St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1941-01-17
THE
MILE-POST
By Samuel A. Reed
Leadership

At this writing find myself
pOwerless to resist the temptation
to get right down beside the rock
pile and toss q few well-aimed
bricks. What l have to say on the
question of leadership, / consider
applicable to any community which
best suits the fancy and expert
ence of the reader. The setting
makes no difference; the characters
are the same.
| Apart from the handicap of
race, the Negro people are still
(but thankfully to a lesser extent)
suffering from the curse of incom-
petent, misguided, corrupt leader
ship.
There are those who would lead
but do not possess the ability. To
mention them in passing is suffi-
cient.
And there are others who can
lead but have a poor sense of di-
rection. These are the lost rams
leading lost sheep.
But unquestiOnably, to my mind,
the most despicable pack Of ras-
Gals are those brazen scOundrels
| who prostitute their leadership
ability by deliberately leading their
people astray. They could be hon
est, sincere, fearless leaders of
their race, but by choice they are
the most destructive fifth-cOlumn-
lists who ever stood in the path of
racial progress.
AS a class, these leaders" are
not new. Their forbears were the
docile "Uncle Tom" Negroes who
acted as informers in the days of
slavery. Then, just as now, they
served an indispensable purpose
for their white masters.
And this same type of person
is recognized in too many instanc-
es as a present leader of his peO-
pie. But mind you this. The power
and prestige of these false leaders
does not stem from any real or
spontaneous approval from the peO-
pie. Instead their positions are
made possible by the clever man.
ipulatiOns of their white masters.
And when l say white masters"
l mean just what l imply - that
these vile creatures are in fact the
slaves Of certain social, political,
and economic rOyalists in the white
race. o..
Their sole task, upon which their
"inestimable" positions depend, is
to keep the masses of Negroes ig-
norant and cowed and divided so
that they will never know their
rights or else be afraid to demand
them-so that they can be kept in
submission by fear and treachery
and never rise to claim their place
in the sun. This is the order from
the white masters; this the task
of his black slaves.
These puppet leaders are recog-
nized as spokesman for the Ne
gro people. They represent" US in
our city halls and state capitOls.
They act as contact men for the
entire Negro group.
Nothing happens in the Negro
community that escapes their criti-
cal appraisal. They see all, know
all, and tell everything Z. to their
masters. They and their very ex-
elusive cliques control the more i'm
portant Negro organizations.
If, by some unfortunate over
sight on the part of these leaders,
the Negro people become aroused
over some particularly fragrant
racial injustice, these stOOges are
delegated to quiet the unrest.
If any person dares champion a
cause more radical than the cause
of complete submission, then these
knaves circulate sinister rumors of
Communism or "Red" in order to
discredit those who speak out for
militant action.
And so the ''leaders" lead on!
Now I am not calling any
names. Il hardly think it neces-
sary.) Still I exclude no guilty per-
son from these charges for reason
of that persons social class, rank,
or creed. AS is generally the case,
these betrayers of the race are
some Of our most highly respected
and influential citizens. So if by
chance one of my bricks hits home,
I will be elated. would then have
but one regret that I could not
make more devastating hits :.
with mora hv-;cES