The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19??, March 20, 1937, 674 Edition, Page SIX, Image 6

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    Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street,
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-i , m (i* HHH't' -
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brother
hood of .Man must prevail. These are the only principles which will
•lai d the acid test of good.
All Nows Capy of Churches and all Organisations must be in our
sffice not later than 6’.00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver
tfeing Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wedneaday noon, preceed
tng date of issue, to Insure publication.
PROS AND CONS OF THE SUPREME
COURT CONTROVERSY ..
..
The quest ion of changing the Supreme Court to conform
to the wishes of President Roosevelt has assumed a « age .
controverfcfirtl bi'ftefkcss rtneqwalcd in the record of o'Ur country.
Otfr own state senator FMward 11. Htirke, a member of’
the President's political fidnil/bad this to na^ in regard t» the
President's tudent Hflcindl»'>*1 f was tooW\ misleading, exagger
ated abd (tml'itiuidcd riratle* tighiiiM the Nnprxnne (dourt." An
1 tltlier Herinlofy also a 'rtibtnbfir'of the President*n party,Ittoyul S.
'".'tlftpetfiml'lof'MeW Yorh, joiHcit vrilluiho tioimtor.iroin Nwhrofckn
•'iytoHentirigi'Mi* I 'rhU debit 2w earn s on t too tii wt the ^ up remfri Court
was wtjidnsiAllir. fiorunc rogratMknfwUuindcifl’fwth* Wntd/'fii dust
'clfcl^uHesotlod otlj la v'fiifllq J,nn fiifisn rj©x
On the other hand we find Attorney General HAh?h*‘ S.,
,f,'Cun!iiffn7s VHc i^kl/WGIfyr.'illit’H iW the'-IVesM debt,’*
ftrtW^ti.S^nWirfhWi ‘VWtf-'iM
errimeiittil machinery lias gotten out of bnFftMtt#,' that bah-ftic^
.',Vn»k,V'fl^t)P(»d,^Fi«WW.1t *• a f ) j
fiftfl T/ta*} 'j ibiuO ,ili rftiw o«k t»tn Y'al* o'jHw is" . . o T'oM «
Congressman Arthur W. Mitchell, the only Negro.inem
(ber.in (Jqggrt^, rlh^ tU^uae of .ijje, President and char* ‘
ges that the Supreme Court 1 ‘struck down every congressional
effort to improve the lot of black America”. Just where we are
headed in this ipaey sided,controversy Is yet to be seen.
^ et after all is said and done the destiny of all American
people now hangs in a balance and the ultimate outcome must
be determined by careful consideration of all the facts involved
and out of a judgment void of political expediency. If the scale
of good judgment leans toward the Reorganization Plan of Pres
ident Roosevelt let us, as Negroes, stand with him, while on the
other hand, if the scale of good judgment leans against such a
plan, then take a stand.
O) ■ ii'ii'i t ,f| J D MTU 11:1.1 .. ji-.-t , j
, THE HIGH COST OF LIVING
It lias been a long time since we have heard much about
old man High Coat of Living, He has been listed among the miss
ing (and well lost) for lo these many years. But if you. have
good ears and apply them to some intent listening, you'll hear
him knocking faintly at your door today. This old man would
like very much to conig in and make himself at home. He. would
like to sit down at your table, and eat a. big part of your every
IM?1* to borrow your, clothes and jyear them out, to take a chunk
of your rent money, an* pocket it for his incidental pleasures.
- • In-his knock at the door there are soma definite warnings. What
can be dope toprevenfr inflated credits.and prices from precip
itating another Crash rniist be^ done. Economies of mass produc
tion as in the modern auto-building and of mass distribu
tion such as the direct-to-consumer technique of large retailers,
must not b© sabotaged by legislative fiat, because these meth
ods tend to keep prices low. ___
And here is a tip for the consumer. Now is the time to
buy. Now is the time to stock up on clothes and household
goods. For experts agree that general price levies which now
am up some 23 percent since 1933, are certain to go higher.
How much higher, we don’t know. Perhaps old man High
Cost of Living himself won’t gain entrance, but merely one of
his small children. Maybe the economists can bar the door. All
that the rest of us can do, is hope. —
CHILD LABOR
—*~*^nr"rT^li¥aiTmn in • - rnii -n-- ..T.n - T 11.11 * J * UL * U.
1 , — rmiuMmirr-i n_._ |
. Nationwide polls have indicated that almost eighty per
cent of the populace favors the Child Labor Amendment. It was
passed by two-thirds of both, houses of Congress. It has been
ratified by twenty-eight states. -—
Surely the yut-of-tune states can no longer turn deaf cars
tjo the popular will Surely the eight needed will hear ii soon.
Themis no sound argument against the simple truth that
4hii4feib > should b* jn school working Ion li nn- in
Olfactories and gertHfgipot nSUre th.in a mere pit
it. And there lan be lilfle objection ljp the method oi
IvUinual diiiug^pfcgpused and proceeding in the waj
Anxiously, hopefully, we wait for eight states to act.
prescribed by the founding fathers.
VIEWr'Cf CIAL UNDER
* ST O
( ler’s Digest)
Adi vered by Mrs. W*
IF. M^haJYey^>n The. occasion of
Mite cldfflftg urlh^ slufly Qr tne3
jlneesk,; ‘‘Rrefpue ho Racial -Cpi
derstanding. ” This study was
jmhde by the missionary society
of tlie Methodist Church, at
Mendenrall, Mississippi.
The subject this fall is perhaps
the most important home inis
sion,.study wuln^e had for a
number oi year*. j^equt^TUve
enlarge our vision through our
sturfy book and are inspired‘to
la rger giving, but usually mere |
is not much we can do person-1
«JTy._Z
This is our fiftieth year of
home mission worltyffUT “Home*
Mission Jubilee Year,” is the
opportune time to study/*The
American Negro.’ Th^ need to-1
day is to know our American
Negroes better. The two races
in the South are so linked to
gether that wba,t is good fort
one is good for the other. Then
too, he is our neighbor; our re
sponsibility; our obligation toj
be not only just but generous in 1
our treatment of him.
In God s Bight ev.ery human,
being i s sacred—-one of His 1
children- Christ ianity admits no 1
uther basis of firnn&n teltdious. <
Bishop Dobbs said reeT’rrt|y St 1
conference, “There can be nod
brotherhood* of' man'-* vrtftttfrtt 1
the fatherhood of God..-This,
relationship was beautifully ex-.i
amplified in the life of Jesus^j
I'lirist. He taught, and lived it.' *
f> would be like Him we,.
must be willing to" accept" aft j
races "TiheluffiiH* THnnWCTH|a n',
NegroJTBrSPwatHers. * j
i er4**'(i
Christ lms con? k to tl«^ ,
we want Qtl justice for ,
all pcop 1 0 evW>*vrliere. To lQvc ;
. v b % tm
der stood others bettor.
Realizing we knew- very little
about our neighbor we hnf.e
been studying about him; not
the lowest, unambitious type,
but the Christian, educated Ne
gro. “The American Negro”
is the topic for our fall mission
study in our couneil, in our Mis
sissippi Conference, and in our
local misionary society.
"We have used many books,
periodicals and other material J
in connection with our text ^
books. “The Preface to Race,
Relations” by Dr. Charles S.
Johnson, himself a Negro..AVe
have studied t
1 The history of the Negro
in Africa.
2. Slaver}! and its effect on
whites and Negroes.
8, Race relations and preju
dices. s *
4. Social factors.
5. Dqhor, iqdqstiy and econ
omical status.
6. Contributions!.
7. The basis of a new or
.Christian relationship and what
we can do about it.
Social equality was not an
issue in this study. We now un
derstand better that the Negro
wants—
1. Race integrity.
2. The right to be a respect
ed citizen.
3. The right to be educated.
4. The right to economic free
dom.
Up until this t^ne w® *,ave
made the color line a horizon
tal one, with the white man a
bove and the Negro below. Now
we have tilted the color line in
a vertical position, with equal
rights and opportunities extend
ed to those on either side of it.
|You can play a tune of sorts on
| the white keys on a piano, you
can play a tune of sprts on the
j black keys, hut for harmony
you must use both the black
and white. As with the piano,
so with people.
>The interest of the women of
.our missionary society in the
istudy Jins been very vital and 1
ibelieve the serious study of the
| topic will help to bring aboil'
and to
Ininas of misunderstanding re
ifertfmg our brothers it*^tlrhr
r/ij/e**, Wo-i^of look upon, them
as brothers and love them as
ClrtiNtikiit. ’f : i
It U pur desire tjo.lify up all^
who need* our help and to strive
il> gi.vfe' thoui Slnh, oppfjripni ,
ties for growth and develop-(
mentis will enable thet^o Lit ,
coniei mjWligesiit. construcuve,1
CJubiiaiij cttfzons 'of'ibur {fonh
niTtiiu^^tat^and worltlf
We of this missionary group
now see in our homes, in our^
work, in our schools, Xrt onr
f \ • *
church ami in our community,;
opportunities for service to ourj
fellowman. We now realize that
we cannot have close fellowship
with Christ and live apart from
fiur fellowen. There is an ob
ligation on our part to hjnve
something within our lives that
Bill help to meet the needs of
o her people.
For us generally, the result
} fthii study hah been a more
frank and less embarrassed aC*
’eptnnce of the fact of race and ,
mr differences,,but with a grow
ng conviction that the differ- 1
>pcfsSrave no vital and inherent
leaning.
With, this study has come a1
fa ^hek-Wit the hid-!
loo heAUties of NegroJife, there
- : j v* •><■« . jj » ■ .
s less apology for race and ttie
social jmpJic;^0f race'
itatus; there is more confident. .
iclf-pyprossion and a deep shar
nof the whole culture of Am:
i£ ‘P^clftiiV^Vd at: i
ude of the mind concerning our
leighbor—which ^lcpns^i grcat;
mrtrespejrt fop personality* erl
rn»<'i«\lv •■'Neirro per f wality. |
:het'K bf nil attitude of sympa
thy and good will; there is a ’
lesire for peace and justice,
As a result of these things,
surveys are being made in
1. Social conditions affecting^
the Negro.
2. Poor educational facilities
3. Psychological reaction to t
discrimination and enforced in- (
hibitions. We are now willing
to cooperate with all under |
standing.
We are welcoming the cours
es offered on race relations iw
our leading colleges and uni
versitics.
We have already started a lo
cal betterment program, a part
of which was as follows:
We sent a delegate to the Ne
gro Leadership .Training School
and since her rutum we have
cooperated with her in organ
izing a ootnrtiunfty club.
We helped, her organize a
Friday night Bible Class, taught
by some of our women, in which
to teach the teachers the Sun
day School lesson for the f°l- j
owing Sunday. These women
say it is the most satipfying
work they have ever attempted.
We have contributed on the
cost of paint for the local Ne
gro church.
We have plans to light street
corners in the Negro section of
our town.
To help beautify the school
grounds.
To furnish recreation for the
children.
To see fair wages and hours
for the workers.
There are many things that
we would like to do and hope
to help them do. One thing " ®
can do is to be friendly with all
people, especially our ^efro
workers. Friendships broaden
our horizons, widen the n*uh
of our lives and makes them
richer, fuller and more holy.
Booker T. Washington is not
ed for saying, “Cast down your
buckets whore you are.” So we
'.are'trying to east it down, mi"
intr friends in every manly w ay
'of the people of all races by
whom we are surrounded.
';i4 ittf'i* 4» •reVi • :-qpt.
SR.VBN?¥ YEARS QF HOWARD
j (>tr Msn'fh ,-2n<t Howard univers
ity celebrated the seventieth year
, o/j .exisUrfo^ I, wajKfcbffe years
, old when this institution was organ
. iz*d- - f matTicvlatv'd VfJH; student
in. my seventeenth year- As man
1 and boy, student and teacher, 55
|*years of my ;life an interwoi«i
hip, the l'<«0»!#nd vS&*f of th;alp|A>
Instituti&i of higher learning. Dp
hng this* time I li*i»e derive-dOWwi
and contributed little. All of my
five children earned their Bachel
or's degree in the ,Al©a Mater of
their father. I have two grand
children who are now matriculated
in the School of Music.
I was born six months after the
Emancipation Proclamation was is
sued and was redeemed from the
stigma f a slave’s birth by the be-;
noficence of Chat great humane j
document, I take my life, therefore,
as a yardstick to measure the pro
gress of the colored race from the
date of its freedom to the present
time. In a more special sense, my
span of life measures the scholastic
advancement of the race from the
zero point of illiteracy to the de
gree of intelligence it has attain
ed. My auto-biography, now under
preparation, will trace in parallel
columns these three lines of deve
lopment
But I mu»t limit the few words
of this release to the origin, grow
th, present position apd future
prospects of Howard university,
the ^premier institution of higher
learning for the Negro race. When
L entered, the university
ine crest of the missionary wave
bud, reached flood, tj.dtj
imps had begun to cb|>..
in Mediately after, the, wu. ,«ar
frts" nation, ip a>pagm of virtue,
v. as carried to the 'top of the Mt.
rt im»in there for only. rrvwpent.
Thence, it must descend to the font
of pe mountain and ijujc with the
grosser affairs of life. In that spa
sm of virtue, Fisk, IJo.wflrd, At
lanta, Lincoln, Shaw and a host of
Negro sclbools and collegs were
Approved standard of European
The Negro is not a menace to
America. He has proven hirn- J
self worthy of confidence. He
has been and may continue to
be a blessing. In the years that
ar eto come he needs the help
of those who have voices of in
fluence. He needs also that we
rmove unnecessary harriers to
his way and give hint a chance
to demonstrate that under God
h eis a man and can play a
man’s part.
Some of the verses from the
Bible which have come to have
a new meaning to us as a re
sult of this study of the Ameri
can as thele: “ Have we not all
Pirn Father? Hath not opq God
created ust "Why do we deal
treacherously every man a
gainst his brother f—Malachi 2
10. “God had made of one
II nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the
earth.”—Acts 17:24 and 26.
I wat to conclude this talk
with a poem which echoes all of
our feelings:
IF SOME DAY
-*
If some day I should meet my Lord
Upon the street, or at some pea
sant’s board
And should see with great surprise
That his skin were yellow and
slanting his eyes,
Would there any great difference be
To find that my Lord were thus
unlke me?
I
Or, if, upon a quiet country road
I should meet hm where the trees
are bowed.
If his skin were brown and his eyes
a darker shade,
Would I falter? Would I be afraid
j To own him my Lord and closer
I draw
To him whom my heart adores?
Oh, I like eyes of blue, and hair of
chestnut brown,
I like to think his skin was white,
that thus He came down
To win this wicked world from sin,
To cure my soul, to let me his King
dom in.
But if of visage brown or darker
skin,
Is he not my Lord? Is he less oi
kin?
—By F. Y. .Taggers,
In the N. Y- Christian Advocate
born. Faith and audacity
birth. The
north
faith in
•abilities
s'JTutions, based upon the latest
a! .'f ia' s v. la si f !rlv;;r" 11a.i
whdcd t through the stygian * aa'l*.
I ness of igiyyance since creations
dawn. ‘Snch' WuMinle audacity* the
world has never seer}.
Tran; iOi joi jbo na ,
I How far has their, fait!} been
I'jtwtfifled life the chief* "queryi which
| this generation of the benefited
i r eo must answer. The work of the
amdi'is » finishes!. They have
ssm lMm labor to rew ard Rey
nold* of LinCpln, Ware of Atlanta,
Falcon of BiddTe,' Cravath of Fisk,
Tupper of Shaw, Armstrong of
Hampton and Howard of Howard
look down from above upon the
works which they planted in faith
and watered with their tears and
allowed with the yearnings of their
soul. Shall we let them live and
die in vain? They were succeeded
by a generation of less faith who
have greater belief in money than
in men. The spiritual degeneration
of the age reflected in the Work
which they left behind them. In
stitutions which they founded have
been greatly magnified in bricks,
mortar and sflone- On passing
through jthese magnifident cam
puses one is constrained to ex
claim “Master, whati stones and
buildings are these?” But, alas,
the voice of caution whispers in
our ears “Unless these structures
shall be consecrated to the pur
pose of the founders, there shall
not be left one stone upon another,
which shall not be thrown down.”
Statistically, the higher education
of the Negro has more than justi
fied itself. In grounds and build
ings, libraries, laboratories, student
body and technically equipped fa-j
culties ?he progress has far' oat
swept the fondest ...dream of the
founders, but has tha spirit kept
pace with the material expansion?
The pur-pose of the foundors jof
Howard university and tfyese other
institutions was to develop aj?d lead,
them to the promised land which
they visymed lay before them.
Have they kept the faith?, Are
they inspired by the fore-glimpse
of triumph, vouchsafed to the
founders? Negro graduates of
Howard, Fisk, Atlanta and Lincoln
hear ye these words.
Last June there stood upon the
Commencement platforms two
thousand Negro graduates with
college diplomas in tiheir hands- Of
these Howard university turned
out over three hundred. Have these
graduates the requisite moral and
spiritual energy and intellectual
resourcefulness to command the
spiritual, moral, political, industrial
economic and social estate wrapped
up in the needs and necessities of
twelve million Negroes who look to
them for guidance?
And to you of the present gen
eration of teachers and leaders in
to whose hands the tutelage of
those youths is committed: are you
equipping them with the faith, with
intellectual and moral energy and
I inspiring them with audacity and
courage requisite to the great
task? I am unable to say yes, but
unwilling to say no. I would give
the adviepr which Hamlphrgave to
his mother: “Assume virtue, if you
, have it not-’*
But, you say, this effusion is
but the garrility of the septuagen
aian, who, like the nine old men
on our Supreme Bench, ought to
be relegated to the limbo of si
lence- But as I stand upon the emin
nce that looks backward over a
vista of seventy years of Howard
and higher educational endeavor, I
cannot hold my peace. At such a
crisis as t!his in the upper life of
the Negro race, I am constrained
to feel that if men would hold their
peace, the stones would cry out.
Kelly Miller
-o
WPA TENANCY REPORT
By Floyd J. Calvin
A report on “Landlord and Ten
ant on the Cotton Plantation,"
just released by WPA Adminis
trator Harry L. Hopkins, “based on
| visits to 646 typical plantations,
interviews with more than 6,000
tenant farmers, and the examina
I tion of relief and AAA records, re
veals that the problems of the Ne
gro cotton grower are unquestion
■ ably more vexing, than those of
! his white neighbor. Reasons given
. for the existence of this situation
are: (1) that Negroes are restrict
ed in their opportunity to purchase
land in desirable sections, (2) that
J they have been able to build up
only a few proprietorships to plan
tation size, (3) that they have less
'frequent opportunities to leave one
farm for another than do white
i --
tp"....
An EcflOjry^
From My Den
Bv R Gilbert *
Ad f ait h^e idf'irllh
f*'1} fj jpeditjnting, .as it, ve^e
there comes'to miftd fhe lamentable
-fact that ,^re ie need in Oma^a
of more race respect “SELF RF
SPECT COMES FROM SELFSUP
I’QStll^ The plight of ouyp people
even in Ipmes o# prosperity e||g
gosts a strange yet vfery sad atory.
A stdry which if told in prtper
tempo will leave no doubt in the
mind dur hgsij friends of tfiose
who are .truly. solicitous of our
Welfare, -that there nlnst & func
tional defect or perhaps an irrem
ediable weafcttets'sotftewhefref in the
organization of our being.
We are persecuted socially and
economically as well as prostituted
politically, ye| most of us, 16,000
strong, think of it, stand by uncoor
dinated, helpless like a herd of dumb
animals. I can hear some saying,
well, what can we do? We are not
able to sustain ourselves economic
ally and we are noti sufficiently
strong numerically to batter down
the doors of prejudice which shut
of many opportunities tb us. We
lack this, we lack that and thou
sands of other things, So convinced
are we of our inaptitude that many
are waiting for someone to come
forth with a magic formula that
will solve all our problems. I admit
that we lack a great many things
and paramount among them I
should include solidarity, courage,
self reepedt and common, sftnse.
These are facts, and facts ire hot
always pleasant "But by -what my
sterious force are we kept asunder ?
Why is it that the same myst&rious
force is ineffective :with Jews- in
that it fails to keep thehv apart ?
Quoting Radbj Stephen ik^^ise
of New York white addregmng t,he
graduating class of 'Howard. p^i.Ver
sity in li)^8: “Your race jjna my
race are the Uwp down ^ trodden
races of the universe The differ
ence being that my race learned the
value of cooperation and your "race
has no). If the Jews have been
successful in fighting racial ob
stacles, itf is because they had the
foresight to band themselves in
to a homogeneous whole out of
which emerge an exclusive concen
trated economic policy which mak
es them independent and self sus
taining. They have not begged for
alms at one door and prayed for
mercy at another. No instead they
support one another; they patronize
their own stores their own restau
rants, their own tabernacles and if
you please their own schools and
newspapers
After years of personal sacrifice
add privations they are today an
economic force that cannot be dis
counted without endangering the
basic structure of our national ec
onomic life. Of course all of this
did not take place in a day. It
could not. It required sortie years ^
of consistent mobilization of inter
ests with an unbending will and
indefatigable courage to ^sustain
the toilers against the onslaught
of local, national, and international
intrigue and discrimination.
Whereas witjh us it has been a
master of hope and prayer. Left
alone, we probably would exter
minate ourselves either through in
terceno slaughter or by starvation
due to inability to utilize the boun
ties of nature. Other races have
mapped out the course of self re
spect and eventual independence.
We decry our own establish
ments; we discount the efforts of
our own mpn who are fighting for
an economic foothold. In Omaha
we spend annually over 110,000,000,
ninety-five cents out of every dol
lar is spent with the other race
and five cents with our own. At
this rate it will take thousands of
years for the Negro of Omaha
to reach the economic status that
rightful should be theirs. I know
that there ara miary things which
under our present financial status
cannot be produced, but why can’t
we support those things which we
can produce? Afttr all the salva
tion of our race will come from
within and not from without
-o-■
fanners, and (4) that the stand
ard of their schools are almost in- |
| variably lower than those of white
I schools.”
That the WPA is co-operating
I with other Federal agencies to im
' prove the condition of tbe tenant
farmers, black and wft:±e; is jcom
; mendable. If the Suprels* Court i
will but fall in line, everyubiug
(will be well. ■'■*•*-1