The Semi-weekly leader., 1919-10-25
WHY THE NEGRO APPEALS TO
VIOLENCE.


had been "arming themselves for
months" before the recent race
war" began, that an outbreak of ne
gro violence in Chicago had been
planned for July A." and that "a
secret organization" is counseling
the. negroes Ito obtain what they re-
gard as social equality, by force if
necessary" Unless Mr.. Hoyne is
mistaken, something altogether new
has developed in the negroes psych-
ology. For years they pinned their
faith to the spelling book, then for
years they pinned it to the bank
book; now, as if convinced that
neither education nor material pros
perity could advance their cause, they
appear to be putting their trust in
brute strength. They will night. In
Washington's race war" negroes
were frequently the aggressors. So
also in Chicago. This changed at
titude" as Chicago negro puts it,
would seem to have been the under
lying cause of the Chicago riots, tho
Mr.. Hoyne informs 4 the New York
American that they came about thus:
First Cause.-City Hall organiZa-
ton leaders, black and white, have
catered to the vicious elements of
the negro race for the last six years,
teaching them that law is a joke
and the police can be ignored if they
have political backing. The decent
| colored element is as much incensed
as whites at catering to colored gam
blers and panderers.
Negro politicians have even
threatened the discharge of white
police officers who made arrests of
favored and protected black graft
ers.
Second Cause.-The continued
importation from the South of ignor-
ant negroes, who, on arriving here,
listened to these teachings and have
thrown off all restraint.
Third Cause hous.
ing for increased negro population,
The negroes have invaded many res
idence districts hitherto confined to
whites.
"Remedy.-Immediate increase OF
police force, declaring of martial
law, and searching of buildings in
Black Belt and removing firearms
deadly weapons, and ammunition
now stored there in large quantities
There should be some scheme oi
segregation, to which majority oi
negroes will themselves consent.
Race feeling, when once engen.
dered into district, does not die
out.
I'm Chicago, both races are now
tremendously inflamed aud the situa,
tion is serious"
Likewise tracing the more imme
diate causes of the race war, DR.. Will
lis N. Huggins, teacher in the Chi
cago public schools and editor of 6
colored weekly, writes in the New
York Tribune:-
"The basis of the trouble is this
The large employers of labor whC
lured my people to the North will
high wages and the city of Chicago
itself have been derelict in providing
housing and accommodations fol
them.
1T is impossible to put $80,00t
people where $4,000 lived in ut
ter congestion.
Politicians who wanted to b,
sure of their political futures hav,
not looked with displeasure upon th'
crowding of my people into givel
district so that IS per cent of thei
vote might invariably be safely hell
under control.
"Uuscrupulous landlords and real
estate dealers have taken advantag
of the shortage of houses to goug
my people, both when they rent ant
when they buy. My people in Chi
cago always have to pay SIS and VI
in excess of what white tenants hav,
paid, and that too, minus the car,
of the building and grounds tina
was given to white tenants. Negrt
real-estate agents have been as in
strumental in bringing this situation
about as white agents have.
Few of my people have moved in
to white blocks for the sheer brag
gadocio of being in such a commun
ity. They have moved in becaus,
white people were willing to sell O.
rent, because they wanted to avoiC
the congestion in the Second Ward
and, lastly, because they are Ameri
can citizens"
But, while much light is shed up
on the Chicago riots by such testi
mony as this of Mr.. Hoyne and DR.
Huggins-that is, in so far as thei
more immediate causes are concern
edit remains to determine wheth
er the idea of advancing negro in
terests by recourse to violence wa
not an underlying cause from tn,
first. The Chicago Defender, editet
by and for negroes, frankly admit
that it was;-
"The younger generation Of blacl
men are not content to move aloni
the line of least resistance, as dit
their sires. I'VE have little sym
pathy with lawlessness, whethe
those guilty of it be black or white
but it cannot be denied that we hav
much in justification of our change,
attitude. Industrially, our position
has been benefited by the war. So
cially it has grown decidedly worse
On all sides we have been made t.
feel the humiliating pressure of tn
white mans prejudice. In Wash
!, ington 1t was case of teaching u
our place. In Chicago, is was
case of limiting our sphere to mete
: and bounds that had neither tn
sanction of law nor of sound com
mon sense. In both cases we resent
ed the assumption. Hence the rae
: riots"
, DR.. ]. G. Robinson, a presiding FL
) der of the African Methodist Episco
; pal Church, refers to the negro's re
solve to win equality, by force If ne