Detroit tribune. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1933-1933, 1933-08-19
Editorial
ECONOMIC sELF-DEFENsE

a
throughout the nation and the world Many Millions are
out of employment. There not enough jobs to go
around The weaker individuals and racial groups are be-
ing showed aside and ramped by the strong ones
who grab the jobs.
The masses of Negro citizens at the bottom of the
economic pyramid and even in normal times the pressure
upon is terrific At present plight is critical Many
Negroes being fired by their employers and replaced
by other workers.
NRA in not few instances causing certain firms to
let their oored employees rather than keep them at
the rate demanded by the NRA Workers OF other
groups get the jobs.
There is however no need to get panicy these
conditions We have weathered countless storms,
and with Gods help, shall pass safely through
this crisis The time has come for us to think and act.
Here in Detroit, thousands of people not
fully awakened to the urgent need for economic self
defense We spending hundreds of thousands of dol
lars every week with business concerns from which Ne
groes receive little if any economic returns in the form
of jobs or reciprocal patronage.
Nc few of our business and fraternal organiza
tons clubs churches and individual members of the
who seldom get any items published in local
daily newspapers subscribe regularly to those papers, in
preference to Negro journals which publish their
and defend them Some also houghtessy take their job
printing to shops operated by other racial They
to forget the Negro printers newspapers and other
agencies that and support them They likewise
thngngy their job printing and newspaper patron
age to those from whom they receive practically
financial support.
The time has come when we must spend the bulk of
our money where it will helr make Jobs for Negro work
Otherwise, the number of iobless men and
women will Increase and they will not have the purchas
and institutions
There is growing public sentiment against such
practice An example of what public sentiment
among group do in this direction, demon
rated here last Saturday night the Forest Club which
is under management Blanche Galloway the
star attraction at the club that night.
Miss Marie Booth who has been employed as box
office clerk at the club for long period. taken
of the box office, and white girl put in her po."
The Tribune was informed of Miss Booths plight
and representative rushed to the club protested
number of patrons refused to the place they
learned Of the incident and the management finally re-
instaed Miss Booth in her former position Even then the
attendance at the club that night much smaller than
would have been due to the Indignation of many who
went home, without seeing the performance
Then, too there is the GraystOne Ballroom We have
spent thousands upon thousands of dollars there although
it is neither owned managed by Negroes, and what
have we to show for money. Some colored in
divduas who have worked for the Graystone have COM
planned to the Tribune that they the last be paid
and sometimes are not paid at all.
We know of cities much smaller than Detroit, in
which the coored citizens or manage upto-date
in local Negro papers through which they secure suff
cent patronage to enable them to their financial
obligations promptly and without discrimination They
also patronze coored printers because earn their
money from coored people.
The Graystone has considerable Job printing done
How much of do they give Negro printers? How MANY
coored people the payroll of the estab-
shment?
We must build up business establishments
and help make employment for people We must
do this in economic sef-deense We are too intelligent
and progressive to allow ourselves used aus monke,
paws to drag chestnuts out of the fire other people