St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1942-12-11

sign last week. They just didn't
want nuthin' to do with u.s."
white officers
"Yeah. Lot a them white boys
still look at US like we amt nuthin'
just to shine their shoes. They
walk away from me when 1 walk
down the street. They go out when
l come into a pub for drink. They
change their seats when 1 sit down
in movie. He'll, sometimes I think
maybe sometime one of these
guysu be needin' drink from nv
f1ask-maybe lynn wounded an
bleedin' and dyin'. 1 told one of
my white officers that, and he
growled at me and said, You just
leave 'em there bleedin', don't touch
EN- So I'll leave 'em. I'll leave
'em bleed and bleed till they die"
Cat this moment two drunken
white sailors staggered up to US.
One of them plopped his arm on the
Corporal's shoulder and said,
"Darky, we're absolutely broke;
could va let US have something?
We haven't a shilling tour name. "
Without a moments reflection he
reached in his pocket, took out a
half-crown, and put it in the sailors
hand.)
II have a friend Che continued)
came over here in 1886 with a band
white fellow-married an English
girl. I was talkinN to them one
day. He went across the street
to get a paper. I stayed talkin'
to his wife. Three white American
soldiers came by-seen me talkin'
to a white girl, and they ripped
her fur piece off an tore it up to
pieces"
"Do you go into any of the Amer
lean Service clubs here, Red Cross
Club, and so forth?"
II just keep by myself. 1 don't
go lookin' for trouble no more, But
sometimes when I have to stay in
London overnight, see I drive a
truck down here from where I'm
stationed in Birmingham bout once
a week, an when I gotta stay over,
l go over to the British soldiers
club an they put me up. They treat
you much better than at the Ameri-
can clubs. When the Americans
do give you a bed, they make you
feel they don't want to give it to
you"
"How do most of you boys feel
about the war;"
81 think most of US feel it don't
matter much what happens. We
just know we have to fight, so we
fight"
II know there's a lot more that
has to be done, but don't you think
some progress is being made? Ne
groes are being trained as pilots
now, and many more branches of
the services are open to them than
ever before"
yeah, that's right, an, well,
maybe after America gets a little
messin' around, and gets bombed
up some, it'll be better. They just
been having it too easy, too much
to eat an everything. Maybe after
they get messed up some, they'll
begin to understand, maybe it'll
come out :awright."
"You feel much more comfortable
with English soldiers than Ameri-
cans?"
"Sure man, they drink with va,
they talk with va. There amt no
difference with them. I'd like to
stay here after the war, except the
United States is still your home and
you have feelin' you wanna get
back to your home no matter how
bad things are there"
"Well, I hope it will work out
better for you fellows. That's one
thing this wars about-equal rights
for all people. So long, soldier, I
have to run along"
$50 long,"
1t was the same story with each
of the many Negro soldiers I talked
to: "The English treat us fine
it's in the camp and around we get
all the trouble and riots"
Apparently nothing is being done
by the army or any other govern
ment agency to remedy the situa-
ton except some clumsy attempts
at segregation. Instead of some kind
of educational program designed to
eradicate the color bias by driv-
ing home to white soldiers how silly
it is to talk about fighting for de-
mocracy when they don't mix with
colored troops in their own ranks,
official policy seems to be, "Keep
them apart-as far apart as pos
sible."
Both Russia and Germany have
effectively used their theological
comndissars to help build their DOW
erful armies. Though we reject
their systems Of government, we
could strengthen our own army
tremendously by a similar tech
nique Of indoctrination. Let us have
in our army commissars of zap
piled democracy" to keep our own
theology alive in the minds and
hearts of soldiers. There is a vital
need for. such a department, not
only as a means of overcoming Jim
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