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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1945)
OVERTONES (BY AL HENINGBURG) ONE NATION: Many Americans will have their" eyes open to some unpleasant truths as they read Stegner’s ‘One Nation’, just off the press. The book contains a striking collection of scenes of life in every-day A rnerica, and most of these scenes reflect bitterness and hate. It is sometimes easy to quickly forget the printed word, but these pictures make a very weep impression. The evidence which they pres ent cannot be denied. This is not opinion on Amer ican life; this is the hard, ugly, bitter fact of life it self. If this book gets half the attention it deserv es, thinking men and women will begin to question very seriously the system which makes this type of savagery possible in a civilized country. THE RIGHT TO BARGAIN: The labor movement is getting a raw deal on the American scene at the present time. The impres sion is gradually being built up in the public mind that organized labor is out to cripple industry, and to delay the return to wholesome standards of liv ing. But remember that the strike is the only pow erful weapon that the worker has. Until collective bargaining was firmly established, every worker was at the mercy of the man who employed him, just as he is now at the employer’s mercy if he is a share-cror'r>er or a domestic servant. And in pass ing judgment on this or that strike, it is worth not ing that labor does not CAUSE all the strikes, it strikes in protest against conditions brought about by others. Workers want an increase of thirty per cent in wages because the cost of living has gone up that much, or more. But without the power of col lective bargaining, their cause would be hopeless. COMMUNITY OUUTCASTS: More than one community is giving serious at tention at this time to getting rid of the Negroes who came in during the war to work in war plants. In one Jersey town, a new zoning ordinance will have the effect of forcing all the Negroes out of the community. Other towns will clamp down on war housing, and will not permit those ejected to find other shelter. But with all the kinds of problems faced by Negroes in northern cities, very few seem eager to ertum to Alabama or Mississippi. They have tasted freedom, and the taste is very good in deed. THE OLD PATTERN: Life in America for the Negro veteran and sold ier is going back to the old pre-war pattern so fast that it maeks you dizzy. North and South, many persons in authority seem to ask this question: “Shall I treat these former prisoners of war with the courtesy and deference in keeping with the na ture of their sendees to America, or shall I treat them as I have always treated Negroes'?” While there are some who are not guilty on this score, far too many see a Negro, and not the sacrifice which he made over there. Fro mllamlet, North Carolina from Fort Benning, Georgia; and from Fox Hill on Staten Island conies evidence of this fact. Steps are taken to make the Negro realize that he is not to expect the consideration shown to other Ameri can citizens. In some instances, even the German war prisoners fare better than he does. All of which indicates that we actually fought the war to keep things as they were, rather than to bring free dom to the peoples of the earth, e THE COURAGEOUS PRESIDENT: The President of the United States is a courag eous man, as is shown by his recent denunciation of the1 DAR because of their refusal to permit Hazel Scott to appear in Constitution Hall. It takes courage to maintain a stand of that kind, especially if you intend to be re-elected in 1948. But gradu ally America and Europe are coming to realize that Harry S. Truman fights for what he believes to be right, and not for the benefit of any clique or polit ical group. How much of this kind of courage the South can stand comes to be an important question. Perhaps Mr. Truman’s attitude will help the e.utire nation to think and to act with more objectivity, and to use worth rather than color as a basis of ac ceptance. THE TROUBLESOME QUOTA: Jews throughout the country are deeply stirred, and rightly so, over the maintenance of the quota system in many of the best medical schools of this country. While presidents of these institutions e vade the issue in one way or another, the simple fact is that a rigid quota system does exist. Per haps the keen competition offered by Jewish stud ents is a factor in keeping up the quota system. A re You Keeping Up with the Times? Read the Greater Omaha Guide! I The Omaha Guide K , ^ A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ^ i I Published Every Saturday at 2.'i20 Grant Street OMAHA, NEBRASKA—PHONE HA. 0800 Entered as Second Class Matter March 15. 1927 at the Post Office at Omaha, Nebraska, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. C. C’ Gallouny,.... Publisher and Acting Editor All News Copy of Churches and all organiz ations must be in our office not later than 1 rOO p. m. Monday for current issue. All Advertising Copy on Paid Articles, not later than Wednesday noon, proceeding date of issue, to insure public ation. SUBSCRIPTION RATE IN OMAHA \ ONE YEAR . $3.w i SIX MONTHS .$1.75 \ THREE MONTHS . $1.25/ SUBSCRIPTION RATE 0U7 OP TOWN i ONE YEAR . $3.50 1 SIX MONTHS .$2-001 National Advertising Representatives— INTERSTATE UNITED NEWSPAPERS, Inc 545 Fifth Avenue, New York City, Phone: — MUrray Hill 2-5452, Ray Peck, Manager Editorial: "Then What Chance Has Democracy?” |v£NIOM m 1 Plain Talkf... (BY DAN GARDNER) Of all the races in the great minority groups that make up these United States, the Negro is the only one that puts American first before his name in a hyphenated relationship to the land of his birth. By that I mean we say American-Negro, but the German says German-American, the Jews say Jew ish-American, the Chinese says Chinese-American, the Italian says Italo-American, the Greek says Greco-Ameriean, the Spaniard says Spanish-Amer ican, and the Pole says Polish-American. In other words, we seem to be the only race in America’s vast melting pot with a determined policy of dis carding a racial designation in favor of the place where we happen to be or the land of our birth, German-Americans of many generations still regard themselves as German-Americans, although born in the U.S.A. So do the others in this hyphenated series. They think in the terms of the native fath erland and when great national or international crisis arise such as the one engendered by Adolph Hitler, the reason for the emphasis on the father land first in the hyphenation of the name here in America is plainly seen. Ail tnese people have native lands or countries. Tlieir loyalties to the land of their forefathers is never allowed to die. In fact, it is kept alive by the mere fact of the hyphenation of the name when they come to America. The American-Negro by persisting in being called that does himself no tang ible good in gaining respect from America and the rest of the world. Of all the minorities in the coun try, the largest, the Negro, gets the least respect as a people. Although he alone insists that he is first of all an American and second a Negro. On the other hand, the German wants to be Ger man first and then American. The Italian does the same.-The Green, the Pole, the Hungarian, the Czech, the Irish and on down the line. They play the game that way and gain status to the jioint where some of these foreign-born stock become senators, congressmen, ambassadors, heads of great corporations, and so forth. The best the Negro can hope for if he is in the South, is not to be event ually lynched or chased away from his home, and in the North to eat in an erclusive restaurant, sleep in a nationally known hotel, and to send his children To an accredited school of his choice without dis crimination. This situation came to mind following the pub lished story in the Amsterdam News several weeks ago of how the American Negro stands in the eyes of the Indian people. The question was asked by a wealthy Indian “If Ethiopia were a world power, had a powerful army, iavv, and air force, and be came engaged in a major conflict with the. United States, what would the American Negro do!” The question has but one answer—because the A merican Negro would find himself in the front lines with rifles and guns and other implements of war VICTORY FUND AND COMMUNITY CMC ST /QUOTES— OF THE WEEK i “I don’t know anything about burglary.” — Al Jennings, 82, once “terror of the Southwest ” now raising chickens in Calif. “She doesn’t mean any more to this court than Joe Zilch.”— Detroit judge, threatening con tempt proceedings against ac tress Martha Raye. “I cannot imagine any more inflationary proposal.”—Senator Taft, Ohio, on “full employment” bill. _ “Highball before dinner, good night’s sleep, fewer letters from voters.”—Prescription for tired Congressmen from Capt. Geo. W. Calver, Capital physician. “We cannot and will not use money snved up for many years j for the purpose of modernizing I and expanding our plants, and I for providing more good jobs, to ( pay excess wages for work not ^ performed. This money cannot be ' spent twice.”—Pres. C. E. Wil son, General Motors, refusing t CIO demand for 30% pay boost. “Oh, its Northern charm and Southern etT.ciency!” — Senator Mcgr.uson, Wash. State, on the nation’s capital. I for Security BUY UNITED STATES SAVINGS /BONDS I AND STAMPS 1 engaged in the business of killing up people of the same racial lineage. It is being done all over the wbrld. The white man uses the black Africans to kill black Africans, brown Filipinos to kill brown Filipinos, Chinese to kill yellow Japs, and Indians to kill Indians, all for his own profit. However, the Indian, the native Liberian, the native Egypt ian, Arabian, and Filipino are on a better internat ional footing than the so-called American-Negro be cause they have (1) a land' they can call their own, (2) stature in international politics and affairs. Because of this native land business, the American Negro who in many places is denied suffrage priv ileges and even the right to exist in the America he calls his own, comes up a poor last in any assem blage of nationalities on the entire national horizon. In other words, the Indian would rather do busi ness with the black Liberian than the American Negro from New York City. The same holds true with a Filipino, the Egyptian, the Arab, and other racial groups. The native Haitian has a better place in international affairs than the American Negro. They all have racial stature due to the fact that they have a fatherland. The article published in the Amsterdam News described how the Indians considered most Ameriean-Negroes as coolies, and as you know, a coolie is on the lowest rung of the Indian sciety. It matters not whether the white man spread that propaganda, the fact is that the Indian regards the Negro as such mainly because he cannot corppete with the Liberian who has con sulates in many large Euroean countries as well as in America. The American-Negro is not repres ented at all on the international scene because he is part and parcel of America, which, whether we like it or not, is fundamental!v white. There has been a conflict over the years among the Negro leadership on whether the American -Negro will profit most by accepting some or a lot of segregation in establishing his identity from in tense nationalism as advocated by Marcus Garvey and others fighting his battle or to make America the land of his birth, aecet him as a free and equal citizen based on his kinship with the land. All a round us are examples of whites maintaining their nationalistic connection through the hyphenation of their names. The Negro leadership of today persists in following blindly the pattern that out of the welter of conflicting views and viewpoints hav ing to do with the rights by law theory, eventually the Negro will be accepted. It would apear that in our present state, where we are outcasts from every organized phase of Am erican society, that we will to accept some amount of self-determination and nationalism to achieve any sort of status that will alleviate our condition, [t is disheartening to say the least for the thous-' ands of Negro graduaes from universities, colleges, and high schools each year to find out that the things they have been taught in school are false in sofar as they, themselves, are concerned. The competent young Negro girl who has a degree in say designing or business administration finds it something of a blow when she is turned down right and left solely because she is colored. She is turn ed! down, please note, not because she is an Americ an, but because she belongs to a minority group in America that has no status beyond that of wards of the government. In the great national emergencies such as the one this nation has just gone through, some of the res trictions based on color or in employment are lift ed and some of our capable and qualified people are allowed to work in the places where they are barred from during peace time. But we are not seeking such temporary advantags. The things we want are permanent. We must think in the light of “what will tomorrow bring?” and in thinking in this way we will find that through being bound closer together through bonds of nationalism and the desire of self-determination within the frame work of American democarcy we might achieve our goal far more quickly than it appears now. Most Negroes have been educated to be ashamed of Africa as a homeland. It is common to hear highly educated Negroes declare. “I don’t know any thing about Africa. I was born in America. This is my home and this is the land that my fathers fought and died for and I intend to get from it what is due me.” Others poke fun at African cul urte, African art, and only give lip service to a rac ial identification with Africa when national emer gencies arise in which British might go on record as barring native Africans from London or flogg ing native African soldiers or working them to death for a ittance a day. All this must be undone. It is a false misconception. While none of us have any intentions of picking up and going back to Af rica, because incidentally, there is no place there for us since the white man has taken over all its inhab itable parts, we can think of Africa and keep Africa in mind as a nat i > • Iro.u «. --'-t /1 s, as exempli fied in the Jewish philosophy of the national home land in Palestine. Don’t worry the Jewish people have the same fight among themselves over the question of nationalism and internationalism as we do. The same goes for other races, but usually the nationalists in these racial groups win out. Only the American Negro laughed at Africa and pro claimed its kinship with America through the use ?of the hpphenated word American-Negro. 1 Sometimes it might be good to wonder and think on this one liase of nationalism: do you know that we really tvukl not be able to haveany sort of Negro businessess, insurance companies, newspapers, gro cery stores, hotels, or what not if we were accepted and integrated as Americans1?” In other words, this very newspaper which you are realing would not exist if we did not have to accept a certain am ount of nationalism, which involves also the accept ance of segregation. That was a reason for the res ignation of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois from the NAADP several years ago after he found that a complete in tegration program of the organization he help to found would not apply to the case of a people in need £ work, food, and security, first. —_ DO’S AND DON’TS. Perhaps you don’t do acrobats, but do avoid an urge to be the center fo attention. -1345 ONE OF THE GREAT HEN IN WORLD HISTOW iXfo SLAVE BOY WKO WAS TRADED FOR A HORSE BUT YET BE CAME ONE OF THE . GREATEST AGRICULTURAL rs, SCIENTISTS OFALLTIME WAS ALSO AN ACCOM s PLIShED PIANIST AND ONCE GAVE CONCERTS THRU-OUT THE MIDDLE WEST. I_ OF WASHINGTON D C. [jpROFESSOR IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL) OF HOWARD U. IS THE FIRST AMERICAN NEGRO WOMANTO RECEIVE THE PH.D.DE6K1 FROM BRYN MAWR COLLEGE AND THE FIRST TO HOLD A PHJi IN SOCIAL ECONOMY. DR.DIGGS RECEIVED HER M.A.DEGREE, FROM FISA U. AND A.B FROM U.OF MINN.I c«prTt«m mm bt l u. _
