The Denver star., 1915-03-27


mGment is TO write oneself down in
mediately as indisputahly Inferior II
Judgment. knowledge and common
sense.
Negro Must Have Political Freedom.
The Negro mus; have pOlititst free
dom-ta xation wi,hout representation
is tyranny American Negroes nf to
day are ruled 10y tyI1tntS vino take
what they Ile:i>e in taxes and Civ.
what they please in law and admins
tration. IN justice and in injustice and
, the great mass of black people must
| stand helpless and vOiceleSs before il
condition which has time and time
| again caused other peoples to fight and
die. The Negro must have industrial
| freedom. Between the peonage of the
rural south, the oppression of shrewd
J capitalists and the jealousy of certain
| trade unions the Negro labOrer is the
| most exploited class in the country
giving more hard toll for less money
than any other American and with less
| voice in the conditions of his labor.
in social intercourse every effort is
being made today from the president
of the United States and the so called
| Church of Christ down to saloons and
bootblacks to segregate, strangle and
spiritually starye the Negro so as to
give him the least possible chance to
know and share civilization.
The Negro must have power-the
power of men. the right to do. to know.
| to feel and to express that knowledge
action and spiritual gift. He must not
simply be free from the political tyran
ny of white folk; he must have the
right to vote and to rule over all the
citizens to the extent of his proved
foresight and ability. He must have
voice in the new industrial democ-
racy which is building and the power
| to see to it that his children are not in
| the next generation trained to be the
mud sills of society. He must have
| the right to social intercourse with his
| fellows.
There was 4 time in the atomic in
| dividualistic group when social inter-
course" meant merely calls and tea
parties; today social intercourse means
theaters, lectures. organizations, clubs.
| churches. excursions. travel, hotels-it
means. in short. life To bar group
from methods of thinking. living and
doing is to bar them from the world
and bid them create new world-it is
to cruelty them and taunt them with
not being able to live"
| Five Practical Constructive Steps.
| DIR. Du Bois suggests five p,actical
steps for action-first, economic coop
Grafton: second. Il revival of art and
, literature; third. political action; fourth,
! education: fifth. organization. For the
accomplishment of all these ends we
must organize. Organization among
us already has gone far, but it must
go much further and higher. Organiza-
| ton is sacrifice. 1t is sacrifice of opin-
ions, of time. of work and Of money.
but 1t is, after all. the cheapest way OF
buying the most priceless of gifts
freedom and efficiency. l thank God
that most of the money that supports
this association comes from black
hands. A still larger proportion must
come, and we must not only support.
but control. this and similar organiza-
tions and hold them unwaveringly to
our objects. our aims and our ideals.
with such organizations and with all
the progress that they can point to let
us never be satisfied with mere prog
ress SO long as We fall so far short of
q reasonable accomplishment Of our
desires. Remember that we are de-
spised today by millions of people not
because We suffer. but because we suf-
fer like dumb. driven cattle. with even
a smile on our faces. To what other
race could it happen on Gods green
earth that one of its greatest leaders
here In New York before assembled
thousands could congratulate his peo-
pie because only fifty-two black men
and women have in one short year
been hanged and shot and burned by
mobs? II that can give 100000 peo-
pie satisfaction, in Gods name what
will it take to make them fight?
Du eois' Ipse Dixit and the Crisis.
"As for me and those that think With
me- so long as one black man in the
United States is Illegally punished or
unjustly treated or has the door Of oI-
portunity closed in his face we will
protest and complain and protest again
whether the world wants to hear us
or not We may not gain our ends
We may not in our day realize eur
ideals. But the program l lay before
you is not only reasonable and just
but it is a program Of peace and pa
tience. and in laying it down face the
awful fact that in this as in all grea,
causes. il peace and patience canno,
win. then war and struggle must. lu
any case there can be nS despair. there
can be no surrender. there can be nc
defeat as long as black man draws q
breath in America"
1t is Interesting to know that the