St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1943-05-14
A Critical Appraisal
of the Negroes Chief
Weapon: The Negro Press
BY THOMAS SANCTION IN THE NEW REPUBLIC

page box on the subject. Joseph
D. Bib, in The Courier, one of
the first to pursue this theme, and
Lucius C. Harper, in The Defender,
have written brilliant columns,
Enoc P. Waters, reporter for The
Chicago Defender, has written the
best series on the South and the
wartime race problem that has
been written. It is still running.
He has dug for information in the
good places and he has dug deep.
By any standards, he is first-rate
reporter. The editorial page of
The Norfolk Journal and Guide is
one of the best in the country and
Arthur Davis, whose column ap-
pears ON the page, has written col
umns defending the Negro press
that were far better writing and
reasoning than the attacks. 1t is
unfortunate that few white people
will ever see them.
These few accolades are based on
no inclusive judgment of Negro
writer's. There are many outstand-
ing columns and newspapermen
which have not been mentioned and
many which I don't even know
about. Furthermore, there are a
whole lot of brickbats which would
have to be thrown along with the
bouquets in any criticism Of indi-
vidual writers. Many of the gossip
columns, for instance, seem to me
vulgar and immature, with lower
standards, if possible, than the
usual gossip columns in the white
press. I have seen a number Of
columns which might well have
been rejected by the editors as part
of the better-conduct campaign.
The fundamental weakness of
the Negro press is it's strong tent
dency to overcompensate. Where
Negro achievement is sighted in
the white press, it is often over
praised in the race press. Negro
crime is apt to be given subjective
and apologize treatment. Most
white newspapers in New York;
have overplayed and emphasizedI
recent robberies and assaults in
Harlan, suggesting that race,
rather than deplorable social con-
ditions, was responsible. The Ne
gro press in New York has been
carried to another extreme in its
reaction against these stories. They
have counter-attacked the white
man on the basis Of his own GRIM
inal record, and have tried to ex-
plain away Harlem's numerous re-
cent crimes instead of discussing
both the existence of these crimes
and their causes. Where the Negro
race is systematically disparaged in
the white press Frequently unin-
tentionally or through ignorance)
and the white man given the benefit
Of every doubt, the reverse is true
in the Negro press. There are two
ways Of looking at such overcom-
pensation; one is to say superficial
ly that its fundamental cause is
the white mans treatment Of the
Negro; but it is far more impor-
tant to the Negro people and to the
goals they hope to achieve that the
men who write for the Negro press
try to rise to a larger point of
view than the eye-for-an-eye phi
losophy. It will take this sort of
greatness on the part Of the Ne
gro's leaders to carry the fight for
him against enormous odds.
Racism is a bad game no matter
who plays it. Despite such out
spoken features as the better-con-
duct campaigns, or the fact that
much of the criticism Of white af-
fairs is justified, there is an ac-
companying tendency to create a
chauvinistic racism among the Ne
gro people, and feeling Of sub
jective bitterness toward all whites.
"The crafty Caucasian" writes one
columnist, Seems to derive a GER
tain sadistic delight in seeing US
handicap ourselves, and he will pay
US his good money to indulge US in
these sordid and miserable roles"
(blackface roles in radio plays).
Another says, "What will 1t take
to make her "a white woman living
near the Tuskegee airfeld) and the
rest of the white devils of the South
believe in US and let US have fair
chance?" This is a moving SEN
people white devils creates destruc-
tive resentment on both sides of
the color line, when an understand
ing Of the race problem and a
knowledge Of the things which have
to be done to solve it, are needed.
Short fiction in the Negro press
deals most often with lynching and
white criminality. Most Southern
ers have become stereotyped vii
lains with names like "Ratley" and
"Stalk." This is no more inaccu-
rate than the mawkish self-glorif-
cation which Southern newspapers
and writers have engaged in for a