THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Giant St.
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WEhster 1517
Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927,
at the Post Office at Omaha, Nebr., under
Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR
All News Copy of Chrurches and add Organi
zations must be in our office not later than
5:00 p. m. Monday for curren issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than
Wednesday noon, preceeding date of issue, to
insure publication.
~~ Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of
God and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail.
These are the only principles whil will stand
the acid test of good.
EDITORIALS
NEGRO HISTORY WEEK
The Association for the Study of
Negro life and History sponsors the
celebration of Negro History Week.
This year it falls between February 5
and 12.
It is most unfortunate, however,
that some persons have a misconcep
tion of the meaning of Negro History
Week. It shows a lack of knowlege of
the background and the present status
of the Negro to think that what should,
be known about these matters may be
covered during 1 week. The Negro has
participated in the making of world
culture along with the other races,
which thus achieved, and his contribu
iont requires just as much time for
careful investigation and study.
The Association for the Study oi
Negro Life and History has always em
phasized as the proper sort of celebra
tion not the staging of a few speeches
by distinguished men. The ws^c should
be given over entirely, or inventory, of
what the schools and colleges have ac
complished in these fields during the
entire year. The participants, therefore
should be those who have done the
work—not those persons placed on
these programs to amuse rather than
instruct and inspire.
Working along this line, therefore,
most of the institutions of learning
nave joined with the Association in
l eaching the desirable end of develop
ing Negro History Week into Negro
Year. While the Association distributes
informative literature and issues an
nually an attractive poster inviting at
tention to the special exercises sugges
ted for the second week of February,
it tries its best to disabuse the public
mind of anv effort to dispose the Negro
in the curriculum during seven davs.
Probably the most telling factor in
approaching this desirable result has
been THE NEGRO HISTORY Bulle
TIN. Nine issues are published each
year, and a special issue for February
dealing in detail with Negro History
Week is made available early in the
year. The Bulletin ;carefully outlines
the work for the entire year and thus
supplies a staisfactory guide for the
study of the Negro.
Beginning in October, 1937, the
Bulletin undertook to cover briefly in
the language of children the history
of the Negro from Africa unto the pre
sent in America. Each issue had a chap
ter following in the natural order the
preceeding thought, and feature stor
ies were added for further emphasis.
Persons and events to be rememberd
were scheduled from month to month.
This year the Bulletin is working
along me same line. Starting in Oct.
193b, the periodical is undertaking to,
cover in simplified style the outstand
ing achievements of the race. These will
finally present the important facts of
the life and history of the Negro from
a new point of view. The October issue
dealt with oratory, the one for Novem
ber with poetry, that of December will
treat of Hdtion, that of January of the
drama, and in the natural order will
come music, painting, sculpture and
philosophy.
in appreciation 01 this effort made
to keep uie thought oi me A\egro oe
lore the ciiAiut en uurmg the whole year
the schools tnrougn me country have
cooperated very satisfactorily. The
subscription list of the Bulletin has al
ready passed the 4,000 mark, and the
circulation is made up mainly of teach
ers and pupils who use the various is
sues as s,ipplementary literature in the
teaching of social science. The tendency
has been not only to preserve the issues
as they appear from month to month
but to secure them in bound form at
the end of the school year in order that
the schools thus concerned may be able
to build upon what they have achieved
from year to year.
in the furtherance of this program
the Association must emphasize the
necessity tor cooperation in the nation
wide movement not to give the record
of the Negro casual or nominal consi
deration but to work persistently to
ward the goal of offering the American
children of both races the same oppor
tunity to study all other peoples of the
earth. We must ever emphasize the
truth and popularize the truth in order
to free men’s minds from error and
prejudice. In thus keeping before the
public what the j-vegio lias thought and
felt and atiempteu ana accompnsned
the race win not uecome a negligible
factor in the public mind.
For further information address,
the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History, 1533 Ninth Street,
N. W., Washington, D. C.
C. Lr. Vvoouson, Director.
-owe- .
l nn niintiioiN
'I'lie elections are over. r<very pa
triotic American win accept me resuits
witnout ranco.r it 1 sme cardinal prin
ciple of democracy mat the people rule
—even as it is the cardinal principle of
dictatorship that the people be ruthles
sly submerged to the whim of the dic
tator.
To the thinking citizen, who is less
interested in partisan politics than in
good government, the real significance
of this election is tne revival of the two
party system, the very foundation of
the republic. It is a well known fact
that even men high in the Democratic
party have looked with disapproval on
that party’s excessively great Congres
sional Republicans majorities of recent
years. And it will be remembered that
following the World War, the Republi
cans had a similar top heavy majority,
faced no influential opposition, and cer
tain abuses were the result.
This election has to a large extent
readjusted the balance of power in
Congress to the status envisioned by
the founding fathers. That makes for
sound government Whatever party
you follow', whatever your political al
legiance, if you believe in democracy,
you will welcome the resurgence of an
effective political opposition as a check
on whatever party happens to control
Congress at the moment.
-0O0
Future historians of these United
States, who bring to their work a cri
tical, unbiased mind will marvel at the
blindness of a people who allowed a
tenth of their population, four-fifths
of it located in nineteen southern states
to develope in a shroud of ignorance
while nine-tenths of the people were
given a push in the developement of
their thinking faculties.
When these historians have studied
the problem carefully, they will con
clude, and rightly so, that a number of
years in the development of our land
can properly lie labeled the “lost years”
in American education. For it is during
these years following the Civil War
that America witnessed a turning back
of the clock and the cornerstone laying
ux a vv ui ^cu duUcuuoaui isystGm wnose
tutcvS, Luc Oiu,y uu cue oouth but the
wnoie of cue united otates, are only
tuU tcp|/ui Ciili tUUiij •
±m 10 ill cue appraisal of these lost
jOw j buub lUCulC UiDCUi IdllS Will find
cue w.u;,c vm ci^uw^, piejuuiee, sutfer
uuu iOi>-oiucu progress in a country
uueu •ticii iin auuuuance of nil the nec
j xesources and tools for bringing
to ico citizens a decent way of living.
it is to this period that they will turn
to \: the cause of his country’s fail
i re to give to all its citizens security
i' their homes, security in their jobs,
i their physical well being and in the
belief of a continuing democracy in
America.
-oOo —
A REVOLUTION *
-gwo
In the excitement of looking over
the 1939 automobiles at the recent Na
tional Automobile Show in New York,
few spectators realized they were au
tually taking part in a revolution.
And what a revolution—bloodless
and life-saving. A vote was being taken
on questions pertaining to automobile
operation and regulation from the
standpoint of safety.
One of the questions was: “Which
one of the following has been the most
effective in making you think seriously
about automobile accidents? 1. Person
al enforcement experiences, 2. Per
sonal accident experiences; 8. Safety
educational experiences.” At a time
when a total of 3,920 votes had been
cast, No. 1 stood 649, No. 2, 944 and No.
3,1,704.
And there is your revolution,
namely, public understanding which
resulted from consistent and regular
safety education to show that only by
personal cooperation between drivers
and law enforcement authorities can au
tomobile deaths and accidents be curb
ed or reduced. During the past year or
two, the steady upward trend was
broken.
-oOo
Segregated Schools in the North
Theoretically, Negro students have
the right to attend the same colleges &
universities in the North under the
same conditions as white students.
In practice however, they suffer
discriminations, ranging from petty
annoyance to complete exclusion from
educational institutions. Often they are
disscriminated against in recreation,
special courses, and extra-curricular
activities.
| BUYER’S GUIDE l?y Clarence H. Peacock j
What can the Negro do to improve
his status? This question was directed
to a cross section ot American Indus
tries in a survey made in 1936 by the
American Teachers Association on the
subject of “The Negro and the next de
pression.” The statements made by the
companies to the above question should
be of particular interest to members of
our group and should be of great bene
fit to us in our struggle for a more se
cure economic future.
While many different answers were
given, I have picked out the following
significant statements of represenative
companies in each field of industry.
However, these statements should be
considered as indicative and not conclu
sive.
A STEEL COMPANY—“A Negro
can best improve this status by impres
sing upon his superiors an attitude of
dependability as to his workmanship,
and as to his behavior on the job and
off the job. We have some very poor
Colored men and some very excellent
ones. I should say that the Colored men
we employ have shown considerable
improvement over the past few years,
especially as to their sense of responsi
bility and workmanship. Whether this
will be lasting is a question. As we all
know once the Colored man receives
reguar pay over a period of time, in
many instances he becomes more lax
in his attention to his job, having a
tendency to lay off at intervals.”
A HOTEL—“He should learn to
work to employer’s interest. This
w'ould eliminate too frequent changes
in personnel.”
OIL A!NI) GAS COMPANY—“Se
curing better and more rounded educa
tion acquired either before or after
employment would have tendency to
make them more versatile and more
easily absorbed' in a larger variety of
work assignment during the period of
their industrial service. With better
knowledge and educational back
ground, it would necessarily follow
that his services would be more pro
ductive to industry as a whole and to
himself as an individual.”
RAILROAD AND PULLMAN
COMPANY—“The Negro of today
with opportunities for learning has a
better chance to maintain his position
than years past; and there seems to
be no reason why he should not be able
to stand his ground as well as any oth
er group in the event of another de
pression.”
MEAT PACKING COMPANY—
“Live within salary earnings. Refrain
from signing name on assignment
blanks for all kinds of merchants. The
Negroes are the most willing of any
group to sign wage assignments.”
NEWSPAPER—“Need of men and
women of ability and initiative to study
and practice crafts and vocations.
Mechanical and semi-professional oc
cupations require apt, alert conscienti
ous people who will accept their tasks
as opportunities to improve both the
methods and the results they under
take.”
AUTOMOBILE—“More interest in
welfare of business as a whole. Devel
ope a serious attitude toward their
job.”
COAL COMPANY—“Work more
regularly. Make provision for future in
the way of taking better care of his
earnings.” ?
INSURANCE COMPANY—“Our
experience and contact lea dus to be
lieve that the Negro might improve his
opportunity for regular employme"*:
1. Raise efficiency to improve product,
resulting in continue demployment; 2.
Develop reliability.