The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1940-11-29
Army Can Dodge Jim CroU
Clause In Selecfiue Service


"The act Transcription Billy says there
is to be no discrimination, but the act
also says that no man may come into the
Army who is not acceptable to the Army.
The Navy Of course, is worse, and the
Marines will not accept Negro appli- |
cants. | regres this state but unlortu
nately the Army gets the final say
This was the statement made by Bri-
gadier General Lewis B. Hershey OF the
Selective Service Administration, to eight
representatives Of Negro and white youth
organizations who interviewed him IN
his office here Friday, November S, on
the question Of discrimination against the
Negro youth in the operation Of the draft
law.
Members Of the delegation who inter-
viewed Hershey included: Madison s.
Jones, Jr, recently appointed youth dl-
rector Of the National Association FOR
1 the Advancement Of Colored People; Jo-
/ seph CaHden, American Youth Congress;
Louis Burnham, National Negro Con-
, gress Ben Coles, Christian Student
| Union: James Williams, Modern Trend
! Youth Group, Of Harlem; and Misses FL
meta Hampton and Jessie Scott, OF the
Brooklyn YWCA.
In addition to Hershey the delegation
/ interviewed the following officials: So
cial Security Administrator Paul y. Nc
/ Mutt. Major Campbell C, Johnson, as
sistant to Draft Administrator Clarence
! Dykstra; DR.. Robert Weaver, administra-
tive assistant to the advisory commission
to the council Of national defense; and
William Fl. HASTE, civilian aide to Secre-
tary Of War Stimson.
Answering the problem Of getting Ne
j gro youth into defense training pro-
grams, where they have been denied ad-
4 mission in many cases, with the state
i ment that private industry will not ac-
cept them after they are trained, Social
j Security Administrator McNutt admitted
to the delegation that it was "a vicious
/ circle.
8 Answering a question pertaining to
+ training schools for Negro officers, Gen.
/ Hershey said:
mo specific arrangements have been
made. The War Department will pro-
vide training for Negro officers, if proper
progress of such individuals is shown.
: On the question Of separate battalions
t for Negroes, he answered:
] s.The Selectve Service system has
: nothing to do with where the man goes.
We are purchasing agents What they
do later is Of no interest to US. None OF
us will get anywhere without discussion.
J Even. though the act provides against
discrimination the army has the right to
introduce the question of acceptability.
Going into further detail about the
! matter of separate army uni 5 Tor Ne
groes, Major Campbell G. johnson said,
Even in New York they have establish
ed the principle of separate Negro regl-
ments in the National Guard You have
this principle scattered throughout the
country" However, Major Johnson said
he felt that progress was being made de-
spite these conditions. Neither Judge
HASTE nor myself would be here if we
did not feel we could make progress and
We have made some progress in recent
weeks he said.
HASTE Says There's Hope
In What the delegation regarded was
the frankest interview Of all, William II.
Hastie, civilian aide to the Secretary OF
War explained that he had been in Of
fee only week and would be in a bet
ter position to answer questions on De-
cember Is Hastie outlined to the group
suggestions for helping to solve the prob
lens affecting the Negro in national de-
fense.
First he said, con the side Of pro-
test, anything that does not meet with
community approval should be told to
those persons in the government inter
ested in the problem. We are always
anxious to help, and protest from the
communities will be effective in helping
us.
Second, don't hesitate to write to
Washington for factual statements or IN
formation that you want We hope to
give out information through the Negro
1 press
Divided opinion among Negroes on
the question of segregation in the army
make for great difficulty in solving this
problem" Hastie said, "As long as peo-
1 pie who are opposed to mixed units are
bale to point to Negroes as also agreeing
with this position our problem is extreme
u difficult he declared, but ! am sure
II We will make progress. :
DR.. Weaver told the group that the
Glen Martin airplane plant in Baltimore
represented one of the worst situations
that he knew anything about. No Ne
groes are being hired at this plant, which
has large government defense contracts
4 for planes. Baltimore, as city," he
said 'has little community pressure.
/ There is always need for community
pressure to get Negso into pasnts"