The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-11-07
TIE y. n~.., 4AsOs.A4AIIoN.

4
T1aE - nU4.. <>SOSSA<AIION.
In4s is q program OF Reconstruction,
.sIuA.n TIE 4>egre race Al America, aAIer
l..e evolution oI the woriu war.
,,e m.isr III euucatIon Lake up the
proDlem of the colorea chlid IN the
mnl.e schools, SAID LIT. Du bois IN the
ssIr4ng morus OF the Juiy 1dueationa.
SrlSls.
AL present the tendency is to accept
,,,.u 1 en- usmund separate scnoois be
cause our cnIiaren are SO oIten neg
lecteu, nilstrealeu anu humhlateu ~
the puDilc schools.
rms Is a dangerous and inadvisab!e
alternative, ana wicked surrender OF
prlncapIe Ior which our descendants
viii pay dearly. Cur policy should DC
To FORM in connection with each schooi
ana district, euectlve parents assocla-
tIons, composed OF the Fathers, mothers
ana triends OF the coloreu pupils; these
associations should establish friendly
relatlons with teachers and school
authorities; lrge parents to wash and
dress their children properly, help look
after poverty and truancy, arrange Tor
home work and tuition for the back
ward, curb delinquency, and be IN line
vigilance committee, to keep the pub
lie school open to all, aud mt the col
ored American child for it. The n. a.
"A. C. p. is the only effective organiza-
ton in the world for colored Americans
today and DR.. w. E. B. Du Bots, our
foremost militant leader, SO when the
promoters Of the Du Bots Parent-Teach-
ers association, followed the advice OF
the N. "A. A. C. p. and established a
Mothers, Fathers and Friends asso-
citation Of the colored pupil in the pub
lie school, they had the complete CO
operation of the school authorities in
and study their q Crisis there would
be less excitement over .segregating
ourselves, as one member remarked at
the Du Bots meeting held Wednesday
afternoon, Oct. %, at Franklin school.
Segregation is impolite it is impos
sible.
You cannot build up Negro Amer
lea or Negro world with no close re-
lations to the white world.
there dTG ItidllOuS UCl"SCA AeASNS
they must De based on the knowledge
and sympathy that come alone from
the long and intimate human contact
of individuals On the other hand, II
the Negro is to develop his own power
and gifts; If he is hot only to fight
srejudices and oppression successfully,
out also to unite for ideals higher than
the world has realized in art and in
dustry and social life, then he must
unite and work with Negroes and build
a new and great Negro ethos.
However, here are contradictory
facts, = says Doctor Du Bots in an
other issue, unless we had fought Sc
gregation with determination, our
whole race would have been pushed
into an ill-lighted, unpayed, answered
ghetto Unless we had built great
church organizations and managed our
own southern schools, We should be
shepherdless sheep Unless we had
welcomed the segregation of TT. Des
Moines, we would have had no officers
in the national army. Unless we had
beaten open the doors of the northern
universities, we would have had no men
fit to be officers. -
So the situation calls for thought and
forbearance. Not every builder of
.racial cooperation and solidarity
is Jim Crow advocate hater Of
white folk.
Not every colored American who
fights prejudice and segregation is
ashamed of his race
So the Du Bots p. T. w. will meet
Wednesday, Nov. s at the Emerson
school, and it is hoped all interested
| mothers and friends will be present,
and particularly the mothers in the dis
trict. Our lesson for the meeting will
be "Boys and their problems.
| The association is composed Of a pres
Iident, six vice presidents, secretary
and assistant secretary, treasurer and
live standing committees as follows:
| Program, social, finance, visiting and
| sick and emergency.
| The names of the officers and stand
| ing committees will be in the next is
sue Of the Bystander.
Lillian Smith.
DAVENPORT ITEMS.
Rev. F. K. Nicholson Of the Third