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THE MAROON TIGER
Page 7
£iteraru ^Awards
THE NEGRO’S POLITICAL REVOLUTION
(Thi s is the prize essay.—Editors.)
In recent political events we have witnessed a revo
lution in the political thought and strategy of the Negro.
In this revolution we have seen the Negro repudiate po
litical ideals and traditions which he had followed for
many years. And if we observe closely, we shall be able
to discern some appreciable gains that he has made as
a result of his denial of his old faiths. These gains
have not been sufficiently large enough to warrant any
exuberant predictions for the future. Yet, they have been
worthwhile enough to cause no regret for the aban
donment of a political religion which had brought no
material accruements.
Never were we more firmly convinced that this revo
lution had taken place than when we learned of the
defeat of Oscar Depriest, Negro Republican of Illinois,
by Arthur W. Mitchell, a Negro Democrat. In this
election, the revolt of the Negro voter was never more
strikingly illustrated.
The Republican candidate, although unable to appeal
to the Negro voters of this predominately Negro pop
ulated district for preference on account of his being
a Negro, had every other apparent advantage over his
Democratic foe. He had served three terms in the U. S.
Congress with distinction; he had supported a veteran
political organization which had proved its mettle by
placing him in Congress six years before, the first
Negro to occupy a seat in Congress in more than forty
years; and last, he had behind him a party to which
the Negro had been loyal since his emancipation. How
ever, there had been small uprisings here and there be
fore this time, but none had ever reached the propor
tions of this one. This major uprising marked the end
of the Negro’s following a political party purely out of
blind loyalty to a political tradition.
The puzzled observer might ask; what factors excited
or influenced this revolution?
The answer to this question is found in several causes.
And one should be careful not to attribute too much to
any one cause. But he can with a fair degree of accu
racy find much of the responsibility for this unplanned
revolution in these factors: first, the pinch of the de
pression ; second, the dissatisfaction with the hypocricy
of the Republicans; and third, a general political
awakening.
The ravages of the depression shook the Negro from
a political lethargy that had existed since his receiving
the ballot—a lethargy which in some parts of the coun
try had resulted in his partial disfranchisement, and in
other parts had lead to the selling of his ballot for
practically nothing. The end of the “unprecedented
prosperity’’ was the signal that awakened the Negro
from his torpid slumber. Before him lay economic
ruin and bodily misery. He appealed with his ballot
in his hand to Republican “Good Fairies.” They had
nothing to offer save suave and unkept promises.
Having grown weary of such illusory promises the
Negro started looking about for more tangible rewards
for his loyalty. Then, too, he had heard in the distance
faint rumblings of the storm which was to sweep the
political landscape almost clear of Republicans. The
Negro astutely decided to join forces with the storm.
The Democratic party had long been offering induce
ments to the Negro for his loyalty, but without success.
But these factors—the Republicans’ hypocrisy and the
coming storm—this time tipped the scales in favor of
the Democratic party. And 1 so the Negro joined the
ranks of his perennial enemy. He rejected the political
ideals of the past. He became a political opportunist.
It is impossible to predict with any degree of accu
racy the outcome of the Negro’s new political philoso
phy. Thus far it has pti’id rather handsome divi
dends. But we should not judge the efficacy of the new
strategy upon immediate results, for these may be more
“flashes in the pan.” However, we can safely conclude
this much: that the Negro has at last awakened to the
value of the ballot and that he is not any longer bound
to a dusty, moth-eaten political tradition: And it may
also be added that neither the Democratic party nor the
Republican party can be too sure of the Negro’s vote
in the future. He is no longer a one-party man. He is
ready to “flow whatever way the river flows.”
—W. W. Jackson.
MORE AWARDS
On these pages will be found the winners of three
awards the Tiger has offered as another gesture to stir
the literary blood of Morehouse men. The response to
the call was very poor. We had hoped that it would
have been overwhelming, although we should have
known better. However, the awards will be offered in
the next issue, also; and again we shall look eagerly
forward to a splendid flood of contestants. (We ll learn
yet.)—The Editors.
THE MISSING TIGER
Because of the fact that the January issue of the paper
was a bit tardy (Mr. Brown puts it better: he writes, in
his strong Miltonic style, that it “waddled forth”) we
are omitting the February number of the Tiger. How
ever, we are using the funds, saved by the omission, to
pay the winners of the Tiger awards and to make our
final issue one that will prevent you from saying, “Well,
anyway, it makes a swell folder.” Contrary to Mr.
Brown’s belief, the January Tigar wasn’t lost in Macon
at all; it never went there; so don’t believe a word he
says. It was in the minds of men who were too indif
ferent, too wise, or too Christmas-struck to put it on
paper.
JULIUS CAESAR
Each year Morehouse College borrows Miss Anne
Cooke and two or three actresses from- Spelman College
and does not return them until a Shakespearean drama
has been performed. This year is no exception. Miss
Cooke and many other people have been gathered to
gether to produce Julius Caesar. John (Mac) Ross is
doing the noble Brutus; Dillard Brown is Cassius of the
lean and hungry look; John Young’s doing the mighty
Caesar; Mclver is the reveler Anthony; Lester McFall is
Trebonious; Mary Louise Smith is Brutus’ true and hon
orable wife Portia; and Florence Warick is the delicate
C"lpurnia. The set is being designed by Wilmer Jennings.
There is little more to say. Julius Caesar seems to be. in
every way. in very excellent hands. It plays Friday and
Saturday evenings, the fifth and sixth.