Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-02-02

further attempts at employing color
ed labor. 1t may be interesting to note
however. that one young Negro boy
who pays no attention to such perse
cution pcrsistently stays there.
Could anything be more interest
ing? Oh. that we cou d get another
colored boy. who would brave the
insults and pcrsistcntly stay there?
lie says:
About ninetyfive per cent. of the
Gc,Ureu workers in the stool mills
VISITED III our surrey were doing un
SK.llcu labor. In the bigger plants
where many hundreds Of Negroes arc
employed almost ono hundred per
cent. are doing common labor, while
III the smalicr plants, II few might
DC lound doing labor which required
some skin. The reasons alleged by
che manufacturers are; first, that the
migrants are inuiflc. cnt and unstable
ana second, that the opposition to
them on the part OF white labor pro.
hiD.tS thcir use on skilled Jobs. The
latter objection IS illustrated by the
case OF the white bargcmen of q big
steel company who wanted to walk
out because black workers were intro
uuced among them, and VINO we're
only appcaScd by the provision of sep
arate quarters for the Negroes While
there is an undeniable hostility to
NcSrocS on the part of q few white
workers, the objection Is frequently
exaggerated by prejudiccd gang boss
cs.
This, then, describes a condition in
the North. 1t will be seen that the
colored man as Il laborer is all right
as skilled workman, he is all
wrong. The same prejudice noted
against is.m in the South in an even
more viru ,cnt form is observable in
the North. If he must brave or fight
Il out, is it not just as we'll to do it
here as to risk it there? Southern
white men backed up colorcd iircmen
and brakcmen OH the Southern roads
many years go, and much skilled Ia
Dor is now employed in this State.
The migration North has improved
cond lions in the industrial plants
South. Why is it that those Of us
VINO remain cannot take advantage
oil these war conditions and make the
most OF it by making personal pleas
to the upper class Of rar-sec.ng white
men WAC meet us from day to day?
lie says:
That this idea is often due to the
prejudice OF the heads Of depart
mcnts and other labor employers, was
the opinion OF sympathetic super
intcndent OF one Of the largest steel
plants, who said that In many in
stances 1t was tho superintendent
and managers themselves VINO are not
alive to their own advantage and so
oppose the Negroes dong the better
class OF work The same superinten-
dent said that he had employed Nc
Sroes for many years; that n number
OF them have been connected with
his company for several years; that
they are just rs efficient as the white
people. More than half Of the TWEEN.
iy-livc Negroes i'll his plant were do
ing semi-skillcd and oven skilled
work. lie had one or two colorcd
ioremcn over colorcd gangs, and cit.
cd an instance Of a colorcd man draw
ing Il hundred and fourteen dollars
in his last two weeks pay. This claim
was supported by Il very intelligent
Negro who was stopped few blocks
away from the plant and quest toned
IS TO the conditions in the plant.
While admitting everything that the
superintendent said, and stating that
there is now absolute free opportuni
ty for colored people in thai Giant,
the man claimed that these conditions
have come into being only within the
last year. The same superintendent
told OF an episode illustrating the
amicaEle relations existing in his
shop between the white and black
workers. He related that a gang Of
workers had come 70 him with GER
tain complaints and the threat Of a
walk-out. When their grievances
had been satisfactory y adjusticed they
pointed to the lonely blacS man In
their group and said that they were
not ready to go back unless their Ne
gro fellow worker was satisfied.
1t would seem. then, that the So
called problem is solving itself by
the actual scarcity Of white labor
If colored men look to their own in
tcrests and avoid attacks OF "big
head" during this period Of industrial
activity, they will benefit not only
themselves us individuals, but their
people as a mass. Colored fo ks
from the South who are in the North
frequently overestimatc their own i'm
portance and with the entrance of
prosperity show that their ground
work OF breeding, as we say down
here, was defective.
But then another class of our people
went to Pittsburgh, the better class,
and they will no doubt avoid the pit
falls In which SO many fell, who years
ago preceded them.