St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1941-04-04
Facing
the
Facts
By VIM. L. Sheriff.
Side-Stepping Responsibility
It's Our Job
Helpless
Undesirable NeighbOrhoOds
Our Responsibility

Side - Stepping responsibility
would make fitting epitaph for
most of the people who fail to get
on in the world to contribute
anything to society . people who
never achieve independence, never
make anything of themselves.
No man who is afraid to trust
himself will ever amount to any
thing. No man will ever know
what is in him until he is put to
the test by responsibility of an alb
solutely Independent position .
until he is forced to bring out his
reserves .. to exercise his utmost
ingenuity to solve big problems for
himself.
What is said here of the indi-
vidual is equally true of the group
or the race.
Side stepping responsibility
would also be a fitting epitaph for
a race which fails to get on in the
world fails to achieve indie
pendence. A race which is afraid
to trust itself never amounts to
anything.
No race will ever know what is
in it until it is put to the test by
the responsibility of an absolutely
Independent position until it is
forced to bring out it's reserves .
to exercise it's utmost ingenuity to
solve big problems for itself.
We, the Negro can never hope to
achieve our civic and political
rights in America can never
take our rightful place in the social
and economic structure of this
country unless we are willing
to assume responsibilities both
grave and heavy.
We as a people must be willing
ourselves to assume responsibility
for doing something about the
ignorance of our race the pow
erty in our race the delinquency
of our youth the prostitution
of our womanhood; the filth piled
in our alleys . and streets.
We ourselves must shoulder the
responsibility of doing something
about the things which are Destroy
ing US.
The white race of this age is the
most advanced because of the read
mess of it's individual members to
shoulder responsibilities.
We, the Negro find ourselves
tagging making but little ad-
vancement socially, politically and
economically because we fear and
avoid real responsibility.
AS a Slave, we looked to our
masters for food, clothes, and shell
ter. Not even our wills were our
own. We were told when to eat,
work and sleep what was good
and what was bad. AS a conse-
quence we find ourselves today de-
pending upon others to point the
way for us. Others must initiate
our programs, select our leaders
and o. k. our institutions.
We have been led and carried
by others too long. We have
been rendered almost helpless when
it comes to acting upon our own
initiative and responsibility.
We Suffer Excessive police bru-
tally. . Our communities are
vice-ridden L. . our youth is turned
loose to vegetate in the streets .
our people are robbed by unscrup-
ulous business men rent sharks
force them to live love and
breed in rat holes and fre-traps
called homes and pay outrageous
rents, all because ministers,
politicians, school teachers, law
yers, doctors, businessmen and pro-
fessional race leaders will not
shoulder the responsibility of doing
something about it.
All because we who call ourselves
leaders find it much easier to move
out of these undesirable neighbor-
hoods" than to remain in them US
ing our training, money and infiu-
ence to make them desirable.
1t Is a Big Job :. educating our
people to be thrifty law abid-
ing. Teaching them their rights
and responsibilities, under the law.
Forcing the city to clean the thick
ly populated Negro districts as
often as it cleans any other Sec
lions, teaching the Negro to CO.
operate with the city by being just
as clean and careful about his
streets and alleys as people are in
any other part of the city. Sure
it is big job but it is our Job