The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-16
PARTY LIFE
Cleveland I'D Fails to Fight
against White ChGu0inism
Did Not Organize Negro Workers Because of
Failure to Understand Negro Question

find reflection of this line in
the rank and file. Recently, when
a Negro comrade came to an affair
given by an l. L. D. branch, he was
denied admittance.
If you come in, everyone will
run out" he was told. An I. L. D.
member was at the door.
The incident was Immediately re-
ported to the District Buro. A COM
mittee Of two from the buro went
to the branch and investigated the
matter. The branch members were
highly indignant and bitter against
the comrade who had denied the
Negro worker admittance to the hall
The guilty comrade, whose hours Of
work are irregular-sometimes DAYS
and sometimes nights-was not pres
ent. Tt was voted that he be called
into the district where a committee
would investigate thoroughly the
facts of the case and take suitable
action. The comrade did not come
on the date agreed upon because
OF his work. However, he met the
Negro comrade he had barred from
the affair and said that he had
acted purely on his own volition
and that he still believed in the
Brightness of his actions. The mat
ter was then again brought up at
the buro and the question of action
in the matter was discussed. 1t
met with subtle form of resistance.
However, we are now proceeding to
act on this question in a firm, iron,
unsentimental, working class man
ner.
We are now beginning to make a
turn away from the rotten line
which has marked the work Of the
Cleveland I. L. D. in the work
among the Negro masses. The jim
Growing of Mother Wright, the
mother of two of the Scottsboro
boys, was Immediately answered by
the district with tremendous dem
onstration before Mills restaurant,
which resulted in the smashing of
the long established segregation of
this well-known restaurant. Two
new branches of the I. L. D. have
been formed in the Scovill section
and a third branch is in the process
Of formation. One of the buro mem
bers, realizing her lack of under
standing on the Negro question, is
now taking up a course at the
Workers School on this subject. IN
der the leadership of the District
I. L. D., delegation will present
a resolution to the City Council de-
manding the enactment of a city
ordinance forbidding JIM CrowiSm
in any public establishment-the
punishment for violation for this
law to be revocation of license. Also
a resolution will be presented to the
City Council calling for the con-
demnation of Congress for its main
tenance of jim CroWism in the
House of Representatives restaurant.
At nearly every Buro meeting the
work in Scovill is on the agenda.
All these actions, however, will
not result in any gains being made
by our district among the Negro
people if we do not take the resolu-
ton of the World Congress which
was quoted at the beginning Of this
article, get it off paper and put il
into action.
The following should be done;
l. The barring of the Negro COM
rade from the affair by an I. L. D.
member must be made the central
point of the struggle against chau-
vinism in our district. 1t must be
raised to the highest political level
2. A powerful educational cam
paign on the Negro question must
Immediately be launched through
out the district.
3. At the same time we must
combat nationalism fostered among
the Negro masses by the Negro mis-
leaders.