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THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published every Saturday nt 24618-20 Grant Street.,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WEbster 1750
GAINES T. BRADFORD, - - Editor and Manager
-I
Entered as Second Glass Matter March 15, 1927, at the Post Of
fice at Omaha, Neb., undertheActof Congress of March 3, 1879.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man must prevail. These are the
only priciples which will stand the acid test of good
citizenship in time of peace, war and death.
Omaha, Nebraska. Saturday, November 2 ,1935
FOUR HOMES WAITING
FOR THEIR BOYS
(Continued from last week)
“1 know you all up there are doing all you can for our
boys. And I hope you keep right on doing it until they are
free with us again. Though I don't know what they are corn
ing back to.”
CUT OFF FROM RELIEF
Mrs. Williams lives in this rumbling old house with her
sister and her children, and a lodger and her children. She
was completely cut off the relief while she was sick, and stayed
with Mother Patterson who took her in and eared for her. The
children stayed with her sister.
They wouldn’t give her anything until she went hack to
her children .they told her. “Imagine that, letting on that 1
abandoned my children or something. .Just so they could put
more money in their own pockets. I know they do. They just
ran a man out of town for telling on them. They do all us
people outol' our relief money and put it in their own pocket.
They don’t even deny it very hard. Because the papers and
reports they send on to the government tell what they spent all
the money they got for the relief and nobody except us knows
the difference.
“I went to the relief lady and fought and finally, four
weeks ago, she put me hack on after 1 came here. Yes, 1 gel
$1.50 a week for me and all the children. That's all. She knows I
don’t pay my sister any rent. So all I get is that $1.50 and I had
to go fight for the last one, too. She didn’t send it out when it
was supposed to come.
PRISONERS RELIEF OF I. E. D. HELPS
“If it wasn’t for the money you all send me every month
we’il all be starved to death. We just about get enough to eat
to keep alive on now. I was hoping to save enough money to
get to see Eugene, but I couldn’t with the doctor and the medi
cine 1 had to get, and feel that I was taking the food out of the
mouths of my children when I did it.”
Mrs. Williams has six children besides Eugene. The littlest
is Christine. She has a tiny, heart-shaped face, and large, sail
eyes like her mother’s. After her comes Dorothy and then three
boys, Fred aud Junior and Robert, who is thirteen now. Just the
size of Etigene when he left home ,und the same age. “lie looks
so much like I remember Eugene, too,’’ Mrs. Williams said. Then
there’s Ophelia, age 15. Ophelia is a big girl who never smiles
She doesn't get a chance to smile. She’s working all the time.
Especially now that her mother is sick. She has to cook and
wash and try to keep the children clean .though that is an im
possible task. All around the house is dust and filth. The chil
dren run around half-naked and bare footed, in clouds of gray
dust. There’s no place for them to sit except on the bare
ground. They simply can’t keep clean. And sd Ophelia stands
over the tub, aud scrubs awny ut the rags.
“And I bet if she was a boy she’d be off just like he was,’’
said Mrs. A\ illiams. “That child is so unhappy. Like me when
I was her age, work and work and nothing else, and hardly
enough to eat, and no decent clothes. 1 don’t blame Eugene for
going off. Maybe be would have found work further on—
so he could grow up decent and help us all.
“Maybe when lie’s free he’ll be able to take all of us away
from this here—’’
The sweep of her hand embraced the blackened boards of
the porch, the chairs that all missed a leg or a back or a seat,
the road banked by mountains of junk and garbage, the totter
ing old houses, and the ragged children. Maybe soon—
“Ada, I’m gonna tell my mother you waa talking to a white
lady all day loug.’’ This belligerent statement was made by a
mean looking red-headed youngster to Mrs. Ada Wright, moth
er of Roy and Andy, two of the Scottsboro boys in the kitchen
of the “white-folks house’’ she works at. Among her many
duties which include scrubbing the large house, washing, and
doing all the cooking is the care of this boy and his little sister.
They have a white nurse to look after them. But they don’t
Jike her, and why should she work when she can get Mrs.
Wright to fetch and carry for her, while she sits out on the
shady porch erdering her around. The lady of the hou^e is
away on business most of the day.
In 1932, Mrs. Ada Wright Left the same job at the invita
tion of the international Labor Defense and traveled through
twenty-six countries of Europe. Wherever she went, if she
was not put in jail or immediately deported by the police, she
was greeted by huge crowds of workers, who cheered her iu
more than a 'dozen different languages iuid pledged to help
her win freedom for her two sous and all the other Scottsboro
boys.
* - - *
ACCLAIMED BY CROWDS
In Germany, she spoke to a mass gathering of 150,000 in
the Lustgarten in Berlin. In Paris, she was acclaimed by tens
of thousands. In the Soviet Union at the W'orld Congress of
o
the International Labor Defense, Mrs. Wright was a guest of
honor.
To millions she became a symbol of an oppressed, black
skinned people—a mother whose children are threatened with
murder and lynching so that a whole nation can be “kept in
its place’’ for plunder and robbery.
Back in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mrs. Ada Wright is being
pushed back “into her place.” She has to support herself and
her baby Lucille, who is 13 years old. Her married daughters
have troubles of their own. Mother Wright and Lucille move
back and forth, staying with each of them part of the time.
Beatrice, the oldest daughter .lives in the house the “boys’
livid in and grew up in. It’s just beyond the tracks. All
day long and far into the night trains passing over those steel
rails could beckon to the hoys carrying promises of work and
plenty further on yonder, somewhere.
Roy and Andy Wright and their friends Haywood Patter
son and Eugene Williams must have been tempted by those
shiny roads for years. At home—only proverty and hunger
and no work no matter how hard you tried. So there was only
hope left. And one fine morning the four hoys went off to
gether on those tracks and got as far as Scottsboro, Alabama,
and a lynch sentence to death.
STARVATION WAGES
Mrs. Wright thinks of her boys all the time while she goes
about her work in the fine “white folks” house way out in a
suburb called St. Elmo. Its wide clean streets are shaded
by the sides of Lookout Mountain from the intense heat of the
southern sun. She gets $5 a week for seven days work from
seven in the morning to seven at night. It costs her a dollar a
week in bus fare to get out there every1 day. That leaves $4 a
week for her an<l Lucille—which would mean starvation but
for the funds supplementing it from the International Labor
Defense.
Mother Wright smiles as she works. She is full of hope.
She saw all those thousands of people all over the world who
are ready to help her boys. “Sure, I keep cheerful, ’ she said
as she pulled her tired hands out of the dish pan and wiped
them on her apron. “I try not to worry about the boys. I
know they have plenty of friends thinking for them and doing
for them every minute they are In jail, it makes it easier as
the months go by to know that.”
Mother Patterson lives in Chattanooga too. Right near the
tracks. Her little wooden house is us neat as a pin. Its mantel
pieces are decorated with pictures of Haywood taken at his
three trials and of crowds and meetings held for Seottsboro
dcnfen.se. In the back of her house is a small garden in which
she works all day long raising a good part of the food the
Patterson family gets to eut. Claude Patterson, Hey wood's
father, a slight wiry man works in the railroad shops. Long
time ago he used to make $30 or $40 a week. But five years
ago things began to get bad and he got less and less and hunger
found its way into the little household. The older daughters
had gone off and got married, but the young ones—Heywood
was the oldest of them—were left at home and Heywood want
ed to help them. That is why he went off with his friends
hunting work.
WAITS FOR HER BOY
Mother Patterson never has a waking moment without
thinking of her boy. His wide eyes look down on her from
every corner of the house. She smiles up at him and tries not
to weep when she thinks of him locked up in jail these four
and a half years. She works hard all day long but she doesn’t
mind it. She even found time to nurse Mother Williams through
a terrible sickness that lasted for months, earing for her until
she was able to go home to her six little children.
Mother Patterson has not losj, hope. She knows all the
people she spoke to at all those meetings from coast to coast
will do all they can to free her boy. She does not fear the new
trial that’s coming—though her kind eyes flash when she talks
about “that Victoria Price” and the new lying warrants she
just swore out in Seottsboro against those children. She is
waiting bravely for the day when she can take down all those
pictures off the walls, because her boy, her Haywood, will be
home again where he belongs.
A RACIAL DANGER
There is one phase of the ltalian-Ethiopain struggle that
lias received much less notice than it deserves. That phase—
which, in the long view, may become the most important and
most potentially dangerous of all the phases—is the inter-racial
complications that may arise from Italy’s imperial ambitions.
Here is the way it is expressed by the famed American
Negro leader, educator, uml writer, W. E. 1?. Hu Bois, in the
October issue of Foreign Affairs: “The probabilities are that
Italy . . . will subdue Ethiopia. If this happens, it will be a
costly victory, both for Italy and the white world—India, China
and Japan, Africa in Africa and in America, ami all the South
Seas and Indian America—all that vest mass of men who have
felt the oppression and insults, the slavery and exploitation of
white folks, will say: ‘1 told you sol There is no faith in them
even toward each other. They do not believe in Christianity
and they will never voluntarily recognize the essential equality
of human beings or surrender the idea of dominating the
majority of men for their own selfish ends. Japan was right.
The only path to freedom and equality is force, and force to the
uttermost.' * '
Mr. Hu Bois' allusion to China and Japan involves another
point that is not so well understood at it should be. When
Japan started her invasion of Manchuria a few years ago, the
white nations seemed to be solidly on the side of China. Japan
was called an outlaw among nations, was held to be a menace
to the peace of the world. Yet a legion of white observers have
returned from the orient since, bringing the news that China
today feels more friendly to the Japanese who tried—and are
still trying—to wrest from her a large share of her territory,
than she does toward the English, the Americans, the Germans,
the Italians and others. Results of that has been something
approaching a Concord between Tokyo and Nanking govern
ments. Whites have definitely “lost face” in China—they are
mistrusted, disliked, feared. The Chinese believe they talk much,
make fine promises, and then do nothing. They believe that the
sole white ambition is to exploit the resources, human and ma"
terial ,of the black and yellow peoples.
The situation is particularly serious to England. If, as Mr.
Du Bois also pointed out, an understanding between China and
Japan closes Asia to white “aggression”, India need no longer
hesitate between passive resistance and open rebellion. India is
a mighty muscle in the body of the British Empire. Her millions
of natives are governed by a few thousand whites. What an
Indian revolt would mean can only be conjectured—but the sun
that finally set on it would be red indeed. So it goes throughout
all the colonies ofblackpeoples governed by Europeans—in
British, French and Italian Someliland, in Kenya Colony, else
where in Africa and South America.
Nothing is more horrible, more dangerous ,more corrupting
to tre orderly poscesses of civilization than race warfare. The
great majority of the earth's population is colored, and a great
majority of these colored people are dominated by whites.
If es Italy-Ethiopian disorder leads to a decisive split between
the two great groups, it will be one of the most important events
in the history of the world—an event that, over a period of many
years, perhaps, centuries, can change all the maps, and remake
the eart hto a different plan.
SANCTIONS
League of Nations Sanctions against Italy will probably be
in force by the time this is read.
First sanctions will be economic, and will take the following
forms among others:
Forbid the opening of credit to Italy in any foreign country,
h ordkl authorization of an Italian bond issue in any foreign
country. Forbid opening of bank credit to Italy in any League
nation agreeing to the sanctions. Forbid opening of normal
commercial credits—a prohibition which, it is said, would bring
about an almost complete stoppage of Italian trade. In brief,
the canctions would be designed to paralyze Italy’s import and
export business.
Only three League nations voted against the sanctions and
said they would not obey them—Albania and Hungary, which
are relatively unimportant, and Austria, which, due to geo
graphical position, is very important. Austria connects Italy
with Germany, which is no longer a member of the League.
Thus, goods Italy needs can be bought in Germany, transported
across Austria, largely nullifying League sanctions. The League,
which is now being led by England, could of course cure that
by military action—something that would mean war. Many still
believe that nothing will be really settled until that war occurs.
THE WAY OUT
(By Loren Miller)
THEY DIE IN BED
In the first place I don’t be'
lliteve that Mussolini’s son-in
daw is flying over the Ethiop
ian lines dropping bombs. Fly
ers sometimes get shot down
and dictators, generals, and
their kinsfolk don’t get killed
in action ;they die in bed.
I suspect that the story was
coo,ted up by some of Musso
lini’s hired me nin order to give
the folks at home a thrill. Pro
bably .they didn't intend to do
it, but their little yarn provides
an excellent object lesson for j
Negroes.
The story goes that the son- ,
iirlaw got his idea of bombing!
women and children, from
watching the Japanese perform
a similar trick when they were
reducing Manchuria to the sta
tus of a vassal.
It happened that the Chinese
were almost as devoid of mod
ern arms as are the Ethiopians,
Japan had modern weapons of
death as does Italy. Even the
son-in-law of a dictator could
mardly fail to get such an ob
vious point.
Remember Manchuria
The parallel doesn’t end
there. Those woh recall the
Manchuri aincident will re
member that the Japanese did
n’t quite Rave the nerve to an
nex the large part of China
that they conquered. Instead, ;
the Japanese looked around J
until they found a Mr. Henry
Pu Yi. i
Mr. Pu Yi was living in ex
tended obscurity at the time,
but the Japanese took him to
Tokio, dressed him in a top hat
an dacro wn and made him em
peror o f Manchuoko. He's do
ing nicely on the job now,
thank you.
Mussolini got that idea too.
Reports have it that he has
found an equally obscure Ethi-1
opiau lord who has been in
flated to the rank of emperor
of that part of the country the
Italians have been able to con
quer. My geneologists report
that the gentleman is a blood
relative of a number of our
own Uncle Toms.
In The Same Boat
I hope to have more to re"
port on that score later, but
for the present, I only want to
point out that Japan is as mili
taristic as Italy and that it is
no more averse to conquering
weaker nations of colored peo
ples.
I know that will be an awful
blow to those who have been
prating about Japanese love of
all colored peoples, but I’m not
responsible for facts; the best
I can do is to report them.
Japan an dltaly have been in
the same boat for some time
Both nations are ruled by little
cliques of militarists who build
their war machines at the ex
pense of the people.
It costs money to equip arm"
es and furnish navies and the
working people have to foot the
bill. In both Ital yand Japan,
iving standards of the people
ire kept low to give the rich a
*hance to enjoy luxury.
No Copyright
I understand that there has
been some grumbling about the
lisparity in the standards of
iving between rich and poor
in both nations.
In both instances the militar
sts have sought to stay the dis
rontent by telling their people
that greater glories and better ■
standards of living depend on
Foreign conquest. The Japanese ■
rulers thought of it first, but
there’s no copyright on ideas.
Mr. Mussolini never did much
original thinking anyhow.
Unhappily, both Japanese
and Italian militarists have ■
found their way out attacking ■
people whom we call colored, i
That’s only an incident; either i
or both, would have attacked <
KELLY MILLER
SAYS
SOCIAL PRETENTIONS
AMONG NEGROES
Roughly speaking, society is
divided into three classes—the
upper ,the middle ami the low
er. Only those belong to the
upper class who are able to
live, educate their children and
give them a footing in life with
out working for a living, and
are wholly free from the an
xieties of a livelihood. The mid
dle class is composed of men
in professions, politics, busi
ness, commerce and the higher
ranks of the technical ami skill
ed pursuits ,from which they
derive a competent living with
marginal time and income for
intellectual and cultural activ
ities. To the lower class is •- i.
signed those whose chief ener
gies are engrossed in the rough
er and coarser forms of toil
irom which they derive scarce
ly more than the bare necessit
ies of life.
According t othis classifica
tion there is no upper class
among Negroes (though the
uppish class often mistake
themselves for the upper class)
and a comparatviely small num
ber are in the middle class. The
great bulk of the race falls in
the lower classification.
Man is a distinuction-making
animal. Where there are no
grounds for real distictions he
According to this classifiea
pretentions of the Negro so
called ‘‘elite’ have generally
been grotesque and bizzare.
Wherever a handful of Negroes
rose above the bulk of their
kind, they at once set up super
fical and silly distinctions. The
house servants differentiated
themselves from the field hands
on the grounds that they wore
better clothes, ate better food,
and enjoyed closer association
with the master and mistress of
the manor. The cook, the
coachman and the barber took
first rank in Negro society.
During and after Reconstruc
tion, office holding became the
badge of distinction. Negro
Senators, Congressmen and po
litical left-overs of the Recon
struction regime gave an arti
fical impulse to Washington
Negro society from which it has
not wholly recovered down tot
this present day. At one time a
government clerk, along with
a Washington school teacher,
were the social arbitors and law
givers.
When the Negro first began
to go to college, academic de
grees adorned their visiting
cards and admitted the holder
at once to the exclusive elite
circles. Upon the rise of the
professional class, the teacher,
preacher ,lawyer and physician
were assigned first place.
This silly social aristocracy
was accompanied by mimicry
of manners, dress and carriage
not character) of white social
jelebrities fro mwhom they bor
rowed the form rather than the
substance of social distinction.
Wealth inherited is always
more honorific than wealth ac
quired for it gives a basis of
lereditary social distinction.
50 far as wealth is concerned,
;here never has been, is not now
lor is there likely to be, in the
near future ,and considerable
ilass of Negroes of independent
(Continued on page 7)
vhite nations had they found
he opportunity. In fact, Japan
s now flirting with the idea of
stacking the Soviet Union,
nopulated by a pre-dominatly
vhite group. Italy may be at
var with Europe any day. It’s
lot the color that counts with
mperialists, it’s the possibility
if feathering "their own nests.