Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1935-08-02
Personalities!
By Nellie DOdsOn

for two weeks and so today l
breezed in, to find among other
things, a letter from sports writer
Bernard Swanson of the Mime
apolis Star. 1t seems that in one
of his recent columns Bernie got
himself into hot water with some
of the local sepia gentry by certain
illusions in his column, "Roamin'
Around Town." which made men
ton Of "pickanninies" and imam
miles," AS soon as the storm
broke, Bernie must have written
me the letter which / didn't receive
until / came down here today. The
letter reads as follows:
Dear Miss Dodson:
Innocently enough, I have been
cast into i'll repute over two ex-
pressions recently used in relation
to an item in the "Roamin'," per-
tanning to "Pug" Lund. Therein
! referred to pickanninies and
mammies, but in perfect inno-
cence, and only with the thought
that I accepted those as express
sions of endearment and affection.
Judging by the response, those
expressions are not in good stand
ing, and hasten to apologize. I
wish that you would explain the
circumstances to your news organ
because / would not like to have
myself accepted in the light of a
prejudiced individual. 1t simply
was due to an innocent misunder-
standing and not to artifice or in
tent.
/ simply wanted to get straight
ened out on it in the event that it
comes to your attention at any
time. Personally, in respect to
your own column, ] enjoy it very
much and never miss it.
Very sincerely, .
Bernie Swanson.
/ think that the letter explains
itself. So far as anyone thinking
that Mr.. Swanson is prejudiced is
concerned, hardly believe that he
would have taken q whole para
graph in a recent column (before
the incident mentioned), to have
given an unknown Negro writer
like myself boost, if he were in
any way biased or prejudiced. At
any rate, I hope the ruffled feel
ings of those outraged readers of
his column will be soothed some
what after reading his explanation.
HERE AND THERE: Sonny
Berry's heart recently had her pic
ture in the Pittsburgh Courier, and
the picture was accompanied by an
article saying that she had re-
ceived her M. A. from Fisk. The
article went on to give list of
her family connections and back
ground, and my word, the child
has relatives with prestige enough
to extend from here to yonder.
Her pater is Chief Medical Officer
of the Veterans Facility Hospital
at Tuskegee. -. In spite of the fact
that Elsie Roxborough, niece of Joe
Louis manager, told the press that
she and Joe were just friends"
and that she was too interested in
following her journalistic studies
at University of Michigan to think
of romance, the pretty lady tossed
q brick through Joe's windshield a
couple of weeks ago. Or at least
that is the RUMOR which is max
ing the rounds. The brick tossing
was on accounta' Elsie thought
that Joe was paying just wee bit
too much attention to a certain
boo-ful mite club singer. Or at
least that is the rumor, sez ! once
more. Of course, the brick might
have been just token of friend
ship. Sheldon Beise, the Gopher
gridder, blew into town not so long
ago, and he was sporting nut
brown tan which was just tooooo
ducky! The sun-coating comes from