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

and love of country as he told
oath as an officer of the Unit
country with his life.
"Ten minutes later boarded the
bus to Washington along with some
of my fellow officers white boys
from Georgia, Mississippi and Ar
kansas. We were all so excited and
happy over winning our commits
sions that forgot we were still IN
the South" he said. His trim, i'm
maculately clad body sagged and a
cloud came over his face as he told
me of what happened then.
"Hey, all nigras sit in the back
of the bus!" the bus driver yelled
at him.
81 made up my mind right then
that had taken the last insult from
crackers 1 was going to take" the
Negro officer told me grimly.
"If l had to die for democracy,
1 decided that there was no better
time or place than right then. l
told the driver was not going to
sit in any jim-crow section and that
if he was man enough to make me
do so, he would have to do it. 1 sat
down in the white section and rode
into Washington"
No clash or tragedy occurred in
this instance, possibly because the
white Southern companions of the
Negro officer came to his defense.
But multiply this episode by many
thousands. Include in it the story
of New York's famed 369th Regi-
ment which has done an excellent
Job as an anti-aircraft unit "some-
where in the Pacific" Two hundred
and twelve picked officers and men
were returned to the United States
to act as cadres in the training Of
new units. They were sent to Camp
Stewart, Ga, where, in the camp as
well as on buses going into Savan-
nah and in Savannah itself, long
succession of indignities were
heaped upon these men to "teach
these Northern Negroes their
place."
Naturally these soldiers wrote
to their relatives and friends in
New York. Harlem newspapers
published the stories. They be-
came another segment of many
other tales from Southern camps
such as the killing by Louisiana
state policeman of Raymond Carr,
a Negro MP, when Carr refused to
leave his post of duty at the order
of a white civil policeman. Only
after enormous pressure was the
policeman punished. His punish
ment consisted of a one-day sus-
pension.
Last May 20 Judge William H.
HASTE and Thurgood Marshall
submitted a report on civilian vio-
lence against Negro soldiers to the
National Lawyers Guild, which in
turn formally placed it before the
War and Justice Departments. 1t
was pointed out that recurrent VIC
lence in the civilian community d.
rected against Negro members of
the armed forces had increased in
seriousness, in frequency and in
the lack of any effective methods
of control since similar study had
been made in November, 1912. The
report grimly stated:
Civilian violence against the Negro il
uniform is a recurrent phenomenon. i
continues undated. It may well be the
greatest factor now operating to make
1900, 900 Negroes bitter and resentful anG
to undermine the fighting spirit of three
quarters of a million Negroes in arms
Yet, no effective steps are being takeT
and no vigorous, continuing and compre
hensive program of action has been in.
augurated by state or federal authorities
to stamp out this evil. To address 6
Negro soldier as "nigger" is such a com,
monplace in the average Southern com.
munity that little is said about it. But
the mounting rage of the soldier himself
is far from commonplace. He may not
express his feelings when he must wait
until all the white passengers are accommo-