A Part, Not Apart by Ruth Taylor No man can truthfully say that he is self-made. Like l lysses he must humbly admit ‘*1 am a part of all that 1 have met.” Each generation has an increasing responsibility because it has had greater advantages, due to the work and sacrifice and lives of those which preceded it. “For unto whomso ever much is given of him siiail be much required;! and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” Whether intentionally or not we learn from all those with whom we come in contact, with whom we live or work. Not only our own experience but the experience of others shapes our lives. We cannot live out of the world, but we must live in it, because of what we have gained from it and v.e must give as we have gained. What is true of the individual is true of the nation. No nation can claim to be **the people.” hat they are is the ri'suit of the work and toil, and labor and thought of count leas other peoples of other races and nationalities. As pure gold is too soft for even careful usage, so is a na t'an inbred upon itself, too soft for life. Only as it has L ?nded with other groups, with other races and drawn un to itself the good of these alien elements can it grow strong. \ .ere is no nation but what is a part of all nations—no r ;ce but what draws from other races in order to survive. Our pride in our country is due to all the diverse forces x ’Jch shaped it and gave it strength. We are Americans r I—but we have drawn from every nationality, every race, r ery creed to build the American way of life which is our i .'hest heritage. Each race has contributed to our coun try’s wealth, to the development of its powers. It is a part all nations—a part of the world. Only when this creed is recognized, when we understand t’;at “all experience is an arch” through which we can pass I) a brotherhood of nations, to a fellowship and fair ex change among all groups, can we solve the problem of re e.irrent wars and can all the peoples of the earth “go out with joy and be led forth with peace.” ■_■ Released by Calvin’* New* Service Such Herculean exploits as strangling a lion capturing a bull and cleaning the Augean stables were snaps compar ci with the task of refuting anti-Negro superstitions. Take l ie “Negroes-aren’t-good fighters” superstition with its im p ication of inherent racial cowardice. “Herculean” is the v ord to describe the efforts liberals have made to blast t ..is malicious myth. The records of individual and group IV.-gro heroism are in the files of the War and Navy Depart ments. There s citation after citation. Typical of the acknowledgments of high-ranking officers was that of Lt. ^'meral Mark W. Clark who, in commending troops of the 1 jur Hundred and Fiftieth (Negro) Battalion, said: “I am proud o fthe outstanding performance of duty of tuese soldiers in this baptism of fire. Their conduct was excellent and reflects the training and discipline of their unit. The Fifth Army welcomes such soldiers.” Helen Gahgan Douglas, Congresswoman from California i_ ad the record of this and every othetj Negro unit inserted iu the Congressional Record Appendix. The facts, taken fr.im official files, gives the lie to the “Negroes aren’t good fighters” superstition. But, jf you think these tacts have scotched the supersti tion you’re letting optimism get the best of your senses. Laly the other day this writer heard a young white lieuten ant, just back from Italy, tell some friends who had gather ed to see him off at the Chicago airport, that the Negroes “ran like hell at the first loud noise.” He said it loud enough so all the fifty-odd passenegrs waiting for the New York-bound airliner could hear him. When the plane landed in New York, I sat beside him in the airport taxi and I reminded him that the official record told another story. Bat he didn’t give a continental for the official record. The Ninety-Ninth Pursuit squadron? He brushed it aside. They made Negroes jockey trucks, did’t they? Why did L ey make ’em truck jockeys? Because they couldn’t £'ji^ht, that’s why!” So much for the effect of the few all-Negro ‘show units” on the prejudice-diseased mind. It’s what the Army and Navy apparently wanted. They organied the all-Negro com hat units grudingly, under pressure and as a nod to dem ocracy. Otherwise, as a candid appraisal of the record proves every efofrt was made to restrict Negroes to the same menial tasks that is made in capitalist civilian life. Edgar L. Jones, writing a sizzling attack on militarism in the February Atlantic Monthly, reminds us that “One of the very few paratroop companies ever to go through train ing without a single man balking when it came his turn to jump was an all Nc^r ) outfit; yet the Army marie no effort to correct the rumor that Negroes were cowards. The out fit was not sent overseas, where its performance might have encouraged other Negroes to demand fighting assignments, but was shipped off to the Northwest to fight forest fires.” If I were one who thought prejudices was merely a mat ter of misinformation, and that it would disappear when exposed to fact and truth, 1 think I would begin to get dis couraged. I am not discouraged because I know that pre judice is caused by something far deeper than ignorance. It is the product of ignorance plus the conditioning of a society of class exploitation. Militarism merely reflects the worst aspects of this society. Sooner or later the men of good will who fight prejudice so bravely and tirelessly, but so futilely, must turn to the mighty task of eliminating the social swamp in which pre judice is a spawn. They must think less in terms of mini mizing the effects and more in terms of eliminating the cause—in terms, that is, of building a social system whose collectivist nature produces the proper social climate for brotherhood. Industrial Labor Relations (by George ). DeMar for Calvin’s News Service) If the hiring practices of the New York Telephone Com pany developed in the past two years were to serve as the basis of hiring for all the subsidiaries of the American Tele phone and Telegraph Company, millions of dollars would come to Negroes. I have had friendly conferences with O. M. Taylor, executive vice president of the company, and I have reason to believe in his integrity, December 4, 1944, he hired four Negro operators and said. “I intend to hire more as they qualify4’. Today more than 300 are so em ployed. hey average $35 per week. This means $10,500 per week or over $500,000 per year permanently to Negro es in jobs not held before. The company continues to hire Misleading to some is the advertisement—“No exper ience necessary.” This does not mean no qualifications necessary. Personla appearance, neatness, alert mind, good voice, articulation, memory adaptability, dependabil ity, age marital status, education (not much over high school) are some of the factors entering into selective bit ing. Only 13% of the whites who apply get jobs. It is reasonable to suppose that the same proportion will apply to Negroes soon. The fact is that 26% of the Negroes who first applied through the Industrial Department of the Ur ban League of Greater New York qualified and have proved satisfactory in every respect. The girls work together, walk together eat together and may be visiting each other. The company is interested only in job performance, and personally I have witnessed operators together on “family night at the telephone company” which bears out official statements. A telephone company that has less discrimination than any other in the country, that is honestly doing something about ideal work relations should not be charged with dis crimination. The persons who allege discrimination, I be lieve, simply did not meet company specifications. The company still needs operators, but it wall not forsake its standards. Is Labor Selfish-9 (by ISoah C. A. Walter for Calvin’s ISeivs Service‘ Since V-J Day there have been more strikes in these 8 months than during the 3 1-2 years America was at war. Many people are being influenced to believe that these strikes have held up the nation’s industries from reconvert ing factories from war time to peace time production, creat ing unemployment for ex-war worekrs and war veterans. Many other people condemn these strikes charging that the Unions are maikng a mess of things demanding too much. Of course this is all so silly. We know why there were so few strikes during the war. The unions led by Philip Mur ray of the CIO and W illiam Green of the A. F. of L. all a greed with the Federal Government to discourage strikes to help win the war. Nevertheless there were then and still many wage and working conditions that were inequitable to Labor. In many industries during the war, worekrs were going home with fat pay envelopes based upon low hourly or weekly rates for long hours. Despite the increased cost of living the majority of worekrs wage rate during the war remained at prewar levels. The contents of the war workers fat pay envelopes of wages earned from long hours of toil, weekly was absorbed by the high cost of living and black market prices. W hen V-J Pay came the worekrs who were fortunate to be kept in hteir jobs found that their post war “take home” pay was almost 550% less than they received during the war. The cost of food, housing, clothing etc., remained the same or had been increased. What was labor to do? Industry was asked to increase regular wages to that “take home” pay would meet the cost of living. The Federal Government after investigation agreed Labor was correct in its demands. Industry at first refused to consider any reasonable adjust ment between the cost of living and workers “take home” pay. The worekrs could not live on 50% less wages and we witness strikes of auto, steel, oil, electrical and thous ands of other workers. Industry finally proposed grant ing wage increases ranging from §5 to 8 dollares per week based upon a 40 hour week. Most of the strieks have been settled and not one big factory has closed its doors because of these strikes, or wage increases granted labor. After looking at the record no one can truly believe that Labor is selfish. Negroes, more than anyone else should realie that Labor’s fight today is the Negroes fight. The more Labor’s wages come to be equitable with the value of industries production, the more goods the workingmen and their families can afford and therefore keep open the door of America’s great factories that provide jobs for American Labor. Right today thousands of Negroes and White ex war worekrs and veterans are jobless, unable to find decent employment with fair wages. These workers and veterans do not want Relief. They want jobs at decent pay levels. L