The daily worker., 1934-07-13
Writer for Pittsburgh
Courier Jibes at
ScottsbOro Fight
Bv EuGENE GORDON

tG NOTICE from the newspapers
that the Supreme Court of
Alabama has affirmed the convic-
tions Of Patterson and Norris"
exults George S. Schuyler, in the
Pittsburgh Courier of July 7. He
gibbers gIeefully: "Only the Su-
preme Court of the United States
stands between them and death,
and there is little likelihood that
it will reverse the sentences.
When the boys march to the cleo
trio chair, which is most likely
to occur on Aug. 81 as scheduled
4. they can thank the Interna-
tional Labor Defense, the Com
munists and DR.. Liebowitz for
their plight. Mass pressure in
ternational ballyhoo and stupid
legal defense did the trick, as I
prophesied would be the case"
Who is this George 8. Schuyler,
that he can be so happy over the
march" of the Soottsboro boys to
the electric chair, as he ''prophe-
sled would be the case? Why did
the prophesy that they would
burn, and why Is he so joyous
about it? Is he member Of the
Ku Klux Klan? A member of the
Silver Shirts2 A Nazi? What is
this Pittsburgh Courier, that it
carries Schuyler's attack on the
Scottsboro boys? Is it one of the
mouthpieces of the fascists7
The Slaves of Gentlemen"
nURING the most flourishing pc
~ riod of chattel slavery in the
South a lawyer named D. r.
Hundley wrote a book called 80
clal Relations in Our Southern
States" 1t was an effort to inter
pret for the North the true"
Southerner, including the Negro
slave. Explaining how the mas
ters created caste differences
among their slaves by giving
them different kinds of work $50
as to keep them from uniting
against the slave-owner), Humid
ley sneers at the Negroes who,
having been made overseers or
valets or carriage drivers, looked
down with scorn upon the COM
mon "darkeys" of the fields. 'The
slaves Of q gentleman Of good
family I'VE mean those who are
accustomed to come into daily
contact with their master) are
not only more intelligent than
the mass of blacks" said Humid
ley, "but are both polite and we'll
bred, and,in a measure, refined
and aristocratic. They scorn,"
sneered Mr.. Hundley, ito asso-
ciate with common darkeys, and
are given to all the airs and
stately mannerisms Of Yellow
plush or Jenkins"
These we're the favored In and
outdoor slaves, Negroes whose
corresponding type today are rep
resented. among other places. in
such venal politicians Robert
Vann, owner of the Courier; Os-
car De Priest, Congressman from
Illinois; Julian Rainey. assistant
corporation counsel of Boston,
and other elements Of the colored
lower bourgeoisie George s.
Schuyler william Pickens, Robert
R. Moton), as gratefully receive
an occasional little handout for
remaining good darkeys."
A good darkey' today, as then,
is a Negro who sticks loyalty by
the ruling class oppressors Of the
masses of blacks. Their theology
today, as In the past, is that of
their masters. It would be incor-
rect to say, however, that Kelly
Miller, George S. Schuyler, Cor
don Hancock, Walter White, w. E.
B. Du Bois, Julian Rainey, Oscar
De Priest, and Robert Vann are
exact historical parallels of the
deluded slaves once owned by
Yellowplush and jenkins. Condi-
tions which created those ancient
servitors and chattels do not par
allel exactly the conditions which
create the slave psychology of the
men have named.
The masters waiting-m or
valet today is, nevertheless, the
effect of the same fundamental
causes which produced the Uncle
Toms of the old South. 1t is the
vestiges Of actual slavery still ex-
isting in the old South; vestiges
which only the class-conscious,
militant Negro worker or intel
lectual in the North is able to
throw off.
Slaves who belonged to the very
rich identified themselves with
that stratum, rejecting its man
ners even to the extent OF snub-
bing the slaves who, owned by