Nebraska Newspapers

    I COMMENTS EDITORIAL PAGE opinions I
..EDITORIALS..
~THE^OMAHA GUiDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phenes: WEbater 1517 or 1618
Entered aaSecondf last Matter March 16, 1027, at the Posteffice at
Omaha. Neb., undorAct of Congress of March 8, 1879.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION *2.00 PER YEAR
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brother
hood of Man must prevail. These are the only principle! which will
•tasd the acid test of good.
All News Capy of Churches and all Organizations must be In our
sffice not later than 6:00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver
ting Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, proceed
ing date of issue, to insure publication.
“GONE WITH THE WIND” WILL GO WITH THE WIND
The Pulitzer Committee award* this year nr0 a sorry bus
iness, headed as tlu*y arc wi,i\i tli(, laurels for ihnt. masterpiece
of shallowness, ignorance and prejudice, “Gone with th<> Wind.”
When tli<‘ Pulitzer committee honored .tjhis dishonorable
ainl shoddy wodk they were giving no help to literature and a
great deal of encouragement to the Negrophobia: which hahgs
over the book like adismal smell. The book was wri.ten by a
prim young lady, snobbish and sentiraentajl, whoseboaM, is that
she comes of an “ unreeons. rueted family” still clutching to its
bosom the faded glories of the Confederacy, She perpetuates all
the vile mythology of the plantation fasters with its references
to “^egno lust” and similar tripe used to verify the moral jus
tification for lynching. raedsl enreie.
The award is a confession of literary puerility a^nd a' tri
bute to the worst prejudices of the Bourbons
But if the committee was bold in honoring the political re
action of the old South it carefully avoided the democrajSia
polities of blue present day and ignored Carl Sandburgs splen
did “The People, Yes” certainly the outstanding volume of
poetry for the ye^r. -mv
The Pulitzer a(ward, harmful as it is to American literature
and American life in general, will not nave the bulky “Gone
with the Wind" from quickly going witH the wind to the ob
livion it deserves.
Calvin’s Digest
_ By Floyd J. Calvin
New A. U- Proxy
We wish to add our worl of
congratulation to the chorus of
praise going up on the selection
of Dr. Rufus E: Clement ns the
successor to the late and belov
ed Dr: John Hope as head of
Atlanta University.
I j Dr: Clement, youthful, well
trained, with fresh administra
tive educational experience, a
scion of a noted family which
was brought to national prom
inenre by the late Zion Bishop
George E. Clement, should make
good in this most strategic po
sition in the higher education
of the Negro, and of the coun
try.
Agajin Negro youth has a
chance to prove its worth.
Letter of Protest
Advertising Age
100 East Ohio Street,
Chicago, Til.
Regard Collins, Miller & Hut
chins advertisement, page 33,
Mav 3. issue, an uncalled for ?p
suit to Colored American Oiti
xens Use of the term "Nigger"
m-ervwbern taboo where sales
sod urofits are conierncd. and
oipfdo<5 Tf suitable annlngr is
in libofil social and nrofe«siona]
no‘ forthcoming at nno», strike
r>”r name from vonr list, and
vp’i -"iv Vppo fbe phnn^p.
fnlvins Npwsnencr Service
AMT! Ovrrfl.n
■•frATM <?enth A fH
AS oeTnos th® foil rvwrt Tiff me*.
">"» fhe ^rvn*h' Afrieqn Christ
inn Unnnivier rnfide its first on
■KAAvon^A nn Anril 1st T* is the
A*fin{o1 m-inn of 4h« Afrienn
'"»'-.4V,a^;c4. TVii«(m^pl Phnrrh ’Tt
CAf.4t. Afoinfl Pichnn P. p.
''*>i** 1" ^or einpht ■•-ours
*‘av «->* 4T,» Phristinn Peeerdor
Jvi A man^r iq editor in oh?ef
T4 l,qq oWt n*imc end sells for
4W00 nnnnn or civ nn-rttq J4 vlll
appear first bimonthly, later
monthly. It contains interest
ing article on South Africa,
the history of the AME Church
in South Africa by Rev: J: M:
Mokouc, son of the founder, and
‘Amerieta.ii Negro Women* by
Mrs. Charlotte C. Wright1
A number of years ago the
South African Christian Recor
der flourished, but suspended
publication about six years ago.
Frank Marshal Davis
We are pleased to see that
one of our well known and very
capable journalists, Mr: Frank
Marshall Davis, has been inclu
ded among those obtaining Ro
senwahl aid for intellectual pur
suits. Mr. Davis, feature editor
of the Associated Negro Press,
and author of one of the first
books published this year by a
colored writer, “I Am the Am
erican Negro," is to do more
active writing under his grant.
Mr. Davis, a native of Kan
sas and once editor of the At
lanta Daily World, is yet young
and knows what it means to he
pigeon-holed as a “Negro in
our American civilization.
Banging at the bars of his
racial prison. Mr. Davis ex
claims: “Only my dollars know
no color line.™.and sometimes
even those are banned!
We salute Frank Marshall
lavis, a working journalist, wh°
has won recognition for com
ncoition superior to that of a
copy-hack.
In Pittsburgh
At last through speciejl action
of the Rtato legislature, an offi
cial inquiry is being conducted
into <he exclusion of colored
teachers from the Pittsburgh
schools bv the Board of Fduea
tiou. During the past quarter
of a century, no colored teach
ers have been employed in the
Smoky City.
In spite of the fact that the
superintendent of schools and
KELLY MILLER
SAYS
—"*' —— »■ «'—.■•■ •■—♦-—•■•■»■ •
DEED SCOTT AND ANGELO
HERNDON DECISIONS
Humjan bias, prejudice and
predilections vitiate any equa
lion into which they enter. The
judges of the supreme court
form no exception to this rule.
All argument for a court free of
political slant and bias is a pure
waste of while: Tt is as impos
sible for a judge to free himself
of his received and accepted po
litical and economic philosophy
as it would he for a Baptist to
lav aside his denominational
enets in a religious controversy
The electoral commission ap
pointed to determine the Naves
and Tilden contest in 1877 was
anmposed of honorable and up
right men, and yet their deris
ions split along the line of po
IBianl cleavage—thP eight Re
'Mihlirans upheld the claim of
TTov»»«t—the Republican eandi
l«*tA while the seven Democrat.*
wi h like sincerity sunported
^'htep, their Democratic cp-nar
f’*an No ope nnhra.ided their
nnd m^enmitv on either
oM, Tt was menAlv an illnstra
*ym'i* »»1A tndintnl TV. In ft fnllnw.
i’ne» *he hent of it* preconceived
opinions.
The Supreme Court, from the
Bred Scott to the Angelo Hern
don decision, has split along the
basis of states’ rights and fed
eral conrol: The judges who he
lieved that t!We conrol of the in
terest of slavery should be left
to the states voted ,t*> remand
Bred Scott,hack to slavery; and
the minority opinion was enter
tained by those who upheld a
strong central authority.
Precisely the same line of
cleavage is observed in the An
(Trio Herndon cahe. The four
conservative members of ,tlie
bench, Van HeVater, McBey
nolds. Southerland and Butler,
who joined in the minority opin
the attorney for the school
board declared “no discrimi
nation1 existed a colored woman
testified, “I took the course for
kindergarten teachers at the
old Pittsbudgh Training School,
was graduated in 1920 at the
head of a class of eight. I was
the only colored member of the
kindergarten group: A1J1 my
class members were given teach
ing positions in the schools but
I was not.
Hon. A1 Tronzo, a member of
the board of inquiry, said of the
investigation, which is still in
progress: “In spite of the high
standards which are claimed by
Pittsburgh schools, all of us
! have met colored men who are
brilliant lawyers, brilliant doc
tors and exceptional in many
walks of life. And we know th|t
right here in our city colored
men are making superior rec
ords in the \miversities and, be
cause of the bar against them,
are being forced to go into the
Pullman service. We want to
correct that condition as far as
we ean.“
To Dean Kelly Miller
Dean Kelly Miller of Wash
ington, veteran writer of the
Negro press, is suffering from
cataracts on the eyes. His work
has been curtailed for several
months, and for periods, halted
alogtether. We who still enjoy
the physical blessings of youth,
sympathize with the D'ean, as
the body, which has long serv
i ed him well, shows signs of
weakening.
ion, would return Angelo Hen
don to the tender mercies of thi
state of Georgia.
The iMberal sentiment of thi
nation made the Negro a citi
zen and conferred upon him thi
rights and privileges of citizen
ship, a.nd made .these rights ir
revocable by the states. The re
aetionaries have constantly con
batted the spirit and purpose
of the 14th and 15th amend
merits. The doctrine of states
rights since the days of John
C. Calhoun, has been chiefly
concerned with preventing the
Negro from enjoying the full
status of an American citizen.
President Roosevelt's propo
sal to liberalize the supreme
court would certainly tend to
safeguard the rights of the Ne
trro under the law. Every can
did and fair minded citizen
knows fully well that the rights
and privileges of the Negro
would be better preserved by
five liberal judges than by four
reactionaries who joined in the
linsenting opinion in the Hern
don easej ,
Justice McJReynolds in an ex
tra judicial statement said he
believed in equal justice for all
men, even including the ‘darky1
but his reactionary attitude and
states rights obsession, illustra
ted by his vote in the Herndon
case makes this statement ra
uwr usconvmcing.
Roosevelt's proposal to add
six new members to the su
preme court may appear rather
daring to the timid conserva
tive mind, but the praciical
statement never imputes ideal
istic perfection to fra^l human
nature. Judges are men, subjest
to like infirmities as other men
Donning the judicial ermint
does not change a judge's na
ture: As long as judges are ap
pointed by the president and
confirmed by the senute, theii
attitude on political and eco
noraic questions will influence
their decisions. Then why not
have a bench imbued with a ba
sic political and economic ph i'
osophy which the nation has ap
proved?
In addition to this broad
principle the Negro has his spe
cial reason for supporting lioose
velt's proposal. It squints in
the direction of liberal federal
control against the doctrine oi
states rights which has beei
the rock upon which t-lie N<
pro's political hopes have fount
ered from the days of * alhoui
until now.
I • • m » » » *
1 I ,
An Echo
; From My Den
By S. M. GBlMrt _
As I sit here in my den, with
pen in hand, meditating ah it
were, there comes to my mind
the question of “Juvenile De
Sinquency'a community problem
Recently I covered a Social Wei
fare meeting at Zion Baptist
Church: There I heard Dr. Lau
rence H. Brown, head of the de
partment of Sociology, Creigh
ton University, stress upon the
fact that there was a great need
in Omaha for the cooperation
of all groups in the securing of
playgrounds and recreational
centers in localities where the
underprivileged child is to be
found. With this thought in my ,
| mind, there comes from the out
side, an echo, stating a very
lamentable fact that the Recre
ational projects which were be
ing cJarried on in one of our lo
cal centers had been discontin
ued, and if you please in the
very heart of that locality in
which according to an author
ity on the social condition of
Omaha has the highest delin
quency rating in the city:
To my w ay of thinking it is
time that all social workere,
especially the heads of each in
It is true that the main pur
pose of liberalizing the Court is
to secure a broader attitude up
on economic interests rather
than human rights: But, as far
as the president has so distinct
ly pointed ouh—the two are iu
dissilubly joined, together
Provincial southern senti
ment is hidebound! in its advo
cacy of states' rights is so far
as the Negro is concerned, but
strangely enough1 this section
lias furnished the chief support
ers in upholding the hand of
the president and the New Deal
on economic liberolism: The sec
tion which unanimously oppos
ed the Ga vagan Bill will almost
solidly vote to uphold the eco
nomic aspect of the New Deal
program: Herein consists the
anomaly of our complex politi
cal situation:
But however these things
may be, the Negros hopes for
equality before the law, rests
now as it did in the days of the
Dred Scott Decision, upon the
i liberal and progressive spirit
and purpose of the nation:
BRONZE ^MndesutT \
} AMERICAN N°1 FEMALE '
*- PJANO SWING0LO6IST
* (•JuHutuJlmtL ANDY KIUKS ORK
7*. CALVIN
CHILDREN
WILL NAAKE THEIR MtlSICAL
DEfcUT LN A PIANO RECITAL
JN.MEW Y0RJC JUNE 18 -
'BERNICE &'«*«/
QflL06.ES "9'
''daughters of
FLOW CMVfN
/NOTED MWMM
I
-*#«**>
M-UM
V'J - - i » "■ in. . t
'CmU LEE
R)RMERN°I CONTENDED
AS A WELTERWEIGHT &QXER *
MARINE A SWELL COME
MCK AS AN ACTOR PS.
ONE ACTOR NO ONE 'PICKS
ON'
@ 1937 wmSMATieSAL KMKO PWS
| Winners of Dr. Free]
Palmer’s $575 Contesl
to be Announced
Through special arrangement
with the Dr. Fred Palmer Labora
tories of Atlanta, Georgia, we will
bring news of the Dr. Fred Palmei
contest winners each week to oui
readers who are interested. As fast
as the winning names are released
they will be published in this ne»w»
paper. Watch this newspaper foi
these winnning names. Your name
may be among the winners.
A«k your druggist for a beauiful
free Dr. Fred Palmer Fan. Hurry
—as the supply is limited.
•-o
stitution, get together as was
suggested by Dr. Brown and
discuss this and subsequent acts
of this kind which will follow
if some concrete concern is
not shown in this deplorable
and uninvestigated act:
Such a curtailment of recrea
tional workers from the South
side center to my way of think
ing, based on the delinquency
report of Dr: Sullinger of Oma
ha University is a directdefAat
of the purpose for which the re
creational projects are created:
As one who is interested in
the welfare of our youth, brot
on through years of experience
in the social field, I beg leave
to offer a suggestion that the
executives of the three social
organizaionst along with other
social minded persons get to
gether and map out a program
for the good of all.
The Musicians
By Mrs. H. Making
; The first Negro singers to
tour America were the Fisk Ju
bilee Singesis in 1871. In three
years this group raised $150,000
for Fisk Unversity which at the
time was in dire need. This was
the beginning of the spiritual
vogue.
Music critics compared two
musics, the common, soulful N#
gro music and the highly ola^sie
of the Indians. It was proven
thaj a folk song was a song of
the people by the people. Most
certainly the Indian lyric could
not l^ sung by the uncultured
peovle even of its own race.
The white man was taken to
the Negro musil so muvh so that
many were made famous by its
use. Although a famous trrang
er of Negro music, John Powell
(whitle) said the Negro race is
a part from the rest of us and
should be treated so both social
ly and culturally, Henry F. Gil
bert wrote “Swing Low Sweet
Chariot” and William J. Red
dick wrote “Standing in the
Need of Prayer” and “Leaning
on the Lord.”
Others made famous by No
gro music: John. J. Miles, Qav
id Guion, although given cried
it, it is genreally believed the
white man did not compose
these songs—onlyi copied them.
Five famouh Negro composers
leigh, Clarence Cameron White,
were Nathaniel Dett, H. T: Bur
J. Rosamond Johnson and Wm:
G: Still:
PETERSON’ COMMENT
This column went to church the other Sunday On a dare
and an invitation to hear one of our younger ministers; do his
stuff. And on the knowledge that we shall be stepping on long
forbidden ground, the Colored Church and its clergy are going
to be the subject of thi^ week’s ramblings. All ye who disagree
may personally give the works via P. 0‘ Bo(e 7823, Philadelphia,
l’u: The legion who side with us will kindly meet in convention
on Sunday at the first telephone booth at the comer drug store
We folkis as a whole, are reaflly church conscious. We will
go ,to church and thajik the Powers for what we have when
really Wg have nothing to bq thankful for. And we are told by
our ministers that the less we have here on earth the more we
dhall have later on. We rejoice in1 that belief, go home entirely
I satisfied with things as they are—thankful they are no worse—
as if they could be.
This particular young minister that your column heard bad
better watch his step:He is liable to be thrown out of the min
isters union or have his church picketed by members of that
Union, because he actually advised his parishonem to expect
something in this life. Of course, he didn’t stress that pointi
only mentioned it in parsing. In fact we think the reason he
brought it up was to console them with the promise that any
thing they expected and wanted rqal bad in this life and fail
ed to get, they could look forward to receiving in the next with
greater glory and happiness for having done without it here.
And this minister is classed as a liberal of the new school.
W ^la^ must the Consevatives of the old preaching instincts have
to advise their congregations. It is this column’s opinion that our
churches as conducted by their ministers has been next to the
greatest drawback the race has had since slavery. Of course, the
greatest is lack of education in theSoufh. There is no other com
mon banner under which so majiy of our people congreiate as
in the church, and instead of being a force for advancement, it
is just the opposite.
There is an article in Readers’ Digest for May by a Catho
lio priestr in particular, for not helping fheir people during
this depression. For sending money out of the country in mis
sionary work and expecting the government to take care af the
needy here. Now it is a known fact that the Catholic Church
takes care of their own better than any other church in Amer
ica, and if they can be called to task by one of their own offi
cers, how much lacking the other churches must be in this re
spect. He rightly claimed that ministers were the one class
tba,t felt’ the depression less, and as a result cannot visualize
just what their communicants are going through. He even hint
ed they didn t care so long as their offerings were coming in
each and every week. And of all the benefits, teas and suppers
given by the churches and their workeiis, the only ones thbjt
.this column has had the fortune to run up against have been
for the benefit of said churches. Of course, near Christmas time
gaskets are made up for the very needy, but unlike the miracle
jtf the fiNhes, these baskets give out in little or no time. What
do these needy do the rest of the yeart »
son to church goers, their reader^ are snowed under. And it is
the unwritten law that churches are Sacrosanct, unattack able
The Negro press can do a ~ world of good, but in compan
and unassailable by one and all. Their individual ministers may
stray out of bounds once in a while, but the church itself is Bo
much a part of our race that you may well try to show \is
the bad influence of gin as to 41t a lance against our church.