LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY
[ Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office. Omaha. Nebraska, _ —CITY EDITION
iScitiirdciy 5 Dec* 18,1943 OL R 16th 1 EAR ^No. 45 price five cents
Texas Democrats May Defy High Court Rulin'
‘93rd Bn tact/ says War Dept.
worth of
Good
Reading.
. Xhe report ‘-bat the'
Ne« Tork j be-n broken UP
Division ^ ed to guard
and its units "^Uic coast, “has
duty along the to ^
no basis m *■**• tne Adjutant
General J
W-I- to be broken up.
« •> wrote <>«"• V;‘°
•bis ^vl8l°nt^t undergoing
“is at the Prese" at lhP California
ir tensive training Wnile I
Artsona advise
cannot, tor tM nv
ynt of the Plan9 tb.s Division.
r>. -»artinent ha9 that suitable
yoU Su bT made for lbis Unl* ^
tbe approprtate^ibne^
Coming
Urban
Conrnce
Signify
i cant
—(BV ERNEST E. JOHNSON) —
WASHINGTON. Dec. 14 (ANP>—
The forthcoming conference here
between officials of the National
Urban League and the American
Federation of Labor bears watch
ing. in the opinion of many obser
vers.
The announcement was released
last week by league officials in
New York following an exchange
of correspondence between execu
tive secretary Lester B. Granger of
the social work organization, and
William Green, president of the la
bor organization.
While no specific objectives were j
set forth in the announcement, it
is not likely that the two groups
would sit down at a table for the !
sole purpose of correcting state
ments and positions attributed by
one to the other. It is reasonable
to assume, therefore, that an a
genda will be drawn up that should
provide for a free and open dis
cussion of how best Negroes may
be organized into the labor move
ment.
It was during debate at the an
nual AFL convention on the reso
lution of A. Philip Randolph, Bro
therhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
seeking to establish a comm.tlee
on discrimination in the federation
that President Green declared that
prominent Negro organizations had j
repeatedly thwarted the efforts of
the AFL in its organizing attempts
among Negroes.
“At International Harvester Com
pany in Chicago,’’ he declare! to
the convention, “we sought to or- j
ganize these (NegrO) employes_.. I
and found that the representative
of the Urban league and the rep
resentatives of the so-called Nation
-al Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, and other
representatives of Negro organiz
ations in America, appeared in
Chicago and oppesed the AFL rep
resentatives in their effort to Or
ganize the Negroes into the AFL.
As a result," he added, “these Ne
groes voted to stay out of the AFL’’
Green said that not only were
they prevented from organizing
Negroes, but that these groups en
couraged Negroes to sign up with
the Congress of Industrial Organ
izations.
It was the exceptions taken to ,
the Green statement by the Urban
league that has brought about the j
conferences.
Fe dpeople doubt that the CIO
shown more zeal in its organic
ing drives among Negroes than has
the AFL. The recent CIO conven
tion reported some 500,000 Negroes
on the books. In addition, it has
two Negro members on the execu
tive council, a national committee
to abolish discrimination within its
wn ranks, and a membership that
is. on the whole, serious in its in
tent to accord equal treatment to
Negro fellow-workers.
On the other hand, no satisfact
ory figure is available as to the
Negro membership in the AFT, The
Sleeping Car Porters is the only
International authorized, there is
no anti-discrimination committee,
and little concern on the part of
the top-ranking officials to do any
thing about wiping out the various
constitutional and ritualistic bars
to Negro membership. In short,
there is much room for improve
North Africa Unit’s
‘Pin-Upper’
I
____.* ■
BEAUTEOUS AND TALENTED
SAVANNAH CHURCHILL ‘.he
song chirping star of Benny Car
ter's band now playing the West
Coast, has been seleted as “pin
upper" by Pfc. Bob Calloway and
his 378th Engineering Battalion
now stationed somewhere in No: th
Africa. Plucked from a huge stack
of photographs sent to this unit by
Press Photo Service, Pfc. Calloway
and the boys in his Unit, lost no
time in making Miss Churchill
their November “pin-up” girl.
(Press Photo Service).
_ ...
V - - --- -
ment.
In the past, the primary efforts
to break down the prejudiced alti
tude of a number of affiliates of
the federation have come from
Randolph and his vice president,
Milton Webster. They have been
within the organization .as war,
proper. But this has achieved
nothing more than the heaping of
insult upon these two men.
Not without soundness also Lave
been the attacks upon Randolph
as the national director of the
March on Wasihgnton movement.
The objectives of the MOW have
been thrown Up repeatedly to make
him appear ‘'dangerous’’ or “irre
sponsible’’. Irrespective of the
merit of the argument, it has not
helped the attainment of the basic
labor objective.
When Granger and his director
of industrial relations. Julius A
Thomas, sit down with Green and
~hi« aides, it should be in an atmos
phere devoid of discrimination.
The Urban league will, naturally,
point out that it is not a labor or
ganization nor is it trying to speak
for labor. The league will want
to make crystal clear that its chief
interest is that Negro people who
work do so under the most favor
able conditions and for a wage
compatible with others doing the
similar work.
Recognition of the fact that the
league has a function to perform
that complements the labor move
ment was plainly evidenced at the
recent annual conference in Chi
cago where James B. Carey, secre
tary-treasurer of the CIO, accept
ed the key spot on the mass meet
ing pogram that closed the con
ference.
The federation of labor, on the
other hand, will doubtless cte
what it calls its inability to control
the autonomous internationals af
filiated with it. It will claim that
a relatively few affiliates actually
bar Negroes and that in due couise
even these bars will be lowered
through education.
If the thinking of the AFT- has
been wrong on the subject, the
Urban league, officials will have
' »
opportunity to point out the flaws.
FOr years its workers7 education
program has done this on the lo- I
cal level to the end that more and
more Negroes have identified them
selvs closely with the labor move
ment- This then represents the
first real approach to the problem
from the top.
Time was when the Urban league '
had to withstand the open cb t -go
that invariably it betrayed the t st j
interests of Negroes by discour.ig
dg attempts at organization ; ;.d
militance. If its acceptance Jf t hr '
challenge now does not make Cie-ir
the new thinking in
its role today, certainly the spoken
word of William Green that the
leagu'e has discriminated in favor
of the CIO should give substant
iation to the new thinkign in lea
gue circles.
JAPS CARE NOTHING
ABOUT COLOR
New York. Dec. 15 IANP) —‘ The
Japs are not fighting a race war,
they’re fighting a war for domin
ation.” declared Ernest Ciarke.
former New York musician who
spent the past eight years in China
Japan. Malaya and India, an! who
was one of the American repatri
ates who returned to this country
on the Gripsholm exchange ship
last week. Clarke was the oniy
Negro aboard.
Clarke emphasized the fact that
the Japs have a great bitterness a
gainst the American folk. He said
| that as far as the Japs are concern
ed an American is an American and
skin color be damned. While in
terned in Hong Kong, the travel
j ler said he was treated all right as
Ian individual, as were many of the
j ther exchange prisoners, but t
wasn't because of my color. '
■ expla ned.
| Since the war. Clarke said, -he
Japs don’t trust the American Ne
gro any more than they do any
body else,” and they made it very
plain to me that if they ever got
hold of me again. I couldn't ex
pect any leniency from them.”
THE NEGRO MUST
SHARE IN LABOR
or Die...Hancock Tells
Catholic Conference
Richmond, Va., Dec. 12 (ANP)—
While stressing the evil of the anti
Negro attitude of organized labor.
Dr. Gordon B. Hancock, professor
of sociology at Virginia Union uni
versity and Associated Negro Press
columnist, told the Catholic Confer
ence on Industrial Problems last
week that unless race prejudice is
killed, it wil destroy the NegTO race
“We are entering on a very ser
ious phase of race reations,” de
clared Dr. Hnacock. “A definite
effort is being made to limiti and
restrict the Negro in his economic
relations.’’
“Race prejudice must be destroy
ed,’’ he emphasized. “It is bad
enough on the social level—worse
on the economic level- Unless race
prejudice is killed, it will destroy
the Negro race.’’
LABOR BARS NEGROES
Kacia discrimination as practiced
by organized labor is a national
menace, Dr. Hancock pointed out.
"Unless the Negro can become part
of that labor he cannot live,’’ he
said.
‘‘Whereas, the south is the na
tion’s economic problem No. 1, the
Negro is the south’s economic pro
blem No. I," asserted Dr. Hancock.
‘ You can’t hold the Negro down
without holding the south down.
You can’t hold the south down
without holding the nation down."
While declaring that the AFT, is
guilt ovf adopting a ' policy of ex
clusiveness” toward Negro labor.
Hancock said that the CIO had
only slightly corrected this defect
That the Negro is not seeking
additional opportunities for inter
marriage privileges was bnugfct
out by Dr. Hancock. The idea
that increased opportunities for
Negroes might bring intermarriage
between the races was entirely un
founded, he declared.
“The Negro is not seeking inter
marriage. he is only seeking a
share of the American Ul'k^.\
which he has helped to raise.” the
professor asserted.
Deploring the urbanization of
the Negro race. Dr. Hancock
Charged that the Negro was ex
cluded from the benefits of econo
my by the increasing industrializ
ation of the south and the mechan
ization of agriculture, which re
quires technical training.
NOTE RACE ENEMIES
Enemies of the Negro were
brought under fire when the Rev.
John S. Cronin, S. S., professor of
economics at the St. Mary's sem
inary in Baltimore, told the con
ference that the Negro today has
“two great enemies”.._those in
his own race and outside who would
change the habits of a country and
those who feel that continued in
justice is its own justification. He
has one group of friends_..those
idealist who are realist enougn to
know that change must be grad
ual and that the evil Of several
generations will not be blotted out
in a day. Rev. Cronin remarked.
Public support of the FEPC was
urged by P. B. Young, editor of
the journal and Guide Norfolk.
“The postwar outlook of the
Negro worker is also part of the
whole prblem of race and color
which is inextricably tied up with
the outcome of this war and the de
termination of peace at the end of
| Quits
Demo.
Party
Ex-Aledrman Earl B. Dickerscn,
prominent Chicago Attorney, a
member of the Executive Board of
Supreme Liberty Life Insurance
Co., and former Assistant Corpor
ation Counsel of the City of Chi
cago, announced this week th-cugi
representatives of this publication
that he will run on the Republican
ticket for Congress from the 1st
District of Illinois in the coming
election. Mr. Dickerson made a
fine record as alderman of the 2nd
Ward and as a member of Presi
dent Roosevelt’s Fair Employment
Committee. Whether or not he
has abandoned the Democratic
Party of which he has been a mem
ber for the past score of years
■was not learned from Mr. Dir.ke
son. However, it is a common ru
mor that he is through with the
Demos forever. Press Photo Ser
vice.
our present global struggle,” the
editor stated. ‘‘It is a problem
that has transcended the boundar
ies of the south. Destiny has made
it national and international."
JIM CROW UNION CASE
YRC.UED ON PACIFIC COAST
San Francisco, Calif. The case in
wh;ch Negro workers at the Mar
ineship yards are seeking a perm
anent injunction restraining the
Boilermakers’ union from inter
fering with their employment was
argued here Dec. 13 before Feder
al Judge Michael J. Roche
The case, scheduled for Decem
ber 6, was postponed one week at
Biddle Protests Failure
of Federal Bar Assoc.
To Accept Negro
Member
MAY OUIT
Washington, Dec. 14 (ANP) Atty
Gen. Francis Biddle intends to >
quit the Federal Bar association
because the group has neglected to
accept a Negro to membership, an
nounced his associates. If Biddle
gets out of the association some
oilier high-ranking Officials will
also leave.
The FBA .composed of some 1500
government lawyers, failed to ac
cept Atty. Lewis R. Mehlinger of
the claims division of the justice
department, in which he has serv
ed for 22 years.
Biddle lauded the FBA in an ad
dress in Boston last month for ad
mitting a Negro to membership,
and*at the same time he expressed
regret that the federal association
yet draws the color line.
iii!imiiiiiiis!iimiiinium!niimii:ii:i
the request of the. attorneys for
tl.e Boilermakers' union. Among
the attorneys who appeared at
court were Anderson and Resntr,
for Joseph James and 16 other
workers: Thurgood Marshall, for
the NAACP; and Bartley Crum for
the National Lawyers Guild.
The question at issue was whe
ther an auxiliary jim crow union
gives the same protection and pr'v- •
lieges to Negro workers as the ‘ re
gular” Boilermakers union.
Marshall, appearing for the NA
-ACP, argued that the jim crow
auxiliary, a favorite device of AFL
craft unions, was in reality a 'cap
tive' lodge which has no power ex
cept as it operates through the
“white” local to which it is at
tached. He asserted that Negro
workers, therefore, were unprotec
ted in their rights as workrs and
could not be required to join the
auxiliary as a condition to employ
ment.
Senate Action on Soldier
Vote Bill is called Fraud
Washington—Calling the Senate
action on the soldier vote bill,
which would leave the franchise
for service men in the hands of \
the states, a ‘ shameless legislat
ive graud,” the XAACP has urged
upon House leaders the passage cf
the original Worley bill, HR. ?436
not the “compromise version ' of
the Worley bill.
The Worley bill is identical with
the Lucas-Greene bill which the
Senate by-passed. It would give
the federal government supervis
ion over absentee balloting by men
and women in the services.
In telegrams to Majority Leader
John W. McCormack and Minority
Leader Joseph W. Martin, the XA
ACP asked that the Rnakin substi- !
tute bill be defeated.
‘‘Only 7 state legislatures are
scheduled to meet prior to 19-14 e
lections,” said the XAACP wire,
“while 41 legislatures are not due
! to meet until January, 1945, or la
ter.”
It was pointed out that 10 per
_ui>ktfUted on page £j?“ 2l
f) -
If Primaries are
Open to Negroes
I ___________________
ELECTED PRES.
County Clerks, Register
Deeds, Nebr. Assn.
JOHN SLAVIK, Douglas County
Clerk, was unanimously elected.
President of the Nebraska County
Clerks and Register of Deeds As
sociation at the annual meeting
held here December 8th and yth.
It is the first time that this hon
or has been bestowed upon a Couniy
Clerk of Douglas County.
Mr. Slavik has efficiently con
ducted the duties of County Clerk
for the past three years. He is
very popular in our community and
has shown his appreciation of the
fine support rendered him by ap
pointing. during his term, Mr. J
Dillard Crawford, Mrs. Lucy Mae
Britt, Mr.s Ruth Lewis Payne, Miss
Ethel Davis, Mrs. Clouu Scott, Mrs
Susie Williams and Miss Beverly
Stams.
Fats Waller
Found Dead
One of U. S. Great
‘•Hot’* Musicians
Kansas City. Mo.,—Thomas A.
"Fats'' Waller, 39. famous Negro
songwriter musician and actor
was found dead aboard a train
from California at Union station
here Thursday morning.
Waller was enroute east on a
vacation trip. One of the great
• hot'' musicians of this country,
he was well known for such song
nits "Ain’t Misbehaving,” Hon
■; ~uckle Rose’ and “Early to Bed.’
Waller was known as the nations
No. 1 swing pianist, but he was
more than that. He was the onlj
jazz musician who ever played the
organ at Notre Dame cathedral,
Paris. When Jte toured Europe i»
1938 he drew record crowds. His
own attitude toward jazz was
simple.
“I am nobody to get mighty a
hout swing," he said. “It’s just a
musical phase of our social life."
Tile son of a minister, Waller
was born in Greenwich Village ’in
1904 and at 10 was playing’ in
school orchestras. He becam a
New York theatre organist at 14
but his first breaks came when he
played for rent parties in Harlem
and met George Gershwin and oth
er composers. By 1928 he was
writing show music and had gain
ed recognition not only in Tin Pan
Alley but from musical authorities
A fat. smiling man who ranged
® Dallas, Texas—Texas Democratic
officials are worried over the pos
sibility that the United States Su
preme Court may rule that Negro
es cannot be barred from the parly
primaries, and already there is a
hint that this ruling, if mad, will
be defied.
f A signed 3tory in the Dallas
Morning News by Walter C. Horp
aday quotes W. S. Bramlett, Dal
las county Democratic cahirmau as
saying:
"If the Supreme Court rules Ne
groes must be admitted, I will con
tribute all my experience as a law
yer and a Democrat to nullify that
ruling, and I believe most county
and state party leaders feel the
same way.
"The state committee can decide
; whether it will follow the ruling,
and the coupty committee can fol
I low the state committee’s instruc
j It ions or exercise its own jndge
' ment.”
The story asserts that in a few
! Texas counties Negroes out num
j her the whites, but "local Demo
crats could be expeeted to take care
of the situtatlon in such elections,
I as has been done in the past, if
j Negroes attempt to participate in
the primaries.
State Chairman George A. But
, ler has suggested that if the Court
rules Negroes must be admitted to
the primaries the party return to
the convention system of choosing
candidates.
Jeff D. Stinson, described as a
I "veteran Dallas county legislator,”
is quoted by the reporter as doubt
ing that the Democratic party will
have legal authority to keep Ne
groes out of conventions if the Su
preme Court holds they cannot be
barred from primaries.
Editorially, The Dallas Timesi
Herald approves the return to the
convention system. although it
does not touch the question cf
Negroes voting: “As long as we
have a primary that is, for all p-ac
tical purposes, an official general
election, no other party except that
ruled by the nominal Democratic
machine will have a chao'-e The
primary does not really serve the
interest of the people- It is useful
only to the career politicians ar.d
the demagogues.”
TEXAS PRIMARY CASE
REARM MENT. JAN. 10
Washington, DC..—The latest
Texas white primary case, argued
before the United States Supreme
CouYt Nov. 10 and 12 by NAAt'P
attorneys Thurgood Marshall and
William H. Hastie, will be reargu
ed January 10, according to an an
nouncement by the court last week.
The re-argument has been set
because Gerald C.Ma nn, attorn-y
general of Texas, has requested
and been granted permission to fib
a brief amicus curiae, and to pres
ent an oral argument. At the
first argument the state was not
represented, nor did the attorneys
for the defendant appear. The ia*
ler were notified, but informed the
court that they did not wish to
appear.
in weight from 250 to three hund
red pounds, he had a grating bari
tone that he Used for talking-sing
ing accompaniment to his piano.
He is survived by his wife Anita
and three children. His home was
in St. Albans. New" York.
FOR GOOD ENJOYABLE
READING
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
DIGNITARIES ATTEND GRADUATION
EXERCISES AT TUSKEGEE
_•
One of the most far-reaching
and "vital to victory" graduation
exercises yet to be held at the
Tuskegee Army Air Field, was
that of the last Venereal Disease
Control Class which recently fin
ished the prescribed course at this
station. Great significance may
be attached to this graduation as
it was the climax to months of
hard work dne by Lt- Col. Georg
McDonald, founder of the V. D.
Control program now Used through
out the Army Air Forces. In rec
ognition of the importance of the
occasion, Col. D. D. Fitzgerald,
Chief of Staff, Eastern Flying
Training Command, the personal
representative of Major General
Thomas E. Hanley, Commanding
General of the EFTC., delivered
the principal address to the grad
uates. Discussing Lt Col. Mc
Donald’s work are (L to R) Capt
E. Brown Singleton, Lt Col. Mc
Donald, Director of the V'. D. Con
trol School; Lt. Col. Richard Cunn
ing, Post Surgeon; Col. Noel F
Parrish, Commanding Officer, TA
AF; and Col. D. D. FitzGerald.
Chief of Staff, EFTC. Press Photc
Service.