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PAGE FOUR
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By J. H. DEVEAUX
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CIVIL RIGHTS
j Most of what we have heard and read
t> about*eiviI rights convinces us that many
of those who talk most about civil rights
deliberately attempt to confuse and ex¬
cite ignorant and thoughtless people-
Those who oppose civil rights to Ne¬
groes or minority groups are unwilling
to be honest about it.
Some politicians and some writers
have talked about civil rights as if anti-
segregation and anti-discrimination con¬
stitute all there is to civil rights, which
are the most bitterly opposed by South¬
erners. It is dishonest In interpret in¬
to every element or item of civil rights
the question of social equality implying
that Negroes will want to visit in the
homes of white people and to have them
visit in their homes. A question com¬
monly asked by some white people is,
“would you want a Negro to marry your
daughter?” The question is asked
when one advocates voting for Ne¬
groes, or equal salary, or skilled work,
or an opportunity to sleep in Pullman
coach, or eqi/al health and educational
facilities. That Negroes support beau¬
ty parlors to have their hair groomed,
or that thousands of Negroes “pass” is
no more a sign that they want to be¬
come white than getting a b e a u t i f u 1
tan or a permanent wave indicates
that white folk w a n t to be¬
come black. It is definitely a misun¬
derstanding of Negroes to believe that
they are anxious to have .just white peo¬
ple as their associates and visitors. It is
a well known fact that all of the white peo¬
ple who work in stores, banks, factories,
and what have you, are not associates
who visit each other.
Furthermore, it is no less dishonest
and demagogic to give the impression to
unthinking people that the civil rights
of Negroes will go into effect immedi¬
ately upon the election of a governor or
president. Of course, we believe already
certain incidents were directly due to
the virus stirred up here in our state by
politicians. Kverybod\ knows that the
question of anti-segregation is perhaps
the most explosive item in the whole
civil rights program, and so was a sure
vote-getter.
When all of the items of the civil
rights program are taken into consid¬
eration, it is difficult to believe that the
South can afford to fight against those
which are obviously the birthright of
every American citizen, such as inhere
in the spirit of democratic society.
Should Negroes have the right to
vote? Should the poll tax be abolish¬
ed as a requirement for voting? This
has been done in Georgia, but a practice
hardly less vicious is employed to ac¬
complish the same purpose. Are Geor¬
gians going to permit Negroes to be
kept away from registering, and from
voting after registering? A Negro was
killed for no other apparent reason than
that he voted after he had been advised
not to vote. Can the people o£ Georgia
let a thing like this happen and let the
killer go free? Neither can the bloc
voting of Negroes be a good reason for
keeping them from voting. If such a
reason is tenable as against Negroes,
the suffrage of many other groups must
be examined. We do not defend bloc¬
voting as advisable at all times. It is
not necessary to state again our position
on bloc voting. Nor is the fact of the
Negro’s illiteracy a final reason- This
can be corrected.
Civil rights include many things:
freedom from the fear of lynching by
“Y” Laymen’s Conference
Well Attended
The West Broad Street YMCA
held its first annual Laymen’s
Conference Saturday. Septem¬
ber 18, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.
m., according to J T. Eilerbe,
executive Isdcretajy. Approx -
mately ninety-five persons at¬
tended the one-day conference
representing the board ol di¬
rectors, key laymen and other
Civic minded citizens.
Rev. A. C. Curtright, pastor.
First Congregational church,
made the devotional address,
using as his subject the theme
of the conference, “Irtelbgent
Leadership in a Dynamic Soci¬
ety.”
David N. Howell, associate ex¬
ecutive, Southern Area Coun¬
cil, YMCA, Atlanta, conducted
the workshop on “Board and
eommittee members’
bility In the YMCA program,”
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post
Office at Savannah, Ga. under the Act of
March 3, 1879
National Advertising Representative:
Associated Publishers
562 Fifth Avenue
New York 19. New York
twenty or by two; fair and courteous
treatment in the courts—the banning of
names insulting to Negroes, like “coon,”
“darky,” “nigger” and “negress;” cessa¬
tion of police brutality; equalization of
wages and salaries for equal work; equal
employment opportunity, including up¬
grading in employment; cessation of
peonage and other forms of involuntary
servitude, and the iniquities of share-
cropping; equal health and educational
facilities. “Across the long list of ac¬
cusations that the South has mistreated
Negroes,” the committee (executive com¬
mittee of the Southern Regional Coun¬
cil) “wrote ‘guilty/ ” The Southern Re¬
gional Council further states:
“Whether one maintains the South
has progressed quickly or slowly
in the past eighty years, no one can
deny that the world situation demands
more rapid change States now. .
“The United is in grim compe¬
tition for the support of the people of
the world, three-fourth of whom are col¬
ored. . .
* “The time is past when we can wait
for slow evolutionary improvement South to
right our wrongs. The may de¬
fend its right to do the job in its own
way, but the South cannot insist on do¬
ing it in its own good time. . . .
“States’ rights has been a much abus¬
ed term, but one thing is clear. States’
rights must not be used to defend the
indefensible violations of human rights.”
COLLEGE OPENS
We cannot let this opportunity pass
to urge our young people to enter col¬
lege if they are prepared to do so. We
have reference to scholastic preparation.
There may be other preparations that
count, ‘like illness in the home or other
hindering reasons. We think of the
time when boys and girls bent every
nerve in order to go to college; when
parents worked their fingers to the
knuckles, so to speak. They allowed
nothing to get in the way of sending
their children to the highest school
within their reach. This was for a long
time Beach Institute and Haven Home,
and Atlanta and (’lark universities, and
some even sent their children as far
away as Fisk University and Talladega.
The point we make is that in those days
when going to school meant great sac¬
rifice, when schools were far away, many
hard working people sent their children
to school. It seems to us a far easier
task to keep our children in high school
and college when they are right at our
hands. It is inexcusably shortsighted for
parents to let their children stop out of
school before they finish high school, at
least.
We urge our young people to go to
college, finish, go to university and fin¬
ish. There is so much need for high¬
ly trained people, but for Heaven’s sake
don’t fool around and waste time. Aim
at the stars, and work. . .
MONTGOMERY COUNTY’S SECOND
TRAGEDY
The recent fatality at Mt. Vernon,
Montgomery count y, Georgia, when
a colored man was shot down because
he was determined to cast a vote as a
citizen, recalled the Mineey lynching.
Mr. Mineey lived at Ailey, a few miles
from Mt. Vernon, in Montgomery coun¬
ty. He was caught by a mob and lynch¬
ed without any reason. These two
occurrences will remain with this Section
permanently.
and emphasized that “laymen
are absolutely essential” in the
YMCA movement- He pointed
out nine functions and respon¬
sibilities for “Y” lay leadership
which included, formation of
policy, interpreting the move¬
ment to the coinmun'ty and
enlisting volunteer leadership.
During the workshop on fi¬
nance and fund raising, War¬
ren R. Cochrarje, erecutive sec¬
retary, Butler St. YMCA, At¬
lanta. stressed the need for
strong finance and personnel
committees. He stated that
“volunteer service needed, may
be more important than mon¬
ey.”
A large group of boys and
girls from the Hi-Y.
and Junior Tri-Hi-Y clubs
Beach-Cuyler high school,
a part of a workshop conduct-
. ed by Hugh Robinson, state
| YMCA secretary. Those young
people agreed to organize clubs
! in the Woodviile and Haven
Home Junior high schools and
j to support state Hi-Tri-v pro-
i jects and the World Youth
| Fund.
A lively discussion was con¬
ducted in the group on “Pro¬
gram for young adults” in itr
YMCA with Burton J- Parker,
p«t>cj.am pq 'Mtary, Metropoli¬
tan YMCA. Atlanta, in charge
This group of young adults ex¬
pressed their desire to be more
closely identified with the pro¬
gram of the “Y ”
Mr Cochrane addressing the
closing session, gave an over¬
all description of what the “Y
tends to do, and how it must
: give special emphasis to serv¬
ing the needs of the total com¬
munity. He said that thb
YMCA must be concerned with
all things that effect the peo-
J pie it serves.
William S. Glover led song
THE SAVANNAH TRiBLTvi
BETWEEN THE LINES
By Dean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP
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DIXIE BARKS DANGEROUSIIY
cun one
the danger spots of the 20th century world
is in D.xie. Truman’s civil r.ghts stunji has
given a certain element of tne Soutn their
long desired excuse for showing how deter¬
mined they are to keep the Negro perma¬
nently subjugated- Hie civil rights issue
has not created any new feelings and atti¬
tudes; it has given those already extant a
chance to throw off the veneer of democ¬
racy and Christianity that for several years
has enmasked them.
However distressing may be the events
transpiring in the deeper South, it is far
better to have these ugly sentiments in the
open than to have them whitewashed or
glossej over. If the South is threatening to
revert to certain types of barbarism then it
is well for the nation and the world to know
it.
However, it is seriously to be doubted
that even the reactionary South is
willing to revert to programs and practices
which have made our vaunted democracy
a by-word and mockery in the eyes of the
more civilized peoples of the earth- It re¬
mains to be seen how long our nation can
afford to let certain elements of the South
stigmatze us in the mir,ds of the world. It
should be remembered, arid the sooner the
tetter, that what is threatening to happen
in the South is not the more brutal oppres¬
sion of the defenseless Negroes, but rather
the defamation of our goodly land before the
judgment seat of history.
Contrary to the common belief, the
greatest loosers from the resurgence of re¬
actionism in the South is the Ration rather
than the Negro. If the South’s bite is go¬
ing to be as bad as its bark, we are in for
some unhappy developments. But it is se¬
riously to be deubted whether the more de¬
cent elements of the nation can afford to
let the South run its proposed course of Ne-.
pro-hating and Negro-hating as in the dole¬
ful days of Reconstruction!
However, it is our studied belief that
when the final chapter of this anti-Negro
resurgence is written, it will be found that
the South’s bark was .worse than its bits.
Masonic-Eastern Star Notes
hast Friday night Mt. Moriah
Lodge No- 28 entered seven
candidates. The work was done
by the degree team, Bro. Can-
jnady in charge- The work was
| well conducted.
Lodges and chapters must
| keep this column informed
about activities being conduct¬
ed.
The lodges are contributing
liberally toward the repairs of
the building. The roof is be¬
ing replaced.
To keep the lodge property
l:i a presentable manner, it
service. Father G. H. Caution,
rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal
church, gave the invocation
and R. W. Gadsden,
of the board, presided during
the general assemblies.
Rev Daniel To Preach
Fcr AMEZs Sunday
Rev. C. H. Daniels, presiding
elder of the AME Zion church
elder of the Augusta district of
the AME. Zion church, will de¬
liver the sermon at 11 o'clock
Sunday, September 26, at the
YMCA on West Broad street.
All members and friends are
! requested to be present to wit-
1 this service.
ness
a.i
carry through to the bitter bloody end; but
that decency, in the South and nation will
also reassert itself iq| behalf of Christianity
and democracy.
Although we may gainsay Christianity and
its teachings as many do under stress of
passion and the pressures of life, only the
practice of Christianity and the spirit there¬
of offers hope in this critical hour. The hope
tor an eventual righting of the ship of state
in the South depends in large measure upon
the vitality of Christianity in the lives of the
people. The forces of materialism offer lit¬
tle or nothing to the solution of our present
problems-. When we propose to detach the
current issues from the Christian concept,
we are exposing minority groups to great
tribulation. The hope that the South’s bark,
is worse than its bite is the hope that there
are enough Christians in the South to re¬
deem the situation, for at present it stands
in need of a great redemption.
It is our studied belief that the sweep
of Talmadgtj and Long into office upon a
strong tide of demagoguery may notr be as
bad as it seems. Young Talmadge is not
going to out-Talmadge his father. Anti Long
the lesser is not going to eclipse the llate
Huey Long It would not surprisi this writ¬
er in the least if some of these reactionary
political victors do show a surprising con¬
sideration for the rights and responsibilities
of Negroes and other minority groups.
The South cannot be but so bad, aftrr
all! The Negroes here have made too great
progress to write off in toto the possibility
of great future gains for Negroes. As loryg
as thi?> church doors and school doors re¬
main open, I am disinclined to despair. The
same thing that has worked hitherto for the
Negro’s advance is still working Those
same silent forces through which the Ne¬
groes have wrought miracles are still at work.
We must not be discouraged by the
turn of political, gvgql^.^a--jt.fef South It; is
greatly to be 'topped 'intf w&%e at
the -South’s political bark is tha ts
bite¬
should be well insured against
fire, and other kinds of insur¬
ance.
Grand Matron Mary L- Ayers
has been around considerably
during the past week in the
mid-section of the state, where
she enlivened the work among
the Eastern Stars. She touch¬
ed five of the chapters. Sun¬
day she was at Roberta, where
there was a joint meeting of
the .Eastern Stars and the Ma¬
sons in that section, worked up
by Bro. J. W. Pride, who is the
’deputy. She is expected home
today.
i j NEGRO GIRL WINS
j BOSTON SWIMMING
TITLE
| BOSTON <ANP' A Negro
—
girl, Patsy Burill. 11, won Bos¬
ton’s championship among 10
and 11 year olds last wefk in
the 25 yard free style swim¬
ming events for girls. The city
meet, sponsored by the Boston
Park department, was held at
South Boston Yacht club.
Patsy is the daughter of Rey
E. Burrill, a city fireman. She
attends the Hyde school In
the swimming tourney she rep¬
resented the Cabot Street swim¬
ming pool. i ____
Lily-White Tenor Threatens
By Stetson Kennedy
Arthur “Southern Exposure”
Ten million Negro Americans
living in the South are lace to
face with a siege of lily-white
S terror such as has not b isn
unleashed since the defeat of
the Coniederacy aijd abolition
ol slavery.
The effect of the tri-partisan
civil rights program has al-
ready had is comparable to
what would have happened
had the Emancipation Procla¬
mation been issued without
benefit of federal troops.
It-is all very well to tell the
South’s ten million Negroes
that they stand on the thres¬
hold of first-class citizenship—
but with more than half of the
South’s 20 million whites say¬
ing “you shall not pass”—
what then?
Spurred by the uncompro¬
mising pace set by Henry Wal¬
lace’s Progressive Party, those
liberals who thought it best to
try to liberalize the Democrat¬
ic party injected a strong civil
rights planks into the Demo-
party platform by the skin of
its teeth-
Those liberals—and the ten
million Negroes primarily af¬
fected—should not be under
any illusions as to the major
battles yet to be fought.
No Illusions
Southern Negroes—who come
up against the wall of white
supremacy from the cradle to
the grave—are not apt to har¬
bor such illusion's. Northern
liberals, however, are.
It is imperative that all the
forces of democracy be fully
aware that this is no mere
moralistic problem, in which
the white supremacists can be
cured simply by telling them to
“get right” Much more than
a psychological revolution is
involved- Enactment and en¬
forcement of the rights pro¬
gram will mean a profound
economic, political and social
revolution in the quasi-fascist
and semi-feudal life of the
South.
Rankin’s landslide victory,—
polling mere votes than both
his opponents combined—Tal-
madge’s overwhelming come¬
back, and the snowballing Dix-
iecrat movement, are murder¬
ous timbers in the wind.
Southern Negroes have but
two choices in this situation:
1. They can, say “Bossman, we
don’t want any part of civil
rights; we’re getting along just
fine;” or 2. they can say
“These rights are mine, and I
Intend to have them.” Which
is to say there is but one
choice.
Reinforcements Coming
The Southern Nqgro cannot
afford to wait for the national
forces of democracyy to rein¬
force his position by federal
abolition of the poll tax, pas¬
sage of FEPC and anti-lynch
laws- He must look to his own
defense.
Two weapons lie immediate¬
ly at hand. No one is going
to issue them; each individual
must take them up of his own
accord.
They are the ballot and un¬
ion card-
There are in the South Some
four million potential Negro
voters;.- at j present, only . a
THE ROAD TO HEALTH
By H. H. JohWlson, M. D., Memphis, for ANP
WHOOPING COUGH
Everyone in towwn had remarked at
some time or other that Evie Smith and Jane
Ames were alike as two peas in a pod. The
girls had been friends since babyhood, look¬
ed alike, went to school together and mai-
riew two brothers when they grew up. They
even had baby girls on the same day, about
three hours apart.
But, as their doctor, I knew that the
young women were not exactly alike. Evie
never neglected her health and followed my
advice carefully both before and after her
baby was born Jane came to my office
just once before the birth of her child. Af¬
ter Jane left the hospital following the
baby’s birth, I did not see the child again
until she was a year old, and a very sick
Tittle girl.
On the other hand, Evie brought her
baby regularly to my office for a check-up-
When the child was six months old, I ad¬
vised vaccination against some childhood
diseases. Evie was puzzl'd when,’ I men¬
tioned vaccine for whooping cough, and said
she thought it was given only, during epi¬
demics. I explained it is a wise precaution
to vaccnate babies against whooping cough
since it Ls a dangerous diabase which can
cause death or serious complications, es¬
pecially when it strikes a child from six
months to one year of age.
Evie’s baby was vaccinated and when
there was an epidemic of whooping cougli
in tiie community, Evie also was careful not
to let the child be expased to children who
thtrm»ay September 23 ims
| handful tire registered to vote-
la most of the Deep South, the
poll tax and white supremacy
devices still stand in the way.
Cheap at any price.
But Isaiah Nixon of GeABa
gave his life to vote agpnst
Talmadge, and the Rev. Archie
Ware of South Carolina almost
paid the samq price. Nixon
j was vote, told but he had advised the right not to to
was
exercise it. That is what all
of the South's Negroes have
been told. Nixon made his
choice, and others must make
theirs- He was doubtlessly
thinking of what another siege
of Taimadgism would mean to
his six kids.
In Georgia, where there are
1,085,000 Negroes, only 147,000
are registered; in 1936, there
were 130,000, showing how slow
the progress. In South Caro¬
lina, only 35,000 Negroes voted.
And so it goes-
I knew, in addition to the
Klan terrorism, of the econom¬
ic sanctions which are impos¬
ed against Negroes who vote -
loss of home, jobs, credit- But
unless seme pay the price, all
must continue to suffer indef¬
initely.
The respect which each bal¬
lot will command will increase
as their number increases. A
ballot is a share in democracy,
and its value goes up as de¬
mocracy spreads.
Must Have Allies
Wherever it is humnaly pos¬
sible, Negroes should go out of
their way to ally themselves
with the decent whites of the
community. While the labor
unions are far from perfect, as
a whole they offer Negroes the
best—almost only—opportunity
to team up with Southern
whites for a solution of com¬
mon problems.
By joining unions, Southern
Negroes can in appreciable
measure avoid the “bloc vot¬
ing” bogey inflated by the dem¬
agogues, and can vote in con¬
cert with their white brethren,
as union members and citizens,
for the best candidates regard¬
less of race.
In the decisive struggle that
is shaping up between democ¬
racy and white democracy be¬
low the Mason-Dixon themselwf line,
groes MUST ally
with white friends or they are
foredoomed.
The unions should not even
iind it necessary to conduct
Southern organising drives —
the working people of the
South should organize them¬
selves and affiliate at once.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Files of The Savannah
Tribune
SEPTEMBER 2, 1898
Miss Ruth V. Delegal and
William H. Logan married at
home of the bride, 218 W. An-
jderson street, by Rev. Alexander
Ellis.
All-Star concert at' St. Philip
AME church Monday night-
Detachment from the Col¬
j quitt Blues made a trip to Ma-
con • Sunday, guests of Bibb
j county Blues, ut i i A ,
■
had it. Her baby escaped, even thougl.
th”re were several cases of whooping cough
in the same apartment house.
But Jane's baby did not- At the height
of the epidemic, I received a frantic call
from Jane who said that her baby seimed
to be choking to death with a bad cough.
I hurried to the house and found the child
seriously ill with whooping cough. She hao
a high fever and frequent spells of cough¬
ing followed by long in-drawn whoops-
After I had treated the baby and she
was more comfortable', her mother said that
she had coughed for a week, but it was “just
a cold,” with a little fever. As we talked, I
learned that Jane’s baby played with the
little Williams boy next door who, Jane said,
also had had a running nose and cough
for several days. I pointed out that a run¬
ning nose, dry cough and a slight fever are
the first symptoms of whooping cough and,
unfortunately, are often mistaken for a
common cold.
While I was tilling Jane how to care
for the child, she interrupted to say that the
baby often vomited after a coughing spell.
She was afraid the baby was not getting
enough food and she thought the child was
losing weight. Since that was the case, I
advised her to give the baby food in smal!
amounts immediately after the coughing at¬
tack.
I also told lane that the child’s room
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