The Omaha guide., 1936-01-11

race.
5. There should be a lessening
of the margin between the elite
and the lowly. The cultivated, the
upright and the noble should and
will receive the just appreciation
and esteem which is their due
but they should not vaunt their
superiority to the discontinue OF
those less fortunate than them
selves. Noblesse oblige is the
motto of all true gentility. There
should exist that bond of racial
sympathy and complacency of UNI
derstanding between the lofty and
the lowly such as is evinced by the
Catholic priesthood towards the
humblest members within that
household of faith. The man far
thermost down should be the chief
concern for the one highest up;
for less the Negro elite shall lift
as they climb they will find them
selves elevated upon impotent
emminence without upper or meth
er support.
6. The resultant racial life is
the joint product of interracial
and intra-racial factors. The Ne
gro, in his state of helplessness,
is peculiarly dependent upon his
white environment for political,
economic and industrial life. His
social life falls mainly within the
sphere of his own race. Apprecia-
ton of this distinction will go far
to simplify the problem of race
cooperation and race self-devel-
opment.
T.. A second Negro Sanhedrin,
or allrace conference, has been
called to meet in Chicago on the
oath of Feb. 1886. This movement
offers great opportunity for gen.
uine race craftsmanship. The or
iginal Negro Sanhedrin, called by
the writer Is years ago, failed
in its objective because the Negro
mind at that time was not ready
for such a fortnight race adven-
ture. The Negro had not received
enough earrings and ~fingerrings
from the Egyptians to set up
housekeeping for himself. All
such proposals looking towards
race self-leadership have failed
for the same reason. During the
past fifteenyears the Negro has
learned many things hedidnot know
then. He has suffered many things
which he could not forsee; he
knows more about the laws of
race prejudice than he under
stood. He then relied upon relig-
ion, philanthropy, education md
industry md economics to bring
about a satisfactory solution. So
far those have failed utterly. Phil
anthropy has shifted from a hu-
humanitarian basis to one of cold,
calculated, impersonal charity.
The Negro has been pushed fur
Their away from control over his
own higher educational activities.
In face of the present situation
which confronts the Negro his
chief reliance must be upon him
self for guidance and direction in
all the intimate relations of life
within the cireumscribed circle to
which race prejudice have confin-
ed him. Philanthropy will still
hand out crumbs, or it may be a
crust, with the left hand across
the color line. i pray and hope, [
would like to say expect, that in
this second Sanhedrin a statesman
like leadership will emerge with
requisite wisdom to formulate an
effective race program and with
the requisite power of persuasion
to impress it upon the race as an
agenda of action.
8. We are approaching a pres
idential election whose outcome
mean more than a mere shift of
party control. 1t will in all prob
ability determine the destiny of
the nation and of the Negro for
generations to come. The Negro
is normlly aligned with the "for-
gotten man." the man furthermost
down. The "New Deal" engages to
restore the neglected and e
looked element Of society, without
regard to race or color, to its
rightful place in the economic or
der. Without committing itself to
all the angles and tangles of the
New Deal' and its complicated
technique, enlightened self inter
est of the Negro allignes him with
ITS essential aims and purpose.
Capital should control industry