St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1943-08-20

change, and explosion, which Is
possible result of too rapid change,
opposite poles is to confuse the
analysis of race relations.
The likelihood of success for a
non-violent change is determined
to large extent by the social cir
cumstances prevailing when the
change is attempted. A minority
finds it's best opportunity to ad-
vance at time when its claims for
equal rights and privileges are in
accord with the social aims of the
dominant group. Since America is
just now deeply concerned not only
with living up to democratic prin-
ciples at home but, together with
other United Nations, with guar
anteeing democracy to all peoples
everywhere, the present is a logical
time for the Negro to seek to i'm
prove his position. Those who want
Negroes voluntarily to relinquish
their claims to democratic rights
and privileges are either not willing
to put their ideologies to the test
of reality or are denying by infer
ence that this global war is being
fought for the right of peoples
everywhere to be free.
The Negro is in many respects
making a more rational analysis
of contemporary events than many
who would give him counsel. The
struggle in which we are engaged
is one against OppressiOn-whether
from the tyrannical forces of Hit
Ter, MussOlini, and HirOhitO, or
from the colonial Imperialism of
the British Empire, or from the
racial imperialism of the United
States. To win a cheap military
victory over the Axis and then to
continue the exploitation of subject
peoples within the British Empire
and the subOrdinatiOn of Negroes
in the United States is to set the
stage for the next world war
probably a war of color.
The manner in which the present
war is prosecuted will determine
the peace which is achieved and the
new world order which is estab-
lished. Writing the peace is not a
process that begins with the dec
laration of an armistice. The move
ment of men, the opening of fronts,
the political deals made during the
war shape the peace long before the
diplomats sit around a table. The
participation of China, of India, and
of all the dark peoples, including
the American Negro, will consti-
tute a moral claim which cannot be
ignored by the United Nations.
When two worlds are at war
the world of fascism and the world
of demOcracy-any hope for the
brotherhood of man can rise only
out of the struggle of people united
for a common end. To insure VIC
tory for the common man, who has
too often been modified to fight for
noble objective only to find him
self cheated by selfish interests
when a military victory was won,
the essential elements of brother
hood must be achieved during the
struggle itself. Brotherhood is both
the means and the end of the strug-
gle. This to many people is as
rational as is the theory of gradual
ism or counting small gains. The
Negro by refusing to accept gradu-
alism may be helping America to
save itself, helping to establish the
new world order which must even
tually come if Western civilization
is not lost to fascist reaction.
This is not a program of action
except in the most general sense.
Any "pat" solution-any formula
should be regarded with great eau
ton. Perhaps the first step toward
solution should be the realization
that the problem of the American
Negro is a world problem, that it
is part of the problem of all the
common people of the world. Some
how through some mechanism,
there must be achieved in America
and in the world a moral order
which will include the American
Negro and all other oppressed peo-
Piles. The present war must be con-
sidered as one phase of larger
struggle to achieve this new moral
order. Nothing must blind US to
the necessity of securing the larger
victory. In terms of the safety and
welfare of our country and of our
way of life, the struggle for the
rights of the American Negro is as
important as the struggle for mill
tary victory over the enemy.
Church Notes