The Omaha guide., 1942-11-28
WHY NEGROES SHOULD SERVE
IN THE ARMY
Continued from page ~

(cOnClnueQ from page -
I belong to no organization, and
1 act solely for myself. But 1 know
L reflect the feeling Of many thous
and of my fellow Americans of Ne
gro blood, who are called upon TX
fight for a democracy they do not
share.
I am taking my stand now, l an
full yconvinced that in so doing
take a position on democratic prin
ciplts which are far more important
to me than any penalty I may saf
fer.
I have arrived at my position not
lightly. l am not a man whose
temper leads him to public notice
l would refrain from resisting if
could! Yet 1 cannot live with my
self and yield the ground of prin
ciple on which I stand, and fcI
which 1 am prepared to take what
evtr consequences come.
After l had read that letter OF
yours, we talked for quite a whilel
| raised a number of questions q.
bout your decision and you answer.
ed them. Usually you got back to
the point of your letter: that you
had the constitutional right to fight
for your country on a basis of equal
ity and could not fight otherwise.
That seemed to me to be hardest of
all arguments for a white man to
meet.
1 told you that 1 believed this 10
be a two-front war.
*The military front against the
Fascist armies in the field.
*The political front to improve
and broaden and strengthen our de-
mocracy at home.
I said it seemed to me that the
military from was the more urgent
for. if we lose that fight, any gains
made on the other front will be
meaningless. And it is on the home
political front that the Negro must
win his fight for a full of
democracy. Granting that the Ne
gro has not achieved real demoa-
racy-for the very foundation Of
democracy is equality argued
that if we lost on the military fronr
the Negro would lose even the right
to fight for the things that have
been denied him.
You agreed that it is a two-front
war. but you said that you could
not believe that one front more ur-
gent than the other. You said in
any event, that you didn't believe
we could win on the military front
until and unless we had unity at
home. That, you said, could CONG
only if the Negro did achieve his
full measure of democracy.
I asked if you didn't think that
even the right to fight for equality
worth fighting for. I said that
the stake of the Negro was the
same as that of the underprivileged
white man, that democracy was the
only means by which common peo-
pie, white or black, could win and
keep freedom.
| add now a few samples of other
people who suffer in some degree or
other the same kind of discrimin-
alton that burdens you. The Sou
thern white sharecropper, the Jew
particularly in communities where
he is numerous. the Catholic, part
icularly in communities where he is
few-those, too, are victims Of dis
elimination. Democracy is the che
protection for all of them.
You agreed with what l said a.
bout democracy. You said that be-
cause of the color of your skin,
your stake in it was greater than
mine. l understood what you
meant. AS a white man. 1 had q
quality. AS a Negro. you did not.
TO you. the very denial Of this her
itage gave it a higher value than
it could have to me, for l had it
and took it for granted. But, you
added, You felt you had to make ev-
en- this great sacrifice for the prize
iple you stood for.
I asked you if this was the only
way you knew to fight for the e.
quality of your people: to refuse to