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FAGE FOUR
Established 1875
By J. H. DEVEAUX
SOL C. JOHNSON........Editor and Publisher Entered as Second Class Matter at the
MRS. WILLA A. JOHNSON, Asst, to Pub. & Mgr. Office at Savannah, Oa., under the Act
I. H. BUTLER....................Asso. IMitor March 3, 18”V8
Published Every Thursday National Advertising Representative;
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“We are all blind until we see
That in the human plan
Nothing is worth the making if
It does not make the man.
Why build these cities glorious
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the work, unless
The builder also grows.”
—Edwin Markham
A SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT
We salute the Grand Masters’ Confer¬
ence of Prince Hall Masons for its sup¬
port oi an enterprise which transcends
the usual interests of fraternal organi¬
zations. We reter to its “establishment,
jnaintenance and whole hearted support
of the Prince Hall Masons’ Legal Re¬
search Department of the NAA( P.”
Two years ago the chief counsel of the
NAAGP, Thurgood Marshall, represented
to the Conference that the association’s
light “to establish by litigation and ed¬
ucation, full and equal citizenship righ-s
lor Negroes” could be greatly reinlorc-
ed if a research legal department vvei ■
set up. The Grand Masters’ ( (inference
very wisely agreed o furnish the funds,
twenty-thousand dollars, required to set
a department to further “the investiga¬
tion of procedural and substantive prob¬
lems which (the association) has faced,
is now lacing, and anticipate in connec¬
tion with various aspects of civil rights
litigation.” In order to give some idea
of the success the Legal Research De¬
partment has already achieved, we
quote pom a report rendered to the Con-
ference by Mr. Thurgood Marshall:
“Specifically, the professional per¬
sonnel of the Department has pre¬
pared the basic memoranda in con¬
ned ion with most of the cases under¬
taken by the Legal Defense Fund.
It has developed, out of the intri¬
cacies of decisional law, legally doc¬
umented theories which to date have
been argued, or will be “argued, by
the Director-Counsel and others be¬
fore the Supreme Court of the Unit¬
ed States. The Department has sup-,
plied annotated legal opinions to
practitioners and organijations on
new or novel problems when our
technical advice and assistance has
been sought. .
This enterprise has the support of
Prince Hall Masons and most of the
jurisdictions have responded with con¬
tributions through May 11, to the
amount of more than $28,000. The
Prince Hall Masons’ Legal Research De¬
partment has become recognized ’by
many practitioners, and the law schools
at Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia and
the University of Cnicago as a most
comprehensive and authoritative source
for materials and information in the
field of civil rights.” This necessary
aid given to othe NAA( P will bring
nearer the attaining of its life-time
goal, the “making of equality and jus¬
tice a reality in the daily lives of all
Americans.” Prince Hall Masons could
do noth'ng less than carry on in the
tradition of the founder of Masonry
among American Negroes. We salute
them for the contribution they are
making to the cause of freedom and hu¬
man rights.
LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY
The success of Negro candidates in
recent elections has become a sort oi
challenge to Negroes in other commu¬
nities where there are sizeable Negro
populations. Negro voters are won¬
dering about their leadership. If ‘five
colored candidates can be elected to
public office in North Carolina, and
three in Atlanta. Georgia, of all places,
why can’t they be elected in other com¬
munities? Why can’t it be done in,
other cities and counties where condi¬
Busy Bee Social Club
The Busy Bee social club held
its regular meeting Saturday
night at the home of Mrs. Jene
Denmark. 52C Hall St. E. Much
business- was transacted and a
delicious repast was served by
the hostess Next meeting will
be at the home of Mrs. Naomi
Mack. 617 E. Henrv St. Members
present were Mrs. Katie Gibbs,
Mrs. Margaret Delegal. Mrs.
Naomi Mack, Mrs. Lillian
tise. Mrs. Mozell Denmark. Mrs.
Viola Johnson, Mrs. Geneva
Hagans. Mrs. Jene Denmark.
Mrs. Mozell Denmark, presi¬
dent: Mrs. Lillian Battise. sec¬
retary; Mrs. Viola Johnson, re¬
porter.
ty county, in Savannah and Chatham
county, for instance. Though Atlanta
and Durham, N. may have a slight
educational and economic advantage over
many other communities, we believe the
real difference lies in the type of lead¬
ership they have. We know the lead¬
ers in both Durham and Atlanta and wv
know them to be sincere, unselfish and
politically intelligent. They have the
confidence of the people. They know
the value of organization.. There is
little or no hope for communities that
cannot or will not select and support
intelligent and industrious leadership.
Leadership that is unable to compre¬
hend the 'value 'and importance of
thorough organization does its consti¬
tuency a disservice. Frankness dictates
recognition of the fact that the politi¬
cal future of Negroes in our city is any¬
thing but rosy, and will remain so as long
as the leadership of our most vocal politi¬
cal group fails to perfect a county wide
organization of voters. It is the re¬
sponsibility of leadership to build an
organization and to administer its oper¬
ations to the best interests of the com¬
munity.
“WE FORGOT ’EM”
The following item explains briefly
what is in the minds of a long-ranged
committee “for an adequate educational
program’ for Georgia:
“Thirty community colleges would
replace the present five junior col¬
leges under a long-range plan now-
being studied by a group of educa¬
tional, civic, and political leaders.
They would also absorb the two
state trade schools and the area
vocational schools operated by the
State Department of Education.”
Of course we are concerned with the
education of all the people. We would
not have any of them less well educat¬
ed than they are, for goodness knows
what would become of us in I hat. event,
but we are concerned, as usual, when
such changes or improvements arc sug¬
gested, that unless Negroes are men¬
tioned specifically, they are just “plain”
left out. This is true on the state as.
well as on the local level. It should be
natural to believe that when plans are
made for people, for youth, that all are
included, but this is not true. So,
since nothing is said about provisions
for Negro youth in the suggested plans,
we are concerned. There are no junior
colleges for Negroes in the state so
community colleges for them will have
to be started from the ground. It is
estimated that it will cost around ,\vo
and a half million dollars annually to
build and operate 13th and 14th grades,
“People’s Colleges’ in 30 years for
white people. It will cost probably a
third more if Negroes are included in
the proposed plans land this will not
argue too strongly in our behalf.
Some years ago, a conference on
state level was held on matters concern¬
ing suggested changes in certain phas¬
es of the University System. When ev¬
erything had been said and the confer¬
ence was about to close, a colored mem¬
ber of the conference, asked the .hair-
man what about Negroes. As if sur¬
prised at the colored man’s presence,
the chairman said, “By George, we for¬
got em. Of Sen the omission of any
mention of provisions for Negroes rs
deliberate, and not infrequently, efforts
°f Negroes to gain by petition and sup¬
plication what they should receive as
as a matter of justice, are regarded with
amusement. In most communities Ne¬
groes are so poor and afraid and ignor¬
ant that it is easy to forget them or
brush them off. Some of these days it
will be recognizably disreputable to per¬
mit an occasion to arise when a man
in power can say, “By George we forgot
Slav 31 .tun. 1
! WATCH THAT WEEKEND
I Most of us think ... , of weekends ,
j as a time for res and pleasure.
We ca n relax with the kids. or
shoot a game of golf. It’s a
time for watching television,
j loafing through the newspaper,
attending church, a visit with
I old friends.
But it Is also a time of clim¬
atic violence on our roads. More
j than 15 ’ 000 P nersons were killed
and — near , y 750 „ nnnn 000 h hurt , in
traffic accidents last year. For-
ty per cent of the deaths and
36 percent of the injuries were
recorded on Saturdays and
Sundays in 1952.
The most dangerous day of
the week was Saturday, partly
oecause more cars are in
| Saturday than on anv week
, Somethlng els<? ^ d
| apart from the others Satur
, day nlght for too many
| is a time when drinking
driving get together. No
knows exactly how many
accidents are caused by
ing drivers, but everyone
it is a rajor problem.
i ? eeds ^ kll0W that eVen
! drink before a drive is too
_F rom "Who.
j----
The National Safety
; predicts an excess of 240
I deaths this Memorial day
I end. Drive carefully—the
I you save may be your own.
SAVANNAH TRIBUNE
What is Color?
By Walter White
Executive Secretary
A noted American asks a
tough question: If you can’t
see the difference between
“colored” and "white’’ — how
do you tell?
iTo appear in August BRIEF
on sale June 5 .>
Many people have talked to
me as thuogh I were
Almost as many people—possibly
more—have talked to me as
though I were white. The reas-
on that such a contradiction ts
possible is that color, contrary
to what most of us think, has
less to c!o with our eyes than
with our minds. We do not see
color. We think it.
Perhaps this sounds like
non-sense to you. If so, let me
tel lyou a few experiences I've
had. Then decide for yourself
whether your eyes really do
your seeing for you—or whether
your mind tells your eyes
what to see.
I remember one summer
when my wife and I rented
cottage which hung over
turquoise Caribbean. Off we
went with our children and our
typewriters, bathing suits and
suntan oil, to this idyllic spot
with a private beach on the
shore of a lovely cove.
A few weeks later the cot¬
tage on the other side of
cove was rented by a
West Indian family. They were
natives whose year-round home
was inland, and all of them—
mother, father and two child¬
ren—had skins of a lovely
reddish brown.
Our children and
quickly became friends, and
soon we adults did. too. Nat-
uraily, after they learned about
me and my position as execut¬
ive secretary of the* National
Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People, we
often talked of the race
ion. 1
Bull’ll never forget my as-
toni.shment when the first time
my neighbor sad, “It certainly
in a difficult life for you colored j
l )f '°P lp ” j
He didn't say: for us colored 1
people. Why? Because he |
thought of himself, is charac-
teristic West Indian fashion, as,
being "white,” and he knew I
considered myself myself a colored
man. Therefore he ignored the
evidence of his eyes and talked
about a color distinction that
existed only in his mind!
The truth of this was under-
1 scored at the end of the sum-
| mer. By then, after many ear-
I nest discussions with my wife
and myself, the West Indian
family had come to think of;
themselves as colored. Conse-J
quently, though their eyes saw;
! nothing at the end of the
summer that they had not seen
I at the beginning, they talked
| of "our problem” as colored
people.
This example of thinking —
instead of seeing—color was
ironically underscored by a
retired English army officer we,
knew. This man spoke with an- 1
noyance of the “intrusion" into
the neighborhood of colored I
islanders. Referring to our!
neighbors, he made clear that
despite their delicately colored
skin, he thought of them as
“black.”
This phenomenon of thinking
color, I have found, is univer¬
sal. There was one striking
example not long ago when
we were in India. My wife and
I met with a group of disting-
uished Indians, engaged at
that time in writing a constl-
tution for the new state of
India. j
The chairman, who plied us
with questions about the race
problem in the United States,
was almost ebony in color. His
features were not Indian—they
were African. And as he listened
to our replies concerning lynch-1
j i ing and race riots, the his sympathy sensative :
face reflected I
and pain he felt.
But when the discussion |
ended, the chairman said to us
benevolently, "We of India have
1 great sympathy for the hard¬
ships endured in the United
1 States by you colored people.”
j Let me tell you another story.
: This one occurred in London,
! where ’*“*»« * I had — gone to gather .......... ma-
terial for a book I was writing
on mob violence. By letter I
had arranged to visit an au- j t
thority on Anthropology, tbe j
late Sir Arthur Keith.
As I entered Sir Arthur's 1
booklined study, he rose from
behind a desk piled high with
More Contributions Re¬
ported For Ozzie Jones
Defense
Chairman Clifford O.
reports the following
al contributions to the
being raised in behalf of
defense of czzie Jones who
been condemned to die for
alleged criminal attack on
white woman:
Mrs. Marlon Roberts, class
i veterans—Ivey Bovd, $ 1 . 00 ;
Lesley Dickerson 1.00;
McIntyre .50; William Oswell
1 00; Robert Sienur 1.00; David
Walburg .50; Nathaniel Walker
t/9: James Williams 1.00; John
T atum 1.00; Abraham Johnson
1.00; John Jackson .25; Willie
Scllors .25: Frank Colonel .50;
lohnnie Bee .50; Robert Bates
*0; John Meyc’-s .50; Clarence
•’Trquhart 1.00; Thomas Patrick
50; Willip Lovett 1.00: Phillip
Mien 1.00; Raymond Palmer
00; M. P. Roberts 1.0(.
Public Citizens, Laura J. Tru¬
ll $ 1 . 00 . Robert Murphy .25;
T oseph Jenkins .25; Cecil Mad-
1or, Jr., 1.00; Wm. Gibson, Jr.,
Brownsville Bapt. church. 3.75:
R. P. Pinckney 1.00; George
loberson 2.00: Lee Tavlor 1.08;
ft. Zion Bapt. 3.10; John H.
°earson 1.03; First Bryan Bapt.
21.00; Mary Grant 1.00; Jessie
King .25: a friend 1.00; St.
n aul CME 11.15: J. B. Burney
1.55; Mrs. Capers 1.00; Ida E.
Gilmore 1.00; Bethlehem Bapt.
16.70: Leroy Wilson 1.00:
Almetta Richardson $1.00;
Bishop Bennett 1.00; Mrs. Del-
phne Willis 1.00; Joe Cochran
500; Thomas Washington 1.00;
Lena Crawford .25; Dca. Mitch-
ell .25: Anna Lamar .25; Charles
Bryant .25: Mildred Hubert .25;
Roy Lee .25; Ellis Hubert .25;
Eva Guest .50: Mrs. Arkwright
.50; Mr. and Mrs. G. Williams,
Jr 1.00; Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Murry 1.00; Mrs. R. Brown .50;
Mrs. Rosa Durrant. .50; a friend
.24: Tom Jones .25; Matthew
Smith .30; Gertrude Prince .25;
Ida M. Brown .25; Annie M.
Schmidt .25; Ofha Hogan .25;
Mamie Flemming .50; Robert
Riley .35; Henry Coob 1.00; Ed¬
die Hicks .30; Carrie Oliver .50;
J. H. Drier 1.11.
40 New N. A.
A.C.P. Units
Formed
NEW YORK. May 14—The nat¬
ionwide campaign for 300,000
new members of the National
K^sociajfion for the Advance¬
ment of Colored People has;
spurred the organization of 30
new branches and 16 new college}
chapters and youth councils,
Miss Lucille Black, membership
secretary, reported today.
Five branches have been or¬
ganized in North Carolina and
Illinois; three in Alabama; two
in Delaware, Mississippi and
Texas; and one each in Ken¬
tucky. Louisiana, Tennessee
Arizona, California, Pennsylvan¬
ia and Wisconsin. There Is now
a total of 1207 active NAACP
units including 24) youth groups
Miss Black reported.
Youth units have been or¬
ganized or reorganized at Ben¬
nett college, Agricultural and
Technical college and North |
Carolina State college in North
Carolina; Morgan State in
Maryland; Virginia Union uni-
versty, Hampton institute, Vir¬
ginia State college and Norfolk
Va.; Roosevelt college, Chicago;
Columbia unlversty. New York;
Providence, R. I.; New Britain.
Conn., and Kankakee, Joliet, 111,;
Allentown, Pa.; Dona Ana coun¬
ty, N.M.; Kiowa, Okla., and Bur-
lngton, la.
I, on the other hand, have Ne¬ j
gro blood and am therefore a
Negro, even though 1 am blue¬
eyed and blond. j
As the interview broke up,
one of the reporters drew me
aside to ask a personal quest¬
ion.
"Mr. White, what caused you
to marry a colored woman?”
I hope and believe my an¬
swer jolted him into the knowl¬
edge that the "race question”
in the U.S. is not as simple as
it seems.
But. even more, I hope that
it taught him the basic fact
that color must exist in the
mind—before the eye can see
it.
j
There were three brides-
j maids—one colored and
white. The Briton's elder
i ther was best man.
People
manuscripts and extended
j hand. Then, with the
dispassionate directness of
scientist, he said:
“There is only one way I can
tel! that you have Negro
Startled, I asked him how.
‘ It's something . . ,'”Hc
tated. it's something about
your eyes.”
His lack of conviction promp¬
ted me to press my questioning.
“Exactly what Is It,” i asked
that acts as a scientific guage
for you to determine whether
a man is colored?"
It s the slant,” he said, and
then he stopped short. "No.” h
went on, “that's not it.”
In the silence that followed
I saw a man at war with him
self. On one side as the humar
beinc with emotional and irrat
ional briefs; on the oth ni ' sird
was the scientist, rebelling
against such prejudice.
The scientist won out "I’n*
mrry," he said quietly “I
thought I saw some thine but t
didn’t. If you hadn’t mentioned
<ii youi letter to me that you
are a Negro, I would never have
seen what I thought I saw.”
There are two more stories
I d like to toll. The first con¬
cerns Clarence Darrow, the
great criminal lawyer. i was
one of three officers of the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
who called on Mr. Darrow
enlist, his services in behalf of
a Negro in Detroit
house had been attacked by a
mob.
Arthur B. S'pingarn, president
of the Association acted »»
spokesman. Arthur is white, but
brunette. Darrow listened with
gieat. interest while the case
was outlined. At the end he
nodded sympatheticaly and
said to Arthur, "Yes, I know
suffering your people have
undergone.”
“Not that it matters." Arthur
said, “but I am no ta Negro
Darrow turned in some con-
fusion to the second member of
,hp committee, the late Charles
H. Studin, who was also dark-
complexloned but white. “Ex-
cuse,” he said, “but you will
understand.”
Mr. Studin simply shook his
head and smiled. Still more
taken aback, the great lawyer
turned to me and said ruefully.
at least I would never
that mistake in your
When I told him that T
a Negro, the only one of the
he just threw up his
The other story Is about, what
in Istanbul a few
ago when Mrs. White and
were members of a group
was making a round-the-
tour under the auspices
the Town Meeting of the
We had spent the morning
in the ancient city,
when we had returned to
hotel for lunch, we found
Denny, the leader of the
waiting impatiently for
at the door. He rushed us
explaining that a num-
of newspapermen had been
to interview’ us.
We were a little puzzled, for
group included representa-
of 28 different organizat¬
most of them larger and
known than the N. A. A.-
P.
Our soon puzzlement as we met did the reporters not last, j j
we were overwhelmed with I
questions—all of them about
lynchings. race riots and racial
segregation in the United States.
It was obvious that even in
Turkey the Communists had
been making capital of the un¬
solved racial problems of the
United States.
But it was apparent that the
newsmen had other questions
that they were eager but re-
luctant to ask. Finally one re-
porter took the bull by the
horns.
“is it true, Mr. White, that
you and Mrs. White are an in-
terracial couple?”
Obviously the tales he had
heard of racial discrimination
in this country made such a
situation quite incredible.
I assured him that we were,
in fact, such a couple, and the
group looked at us with re¬
newed interest. I should explain
that my wife, daughter of a
Welsh father and a white Rus-
sian mother, has dark brown
hair, hazel eyes and an olive
even though she is
legeally and technically white,
HOME EDUCATION |
Issued by the Nations! Kindergarten Association, 8 West «*tb
Street, New York City. These articles are appearing weekly la
our columns.
“THE CHILD’S FIRST SCHOOL IS THE FA M I L V ”—Froebel
When Company Comes
Janice A. McDonald
Every time that I visit my
friends, the Merrills, I enjoy
myself. Betty and I talk to¬
gether while the children are
playing outside, and when they
come in they behave in a per¬
fectly natural way. “Company”
is a happy word to all of them,
and they exhibit no strained
“company manners.”
Last time when I handed
them boxes of lollipops, each
of the older two murmured a
fervent "Thank you.” Benny's
zeal , in . open.ng . his ahd his
shining eyes showed us that his
“Thahk you” had been said
very sincerely.
I keep telling Betty what
wonderful manners her child¬
ren have, so she Is forever tell¬
ing me of different social errors
they have made. One day she
told me about Peter’s blunt
declaation, when Mr. Blake, a
friend of their fathers, was
there. “Margaret has a bigger
piece of cake than I have!” he
said. No scene had arisen. Mr.
Blake had nodded at Margaret
and Peter and said, "You got
ahead of me, Peter. I almost
said the same thing about
yours! ”
Another time, dinner was
long, and Benny became rest¬
less. He was allowed to leave
'.he table before we had our
dessert. Betty explained that
this was a treat for him. Again,
there was no tension.
It is a very different story
at the home of my friend, Rita
Johnson, though I’m very fond
of her, her husband, and her
children. She, too, is always
happy to see me.
The last time I was there.
Rita was charming, calm and
poised in our first few minutes
alone. Yet. when the children
came in, she became a very
nervous woman. I wondered
why she should be so fearful
that Ted and Susan would not
| I show up well. I like the distressed child-
ren and soon became
on their account. She was
finding fault with both con¬
stantly: “Ted! You should walk
into a room.” “Susan! What
VEEP OF BARTENDERS UNION
—Richard W. Smith recently
was elected vice president of
the Hotel, Restaurant and Bar¬
tenders union-AFL, at its nat¬
ional meeting in Atlantic City.
Capt. Reese In Korea
WITH THE <i5TH
DIV. INKOREA— Capt.
V. Reese, son of Mrs. Ruth
Reese. 966 Michigan Ave.,
Atlanta, Ga„ recently
the 45th Infantry Division
Korea
Originally an Oklahoma
ional Guard outfit, the
erbird" division has been
Korea since December 1951
captured “T-Bone” hill in
June’s see-saw hill battles.
Captain Reese, assigned
the medical corps, was
ly assigned to the
Medical Field Service School
Eighth Army Headquarters.
Reese, whose wife, Mary,
at 830 Lincon. Albany, Ga„
a practicing physician in
in civilian life.
Among the awardees recent
ly given for distinguished
nalism was a 30 year old
Edgar A. Jordon of New
City.
THURSDAY, MAY 28,'195*
did you say to Aunt Julie for
that nice toy? Say ‘Thank vsm
to Aunt Julie!” Wee Susan,
engrossed in the toy, ignored
her mother’s prompting.
At the dinner-table there
were new woes. Susan spilled
some jelly. Ted ate too hurried¬
ly. Both heard complaints, and
no one was happy. I tried to
concentrate on Rita’s good
cooking and to keep her cheer¬
ful, but again there was
trouble. Ted was clowning, and
he was threatened with being
sent to bcd immediately . Su;;an
had eaten only a roll and some
olives. She was threatened
with no dessert. Her chin quiv¬
ering. Susan began to eat her
vegetables. ffa*
It had been months since I’d
seen Rita, and I was not" v en¬
joying myseli. Next, I knew,
would be the bedtime jscene.
“No bed!” Susan cried as
she undressed her doll for the
night. Ted, too, obpectecl loud-j,
ly, as he usually stayed
later than his sister.
When peace and quiet were
restored, Rita, Bill and I sat
talking, but our conversation
was desultory. Rita was worn
out and I had my own thoughts.
RJta’s children are normal.
Whv did she get so disturbed
and anxious about their actions?
Children are lively creatures
with very little experience.
Usually they are noisy, impet¬
uous, carefree, and outspoken.
In a few years they will be
quieter, less candid, more diplo¬
matic, more polite.
Guests should have a change
to enjoy all those in a house. It
is too bad if they are subjected
constant embarrassment'and
distress because chilren are
present who are not listless and
apathetic. The pleasures pro¬
by the hostess: good food,
a clean house, planned enter¬
tainment or informal “visiting”
dimmed if there is tension
over the children, punishment
or heavy threats of it.
It wil lbe a happy tirneq for
when company comes, if only
parents can manage to
reasonably ’ relaxed.,
He is the first Negro ever voted
such a high office in this union.
He is 46 years old and has been
a member of the union since
1938—i ANP)
n insist n a
on the
lenuine
I
\i / .1
Also in Giant Size —25c
Economy Size 1 lb. — 79c