Page Two
The Hartford Chronicle
MARCH 1, 1947
OTTER-CROUP
TELLS REAL STORY
The National Conference of
Christians and Jews, the Con
necticut State Board of Educa
racial Commisssion are to be
congratulated upon the fine Inter-group
Exposition that they
sponsored February 20-22 at the
Hartford Times Radio Center,
They assembled there the ex
hibits of 35 groups that are all
working all over America to
make this country a better place
for all people to live. Hundreds
of men, women and children in
Hartford got an opportunity to
see these racial problems fo
cused upon the publicattention
as never before n this city.
Through visual-aid, through
literature, through motion pic
tures and through speakers and
open discussions many were
able to appreciate the pitfalls
that produce race hate and mis
understanding. This would easily have been
the most significant mass educa
tional effort that has been made
in .the state except for the unex
pected inclemenejr of the weath
re, .
The co-chairmen that were
directly responsible for this
wholesome effort in. the field of
race relations were Mr. Frank
T. Simpson and Dr. Palmer P.
Howard.
FRIENDS TROUBLED
BY FRIENDS v
New York "While it is un
'disputable that the American
Friends Service has done a
herculean job in the field of
race relations, recent reports
seem to indicate that they have
endless trouble impressing the
validity of their doctrines upon
those within their own folds.
It would seem that , many
Friends schools definitely refuse
to admit Negro students. And
when they are approached on
the matter the inquirers are re
ferred to the American Friends
Service Committee. They say
that just, so soon as the com
mittee sends such students, they
will be happy to receive them.
But the committee points to the
fact that the schools are failing
to educate for better racial at
titudes. But outside on everybody else
the Friends have been relent
less in their efforts and have
made some real' progress. So
much so, that as people review
the adamant attitude of many
Quaker schools, they begin to
feel that the philosophy is one
that says, "do not do as I do,
do what I tell you. "
One Quaker has recently said,
"If the Friends of today had
been as true to their principles
as the Friends of yesterday,
half the colored people in the
U. S. would be Quakers."
To which a wit replied, "Yes,
perhaps they have thought of
the possible embarassment in
having such a large Negro
membership."
PROS AND CONS
TALKOFNOWELL
Washington Williom O. No
well of Detroit, a former mem
ber of the Communist Party tes
tified about their subversive ac
tivities about the country be
fore the House Committee on
Un-American Activties the other
As a result of this testimony
there is a great division of opin
ion; a division that is so in
tense that it is alleged that
threatss have been made upon
his life and that the F.B.I. has
offered to afford him protection
if he sees fit.
Mr. Nowell made one major
accusation when he stated that
he felt the race riots of 1943
in Detroit were precipitated by
the agitations of the Commun
ists. This was a major revela
tion to most of; the social and
civic organizations who have
studied the causes, for they have
practically all agreed that the
racial disturbances came out of
certain long time social ills that
had built up a good deal of suf
fering and bitterness.
So now the pros and cons are
battling the whole." matter fur
iously with the con having un
earthed the fact that Mr. No
well was also agent for Gerald
K. Smith's fascist organization.
And are suggesting that the
House Committee on Un-American
Activities ask . him about
them and the .nature of his af
NAACP ENTERTAINS
HAITIAN MINISTER
New York Dr. Jean Price
Mars, Foreign Minister for the
Republic of Haiti ' and other
members of that country's di
plomatc representatives to the
United States, weret feted at a
late afternoon reception by of
ficials and members of the staff
of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People. The affair, held in New
York 's Wendell Wilkie Memor
ial Building on February 4th,
was well attended by prominent
figures from professional, diplo
matic, educational and cultural
groups.
. Although the Haitian diplo
mat ,was appearing in an unof
ficial capacity, his informal, ex
temporaneous addres was noted
with significane in the metro
politan press. Dr. Price-Mars,
speaking in French which was
translated by Dr. Rayford W.
Logan, expressed the gratitude
of the population of the Negro
Republic for the inspiration
provided by the NAACP to col
ored peoples the world over.
In addition to the Foreign
Minister, Haiti was represented
by the Hon. Charles D. Josephs,
Haitian Ambassador to the U.
S. ; Hon. Ernest Chau'Vet, form
er Haitian Minister to Great
Britain and Dr. Desir, Haitian
Assistant Consul in New York.
43 NEGRO CATHOLICS
FOR EVERY DAY OF 1946
JOURNAL REPORTS
Bay St. Louis, Miss. Ap
proximately 43 Negroes became
Catholics in the United States
every. day during 1946, reports
St. Augustine's Messenger, re
ligious journal published here.
In addition, Negro Catholics
opened 14 new churches, seven
schools, two hospitals, and two
clinics, the magazine reports,
noting that most of this con
struction took place in the
Southern States of Texas, Miss
issippi, Louisiana, Alabama,
and North and South Carolina.
In spite of construction diffi
culties, new churches were built
in Terrell, Tex.; Ofahoma,
Miss.; Rock Hill, So. Carolina;
McAlester, Okla. ; and Jackson,
Miss. In Franklin, La., a com
bined church, rectory and a
school has been erected, and in
Americus, Ga., a frame house
has been remodeled to serve as
a mission church.
New Catholic schools were
established in Canto, Miss.,
Winston-Salem, No. Carolina,
Bastrop, La.. Dallas, Tex., Lum
berton, No. Carolina, and Mont
gomery, Ala.
The Sisters of Charity of the
Incarnate Word, whose mother
house is in San Antonio, Texas,
have begun construction of a
75-bed hospital in Beaumont,
Tex., that will cost $400,000.
In Houston, Tex., a large hospi
tal has been dedicated to Saint
Elizabeth, and in Pensacola,
Fla., Our Lady of Angels Ma
ternity Hospital, with a 20-bed
capacity, has been opened. A
new addition to Good Samari
tan Hospital, Selma, Ala.', pro
viding 78 more beds, brings the
hospital's capacity to 128 beds.
The first floor, with a capacity
of 30 persons, is being used as
a home for the aged.
During the year, several com
munities of Catholic Sisters
broadened the scope of their
work. The Sisters of the Holy
Family opened a new school in
Bastrop, La., and assumed
charge of a school in Marks
ville, La. Other Sisters opening
or assuming charge of a school
are: the Franciscan Sisters of
Alleghany, N. Y. ; Franciscan
Sisters of Milwaukee, Wfils. ;
Sisters Adorers of the Precious
Blood, Columbia, Pa.;, Sisters
of the Holy Ghost, San Antonio,
Tex.; and the Ursuline Sisters,
of Louisville, Ky.
PRIEST DIRECTS DRAFTING
OF MINN. FEPC LAW
St. Paul, Minn. Under the
leadership of Father Francis
J. Gilligan, professor of moral
theology at St. Paul Seminary,
the Governor 's Inter-Racial
Commission here has drafted
a proposed Minnesota Fair Em
ployment Practices Act for sub
mission to the legislature. The
proposed measure is patterned
after the New York State law,
and emphasizes conciliation,
with appeal to courts as a last
result. '
THE NEGRO AND
HIS BOOTSTRAPS
Every time I hear a white per
son suggest that the Negro must
pull himself up by his boot
straps, any number of questions
come into my mind. But per
haps there are two that haunt
my thoughts more than others.
The first, is just what do such
people have reference to ? Do
they mean being industrious,
ambitious, orderly and deve lop
ing a sense of responsibility?
And I always conclude that that
is what the honest ones mean.
But right on the heels of that
thought comes the question of
who really controls hte keyss
to these accomplishments and
what are they ? They are the
right' to work and be rewarded
on the basis of ability and dili
gence ; the right to house
one's family in the midst
of cleanliness and order ; the
right to live healthy, moral
lives and the right to develop
a sense of responsibility as a
law abiding citizen.
All of these things are the
conscious or subconscious objec
tives of all men whose thoughts
have not been perverted by un
fortunate examples and envir
onmental circumstances.
However, for Negroes and all
other minority groups, the keys
to these better things of life are
all in the hands of a limited
number of people in the major
ity group. And if they are not
intelligently disposed in the
matter of sharing, then the un
fortunates must endlessly dash
themselves up against .barriers
as frightened sparrows do
against the windows of a light
house in a storm.
So when our white brother
talks to us about pulling our
selves up by our bootstraps, we
wonder how long it is going to
take him to appreciate the fact
that he really determines
have any boots.
For instance, a few weeks ago
whether or not we are to even
be told the sorrowful story of
an intelligent young Negro cou
ple that was. denied the right
to buy an home by the real es
tate forces of the community.
They were trying their best to
pull themselves up by the boot
strap method but the boots were
taken away.
A few days later I read a let
ter of recommendation that an
important executive of an in
surance company wrote in be
half of an ambitious Negro. He
implied very definitely that
all Negroes are mentally infer
ior to white people. Here again
the Negroes boots were taken
away and' his spirit crushed.
But these experiences are dai
ly affairs for Negroes so when
I recently talked to another vic
tim about what a bank represen
tative had done to him, it was
merely a continuation of a gen
eral pattern.
-. This young man and his wif e
are ambitious, law abiding, in
telligent people. They too want
a home. They happened to have
some white friends who like
them and insomuch as they are
planning to build a new home,
agreed to sell their present one
to their friends. , They comp
leted their arrangements and
then the happy couple went off
to a bank to determine the re
quirements for a mortgage. -
The bank sent an appraiser
out to see the property. When
he looked at the house he was
flabbergasted and immediately
thought it was much too good
for Negroes. He indicated this
with his first statement which
was, "Why in the world did
you sell this to Negroes T"
Fortunately the owner re
sented this questi6n and showed
it but the appraiser could not
believe his ears or eyes, so he
lustily pushed on with his ra
cial bias by suggesting that he
could get the owner a third
more, if he would change the
purchaser.
Now why is it amazing that
Negroes can never seem to get
an economic foothold, decent en
vironmental circumsstanfces;
v i r on m e ntal circumstances
gard for law and order, when
better health and a higher re
sure up to standards, they are
every effort they make to mea-
No, all this talk about better
immediately pushed back ?
self up by the bootstraps is of
race relations and pulling ones
no avail, unless the controlling
interests are. morally and intelli
gently disposed to do right. Men
of their intelligence and impor
tance must know this and it is
up to them to furnish Negroes
with boots that have straps.
PRIEST SPEAKS AT
URBAN LEAGUE INSTITUTE
Pittsburgh, Pa. Rev. George
B. . Ford, pastor of Corpus
Christi Church, New York City,
and Vice President of the Citi
zens' City-Wide Commitfee on
Harlem, gave the principal ad
dress at a non luncheon meeting
here which opened the Institute :
on Human Relations. Father
Ford's topic was, "Democratic
Living in Our Life-Time".
Sponsors of the Institute,
which was arranged to consider
interracial, intereultural, and
interreligious problems, were
the Pittsburgh Urban League,
local Round Table of the Na
tional Conference of Christians
and Jews, the American Ser
vice Institute and the Jewish
Community Relations CounciL
Sessions were held at the Roose
velt Hotel.
NEGRO ELECTED OFFICER
OF CHURCH SOCIETY
Richmond, Richard Brown,
Catholic Negro of St. Joseph's
parish, Norfolk, has been select
ed Marshal in the Tidewater
area of the Holy Name Society,
Catholic spiritual organization.
The organization's membership
is predominately white.