The Michigan chronicle. [volume], November 28, 1942, Page PAGE TWELVE, Image 12

About The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current

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PAGE TWELVE
Last Of A Series
Trouble In Highland Park
We Must Mould The Character Of Our Future Citizens
By John Wood
| tion, “What can be done about our 1
problem?" it is the consensus of |
opinion that the first thing we >
1 must do about any problem is to !
face that problem. If we are
faced with the problem of send- ,
ing our children to the same
schools with a number of preju
diced southerners, then we must 5
teach our children tolerance; teach
them to thoroughly understand
these prejudices and that they. too. :
must play an important part ins
r.dding their avowed enemies of j
their warped ideas about race. But I
to successfully put this idea across
I to the younger people we must j
first get the idea deeply rooted in
our own minds. We, too. must
practice tolerance and understand
that only through patience with
' those who object to working with
us in factories, and associating
with us in public places, can we
gradually break down the inherent j
prejudices that warp the minds of 1
1 so many southerners, both whtie
1 and black. And we must practice I
this tolerance if we want the
! southerner to teach his children
1 tolerance, for whatever ideas the j
parent has about race ar; duly re
flected by the child.
Our greatest concern now should ,
be shaping the life of the younger
generation, and to do so, it may be
necessary for a number of parents ,
1 to make some adjustments them
selves. If we are extreme in our
oelligerencv we can expect no more
of the youth. If we are lax in our
mortis we can expect the same of
our children, for there is no deny- ;
:ng the fact that all the filthy
language used by youth comes
from the mouths of many of their
elders: and they think it rather
' smart ’ to make suggestive re
marks to girls ar.d women on the
streets because they have heard
: the same remarks made by adults.
J Young people of a certain age like
1 to appear "grown up.” and they
. believe they can "grow up” quicker
by emulating their elders.
Finally, if we expect the church
as an organ.zation to lead the way ,
in correcting many of the evils
that affect the lives of our young
duty to help the church develop
the needed eadership. We may !
Negro Dems
-1 Continued from Page 1) !
v make the mistake of sticking to -
u erely a party label. My first in- j
terest as a member of the commu- j
nity, and my first duty as an elected 1
' official, is to my people and to my
constituents. I will not sacrifice ]
; my people merely to hold office, or ,
be on what some might call 'the i
winning team ’ I have a duty o' sin
cereness to my people that, regard- |
less of what may come, 1 will always 1
fulfil. v
Must Follow Program
In previous articles we have at
tempted to give the reader some
Idea of the underlying causes of a
number of racial conflicts between
Highland Park high school stu
dents and neighborhood diyturb
ances allegedly created by irrespon
sible and careless youth of 'he com
munity Contrary to popular belief
in Highland Park, there was no
attempt on the part of the writer to
••brand'' the youth of the com
munity. for to do so would serve
no good purpose for the community i
or the paper in which these articles
are printed The opinions expressed
in this series were those of people
rs the community and were re
printed in the hope that, once the
cause of the trouble is known,
proper steps would be taken Joy
leaders and youth to formulate a
workable program by which further
incidents of the nature which have
occurred in the past few weeks can
be averted.
The only conclusion that has been
reached by the writer is that the
cause and effect of these unfortunate
incidents have been made clear and
that the only course open to those
who believe that the community
has been given a black mark it does
rot deserve is to get to work on
the youth problem or stand ready
to take the consequences that are
Certain to follow in the wake of
continued outbreaks in the com
munity or on the school grounds.
A summation of the opinions ex
pressed by church and community
leaders, an advisor at the Highland
Park high school and an instructor
in the same school indicate that the
problem of overcoming further
trouble that is brewing in Highland
Park and every other community
in the country must be solved 1
Jointly by parent? and church and
community leaders, with the school
Instructors, of course, playing no
small part in aiding youngsters of;
both races to adjust themselves to
conditions resulting from the war.
THE PROBLEM WE FAC E
The youth problem we f3Ce to
day is nothing new. for each gen
eration has had its youth problem.
However, it is unfair to the youth
of this generation for the adults
to stand off and prophesy that the
younger generation is swinging and
a.nnir.g its way into hell when
adults themselves are to blame for
e ery condition that adversely af
fects the younger people T<- get
at the cause of conditions today
let us turn back the hands of time
to a generation ago known as the
prohibition era. In that era our
elders committed every sin and
practiced every crime; bootlegging
illegal alcohol was one of the great
est industries of the day and many
not directly engaged in the illegal
traffic of the heaitii-destroying liq
uor were attending all night par
ties where it was sold at enormous
prices behind locked doors to a se
lect clientele.
with the pace set,bi,,yi£ times to
give much attention to the shaping
of our children's lives. Indeed,
some of us open'y boasted of our
ions of the law who guaranteed us
immunity when arrested for vio
latinr certain statutes Came the
end of prohibition for which most
of us voted and the beginning of
an era in which the youth is as
free as its parents to frequent
places of ill repute whdre every
known type of filth is discusse ' in
.AtuJlX- -pttAetu'p Tansy our. young
people .are getting drunk at the
bars built by thein irresponsible
"My continuance with an.' pro- !
gram must be one of continued as- :
sistance to the Negro people. 1 j
will not bear false witness to the ;
people for the sake of empty lead- j
ership. Too lon * w have rocked ;
ourselves to sleep with empty j
honors, believing tomorrow is!
another day while others have,
reaped the benefits of our stupidity,
and we have been left with only I
the promise of a bright future. We ;
must, in all fairness to ourselves, j
aud- L .roust; tn-tili farmess to ItYfci
people, solve our problems as we j
find them today a»* * lay aside wish
fu’ thinking for a program of !
•getting things dore’ in the best in
terest of my neople.
“I have dedicated the past 12
years to democratic party, active-,
■|v serving them and lending my in
fluence to see that among Negroes
they were successful. I am grati
fied with the results accomplished
by Negro democrats and myself in
rallying in the last election over
35.000 Negro voters out of a possible
50.000 registered voters.
Leaders Fail Voters
“In Wayne County, while the bulk
of the Negro voters reside, where
the democrat partv has been more
' successful among Negroes over a
longer period of time than any
j where in the United States, 1 am
I sorry to say. with but the exception
! 0; Sheriff Andrew C Baird, the of
ficials in office have failed in the
j dispensation of patronage to Ne
j groes. based on the support at the
parents who are pointing the f.n
are following in their footsteps.
Present conditions are testing
the effect of home nn
■ every young person in America.
lr.g that the influence is none too i
good. For the time has come tor
Us to teach our children that they
far too little time in moulding the j
character of the younger genera
tion to'tTe degree tnat it is able to
cope with new situations as they
arise in our every day life We
have left our children to them- !
or left the shaping of their char- !
acter to the school and church
leaders, never bothering to offer j
our cooperation or question !
whether those responsible for the
future well .being of tomorrow's
adult citizens are pursuing the
right course.
•'ln the county and tors office we
have lost, under r democrat admin
istration. Negroe* employed in that
office have been dismissed and not
replaced, nor have they prorated Ne
groes into the office on the basis ot
their support. No appointments oi
portance have beea made to Ne
groes, and the policy has been to
merely replace Negroes with Ne
groes in minor positions.
“In the county ~lerk's office, under
republican administration there
been content with sending our chil
selves. and have been content j
with merely sending our children I
to school without making any ef
fort to see to it that they have ;
only the best and most interested 1
terest in parent-teachers' organiza
tions. And we have willfully given
over the job of building a respec
table community into the hands of
a few leaders, who. capable though *
they may be. cannot carry the,
individual youth alone. We have
spent millions of dollars unwisely
for the trivial things we want, but
have spent very little on things
we need, such community cen
ters with adequate facilities and
trained supervisee And now we.
kuincd the responsibilities that
-give us community centers" when
we could well build them our-
Jy ,r trrested in the future of our
children.
WHAT CAN. WE DO?
And now \*e arrive at the ques
a ere five Negroes employed The
present clerk reduced the number
to three and h made no effort to
bring the number up to its former
level, nor to prorate his patronage
a.- to support. Such hings as these
3r r not conducive to continued sup
port. With the normal turnover in
Act • it would have been
very simple to not only equal the |
number but to increase it. Other i
(offices in the '•ounty are similarly J
d-ficient in the employment of Ne-,
Rapt Youngblood
• •In Ijsi week'. article the Chron
made in the register of deeds office
by Bernard Youngblood. In order
to make this appointment, a na
tionally known Negro Eddie Tolan,
was dismissed and another Negro
pu' in his place If this is the tyre
of patronage *’.r. Youngblood has
for the Negro, I am sure be will find
THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
*
r* •
I not be leaders ourselves, but wc
I can at least show an interest in the I
; right type of leadership, rid our
selves of petty jealousies, support j
the right people and when 1 be
comes necessary, get rid of the |
wrong people. If we want a pro
, gram that will work out to the
v oest advantage of youth, we must j
get together with youth, nd out ,
what they want and let them be- '
«come a part of the planning, for;
1 we cannot, as adults, perfect a pro- 1
| gram and hand it to the younger .
' people and expect them to follow j
j if it has no appeal to them. Neither
youth nor age has the right pro- |
gram, but by coming together, it.
is possible that they can strike a ;
happy medium and make plans to- .
gether that neither could make ,
I This is a serious problem that
* must be faced not only by the resi
! dents of Highland Park but by
! those in every community. For
I our ability to hold the fewr gains
we are making during this war
period, and our ability to avoid
trouble during the post-war period
when the earning power of both
f races will be reduced to the de
gree that each will falsely blame
the other for his predicament, de
pends upon how successfully we
mould the character of the young
people of this generation. And our
success in shaping the lives of fu
ture citizens depends, in large
measure, upon the kind of lives
we lead for them to follow.
Mrs. M. Lake at Home
Mrs. Merryce Lake was "at home"
for spaghetti supper, at her home in
Conant Gardens, for a group of her
very special chums, on last Tuesday
evening.
Sporting games of all kinds were
the keynote of the enjoyable affair,
those who attended were Mrs. Ha
zel Walden. Mrs. Juanita I •n, Miss
Alice Brooks of Chicago 111.: Mrs
Gladys Caldwell. Mrs. Billie Mur-
I phy. Mrs. Marie Moore. Mrs. Melis
sa Lyle. Mrs. Lucy Hatcher and
i Mrs. Aldine Jackson.
RECENT VISITOR
Corporal Love Hudson was a re
cent visitor to the home of his sis
j :er. Mrs. J. H. Clark of 6311 Wood
; row street He was inducted into
| the army service January 20, 1942
jand enjoyed a welcomed furlough.
, Corporal Hudson is now stationed
* at the Desert Training Center. Rice,
’ Calif. While in Detroit a lovely
reception was given in his honor by
i his family at the home of Mrs.
Clark, where he met his girl friend,
j Miss Edna Jones. He was also
entertained with a supper by Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Hill of 5012 Till
man. With him was Miss Grace
Mapp, and later a grand party was
* given in his honor by Miss Eursella
Mapp of Scotton avenue. A fare
-1 well party was given by his brother,
Oscar Hudson and Mr. and Mrs.
1 Albert Hunter of Hazelett avenue.
RETURNS FROM TRIP
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. McKibbon of
| 714 Jos. Campau, have just returned
; from an extmded tour of the South
j visiting relatives and friends in At
i lanta. Ga , and Alabama. On return
-1 ing home, they came back by way
j of Chicag -.
, that he haa a very foolish idea. The
1 Negro, in rxo sense of the word, will
accept this as reward for work,
j sweat and toil for the democrat
party. This office tor is lacking in
proper representation among Ne
groes.
Mii
■r • vm
J MW
Even when soldiers are sitting around camp some
where in England, they are prepared against
i *
v wwwwwww^M ß l -;? ijflHß r-p?
Mm& m. H rtf
■WZ'
■ »Wf dr
JaPHT JV filBL . s \
jy %
"Consistent wit*' my program for
the advancement-of the Negro po
litically have beei my demands
that the county officials live up to
their obligations to Negroes. I be
lieve, under normal circumstances,
void of the type of individual who
seeks to destroy and impede our
progress, these things could pos
sibly have been accomplished. But
definite opposition has been set up
to stop the -ffectiveness of these
demands. The titular head of the
dc ->crat party today in Wayne
County, evidently not in accord
with seeing Negroes placed on more
and better jobs, is attempting to
sup up control o' the county pa
tronage through employes who owe
their jobs to him, and thereby
would be submiss've to any and all
Blast On D'wling
"Regardless of h‘s desire, I am
afraid, with all of his magnanimous
ability, he will never be in a po
sition to choose for the Negro their
“What the Negroes of Wayne
county would like Prosecutor Dowl
ing to do most would be to prose
cute to the fullest extent those vio
lators of the Civil Eights Bill, ana
to help open up new avenues of op.
portunity for Negroes, as did Dewey
ar.d LaGuardia. in New York. But
it is possible that he is desirous of
splitting Into 'actions the Negro
vote, thereby disposing of a weapon
that could be used to destroy him,
a was used to destroy Tenerowicz.
Soldiers from a West African Infantry Recce
company, Royal West African frontier force, near
Accra. Gold Coast. West Africans are taking
Dr. William Imes,
Head Of College
"I take this liberty to inform our
prosecutor, the Negro today is
militant in his demands for decog
nition throughout the world, and
will stand four-fold behind only
tha! leadership that they them
selves choose, and will not accept
any political Laval's of France to
dictate the controlled policies of an
ambitious individual. Yes. I must
amlt, among Negro democrats to
| cloy there is unrest."
Attorney Harold E. Bledsoe, mem
ber of the state labor commission,
said that he was not submittiing to
any party dictates, but was keeping
an eye on international politics, and
would lend his support to the man
who stands four-square behind the
irrat.c program as outlined by
the Declaration of Independence.
KNOXVILLE. Tcnn. (ANP) |
Knoxville college board announces!
that Dr. William Lloyd Imes has
been elected president of the in
stitution. HY succeeds Dr. John A.
Cotton, who because of a break- !
down in health gave up his work
with the close of the college year
in June.
The president-elect has been, for
a number of years, pa.stoi of the SI.
James Presbyterian church of
New York City. He was born in
Memphis in 1889, and is son of
Benjamin A. anJ Elizabeth W.
Imes, Congregational missionary
and wife who w.nt south in 1880
from Obcrlin. Ohio,
j One year of collegiate education
A RELIABLE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY
OUR SOLDIERS OVER HERE AND OVER THERE
~ C ' -zf . ' r..’- T i
To help Louisville’s Negro population reach its $6,000 quota in a I
war bond drive, these armored force troops, members of an engineer
battalion at Fort Knox, Ky., paraded smartly through city streets I
attacks by the enemy. Photo shows five American
soldiers wearing gas masks during informal drill.
an increasingly responsible part in the defense of
their country. Phot shows African armored car
drivers mount their armored vehicles.
I was had at Knoxville, while the
I others were at Fisk university.
! where the A.B. degree was granted
in J9lO, and his MA. in 1912. Theo
! logical training was at Union
! Theological seminary. New York
City, in 1912-15. with the degree
of BD. Columbia university
granted, an M.A. in 1915. and Lin
coin university. Pennsylvania an
honorary of D.D. in 1929.
During the years of his ministry.
Dr. Imes has been elected to the
Association for Study of Negro Life
and History; NA A.C.P. board of
directors; board of trustees, Fisk
! university; president alumni of
j Union seminary, 1934-33; visiting
* college preacher at Howard uni-
to Beecher Terrace auditorium. Lieut. Robert Skelton, senior colored
chaplain at Fort Knox, was the principal specter at ceremonies
attended by civic leaders. ■
|
Master Sgt. Clarence Jones of Jackson. Miss., is a veteran of 29
years’ service in the army. He is shown at work in the orderly
loom of the Eighth Aviation squadron at Mac Dill Field, Tampa,
Fla.—Photo by U. S. Army. J
Somewhere in England cameraman caught this scene of Sgt. Leon
Reese (left), of Gary, Ind., and Pvt. Leander Joeies of Detroit as
they exchanged jokes over picture of girl friend back in the United
States. Both are with the Quartermaster Truck company.
Consumer School To
Teach Home Makers
versity, Fisk, Hampton institute, !
Lincoln. Talladega college, Rutgers,
Wesleyan, Northfield seminary;
lecturer at Northfield and Blalrs
town Summer conference.
He is also author of tho mono
graph “Free Negroes and Slaves
in Tennessee." published in 1919
by Journal of Negro History; co
author of numerous books; "Best
Sermons Book Four" (edited by
Joseph Fort Newton ) “ The Music
of the Gospel” (edited by Stanley j
A. Hunter) "Why I believe in I
I Immortality" (by Sydney Strong
! and many others.) He also has i
been a frequent contributor to
religious and racial magazines— .
published "Integrity; Meditations I
on the Book *of Job." 1939. a de- j
votionel study. He is co-chairman 1
of Job-Finding committee in New j
York for new areas of racial cm- \
ployment and a member of Na- j
t.onal Preaching mission.
I Because of previous commit
ments. Dr. Imes will not be able
, to office until April 1, 1943.
A program of consumer educa- 1
tion which might serve as an illus-;
| tration for similar community ac-!
1 tion by Negro groups has been set
,up by the Tidewater Consumer
I Committee of Newport News.
Hampton, Yorktown and Phoebus, j
i Va„ Mrs. Sunie Steele Warr.ck of
! the Department of Information, |
I Office of Price Administration, re- ,
ported today. Mrs. Warrick has i
returned to Washington following!
a series of conferences with the
| committee's Institute for Leader- j
> The institute, which opened Nov. i
3 for a three-weeks session, is
training about 78 volunteer lead
-1 in such fields as price control, rent i
SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 28, 1942
I control rationing, wise buying,
j home planning and conservation.
The courses are being conducted
by Mrs. Louise Guthrie, Price Offi
cer of Newport News, and Mrs.
George B D. Stephens, chairman
o' tHT» committee, now on leave
fiom her teaching poet at Howard
Following completion of the
| course, the leaders will enlist pub
lic support of their consumer proj
ects through speei lie* and discus
i - ons with local chufthes and or-
I ganizations. Price fturveys, dem
onstrations, shopping tours, exhib
its and round-table discussions are
also planned, and it is hoped to
make the program a continuing
t center of information