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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1925)
The monitor ■ 1 vT » f / NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS £> THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor $2.00 a Year—5c a Copy f OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1925 Whole Number 507 Vol. X—No. 38 ___ •-*»• _ Monitor Editor Resents Defender’s Criticism of Omaha NATION “NEUTRAL” IN FISK UNIVERSITY STNDENT STRIKE New York Weekly Regards the Affair as Evidence of Growing Independence Among Students HcKE>/.IK IS DICTATORIAL • Coming Generation Will \ot Tolerate Petty Bosses, It Declares, and Looks I'pon Incident as Significant (Associated Negro Press) New York, N. Y., Mar. 27.—Neither the side of the students nor of the pres ident of Fisk University )s taken in an interesting comment on the recent outbreak among the students there, appearing in the current issue of the Nation a weekly published here, which refers to the so-called Fisk riot as heing ‘doubly significant as a revela lion of a new self-respect and inde pendence among American college stn dents, white or black.” The usual docility of the American student makes his occasional revolts more interesting, and there is signifi cance in the fact that the most effec tive student strike so far occurred "in a university for Negro students." The side of the students is taken in the following comprehensive para graph; "President McKenzie apparently conducted Fisk as an old-fashioned, rigid-ruled boarding school. Boys and girls could not walk together on the campus or off it; the boys were not allowed to smoke and the girls were required to wear uniform black dresses and cotton stockings; all lights went out at 10; fraternities were prohibited, and autonomous student organizations' discouraged. “But the interest in the Fisk story docs not lie In such details. It lies in the larger meaning of the revolt. When Fisk began, when the Negro was obviously in tutelage, such rules seemed natural. The oncoming gen eration, black uu well as white, will not tolerate such petty dictation. Be hind the rules, was, originally, a de sire to encourage economy and sim plicity, but simplicity can hardly lake deep root where it is made compul sory. “Discipline is worse than license if its results is to create an irrepressible longing for the things prohibited. The young Negro has come of age and has a new self-respect; he asks In his college the same kind of social revolution as has taken place quietly in the white colleges. “Unfortunately the race question has become involved at Fisk as well as the problem of academic discipline. To white Nashville the student revolt is a Negro uprising. To black Nash vilie> President McKenzie has become a symbol of while domination. He seems, in an earnest effort to promote interracial good-will, to have lost con tact with the race for which he was working. “Many friends of Fisk see that to lose Nashville's money would mean less than for the university to lose its soul as an institution dedicated to the higher education of the Negro. Higher education requires a freedom of the spirit which Fisk today seems to lack.” SPRING EXODUS IS BRINGING A LARGE NUMBER NORTHWARD Washington, D. C., March 26.—Op pressed people from the southern states have begun their spring, 1925, exodus, heading northward into Penn sylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, .Michigan, Indiana, Missouri and other points farther west. Welfare workers and employment managers of Phila delphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis,- Wheeling, Pittsburgh and typical industrial centers of the country report an inflow of sturdy southerners, who at once become ap plicants for placement in the factories and mills. It is stated that employ ment and problems of health and hous ing have increased in all the northern industrial centers, and that the migra tion supply indicates that it will leap high in practically every northern in dustrial city during the coming sea son. State and federal authorities, as well as privately-controled agencies, are watching the migration movement, which is purely a voluntary one on the part of the people, and are co operating with each other in the hope of diminishing to a minimum all prob lems which may arise because of this spring's migratory movement, which w(ll probably be of large dimensions. LEE’S PERSONAL BODY GUARD WILL GIVE UP PREACHING Faithful Follower of the Famous Southern General Has Preached Two Sermons Weekly for Fifty Years Richmond, Va., March 26.—The Itev. William Mack, 97 years of age, typical old-time backwoods preacher of days long gone by, who boasted that he was the personal bodyguard and cook of General Robert E. I>ee, the Con federate leader during the Civil war, is going to give up preaching. The aged man has been in the religious , field for the past fifty-four years and 1 by denomination is a Baptist. Proudly displaying, attached to his coat, thirty-ifve buttons and badges symbolic of honorary attendance at Confederate reunions and meetings, “Mack I/ee" came to Richmond to see about his pension and “to brush up my mind a bit with those who loved Marse Robert.” Here he announced his decision to retire from the pulpit. The aged man does not admit that he hears “those gentle voices calling”, but merely that he “is purty tiahed an’ my bref is gettin’ short an’ my rheu matism long.” The faithful follower of the famous southern general says he has preached two sermons a week for the last fifty four years. He is now pastor of the Little Creek Missionary Baptist church, about six miles from Norfolk, in which city he lives. He built the church several years ago from funds he raised in a personal campaign. RESENT .11 HUE'S REMARK ON “III RNINIl AT STAKE" AT STATEN ISLAND TRIAL — Advancement Association Asks I en sure From Alhanj and II State men 1 u Verified Will Seek Magistrate's Removal. New Voik, Mar. 26.—Remarks of| Judge J- Harry Tiernan of Staten Island, who reminded a Negro he was sentencing to jail for robbery, that for the same crime he would have been | burned at stake in the South, have I aroused widespread indignation among I colored people throughout Greater I New York, according to announce : ment by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,] ] which is investigating the utterance ! attributed to Judge Tiernan. James Weldon Johnson, secretary of the Advancement association stated ] that the association had written Judge Tiernan tv special delivery and had telegraphed him, asking whether he i hud been correctly quoted, but that no 1 response had been received. "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is now in communication with members of the stale legislature at Albany,” said Mr. Johnson, ‘and if Judge Tiernan was correctly quoted, action by Gov ernor Smith or the legislature will be ask'-d for, on the ground that his re mark shows gross unfitness for the public and Judicial office he now oc cupies. “Mr. William I* Patterson, of Dyett, Hall and Patterson, attorneys, haH already communicated with the liar association of New York, asking ac tion on the case of .Judge Tiernan, and the matter will he vigorously prose cuted until either some statement is forthcoming from the learned Judge, or the Albany legislature takes ac tion." BRITISH JURIST STARTLES INDIA WITH DECISION Decides That Englishmen May Kick Natives and Pull Their Ears to Arouse Them From lethargy London, March 26.—The Daily Her ald recorded as u “startling decision" the verdict of a British judge at Tan hore, India, that Englishmen may pull the ears of Indians and kick them in the usual place without being sub ject to legal punishment for the as sault. Whether Indians may do the same thing to Englishmen was not taken up in the judge’s decision. The victim was a clerk at a railway station newsstand who was sitting in front of the counter when the British district medical officer came along, pulled the clerk’s ear and kicked him. In the court the defendant admitted the acts. The judge dismissed the case, finding that the acts complained of were of a “beneficial nature as it was necessary to rouse the clerk from a lethargic state into one of activity. Pulling at the ear is to be considered as handling the ear in a friendly way and kicking is merely a gesture with the leg, intended to make the clerk stand up and is never given to dis honor the man." CHICAGO EDITOR REQUITES GEHEROUS HOSPITALITY DY GROSSLY MISREFRE SERTIHG OMAHA'S HEGRO CITIZENRY Robert S. Abbott spends forty hours here, largely occupied in social attentions; visits few, if any racial enterprises, and writes editorial characterizing Negro citizens as shiftless, improvident and nonpro&ressive EDITOR OF MONITOR COURTEOUSLY CALLS THE DEFENDER EDITOR’S ATTENTION TO INJUSTICE DONE Robert S. Abbott, editor of the Chi cago Defender, arrived in Omaha Monday morning, March 9th, about half past 9 o’clock, being met at the depot by a delegation of citizens. He was a breakfast guest at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Alphonso Wilson at 1U o’clock. Thence he visited the Douglas County court house and was shown through the building and meet ing several of the county officials, all being white people. In the course of the afternoon he was taken by the committee escorting him to the of fices of the Omaha Bee, the World Herald and Daily News and to the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. It was then 4 o’clock. A dinner engage.ment at the residence of Mrs. S. K. Brow low, at which Bishop Carey and others also were guests was kept at 5 o’clock. At 8 p. m. he filled his speaking en gagement at St. John’s A. M. E. Church leaving there for his host’s home about midnight. A pretty stren uous day. Tuesday morning shortly after 9 o’ clock he left for Father Flannagan’s Boys’ Home—an excellent institution —twelve miles distant from the city, where he remained until 11:30 a. m., when he started on his return trip to the city. He met a dinner engage ment at the home of J. H. Broomfield at 1:30 where he remained until near ly three. Two other social engage ments claimed the rest of the after noon and early evening. At 8 o’clock lie made an address at the Colored Commercial Club, going thence to a banquet at Bethel A. M. E. Church where he spoke on his trip to South America. He left at midnight for Chi cago. i 4 We have not learned of a single Negro place of business Mr. Abbott visited while here. This was prob ably the fault of the committee who guided and guarded him. The fact remains that Mr. Abbott did not have i the time or opportunity to collect re-1 liable data on the Negro citizens of Omaha. And yet he had the presump tion to publish as the leader in his issue of March 21, the following edi torial which grossly misrepresents our , race in this city and does us such a grave injustice that it cannot be per-1 m it tod to pass unchallenged and un- j rebuked: ASLEEP IN OMAHA It has been estimated that there are i 15,000 members of our group who live in Omaha, Neib., and of this large number only a mere handful are tak- j ing advantage of the many oppor tunities for advancement in thus wide awake western city. The rest seem to content themselves dragging along in a humdrum fashion, making enough perhaps to keep the wolf from the door for the day, but letting the to morrows take care of themselves. There is little or no leadership, rather there is exhibited a crab-like tend ency to pull the neighbor who is at fonipting to climb, back with them into the mire. A survey of the industries and stores owned and controlled by the white citizens show^ that there is a most friendly feeling for the colored worker, and a spirit to give him the fullest opportunity. Their only com plaint being the unreliability and the shiftlessness of the average colored employee. The women workers being the exception. There are but few stores, professional people and busi ness enterprises for the reason that they are unable to get the support of their own. In the matter of profes sional nurses the whites have the pre ference. The west has always borne the reputation of being the home of the thrifty, so it is difficult to account for the drowsiness of our Omaha peo ple in the light of the fact that the dominant class are ever ready to ex tend to them a helpful hand. In the language of the late Bookor T. Wash ington, “I.et your buckets down where you are.” It is not the intention to single Omaha out as the most unpro gressive of our large American cities, but it is sometimes helpful for us to see ourselves as others see us, and as our people in Omaha have the op portunity to better their condition politically, socially and economically it is too bad not to grasp it. The editor of The Monitor has courteously called the attention of the editor of The Chicago Defender to the injustice done the Negro citizens of Omaha in the following letter which he has requested the Defender to pub lish: Does Omaha an Injustice Omaha, Neb., March 22, 1025. Itohert S. Abbott, Editor Chicago Defender: Will you allow me space in your columns to repair, as far as I can, the damage you have done, no doubt un intentionally, to the Negro citizenship of Omaha in your editorial of March 21, captioned “Asleep in Omaha”? To say that I was astounded when I read it is to put it mildly. I could scarcely believe my eyes. It seemed absolutely incredible that a gentleman of your experience and reputed ability could be betrayed into writing such an article as that, even though you had ample opportunity for collecting reliable data, which it was absolutely impossible for you to do during the forty busy hours spent here as the honored guest of those, who, despite whatever faults they may have, and of which they are fully conscious and striving to amend, are not wanting either in courtesy or hospitality. You say, sir, in speaking of our estimated population of 15,000, that “of this large number only a mere handful are taking advantage of the ianv opportunities for advancement in this wide-awake western city. The rest seem to content themselves drag ging along in a hum-drum fashion, making enough perhaps" to keep the wolf from the door for the day but letting the tomorrows take care of themselves.” Surely, sir, you the astute editor of The Chicago Defender, were sound asleep in Omaha, if you got that im pression. You did not “let down your optics where you were”, to adapt one of your favorite quotations. Let us look at a few facts: Omaha Negroes own real and personal prop erty conservatively estimated at three and a half millions of dollars. As we have no millionaires and only a very f '■ hose holdings hover near the $50,000 mark you will readily see that to total the aggregate this compara tively large amount must be rather widely distributed. Home owners among Negroes in Omaha number a little in excess of 1,500 or, in other words, nearly fifty per cent of the families here either own their homes outright or are buy ing homes. An official in one of Omaha’s lead ing banks told me that his bank alone had over five hundred Negro deposi tors in its commercial and savings de partments. Omaha has ten banks and several other savings institutions all of which have depositors from our ace. In the light of the above facts, every one of which can be verified, your sweeping statement, quoted above, is unfounded and unjustified. (Continued on Page Two) ---— --- Sprouting s_____■___ BRING SUIT AGAINST COLORED PHYSICIAN TO MAKE HIM BUY HOME Property in a White Neighborhood Where Home of Colored Resident Was Bombed and Owner Driven Out Roanoke, Va., March 26.—Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Brinkley, white, have filed a suit against Dr. S. C. Medley, prominent physician and h^i wife, Mrs. Bessie M. Medley, to compel them to buy property in a white neighbor hood in which the home of another man was recently bombed. They filed a petition in chancery asking specific performance of a contract of sale made by the doctor and his wife be fore the bombing. Dr. and Mrs. Medley some time ago entered a contract to purchase the Brinkley homestead which i» located in an exclusive white residential sec tion. A few days before the delivery of the deed, the home of Walter Wheaton, the only colored man in the neighborhood, was dynamited, and he was compelled to move and rent his home at a loss of $10 per month. The real estate agent promptly asked that he be allowed to return the money de posited by Dr. Medley to avert thd threatened race trouble, to which pro posal Dr. Medley assented. The Brinkleys repudiated the action of their agent when they secured the services of Harvey T. Hall, one of the oldest White lawyers in the state, to compel performance of the contract. Henry D. Dolphin has been retained by the doctor and a bitter legal battle will be waged. POSTAL RATES WILL BE DECIDEDLY INCREASED WITHIN TWENTY DAYS I — Salary Boosts of Postal Employees Will Be Passed on to the Public for Payment on April 15, 1925 Postmaster Charles E. Black, like other Nasby’s throughout the land, is calling the attention of the public to the new postal rates to go into effect April 15. The most striking increases in the cost of mailing after April 15 will be two cents on all postcards; two cents for the mailing of newspapers by other than publishers; 15 cents for registered matter, both foreign and domestic indemnified up to $5.00 in addition to the regular postage; 15 cents for registration of second class articles upon which- no indemnifica tion is allowed, in addition to the reg ular postage. There are other strik ing increases which are outlined as follows: Rate on Post Cards The rate of postage on all post cards or private mailing cards bearing either written or printed messages shall be 2 cents each, such cards to be sent openly in the mails and to be no larger than the size fixed by the Universal Postal Union, and to be approximately I of the same form, quality and weight as the stamped postal card now in general use in the United States. The size of post cards or private mailing cards, as fixed by the Universal Postal Convention, shall not be smaller than 2 3-4 inches by 4 inches, nor larger than 3 9-16 inches by 5 9-16 inches. Double or reply post cards each portion of which conforms in size, quality, etc., to the foregoing condi tions are subject to 2 cents postage, to be prepaid on the initial portion. The reply half, when detached and mailed, is also subject to 2 cents post age. The postage on the reply half need not be affixed thereto until it is detached from the initial half and mailed for return. Second Class The rate of postage on second-class matter (newspapers and periodical publicatiohs entered as second-class matter) when sent by others than the publishers, shall be 2 cents for each 2 ounces or fraction thereof, for weights not exceeding 8 ounces, and for weights of such matter exceeding 8 ounces the zone rates of postage prescribed for fourth-class matter shall be applicable thereto. DECLARES EVIL ROOKS ARE INCREASING Philadelphia, Pa., March 26.—The Rev. Kieran P. Moran, a Vincentian Father, in a recent lecture on “Mod em Books and Plays” said that not withstanding there are a number of good books In which could be found romance, style and radiance, the num ber of evil books is infinitely greater. He adds: “That is the greatest cause of criminality and has a profound ef fect upon the civil life of the United States. Germs of evil are planted in the reading of these books exposed for sale on every newsstand.” • YOUNG POET TAKES SCHOLARSHIP HOHORS AT H. Y. UNIVERSITY Countee P. Cullen Whose Literary Work Has Given Hint Prominence Has Been Elected to Phi Beta Kappa Society WILL BE GRADUATED IN JUNE Plans for Further Study at Harvard— Contributions Accepted by Leading Magazines—Harpers to Publish Poems New York, March 26.—Countee P. Cullen, Harlem’s young poet, has been elected to the Phi Beta Kappa So ciety of New York University. He will receive his key in June. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an honorary fraternity whose members are chosen from those students who receive exceptionally high ratings in scholarship and character. Cullen who is now a senior at the university received his membership in the society because of his schol arship rating which has been above 90 per cent for the four years he has beer, a student at the university, and for the distinction he has gained as a poet. He first sprang to the fore as a poet while a student at De Witt Clin ton High School. There he wrote his first prize winning poem, “I Have a Rendezvous With Life”, competing with all New York school children. His other poem while in high school was "To a Brown Girl”. Last year he won second prize as an undergraduate poet. Cullen’s poems have appeared in most of the Metropolitan newspapers and magazines, among them are “The New York World”, “Nation”, “Liter ary Digest” "The Bookman”, “Cen tury” the New York University “Arch” and the De Witt Clinton High school “Magpie”. Young Cullen is the adopted son of Rev. C. A. Cullen, pastor of the Salem M. E. Church, of which he is a mem ber. He was born in New York 21 years ago and received his public school training in Harlem. Later he entered Townsend Harris High school but was forced to stop on account of illness. Later he entered De Witt Clinton High school, where he had the signal honor of being the only colored stu dent to rise to the heights of editor of the school magazine “The Magpie”. He was elected to the Arista, the honor society of the high school in his junior year and also to the Doty Squad as its captain. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He intends entering Harvard in September, where he will study for his Master’s Degree. His book of poems is to be released soon by the Harper Company. NEW YORK ASKS FOR A MUNICIPAL JUDGE New York, March 26.—Ever since Albert B. George of Chicago was elect ed to the staff of Magistrates in the Chicago Municipal Courts petitions have been drawn to have a colored judge here in New York. Recently a petition bearing more than 700 signatures was sent to Mayor John Hylan urging him to appoint Louis A. Levelle, a prominent colored laywer living at No. 81 West 134th street, to fill the next vacancy as City Magistrate. Thirty-five of the signatures are those of lawyers and seventy those of colored clergymen. The petition cites the fact that one tenth of the population of this city is colored and none of the forty-seven Magistrates are colored. The cry that “Taxation without representation is tyranny”, is the slogan. The petition has the endorsement of the New York Colored Baptist Ministers’ Associa tion. There are six magistrates to leave their benches this year. MILLION DOLLARS AWAITS MISSING COLORED W'OMAN (Associated Negro Press) Kansas City, Mo., March 26.—So far, Emma Johnson, 37, has not made her appearance to claim a fortune of $75, 000 in Oklahoma oil lands. A white at torney of Oklahoma was Ini the city this week seeking only to hand Emma three quarters of a million dollars. The woman is said to have married an Indian in Oklahoma and later to have left him. 'When he died some years ago half of his 160 acres went to the tribe and half was held in trust for his wife. Oil has since been found and Emma Is now nearly a million j aire—if she only knew it