The Twin City star., 1915-03-27


sense.
Negro Must Have Political Freedom.
THE Negro must have political free
dom-taXation without representation
Is tyranny. American Negroes Of to
day are ruled by tyrants who take
what they please in taxes and give
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 a
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
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.
I'm 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 starve the Negro SO as to
give him the least possible chance to
know and share civilization.
1.-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
a voice in the new Industrial democ-
racy which is building and the power
to see to 1t 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 a 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 a group
from methods Of thinking, living and
doing Is to bar them from the world
and bid them create a new world-it Is
to cruelty them and taunt them with
not being able to live"
Five Practical Constructive Steps.
DR.. Du Bois suggests five practical
steps Cor action-first, economic coop
GRAFTON; second, a revival Of art and
literature; third, political action; fourth,
education; fifth, organization. For the
accomplishment of all these ends we
must organize. Organization among
60 much further and higher. Organiza-
hon 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 50 long as we fall 80 far short of
a 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 it's 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? If that can give 100000 peo-
pie satisfaction, in Gods name what
will it take to make them fight?
Du Bois' Ipse Dixit and the Crisis.
LAS 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 op-
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 our
ideals. But the program | lay before
you Is not only reasonable and just,
but 1t Is program Of peace and pa
tience, and In laying 1t down face the
awful fact that In this as In all great
causes, If peace and patience cannot
win, then war and struggle must. In
any case there can be no despair, there
can be no surrender, there can be no
defeat as long as black man draws a
breath in America"
1t is interesting to know that the
Easter edition Of the Crisis, which
Dr. Du Bois edits, will have a total
Of $4,000 copies, record breaking
number for a colored journal. The
magazine will be a double number. It
will have story by Charles w. Ches-
mutt, the we'll known novelist; two
poems by William Stanley Braithwaite,
the critic: beautiful transcription Of
an Easter folk song by J. Rosamond
Johnson and cartoon by John Henry
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