Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1939)
THE OMAHA GUIDE Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St. Omaha, Nebraska Phone WEbster 1517 Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927, at the Post Office at Omaha, N'ebr., 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 isBue. All Adver tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, proceeding date of issue, to insure publication. Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood af God and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail. These are the only principles whil will stand the acid test of good. James H. Williams & James E. Seay—Linotype operators and Pressmen. Paul Barnett—Foreman. ■ ■ ■ ■■---r* EDITORIALS BETWEEN the LINES bY Gordon B- Hancock for Associated (|egro press Negroes Losing Their Land— —Dangerous Symptom In a recent survey conducted by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, it was revealed that gradually land own ership by Negroes in Virginia is de creasing. Wherein this phenomenon represents an isolated situation in time and space it need not occasion a larm; but wherein it represents a gen eral tendency it becomes an alarming economic symptom and one that should cause Negro leadership grave concern. The desire to own land was one of the fine and constructive obses sions of the older Negroes and because of it much land was acquired. For some years there have been Negroes Losing Land — indications that this land purchased through sweat an blood was gradually slipping from the present Negro gen erations. In far too many instances lands are going to waste that a few years ago wrere in fine states of culti vation, wThile thousands of younger Negroes from the South are languish ing in the slums of the Northern cities. What is worse, these lands are being repossessed by the whites who more more are returning to the farm for sustenance. One reason the younger generations of Negroes is indifferent to the possibilities of land ownership resides in the fact, that Negro leader ship has been remiss in its great op portunity to hold before the race the futurelessness of a landless people! The group that relinquishes hold on the land is on its wray out. The future of the Negro lies on the farm and not in the city. The city is of the white lhe Negro need not hope lor more than “what is left’ ’; and this is becoming less and less. While a few Negroes may “spread out” arid win economic competence, the masses are going to be more and more distressed, If this fact were more generally press ed upon the Negro he would be more hesitant to let his land get away. But the matter of urging Negroes to stick to the land is not popular and does not savor o fthe ‘fight’ that Negroes are wont to manifest. But, as about the farm, so about many other matters of vital concern. Negro leadership is more desirous of being ‘popular’ than in being helpful. It has come about that little or nothing is being done to point out the shortcomings along with the long-comings” of the race. No body is doing anything to provoke the race to serious thought on a racial pro gram. Aside from protest, we have no program; and this writer has point ed o'ut time and again! that a program based on protest along will not suffice. Negroes need vocational education most keenly today, but there is nobody fro press the matter upon him. Teachers Apathetic to Vocational Training This matter must be sold through our school systems but our teacheae are not sold on the matter of vocation al education. They do noi believe in it and therefore cannot commend it to their pupils. It is safe to say that the major results of the entire program of Negro education can be resolved into two fundamental reactions to the world about us, the “white collar com plex” and the “protest complex”. A side from these two reaction]* the mor al effects of o'Ur education are neglig ible. The situation demands that some body do some straight talk to Negroes themselves. When we shall have got ten the white man ‘told’ and have learn ed to “speak up to” and “back” at him, we are still a long way from the Prom ised land of economic an social salva tion. Negroes have faults no less than the white man and they should be toid of these faults. Should See Our Own r aults — A spoiled race in this age is at a serious disadvantage and this will be more disadavantageous as the gener ations come and go. Israel must be told of his sins. We are not doing the cause of Negro advancement to direct all of our criticism at the dominant white man and fail to exhort and ad monish our own people along the ways of survival. The white man makes us race conscious, but we ourselves must achieve vote- consciousness, job-consc iousness, dollar consciousness and farm consciousness. Strangely enough almost the entire Negro press is ad dressed to the white man rather than to the Negro. This need not be so with the columns of the white press open to Negroes. The Negro press should be addressed to the Negroes and when we would address the white reading world let us do it through the white press. Our race needs some straigt talk on many matters. Our inclination to e vade this is a dangerous symptom! ---0O0 ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS Mr. Chamberlain’s “Stop Hitler drive started out with dolovs flying and bands playing. But, as some ast ute observers anticipated, the march rapidly slowed down. It may be pos sible on some future day to really round up the powers in a united front against Dor Fueher—but, at this writ ing, it certainly isn’t an imminent pos sibility. The drive involved obtaining de clarations opposing further German aggression, and threatening economic and military action against the Reich in case she again stepped off the reser vation, from France, the Soviet Union, Poland, Rumania, and a number of les ser powers. France agreed eagerly— never in her long history has she been in so dangerous a position as today, with enemies facing her on three fronts. But with Frances enthusiast ic cooperation came to an end. The Soviets were interested, but were dis tinctly distant—Stalin makes no bones of the fact that he regards Mr. Cham berlain in particular, and British for eign policy in general, with extreme doubt as to its basic motives. Poland, a key nation if the agreement were to be worth the paper it was to be written on, said No. The Polish foreign minis ter, Josef Beck, has been called, right ly or wrongly, the most astute and most unscrupulous foreign minister in Europe, and he is fairty well satisfied to let Britain and France sweat. His ace in the hole is a non-aggression pact with Germany whose expiration date is 1944, and he app.uvrtly be’ieves it is to Hitler’s interest to keep his word to the letter in Pound’s case Rumania was in the difficult posi tion of wanting to say Yes, and not be able to. For King Carol’s rich little kingdom is today in the most precar ious position of any European power. If he threw in his lot whole hog, with Britain and France, there is a definite danger that Germany would attack— and Carol seems to be somewhat du bious as to whether his proposed allies put to the acid test, would do any more for him than they did for dissolved Czechoslovakia. And there is always the chance, he feels, that if he plays ball with Hitler, his country will main tain at least a nominal independence. Carol is playing ball with Hitle'*, I and with a vengeance, as the terms of the new German-Rumanian economic treaty, disclosed in synopsis form on March 25, attest. As an AP dispatch phrases it, “Germany will soon have her fingers so deep in Rumania’s eco nomic and industrial life that the in fluence of other foreign nations there will become neglible.” The treaty giv ess the Reich virtually free access to Rumania’s agricultural, oil, metal and timber resources—all of which she needs. And the consummation of this immensely important treaty brings up the question of German-Russian rela tions again. It has been widely believed that Hitler desired Sovet Ukraine above all else. But, with the grasp he now has on Rumanian raw materials, the experts are coming te the opinion that he will not find the Ukraine necessary. And that may mean that he will at last seek peace with Russia. This might take the terms of a non-aggression pact, such as he has with Poland. And if that should happen, Hitler’s power over Europe would obviously become unlimited. If Britain and France were no longer able to regard Russia as a potential ally in cast* of trouble, they wrould be almost pitifully ineffectual in opposing Hitler. And Russia would be free to turn her attention to Asia, where she has vital interests. What it all seems to add up to nowr, is this: Hitler is still going places and the farther he goes the better he Incomes able to go farther still with nothing more important than diplom atic correspondence and conversation in his way. In this country, we are seeing, to a small extent, the result of German ag ' gression. Duties have been upped 25 percent on imports from Czechoslov akia, and all other German-conquered areas. Our American foreign policy is about as strongly anti-Nazis as it could be, and diplomatic relations are strained. But there seems to be little sentiment here for giving the Europ ean democracies more than our moral support and a modicum of economic support. And in the meantime, we are being forced to build up the greatest war machine in oit Mstory against the possibility that Hitler will *one day menace some country er some terri tory in which we have a direc* interest There is little to report concerning domestic business. The foreign rwix up has continued as a depressive fac tor, and the possibility of war (even though few experts think one is really coming soon) casts a lengthening sha dow. The President’s statement to the effect that will be no reduction in the tax burden, plus White House inist emce on increased WPA appropria tions, have likewise dimmed the out look. On the favorable side is a substan tial increase in new industrial orders. Automobile sales havei been good, the market for electrical equipment is ex panding, farm equipment buying is up, and railroad purchasing has been at comparatively high levels. —-0O0-• FOR YOUR CHURCH NEWS READ THE OMAHA GUIDE BUYERS GUIDE by — Clarence H. Peacock • The Works Progress Administra tion has become the nations biggest industry, employing some three mtf lion men and women. These three mil lion employes support a theoretical seven million to eight million i>er3ons including themselves. They draw wages of about six million dollars a day, while devoting part time work to scores of occupations. A staff of more than 35,000 Federal employes super vises them, together wtih a pyramid of State, county and municipal agencies. The WPA, is primarily a financing agency for construction projects, but various Congressional acts have put its funds to work in many other way** ranging from relatively small grants for direct relief to communities unable to meet these needs to the supplying of funds to the corps of engineers, the water conservation agencies, the pub lic Health Service and a large number of other Federal agencies. The dispute in public circles is not with the benefits of WPA, but with the method followed in its operation. As a means of putting money into otherwise empty pockets, of giving in comes to people who otherwise would need the dole of charity, the project is acknowledged success. But the grave questions are asked whether it is economic in the sense that the country can afford to support this system indefinitely, and whether it is not encouraging a low grade leis ure class from w'hom incentive fle«s with the certainty of subsistence in come regardless of W'hether they per form tasks efficiently or simply loaf through their jobs. The most discussed among alter natives to the present WPA set-up is a possible plan to turn all relief expend itures over to the States, with Federal supervision acording to arbitrary standards on the basis of population, and proved need. For greater economic security read our papers, and patronize their advertisements. CALVIN’S DIGEST — by Floyd J. Calvin (listed by Editor & Publisher) WOMEN’S ADVANCE — — Before the Marian Anderson inci dent is closed we think the great ad vance which this episode has brought to colored women should be mention ed. Usualy colored men get the spot light in prestige-budding and status - raising flares, but this time a woman precipitated and was the heroine of a national furore, the glamour and pene trating quality of wni :li is just as po tent as the rise of Joe Louis to the heavyweight boxing championship, the climax of the career of Dr. Geo. W. Carver, or the record of constructive endeavor left by Booker T. Washing ton. * When Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was catapulted into the spotlight of Federal officialdom at Washington under the New Deal, colored women felt proud; but Marian Anderson went serenely through the DAR. hysteria, and then sang so movingly at the Lin coln shrine, the star of colored women shone even more brightly in the heav ens of achievement. The Birmingham Age-Herald, great white daily of the South, says aptly in an editorial after her voice had rung out: “Woman and singer Was always the woman. A woman of griefs, fears, and trials. A woman who has dewlt amid aspirations and frustrations too deep for mere words —that must seek expression in song. A woman acquainted with subjection. A woman come to triumph.”