounterparts in the U. S. ? Do we ac- cept our native Indians when they come to live next door ? Just how prejudiced woul d you be if a member of a different' race was about to marry into your farm- ily? Think about it.... POW PLAN MEETING T h e POW (Pro- g r e s s over Wel- Fare) group is s t aging a meeting f or th is Friday, 8 p. m. at Brooklin Town Hall. The meeting will bestrictly an air- port information meeting, a spokesman for the group told the Free Press on Monday , and to av oid unecessary .d i s p a r aging re- mark s, heckling etc., al I1questions wilI bewritten from the floor. Go vernment of- f i c ials will beô6n, han d to deal with the written ques- tions, and ail int- e r e s t ed persons a r e invited to at- tend. MESSAGE TO THE ELECTORATE A Survey as being Conducted among the electorate of the Town of Vhitby in order to get a fair indicat- i on ôf how the people of the Town of Wh i tby (Old Town & Brooklin) feel about the new municipal buildings ap- p r o v e d by council for the Rossl and Road si te. Do you approve of the planned MUNICIPAL COMPLEX FOR AGAINST . I m a Comments: i i Address:i Clip coupon and mail to: Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Spaid advertisement