Richmond planet. [volume], May 23, 1925, Image 4

About Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
i . \ r Uy by John Mitchell. Jt.
. i. feunii Street. Richmond. Va.
IX.-L. .Hi.in:-: . )R
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..MAY 24, 1925
OF THESE white folks
are ..iixious to geit rid of.
l t.'very shy about their
s j.r mity to them in a house'
v ghborhoud. even though,
lot under the same roof,
-i this, the Richmond
: T ; n.ry Blues, the “crack”
•ga. iz.'tion o'f Virginia in
d Richmond in particular
i... !'• v; Negroes with them to New
n. . nner’icut. Even the Gov
irginia and the Mayor of
. mend were in favor of having:
ad to go with the party.;
s the use of colored folks
v. . :ng? The better, class of Vin»
ir : .ns are all right and so are tor-*
j i' : * i hiss of colored folks
>
^ ---!*
A J-EAOK -TIME HERO”.
i -- /
THE RICHMOND. VA. Times
r . tc;■ is strengthening the "bond
cf union” between the “better class
of v hit folks and the better class
v .,;ured ones. A recent editorial
the caption of "A Peace-Time
> >7:/» ;n ihe columns oi that journal
follows,
r
• :mf&y weeks ago Richmond
v -Cred its head in respect for an
.^ri gentle Negro whose worn
V .vo;v given burial from St
j, , vi scopal Church, the churcl
• ■ -.us been glorified through the
, mere of Robert E. Lee, tj^e
ch* that in many ways is the
—d reminder of the Con
- . v f:-,at C nfederacy which t
• - of t’ e world still believe
•er oined to- keep the Negroes
t-lun. aiy servitude.
•Thar part of the world which is
• » ' ■ f he South looked on anti
• ' because it did not—-could
'•v. If'stand. It failed to grasi
• can"? of that solemn cere
the remains of a Negrc
- v iio had been a slave, £
"tended by hundreds o
. of the dead man’s race wh<
news cf their white brtjth
-.r. heard t’ne impressive words
♦' ■ funeral service read by w^itt
•if t-i nts. It could not understand
xY\ h's gentle Negro who had diet
, -i- v ; e*'ng honored merely because h<
w.-.; gentle, because |jfe life had beer
r»r devotion to cithers and of rigic
i> "nerence to his humble duties, anc
i-> Richmond, in honoring ^ls mem
or/ was symbolizing the friendk
f
relations that always have exited
! between the races here, and paying
rfinite to that faithful allegiance to
fi.eir white friends which has been
ion o: the most notable traits of the
Negroes of >.be South”.
Thrs is an admirable statement cf
I the event. The personality of Ro
bert UiimelK the humble colored sex
m disappeared as the great out
pouring of white and colored people
recognized the transcendent qualities ^
tor which he stood and emphasized
the fact fiiat he represented a type,
of black humanity that is unfortun j
uteiy ‘‘growing beautifully less”, j
These colored folks of recen t parent-1
over thl :
a;v are she northerners who
•'-iy ' - eeu many summers and who ]
.' 'T iv lerstand tha. friendship
.-rv.i-'*> tl.'s c ase of white ; ud blacltj
- • ie ' • of a kind that “Time can
0, ve-.r,/ wash away”. J
!* -.ays further: j
il
-a ti. South undsostantis: it.,
tn erstands. too. why lorn Lee, a
,•> O'' Sfemph a, is rev-v-giwZed .vs
■ >; ■■:][}' columns of newspaper]
> -ire used in filling of Ilia'
v . ami why the cIty of M-miphi*-'
’ 1 ‘ ‘
' \
pv . ;ig yiv.rs tree from pov
• ; Lee a simple, black;
'■ v ’ Negro. hu‘ today hi- mphis
»>.: ti, couth generally are paying',
him the 1 ri-aute due to the honest'
• • \;h without thought of self'
-1 .hi-' • tie ho. ! :n:o the murky ,
T -. >K- of tire Mississippi Rivera
. 1; c; rriI a.’olv' to shore thirty two s
•1; xe :■ sengers who had been,
c .‘oevr fn.'o the waters when the
vt-.-mer M. E- Norman suddenly'
t .mud tarrle and' sank. Tom Lee lu.d
y. tin-‘.ight of :°ward. 110 thought of
‘aevsona; d nger. Lke the real hero.]
[ a rac< 11 colar; j
! •!t' did only what lie conceived to he j
h:s da y at the moment, imtl lie is j
meshy surprised to find that his
a mple uerfoi mance of duty has nmde
him Ati oin standing figure among
his people’*
For more rhan forty years, wo.
' hare been endeavoring co bring- all
of the white people to a full renliza
. ion of the fact that tht-re have been
> ?.ncl that there are today tens of
bousands of Robert Dumells and
Tom Rees in the Southland. Thev
are humble, polite, obliging and
would give their lives for those white
people regardless of sex or religion,
who have won their confidence and
are entitled to their service. They
will do more for the approval of this
class of white people than they will
for money.
The Times-Dispatch editor con
cludes as follows:
1 “Here, again, the North will not
•understand: it will more nearly
grasp the meaning, of Tom Lee and
the honor done him than it did the
s’gu'ficance of Richmond's burial of
its aged Negro servitor, for at Mem
. phis there was a single, concrete
•'nstance of grea't personal bravery to
, be rewarded. But still it will not
see in this further evidence that the
South is the natural home and the
one real friend of the Negro, and
•.hat c't recognizes and respects devo
tion and courage wherever and in
\v!i11ever fashion it may he displayed.
' "These two incidents are oT.ed here
no* because they are unusual hut
| because they reveal to a world with
■iii the South conditions to which it
, has been blinded by ignorance and
realice. One wonders if either one
: of these incidents could have hap
, oened 'n Chicago or any other North
ern city that has been wont to point
j the finger of scorn at the Smith b«
, cause of its treatment of the Negro”.
It. should not he forgotten that
> just in proportion as one class of
i liberal white southerners recognize
■ the worth of this class of colored
' folks, another class of illiberal ones
r am endeavoring to bring about the
Negro’s undoing. They misrepre-'
sent oppress, aggravate, hamper and 1
injure him. It is often caused by
envy and jealousy. They set up the
cry of Negro-lover, from which many
New Day white folks shrink and un- !
der cover of 'this perpetrate outrages
.upon this hapless and helpless class ;
of people in a way to reflect upon
the better class of white people of
the Southland, who in reality, are
these same Negroes’ best friends. j
What is needed is positive action
on the part of (the white folks. In
St. Paul’s Church at Richmond and !
in the Mayor’s office at Memphis, j
Tennessee, we see the movement
. ird along the lines indicated by ;
;>nd ■ c\ e way and some-how God j
v. 1 make for the Negroes of this
country *n general and the Southland j
iu partl-cukir, the rough roads smooth
'•rooked ones straight and ’
ihe stentorian hallelujahs of these
...line Negr >e-; will Be heard in all1
of this land.
, , ——
VFKLAXIA S'EMTN BY FINALS. ]
<
J .. |
t
. .. TT . •_' 21—The ;
\ •■• • • • -.•••■;■ . 'v.'nsry and
-j • m i :-4--s°v?nTh i
nalvrv.ry .v 'chr bt-giun’ng May ;
and coiv.intri'ug through Jnne 2. ;
.’\eroisos will be observed'
. L';y. 2:2 P. M. Rev ;
Adams, of Brooklyn, X. Y.,
• i - .vch ho area aureate sermon j
cxcrcis.es of vhe Academy
a • T- •rb'"’’s Trailing Ac part men:
'’••wrdi’v .Tune 1. Dr. J. H. Burks, i
’ CMumbu-. Ohio wFl deliver the
(Tares:; to the graduates.
Tuesday evening. June 2 wll be ;
he ina's of the College arrd Sem j
tnr.rv*. Congressman L. C. Dyer will i
dc fiver the address. About eighty
.’’"tie..re? will receive diplomas from
like different departments, said Pres-:
Meat R. C. Woods U.vi'av. |
A -
TUSKMGfCK OF THK NORTH. j
—- ,
.f
DOWNINGTOWN, PA. —Downing
town . ndustrial and Agricultural
School win have Us 19th annuaal
commencement May 28, 3 P. M. The •
baccalaureate sermon will be preach- ;
ed on Sunday, May 24 by Rev. Wil
liam Lloyd Imes, pastor of the Cen
tral Presbyterian Church, of Phila
delphia.. _ ,
DO YOU KNOW THEM?
t
Germantown. Pa., May 4, 192 5.
I desire to know the name of the
man, who owned Charles Henry
Brown, who had a sister named
Charlotte Davis. She was the mother
of D. Webster Davis, who was well
known there
Send information to SARAH;
BROWN, widow of Charles Henry j
Brown. 131 W. Price St.. German
town. Pa
EDW. STEWART
S. SECOND STREET
DEALER IN
v\\XCY GROCERIES, FRESH
MEATS. YFOr.T \TILES.
T-TSII A XL OYSTERS.
! t-; hn;oKd, V:». P ’CNE MAD. 1637
I
WANT NOTICES for persons deslr
ing employment will hereafter b
published free of charge. Person
seeking help will pay ful! rates.
IT WENT TO HIS HEAD.
i ' A.
V
I COLORFUL NEWS “MOVIES”
”y “THE CAMERAMAN.”
! TOM I revs CABIN: . ‘ •• " *> NIGHT” LADIES!
I ^-HOWARD UNIVERSITY STRIKE 4-HOME SWEET HOME?
! \ . '
j •'(Preston News Service) ___
TOM LEA'S CABIN.
Tom Lea's Cabin, down on the Arkansas
shore of the Mississippi River, has completed
its humble' but joyous Christian duty to the
thirty survivors whom the gallant Xegro boat
man saved front a watery grave following the
catastrophe which befell the steamer “Nor
man" on its trip up the river last Friday. In
the boatman’s home the water-soaked travelers
whom Lea rescued from their harrowing ex
perience. when it seemed that the bottom of
the Mighty Mississippi was holding its wel
coming arms open to them. Tom Lea’s Cabin
typical of the humble but cleanly Xegro horn .1
of Arkansas and its sister Southern States* in
its act of charity towards the distressed and
under the pressur -_of critical moments* when
. lives were in danger, became a living example
of what may be termed enforced social equal
itv. In fact* it became a miniature hospital
for the comfort of the afflicted, without regard
to race or color.
Social equality, the sadly misunderstood
bugbear of projectionists of racial supremacy,
was left sitting on the bench* while Tom Lea
and his family went to the bat. with charity
for all and malice toward none, administering
to the Norman s survivors. Lite is sweet.
Life is wonderful; and when the grave yawns
openly in the faces of either whites or blacks,
those things which make ilfe sweet and won
derful come to mind without suggestion. There
are many things down in the districts which
abut Tom Lea’s Cabin which would make
life, sweeter and more wonderful to the thous
ands of “Tom Leas” of the Southland- who
have been forced into a life of semi-darkness
bv the 1 u<2bear of jO- m1 equality. These su >.
merged “Tom Leas ’, of pride and ambition
have long awaited the dawn of the day whe i
advocates of supremacy, who have succeeded
in keeping the Negro in his place by means
of the social equality blindfold- would under
stand that social equality is an individual and
not a racial matter. To set it up against in
dividuals is quit? right and proper; but to set
it up against an entire racial group, sought :o
be oppressed because of color- is an act of
gross ignorance,—a proof of. indisputable
gotrv. That it is a mere smoke screen
• amply proved by the increasing number of
“human admixtures” in the territory where
social 'equality is the misnamed test,of civil
ization.
Duplicates of Tom Lea s Cabin on the
Mississippi may be found all over the South
land- full of Christian love but kept apart
from the freedom of America only in such
times as scourges and depression beset the
oppressors, when misery is not at all partic
ular of the company it keeps. We are grateful
to God for the continuing lives of the souls
whom Tom Lea rescued |from the muddy
Mississippi; for we are optimistic that they
will carry back to their constituency tales of
the charity which they received in tin? home
of the humble Negro hero. Perchance their
message will stimulate contrition and meek
rrss in the hearts of many who use social
equality as ballast for Opportunity, Justice
and Love. -
tit M
UT0
' - '***'
HOWARD UNIVERSITY ’
STRIKE.
“A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous
Thing”.— Howard hilltop continues to rage
with civil indictments and counter indictments
as between the Faculty, headed by Presidenc
J. Stanley Durkee (white) and the striking
students. From the maze of allegations which
are being hurled back and forth' it is difficult
to say who is in the right. Nor'is it possible
to forecast just what kind of ashes the burn
ing flames of the Howard insurrection may
bring forth. There is one question, though*
which is outstading in the disgraceful hilltop
strike. rThat question runs parallel to the
Question put by Governor Coolidge when the
Poston police strike was in progress. The
Governor said that no one had the right to
strike against the public interest. Howard
has long since been th pride of the Race’s
educational institutions of gigher training.
A quasi-Federal institution- receiving appro
priations of the people’s money through Con
gress* it represents a benefice, as it were, of
the people,—an endowment for the training
of Xegro youth for the public service'.
The Howard student of the past has made
a high mark in world service, and upon his
virtues the Howard student of the future has
built high hopes,—hopes which* amid this
strike spectacle of today, are indeed placed
in jeopardy. At best, and regardless of facts
it is difficult to justify any floward student
under twenty-one years of age* coming to this
public university for a brief four or five-year
course, making himself unamenable to, the
University's rules and regulations, even
though it may be later shown that they are
unjust. Such action is not in keeping with
c eur.ion sense* good judgment, and regard for
public interest, which, first of alt, in this par
ticular. has its ey>es set upon the higher edu
cation of those Xegro youths who seek such
an armor with which to take part in the Race’s
bathes of life. That these beardless youths*
who have scarcely yet touched the hem of life’s
garment, should tak? strike means to over
throw rules is a severe blow to the call of
education.
There are probably sufficient colleges in
America today to accommodate those students
who cannot, for a few years, stand the gaff of
ru’.os and regulations^ unjust though they may
be. Of course, it is patent knowledge that
Dr. T. Stanley Durkee has, for some reason
o;- another- sought to make Howard over into
r. "high brow" institution instead of keeping
it open to the masses, and has practiced dis
crimination against certain classes of appli
cants. as to whom special and extraordinary
rules of debarment “have been made. And ir
must be embarrassing to him that the “high
brow” atmosphere which he has sought to
create in Howard’s student body should revolt
against the administration. Even so- the true
purposes of education must be served; and
Xegro youth of America must look upon How
r.r 1 as a privilege rather than a right. Hence.
• the strikink students, who might lx* justified
were d'cv men ’ w-men of the world rather
liian iierigbiws- -re -solely r sponsible for the
spectacle of discord which Howard now pre
sents.—a j)icture which is not at all consoling
t tk.oc who are righting the sterner battles of
i e in behalf of the struggling Race.
I
“GOOD NIGHT" LADIES!
According to the loquacious “stub" pen of
Miss Evelyn C. Hunt, (white) society and
'dramatic writer of William Randolph HearstA
Waslrngton Herald of May ioth- there are
hundreds* of thousands of sympathetic Christ
ian white women in the world who are not
“ladies"; for, as Mjiss Hunt says, in her com
ments in last Sunday’s Hearst Herald regard
ing the walkout of the two hundred colored
singers who were humiliated beyond perform
ance over th^ conduct of Washington segrega
tionists- “Every lady would have walked out
if she had found herself seated next to a
colored person” in which, event, we presume
it would have been a case of “Good Night
Ladies". But. as we, said before, the Hearst
dramatic editor “stubbed” her pen.
In th: first place- although Miss Hunt evi
dently takes it as a presumption, nowhere in
the dictionary are we able to find that “ladies”
are limited to the white women’s group. In
fact, going back to the dreary past- when
M'oses married the daughter of Jethro, who
was decidedly black- but, nevertheless, one of
the finest ladies in the land, Miss Hunt can
readilv see that, for historical reasons, “her
ladyship’ depends upon no scheme of color.
In the second place- just a short hour or
two at a playhouse, or at church for that
matter, does not reveal what female attend
ants are actually “ladies” or what males are
“gents.” Why no one, as yet- has been able
to tell just what in the State of Arkansas.
responsible for the increase, during the past
• t.-> - of per cent, in the number of
mu'attoes.
In the third place- however, and for the
sa! e of argument, we will presume that when
Miss Hunt referred to “ladies" she meant.
whites only. We’re quite ready to admit that
:n certain spheres, white women- “ladies" and
others, deem it a calamity to come in contact
with colored people in public places. As a
j ule. the poorer and more ignorant whites are
the greater insult attends the contact. On the
other hand, the more of a lady the “offended"
is, the more she realizes- along with the .col
r red “offenders" that contact in a theatre or
• ther public gathering is of small concern and
■as no hearing upon the social status of either
white or black.
This is the view that all colored people
lake and this is the view that intelligent
Christian white people take. Contact is not
<;• ntent, and while all ladies are women, ail
w> men a,re not ladies either in the^sfrict sense
or in the restricted sense of Evelyn C. Hunt.
Following the Washington Auditorium episode
so upsetting to Miss Hunt* the colored ladies
f the Mu S > Lit Club. Washington, enter-’
• dned at tea many white ladies who had been
present at the QuinQuennial of International
Women. It is said that the majority of the
guests present were foreign ladies of distinct
ion* who were delighted with the courtesies
extended ilicm and pleased to be in a ladylike
atmosphere where color was net a mooted
uuestion. As Miss Hunt must see. it was
quite an error to be so selfish to presume that
all ladies were restricted to the confines of
American shores.
P>e that as it may, we’ll be ready to cry, ^
even in Heaven* if Miss Hunt's rule obtains,
—and we are sure it will not—and all ladies
whom St. Peter, in* Heaven, seats besides
colored people, get up and walk out of Heaven.
Wouldn’t that be awful?
Ik $
HOME SWEET HOME?
“Hot dogs- pretzels and pop are all right
for in between eats: but please give me some
pork chops or steak and onions once or twice
a day”, said a genial looking visitor, as he
sat down in the office and watched us taress
the typewriter keys.
“What’s the big idea ’? we replied savagely
at the interruption. “This is a busy desk,
not a free lunch counter".
“Come on now* Mr. Cameraman, and hold
your horses. Xoting that you so often show
signs f brain pverty. I want to give you an
honest-to goodness idea”* our visitor laughing
ly replied. N
“Well, shoot away and make it snappy”.
“It’s just like this. Mr. Cameraman”* our
uninvited guest continued, with a shrug of his
broad shoulders. “I’ve always claimed that
colored people are the greatest imitators in
the world. Now* during the war, when the
white folks were swarming into the city and
delicatessen shops and two room apartments
were all the rage, the colored people were
just as satisfied as they could be with detached
houses and broad lawns, with plenty of space
and air; but now that the war is over and the
housing situation is easing up, they have gone
wild about one room apartments and kitchen,
ette affairs: and all those nuts who don’t stop
at the delicatessen store and, bring home some
ootato sa'ad and cooked ham are wearing out
two and three can oj>eners each week* taking
the tops off of sardines or corned beef. I
tell you. sir, Home Sweet' Home* with Mother
in the kitchen basting chicken and baking
mince pie is almost a thing of the past”.
“But this is a modern day. when to save
time is to lengthen life”* we interrupted, re.
fi actively. —
“I know all about that”, our visitor per
sisted : “but what I want to show you is that
the imitation idea of Home Sweet Home, a h .
apartment style, which we absorbed from the
white folks is putting us on the rocks of finan
cial and physical decay. You see- the delica
tessen stores soon drew a bunch of Chinese
laundries and Jewish tailor shops, together
with some ‘serve me quick’ lunch counters,
where all they have is cakes and coffee. Oh,
it is modern life- all right. The doctors, drug
gists and dentists are reaping a windfall now
adays: and it’s easier for me to walk on my
hands than it is to get Sis to sew on my vest.
She’d rather take it' to the tailor shop and pay
for it with her own coin”.
“Don't tell me", continued our visitor sadlv,
as he arose to depart. “The good old coni
mtmity of interests, which used to prevail in
the home is becoming very wobbly. Money!
business! Rush! They have all taken a wall
loo at Home Sweet Home- and knocked out
the oneness which we had wbn T was a kid.
Those things are a:l right, but the home of
sacrifice, love, unity- companionship, quietude
is no place for them”, he fairly shouted as he
hurriedly left.
And we'p.” not sure that the brother was
not correct. Are you? /