St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-03-25
Here And
There
By w. M. Smith

There may be some truth in the
assertion that the Negro group is
difficult to teach cooperation; that
members of this group, meeting to
discuss ways and means and the
detectives to be reached, fail often
because they cannot resolve their
differences and unite wholeheart-
edIy upon any determined action.
But this truth, if it be a truth,
is largely exaggerated. It is put
forward generally by those who,
for want of willingness to analyze
clearly the components of facts,
decide to accept the alibi of such
an inclusive statement, sufficiently
true to embrace many individual
ces--sufficiently wrong to do
great injustice to the mass of
our people.
In fact, such an analysis would
reveal that the group differs in no
wise from the active minded peo-
pie of any group who, with very
definite ideas of what the problem
involves and an individual slant on
the best remedy to be employed,
find it hard or impossible, to give
time or patience enough to study
the merits of the many individual
proposals to work to the real solu-
ton. That solution is always pres
ent, but often obscured by incun-
brances which require much
thought and careful consideration
to uncover.
One may travel the world over
and find similar conditions. Cases
in point are the giving up of the
throne of England by its King Ed
ward, whose ideas differed so wide
ly from those held by England's
counsellors. The German and
Italian peoples, whose minds had
to be made up for them by Hitler
and Mussolini. One need not go
outside the borders of the United
States for examples of these same
instances of groups of people who
have difficulty in reaching a unan-
imous verdict upon matters as i'm
portant as any that engage the
attention of the Negro.
The President of these United
States finds himself opposed by a
large section of the people in whose
interests he and all his co-workers
are united. The three men, head
of that vital experiment-the IVA
ARE so far apart, so bitterly sepa
rated in their viewpoints that the
President has found it necessary
to threaten to replace one or all of
them in order that this most i'm
portant matter may go forward to
completion. .....
The press of the country, each
unit of which is vitality concerned
in matters affecting the welfare of
the country and, presumably seek
ing earnestly a way out, are as
far apart as the poles, as far as
an agreement upon methods of
overcoming stumbling blocks in the
path of solution, that everyone
knows must be removed before
prosperity can follow.
might continue and fill this col
umn with specific instance after
specific instance in which the peo-
pie of many sections whose inter-
ests are identical, are kept from a
reasonable solution of their diff
culties because of the inability of
many to find a way out upon which
all can agree. Yet these people
are never accused Of being dumb,
unreasonable or contrary and their
failure to agree is never referred
to in the same sighting way in
which many are easily led to desig-
nate as the ridiculous way of the
black man. This is, to say the least,
most unwise and unfair for they
are all of the same pattern with
lack of patience or willingness to
recognize that many individual
people have worth while ideas that
deserve better and fairer consider
alton. When these have been ac-
corded ready agreement to fol-
low the decision of the majority
should be the effective next step.
One must be blind indeed not to
have visualized in the last few
months the growth of a spirit
among the colored people of the
Twin Cities that bellies the conclu-
sions of those who so readily adj
NIT the liquid consistency of the
Negro character.
Have you not noticed the definite
advance in the work of our welfare
agencies-the Halle q brown and