The bystander., 1921-09-08
THE CRISIS.

cerned wave of the hand.
Sentiment is fine, but, sentiment viii
not take us out of this pocket Of oppres
Il sion. The time is at hand to do big
sthings in a big way. It is no Mid.
summer Nights Dream,' the 1sLilly
Whites, z the Klux and the Tulsa mas
sacres. These are all part of well de-
fined program throught out by training
masters Of destruction-backed by all
the money and power necessary to
s gain their point
What are we going to do about it?
That s the big question. There is no
force Of American soil free from its
/ benighting influence; nor is their any
american, with African blood in his
veins, in any corner Of the land that
might be designated "remote,' nor is
he too !" dark, = or too t.light'' to be
a yictim of the abuses. These facts
are patent and have been proved by
East st. Louis, Washington, Chicago,
Omaha and other localities.
There was hope for better days in the
breast of all colored Americans when
{ there was, last fall, by their universal
help, great political victory, and War
G. Harding was made President. But
the Republican party has sidestepped
backstepped and stumbled. Many prom
inent leaders of the party have thor
onghly disappointed their colored con-.
stituents; while others have been pas
sive, if not Indifferent, and still others,
sad to relate, have aided and abetted
the enemy.
President Hard1cg has chanted
nHymns Of Hope, y but in the light of
events, these are proving to be as ga
sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. -
MI Faith is the substance Of things hoped
for, the evidence Of things not seen, J"
but the President, much as we admire
his stalwart Americanism, is keenly
and bitterly Disappointing his colored
American constituents. It not be-
ieved that he is doing it sswith malice
& aforethought, = but as he stsees the
Light The unfortunate observation
follows, therefore, that he sees the light
as held up by the hands of the enemies
of human justice, and not by those who
would be fair to all.
The Chief Justice Of the Supreme
4 Court, Mr.. Taft, a former president of
the United States, is unquestionably a
close advisor of the president on racial
subjects, and every citizen knows that
Mr.. Taft's racial judgments and theor-
les have most distressing limitations.
May we not face the truth and declare:
The president, Mr.. Taft, and number
Of well known members of congress
share similar views on matters regard
ing colored American opportunities and
progress, and the views of all these cit
izens are not circumscribed by party
ties, either democrat or republican, but
Sare formulated solely and definitely Oh
and if, as group, we accept this truth
as fundamental, there will be an oppor-
tunity to adopt program of action.
There are democrats who abhor human
injustice based on color; and there are
republicans who tolerate it, and others
who encourage it Therefore, the col
ored people of America must look to
themselves for deliverance; must them
selves shape program of adjustment.
In shaping such program, there
must be no selfshness or hypocrisy; /;
there must be no mere whining nor
compromising leadership. If there are
leaders who betray the race, they must
be discarded; if there are leaders who
are inefficient in such a time( they
must give way to new leadership that
VIII measure up to the occasion. The
future Of the people, and the destiny
of the children Of the race is too great
a stake to be handled about as in a
game of chance.
There is more than political sagacity
needed at this time. This is an econo.
mic warfare, as well as political. Many
Of the same forces that would deny the
Negro chance to vote, would also
deny him chance to make a living
They would shut him out of the fac
tories, the farms and the fields Of com.
merce, they would totally annihilate
y him, if such were possible. Therefore
business and professional men and la
borers and farmers, and all classes Of
individuals should feel the urge of re,
sponsibility in this crisis.
Quite naturally, and quite sig
nifcantly, there are movements of all
kinds springing up at this very hour,
seeking to be the salvation Of the race.
Some Of these movements are good,
n scme questionable, but fortunately, the
public has the opportunity of keeping
90 well informed through the newspa.
pcrs, that no unworthy movement can
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