St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1942-08-07
RANDOLPH'S SPEECH
Continued from Page Two

\SOllI11luCu 4IOill dSC WIZ
is today through the organized
church,; labor, business which ''be-
came ascendant when individual
and partnership units were merged
and transformed into giant cartels,
corporations, holding companies
and trusts; education; govern
ment.
Need Unity
The need of the Negro is unity, the
labor leader outlined further.
THE condition from which the Negroes
in America and all over the world suffer
most is not because they are not white,
but because they are not organized.
The strong will invariably Cypress the
weak. The law of the Survival of
the Fittest" prevails: The fit are the Or
ganized and educated. The white race
does not hold power and prestige solely be-
cause it is white but mainly because of
organization and education.
ireland" he illustrated, though white,
felt the brutal heel of imperial Great
Britain for some 500 years. The oppres-
sion only stopped when Hishmen stopped
fighting each other; united and fought
| their common enemy. Japan was kicked
around by the imperialistic powers until
she became a united nation. China and
India will be either the happy hunting
ground of white or yellow imperialists un-
| til they forge the unity they need.
Negroes need to build organizations
that can assemble and mobilize into great
masses to struggle for economic, political
| and social power" Randolph advised. Be
moaning the late start of the Negro in
manifesting an interest in organizing his
| labor power, he blamed Negro leaders who
not only opposed unions because of their
discrimination against the Negro worker,
but because some of the Negro leaders
benevolence of white capitalists that made
huge profits out of low wages and long
hours of unrepresented workers.
| Others" he went on, %. pampered
Intellectual and professional pimps of
white angels who must have some objects
| for their paternalism to salve their hurt
consciences, idealized the talented tenth
and considered their removal from the
working Negro. tribute to and evidence OF
their great culture, prestige, position.
The leaders did not see that while art
| and culture were necessary for the good
| and beautiful life, they do not create
power, that power resides in the working
man, and that the possession of power
is condition to the securing of justice
and liberty and equality.
This portion cheered by the audience
| Randolph declared:
The failure to go to the so-called COM
mon. working Negroes wherever they are
| In the saloons and poolrooms, the shacks
and novels, and if, perchance there be-
the cutters, to impress them with their
Importance, necessity and common kinship
in the struggle for power to strike down
Jim crow in America is the greatest blum.
der Negro leadership has made. The divi-
sion and chasm between the uneducated
and educated, the poor and relatively COM
| Portable Negro, has bred suspicion and dis
trust the mart Of tho n
cynical, patronizing attitude on the part
of the latter toward each other. This in
| ternal racial condition of disunity has been
and still is the best invitation to victimiza-
ton and exploitation of the Negro people"
Mass Action
Turning to the policy of mass action,
winch IS his program, Randolph advocated
| mass action ''in the form of parades.
strikes, picketing, demonstrations in huge
public meetings, mass petitions, kilograms
and letters" as the most effective strategy
for minority.
This is labor's weapon" he recalled,
Strikes and picket lines have raised the
workers from slaves and serfs to free
workers."
The workers have met the challenge of
power centralized in the hands of a few,
with national and international unions
and federated bodies" he went IN, land
thrown their economic, financial and moral
weight back of strikes and picket lines
along the far flung industrial battle front.
That the Negro must also create and
build great mass movements for offensive
and defensive struggle, in our modern
world OF mass production, mass consump-
ton, mass labor struggles, mass political
demonstrations, mass religious and educa-
tional efforts, is written in the stars of
| his destiny.
CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.