The Omaha guide., 1937-03-20
An EchoAH
From Ny Den

NV 52B1 GEal

AS I sit here IN my aben9 with
pen IN hand meditnting. as it we're
there comes to mind the 1amentabie
fact that1there1is need in Omaha
of more ace respect. self RE
SPECT COMES FROM SELF SUP
.P0R1R The plight of our people
even intimes of prosperity shg-
.gests q strange yet very sad story.
A story which if told in proper
tempo will leave no doubt in the
mind our best friends of those
who are truly. solicitops of our
Welfare, that there must be- func-
tional defect orFperhaps an irrem-
ediabie Weakness somewhere in the
organization of our being.
h aHNI aHEs tIH94
We are prosecuted socially and
economically as well as prostituted
politically, yea most of us, 16, 900
strong, think of it, stand by uncoor-
dinated, helpless like a herd of dumb
animals. | car hear some saying,
well, what can we do? We are not
able to sustain ourselves economic
ally and we are not sufficiently
strong numerically to batter down
the doors of prejudice which shut
of many opportunities to us. We
lack this, we lack that and thou
sands of other things, So convinced
are we of u inaptitude that many
are waiting for someone to come
forth with a magic formula that
will solve all our problems. / admit
that we lack a great many things
and paramount among them l
should include solidarity, courage,
self respect and common0sense
These + facts, and facts Aresnot
always pleasant sButaby whatsmy-
sterious force are weakeptrasunder?
Why is it that the same mysterious
force is ineffective with .Iewsxin
that it fails to- keep them apart?
Quoting Rabbi Stephen a. Wise
of New York while addressing the
graduating class Of Howard upIlit.vaer
sity in 1923: .HYour race and my
race are the swo down rodden
races of the universe, The differ
ence being that my race learned the
value of cooperation and your race
has MOO. If the Jews have been
successful in fighting racial OBJ
.stacles, III is because they had the
foresight to band themselves in
to a homogeneous whole out Of
which emerge an exclusive concen-
trated economic policy which max
es them independent and self sus-
tanning. They have not begged for
aims at one door and prayed for
mercy at another. No instead they
support one another; they patronize
their own stores their own restau-
rants, their own tabernacles and if
you please their own schools and
newspapers.
After years of personal sacrifice
and privations they II today an
economic force that cannot be dis
counted without 7endangering the
basic structure of our national &C.
ondmic life. Of course all8of this
did not take place in a day. 1t
could not. 1t required some years
of consistent mobilization Of inter-
ests with an unbending will and
indefatigaBle courage to sustain
the toilers against the onslaught
of local, national, and international
intrigue and discrimination .eoJ
- v8ra9 afFs
Whereas with US it has been a
matter of hope and prayer. Left
alone, we probably would exter-
inmate ourselves either through in
tercene slaughter or by starvation
due to inability to utilize the boun-
ties of nature. Other races have
mapped out the course of self re-
spect and eventual independence.
We decry our own establish
ments; We discount the efforts of
our own men who are fighting for
an economic foothold. In Omaha
we spend annually over $10, 000, 900,
ninety-five cents out of every dol
lar is spent with the other rae
and five cents with our own. At
this rate it will take thousands Of
years for the Negro of Omaha
to reach the economic status that
rightful should be theirs. l know
that there r many things which
under our present financial status
cannot be produced, but why can't
we support those things which we
can produce? Afttr all the saliva
ton of our race will come from
within and not from without.
eIos
farmers, and t4) that the stand