Minneapolis spokesman., 1942-01-30
THIS
WORLD
Don't Buy Bucks!
Japs, Nazis Laugh!
Labor Unions
Eyes Don't See!

Buick" during the past few years,
Those who own Bucks might be
interested in knowing that the
Buick division of the General
Motors Corp. has an unsavory
record as regards the employment
of skilled Negro workers. This fact
was brought out in hearings con-
Quoted in Chicago 10 days ago by
the Presidents Fair Employment
Practices Committee. Of course
nobody will be able to buy Bucks
for some time now!
Japanese and German papers are
reported to have gleefully head
lined the lynching and burning
Sunday night of a human being in
Missouri. Such lynchings ought to
have a great influence in demOral-
izing the millions of Negroes who
are being called upon to support
our War effort. The Associated
Press and the United Press played
their usual subtle anti-NegrO role
by reporting that the poor unfOr-
tunate Negro who was burned by
his civilized white fellOw-humans
had admitted" his guilt. Have you
ever heard of a news despatch from
either of the news agencies report
ing that a Negro victim did any
thing else but "admit" his guilt?
Note to Father Francis Gilligan
and Samuel Scheiner: According to
the NEW YORK TRIBUNE an
OPM agent speaking at the New
York Interracial Council said the
most reactionary labor unions in so
far as the admission of Negroes is
concerned are those dominated by
Irish Catholics and that the most
liberal are those controlled by
Jews.
The stupidity and negligence
which characterized the Pearl Har-
Dor surprise of our armed forces
has its counterpart in the failure
to utilize Negro man-pOwer in all
branches and ranks of service. Very
few Negroes are being trained as
officers in the Army and the strik-
ing heroic but pathetic figure of a
Navy Negro mess attendant firing
an anti-aircraft gun at the Japs de-
spite the fact that because he is a
Negro he is not allowed to learn to
use Navy weapons, is the kind of
stupidity by the powers that be of
which we speak.
Perhaps you noticed that the
President of the Union Pacific
R.R. attacked the American Red
Cross for it's adherence to a "caste"
system. Looks like we are not the
only ones who don't think the Red
Cross is the last word. Talking
with a Negro World War veteran
this week he reaffirmed what we
already had heard many times.
That: the only organization in
France which treated Negro SOL
diers like human beings was the
Salvation Army. The Red Cross
and the Y. M. C. A. and others
were among those who, the soldier
said, left the Negro soldier with
no pleasant memories.
COnfdentially, our country, ev-
cry citizen in it, is going to have to
work hard to defeat the Axis
Powers. There are many of US, es-
pecially those of us who labor in
the newspaper field, who would like
to forget everything but helping
America win this war. BUT no,
there are hundreds of things like
this weeks lynching in Missouri
which forces us to spend valuable
time fighting against injustice,
when we should be building morale.
The white leaders of this country
from the President on down have
it in their power to halt most of the
abuses which are visited upon Ne
grOes. That they do not immedi-
ately do it indicates that they have
eyes but do not see.
The resolution by SO out of Al
leading Negroes who met in New
York two weeks ago which said
that the 13 million Negroes were
not wholeheartedly and unreserved-
ly behind the war effort should
have been a sign of the feeling
among this group of our American
people.
Yet, for the most part, high Off
cials, public figures, business and
labor leaders go on blithely ignor-
ing such signs Of disunity. To our
mind it is indicative that we'll have
to have many more Pearl Harbors
before we awaken to our real duty
as a nation whose ayowed purpose