The Omaha guide., 1935-09-14

badly under capitalism The one
question that hobs up when the mat
ter Of change is being debated, is:
what viii the Reds do when they
get in?" That's a sensible question
too. For years politicians have been
making capital out Of the Negro
question Many Of them used it to
feather their own nests and then
promptly forgotten their Negro sup
porters once they attained their own
ends, In this work they have always
had the help of ambitious Negro
henchmen. The consequence is that
any person, white or Negro, who
comes to the Negro people with what
he calls a solution Of the Negro ques-
ton, is looked at with some suspi-
cion. There is q very legitimate de-
mand that he explain just what he
proposes,
In Thick of Fight
Interest IN the Communist position
on the Negro question has been help
ed along by the very obvious fact
that Communists are always in the
thick Of the fight for Negro rights.
Their persistent friendship has led
to q demand for an answer to what
the Reds plan to do when they get
in. James w. Ford, Communist can
didate for vice president in 1892, and
James s.. Allen set out to answer the
question in their five cent pamphlet,
-'The Negroes in A Soviet America,
published by the Workers Library
Publishers.
Ford and Allen maintain that only
a Soviet America can guarantee Ne
groes their rights. For, they point
out, only in such a society would the
incentive to Cypress and exploit mi
nority groups disappear. in fact, I'M
less all exploitation and oppression
were done away with the socialist
state itself could not exist. Once a
Soviet America is attained, the new
workers and farmers government
would undertake a campaign to root
out all vestiges of the past, which
keep people apart. 1t is idle to sup
pose that the triumph Of the Reds
tomorrow would change the hearts of
those who have been taught to hate
Negroes. But the new government
would, and could, undertake an edu-
cational campaign to Danish the old
prejudices and misunderstanding.
Any person who knows how power
full our radios and movies and news
papers are influencing public opinion
can understand what a concerted
campaign Of this Kind you'd do in a
few years.
In Poverty Together
Negroes have other grievances
than those that center around pre-
JUDGE. For one thing, they are now
living n dismal poverty. So r the
poor whites. One Of the first things
a Soviet America would do would be
to set the wheels of industry turning
again to produce all of the necessi-
ties Of life that are now so lacking.
The practice Of killing hogs and plow-
ing up wheat would be abandoned
post haste. Instead the new govern
-,-A --@-1I -,-7-1 o~-o~-- ofE-v4 70
produce food and clothes and the ne
cessities Of life. Not only would these
things be produced but they could be
distributed to those who need them
because there would be no owners
demanding profits before the distri-
button. America is rich in machines
and trained men to the machines.
A Soviet America would bring the
two together and any ~technician viii
admit that in a short while there
would be q plenty for everybody.
Negroes, as partners in the new
state, would share in whatever is
produced.
But, Allen and Ford say, this new
America cannot be wished into ex-
istenee. After all, American capital
are not anxious to give up their fat
livings. Time and again, they have
demonstrated that they viii stop at
nothing to stay at the top of the
heap. They're for majority rule as
long as they can manipulate the ma
jority to their own advantage, Capt.
talism viii vanish only when Ne
groes and white workers and farm
ers make up their minds to pitch in
and build q revolutionary party to
overthrow it. There is nothing un-
American about this procedure. The
United States was founded in revolu-
ton and the slaves were freed only
when northerners and Negroes raised
an army and disposed Of the slave
holders.
Choice Not Hard
At any rate, it must be admitted
that times are going from bad to
worse. Statistics adduced by Allen
and Ford show that the standard of
living IS dropping for all warkers.
Other statistics show that Negroes
are losing out in land ownership.
Lynching continues undated. Police
49,