Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1943-07-02

Graves have appeared daily in court
to defend victims of the riotinR.
The Association has repeatedly and
sharply criticized the unseemly
speed of arrests, trials and convic-
tons of Negroes who were certain
ly not the originators or aggressors
in the riots. Though the colored
population is only about tenth Of
Detroit's populace, IS per cent Of
the more than 1 300 arrests are Ne
groes and all of the "a found guilty
on Tuesday and the. overwhelming
majority of those on succeeding
days were Negroes.
Throughout the week calls have
poured into the NAACP office here
of attacks upon the persons and
cars of Negroes in isolated white
neighborhoods. These have been
especially noticeable in cases of
Negro workers at the Ford River
Rouge plant and other war indus
tries when Negroes attempted to
return to work. Prompt action in
each case led to a steady decline of
such attacks as well as protection
of colored men and women.
AS it labored to insure Justice
to innocent victims of the worst
race riot in the history of many
years, the NAACP was at the same
time unsparing in its condemnation
of the vandalism of a lawless
minority of Negroes who took ad-
vantage of the situation to loot and
wreck stores owned by white mer-
chants in the Negro sections. As
its investigations proceeded the As
ISOLATION also increasingly dis
counted the charges that Axis
agents were responsible for the
riot.
The NAACP is conducting an in
vestigation of the rioting by its own
agents.
"At least one and possibly one
or two others of the anti-Negro,
ant-labor, anti-Semite outfits here
were financed in part by Nazi Bund
and Silver Shirt money" White de-
clared. "But the participants in
and instigators of this terrible
thing are native-born American
spreaders of racial hatred and dis
cord, predominantly southern white
crackers who have poured into De-
troit for the past twenty-five years
and particularly during the past
fifteen months. Not all the south
erners are of this type. Some Of
the most courageous friends of the
Negro have ever known are south
erners in the U. A. VIC. l. O.,
churches and other movements
here. But unbelievably bad hous-
ing and overcrowding of all De-
troiters but particularly of Negroes,
job discrimination upon which a
small but viciously active Ku Klux
Khan and similar lunatic fringe
groups have capitalized, the spine
lessness of Mayor Jeffries and the
Detroit police department, and the
indifference of Detroit's Industrial
lists who were and are interested
only in the size of the war profits
they make, caused this horrible con-
flict.
"The bright spots of the sorry
picture here are, first, that there
has been not one case of friction
in plants due to the attitude of
R. J. Thomas and other leaders of
the U. A. VIC. l. o. whose eight
point program for correction of the
evils from which the riot grew;
second, the magnificent courage
and fairness of the Detroit Free
Press followed to lesser degree by
the News; the courage of Colonel
George E. Strong of the Army Air
craft Procurement Division and of
General Guthner and Colonel Krech
who have restored order with i'm
Partially; the activity of the De-
troit Council of Churches under the
leadership of DR.. Benjamin Bush;
and above all these, the fortitude of
the Negro community in the face of
the most murderous assault any
people have ever known in the
United States. Even as the riot
went on the people of Detroit con-
tinued their annual membership
campaign of the NAACP to reach
to date more than 1900 members
and cash of more than $4,000 to
show their realization of the need
of a permanent organization to
tackle these conditions"
Commenting on the Dies Com
mittee's proposed investigation of
pro-Japanese activity in connection
with the riot here, White said the
Dies Committees search for jap
anese sympathizers would be funny
if its sinister result is not to alb
solve the Khan.
White and Marshall announced
also that they will remain in De-
troit as long as their services are
needed.