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STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK . MARITIME COLLEGE Fort Sckurisn, Naw York 65. N. Y, DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES ‘ , September 17, 1963 ae A a —_— United States Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. Dear Senator Dirksen: The heartless murder of forr Negro children in the bombing of a Birminrham church, is an act that threatens to leave one speechless, but one mist protest, one must somehow maintain the human identity which wa so precariously cling to. In the Monday edition of the New York Times, September 16, I note that the cova~dly and inhuman attack upon the 14th Street Baptist Church, is the twenty-first bombing of Negro churches and hones in the past eight years. I also note that none of the fifty bombings of Negro property since World Var II in the same area, has been solved. These facts are a shocking indictment of the state of law and order.in Birmingham and in Alabama, They are also, however, a pathetic commentary on the competence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to cope with this serious threat to the rights and the very bodies of American citizens, Either the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been lax in its function, or else it is incapable of functioning in this area. It goes without ssying that our laws need strengthening in the ares of civil rishts, and that the administration's proposed legislation should be vassed by the Congress without delay. But it will also be necessary to assure the adequacy of law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation should be called upon to justify its lack of success and to give evidence of action being taken to rectify its incompetence in the area of civil rights. Respectfully yours, Oscar BL Goodzan,) Cheirmn : nie a { 4} Wan. Lato, .