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About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (June 26, 1947)
THE VOICE A NEGRO WEEKLY “Dedicated to the promotion of the cultural, social and spiritual life of a great people” ' Rev. Melvin L. Shakespeare Publisher and Owner Business Address 2225 S Street Phone 5-6491 If no answer call 5-7508 Rubie W. Shakespeare Advertising & Business Manager Mrs. Joe Green Circulation Mgr. Member of the Assoc. Negro Press Subscription rate $2.00 per year 10c per copy Application for second class per mit pending at Lincoln, Nebraska From My Chair—At Midnight FREEDOM. GLORY—YOUTH How do we celebrate our Na tion’s Birthday? Some of us go to picnics, with luscious straw berry shortcake packed in the lunch basket. Some of us are content with a ball game, a little fire cracker excitement, or a sil ver display of fireworks against a pale dusk. But an ever increas ing number prefer more sophisti cated revelries, dancing in public places, lake shore lodges, or a "Regular Party" in some secluded night spot. The past year papers have car ried as "headlines” and "front page stuff” stories of Juvenile Delinquency, Kidnapping — Mur der. These features are not nice to think about but are real, these youth, gangsters—killers had one thing in common besides their “social outlawry,” and that thing was startling enough to warrant Front Page Notice—They mostly came of clean American Parent age, and they all “went bad” early in life. It may not have been because of too many ‘parties’; it may have been because of too few ‘parties’. I am not trying to indict festivi ty. The point I wish to make is that America is still a very young nation, and being at the same time a very powerful nation, we have created our own standards of value, further, like all young things, we are pursuing many wrong objects, grasping at ap pearances. It is not surprising to me that youngsters from Ameri can families become “badmen.” In fact, there’s a certain sardonic justice about it, for sometimes there is no other way for them to achieve the material success that is America’s apparent ideal. Ring the bells of Independence Day, Salute our glorious flag, parade in triumph! Let there be a real joy in our hearts; but see that it is REAL. Look below the surface. Let us not forget that America with all her wealth and power and astonishing achieve ments, during the past decade, is still young, and still developing, and that her traditions and stan dards are to a large degree still in the process of formation. Can we choose the right ones? Can we see clearly enough to keep the wrong ones out, like the most deadly of enemy aliens—The GREAT GREEN DRAGON OF COMMUNISM??? In all the blare of superficial civilization remember the quiet of New England’s rugged green hills, the clear distance of the central plains and* the steadfast spirits of the men who conquered the West and were fostered by it. There are forces which fry their very being make men strong, and (Continued on page 4) I Dark Merit by Kathryne Favors In thinking of Independence Day we are reminded that during the last generation the civilized world has had to direct attention to the discordant elements in Europe which would not abide by the treaty of peace closing the war of 1914-18. Italy contended that she did not receive her share of the spoils. Germany groaned under the burden of reparations imposed because of the guilt of the Hohenzollerns, who had to flee to Holland to escape execu tion. The nations with which the United States was allied de faulted in their debt payments to us when we had actually fin anced them during the war. It all ended in the larger powers swallowing up the smaller na tions. Let them fight it out among themselves was the position which so many assumed. The President insisted that we should do our part in saving democracies like France and England and thus as sure the continuation of our own way of life, inasmuch as the Nazis were trying to bring the whole world to the recognition of Facism. The Negroes of the United States had no particular interest in waging the Second World War to make democracy safe for every body but themselves. A tre mendous army and navy had to be built up and equipped with munitions of war. Those who could not go to the front were called to the war industries which immediately multiplied to ac celerate the preparation to meet the enemy off our shores, threat ening to invade the mainland. Negroes, not desiring to be placed in the same position they were in 1917, raised the question of equal ity and justice in the ranks. Im pediments were thrown across the path of the Negro soldiers. They could not serve here and, they could not go there. A dele gation led by Walter F. White ex ecutive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called on the President to inquire of what the Negroes might expect from the Administration. Judge William H. Hastie, civilian aide to Secre tary of War, Henry L. Stimson, resigned in protest against dis crimination as it was being prac ticed in the Armed Forces. A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Por ters, issued an order that in war industries there should be no dis crimination in employment. To carry out this order the President appointed a Fair Employment Practices Committee. The South, however, continued its protest in the considerable number of Negro Soldiers, shot down sometimes in cold blood by railway conductors, policemen and indignant defenders of caste; and the War Department did lit tle or nothing to bring the offend ers to justice. On the contrary, the Secretary of War simply said that the Federal Government could not abrogate the laws of the States, and the soldiers must obey thpm; but even so, defenders of real democracy contended, the United States could have prose cuted those who went to the ex tent of killing a soldier for not changing his seat on a street car, for getting on trains from which Negroes were barred altogether, or for seeking food and recrea tion in places from which Negroes were excluded. Negroes, like all other soldiers, had to go from place to place according to orders. These handicaps upon the egress and regress of Negro soldiers ac tually retarded our preparation for the war and, in crisis, might have proved unusually serious. The demands of the Negro have had some weight in national and local situations because the Ne gro is a greater factor in politics today than he was a generation ago. Negroes have learned to divide their vote. They have therefore been elected and ap pointed to useful and commanding positions. For further advancement for the cause of Democracy now is the opportune time for the pass age of the Anti-Lynch Bill. Each person is urged to use his influence toward the passage of this bill. Pacific “Truth” SHEETS 81 x 108 _ _ 2.50 72 x 108 .. 2.29 Famous Pacific "Truih" Sheeis made of fine bleached muslin. Excellent wearing at a low price! GOLD'S. 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