St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1943-08-27

back and killed by policeman In
the presence of his mother. Blind,
unreasoning fury swept the COM
munity with the speed of light
ming. The available symbols of
the oppressor, as was the case in
Detroit's East Side, were the shin
ing plate-glass windows Of stores
along One Hundred and Twenty
fifth Street. At the beginning,
there was no looting. Nothing but
blind fury was expressed. Later,
from the more poverty-stricken
areas of Harlem, poured those who
entered the stores through the
broken windows and began looting.
Their acts were criminal and I'M
forgivable. But let him who would
criticize pause long enough to put
himself in the place of the hooters.
Still barred from many defense in
dustries in the area because of
color, with dark memories of the
depression years when 10 per cent
of Harlem was on relief because
Negroes are hired last and there
were not enough jobs for white
workers, hemmed in a ghetto where
they are forced to pay dispropor-
tionately high rents for rat and
vermin-infested apartments, the
Bigger Thomases of New York
passed like cloud of locusts over
the stores of Harlem.
But the usual pattern of riots
did not obtain. I spent the night
touring the district with Mayor
LaGuardia, Police Commissioner
Valentine and residents of the
Harlem community. Mayor La
Guardia was on the scene a few
minutes after the trouble started
and remained there, as did Com
missioner Valentine, without sleep
or sufficient food until daybreak
Tuesday.
The Mayor and the Police Com
missioner did not content them
selves with bringing in policemen
and anti-mob paraphernalia. Even
before the policemen poured in,
Mayor LaGuardia called all the
leaders of public opinion in Har-
lem who could be reached. A small
board of strategy was set up. One
of the first steps taken was to re-
quest the army to send Negro as
we'll as white MP's into the area,
and to have them perform their
duties of rounding up military per-
sonnet in the riot area, in mixed
units instead of separate ones.
This had a calming effect on the
community.
All during the night Negroes
known to the people of Harlem
broadcast from sound trucks ex-
ploding the false rumor that Ban
dy had been killed and urging the
people to return to their homes
and to stop vandalism and other
violent acts. Coupled with this was
the magnificent restraint and eff
cheney of the police. Daylight saw
the diminution of violence. An ex-
hausted community, it's fury spent,
was shocked at the damage done.
Decent members of the commun-
ity, most of whom had slept
through the night unaware of what
had taken place, were appalled,.
Condemnation far more severe
than any person outside the COM
munity could utter was voiced in
increasing volume throughout
Harlem against the acts of ire
sponsible, criminal persons.
How different was Detroit!
There weak Mayor hid while Ne
groes were beaten on the steps of
the City Hall itself. New York's
Mayor was in the thick of the
trouble, often at great personal
risk. During the early morning
mob of whites was forming down
near the New York Central's One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street
station. Refusing to wait long
enough for Police Commissioner
Valentine to supply him with a
patrol car of policemen to protect
him, the ebullient Mayor bundled
me into one-seater police car in
which we were sped to the section.
We found the rumor to be utterly
false.
Returning, we came through
Lenox Avenue, where there was
looting. Regardless of personal
danger, the Mayor shouted, "Put
that stuff down." to a group of
youthful vandals. Utterly startled,
they dropped what they had in
their hands and fled.
New York's Police Commission
er Lewis ]. Valentine provided an
equally sharp contrast to Detroit's
Commissioner Witherspoon. Even
more remarkable was the attitude
of the police themselves. All dur
ing Sunday night and early Mon
day morning, thousands of police
poured into the Twenty-eighth Pre-
cinct straight from eight hours of
duty. Prior to being sent out on
the streets they were herded into
an insufferably hot squad room
where single drinking fountain
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