Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1920-06-05
THE NEW NEGRO

ldE NEW NEGRO
Before the war, the Negroes of the United
states suffered more than a full measure
OF all the wrongs that have led to the
double revolt OF small nations and SUP.
pressed classes in Europe. Individually the
Negro workers, who form very large por-
ton of the colored population. have horne
al! the hardships of their economic class
and collectively the race has been subjected
to special disabilities, political, economic
and social, such as the limitation of the
right to vote and to hold office, the denial
OF justice, the practices Of lynching and
peonage, the discrimination of white labor
unions, segregation in trains and in residen.
tlal districts, and the limitation of educa
t!onal opportunities. Now it is perfectly
OBVIOUS that every sort Of discrimination
against Negroes, as such, tends to unite
them as racial group, and it is equally
OBVIOUS that the appearance of economic
differences among the Negroes themselves
has exactly the opposite effect During re.
cent years, the development of economic
Authorizations has been very marked. but
there is some evidence that racial animositv
IS likewise on the increase; and it is pre-.
c1sely this complication of class and race
Arguments that makes the Negro problem
the most uncertain factor in the future of
the country
The people who are attempting to deal
with this situation fall naturally into three
groups, as determined by the attitude they
take toward the questions of race and class.
Certain politicians and an increasing nun.
Der of welfare-workers and educators hold
an essentially liberal position, in that they
disregard racial and economic divisions
and attempt to appeal to black men and
white as individual citizens. The second
group champions Socialism and industrial
unionsm, and attempts to unite all workers,
irrespective of race and color, upon the
basis OF common economic interest. The
third group considers white Socialists al
most as hateful as white Democrats; and
against them all it breaches the doctrine
Of racial unity, Negro nationalism and the
final overthrow Of Caucasian supremacy
In so far as it may be classed as an at
tempt at solution, the whole "Black Repub-
lican' movement belongs to the category of
nOn-racial, nOn-ecOnOmic answers to the Ne
gro problem. Tradition and sentiment have
bound the colored people so completely to
the Grand Old Party, that Republican can
didates have generally secured the black
vote without giving either promise or per-
Torrance in return 1t would be hard to
find better proof OF this proposition than
is contained in the report on a question
naire sent by the National Association for
the Advancement Of Colored People to sew
enteen Presidential candidates. now before
the country In the QUESTIONABLE the can
didates were asked to state among other
things whether they would favor the en-
actment of Federal laws against lynching,
and the enforcement OF the Fourteenth
Amendment by the reduction of the repre-
sentation of States which dsfranchise some
of their citizens. In reply Senator Harding
stated that it was the business of the Ma
tonal Conventions to frame platforms and
policies, and Senator Poindexter declared