The Denver star., 1917-09-08
PROTEST PARADE
DEMANDS RIGHTS
Army With Banners Asks For
Justice to Race.
new YORK IS IMPRESSED

Spectators Read With Interest Claims
Of Marehers as Expressed by 5000
Men, Women and ChiIdre-khaki
Clad Soldiers and Whit Haired Vet
Grams In Line.
With the beating Of mufled drums
as their only accompaniment, approx
mately 1900 Negroes-men, women
and children-marched on Fifth ave-
nue.. New York, from Fifty-seventh
street to Madison square in what was
announced as silent protest parde.
Flags of the allied nations were car
ried by the marchers, and many print
ed placards were borne.
The women and children were given
the place of honor In the formation and
were clad In light colored dresses.
Several automobiles, with prominent
Negro clergymen and officers of Negro
organizations. were next in line.
The chiIdren's Banners.
A delegation of boy scouts carried
placards in the section devoted to the
children. Some of these bore the leg
ends: so Treat Us That We May
Love Our Country" Give Us Chance
to Live" Suffer Little Children to
Come Unto Me" and Thou Shalt Not
KILL"
Almost half of the marchers were
women, and many of these carried ban
ners expressing such sentiments as
Our Music Is the Only American Mu-
sic," Pray For the Lady Macbeths of
East st. Louis" and THE Great Con-
tradiction-Love OF God and Hatred Of
Man"
The men marchers, like the other
participants in the parade, looked nei-
ther to the right nor left. Many Of
them were clad in the khaki of the
American military service, and here
and there might be seen white haired
veteran of antebellum days keeping
step with the young men Of his race.
The banners displayed in this section
were more emphatic in their senti-
ments, prominent among them being:
Cain, Where Is Thy Brother?" I'VE
Were First In France; Ask Pershing."
THE First Blood For American Inde-
pendence Was Shed by a Negro-Cris-
pus Attucks," Race Prejudice Is the
Offspring of Ignorance and the Mother
of Lynching," Put the Spirit of Chris
| tlanity Into the Making and the Execu-
ton of Laws" I'VE Are Maligned as
Lazy and Murdered When We Work."
Ten Thousand of Us Fought In the
Spanish-American War and "Repelled
by the Unions, We Are Called Scabs."
The circular calling on the Negroes Of
New York to join the parade of protest
read:
I'VE march because by the grace OF
God and the force Of truth the danger
Gus, hampering walls of prejudice and
inhuman injustices must fall
I'VE march because we want to make
impossible a repetition Of Waco. Mem
phis and East st. Louis by arousing
the conscience of the country and to
bring the murderers Of our brothers.
sisters and innocent children to JUS
tice.
I'VE march because we deem it
crime to be silent in the face OF such
barbaric acts.
Evils Protested Against.
I'VE march because We are thorough
ly opposed to timcrow cars. etc, seq
regation. discrimination. disfranchise-
ment, lynching and the host of evils
that are forced on us. 1t is time that
the spirit of Christ should be manifest
ed in the making and execution of
laws
I'VE march because we want our
children TO live In better land and
enjoy fairer conditions than have fallen
to our lot.
I'VE march In memory of our butch
cred dead, the massacre of honest toll
ers who We're removing the reproach of
laziness and thriftlessness hurled at
the entire race, They died to prove our
worthiness to live We live in spite of
death shadowing us and ours. We
prosper in the face of the most unwar-
ranted and Illegal oppression.
I'VE march because the growing con-
sciousnesS and solidarity of race, cou-
pied with sorrow and discrimination.
have made us one, union that may
never be dissolved In spite Of shallow
Drained agitators. scheming pundits
and political tricksters who secure a
fleeting popularity and uncertain finan-
cial support by promoting the disunion
Of people who ought to consider
themselves as one"
Some OF the Banners Displayed.
Although banner criticising Presi-
dent Wilson displeased the police, they
raised no objection to these:
Make America Safe For Democra-
cy." India Is Abolishing Caste; Amer
lea Is Adopting It," and memphis and
Waco, Centers Of American Culture"
One banner carried near the head of
the procession read. Your Hands Are
Full Of Blood"
Those in the parade represented ev-
cry Negro organization and church in
the city. They marched, however, not
as organizations. but as people Of