The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1920-02-21
Discusses Presidents Attitude.


ward the civil status of the colored
man citizen was sharply criticized by
the speaker, who described Postmas-
ter General Burleson as the ignorant
autOcrat Of the Post Office Department
age farm in Texas" and who excoriat-
ed Attorney General Palmer and Sec
! rotary of the Navy Daniels.
Discrimination is being practiced
against the Colored man in America
today by everybody from President
Wilson down." said Mr. Thomas. Eve
have got to agitate without thought of
personal sacrifice in order to win JUS
tice. Remember, freemen throughout
history have won no rights without
fighting for them.
Underlying Cause OF Lynching
1.-The business of lynching in this
country has got to be stopped, and it
is going to be stopped. We must win
the rights to patronize the best res
taurants, theatres and hotels and to
enjoy the best transportation conven-
fences. Until we do we bear the stamp
of inferior beings. And when you are
considered an inferior man you invite
lynchings.''
Quotes Palmer.
Reading from Senate document No.
1853, a communication sent to the Cap
itol by the Attorney General on the
subject of negro radicalism" the
speaker criticised that official for con-
sidering as lawless those colored peo-
pie who agitate, and for failing to
prosecute the laWless mObs that lynch
colored people.
Remember the Attorney General is
your servant and mine. He wants to
keep the colored man from hollering
when he is kicked.
1--WE have found a cure for mob
violence against us. It is armed re-
sistance. BY that do not mean armed
aggression, but self-defense We will
meet mob law with the same vigor our
black heroes displayed in storming the
heights near Metz in the great war.
Every man must make his home his
castle and defend it with his life"
1t is the duty of the northern. to
teach his southern brother to demand
and secure the free use of the vote,
Mr.. Thomas asserted. The colored
man of the south must be able to en-
Joy the best Of accommodations
Sees Attempt at Suppression.
"The Attorney General and the Sen
ate cannot suppress 100000 people
determined to get their civil rights"
he went on to say. The declaration
was rewarded with hearty applause.
Every time the authorities repress
one man who agitates they make a
thousand converts to the cause. They
are deporting men for agitation, but
they are not deporting their ideas.
Bolshevism can't be suppressed with
force, but it can be met successfully
with true democracy
The speaker repeatedly paid CRATE
full tribute to the French people for
their attitude of fraternity toward the
colored American soldier. He said
America is the only one of twenty
seven nations represented at the peace
table that draws the color line
1.-THE crueIest Autocracy."
'While Wilson preached democracy
there" he declared, "our 30O-odd rep
resentatives in the peace conference
knew that in America the colored citi-
zen was suffering under the cruelest
autocracy that ever cursed the world"
In conclusion the speaker bitterly
assailed race segregation in the gov
eminent departments. The exclusion
from the government navy and mill
tary academies was a target for red
hot rhetoric. Eyes, despite President
Wilson's bombast on democracy" he
finished eve have none here"
S. M. Kendrick, a deacon in the
church presided and made a brief ad-
dress supporting the attitude of the
principal speaker.