The Omaha guide., 1939-06-10

shares this belief for he says, "it
could be improved by having IA
vorable administrative officials.
The head of the government should
treat the Negro alike, in taxes and
in all else"
On the question of relief, Judge
Cobb believes entirely too many
arc getting it in every city. At
the same time those holding WPA
jobs should be assigned the same
work as whites but are not "due
to administration officials not be-
ing fair" Atty. Wilson says jobs
are allotted in relation to "reach"
rather than in relation to need,
with the question being "who can
you reach?" instead of What do
you need?"
President F. D. Bluford of Gre
ensborro A. and T. states frankly
that Negroes in his section of the
country do not receive the same
consideration as whites. I'm WPA
work it is very difficult to gee
Negroes certified as skilled work
ers, but it is easy to get white
persons certified as skilled work
ers. In WPA work at this college
l find a number of white workers
who cannot do skilled work who
are certified as skilled and a num-
Der of skilled Negroes certified as
unskilled and assigned to unskill-
ed jobs. ] believe this is done to
keep the Negroes from getting
the larger wages, and on The other
hand, to give the whites the high
est possible wages.
Sometime ago We had two WPA
projects going on here-building a
heating tunnel and clearing farm
land. There was a shortage of
bricklayers for the tunnel, and
the WPA administration claimed
he could not find sufficient help.
Ono day when | was visiting the
clearing project where Negroes
worked, | talked with some and
found several Negro bricklayers
clearing farm land. l reported
this to the administrator, and we
500 had them certified and they
were given work on the tunnel"
President Lee says, II do not
believe Negroes have received the
same treatment as that given
whites" Atty. Houston likewise
does not believe they are treated
equally, but President Wright says
az think they are" Principal
Banks believes the numbers on re-
lief are out of proportion to the
population, but thinks they get
same treatment as whites ain
most cases"
"The problem of unemployment
among Negroes is greater in the
larger and more congested urban
centers than in the rural or urb-
an centers of the SOUTH" says
President Hubert. This does not
mean that Negroes in the South
arc IN an enviable position insofar
as their living standards are con
cerned. The subsistence level of
many in the rural and urban south
is so low they should be classed
as unemployed. In other sections
there seems to be a more liberal
altitude towards placing Negroes
on the relief rolls where the in
come is ait a low level.
reports indicate there is a very
strong tendency to class mechan-
les as laborers, not to place peo-
pie on relief if they own a home
II anybody in the family works
even for a small amount, and Ne
groes in rural areas are not given
the same consideration as in the
larger towns and cities. The fact
that practically all of the offices
and supervisory personnel are in
charge of white people naturally
causes seNe preference"
In the New York area, accord
ing to DR.. TOBIAS, "there is little
to complain of. However, with
the natural tendency to discrima
nation, it is necessary for the
leadership to keep eternally Wig
iland so that Negroes may COR
ftn,nn - oO,o,, F,.. anA aut1tfoh tQ,