Sunday Chicago bee. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1925-19??, 1939-06-25
JAN|T0R Slain THEATRE
Negro Youth Makes Good at West Point
T ODA YS
TALK
GRADUATES FUTURE
BY MARCUS A. MALONE

r
emerge from the mere or less
clustered life of the colleges and
veritable malestrom Of prob
lens, struggles, uncertainties, and
disappointments. There will be
some who will, as always, come
through with flying colors-whc
will acquit themselves honorably
and creditably.
There will be others, whose
number will be legion, who will
be lost in the activities Of work.
a-day world, who will discover,
all too sadly, that they were not
and are not prepared to attack the
problems, nor Withstand the strug-
giles and perforce must give them
selves over to disappointment and
bitterness.
The casualties amcng the Ne
gro youth will be too high! Much
too high! Too many educated Ne
grO youths will find themselves in
jobs and employments which make
no demand On their intellects -
dining car, pullman car, station
porters, Federal projects, and 9TH
er static, routine employments
will reduce the graduate to little
more than a polished hulk.
However, there is a truly glor-
ious opportunity to the graduates
Of these rerilous and turbulent
times 1t is usually in just such
times as these that great reforms
are inaugurated and find their
\ roots in soil friendly to their
Agrowth. We are in need Of a re
orm movement that can only be
kaugurated and carried to fruit
by ourselves! We need guild
e to show us our sources of
er ard guidance, to show us
to exploit them to the ut
IN this connection, we are re-
inded Of two things. One is DR..
NocdsOn's 'Miseducation of the
#Negro' and Dr. WashingtOn's &C
count Of students at Tuskegee in
his up From Slavery" In the
first, DR.. Woodson very wisely
calls attention to the fact that we
are peculiarly and disadvantage
ously situated in the American
scene, and that we are in serious
need Of developing techniques and
tools of our very own with which
to meet and solve these peculiar
tiles and disadvantages as they
manifest themselves in relation
ship to our hopes, aims, and as
pirations.
In the second, DR.. Washington
told of the great difficulty he had
in dissuading the early students
at Tuskegee from their ideas Of
pursuing a ''classicaP' course Of
study which would give them the
obvious and apparent attributes
Of their former masters.
It made no difference to them
that the classical" courses which
they wanted were divorced from
reality and practically. They
wanted the manners and tastes Of
gentlemen before they learned to
earn their daily bread.
Something of the same tragedy
has persisted even unto this day.
We are top heavy with lawyers.
doctors, dentists, preachers and
professional leaders who don't
lead. Such other notable successes
as we have had have been in those
callings wherein the competition
has been at a minimum-Jnder-
taking, restaurants, barber shops,
etc. Our graduates from the bus
mess schools can tell you all a.
bout the national debt - how it
was created, how it can and
should be amortized - can tell
Yor about the work sheets and
balance sheets Of Americas larg-
est corporations and what their
fiscal policies are.
But-iust you suggest that he
&c into the grocery business down
en- his own corner, or open a but
cher shop in his neighborhood, or
shoe shop, or clothing store, or
hardware store, or any other kind
of store out of which he period
ically buys, and you will be met
with a thousand reasons why such
a thing is unattractive and for
him unthinkable.
Today, however, we are pre-
pared to welcome efforts in that
direction. We are more and more
convinced that we've got to lay