THE VOICE
A NEGRO WEEKLY
*-Dedicated to the promotion oj
the cultural, social end spiritual
hfe 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
Entered as Second Class Matter,
June 9. 1947 at the Post Office at
Lincoln, Nebraska under the Act
of March 3, 1879.
Letter to the Editor:
To all who have become dis
turbed by the letter written by
Mrs. X. don’t let it bother you
too much.
Apparently she hasn’t had the
benefits of a good education and
she should be pitied more than
worried about. I’m sure that
there are many of us who would
be glad to privately tutor her at
no charge whatsoever. After all,
every American, whatever the
race, should have the benefits of
a good democratic education.
Perhaps that is the reason she
wrote—so someone would offer
to give a free education to an
ignorant “nobody.”
Also, to the white businessman
who couldn’t afford to hire Ne
groes in his store, that is all right
too. You see, one of these days,
God is not going to have room
for you nor others like you.
From a girl who’s proud to have
beautiful black skin.
-o
Our Children
By Mrs. W. B. Davis
C$3
Some early delinquency causes:
The oversolicitous parent stuffs
and over-feeds the emotional life
of the child, whereas the stem
cold forbidding parent deprives
the child of mental nourishment,
leaving him hungry and resent
ful There is plenty of room be
tween these two extremes to give
a fair degree of assurance of
strength and stability to the emo
tional life of the child so that he
will neither suffer from hunger
pains nor be nauseated by over
stimulation.
There is a lamentable ignorance
and an inexcusable lack of inter
est on the part of many parents
as to the resources available and
utilized by the child to gratify
his pleasure seeking tendencies.
So long as children are trained
and dominated by personalities
inadequate because of intellectual
defects or an unhealthy outlook
on life, so long shall we have chil
dren with characters twisted and
warped through suggestion, and
imitation of these parents.
The environment which many
a normal child has had the mis
fortune to inherit produces an
unhealthy, antagonistic reaction
on his part in effort to improve
it. There is no reason why we
should expect a normal child to
! adapt himself to an abnormal en
vironment. The impulse to rebel
in such situations is an indication
of stability. All too frequently
it is the conduct w hich annoys
and inronviepces parents that
causes most concern and not the
conduct representing fundament
al handicaps to the child in later
life.
Hyperactivity, mischievousness,
and curiosity are more apt to
bring the child into conflict writh
parental authority than submis
siveness, self-centered-ness. and
day dreaming, all of which indi
cate thrt the child is getting out
of touch w ith reality . Very often
inadequacy, inferiority, and delin
quency are suggested to the child
by the family and neighborhood
gossip regarding his difficulty in
getting along at home or in school.
The parent who depends on
threats and punishment to bring
about the desired conduct on the
part of the child is often making a
great deal of work for the judge
and the police court. When cheat
ing the child is held in the same
contempt as cheating the adult,
children wrill have a higher regard
for truth and honesty.
No greater affliction can be
thrust upon the child than that
of inheriting the type of parents
who refuse to allow' him to grow
up.
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Teen Age Chatter
by Marguerite Gill
Asst. Ruby Lee Harper
Asst. Loretta McWilliams
Something new has been added
this weeks article is being written
by Jon Roscoe, I hope it can at
least approach the fine article
that Margo Gill, Loretta McWil
liams and Ruby Harper have been
writing.
Well here goes—please bear
with me.
I wish to compliment all of our
sepia beauties that have been en
chanting the Muny pool—some of
the first I saw w’ere Margo Gill,
Betty Bowman, Lois Hatcher, Lo
py and Vonna Finley, Betty, Nel
lie and Hazel Wilson. There are
many others so lets come out to
see them.
A friend of Billy Rutherford’s
has just blew in from Washing
ton. D. C. His name is Carl Huff.
Charming is the niece of Mrs.
Edwards. We are sorry that she
couldn’t linger here a little lon
ger. Alene Jackson. I do hope
you will be back soon.
Let’s have more fine bike rides.
What-a-you say?
An interesting youth meeting
was held Sunday evening at New
man Methodist Church. I might
suggest that a few more adults
come out to keep a few more
adults in line. So the discussion
won’t get out of hand.
Last but far from least we all
extend all the luck and happiness
in the future to every body’s
friend Bettye Tarpley and Calvin
Rogers. By the way Cal put his
atomic bat on 3 home runs in one
game last week-an all time
reco. d.
Well thats all she wrote and
the pencil broke.
Thanks a lot Sister-in-law.
This week as a special favor
and also to see how boys write
Chatter I have decided to turn
the Column over to Fletcher Bell.
Person of the week last week:
—Bettye Tarpley.
BRICK OR L K
HAVE A ROOF APPLIED
THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNED. DEVELOPED.
AND IS MANUFACTURED IN
"THE HEART OF WEATHER'S PROVING GROUND "
BY THE
LINCOLN PERMA-STONE COMPANY
2219 "O" Street 2-1946
FREE ESTIMATES
t
Dark Merit
l
by Kathryne Favors
The Free Negro During Slavery
The free Negroes did have some
privileges during slavery. Often,
however, the Negro did not have
much chance when he went to
court. They were allowed to
bring suit against people and if
they felt that they had been treat
I ed unnjustly in court, they could
appeal to a higher court. The
free Negro had the right to have
trial by jury. Carter G. Woodson
says, “It must be remembered,
however, that the Negro could
not expect a fair trial; for, con
sistent with the unwritten primi
tive law of the white man dealing
with the blacks, judgement pre
ceded proof. In the case of ordi
nary misdemeanors the lot of the
free Negroes was no better than
that of the slave. Corporal pun
ishment in these cases was admin
istered to the Negroes without
stint, whereas a white man guilty
of the same offense would be re
quired to pay a fine. In most
cases of felony the punishment
for a white man and a free Negro
was the same in the beginning,
but the reaction brought on cer
tain distinctions.”
Even though some of the laws
forced the Negro to assume a low
er status than the ordinary com
mon laborer, the Negro had to
pay his taxes also. Woodson says,
“In Virginia, free Negroes were
required to pay a poll tax of $1.50
in 1813 and $2.50 in 1815. In 1814
5,547 free Negroes paid $8,322 in
taxes, and ^n 1863 they paid $13,
065,22 in pqjl taxes. The Negroes
in Baltimore paid $500 in school
taxes in 1860, although their chil
dren could not attend the city
schools.” (That was almost one
hundred years ago and here in
Lincoln, although over a thou
sand Negroes pay school taxes,
no Negro teachers are hired in
the school system. With the Uni
versity of Nebraska right here in
Lincoln, it is alarming that some
of the fine youth of Lincoln who
have lived here all their lives,
and attended college here must
enter school systems in other cit
ies or states where the people are
getting something for their tax
money.)
-o
Will the person who signed the
letter “Equalizer” identify him
self so that we can use the letter.
Your name will not be published.
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