The Michigan chronicle. [volume], January 22, 1944, Image 6

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

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Publish** Cvsr? IV-raday By
THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY
MAIN OFTICSt M Otot Dotrott Mich. TEm?to I MTt
LOUIS EMANUEL MARI IN KdHoi
Enter** m aocoad claw MlbT May I TuO as Um Pool Otfic* at
Datvou Mich, undw tha act ol March S. II7S
Toroao of Sutacnpison tpayabi* to odTancoh
On* Yaar 54.00; Nina Months *3.SO; Six Months S2.SO
MAYOR JEFFftIES TAKES HOLD
In view of the kind of political campaign Mayor
Jeffries waged to get himself re-elected, his appoint
ment of a permanent race relations committee to
improve the Detroit situation is an encouraging sign.
While we would take serious exception to the pres
ence of Charles Edgecombe, the housing director, on
the committee, based on his past performance in
matters racial, the personnel of the committee is
qualified to do a constructive job. Even Charles
Edgecombe might become an asset to the committee
if he could be induced to read some of the scientific
literature on the Negro problem and learn that no
race has a monopoly on any of the attributes of the
human family.
It is clear that the old policy of ignoring the
problem of race relations has been shelved and a
more realistic approach adopted. 1* or many years
it has been the policy of local government to pretend
that all was well, that discrimination was a product
of the Negro’s imagination, that the Negro Press
and Negro leaders were squawking about matters
that did not exist, that the rank and file of Negroes
were satisfied with their day by day experiences of
humiliation, that white bigots were justified in keep
ing Negroes in slums and that Negroes liked it.
The old attitude served to lull the city fathers to
sleep and they refused to take seriously the problems
that finally reached a climax last year. The slums,
the hate strikes, the police problems, job barriers,
etc., did not impress the city government. Such an
attitude could not help but lead eventually to a break
down of race relations which in turn threatened
anarchy. No matter what the personal attitudes of
the city leadership may be regarding Negro-whjte
relations, it is clear today that without cooperation
between the two groups and mutual respect for one
another, the whole city suffers.
The permanent committee is faced with the fact
that very few of the social ills which led to the racial
outbreak last year have been cured. The problems
of housing, recreational facilities, industrial rela
tions, and police matters are very, important prob
lems that are still begging for settlement. However
difficult it may be to settle these matters during the
present emergency, a beginning can be made now,
and if a beginning is made it will improve the morale
of the people and give them confidence in the future.
Some criticism of the committee has been made
which we believe is exceedingly premature. We as
Negroes ought to cooperate with the committee as
far as we possibly can and work with and not against
an agency which has as its purpose better race rela
tions. No one expects any miracles but we are sure
that a permanent committee with influence and au
thority can better present conditions and point the
way to the ultimate solution of the problems arising
out of discrimination against citizens because of their
color or creed.
A STRANGE STORY
The news commentator Drew Pearson in his syn
dicated column on January 15 revealed the facts be
hind the recent Atlantic Coast Line railroad wreck in
which 72 persons were killed and scores injured. Mr.
Pearson writes: “It now seems clear that the wreck
was caused because the southbound train, Tamiami
Champion, was manned largely by an inexperienced
crew . . . The fireman, whose duty it was to get on
ahead of the derailed southbound train to warn the
on-wishing northbound train, was J. W. Batchelor,
age oi. This is not too young for a fireman, but it
is significant that he had had only three years of
experience. Privately, ICC officials express amaze
ment that the Atlantic Coast Line should put its crack
Tamiami Champion in the hands of such a green
crew.”
These facts are very significant when we remem
ber that only a few weeks ago the Southern railroads,
although they have been hit by a terrific manpower
shortage, defied the order of the President’s hair
Employment Practice Committee to give employ
ment to Negro firemen who have had years of ex
ptrience but who have been gradually dismissed from
the railroad industry by the connivance of the rail
way companies and certain lily-white railway
Brotherhoods.
The findings in the Atlantic Coast Line wreck
substantiate all of the arguments made by the FEPC
regarding the necessity for giving employment to
qualified workers without discrimination. The sheer
stupidity of excluding a whole race of people from
an industry which is vital to the nation in war and
peace is no where better illustrated than in the
serious wrecks which have occurred on railroads dur
ing this period. The lily-white policy has led the
railways to meet the manpower shortage by placing
EDITORIAL PAGE OP THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
white greenhorns in positions of tremendous respon
sibility rather than give deserved opportunities to Ne
gro workers who are skilled and experienced.
Apart from any considerations of justice in the
matter, the lily-white policy is bad business and in
some instances has led to a sacrifice of lives which
might have been avoided. Those who pay tribute to
the principle of white supremacy always run a grave
risk of being put in the position of the man who “cuts
off his nose to spite his face.” Those American busi
ness men who pride themselves on being hard-boiled
realists too often lose all their realism when the mat
ter of Negro employment presents itself.
While we Negroes have pressed home our great
moral argument that all citizens of democracy should
be given equality of opportunity, it is becoming in
creasingly clear that there are plenty of less ideal
istic reasons why all Americans should be given
opportunities. The waste of human resources
through Jim-Crow and discriminatory practices has
cost America plenty in this war effort and they have
proved inimical to our national interests.
Today plans are being made for the post-war,
and American business men should be reminded of
the inherent stupidity of the artificial barriers which
can hamstring our industrial development. All the
surveys conducted to determine the abilities of the
Negro worker unanimously proclaim his fitness. The
complete integration of the Negro into the industrial
fabric of the country should be high on the agenda of
American business men as they make ready to create
a better post-war world.
Mu 7(->
•Y WILLIAM L. SHERRILL
AT SUCH A TIME AS THIS when
democracy means more to Ameri-
I cans than it has ever meant in the
I history of our country, the awak*
ened conscience of this nation
should purge itself of the outmoded
1 practice of jim-crow.. ..If there ever
i existed any reasonable argument in
its favor in any portion of this
country, it has been completely de
stroyed today
Jim-crow travel and jim-crow
railway unions should be outlawed
by the Federal government, imme
diately. ..To jim-crow, or separate
any segment of the American peo
ple on the basis of race or religion
is not only unconstitutional, but
undemocratic, un-American, un-
Christian and just plain unfair,...
Those who seek to perpetuate this
outworn, antiquated, anti-American
practice of segregating racial groups
in transportation today, when na
tional unity is so vital to the life
and future of our country, are guil
ty of treason.
* * *
JIM-CROW in travel and indus
try serves no useful purpose in
American life today. The hundreds
of thousands of Negroes in the
North who travel daily in trains,
buses and street cars side by side
with whites and who work together
with their union brothers in the
shops and mines—stand as a living
refutation to the idea that the peace
and comfort of whites will be dis
turbed because a Negro sit in the
same car or works at the same ma
chine with a white man.
* * *
ALL WHO ARE TRULY AMERI
CAN, who believe in democracy,
Christianity and fair-play, must be
against this un-American practice.
All who are against Hitlerism must
be against jim-crowism How can
we ask fifteen million Americans
to give themselves and all that is
dear to them to destroy race hatred
abroad while at the same time we
fail to rid ourselves of race hate
in our own household?.. .We must
get the beam out of our own eye,
while we strive to remove the
mote from our enemies’ eyes.
This vicious practice of crowding
Negroes in filthy jim-crow cars
and pushing them off in one cor
ner of the dining car must be
BOOK NOTES;
By
GERTRUDE SCOTT MARTIN
A two volume «, tdy of the Ne
gro in American society has just
been published by Harper and
Brothers as the Anal work in the
Negro In American Life Series.
Gunnar Myrdal who directed the
study for the entire series has as
sembled the material gathered by a
large staff of scholars of the Negro.
The publishers state that this is
"the most comprehensive study of
the Negro in American society
which has yet been made.”
Members of Mr. Myrdal’s staff
who assisted in gathering material
were Ralph Bunche, Guy B John
son. Paul Morgan. Dorothy S.
Thomas and Doxcy Wilkerson. The
two volume set sells for $7.50 and
from what we’ve read of it promises
to be a work on the sub
ject. Well have a review of it
ready in a week or two.
Previous books in the Negro In
American Life series are "The Myth
of the Negro Past" by Melville Her
kovits, •Patterns of Negro Segrega
tion." by Charles S Johnson and
“The Negro's Share.” by Richard
Sterner. Reviews of these books
appeared in this column as they
were published, all excellent so
ciological studies of different as
pects of the role of the Negro in
this country
ASSIGNMENT: USA. by Selden
Menafee <Reynal and Hitchcock,
Inc. New York City; $3 00. 1943) is
the author’s account of what he
found on a 15.000 mile trip over the
country. Mr. Menafee devotes ap
proximately a third of this book to
his observations on various cities
in different sections of the country
which he visited. The remainder of
the book discusses "What the Peo
ole Are Thinking’ and "The Chinks
in Our Armor.’
Heading the list of the chinks In
the country's armor is the racial
bugaboo which the author states Is
ute weakest spot oa our domestic
abolished. We must organize against
it. We must hit it with everything
we have; our press, ballot, courts
and every power at our command.
...And we will not fight alone.
Many fair-minded white Americans
are ready and willing to line up
with us in such a fight... .Already
the first to speak out publicly
against this evil is an editor of a
large southern daily There are
thousands of others in the South as
well as the North who are ready
to join the fight.
j|( j|c )|c
THE EVILS OF JIM-CROW must
be dragged out into the light..,.
Many whites do not really know
how the Negro suffers by this
wicked practice They never
come in contact with it themselves,
hence have never thought about it
...They have no conception of try
ing experiences suffered by a Negro
when he must take a trip in the
southern part of America... .They
have never e”en seen in one of
'these little half coaches with no
ventilation, one toilet and with the
train conductor's office on two srats
in the end of the half coach All
the conveniences set up for travel
ers mean little to the Negro travel
er— Chinese. Japanese. Filipinos,
Hindus, Indians, etc., all enjoy the
complete accommodations of travel
(pullman, diner, observation oar,
hotels) with no embarrassment,
while Negro ministers, educators,
and business men are jim-crowed.
...This is not fair to Negro Amer
ica
* * *
JIM-CROW TRAVEL IN AMERI
CA must g0....1t undermines the
loyalty and patriotism of fifteen
million Americans whose whole
hearted support this country needs.
The personal and social costs of
jim-crow are staggering The
amount of suffering which it im
poses upon personality is beyond
computation ...The injuries to self
respect and manhood; the insecuri
ty; the energy lost in opposing it;
the strange aloneness of finding
one’s self an alien in his own land;
the feeling of not being wanted
who can tell what these cost Amer
ica?...This thing must end.... The
beginning of the end must start
with us Jim-crow must go.
battle-front. He comments on the
various racial outbreaks of the
past year, in Detroit. Mobile and
Beaumont and suggests certain so
lutions although he believes "that
the basic caste structure in the
South will be changed only by
Southerners themselves.” In clos
ing his discussion of the Negro,
Latin Americans and Chinese and
Japanese Mr. Menafee* states: "We
owe it to ourselves and to our Al
lies. especially in Asia, to strength
en our position at home and abroad
by treating members of all races
| like fellow human beings, on their
I individual merits, not as membersof
, inferior racial groups. Failing to
| move in this direction as rapidly as
possible, we continue to play into
the hands of our enemies.”
1 ASSIGNMENT: USA. succeeds
|in giving a word picture of the
! country at war. It is a fast-moving
I account in which the author ap
, praises the situation, makes sug
gestions for improvement, and
points to the danger spots to watch
for after the war.
* * *
The Yale University Press an
nounces the opening of the annual
contest in the Yale Series of Young
er Poets. Any American poet under
1 30 who has not had a volume of
verse published Lr eligible. Manu
scripts should be from 48 to 64
pages in length and must be sent
before March 1 to the "Editor, Yale
Series of Younger Poets. Yale Uni
versity Press. New Haven, Connec
ticL" The winning manuscript will
be published by the Yale Univer
sity Press and the author will re
ceive SIOO plus royalties.
The winner of the 1943 contest
was Lt. William Meredith and his
b«>ok "Ix>ve Let]|T\Erom An Im
possible Land” #rrii t - published in
April. Margaret Walker won the
award in 1941 with her book "For
My PevpW*
THE FACTS
IN OUR NEWS
THE MAYOR'S NEW INTER
RACIAL COMMITTEE . . . Last
week Mayor Jeffries asked the
CimnoD Council to approve an In
terracial committee with a budget
of fifteen thousand dollars itlS.OMi.
The Common Council approved
this request without hesitancy.
Thus, we have an afficlal Inter
racial committee es Detroit for the
first time in its recent history. The
appeintment of this committee ia
a very significant step for all ol
the ettisens es Detroit.
The composition of the committee
is worthy of note at this time. It
is made up of six city department
heads and five public members
(citizens). It has been long recog
nixed by Negro leadership that gov
ernment must set a good example
of fair practice in employment and
treatment of all of Its citisens be
fore it can demand that private In
dustry employ people without re
gard to race and color. The way
this committee Is now set up, when
ever there is a problem Involving
discrimination and unequal treat
ment in the city government on ac
count of race and color, it can be
thrown directly into the laps of
the city department heads from the
Interracial committee itself be
cause. as is obvious, the Interracial
committee and the city department
heads are one to a very encourag
ing degree. The idea of putting city
department heads on an Interracial
committee showed great insight and
awareness of the Negro problem on
the part of Mayor It wonld
have been easier for him to have
asked the council to appoint and
establish officially an Interracial
committee of citisens who have no
official connection with city gov
ernment. Such a committee's haods
would have been tied as far as
handling some of the very knotty
problems Negro citisens face in this
community. The present committee
can deal with matters of race dis
crimination and unequal treatment
in the police department, in the
Board of Education, Department of
Public Welfare, Housing commis
sion and Board of Health.
The five public members on the
eommlttee are in s position to bring
<o the whole committee the think
ing and feeling of the citisens of
Detroit about any program or lack
of program that the city depart
ments may be pursuing . any given
time. Negro representation on the
committee is adequate and intelli
gent. The Negro representatives on
the committee are concerned ac
tively about the welfare of the
200,000 Negro citisens of Detroit.
These Negro representatives on the
committee are intelligent enough
to see that any program carried on
by the city of Detroit must serve
all of the people without regard
to race, creed and color.
The committee also, because of its
composition, gives for the first time
Negro organizations an opportunity
to pin down some of their com
plaints and to ha\e their romplaints
and charges considered by the City
of Detroit. Heretofore. the com
plaints of Negro organizations and
leaders have been flung out at the
public In a nebulous manner. This
is not altogether the faults of these
organizations and leaders because
there was no definite clearing house
where the truth or falsity of these
charges could be tested by the facts.
Further, city department heads
have in the past been able to dodge
their responsibility by pointing to
the evils in another city depart
ment. Now, with the arrangement
worked out by the Mayor, all city
department heads are in a position
to be forced to fare their Individual
sins and the sins of their depart
ments simultaneously, providing
Negro organisations and leadership
use sagacity and responsibility
where the matters of rare are con
cerned in the advancement of our
people.
There will be those fn leadership
among Negroes and liberal groups
who will say the committee will
do nothing, and they will be right
if the critics themselves do noth
ing. A committee of this composi
tion will be very happy to do noth
ing if the active and responsible
individuals and organizations leave
the whole course of the committee
to its own ways. This present com
mittee ran be the most effective in
strument for Justice, progress and
. good will among the races in De
troit if the citisens who are .really
concerned give it work to do, be
cause these citisens see wrongs that
must be corrected by all the people.
The success of this committee will,
to a Urge extent, determine some
of the techniques for interracial ac
tivity in Detroit after this war
No one with any comprehension
about Detroit’s manifold problems
growing out of racial misunder
standing will set the committee as
a cure-all. Everyone, however, who
is sincerely concerned about the
unity of our great city will ap
preciate the judgment and concern
shown by the mayor in appointing
the type of committee he appointed
ILL HIM HIVE IttJJ IIGHIAM W£ CAM TAKE HIM THIS ROUNDS!
F ‘‘ •“" ♦ - v *<•••. . v . V |. • ••*.♦• ' '
■ • - -•■•. ,
p.
Public Health Notes
By CLEMENT SCOTT, M.D.. D.P.H.
Although venereal diseases are
technically classified under com
municable diseases, the problem of
control is so great that, like tuber
culosis, it has a division all its own,
called the Division of Social Hy
giene. The function of this division
is the ultimate eradication of ve
nereal diseases, which because of
its peculiar characteristics not only
menaces the health but also the
sociologic and economic structures
of the community.
Two principal things however
handicap the possibilities of control.
First of all is the stigma attached
to venereal disease, w'hich makes
general publicity sometimes very
difficult. Secondly, the inability to
employ such preventive procedures
as vaccination and inoculation
which have proved to be important
aids in the control of such diseases
as small pox and diphtheria. The
method of approach available so
far is the curing of known cases
and the means of approach is the
operation of public clinics which
for the most part are free services.
The clinic, though, is not simply
a treatment agency, but also a place
where diagnoses are made There
are many people who come to the
Social Hygiene clinic because thev
believe that they have a venereal
disease and have not, or who come
to the clinic to be assured that they
do not have venereal diseases. Skin
lesions of almost any type are as
sociated so much with syphilis in
the public mind that, because of
this fact, the average clinic has
dermatology, or the study of skin
diseases, as a part of its service.
The professional services of the
Detroit Social hygiene division in
cludes first of all case-finding. This
is the diagnosis of new cases when
ever and wherever found. Attempt
is made to find the source of in
fection and to have an examination
of all persons who are known to
have been in contact with the in
fected persons. It is not necessary
that all be examined in the clinic
but they may use the professional
services of a physician of their own
choice. But they must be examined.
The case-bolding service entails
the keeping of persons on their
treatment schedule, ideally until
they are cured or practically until
they arc non-infectious. Tills service
extends not only to those treating
UNTAPPED SUPPLY!
in the clinic but also those known
to be under a private physician’s
care The treatment service is free
only to those unable to pay. other
wise they treat with a private phy
sician or a private institution Pa
tients who neglect or refuse their
treatment are subject to quaran
tine either in their homes or in
whatever institution the Depart
ment believes advisable.
/ Diagnostic, laboratory and con
sultation services arc available to
physicians on request
The other important service ex
tended by the Division of Social
Hygiene is that of education. To
clinic patients, this takes the form
of personal interviews given rou
tinely to new patients to tell them
the facts about their particular in
fection, the care they should exer
cise in promoting a cure and the
importance of treatment.
Information is given to groups by
lectures. moving pictures, posters
and literature. For the lay public,
posters, literature, moving pictures
and a Speakers bureau are at dis
posal. To the profession the privi
lege of visiting the clinic is ex
tended at all times to nurses, phy
sicians. or those engaged in health
education. Refresher courses arc
offered to groups of physicians
In the course of their work the
Divis.on of Social Hygiene has the
cooperation of many municipal
agencies such as the Police de
partment. Welfare agencies, etc.,
along with well cstablishe policies
of cooperation with private phy
sicians and industrial and business
institutions. This provides a wide
source of patient references, which
aids not only in the finding of new
cases but the holding of those cases
in the process of being cured
The clinic is located at 555 Clin
ton street on the third floor of the
City Service building. The person
nel is composed of phvsicians, pub
lic health nurses, special investiga
tors for the largest part of the field
work, laboratory technicians, so
cial service workers, clerks and
| nurse aids.
RABBI AT PAINE COLLEGE
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Rabbi H. Waller
of Columbus. Ga., a representative
; of the Jewish Chautauqua Society,
will address the student assembly
■ a Paine college here on January 25.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1944
War Benefits Paid
To Three Million
The five millionth active account
has been recorded in the books of
the War Department Office of De
rendency Benefits, an activity of
the Army Service Forces in New
ark. N j
Of the five million accounts now
being paid, approximately three
million are family allowance*, paid
directly to wives, children, and
other dependent relatives of en
listed personnel. General H. N.
Gilbert stated. Nearly half of the
money disbursed in family allow
ance payments it deducted from
the soldiers’ pay; the remainder la
contributed by the government.
JOHNSON AT N. C. COLLEGE
DURHAM. N.C-Dr. Mordecal
Johnson, president of Howard uni
versity. will deliver the closing ad
dress in North Carolina Coliege’a
January college presidents’ series
here Sunday afternoon. January 23.
MARRIAGE
LICENSES
William Turner. 21; France*
Sumner. 21
Robert Cook. 58; Nettie Lindsay
40
Isaac Lewis, 32; Marietta Ran
dolph. 27
Julian Clinton. 42; Desslmer Tur
mon, 30,
John N. Simmons. 60; Mabel Tay
lor. 59.
Delos Holiness. 47; Lucy Craw
ford. 21
Lawrence Dunbar Willis. 30;
I.eoniss Nedd. 30
Har-y Simpson. 31: Canvis Hank
in*. 32.
Robert E. Woods. 26; Mildred
Milton, 25
Montgomery O'Neal Tarrent. 46;
0««ie Carter, S 3
Clvde W Johnson, 22; Naomi
SaMie O'Neal. 19
Claude. Hunt. 31; Olivia Robinson,
30
Sherman Jones. 27; Julia E Craw
ford. 26
Karl Hamilton. 24; Beulah Ware,
21.
Otis Paul Hill, 25; Iris Frances
Mattison, 22.
James Shelton, 22; Geneva G.
Sims, 17.
David Smith, 27; Almeta Jenkins.
22
Ernest Fields, 32; Lorena Clark.
38
Wilfred Stein, 18; Naomi Thomp
son, 17.
Colonel Jones. 58; Clara Gordon,
48
Richard C. Dean, 29; Dorothy
Everett, 22
Emmett Jones, 41; Sadie Branen,
45
Hack Odom, 50; Evylin Edna
Hudson. 40
Edward J Jordan. 33; Nancy M.
Murphy. 26
T/ee Frank Richardson. 28; Myrtle
Crittenton. 21.
Roscoe H. Hellon, 31; De Lois
Brown, 28 •
Linze Waters, 43: Bertha Johnaor>,
32
Willie Gadmn. 29; Sadie E. Ivory.
28
Robert L Turner. 32: Ida B Ken«
dall. 32
Martin L Hayes. 22; Frances .L.
Clay. 18.
Gregory W. Wright, 22; Cora B.
Cobb. 21.
Joseph Hall, 27; Mary La Vaughn
Frirtner, 27.
Horace Mulkey. 19; Elizabeth
Harris. 18.
Raymond Johnson, 22; Georgia
Anna Jones. 21.
Robert Malone. 28; Agatha Phln
nev. 23
James Ayres. 31; Edna Rowe. 30.
William O. Jonea, 24; Earllna
Lewus. 17.
Richard L Anderson Jr., 20:
Emma G Fields. 18.
George W. Wade. 32; Amanda
Potts. 29
Cordell Flowers. 28; Laura Cat
ton. 22
Walter Cooper. 19; Jane Dean. 17.
James Williams, 24; Wynetta But
1* I L