The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1920-10-30
AN OPEN LETTER
Oct. 18th, 1920.
215 Bedford St. S. E.,
MINNEAPOLIS. MINI.

l.
This is an appeal to the colored
voters, to look, and think, before
leaping into the arena of State Poll
tics, for to the colored man the col
ored mans cause must be first
Once again, the periodical political
clouds are passing over the heads of
the colored voters of the State of
| Minnesota, and as we watch them and
! note their rumblings, we cannot but
ask of ourselves what are they say
ing? What does their rumblings pre-
sage; are they presaging messages of
hope, coupled with determinations to
execute equity and justice, or are they
the artificial rumblings of wornout
promises, made practical by SO years
of consecutive use?
For SO years the colored man has
been the Bible of the political par
ties of America. During election pc
Rod he is taken down, busted, re-
blinded with political promises, re-
vised with new political bunk, new
| political lies are concentrated about
and upon him. He is lauded as the
perfected creation of the Deity, the
Job Of the Twentieth Century. He is
progressing faster than word spoken
on an electric wire, he is as irresist-
able as the thunderbolts of Jove, he
has suffered more wrongs than all the
races of this earth, and Mars put to-
gether He is more entitled to seat
at the right-hand of Justice than St.
Peter or any other Apostle, and if he
would only vote for this Goliath of
Republican, or Democratic Savior, all
these things shall be done. All his
shortcomings Gf he has any shall be
forgiven: Everyone that has spoken
i'll or done him wrong shall be con-
signed to eternal torment, he shall be
admitted to the Holy of Holes, and
in proof thereof, behold, we see the
Corpulent Ambassador of Mammon
stopping his luxurious chariot and
reckoning him to ride therein He is
! driven to castles, the armed guards
of the cellar is thrust aside, the pre-
cious and sacred vintage is brought
forth and he is babe drink as an
offering to the success of political
Mammon. Yes, there is an "offering"
HE is the 'ofering," only he does
not know it.
And behold, we look again, and 10,
a bedecked Lucretia Borgia has her
arms around the neck of a colored
damsel, and she is led away, the in
vitation is extended, "come'' help US
eelct Mammon kind, and on the be-
jeweled fingers is a ring, beneath
| which is the poison of race hatred
and class subjugation. Oh, let me
warn you not to be deceived. Let US
look back on the so years of broken
political VOWS of the. Republican and
Democratic parties and note the great
wrongs perpetauted on us with a
heavy heart, the innocent blood reck-
| lessly spilled without mercy, the tor
ture and burning of our people, the
denial of justice, the limitation of
aevnues of employment by the en-
ploying class, the prescription of
states government. All these things
during so years Of control by these
parties, and we now look with a sor-
rowful heart upon this beautiful
state dragged in the mire, by the
hanging of those innocent boys of
our race, offered up to the god of
race hatred, fostered by the capital
istic industry Of the state.
I make this statement advisedly.
For you go to Duluth and there you
will find about two hundred and fifty
colored men and as many or more of
other races working in the mines of
the Steel Trust. The Steel Trust
says to these workers.: you may work
together, you must not eat together,
you must not sleep together you must
| not handle the same knife and fork.
Only the pick and shovel can you
handle together. For those bring me
money to elect my men to state Of
fees, SO you see how race hatred is
fostered. Now there is not an INTEL
hgent man in this country that does
MT know the colored man has no de-
| sire to force association on any man,
be he white, green. or yellow, nor
does he want them in his home any
more than he is wanted in theirs, nor
| will he make the first advances, and
even when they are made~te him, he
will not go beyond half way:
These things the Steel Trust knows
and such acts by them are born of
the desire to foster race hatred, so
taht the colored man may be denied
utilization in white labor organizations
and be forced to work on COM
petitive basis for small wages and, in
cidentally, be held as club over the
head of the white worker. Now, can
you not see how this monstrous act
at Duluth was born of the narrow
| principles Of the employing class and
was perpetuated without one word of
official censure by the men that are
today posing as the Saviors of the
colored man.
Let me ask of you, the questions:
Are you going to forget? Are you
calloused to the wrongs of your peo-
pile? Have you no race pride? Does
the blood cry of those boys, dripping
from the poles, at Duluth, mean moth
ing to you? Are you going to put
your seal of approval on that in JUS
tice by voting for the gang that fail
ed, even in words to condemn that
atrocious act? God grant you may
not, that you prove loyal to your
race, and to the innocent victims of
Duluth.
w. R. DONOVAN.