Twin-City herald. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1927-1940, 1933-05-13
This World
URBAN LEAGUE
RACE OVER CRIME
RETORT PERFECT
DRAKE RELAYS
Cecil E. Newman
Cecil E. Newman

The minneapolis ASSOCIATION OF COl-
ored Women hay, protested against
the proposed emasculation Of the Ur-
ban League. Other organizations in
both cities should protest against any
move that will make the league simply
part of another agency. Protests
should be sent to the Minneapolis
Council of Social Agencies, in Min
neapolis and the st. Paul Council of
Agencies in that city. The two Urban
League boards have always seemed to
operate on premise that the leagues
business was strictly private business.
The maintenance of the league is a
public matter and if the board mem
bers, white and black, can not give
sufficient reasons for its maintenance,
other citizens and groups who perhaps
are not afraid of rocking the boat"
should take it upon themselves to tell
the Twin City social agencies "the
people want the league just as it is"
The McMath kidnapping case, re-
ported in the daily press last week,
illustrated the injustice of the con-
tinual playing up" of the race of an
alleged criminal, especially when that
criminal is supposed to be Negro.
Associated Press releases described
one of the hdnappers of ten year old
Peggy McMath as a NEGRO" The
crime, Immediately became secondary
to the fact that one of its perpetra-
tors was a Negro, in the minds of
countless white4feaders. Arthur Bris-
bane, astute Hearst writer in all his
Nordic wrath, wrote in almost hyster-
ical vein in the MINNEAPOLIS
TRIBUNE and other papers:
A 10-year-old girl, Margaret Nc
Math, kidnapped in Massachusetts,,
was allowed to leave school in the
company of Negro, who said he
had been sent for her.
The child did not know the Negro
the school did not know him. That
such thing should happen is incon-
ceivable.
Brisbane's comment is fair SAM
pie of what usually occurs under such
circumstances. The race of the crimi
nal commented on twice seems to as.
sumo Importance over the deed. II
was an open appeal to racial an,
tipathy and prejudice of unthinking
readers. After a closer check news.
papers found that the criminal was
not Negro. Did they then correct
the first story? THEY DID NOT, MOI
do they ever correct such reports
properly. When they do make such
corrections they take good care tt
bury such items just as far back il
the paper as they bury news of some
outstanding achievement of a Negro
We would wager that large mum
Der of people still associate in Their
subconscious minds the suppositior
that Son of Ham had something tt
do with the recent kidnapping. Sucl
reports, overplaying the alleged cul
prits' alleged race, when not cor
rected by newspapers do an incalcu
able damage to the colored people.
The April retort perfect was made
! by Congressman Bertrand Smell, G. o
P. partisan, who in answer to Demo
cratic INVITING about bank failures
during the Hoover regime, answered
witheringly:
"Perhaps under the Republican ad
ministration some banks were closet
but we were never successful in clos
ing all of them at the same time"
At the recent Drake Relays, thre'
bronzed boys copied three first places
.The dailies reported the wins but mos
of them neglected to say: 'Negro Lads
Cop Three Championships.s Ralph
Metcalfe, Marquette student, won th'
100 yard dash and competed on hi
schools relay team: Willis Ward
Michigan "U" youth who ran Met
caIfe a strong second in the dasl
event, won first place in the high JUMP
event. John Brooks, Chicago Univer
sity lad, out jumped a strong field tx
win the broad jump. Some punster!
might have aptly called it ga dark da,
at Drake but it was a bright day
for Aframerican athletes. More power
70 the brown boys.