Atlanta Daily World

AN INSIDE REPORT
HUSH-HUSH STUFF: It's hush-hush stuff in Birmingham, New York and Los Angeles, but the United States Internal Revenue Department has been quietly probing Willie Mays' income. The federal income tax agents have a hefty four figure lien against the San Francisco Giants outfield star. Investigator reportedly currently interviewing Mays' relatives in Birmingham are asking proof of support from relatives. U.S. investigators are probing arrears that dates back to 1955. The heat on Mays have been pressured by influential pro-segregationists in Congress who resented the outfielder purchasing a $37,000 home in an exclusive San Francisco residential section.

Economic pressure against Negro athletes who break the color line is likely to increase. White Citizens Council pressure against the integrationists is likely to be felt anywhere in the U.S. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell of New York recently felt the impact of his type of gutter politics when Democrats tried to probe government settlement of his income tax difficulties after the Harlem son jolted the Democrats to support President Eisenhower.

Harry Belafonte has felt the economic pinch following his mixed marriage and controversial film "Island In The Sun." Hollywood film writers have denied this. Yet, his radio and television appearances have become more and more infrequent.

Nat King Cole was forced off the show because Madison Avenue advertising agencies refused to lineup sponsors in the South. Cole blasted this reasoning but apparently it had some foundation.

Mays in defying the ghettoes which have kept Negroes in a virtual concentration camp in the big cities has angered the racial extremists no little. It would be well for newsmen in the nation's capital to investigate who put the heat on Mays after his publicized fight for a decent place to live in San Francisco.

Sugar Ray Robinson is another sepia sports celebrity involved in an all-out fight with the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The Harlem Dandy has asked that his earnings be listed as capital gains and spread out over a period of years. Negotiations have dragged for several months and resulted in the postponement of Robinson's return middleweight fight with Carmen Basilio.

Unreasonable high income tax resulted in Sugar Ray launching a comeback. His resources were drained by high personal taxes which made him property rich and income poor. Now, Robinson is pleading that his taxes be prorated over a period of years which would permit him a higher standard of living. His entreaties are falling on hostile ears.

Joe Louis, ex-heavyweight champion of the world, has been the most tragic of the tax-hounded in the United States. His taxes have skyrocketed past the 3 million mark. Now, a semi-tragic figure with a heart ailment that might have been brought on by tax worries, the federal agents are still using the courts to try and pry away a nestegg he thoughtfully provided for his children.

One wonders if income tax harassment will be the White Citizens Councils' secret weapon in the desegregation fight?? Willie Mays tax probe makes us wonder. The answer to this question will come if the revenue agents levy punitive assessments against the Giants' star who dared to move out of the ghetto into the mainstream of American life. That was his right under the laws of our land. However, these are dark and foreboding times when no thoughtful voices dare speak for the law, justice and decency towards minorities.