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Page Four TOLERANCE BEGINS AT HOME By Margaret Jane Suydam If your wartime job is strictly and literally on the home front, firmly on a well-worn path from kitchen sink to crib to clothesline, race relations in the nation seem far removed from your own front door. At least, they did to me until I heard that an American Negro pilot overseas had been taunted by a European’s remark that he could fight an ddie with white Ameri cans but that he couldn’t sit down to eat with them. Fine propaganda for the Nazis. I couldn’t bear it. The fine Negro woman, Mrs. Robert Leahr, who irons for me, has three sons in service. One had just completed flight training at Tuskegee Institute and had been commissioned a Second Lieuten ant in the Army Air Force. His mother was very proud and pleas ed. He was due home on a fur lough. I asked her if she would bring him and his fiancee to tea. He was young and his time was short. He might very well have been bored by the idea. But at least he could say he’d been offered hospitality in a white home, if that seemed important when he faced flak over Europe. At any rate an interesting jglM*" 0 " BOWMAN f DEMOCRAT 1 (KW) Meet Everett Bowman: Everett Bowman, world cham pion cowboy, born in Hope, N. M., July 12, 1899, came to Arizona with his parents when 13. He first came to Maricopa County from, Globe in 1921. He served 20 months as a deputy under the late Lon Jordan. Bowman owns a 40-acre farm, near Tempe, a home and other property in Phoenix, where he resides with his family, and a ranch near Wickenburg. A licen sed pilot, he owns his own plane, and flies as a member of the Civilian Air Patrol. He Stands For: Faithful law enforcement in conformity with the oath of office. Impartial administration—treat ing all citizens alike with human understanding. Unrelenting vigilance in pro tecting our young folk. Economical operation with due consideration for the taxpayers. Inauguration of proven crime prevention programs. Complete cooperation with so cial welfare organizations. Readiness to accept sound sug gestions, advice and assistance from the citizenry. A man’s future actions should be based upon his past and pres ent performances. With that axiom in mind, I submit my candidacy for your consideration. EVERETT BOWMAN Candidate for SHERIFF, MARICOPA COUNTY • ——■ r afternoon was mine. , The Lieutenant was a good i looking well-built young man, , immaculate in his officer’s uni i form. His mother, a very hand t some woman, wore a pretty print dress. His girl, a social work stu [ dent at Fisk University, was ) charming in white linen, a white r flower in her hair. Their poise 1 and manners were impeccable. The conversation was of flow -1 ers, Victory gardens, the weather, 1 the war, aviation, labor problems, race relations—a better level than • much of the tea time chat in our » section of Suburbia. Certainly my tea party did fur- nish some of my friends with a 1 new topic of conversation for theirs! Some of the comments that 5 came to me were: “Entertaining your colored laun dress! That certainly is democ r racy!” “I’ll be careful to inquire ’ about your guest list before I ac , cept your invitations in the fu- ture.” “Well! I think you had courage.” “You are the kind of r person who starts race riots.” [ Why prate of democracy and not . practice it a little? Mrs. Leahr is f a Negro but she is an American woman who deserves recognition and respect. The mother of nine healthy and handsome children, she is co-chairman of the health committee of her local Parent- Teachers Association, a War Bond salesman and an active Red Cross Worker. In addition to her three sons in service, she has another son work ing in a defense plant, one daugh ter working her way through col lege, two daughters in high school (one an honor student) and two younger daughters in the grades. Her husband, a chauffeur for many years, is now in defense work. His income has averaged around forty dollars a week. The family has never been on relief. The Leahrs are buying their own home. They keep it painted and in good repair and have an attractive flower garden on their small plot. Mrs. Leahr has been offered work in the post office at much better hourly pay than I can give her but she feels that she should not take a full-time job while her daughters are still school age. As for my friends’ concern over my guest list, they need not worry. I entertain at one time only congenial guests. I should not invite anyone to meet my Negro friends whom I knew to be pre j judiced. I had courage to entertain these people? Courage in the face of what? The criticisms of my neigh bors? Isn’t that a silly comment when you consider the courage of : the mother and sweetheart in tell ! ing that boy goodbye, the courage of the boy in facing fire? And why should my efforts to become better acquainted with the members of another race con tribute to race riots? Would we have race riots if we had greater understanding and tolerance be tween the white and colored peo ples? How can we ever have peace " I t mm BIMOCNAT^B ARIZONA SON throughout the world if we can not live in harmony with different . races, creeds and colors at home? After all, only' two-fifths of the world’s population is white! 1 Preventing prejudice is easier ’ than overcoming it. As mothers we have a responsibility to see that our children do not develop. My eight-year-old daughter had had no occasion to know any ’ Negro children, since none attend i her school. So we invited Mrs. Leahr’s nine year-old Rosalie to come and spend the day. Some of the neigh ’ bor children went home because ’ they “didn’t want to play with a 1 colored girl.” Others were as charmed as my daughter by Rosalie’s soft voice, quiet man ■ ners and lively sense of fun. 1 My daughter, in turn, has spent the day at Rosalie’s. Certainly I ' should not let my daughter go into every Negro home—nor into ■ every white home! I am trying to ■ teach her to judge people by other ; standards than the color of the ' skin. Quite possibly you may have I prejudices against the colored : races that you’ve carried for many years. As an open-minded adult of ; 1944, wh not examine them? Os ; course, there are colored individ i uals of whom you cannot approve, i but can you fairly judge a whole ! race by them? Would you be judg , ed by Hitler; A1 Capone or the l pett clerk who short-changed you ■ the other day? They have white 1 skin. If you haven’t known any i Negroes like the Leahrs, why not look for opportunities to meet , some? Do any Negroes worship in your . church? If so, have you said “Good , morning” or have you quickly passed them by? If there are none, , is it because they are not wel come? Is prejudice part of Chris tian doctrine? o Ifcm/ictoryl Ml BUY UNITED xffijflS STATES fWr WAR Wbonds JgjJjll STAMPS CORPORATION COMMISSION Drugs - Chemicals - Sundries Sick Room Supplies DRUG NEEDS FOUNTAIN SPECIALS Ceiling Prices On All Products R. "Dick" Davis Pharmacy 1127 W. Buckeye Rd. Phone 4-3823 SSTIHSUMK nufflm •A , hitler; ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ For a nice evening come lo the JUNGLE INN 1645 E. JACKSON STREET Mr. and Mrs. Willie Moore, Proprietors RE-ELECT James Minoflo fcjf MARICOPA COUNTY RICE HOTEL XOFFEE SHOP 537 E. Jefferson St. WE SERVE THE BEST HOME COOKED MEALS IN TOWN Courteous Service is our Policy Your Patronage is Always Welcome Rev. A. L. HOWZE, Prop. Congratulations PABCO PAINTS CALL US FOR A FREE ESTIMATE OF YOUR PAINT NEEDS No Obligation for this Service WE SAVE YOU MONEY RAY BUSEY’S "MOST UNIQUE PAINT STORE IN AMERICA" PHONE 3-2108 2Ol E. VAN BUREN SUBSCRIBE TO THE ARIZONA SUN It Will Be Delivered To Your Door Every Week For Only 1 Yr. $2.00 - 6 Mo. SL2S - 3 Mo. 75c Cut This Out and Mail To ARIZONA SUN PUBLISHING CO. 904—H S. 7th Ave. Apt 131 Ph: 3-3567 Name Address 1 Year. 6 Months 3 Months AGENTS WANTED Phoenix, Arizona Friday, July 7, 1944 BUY MORE BONDS [fTj