North Carolina Newspapers

rACS TWO THE CABOUMA TIMES SATURDAY, AUG. «. 1>58 BEAR THE CROSS OF FREEDOM Appearing on this page is a letter to Ae editor, written by the Rev. G. E. Cheek of Raleigh, which we think is quite informative as well as thought-provoking. We in vite our readers to read it thoughtfully. When you see in certain comers of North Carolina and other southern states so-call ed respectable white. people organizing against Negroes obtaining first-class citizen ship, human dignity and re spectability be not disturbed, your forefathers had to bear the same cross though un educated, inexperienced. And with the fetters of slavery around their limbs. Read in Rev. Cheek’s letter what the late Nathaniel Macon, U. S. Senator from Warren County, said about the abolition of your fore fathers. It sounds so much like what your governor, state officials and others are now saying about integration that one needs to change on ly one word to have it read exactly like a 1955 statement. JTere is what the late Sen ator said during slavery about the freedom of the Ne- “The freedom of the Negro would be ruination to the en tire Southern country.” Here is what your governor and other state officials are say ing now about integration; “The integration of the Negro would be a ruination to the entire Southern country.” Not only that, but after free dom came the Ku Klux Klan rode high and mighty killing and beating the strong and frightening the weak or any one else who dared raise his finger in the cause of the Ne- £0. Amidst it all our fore- thers, though uneducated and penniless, kept the faith and their spirit. They rode out the storm. Today, headed by Gover nor Luther Hodges, I. Bever ly Lake, former assistant at torney-general of North Caro lina, other state officials, mem bers of the legislature and well-known white people, many of whom have led Ne groes to believe that they were their friends, are form ing segregationist organi zations, or dressed-up Ku Klux lUans, to defy the U. S. Supreme Court, the Constitu tion of the United States and to keep the Negro a second- class citizen and in state of humiliation. Negroes in North Carolina ought to kn«w by now what the Carolina Times and other Negro newspapers have been trying to tell them for more than a quarter of a century and that is in official circles of North Carolina Negron have no friends. These who were accustomed to label progressive Negro newspa pers men as irrei^nsiblos, radicals and rabble rousers should admit now that they were wrong and that they can hope for no help in their struggle for equality from high state officials. If the fight against segregation has done nothing more, it has at least pulled the cover off those of the opposite group who while parading as the Negro’s friends have been wolves in sheep’s clothing. By their action, these lead ers in North Carolina have given the nod to the lower element of whites to get busy and organize real Ku Klux Klans. So any day now you may hear or see the organi zation raise its grisly head in this state. Rebellion against the United States in the form of a cold war is now in the air in North Carolina and the imps of hell have already be gun to gnash their teeth. But the die is cast and truth has stepped down from the scaffold and is now marching toward the throne; and though puny men may scream, tear their hair, froth at the mouth and vomit their spleen at her, in time she will be enthroned. These are stir ring days, a new era is being bom and the labor pains are excruciating but the south will not die in childbirth. LISTEN, TEACHERS, LISTEN! We wish to commend the North Carolina State Teach ers Association for inviting Governor Hodges to address the second annual Leader ship Conference of the Asso ciation, that will be held in Raleigh, August 26-27. Al though there probably will be many persons present who will have little or no faith in what the governor says, it is a fine thing to give him the opportunity to face them and say it. That is statesmanship, it is democracy and above all it is Christianity. Unfotunately for a major ity of white people in the S^th, they have never heard an address from an intelligent Negro on any major issue, but have kept them^ves be hind the' Dixie iron curtain where they could be shielded from exchanging thoughts with Negroes of training and leadership. Whenever they have emerged from that iron curtain long enough to hear and see the truth they have been unwilling to face it but to the contrary have buried their heads in the sand like on ostrich. The white teachers associa tion could not and would not dare invite an ‘ outstanding Negro to deliver an address before it. Athough there are many fine persons in it who would like to do so, the or ganization must uphold white supremacy and adhere to the traditions of the South. As a result 95 per cent of the white people in the South know very little about what the Negro wants or what he thinks. That is why the gov ernor and others will declare that a majority, of Negroes want a continuance of segre- tion in the public schools. When Governor Hodges speaks to the teachers on Fri day they will have no doubt as to where he stands in regard to their race. . They will be listening to the man who a few days ago demanded that they volunteer to accept seg regated schools in this state, not one year, two years, 10 years, 25 years but forever, The teachers will know that to the 74 boards directly af fecting the well-being of Ne groes, Governor Hodges has not appointed *a single Negro under his program of “sep arate but equal” policy. They will know that for nearly 60 years t^eir people waited for the “equal” part of the bargain but only got the “separate” part of it. LIS TEN, TEACHERS, LISTEN! LET ZALPfl ROCHELLE RAVE Numerous telephone calls and letters come to The Caro lina Times from time to time requesting that we reply to the sever^ letters to the edi tor of theHerald-Sun papers written by Zdlph Rochelle, Durham’s perennial letter writer to any and all editors who will honor Zalph’s rub bish by printing it. . In the first place, we do not feel that it would be quite ethical for the editor o£ this newspaper to answer a let ter written to the editor of another newspaper. In the second place, we do not think the contents of Zalph’s let ters worth answering for the simple reason we consider the writer a general sore head with a gripe against every body .and everything in the city and coun^ except the people who let him collect their rent. Zalph’s opinion is not re spected by any of the leading white people of Durham and generally speaking he has very little if any following, even among the lowest ele ment of his race. In the third place, we are of the opinion that Zalph is doing tremend ous good for Negroes by his writings that are so far out of line with common sense and decency that we say let him rave. Life Is Like That Bj B. ALBERT SIUIH THE BIGGEST LIE EVER TOLD ENCOURAGING TO NEGRO NEWSPAPB! MEN We had fully intended writ ing this editorial before now but have been so busy here- of-late trying to keep our readers informed and up-to- date in their thinking about the question of integration and the stand taken by North Carolina’s Governor Luther Hodges that we just could not find time to get around to it. Every Negro newspaper man in the nation must have taken pride in and felt the impact of the honor bestowed upon Alex Rivera and Robert M. Ratcliffe of the Pitts burgh Courier by the Global News Service last June, in recognition for the fine work these two men did in a 17,000 mile word and picture ac count of the South. Likewise, they must have felt encour aged over the fact that Carl Murphy of the Afro-American newspaper of Baltimore, dur ing the same month, was awarded the Spingarn medal for his contribution “to the progress of civil rights in his home city of Baltimore, in his state and in the na tion.” We sidute these three gentlemen of the fourth es tate, although belatedly, for having brou^t such a distinct honor to the profession of Ne gro Journalism. It is not often that Negro newspaper men are given recognition by those outside the profession. But when it does come to one or more of those whose job it is to keep the race and others properly informed about Negro affairs and to champion the rights of the Negro, it is indeed gratifying. SATURDAY AVC. 27, 19SS ' L. E. AUSTIN Pnblisher CLATHAN H. BOSS. Editor H. ALBERT SMITH, Muuging Editor M. E. JOHNSON, Bayess Manager JE^E COFUEXJ?, Circulation Manager PuMMwd Cvarj teturdar by Hi* DMITKD Mo cuanntM ot pnbUcatton of Data- PUBUSHtnrtooorpontsd at *11 S. ratUgnw Bt. rIaL Lattan to Of editor for pabUcaltoa mnat b« ■otarad ai aacood eUm mamr at ttia Poal OtflM at Ourtiaai. North Carallna widar tl>a Act at Uarak I. iar» Nattonal AdvarlMas lapraaaatattv*: UrtaralM* •ttoed and coMflnad to Mxf «wda. aabaerlpltoB Batoa: lOa Om Ttur, (VMajfa ComMaa» There luu existed In oar coiintry for some jreara a Ifatn’ orcaaiution. IT I am not mis taken this organhuitlon to na- tloaal In scope. It to eonstitu- ted ot meutbM from all over the country and has the same orxantoatlonal stmctore as would ctaaractertoed any group ot persons banded tecether in a cooperative endeavor. UAB’B CONVENTION Once a year, tbto organization meets In some important city. You might call this meeting to gether a “Liiars’ Convention.” Those attending come with one purpose—to lie. To ttM person telling the biggest lie, there is given much putilicity and some lund ol a prize. 01 course, the object ol these so-called Uee to not to do any body harm, to seek unlsUr {ain. The whole thing to a matter fun and the purpose behind It to to see who has imagination enoagh to tell the most fantastic story, a (ale most out of keeping with the facta of experience and life, and provocative of the greatest mirth because of Ito ridiculous absurdity. SEE NO ADVANTAGE Wliat merit such an effort deserves, 1 iiave given no seri ous thought. But, the most to be said against it is this: It ill behooves men ol intelligence to waste their time and energy in such efforts. 1 don’t see any particular advantage in doing so. Neither do 1 envy the man who wins the title “The World’s Ctiampion Liar.” May- , be that’s because I lack the qualifications to achlSVe the “honor”’ and the rewards tliat go therewith. STORIES OF DEEP SOUTH Some years ago, I read a book “MULES AND MEN,” written by Zora Neale Hurs ton. In It, she records many facte pertaining to Negro life in the deep South. Evecially does she delight in re-telling stories told her. I am quite certain some of them would bring their originators serious consideration for flrst-prtoe recognition in any liar’s oon- ventlon. There is^ one about an ex tremely mean boss. A boiler exploded blowing his men high into the air. This bw was ^ mean that he dockN' the 'men for th^ time they.liad spent in the air. ^ PRATED VENGEANCE There to another aboat a slave who used to pray under a persimmon tree. He had an Intense hatred of white people and would go to that spot ev ery morning to ask God to kiU all the white lolta. • Somebody told ids master and he decided to do some thing about it. One morning, he got there first, gathered a few sizeable stones and climb ed up the tree. A little later, the colored man arrived and began bis prayer. “O, Lord,” he petitioned, “please kill all the wtiite folks.” The master took careful aim and dropped a rock wliich struck the head of the Negro and knocked iiim over. The puzzled slave struggled to his feet and said: “Lawd, I ast you to kill the white folks. Can’t you tell a wtilte man from a Negro?” • HARMFUL LXING However innocent aoah lying may be, and fnn-ptovekiag, there to a type lying that to neither funny or pawvocatlve at mirth. We define auch lying as Intending to deceive with injurioito results. Hie lie la told not only to deoeive but wllb the Intention to harm somebodT, to “klil" ,1dm, rok him of prestige, repatation, merited recogniton or reward, or to humiliate bln. When a lying witness to the cause ol your having to pay a big fine for an accident for wiiich you were not responsi ble; places you where you were not, and wliere you were not is a place where even the most liberal and charitable ol men would mark “out-of- bounds;” or a mendacious ton gue telto a lie that tears a Home apart, blasts a friend- sliip, wreclu confidence, in fluences or creates enmity; or a lying salesman sells you a damaged car, a faulty house, or a non-extotent oil well, all fun — even the semblance thereof — ceases. LIARS PLENTIFUl. Yet, such damagaing lies are being told every day. The world is over-run with such nefarious liars. They are in every community. 1 once ask ed a friend how a certain wo man who was known both as a consummate liar and notori ous gossipper, could put out such fantastic and devilistdy false tales about other people. She replied: “Bev. Smith, a chronic liar studies lying just as you do sermon btdldlng.” THE BIGGEST UE Now, the biggest lie that was ever told, and the most dam aging, was wbtopered Into the ear of a woman in the in fancy of the human race. It was a word spoken by Satan to Eve, Adam’s wife, “Then Shalt Not Snrely Die.” Those five words, constitute the greatest lie ever released on earth, the lie that “wrecked” humanity, deralMd the train of men’s peaee with God and brought down npon the hnman race an avalanche of sin and wretchedness so great that the Son ot God only eonld remove, uid that by hto death on Cal vary. That He would have been only live wasted words even tboui^ spoken by the World’s Champion Liar, the devil, whom jiesus said is the father of lies, but for one ttdng. They Vere believed. INVESTIGATION NESOED. Bnt even that biggest of all liars would have missed Ua mark had Adam and Eve de layed accepting ite veracity long enough to investigate the character of its author. And that reminds us that whenever someone teUs us a damaging story alMut a lellow mortal, we ought to do three things before accepting it: in vestigate the character of the informer, find out the source of ids information, and its re liability, and the motive or purpose for telling it. Letter To The Editor To The Editor; ^ Carolina Times Governor Hodges has spok en. But the hand of mother time will tell the story. In the early 19th centiury when the great question of the abolition of slaves was the ‘hot potato,” in that day, the late Nathaniel Macon of War ren County, who carried the Political BaU” for North Carolina and the South, a persuasive personality in the United States Senate, ■ de clared that, “The Freedom ol the Negro would be ruination to the entire Southern Cotm- try.” “The only status,” said Macon, “the Negro can ever hope to have in America is ttiat of a slave. All he needs is to be fed, clothed, worked and kindly treated.” Macon took the above philosophy and won his cause, temporarily. But look how. much water has gone over the dam and un der the bridge since Macon’s day. Before he died in 1834, he saw the “liand writing on the wall,” that he had led his followers to offer prayers to gods who did not answer. The freeing of the Negro in the South also freed the white man. For, Booker T. Washing ton well said, “You can’t bold a feUow in the ditch unless you stay down there with him,” and ol courK the fellow on the bottom has the unseen advantage, beeauae ha CAM relax. The philosophy which Go vernor Hodges announced on Monday night, August 8, in my opinion, renders-in the course ol time-a greater disservice to the Whites ol North Carolina tlian it does to the Negroes. First let us view it from a literate point ol view. Already in North Carolina the Negro teacher has the edge on the White teacher Irom the point of view ol professional prepa ration. Tliis to due largely to the fact of the traditional com munity economic discrimina tion against color. During peace time, to say nothing about the war boom, many lucrative jobs open to Whites are closed to Negroes. So the Whites take advantage of greater pay for less time and money spent in prepara tion.' Ther^ore, under our tra ditional system, the white school rooms will continue to be depleated, having only the missionary minded teachers in them. In the mean while, the teaching job to the most lu crative job lor thc| Negro in North Carolina. Ol courae many Negroes move to New York or to other areas ol the North Where the color-bar la not against them in the econo- my ol the community. Alter all to said and done, money bolds out the greatest appeal to the greatest niunber (Continuad on Page Five) "Shw Hr Worid We Mean What We Say" ^By Reverend Harold Roland PASTOR, MOUNT GILEAD BAPTIST CHURCH “ESCAPE OR RESPONSIBIUTY” “O that I had in the wUd- emesB a lodging place . . . that I might leave my peo ple and go from them . . . Jeremiah Jeremiah, in hto humanness, grows weary amid the stern struggle lor righteousness and truth. He to tempted in a mo ment of despair and discour agement to ^cape, and run a- way from it all. Weary with the burdens ol the struggle, there surges up in hto soul a secret desire or longing to fly away from it all. We all Imow thto to a very human temp tation. We fight and struggle for right, truth an4 justice and we seem to fail' to make any headway. In the hard strug gles against injustice, threats, Insulte and wrong we long to escape it all and find a place of real. We are tempted to flee from the clearly marked path ol daty. Yes, we come often to thto crossroada in 'the battlea ol life where we are faced with two choices: WE CAN FLY AWAY OR STAND WITH COURAGE AT THE POSt OF DUTY. How human then to cry of Jeremiah in the face ol the struggle for righteous ness . . . . “O that 1 had in the wilderness a lodging place .... that I might leave my people and go from them . ..” The Revv J. A. Delaney could have ran away in the Clarendon Connty ease. But_ -.an humble preacher said: I WILL NOT BUN AWAY BUT HERE I TAKE MY STAND FOB BIGHT AND JUSTICE. Jeremiah insulted, threaten ed, rejected, imprisoned to tempted to run away Irom the liard battle lor truth and righteousness. He to caught in the iimer soul agony ol a se cret desire to run away from hto strong sense of responsi bility. He was God’s man. The people needed hto message and light lor righteousness. What wiU he doT Will he es cape or lace hto responsibility? To run the world would luve remembered him as a ering- 4a§ ooward. Ha took Us stand at the post ot dnty and now he stands amoDg ttko great an noble soato of the ages. Many ol us, my friends, in thto critical hour in the sto gie for Justice, decency, re spect ol law must make the same latelul decision. Will you run or will you standT God forbid that yea ran away from the field of battle as a cringing coward. WIU yea turn selfish and try to save yourself? Jeremiah^ battle was not easy. Our battle will not be easy. We must stand. We cannot run away. We mast not be frightened away from dnty and righteootneai.| Self ishness whtopers to ua and says run away. But God, truth and dnty c^ us to stand stedfast and unmovable. Bemembw- ing our battlaa for right and justice are never in vain. Lafs fight on: God will Mag things Ant right Just think what will be lost il we tiun cowards and run away from the lield ol battle. God will be disappointed. Truth, justice and decency wUl he wounded in the streets. Run, escape . . . NOl STAND and accept your respodUblllty in this struggle lor GOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FIGHT IT THBOUOH IN LOVE. GRACE AND PATIENCE. Capiteil Close-Up By CONSTANCE DANDXfi Bandanna Rampart on the Patomac The Bandanna Rampart to flying high around your Caj^' tal, as evidenced by the olise- quious onion-buttering ol sell assumed Dee Cee “leadership' in school action in surround ing areas; and in stories from the Southern hinterlands lea~ tured in the Capital’s dailir press, such as last week’s Nashville dateline story oa the opposition ol “Dixie Negroes” piece. The first to the reler- ence to two Negro pastors who “repudiated” an N A A C P school integration Mtltion. The nrst, who “hastily an- noimced that hto name waa a lorgery,’’ was quoted as de claring, “I am totally innocent of signing this petition.” Not- “I disagree,” but “1 am inno cent” (of wrong doing.) The second pastor was our old friend, the Rev. H. H. Hume, of ,GreenviUe, Missto- sippi, who has been carrying “Boss Charlie’s” torch for lo these many years, keeping the Hd on siiameluUy exploited ah^ecroppers and wage-hwds for the Farm Bureau Federa tion in the Mississippi Delta country. Had tbto good Gentle man ol the Cloth failed, to hoist-and wave—the Bandan na Rampart, we would have been most surprised. The piece about Dixie also teUs ol the lormation ol a Ne gro group in Columbus, Mto- sissippi, “to foster segregation, expose Negro agitators, and encourage racial pride among Negro people.*’ Here we quote, without fur ther comment, a Board mem ber of a white school “over- the-line” in a relatively ex clusive Maryland auiburb, and the president of a nearby white citizens association. The Board member, citing an anti-integration petition from “parents, relatives and neighbors-of one of four sub standard Negro schooto," com mented that the petition “Was not spontaneous,” and tiad evi dently been solicited by the protesting white parento. A second 'Board member said that she “wouldn’t be a party to keeping the (sub-standard) sciiool (for Negroes) open.” ^The" white citizens associa tion president from the same country, writing on the same case in an open letter to the dally press, told how hia as sociation had studied the prob lem, how it liad been “shock ed at the inadequacy (of the sub-standard school)”, and how the white PTA of a school involved i^as now in the lore- front ol groups urging the Board ol Education to “move quiclEly to ^d segregated schooto.” The second point of interest in the Dixie piece was thto paragraph: '‘The desperate attitude ol die-hard resistance to the Su preme Court, based on lears ol “mongrelizatlon’ ol the races, was best expressed the other day by Gov. George Bell Tim- merman, Jr., of South Caro lina,” etc. Tiresome, patently insincere, but always danger ous talk. This to our day to quote-thto time from the late Edwin R. Embree’s "Ameri can Negroes,” in which the Rosenwald Fund President moving directly to the point, declared “—most people who kick up tbto kind ol dust know that it to simitly dust to ob- seure the real question of rights and opportunities. It U fair to remember that almost the total of race mixture in America bas come, not at Ne gro initiative, but by the acts of those very men who talk loudest ol “race purity.’ Ne groes would like to have their own girto lelt alone by both white toughs and white aristo crats.” Discussing the tiling ol test case applications, recently, in a current exclusion situation, one discussant exclaimed-*well be sure that they are dark enough so they can be identi fied as Negroes,1” A young Iriend ol ours was denied a scholarship which siie had worked hard lor, to Smith College, because, she was told, regretluUy, “we want a girl that we can tell to colored.” The Negro winner, was a honey-haired blond. All ol which-and a basketful. ol similar incidents, are no news at all, to anyone South ol the Line, especially the “too-proud to mixers.” We tldnk that a good, strong pull ol social ostracism—such as pastors without congrega tions, and officers without or* ganizatlona-ndght help to haul down the Bandanna Rampart. We Remember Wilson Our old family mentor, Judge “Manny” Hewlett, whose father was the boxing^ master at Harvard (and read!-' ly Identifiable as Negro) used to turn hto head when the late President Woodrow Wilson drove through the streeta of the CapitaL "I don’t want to see him.” said the fiery little Bostonian. Thto was not be cause "the Judge” was a Re publican, but because be counted the former Princeton president as a betrayer of American ideato—as many other Negroes do stilL It to hardly neoanary to re- (Please torn to Pace Sevan)