The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-08-29
What Party Fights for Negroes?

Rev. Thomas S. Harten, pastor OF
a Negro church Cone must remember
that white Christians compel Negro
Christians to accept the Jim Grow
system of segregation), recently
published a statement to the effect
that both the democratic and the re-
publican parties are enemies of the
Negro people and offering a dona-
ton of 5000 to the campaign fund of
any Negro candidate nominated for
public office-presumably meaning
one truly representing the cause of
emancipation of the Negro masses.
Richard B. Moore, candidate of
the Workers (Communist) Party for
congress in the 21st congressional
district of New York, answered the
challenge of the minister, pointing
out that the Workers (Communist)
Party is the only party that quail
fies as the champion of the Negro
masses and that it has numerous
Negro candidates for office on its
tickets in this election. Moore there
fore demands that the preacher make
good on his offer by contributing
the fund to the Communist campaign
and by giving the other forms of
aid promised to genuine campaign
for Negro rights.
The full text of the letter of the
Communist candidate to the Rev.
Harten, recently quoted in part in
our news columns, is as follows:
Rev. DIR. Thomas S. Harten,
Pastor, Holy Trinity Baptist Church,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Dear DR.. Harten:
Your statement published in the
New York Amsterdam News of Au-
gust s with respect to the present
political campaign and the interests
of the Negro, is quite a challenging
one. You are quite right when you
say:
To-day it seems that the great
principles of human rights are
forgotten by the Grand Old Party,
while few of our Negro leaders
play to the bowling mob without
making the proper demand for
our citizenship rights. On the
other hand the democratic party
=. is just as much opposed today
to the Negro receiving his citizen
ship rights as it was sixty years
ago."
Surely any man who is at all in
terested in the emancipation of his
race and whose eyes are open to the
actual situation, to the brazen and
open rebuffs to the Negro by both
these parties, can come to no other |
conclusion.
We are indeed glad to find that
you are taking definite and mill
tant stand in this present campaign.
We bear in mind the militant strug-
gle which you have waged in Brook
Ign in many instances for the de-
Tense of the oppressed Negro race.
And we are hoping that your entry
into the political campaign will be
characterized by the same uncom-
promising and militant spirit.
We are at one with you in your
to Governor Smith and
to the democratic party, because we
know that the democratic party is
not only the party of the Solid South,
but also the party of big business,
the party of the wealthy oppres-
sors who profit from the degrade
ton and exploitation of the black
and white workers of this country.
BLACK Man Without a Party?"
The republican party is also the
party of big business and the party
of racial oppression. Only blind
man can hope for anything from
these parties for the oppressed Ne
groes.
Will the beneficiaries of system
DO anything to abolish that system?
Will the parties of the oppressors do
anything to abolish oppression? Of
course not! You seem to be con
scious of this when you say:
To-day the black man is with
out party. During political cam