Phoenix tribune., 1920-07-17
JOHNSON !
IN CHARGE OF WORK
AMONG negro VOTER
(By Associated Negro Press)

Johnson, lawyer, former recorder
deeds for the district of Columbia
and present member of the republ
can national committee from Georgia
has been named by Chairman Will II
Hays of the republican national com
mittee to have charge of the entir i
campaign work, as it affects ou
group, throughout the United States
Some member of the national com
mittee has always heen assigned Il
this work, but this is the first tim
it has gone to a member of the raee&
The departure is very significant
and indicates two important facts &
the committee has been aroused L
the insistent demands of the race 70
proper recognition; and, there is
real awakening to the Importance O
proper campaigning among the voter
in the pivotal states of West Virginia.
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, kentucky
Michigan and Missouri. Said a whitd
member of the national committee I'd
The Associated Negro Press: "Thd
colored people of these states, sincd
the great migration from the SOUTH
will doubtless be the deciding factor
in the presidential election"
Colonel Johnson enters upon the'
biggest political job ever undertaken.
by member of the race In an in9
terview in Chicago for The AssociI
ated Negro Press, he said: "This'
campaign will be the most important
in which our people have ever enI
gagged With us it is campaign folI
human rights, and we can fight forI
them better within the republican,
party than without. 1t is to he d
campaign in which every Negro voterI
from the voting states will be ind
vited to take an active part The
border states will decide the battlel
and the balance of power in these
states lies with the colored voter. The|
exodus has increased the voting
strength by thousands"
The Negro is Interested in politics.
as never before. He is reading, he|
is thinging, he is speaking fright out
in meetin'" and he is acting. The
vital question he is asking from one
end of the country to the other is:
Where Do We Come In?'' He is
not asking it with smile of indif-
ference, nor with the sickly grin of
the cynic; he is asking it with that
serious determination which proclaims
group awakened to the full knowl-
edge of mans estate.
The fight this year. so far as the
American Negro is concerned, is to
be for the fulfillment of a definite ma
tional program. When March 4th
comes around, and the next president
is inaugurated "We want to be able
to demand of him that this program
which we are now laying down will
be carried out" declared Col john
son.
The program as proclaimed by Col
Johnson is summed up as follows:
(a) A law forbidding Jim Grow
cars entering the capital at Washing
ton.
(b) A General Executive Order"
forbidding any such thing as segre-
cation in any department of the gov
ernment, or federal territory, of the
United States.
(s) Passage of a law making
lynching federal crime, with trial
before, and punishable by the United
States court.
CD That office holding should be
untrammeled, with the full rights of
any citizen to hold same and enjoy
the emoluments thereof.
Col. Johnson, who is now in Chi
cago, will spend practically all of his
time in the city until after the cleo
ton. He has been assigned suite
of rooms in the Auditorium hotel, on
the parlor floor, and a part of the
space occupied by the national head
quarters. The rooms have been fitted
up with the necessary furniture, and
such office assistants as are required.
are being installed Cot. johnson is
calling into conference leading mem
bers of the race from every section
of the country. He invites advice and
suggestions, and stated that he is
there merely as an instrument for
the cause, and not as dictator" Mail
will reach him addressed to the Audi
torium Hotel, Republican National
Committee, Chicago, Ill
Further announcement j regarding
those who will assist in the manage
ment of organization, speakers and
publicity, will be made in few days.
I'll = 1.