The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1943-09-18
THE FACTS
III
OUR
NEWS

poHHCst seSO0to ~ tuo CITY 81 Ue-
troit. srs beginning TO put their
minds TO work for the coming cleo.
ton They have cooked up . few
fss ones for the public 10 digest.
Take the msyoraIty situations: For
mer Mayor Bouies 10 seeking to
gather his bigoted crowd for . vote
large enough 10 make him . con-
testant In the election after the
primary. Former Mayor Boules has
some good traits personally but ne
Is tied In with the wrong crowd.
The people who support him are
anti-Negro. anti-Jewish and anti
Catholic. and sometimes mcthtnks
anti-everything that has TO do with
democracy. A lot Of people fee,
that the former mayor will gather
4 lot Of votes. They believe that
the anti-democratic forces In the
lily OF Detroit are very strong. The
'nti-democratic forces In the city
Z Detroit are not very strong.
ormer Mayor Boules will get COM
aratively . handful of votes. He
vii not have . ghost Of . chance.
Commissioner Frank fitzgerald Is
liberal, Q hard worker, and .
man whom ] admire a great deal
Politically he has been fortnight
and progressive. He has not had
much experience with city govern.
ment. This. however. need not pre-.
vent his making 4 good mayor II
he had q chance Of being elected.
He has good education; he is a stu.
dent OF public life. and learns
quickly. The UAW.CIO support
will put him definitely in the run
ming after the primary. He will
come closest to being elected mayo.
against Mayor Edward J. Jefferies
The other msyoralty candidates are
no. TO be considered. They are
merely cluttering up the election
ballot. They have nothing TO offer
and are not even conscious OF what
ii means to be head Of a city such
as Detroit
Our present mayor, Edward J.
Jefferies, has experience and has
been . good mayor in many re-
spects. Anybody who was mayor
at the time Of the recent race riot,
vrnuvA h.va h>.u L.. a. A.. IIRg.A
situation. Mayor Jeneries knows
this. and faces IL realistically.
The mayor has made many mis-
takes, this Il 70 be expected. Prob
ably tho biggest thing that Negroes
have against the mayor Is the way
the police department functioned
during the recent race riot. There
Is no question in my mind. but that
the criticism. In many instances. Is
justified. The criticism however
does not have Its source In who
happens to be mayor ut any given
period In the history Of Detroit
The criticism has it's source in
the police department itself. The
police department in the city OF
Detroit, is something o. a Closed
Co-poration;" it is composed OF
about 300 men and women who
by their very attitudes and actions
make or break their officers and
superiors. They are protected by
law. that for the most part, they
create, They create the law that
protects themselves to a very dan
serous degree, as far as public pro-
lection is concerned.
Negroes In the city OF Detroit
dielike the present mayor. because
they say that he Is bias. and not
pro-Nesro. MANY bigoted whites
In the city Of Detroit are saying
that the mayor Is too much In favor
Of Negroes. and does not handle
Negroes with = Arm enough hand.
They call him "A Niger Lover"
The mayor Is In . happy position
Of being somewhere between the
two accusations. He ought to take
courage In this. because this indi-
Gates that he Is approaching the
truth. Right Is never at either
extreme. but somewhere between
the two extremes.
The present mayor will be re-
elected, not by large majority.
but he will be reelected. There
is nobody in the held who equals
MS ability, and experience in these
critical times. Certainly. all Of us
wish that the riot situation had
been handled differently. and it
would have been handled different
~, II most OF us had as much fore
sight as We have hIndsight. There
s only one way TO handle a riot.
and thai is by. force and plenty o.
force. The city OF Detroit was not
prepared with that force. Looking
at it with hindsi ght, agree with
everybody else. that IL should have
been prepared.
All Of the present councilmen
will be reelected. The one coun-
Gilman that we will have to work
hard for, and this goes for labor
and Negroes, Is George Edwards.
George Edwards has stuck his "po-
litical neck out" for Negroes and
labor. Negroes and labor must
demonstrate that they will support
q man who takes q stand genuinely
and sticks by II.
n labor and the Negroes let Mr.
Edwards down. Il will simply say
TO politicians, that where the lib
eral causes are concerned, one has
70 go easy. Which will mean, that
for long time 20 come in the city
Of Detroit. il will be hard matter
70 get a hrst rate public Official
70 carry the ball unreservedly for
the so-called "underdog"
Atty. Edward Simmons and clsr-
ence Williams. Negro candidates
are both young men Of integrity
and intelligence. Either one OF
,hem and certainly both Of them.
unuid eivs ux hne representation