The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1941-03-07
Which Comes First?


For 10 these many generations philoso-
pliers have been debating the question
which comes first the egg or the hen, the
acorn or the oak Since all eggs come
from hens and all oaks come from acorns,
we were left IN something akin to W
cious circle. 1t was by deduction tnat
philosophers arrived at somellke the de-
fnition conclusion that the hen preceded
the egg and the oak preceded the acorn
for that which is actual must precede
that which is potential. The actual IS the
hen and the potential is the egg; the &C
tnal IS the oak and the potential IS the
acorn.
This age old philosophical conundrum
suggests the plight in which we find the
Negro artisan i'm this defense crisis. We
ara making d concerted drive to secure
every possible advantage for the Negro
artisan and this is as it should be- Inc
iron is hot and now il ever Is the tune
to strike and that with all the races
might. The high-handed way in which
the Negroes exclusion from these defense
projects has been planned and executed
IS alarming to say the least. Negroes
must understand that these military pre-
parations are not injecting new exclusion
forces to operate against the luckless Ne
gro workers.
These defense projects are not invent
ing new methods of circumscriblng the
Negro economically; they are only max
ing obvious, measures which hitherto
have been obscure Like pain in the body
they are not the cause but the effect Pain
is oftimes the salvation Of the body for
it would be too bad il there was no pain.
Pain is a warning that the life Of the
organism is in danger and what dire
things would happen were there no pam
is obvious. So the economic pangs which
distress the Negro in a crisis only serve
to call his attention to more deep-seated
disorders which sorely threaten his sur
vival.
During the first World War the Ne
gro's larger economic opportunity which
came made clear to what pressure he had
been subjected. Ways and means, then
as now revealed how potent were the
forces that threatened the Negro's fu-
ture This second World War is a reve-
lation of the constant forces which tho
subtle, are nevertheless digging at the
foundation Of the Negroes future. That
the race and its friends are conscious Of
the impending threat is fortunate 1t is
not too late to do something about it.
But one ugly fact must be faced if we
are to learn the hard lesson these war
times bring to our attention and that is,
as challenging as is the attempt to ex-
clude Negroes from defense projects is
the equally depressing fact that in far
too many instances too few Negroes are
qualified for skilled work. So if Negroes
are wise they will CLEAN two facts of the
greatest Importance for our future, and
that is, first we are the object of an ex-
cusion movement and second we are not
qualified in anything like satisfactory
numbers. In other words if Negroes were
freely admitted to the skilled trades in
defense, it still would follow that we are
limited in supply of skilled workers. This
IS even more important than the mere
fact of being limited in opportunity. Then
back to our original proposition, which
comes first, the opportunities for skilled
workers or the skilled workers them
selves. If the race is to make effective
efforts to counter these exclusion move
ments, must we find opportunities and
then prepare or must we prepare and
then make our drive for opportunities?
This writer has always been commit
ted to the proposition that so long as the
Negro must live primarily by the labors
of his hands, he must prepare even where
there are no apparent opportunities for
his skills. If there were an abundant
supply Of skilled Negro labor it would
constitute an argument we do not at pre-
sent have. The great danger is that if a
few skilled Negroes are admitted to
these defense projects the Negroes will
become complacent; whereas we should
be greatly alarmed at the limited num-
Der Of Negro artisans who can qualify
Which comes first, the skill or the OPP
portunity is question that is pressing
for an answer. Our fighting forces should
not concentrate alone on securing oppor-
tunities but on increasing the supply Of
skillsa workers. Around this ausstioa