Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-07
THE RACE CONFLICT
BY FREDERIC ]. HASkIN.
Especial Correspondence Of The Argus).

Washington, D. c., Oct. 4.-The American
negro really believed that the defeat OF Ger
many would make the world safe for democ-
racy," and that in such a world he would en-
Joy rights and privileges which had long been
denied him. he is bitterly disappointed to
find that the world war, in which he bore 8
part, has not made much difference in his So
cial, political and industrial status.
This disappointment on the part of the ne
gro, who took all the wartime oratory quite
literally. is the most immediate cause OF the
present negro unrest according to DR.. Thomas
Jesse Jones' a leading American student of the
negro problem.
Dr. Jones is employed by the Phelps-Stokes
fund, which is an endowment for the better
ment of negroes and Indians. He has also
made studies in negro education for the bureau
of education. Recently most of his time has
been devoted to the present acute race prob
lem, and to the promotion of measures for Its
relief.
throughout the south committees on inter
racial cooperation have been formed which
have already gone a long way toward allie
Waiting the race problem in that section DR..
Jones points out emphatcally that some such
organization which will focus the best minds
of both races on the problem of adjusting
their relations, is urgently needed in the north.
Washington, Chicago, st. Louis and Omaha
will be on the road to a. solution OF their race
problems when they recognize this need 1or
cooperation between the two races.
The committees which are being organized
in the south have each two sect1ons-one black
and one white. These sections meet sepa-
rately The negroes draw up prospectus OF
what they think they should have in the way
of aid and recognition from the whites. The
white committee then meets, consIders the
complaints and suggestions OF the negroes,
and deyiSes means for lettering their cond1-
ton. In this way an agreement is substitutes
for mutual misunderstanding, and intelligent
men of both races are stimulated TO think
about the problems of race relations.
These southern committees have in most
strongest men in their communities. Atlanta
has an especially strong and representative
committee Much good has already been &C
mpIshed by these committees. Newspaper
owners and editors have been Influenced to
take a reasonable and constructive attitude to-
ward the negro question. A public high school
for negroes has been provided in Atlanta for
the first time solely through the efforts Of
the committee. Unfair treatment of negroes
on elevators and in street cars has been abol-
ished in other places. In one city an address
on this subject was delivered by prominent
white citizen TO all of the street railway en-
ployes In another southern city a petty
court, which existed largely by arresting and
fning negroes without cause, was abolished.
Since the establishment of these commit
tees. the Ku AUX Khan organizations, which
had been revived here and there in the south
TO keep the negro in his place" after his re-
turn from the war, and incidentally to keep
negro labor from leaving the south have to a
great extent disappeared or modified their
activities.
DR.. Jones is of the opinion that assaults
on white women and alleged arrogance and
boastfulness on the part of returned negro
soldiers a result Of the unusual social OPP
portunities they enjoyed in France, really have
very little TO do with these riots. At best,
these things are only minor aggravants. The
most immediate cause of the troubles is the
Negroes disappointment that he did not gain
more by the war, and the deep underlying
cause is the economic fact of his growing
need and demand for better living conditions
and fuller opportunities.
AS a result of this feeling on the part OF
the negro, he is moving north. There has been
a regular negro migration to the north
throughout the and since the war. In
the north the negro often gets work at better
pay, gets at least an ostenstble political equal
ity with the whites, he escapes jim-crOwism
and perhaps some other forms of racial dis
But he finds himself in cities
where there are no special sections for him
to live in, no recreation facilities for him. In
his attempt to find home and live a normal
life, he comes into contact with white people
who are not used to coming into contact with
him. Conflict results inevitably. In nearly
all northern cities, the housing problem has
had much to do with race conflict. In one
great city where more or less rioting has been
going on for months, the trouble started with
a fight on bathing beach, and was aggra
waited by the efforts of local politician to ex-
plot the growing negro vote
Meantime, in the south, the departure of
the negro is resented. The south has had the
negro laborer so long that 1t has perhaps not
fully appreciated his value Now that he is
to leave. the south is waking up T.
the fact that it needs him. Negroes have been
stopped by men with cooked guns from board
ing trains for the north. Organizations have
been formed to check the exodus by force If
necessary. All this has caused a tension in
the south well in the north. But the
south, with it's committees on inter-racial CO.
operation, seems to be moving toward a solu-
lion. The south has always understood the
negro pretty well; the best of it's people have
always been interested in his welfare. Now
he south is gaining a better appreciation of
The Negroes economic value and that prom
ses much for the future.