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About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1948)
TT!fo@ V@n(£<e _PUBLISHED WEEKLY_ “Dedicated to the promotion of the cultural, social and spiritual life of a great people___ Rev. Melvin L. Shakespeare Publisher and Editor u No Answer Call 5-7506 ' Rubie W. Shakespeare----Advertising and Business Manager Lynnwood Parker-Associate Editor. U. N. Donn-B. 2-765 Charles Goolsby __.Contributing Editor. U. N. Dorm-B, 2-7651 Roberta Molden._____Associate Editor 1966 U Street, 2-1407 Mrs. Joe Green.- -- -Circulation Manager Member ol the Associated Negro Press and Nebraska Press Association ” Entered as "second Class Matter. June 9. 1947 at the Post Office at Lincoln. Nebraska under the Act oi March 3, 1879. 1 year subscription..—...12.00_ Single copy...—.Sc_ NATIONAL €DITORIAI_ W ASSOCIATION The South’s Super-Luxury By Dean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP. Race prejudice is one of the south’s cherished luxuries. Any serious attempt to change the mores in which race prejudice is incubated, always meets with violent opposition of the south. When the south is forced to choose between advantage without prej udice and disadvantage with it, it always chooses the latter. On the matter of race prej udice, a great sector of the south has broken with the Bible, with God and with Jesus Christ. Herein lies the greater tragedy. In the first commandment we are ex horted to have no other God be fore the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and yet the south has reared a God of race supremacy in its high places, and deigns to worship in full defiance of the God who created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is. If idol worship means ultimately misery and destruction in the future, as it has meant in the past, then our beloved southland is doomed to great tribulation. Things have come to a dangerous „ pass when white supremacy is placed above the commandments of Almighty God. The current frenzied opposition of the south towards Truman for the simple reason that he advocated civil rights for Negroes shows the depth of moral degradation to which race prejudice can assign a people. The tragedy in the premise is not the Negro’s nor Truman’s but the white man’s of the south. The voices crying for righteousness and justice are muffled and plain tive; but defiance of God has always been costly to the nations and so it will be to this nation in general and the south in par ticular. If all of the efforts of the nation were turned into a great revival whereby men would be called back to reverence for the word and commandments of God, such efforts would be far from wasted as many are inclined to assume. une oi me local newspapers re cently estimated what it would cost the state of Virginia to equal ize educational opportunities for whites and Negroes in accordance with the letter and spirit of the constitution and the recent deci sions of the Supreme court of the United States. The figure was set at $100,000,000, and this for Virginia alone. When this is mul tiplied by 13, the number of the other southern states, we get a staggering total which the south is willing to assume for the sake of maintaining and perpetuating race prejudice, its super-luxury. The south must either equalize op portunity for Negroes or live in open defiance of the Constitution that is being threatened by com munism. The south cannot preach Jesus on Sun day and turn Hitler on Monday, and save its soul. What does it profit the south to gain segregation and white su premacy and lose its soul? As tragic as is the total cpst of segregation in dollars and cents, the cost is more tragic when adjusted to the psychopathic per sonalities that are being generated wher ever the community mores run counter to the will and command of God. The south, our beloved south, is quite willing to spend billions for the support of the dubious luxury of race prejudice, manifested in segregation and discrimi nation and flagrant injustices, for the questionable pleasure of having some body to look down on and spurn with a holier-than-thou spirit; for the selfish in clination inherent in the “better than’’ feeling, for the dangerous satisfaction of having always available a victim for a lynching holiday; for the ugly expedient of having a criminal scapegoat upon which to lay the community blame for all solved and unsolved criminal perpetra tions. What a super-luxury! What a price! It must always be remembered that the cost in money is even as nothing as compared with the cost of morals. My beloved South Carolina takes the lead in trying to evade its legal responsibilities to its Negro citizens. As a pledge to the Democratic party the Negro is asked to renounce his desire for equality as a citizen of a state and nation Negro is have died to save. They are asked to assent to segregation although they know that segregation is a form of elimination. They are asked to re nounce the FEPC although they know that this legal protection was provided to save them from exploitation of ruthless men who would destroy them. South Caro lina cannot lay claim to the ori gin of the “yellow dog” contract; but she is originating a “yellow dog” ballot! Olympic Games in London The 1948 Olympic games will soon be held in London, England. Many Negro boys, Americans to the core, will accompany the American team and the chances are that they will win glorious laurels for their country against the best competitors the world can offer. Negro achievements in the Olympic Games, as far back as 1908, have been nothing short of sensational. They have helped to keep this country at the top in many kinds of sports. There is a lesson in this. There are and have been those who have been critical of the Negro sol dier’s record abroad. Even if this criticism were just, there would be a basic cause for which the Negro is not responsible. In the Army, the Negro has been segregated and discriminated against in the last two wars. An effort has been made to train him as a laborer and a servant, rather than as a soldier. The Negro’s inner self has been so weighted down by the restrictions placed upon him that it has been impos sible for him to cultivate a buoy ant regard for the system which degrades him. The Olympic Games are differ ent. In certain sports, the Negro has been accepted. He has been made to feel he was a merriber of the team. His contribution has been regarded as something pre cious. This has made him strive to excel all other competition. Conversely, it is noted that in those sports in which he is not f Sports Scope | By Virginia Botts Here it’s press time again so here goes a few lines for this week’s softball games. The boys have had a good winning streak these past two weeks, so now they are in second place in the league. This week finds the Indepen dents playing an exhibition game on Monday with Ylavelock Mer chants and Thursday finds them against their hardest opposition so far when they meet Reinhardts. The first game was rained out, so here’s hoping we have nice weather for this one. Johnnie Duncan is playing a mad third base this year. With his constant chatter behind his pitcher, everybody really gets a thrill listening to him. Did ya ever notice he swings a mean bat? Hokey-Poke is on first and he’d better stay away unless he wrants Cal and Due to beat him out. Smibbs trades off with brother Sammy out in right field. Last Friday’s game found a lot of changes out there, but the boys won 13-7. The all-round player who can cover almost every position is Johnnie Vaughn. Sometimes he’s out of towm when we really need him, but v/hen he is home he is a dependable player. We all re member Johnnie from last year’s team. James Adkins and Grant are promising newcomers to the team. | The game at Table Rock, Neb., was rained out but a new date has been set for Sunday, July 25 at 8 p. m. Let’s wish the boys luck on this long trip. The Railroad Men’s social club girls team played against the S p r a g u e-M a r t e 11 nine. They weren’t as fortunate as the boys although they saw some good plays and made several runs. They lost to their opponents. Better look next time, girls! Kids, this Is about all I can think of now so I’ll be seeing you. accepted at home, he fails to make a contribution abroad. The final contribution of almost any human being depends, not only on his natural gift, but the acceptance and encouragement he receives from the team. That is one of the meanings of the performance which all of us expect from Negro athletes in the games at London. DR. FREDERCK JORDAN (Continued from Page 1) as our social, economic, political and religious practices are at such variance with our beliefs Dr. Jor dan claims that Americanism has not been achieved. This is the viewpoint of an idealist, a philosopher, a perfec tionist. It is a forward looking, hopeful attitude worthy of one who works unceasingly toward better things. In reply to another speaker on the program, who as serted that Americanism existed and was approaching maturity, Dr. Jordan remarked that it was not so easy to be patient and sat isfied for the one whom the shoe pinched. This was his only refer ence to the fact that he is a member as well as a champion if minority groups. Dr. Jordan is pastor of historic 8th and Towne AME church in Los Angeles, California, one of the largest congregations in the AME connection. He has been in the active ministry for 26 years, many of which he spent as Dean of the Bishop Williams School of Religion in Kansas City, Kansas, and came close to being elected a bishop in May at the General Conference held in Kansas City. Dr. Jordan has many friends in this territory, some of whom were fortunate enough to be “Town Meeting” listeners and so heard and enjoyed his talk. , Former Floridian Heads for Holland There are a lot of women in this world who don’t get the rec ognition they deserve. Then there are others who get SOME of their proper share of praise and ac claim. Today we’re talking about one of the latter . . . the bubbling, effervescent, energetic and hard working Mrs. Alma A. Polk of Pittsburgh, Fa., wife of Lonnie Polk, the insurance executive, and one of the up and coming women in church circles in this country, who, when August rolls around will sail for Holland as alternate delegate to the World Council of Churches. Mrs. Anne Heath is the delegate. Born in Jacksonville, Fla., the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Anderson of the famous Ander son banking family, her mother was the well known Mrs. A. L. Anderson, Worthy Grand Super ior of Household of Rpth of America and noted churchwoman. Alma went to Florida Normal and Industrial College, and some how even then she had her mind set on church work. If you follow her career closely, you will see that when she was twelve, she took a Bible course and was a teacher in her class at Mount Zion AME. From Florida to Philadelphia (and incidentally to visit New York, where she met romance and Lonnie Polk), Mrs. Polk start ed right in on church work and work with the Y.W.C.A.. She be came president of the Young Women’s Auxiliary of Allen AME Church, and went on up the lad der to superintendent, from there to assistant, and finally the su perintending of the Young Peo ple’s Department of the Philadel phia Conference Branch, were more upward steps. With all this, she found time to become chairman of the Commit tee of Management of the Bel mont Y.W.C.A., and was the first colored woman there to be elected to the Metropolitan Board. Oddly enough, she came to Pittsburgh and did the same thing, became the first colored woman to be on the Metropolitan Board. Working diligently for a goal that is hovering close, Mrs. Polk became more involved in church work, and in 1940 was elected delegate to the general conference in Detroit, in Philadelphia and in Kansas City. And always . . . this is a point . . . she was elected leader! She hadn’t been long in Pitts burgh before she was elected president of the Pittsburgh Con ference Branch of Women’s Mis sionary Society. In 1945, in Philly, she was appointed director of young people’s and children’s work of the Women’s Missionary Society by Mrs. Anne E. Heath, president of that group, and one July Sales Leather Goods Luggage Indian Jewelry Stationery BIG REDUCTIONS LATSCH BROTHERS 11X4-34 O Str«*4 2-4838 MONTE & SONS Body and Radiator Shop Expert Wrecked Car Rebuilding Body and Fender Repairing RADIATORS— Cleaned, Repaired and Recored Complete Paint Jobs 2222 O St. Phone 2-5097 t _ of her staunchest friends and co-%' workers. In connection with this new work, our busy church worker wrote a book “Listen Youth” and three smaller pamphlets on "Twelve Pioneer Women in the AME Church,” “Building a Cur riculum for Young People” and a collection of original plays and pageants. i Mrs. Polk has added the young adult group to her department of youth and one of of her important innovations is that of publishing a quarterly bulletin which is free to those of who desire it. At this particular moment this young woman travels from coast to coast speaking and spreading the good word among our youth. From Atlanta, to Chicago, to New York, to' Nebraska, she takes it < all in her stride. Now she is a student at the Uni- ! versity of Pittsburgh, where she is studying in the religious de partment (she was a recent speak er there, too); she is also a gradu ate of the Philadelphia School of the Bible. Recently she became the only paid staff worker (colored) in the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Church survey, conducted by the Allegheny County. _ Mrs. Polk conducts a local Pitts burgh column in The Courier, does a weekly feature on the Church of the Week, and next to her chuch work, is crazy about newspaperdom and all its phases. When she goes to Holland, she will be going through the good will of the Young People’s De partment of the AME Church.— The Pittsburgh Courier. < < 4 % ^ ~ ~.~ George H. Wentz lM. | I 1 s ‘ » PLUMBING & HEATING - 1820 H Phone 2-1293 - i