The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-09
NEGRO LEADERS SURRENDER TO KHAN
lContinued Prom PAGE 1.l

cation of God as a black God, we have
resolved that which you put before us.
We havefollowed you in each matter
that came before us, and we feel that
we ought to ask you to state your
position in this question.
I'VE feel that you have an adVan-
taae over us thru the knowledge that
you gained In an lntsrvIew-we hope
that you are not going to leave US at a
disadvantage. We know that you
know better than We. We want to
know what is your attitude"
Garvey, who is highly skilled par
Humanitarian, arose in obvious embar-
rassment Speaking hesitatingly, he
said:
my attitude is that Of the majority
Of the convention. This Ku Klux
question is an extremely important
one. And ] don't want to influence
the convention. want to hear what
the discussion brings out"
Then the Garvey lieutanents arose
one by one, all attempting to justify
policy of the Negroes surrender to
the Khan Of every right Of equality
in the United States.
It was done in a manner something
like this: WILTSHIRE methods of the
Khan are said to be reprehensible--
tho we cannot prove tits object is
perfectly legitimate; it Is the suprem-
acy OF its race. Every race has not
only right, but also duty to DO
this. But the Negro is a minority
here. Therefore he must get out Of
America. Buy stock in Garvey's
steamship line. 1t will take you all
to Africa, where all you will have to
do is to fight the British, French and
Belgian governments for the posses
sion Of colonies under their military
rule. There you can be brave and
conquer; but here you must be afraid,
you mustn't fight the Ku Klux Khan
because you would be beaten.
The Ku Klux Khan was denounced
by several speakers who declared
that It habitually terrorized, murdered
and burned Negroes, but every denun-
citation was only turned into an argu-
ment to show that the Negro could
not fight the Khan and must leave
America on Garvey's proposed steam
ship line to settle Africa.
Call Capitalist a Friend.
]. A. Hassell of Seattle spoke for
laying aside the Negroes claims until
when you have carried out the pro-
gram of the organization and con-
structed nation in Africa" 'Unitl
then" said Hassell, keep your mouth
shut about the Khan. Don't discuss
it any more than you have to-" He
continued:
"The only friend you have in the
white race is the capitalist, and he is
your friend because he uses you to
tear down the standards of his own
race"
]. J. Thomas of Mobile, Alabama,
declared that the Khan "is help to
this movement by increasing the
membership"
The surrender to the Khan became
general among Garvey's heutenants,
while the chief sat silently smiling.
One after the other the smaller lead
ers Of the organization went over to
Garvey's apparent treaty" with the
Khan.
DR.. Jay J. Peters of Chicago started
his speech as tho he meant to bring
new note into the discussion. But
as he stood directly before the curl
ously smiling face of his chief, Peters
veered his speech around. He told
how William Pickens, the Negro au-
thor, went to the LaFollette "progres-
sive" convention with "a bunch of
resolutions denouncing the Khan" and
was insulted and turned down by Mr..
LaFollette's agents.
Under Mr. Garvey's gaze, Peters
said:
Peters For Neutrality.
when the other fellow holds the
marbles and has control, the best
thing to do is to get into friendly re-
lations with him If you can. l don't
mean by that to condone the Khan
for the wrong things it has done.
But after a while when we have got
our own country and our own battle
ships we can tell them to go to hell"
Speaking of a compromise position
on the Khan, Peters said, st is the
ethical thing" The Khan, he said,
from the point of view Of the white
man, is perfectly all right" He end.
ed, go forward with the Universal
Negro Improvement Association, and
maintain our neutral position on the
Khan issue"
d. M. Brown Of Florida declared
the Khan has helped us great deal,
apparently meaning by driving the
Negro to thoughts of Africa as the
only hope. The Floridan's remark. "a
can't AFFORD to be against an organ
ization Of that kind, and especially
considering the place where l am liv