EDITORIALS
THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every nsisrday at 2411-2# Grant Strset,
Omaha. Nebraska
Phone*: Wfibster 1417 ar 111*
Cntered as Second Clase Matter March 16, 1827, at th* Piatafflaa at
Omaha. Nek. undet Act of Coogrea* of March 8, 1878.
TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION $248 PE* TEAR
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood af God ond th* Brithw
hood of Man meat prevail. Throe are the only principles which will
stand the arid test of good.
All News Copy of Churehea and all Organisations must be In our
office not later than 6s00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, proceed
ing date of issue, to insure publication.
MORE DOERS, LESS TALKERS
Husriitess men and women are needed. A crying demand fori
men of ability and training in business exists; men who are will-j
ing to sacrifice to build businesses.
< (dored America is. cursed with too many experts who can
tell other people wluit to do while they sit behind desks of sub
sidizdod institutions. If some of these men of training and abil
ity could be forced out of their security into .small struggling
colored business ins itutiona, u, new day would come for colorec
business.
We I lave too many people who know what to do and too
few who can do anything except work for someone else. They
lack the courage to start something for themsielves. It requires
more courage to attempt to build a business ;han it does to druw
regular pay as a helper.
It would be well for all of uis, on the threshold of the new
year, td look abroad ati dictator-ridden Europe. In many gretait
countries the free press has been shut down.
Free speech has become a crime. All criticism of those in
power has been silenced with imprisonment and death. In some
countries tbt right to worship has been abrogated by law, the
state has been made Divine, the dictator in power mustt be
regardnd as a god and the individual has been reduced to an
ao.ual stale of slavery.
While we pity the citizens! of those nations, and wonder at
the fact limit such things could eonue to pass in this century, we
can learn a valuable lesson from their plight. We slill live uin-|
der a Constitution that guaranties- ua freedom of religion, of,
speech and of the press. Upon the preservation of that Constitu
tion depends the future of the United Shuttles and of the Ameri
can people. In the pursuit of an economic miUenium we must
not sacrifice national ideals and principles that are the very life
blood of democracy.
National Ideals Preserve Democracy
The nation has come to Ihe end of an eventful! year. For
the first time since the worst days of the depression, industry
has felt the stimuli of better times,of broadening markets, of in
creased earnings. Prospects for the future nre immeasurably
brightened. j
^ et we must not be blind to the vital problems till at all of
u«t as individuals and as members of the economic and social
order, istill face.
The problem of unemployment looms almost as large today
as it did at the abysmal low point. Industry has pledged itself
to do all within its power to curb this intolerable conditon, and
in doing that it must have Ihe help of government, to the extent,
that110 legislation be passed which will frighten and discourage
the investor—the source of all productive employment.
THE CATHOLIC’S NEGRO DRIVE
The recent letter of Pope Pius praising the work of Catho
lics among colored people in the United States during the past
few years serves to call attention to the graidual change that
seems to have come over the Mother Church in the past de
cade. The Catholic newspapers and magazines have been out
spoken in their advocacy of a square deal and equal rights for
colorexl citizens. Many of the highest Catholic officials have not
minced words in supporting civil rights for Negroes. Catholics
have been in the forefront of the fight against lynching and
mob violence.
The Pope urges greater missionary work among colored
Americans, advises the establishment of more churches even in
the rural South, and of parochial schools and more college ac
tivity. This is commendable and reveals a determination not to
permit the Roman church to continue being outdistanced by the
Protestant, churches.
Catholic officials should not interpret the Iloly Father’s
letter as an invitation to extend segregation by setting up jim
crow schools, churches and colleges. Sueh institutions belie the
word Catholic, are contrary to every Christian principle, and in
most parts of the country there is not even the excuse of legal
requirement. There is no law which requires that the two so
called races be jim crowed in private institutions.
The Catholic Church in the United States will be carryiift
out the spirit of the Pope’s lett 'er and of Christ’s teachings if
it will begin by opening all its churches and educational in*sti
tuitions to Negroes immediately on terms of absolutely equality
and not establish institutions “for Negroes.”
Some of these clerical institutions have either barred or
discouraged Negro attendance, and there is no Christian excuse
for it. Progress has been made of late years in the appointment
of Negroes to the priesthood, but a dozen colored priests out of
a quarter million colored communicants is certainly now'll ere
near a fair distribution.
The American Negro will rally to whatever ally attacks his
problems in a fair and forthright manner. He looks askance
at any effort that tends td sharpen and further emphasize
racial difference.
Protest for Insult
Brings Apology from
Broadcasting Station
Boston, Jan (ANP)—While
listening to a recent radio program
being broadcast over station W7EET
T. E. Richardson, a plumber of
this city, heard the announcer use
the expression, “There may be a
nigger in the wood pile.” He
immediately sent a letter of pro
test to he company officials and
Thursday received his re-ply from
H E. Fellows, general manager or
station WEEI:
“You may be sure that the phrase
crept into the advertising with
out nny thought of malice or in
tent of dispargement- Our adver
tising client, the Glendale Coal Co.
joins with us in extending to you
personally and to your race our
apologies and our assurance that
you have served us both well in
calling the mattdr to our attention ’
WPA Program In La.
Pleases Hopkins
Washington, D. C., Jan. 9 (ANP)
—Visiting New Orleans recently,
Harry L. Hopkins, WPA admin
strator was particularly im
pressed by the unique work being,
done by a group of Negro writers
at Dillard university, who are com
piling a “History of the Negro in
Louisiana” as part of the program
of the Federal Writers project.
The history, which already has
required several months of inten
sive research, will tell the story of
Negro in Louisiana from of the
anding of the first slave ship up
to the present day. Its production
is being supervised by Lyle Saxon
state director of the Federal Wri
ters project, with Horace Mann
Bond, Dean of Men at the univer
sity, directly in charge of the re
search work. Preliminary plans for
publication already have been made
and it is expected that the history
will form a valuable record of an
important phase of southern his
tory.
Other Negro writers employed on
the project in Louisiana have been
engaged in collecting folklore for
tho American Guide, the project’s
forthcoming national publication.
Much valuable material has been
collected relating to tho folklore,
folk medicine and folk customs of
Louisiana Negroes f the past and
of today.
READ THE OMAHA GUIDE
NEBRASKA’S COLORED
NEWSPAPER
JOHN BROWN exponent of Ameorican Freedom
|K ELLY MILLER
I SAYS
■THE OBLIQUE EFFECT
OF SEGREGATION
When segregation, in the. form
I of rentderatial separatum of the
I races, first manifested its purpose
I the Negro faarfd that jt would
I have the effect of setting him into
I the ghetto and confining him to
I th buck streets ^nti alleyp and
I shade-places, and of excluding him
the more dnsirabka residential ar
eas. It might he said in passing,
that the Negro always has been
essentially segregated by his pro
veo-ty. His financial abtbity, as a
rule, shuts him cut of the more
costly and expensive reservation*
ind subdivisions. The purpose of
segregation is to fhc t\*\>
•aces >residentiaUy apart by air
ight provisions, however financial
y able tho exceptional individuai
nay be.
Ab°iit tw*o ddcejles ago theVe
'as a widespread attempt fco ac~
omplish segregation by law. This
ttemptj was frusttratqd^ thb'ljgh
ot effectively defeated, by a de
sion of the supreme court. But
! a matter of fact, the process
now equally effectively with or
ithout the sanction of law. The
recess is at present complete
id extends across the continent
ith geographical completion—
om north to south, from east to
est, and diagonally. No section
the c<*untry is free from its oper
ion. Its lines have gone out
rough all the land—from Boe
n to Key West, from St. Paul
New Orleans, and from Seattfci
> St. Augustinei. The blight co
ers the whole nation like a blank
t covers a bqd.
I The first effect of segregation
ppon the white race reminds on*
pf the lines of Goldsmith:
“Ths dog and mam at first
were friends
But when a pique began
The dog to gain some privat*
ends,
Went mad and bit the man.
The wound it was both sctra
and sad
To every Christian eye,
And while they swore tht dog
was mad.
They svAnre the t| in wdjuld
die.
But soon a wonder came to
ligiht
That showed the rogues they
lied.
The man recovered from the
bite;
The dog it was that died.
The first reaction of segrega
tion has been adverse to its white
sponsors. It has forced them to
abandon expensive jiopeteties at
an enormous sacrifice. The resi
dences built a decade or so ago
for men of fortune and income,
have been turned over to a race
wholly unable to purchase and
maintain them. As a rule the whites
have exiled themselves from the
more commodious and convenient
sections of the great cities and
have taken flight to the suburbs
and outlying districts This leaves
the Negro in possession of magni
ficent homes which he occupies but
cannot command. Many a fairly
well-to-do white family, afflicted
with racial fright, has joined the
hegira and abandoned their homes
involving lifei-time accounts.
The effect of segregation in the
city of Washington is typical and
illustrative of what is taking place
in most of oqr large cities. The
Negroes have come into possession
of fully a square mile of the fair
est portion of the very heart of
the capital. The Negro reservation
lies just north of the government
buildings and business section and
is traversed by the widest and beet
paved streets and avenues, lined
with the choicest shade trees and
interspread with beautiful paths,
circles, and parks. The white re
sidents who have moved northward
must needs traversed the Negro
area to reach the great stores and
shops, as well as the White House
the Treasury, the Capital and other
government tyulidings.
So great is the cost of race pre
judice, and so dearly does the
white race pay for it.
Kelly Miller
GUARDS KILL
TWO CONVICTS
Tallahasssee, Fla., Jan. 9 (ANP)
-M. L Perry and John Wright were
killed and 10 other convicts wound
ed when prisoners at a Negro
convicts camp staged a rebelion
Wednesday. The prisoner com
plained of cruel treatment at the
Lake City camp but their com
plaints were ignored The wound
ed convicts were returned to work
after treatment by the camp phy
sician.