The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-05-31
Party Life
ERRORS OF PARTY
IN THE SOUTH ON
NEGRO QUESTION
BY JIM MALLORY

AT bllt lDLIl GltIAiii VI Uhi rally .
C0inrade BroEder remarked on the
tendency in the Southern districts, to
attempt to shove our Negro pro-
gram into the background, in the
false hope of thereby winning white
workers for our Party. Unfortunate
ly, that tendency has by no means
been rooted out.
In both the Charlotte and Birming-
ham districts, the Party has made
little Roadway among the white
workers. Searching for the basis Of
this failure, some comrades came to
the conclusion that, could we push
our Negro program into the back
ground for time, we would have
success among the whites.
IL is by no means unknown for
comrades with the greatest loyalty to
the Party program. with good theo-
retical training and good back
ground of Party work, to succumb to
this tendency after a short time in
the South, where the air is thick with
subtle arguments to Justify inequality
and segregation,
Main Task
These comrades often say Our
key job now in the South, is the or
ganization Of masses Of white work
ers." That is correct. 1t is doubly true,
because without the organization Of
white workers, our Negro work itself
cannot progress far. The Negro work
ers raise this question sharply. Be-
fore they throw themselves into the
Party in great masses, they want to
see, standing with them and strug-
Cling for common ends, the white
workers of the South
Bit what is not TRUE is that the
way to win the white workers is to
hide our program on the Negro ques-
ton. We are not going to fool the
white workers into the Party and
we may as well learn it now.
Incorrect Slogans
No doubt the most fragrant exam
pie Of such tendency was the COM
plete failure of the Charlotte dis
trict to raise during the election
campaign the question Of the right OF
the Negroes to vote. The general slo-
gan was raised: For the right Of all
workers to vote" The following re-
markable explanation was put for
ward: The Negroes will think it
means them, and the whites will
( think it means them" On other
words, We'll fool EN- bothD 1t was
said, moreover, that the white work.
/ ers are also deprived of the right to
vote, by poll taxes and property re-
| quirements That is true. But here
our comrades failed to grasp the Ne
| gro question as national question
1t is not only the Negro workers who
are deprived Of the right to vote, but
all Negroes, including those able tt
meet the poll taxes and property re.
quirements. The demand on The
franchise SHOULD have read; Il. Fol
the right of the Negroes to vote il
all elections, general and primary
2. Abolition of the poll tax, propert!
and residence qualifications"
Z, Hide Main Issues
All this was explained in a lettei
to the them district organizer O
Charlotte, who wrote back thi
shameful reply 1.-The trouble will
our Party in the South is that W.
have been raising too damn man,
Negro demandsl"
In the preparation of leaflets il
Birmingham for May Day, 1898, the
demands for Negro rights were de-
liberately omitted from certain leaf
lets. 1t was explained that these leaf
let's were for the eyes Of the white
/ workers. The Agitprop Commission OF
] the Central Committee condemned
these leaflets in the sharpest terms
A leading white worker in the
movement in Birmingham was on
trial recently in the capitalist court
He showed splendid militancy, until
asked: do you believe in social
| equality?" He said mo, only in eco
nomic equality"
Some white non-Party members in
Birmingham suggested a united
front ticket for the October, 1888, city
elections. They believed that such a
ticket would be highly successful on
| condition that all nominees be white
1t is neither surprising nor scandal
lous that white workers in the heart
of the South, without previous con-
tact with our movement, should make
such suggestion. What is highly
scandalous, is that many of the lead
! ing comrades in the district favored
the concession. Our Central Commit
tee forbade such shameful deal.
Wipe Out White Chauyinism
But" our comrades object, "the
| white workers in the South are
shocked when we mention complete
equality" OF course they arel We
know very well how these workers
from childhood on, have been pump
ed full of the bosses poison OF race
hatred. Yet these workers are ex-
pected to jump at our program OF
full equality, without day-by day agi-
tstion, without patient propaganda
work. without the organization OF
small joint actions, without any ex-
PLANTATION of their common interests
with the Negroes. Instead of plung-
ing into this necessary realistic work
| we grow quickly discouraged and