The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1943-07-01

HAZEL
EYES
BY Hazel Brannon

Bloodshed and racial rfotlng in many
places throughout the nation have
brought into public prominence a prob
lem hat has been steadily growing in
the past several years. 1t is a problem
of the gravest kind and one that must
be the subject of serious thought and
great concern by the white and colored
leaders of the American people.
That problem is now with us and it
must be solved intelligently. The only
way we can find a solution to any
problem is to first recognize the fact
that we nave a problem, bring it out
into the open. OF that there can be
no doubt. When riots nearly erupt the
nations capital, when martial law is
declared in Detroit, when vital defense
industry stops because of a conflict be-
tween two races, we must see that we
have a racial problem.
The white man and the black man
have dwelt together in peace and har-
mony in the south for many, many
years, because each has known his place
and kept it. Each has had his own
Ideals, customs, and habits and they
have not conflicted. The white man has
bis own way of living and thinking and
the negro has his. They are not neces-
sarily in conflict as some Of our meddl-
ing friends would have us believe.
The good negro is just as proud Of
his race and it's integrity as the white
man, the Indian, or the Chinese. He
realizes that God must have intended
for there to be a great colored race or
be would not have created it. He is not
fooled by loose talk concerning Social
equality" He knows there is no such
thing as Equality" even among white
men, that some are by nature endowed
with more gifts han others; that even
IL all men were created identically they
would not stay that way because some
would grow and develop and others
would waste their talents.
The wise man realizes whether he
be white or black, hat as long as tastes
and habits and appetites of people differ
there can be no absolute Equality"
among races of people because every
person is a different individual and
has to decide what is best for himself.
The vast majority Of the colored race
in the south know that the white man
is his friend; when he is in trouble
Che first person he goes to is a white
Friend. And the white friend doesn't let
him down. He values highly the friend
ship of his negro friends.
The wise leaders of the negro race
know they rave advanced further in
the shortest length of time than any
other race in the history of civiliza-
tion. From the time the rich Yankee ped
dlers brought them over in their boats
from Africa and sold them into slavery
to the southern planters they have
steadily advanced with the march of
progress and time. Thc progress of the
negro in the south has been as rapid
as he has been able to assimilate by
virtue of his intellect and temperament.
But the south and America are, a
white mans country and both races
know it. 81 ASA 1srHM8
America is a. white mans country.
We may have taken it away from the
Indians but it is. nevertheless, a white
mans country just as Liberia is a
black mans country where no white
man is allowed to be a citizen. America
is big e~nough(for both races. LIS
Especially isNthe south a white mans
country. Here, where we have ten mil
lion of the thirteen million negroes in
the United States, the races, of neces-
sity, must come into closer contact with
each other than in intersections of
the country where only a handful of col
ored people live. That is why the So
called NEGRO problem" must be solved
by southern white and negro people. It
cannot be solved for us by our northern
friends nor in Washington. We NEST
solve it ourselves because it is peculiar
ly our own. No amount of legislating
in Washington however inspired can
change that.
The southern white man knows the
southern negro better than any other
person in the world. He knows him
better physically, mentally and psyche
logically than anyone else in the eoun-
try. The good negro respects and likes
the southern white man more than any
"ehei "hite hiai. ne ALSO fhuOWSt tDnt
the person who would make ftrouble, be-
tween him and his white. friends is either
his worst enemy, or motivated by ignor-
ance, or is just a plain trouble-maker.
1t is encouraging to know that south
ern white people are at last beginning
to recognize the existence of trouble
melted by people from the outside who
have made a second carpetbagging ex-
petition into the south under the guise
of the New Deal, Bodies like the Delta
Council meet and make 2recommenda-
tions for betterment of racial relations
between the white planters and the ne
groes in the Delta. Among these recon-
%mendations are better schools with ade-
quate equipment, and better prepared
teachers; a more uniform wage scale
in agriculture; enlarged and adequate
disqualification, medical clinics and
health workers; more courteous treat
ment of negroes in retail establishments.
These recommendations show that we
in our own way and in our own time