The Omaha guide., 1934-12-29
THEwAY OUT.
BY Loren Miller
THE COMING OF THE LORD

I well remember that day many
years ago., when "The Green Past
ures" pitched camp on Broadway.
Daily newspaper critic fed up on
bare knees and bedroom near
sedud ions, clasped it to their heav-
ing DO. oms- Their search for new
words with which to express their
approval of The dramas. portrayal
of Negroes as simple minded little
children, must have been a joy to the
dictionary-makers. Striving before
a typewriter then, as now, to keep
body and :oul togo her, + wrote a
neat headline to dress up stories de-
picting the play as a triumph and
Richard Harrison. DeLawd, as a Cen
ius. For the Negro critics were
goo.e-stepping right along in the
parade.
Their effon bore fruit. Before
long Brother Harrison had got himself
a ~half-dOzen .or less worthless de-
grees and in due season the NAACP
pinned the Spingarn medal on his
manly che t. Truth to tell. Harrison
is a competent actor and did a good
job interpra ing his role, such as it
was. -.
No Degrees
The years rolled on, and finally
1.-THE Green Pastures" took to the
one-night stands. Meanwhile. "Steve-
dore" was written and produced. The
same critics who had done so hand
somely by Connelly's play admitted
grudgingly that "~Stevedore" was a
pretty fair sort of a drama. News
papers said it was a darned good one.
1t had quite a u in New York, and
Negro critic did as well as they
could by it. without ~outraging the Re
publican Pap+y and Tammany Hall.
Audiences acclaimed it, but thus far
there has been no effort to canonize
tn actor who plays Lonnie Williams,
the leading character. Nor is it anv
secret THAI he won't get the Spingarn
Medal. Line for line, "Stevedore"
hasn't gotten one-tenth the publicity
that the "Green Pastures" got.
This difference in treatment is not
accidental. Recall the two PLAYS.
"The Green Pastures" drew its inspir-
alton from the traditional concep-
ton of the Negro as an inferior sat-
lsfied with things as they are and
dreaming of a heaven filled with fish
fryings and crap games. "Stevedore",
on the other hand, is a fighting drama
vibrant with the lesson that white
and Negro workers ought to get to-
gether and call a permanent morator-
ium on race hatred while they con-
centrate on aghting lynchings and
wage-cuss.
You'll Lose Your yobs
Small wonder that the high-pres-
lure critics on the rich white dailies
preferred "The Green Pastures. The
play afforded nice entertainment for
their bosses wives and sweethearts
and could do no "harm,' to the Negro
workers who CHANGED to see it.
"Stevedore" Is a blow at the estab-
lished order and is in such small fav-
or with the newspaper-owners that
the "Los Angeles Times" refused to
advertise it even for cash. But what
Of the Negro newspapers?
Part of their ~kawtowing to 1.-THE
Green Pastures" was duo to confusion
and fear Of flying in the face of con-
ventional criticism Much deeper than
that, i; the fact that Negro news
are and are afraid to spak out too
papers are also tied to things as they
are and are afraid to spek out too
plainly. To make the matter palmer;
there b . xcene In "Stevedore" in
which the Negro strawboss strives 10
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