The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1942-08-29
the
to turn up its nose.

Certainly we have our grew
ances today. Certainly we real
ize them. and we certainly re-
sent them. 1t is our right to
present them, properly, to the
authorities, and, SO far as pos
Sible, to the American public.
Now what is meant by proper
ly? Let me assure you right
here that this does not mean
alphabetically. Neither does it
mean a clustering, bullying,
braggadocio attitude that alien
ates all decent sympathy for
our cause. Our cause is GER
tainly not being helped by riots
in military camps. This can,
and win do far more harm
than good, and may finally
result in stern repressive meas
ures by the army against
colored soldiers.
Even worse, if possible, for
our cause is that bumptious-
ness that shows itself in dis
graceful exhibitions like the re-
cent Cambridge dance hall
episode - attacking the police,
defying constituted authority.
All this plays right into the
hands of our enemies in the
south. The Georgia police who
beat up our Roland Hayes can
say to the north: "You see,
that's why we know better
than to give these blacks an
inch because they'll take an
ell" Another wrong way to
present our grievances is |
Shooting of" about a WHITE
MANS WAR. This is not an op-
portunity for the black man to |
line up with the yellow man
and get world domination. The
JapS are not fighting for the
darker races. Make no mistake |
about that. THE JAPS ARE
FIGHTING FOR THE JAPS!!!
See what they have done to the
Chinese. For the past 10 years
the Japanese have been bomb
ing, and killing, and burning
the cities of the Chinese, yell
low men like themselves.
On the other hand, see what
Hitler has done to the Jews,
and not because they were
black. Always let US remember
Hitler's declaration concerning
the colored man, as recorded in
his book, ''Mein Kampf," where
he states that it is criminal
absurdity to train a born half
ape until one believes him to
be educated, for the colored
man can only be trained, like
a poodle, not scientifically ed
ucated.
We colored Americans have
only one Country (these Unit
ed States of America We have
only one home, and that is
here! We may be the step
child,-granted - but, if his
hme is on fire, should the step
child stand sullenly by and see
it burn dGWn? Especially when
he knows the other national
families would not even take
him in, except as a slave, to
perform all the hard labor.
Now, how shall we best meet
our present problems? BY mod
Grafton. This does not mean
that we must be appeasers and
shut our eyes to the conditions
under which We are suffering.
WE SHOULD SPEAK OUT
ABOUT OUR WRONGS, But
every time we speak of our
grievances, also make it plain
that we are loyal Americans,
first of all-that our country |
is still our Mother country, |
that Mother can be wrong, ana
is wrong many times, and we
reserve the right to tell her so,
but let anyone attack her and
try to beat her up,-well, we |
are not such dastardly crea-
lures that we would make our
country's extremity our oppor-
tunity. We would not tie her
hands when she is fighting fer
her very life, and let us re-
member, we have already made
some gains since this war be-
gan, worthwhile gains.
First, President Roosevelt has
ordered defense plants not to
discriminate against colored
workers. Second, we have gain
ed the right to enlist in the
Army Air Corps. Third, we have
the right to serve under the
command of thusands of COL
ored officers. We have even
gained some concessions in the
Nayy-of all places.
Now none of these gains are