The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1942-12-23

his status2 What has he to gain
old wheeze. IF you don't Ike this
country. Why don't you go back
where you came FROM His yer
sion was. IF your presence here
creates a problem. why don't we
send you back where your anees-
tors came FROM" He embodied
this philosophy in a Senate bill to
resettle American Negroes in Afri-
ca
is not surprising IN view OF its I'M
But the bill was killed. which
piieations. If we were to send our
unemployed Negroes back to Afri-
ca. it would be logical to send our
unemployed Poles back to Poland,
our unemployed French back to
France. and perhaps even our IN
employed of English descent back
to England.
Actually. there is no such sim
pie problem of the American Ne
gro. Our colored citizens regard
themselves as truly American as
any other citizens. and indeed
they are. Somehow we must find
a place - and a useful, respect
able place - for them in our So
ciety. This will require some con
scious effort. In this country one
of our habits of thinking is that
everything gets better in time.
We believe in the inevitablity of
progress. If you are not familiar
with the problem of the Negro,
you may assume that his lot has
been steadily improving since the
time of his emancipation This is
not altogether true.
Tn the matter of voting, for In
stance, the Negro enjoyed the
most freedom in the so-called re-
construction years just after the
Civil War. Today the Negro cleo
torate Is largely disenfranehised
in the South. At one time Negroes
were allowed to enlist in the
Navy. and they are remembered
for the good account they gave of
themselves with Perry at Lake
Erie and also in the Battle of
Manila Bay. But in later years.
Negroes lost the right to enlist In
the Navy except as servants. and
this istuation has been remedied
only in the last few months.
In some respects. the Negro
also seems to have lost ground
economically. There was tine
when southern Negroes made up
larse part of the skilled artisan
Glass. In the years previoua to
emancipation, there were many
Negroes among the South's me
chanies. machinists, and railroad
erf' GERS and brakemen. After
the Civil War. Negroes were
gradually forced out of these
fields into the class of unskilled
labor. More recently, the depres-
sion brought them great difficult
ties In general, Negroes were the
first employees to be dismissed.
They were often replaced by white
workers They even lost out in po-
sitions which they had tradition
ally held for years, such as wait
ing tables. According to the Bur-
eau of the Census, Negroes suffer
ed heavily in agriculture. In the
decade between 1890 and 1910,
the number of non-white operators
of farms fell off 211h per cent.
During this period, Negroes lost
ownership of 2,750.000 acres of
land.
But If the Negro seems TO have
suffered reversals, there can be
no doubt that he has also made
many gains. In the matter of ed
for instance, he has made
steady progress from the ignor-
ance and superstition of sia 'ery.
His educational facilities are by
no means complete, but they are
I recently learned
of tn peoneer efforts to
educate the Negro from new
book by DR.. Frank ]. KlIngberg.
professor of History on the Los
Angeles campus of the University
of California. His book is called,
An Appraisal of the Negro in CO.
lonial South Carolina, and it deals
with the early attemps of Christ
ian missionaries to convert and
educate the Negro. II the eduea-