Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / March 28, 1942, edition 1 / Page 2
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BUT DBrmniB bohdb f Comments LINA tTEIT •ATUKDAT. MAim St. 1M2 EDI TORI A S Opinions CbtCatSila®nK0 PUBUSB^ WEEKLY BY IHE CAMOUNA TOOBB POHLEpOING OOKPANY U7 E. PMbwtr £%i«eC DurluM, N, G. N^nn or J-7871 Entered u second cliig*^ matter «t the Post Office at Durham, N. C. under 4he Act of March 3rd, 1879. L. E. AtJSrriN..u-_ WILLIAM A. TUCK, PnblwbMr Jdanaginir Elditor C A. IRVIN, Business Manager CHARLOTTE OFFICE 4aOM East Second Street SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 92.00 % Yf*r_ 11,25 for Six Months THE PLATFORM OF . . . • THE CAR(HJNA' TIMES DHXUDES: » - >. Ekiual salaries^or Neffro Teachers. Neirro policemen -where Nefrroes are invplved; Equal educational opportunities. - Nejfro jurymen. __— r— Higher wag^es for domtuiii«>s FuU participation of Nesrroes in all branches 61 the National I^fense. V- Abolishment of the double>standard wage scale in industry. Greats participation of Neffroes in political af* fairs. national governments. Negro representation in city, county, state and Better housing for Negroes. ■nrtr EDITOR! AC FIFTH COLUMNISTS IN DURHAM There will be no defense training set-up for Negroes in Durham unless it i^ done, in spite of the objections of the City Board of Education. This is the conclusion we have reached af ter weighing the results of. an investigation made of the city school system during the i>ast several weeks. The Beard of Education is making no honest effort to obtain funds for a machine -shop or any other shop to teach Negroes any of the trades that will prejpare Negro youths to take thir places in tbsfense industries that are necessary to defeat the enemies of democracy. The Axis power may think they are adept at sabotSJre, de ception and fifth columning, but they ought to come to Dur ham, and learn what it is all about. God help America if the t«Bt of the country is as determined to prevent one-tenth of the population from aiding in the nation’s w«r effort as certain Durham city officials. For approximately two years, all day and all night, there has been operating at the white high school here a shop that is teaching white youths welding, brazing and other trades neces sary-to help America defeat the*Axis powers, but in spite of repeated .efforts on the part of Negro citizens nothing is beinfar done to teach Negro youths these trades that are vital to the aation's safety. It is our frank opinion that there are a group of little :4^|Tow-minded white people in Durham who would rather see san hnne8 bombed, ships sunk at sea and the butchered of their women and children drenched in their own than to know that Negroes had taken an active ]>art in da |»i{00{ aq pfnoifs ua^sSueS sixy jo aq^ mmm tnuaw of us all. held in abeyance for nearly six months had We are^rvd of grinning at little peanut-head b buqr Ififhting the Civil War and preserving thigr 4on’t know that American lives ave being lIlifK fening sunk and everything we have as i fthr a ruthless enemy tKat will stop iiipe.. AT-' If our white folks l%ave ^st got to iodt #own on so they can feel superior, •wne one they can deceive about not; can't they wait until if iSWIili* from Ameriettn territor- zfii^ way of winning‘this war. This is a time for unity of spirit, purpose and effort, and any person who engages in any segment of America citizenship, or disrupts our effoVts to produce the machinery necessary for winning the war is a menace to the, cause for which American soldiers 'and sailors are giving their lives. This delay in making it possible for Negro youths to learn trades by wthich they can help win this war, this throt tling bf every effort, this side-stepping and even lying in an effort to deceive Negroes into believinj^ that everything is being done to secure defense training for Negro youths in Durham' is fooling no one. but t))e deceivers. However, it is jeopardizing the American way ot life, and those who are engaging in it are as vicious an enemy as the most ruthless Japanese or Qer- man. They are the fifth columnists that need to be watched night and day. If they can be handled the Negroes themsel-ves can take care of all the Japane^ and German fifth columnist that can be dumped among them. □- □- THE MILLS OF THE GODS By Henry ^ “Clay Davis pveittdicQs thMt ataml in the OUR PLACE ^ - ■ i Generally it is the privilege of any individual to make any claim he cares to and thte privilege of dissenters to disprove that claim if it is thought possible and worthwhile but one exception ta that general rule" is the claim of southci^n bred white* army officers that only they should command Negro troops because they understand them better than anyone else and that claim, to us, hot only needs no disproving but also is ridiculous. We N^rroes know that we understand each other as nobody els^ can or ever will, 'we know that we instinctively distrust the average southfirn white man« ^and We know that those of us who profess to feel differently are generally looked upon as . 4: h3Tiocrites unworthy of confidence. “ / Since we are compelled to furnish our own leadership m our religion, education, social activ4ty,j and oi^r businesses, and ijince'wc are 5pmpelled to be reg*imenff||r;togfether in the armed forces because of our color, there is .no palpably sano reason why we shouldn’t be allo't^ed the privilege of furnishing our own leadersHffTtfiere also. “fnn5pite of our mat^ handicaps our race includes many cultured, competent, and brilliant members who, with a little necessary military training, would be better able to lead our boys into any condition of warfare anywhere. We have never sought strife and misunderstanding between the races but w« have sought peace, opportunity, and a chance at enjoying a portion of. the nation’s prosperity and, while southcx’n whites are forever boasting about keeping us in our place, we have continued to. cherish the fond hope of eventu ally being allowed to occupy mif place, the difference being the 0f difference between white and bllick opinion as to what or where our place is. All of us, the ignorant and intelligent"alike, feel that o6r place is here in America the same as any other American, m the civic, political, economic, and governmental life of the na tion the same as any other Americans, and in all branches of th^ armed forces the same as other Americans, subject of course to our individual ability to make the grade the same as other Americans, The calling together of a small group of Negroes anywhere to ^sk them how the race feels towards existing conditions is an unforgivable waste of time, energy, and railroad fare and if the average white man really wants to know how we feel he h?s only to put himself in our place and he’ll have his answer. Give us an opportunity equal to that of other citizens, give us the command of our own soldiers up to, at least, the rank of Battalion Commander, and give us those rights and priv ileges which are justly ours and there will' no longer exist any doubt concerning our continued loyalty nor any question con cerning our place kx this nation. ★ ir ■ ic ' ★_ OUR COURSE FROM NOW ON CALVINU; DG EIT By L. BATNABD WHITNEY BETWEEN THE LINES By Dean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP MUTTEMNGS Every time we laugh we take a kink out of the chain of life. How can widows live all their lives on uuemories of incomesf Today’s woes usaally spring from yesterday’s indiscretions. The road lo success is dotted with tempting parking places. A man who satisfied with pot-luok usually gets just that. You’re not working very hard uniese you’rethinking very hard. The labor problem: How to do the least work for the most money. Don’t select the most impur- tent thing you wear—your e3(pres sfon. ‘ When saving for old age besure to lay up a few pleasant thoutht?. .We’ve committed the 0^en Rule to memory; let’s comml it to life. t A workman jokingly said tu, S.” stood for “Uncle Sam” the fancy spread. Our conception of Unele Sam'ia a tall, thin, sparsely bearded ure, with 19th oenturv clothes ail R high hat, usually with his clotttj decorated with the stars and stril es, is due to an unknown aTt^ist the ’80s who first pictured hhn I this way. t V Our secret weapon: U. S. fc)SHe Bonds and BtumpS. Bi thm! THE BEAL TRAGEDY „ World War II is fast enteri{fl||a phase of dreadful possibili ties The. military plot of the wWld is thickening and dire en actments are in the offing. We were prepared for some of the unhappy tiding' that have come, but not for all. We had hoped that slow-moving democracies would prove a better • match for |he swift-mo-ving totalitarians, but to date results are not es pecially ‘assuring. Democracies are not geared to war but to peace. Unfortunately we live in a ^rld geared, for many gen erations to come, to war, horrible war, devastating war. ’war.-"- 7 - ■ War is made in'iiuman hearts and we are not paying much attention to human hearts. The Lowly Nazarene warned us of those dangers; but we like Jerusalem would not hearken and our house is being left unto us desolate. Par be it from us to heckle our hard-pressed nation, • but are not going to get very far by igno^ring the facts because they are ugly. These three months we have fought the Japanese have been months of great anxiety and not a little disappointment. But such times as these really prove whether or not we are worthy of the herit age that is ours. If we cannot endure our Valley F\>rge then we are unworthy of our Washington, the world famed capital of \ • the nation. ^ The tragedy of these perilous times is not our losses and defeats and the awful price we are pasnng for our follies; it is not our inexcusable underating the' Japanese -»iation and our short-sightedness in sending them the scrap iron that comes back to us in deadly weapons to slay our youth; it is not our celebrated evacuations and withdrawals and the wretched state of our unpreparedness with its concomitant dangers; it is not our overwrought! exr^ctations that shortly we are going to do great things here and there and everywhere; it is not even thfe Japanese s\yeep of the Pacific and the islands thereof. The great tragedy of the situation lies in the fact that “politics as usua/” in Great Britain and the United States, is threatening our cause with ultimate defeat. Great Britain is temporizing with India and the United States is temporizing with the race question. These two great democratic nations are not only not prepared for war but they are not prepared for victory and peace. When a nation places anything ahc'pjd of its fight for survival, the future can only be cut so'bright. With Britain stalling Jndia and with the United States half-scared of I^ssian power and with Russia a totalitarian country putting uj) the^nly iruly commendable opposition to Nazi Germany, we h^ve a spectacle that is not calculated to inspire confidence in tlje final outcome. As long as Great Britain is unwilling to liberate India and as ig as the United States is unwilling,to trust Russia and as l^g as both cannot subordinate color lines in the interest of ittle lines, we are heading for the rocks. From the way things •e shaping up it is going j;o take all the Negroes in the coun try and all the Indians in India to win this War! White Amer- i(ja should bear- in mind that the Negroes of this country are not trying to break into their parlors but into this war of survival. As long as tkis country's thinking is not clear ©n this point, we are neither ready for War nor peace. What is more, when democracies force their peoples to look to Moscow for defense against Hitlerism instead of London and : A Most Worthy Adoption The Business and Commerce School of The College of the City of New York recently ‘'adopted” colored soldiers who are on duty guarding vital arerfs in *the great met^poiin. The college has thrown open its facilities to our soldier boys who desire exercise, stud^^ or relaxation at the college. Further, they will be allowed to “sit in*’ on various study classes and those who qualify will be given regular scholastic credits in higher educa tion. This is indeed a very encourag ing jesture for assisting the morale of our boys in uniforms and is in perfect eonformity with the demo cratic spirit of New York City, It is a most timely indication that apprefiates his native sons and want# to do something to eomjpwaeate in a grand measure for the cruelties ■suffered hy Negro troops in other parts of the country. Some Good Folks, It is r6ported that while station ed in a white Pensylvania town, the people made every effort to make pleasant the «t*y of the col ored soldiers. They wfere invited into white hoijies, and in public places they were given every court esy and consideration. The towns people followed the democratic ideal in action until they met with caustic criticism, it is said, from some of the white officers who complained that such treatment to- ■ward colored troops would be mis understood and might create “problems.’’ ' ^ Similar situation? are alleged to have occurred in various sections of the country, where the people tried to demonstrate their democ racy, but were balked in their ef- ever, the Negre soldier knows now that a krge section of white Am erica believe in fair play and de cency :f they are not only given a chance to demonstrate it. Trite But Tree Today it is trite to say that the white man’s arrogant rUle over darker races is at an end. But the tragic truth is that so few whites believe it. Tragic because they re fuse to pocket false pride and race myths and acknowledge the error of their ways. Refuse to treat de cently with their dark bi’others un til cir!’Umstanee8, start and terri ble, bring them to their knees, ~ Racial tolerance is the need of the hour, but such as has been giv en may be “too little and too latel"' , , j A vocal chorus of liberals, led by novelist Pearl Buck, is striving valiantly and patriotically to arouse the conscience of white Am erica and point out the awful dan ger of flinging to race prejudice and trying to win the war at the same time. It simply cannot be done! Small America blunder on, uKe^ the British, of whom it can well be said, “Patriots may burst their hearts in vain if circumstance# are against them!” ' □- SLEEP ON. SHIPMATES D ^ ——O ' Th6 Navy I>epartment issued as an offiwal release re«entfy.fthe fol lowing tribute to the men who died ■t Pearl Harbor, written by Henry Wilson Patterson, a Negro messen ger at the department: Sleep on, shipmates, and take your rest, Recline your heads on glory’s breast- No. more _will war’s desVuctiye gale, Your gallant, heroic souls impale! Sleep on! Sleep on, |hipmates, you are not dead— "You’re just asleep, for fame has said; ——- — “I give to you eternal life!” And now you’re~free Roni liaW and strife! Sleep on! ' Sleep on, shipmates, the life you gave On younder §hore in a watery grave WaR not in vain; we,heard your eryl And our answer: “We’ll avenge or die!" ■' Sleep, on! Sleep on, your spirit will not die! We’ll drive the foe from earth and sky! \ * We’ll plant our flag on every crest! / That flag for which you gave your best. \ >> ont Sleep on, triumphant spirits free! Sail you eternity’s boundless sen Walk you the deck beyond the We’ll say; “Ahoy, thereT”^y and by. , Sleep on! Eight Public Works Gain Presidential ' Approval At Once Presidential approval of war public works projects to pi; vide community facilities and s. vices for Negro civilian det.-i workers and military poraot was announced recently 1>> tant Federal Works Admitu.tr Baird Snyder, III, acting Jcr misistrator Philip B. I’lf! These eight projects eitbev wi- or in part for Negroes are dij* nted over seven states. lu elude five school additimi^ ai duties for Negroes at one hi and four health eenterf^.. In some instances local n ties sponsoring the projec' bear part of the total cr amount of the sponsors’ f( tion being fixed by a^^veeu tween the local authuritiPH Federal Works Agency, cases, the entire co«t i« ' the ]|ederal Washington, it may not be so.easy to stop their lookiPK once the war is won. It is fervently to be hoped that right oarly tho hopes for the survival of democracy will be centered in Washing-- ton and not Moscow. People are .not interested in lal>els but in results. Russia is getting results It is not a fjood thing for' democracies, that the youths thereof may feel indebted to lius- sia for hei*^ foresightedness and valor that stemmed the tide ol‘ Hitlerism. Politics and Negro»phobia w^re bad cnaugb before Pearl Harbor, but they are inexcusable now and danR'cirous in the extreme. This is a total war and sub-total cffortK are not going to win it! Any and all attempts to thwart the Negro ic liis patriotic aspirations borders on treason in a time like this. The time is either at hand or not far distant vAien both this country and Great Britain tnust make tjie choice between survival and color- phobia and to choose the latter would be a wretched choice, Ne groes must never forget that their hopes are correlated with democracy. If demcracy survives—even in its imjierfect forms— we have hope; if it ^rish we are hopeless and futureless. The greater tragedy is, we are unprepared in our minda tor war; and unjirepared in our hearts for peace! X-
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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March 28, 1942, edition 1
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