The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1925-10-31

ing phenomena in interracial relation
ships, from an individual standpoint. is
merely one Of the varied results Of
racial admixtures, with which not
only America, but the Whole world Is
fraught. When one considers the
after-resuits, even though indirectly
traceable, Of Aunt Kate's "Honky
Tonk" Of East St Louis, Just prior
to the disgraceful and death-dealing
riots Of that city, the homicide trial
now at bar in Detroit, Mich, and
last, but not least, the increasing mu-
latto output in the southern states,
which pass miscegenation measures as
a mask to hide the face Of interracial
social exchanges, the conclusion is a
glaring one that social admixtures. as
between whites and blacks, are sought
first by the former, and tolerated by
the latter. And it is only an attempt
to protect the form, not the substance,
that groups Of whites set up a notori-
Gus protest against such admixture.
The facts do not justify the cause.
For instance, in Detroit through the
past year, to the writer's personal
knowledge, the widest kind Of social
exchanges, promoted by whites and
tolerated by blacks, have taken place.
East St. Louis, just prior to the riots,
was flooded with the light of black
and-tan life. Yet when the white mob
gathered, its wrath at the deeds fos-.
tered by its own group was spent
upon innocent black people 1t is
argued, of course, that the better class
Of whites does not sanction such rela-
tionships. Neither does the better
class Of blacks When ill-famed So
cial capabilities reach the group sense,
it is quite past time to desist When
they remain a purely individual mat
ter, they should be treated the same
as any other type of individual racial
relationship.
The fact remains that throughout
the history Of interracial social mat
tiers, the white group has not been
ion-hearted enough TO bear the brunt
of its own sins. Like the trembling
criminal, it has sought to destroy the
evidence; and the evidence, in these
cases, has not infrequently been an
innocent people, who, because Of fear
or favor, have tolerated condition
which never did appeal to them.
The great white world has work to
do. 1t must cease indicting the black
man as an immoralist, and do some
housekeeping in its own domain. 1t
must replace the mob and its cow
ardly functions with the true philos-
ophy Of the individual and groupal
lives Of races. Jim-crow cars, mis-
cegenation laws, and other false bar
riers to an imaginary social equality
are as weak as zephyrs when COM
pared with the gale which has blown
the races together with a background
Of exploitation on the one hand and
tolerance on the other. LET him who
is without sin throw the first stone"
makes a savory doctrine for those
who sound the first cry against social
equality, which, as we have long since
contended, should be dealt with as an
individual matter only.
The veteran threw down his Lit
erary Digest with a slam, when we
asked him what the South could do
without Negro cotton-pickers. LET
me get you told, Mr. Cameraman," he
said, as a dry smile took the place Of
frown, there's no one in this wide,
wide world that's indispensable. The
colored brother is all wrong in think
ing that the sun can't set without him
being present Why, a white man will
80 a mile down under the ground and
FIVE miles up in the air, and from
Greenland to South Africa, if he
thinks that there's a pot Of gold at
either end But the brother goes ac-
cording to sentiment, and as long as
he can live within a half block Of
Easy Street. he's quite satisfied to
think that he's doing nicely, and that
the world can't get along without him,
anyhow.
Its low wages that have kept the
white man out Of the cotton fields,
but have you noticed how cotton
wages have been jumping up Of late?
a good cotton picker can make
enough nowadays to live we'll and
make weekly payments on Ford au-
tomobile. And if the wage ante keeps
rising, if you don't look out the
brother will be crying for a chance