Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-04-07
UncOvering
Washington
By Harry s. McAlpin
white House Correspondent
NNPA)

Negroes are not proud Of the
source of the new help they are
receiving in getting their message
over to some of the people who need
it most, but they are inclined to
be tolerant in accepting it.
A new paper-the Alabama Sun
dedicated to the maintenance Of
white supremacy" has appeared
in Birmingham, Ala. Volume l,
number l, was published on March
"a. Eighty per cent of the reading
matter was devoted to reprints of
articles appearing previously in Ne
gro newspapers-particularly the
Birmingham World, the Afro
American, the Chicago Defender
and the Pittsburgh Courier-with
new headlines, however, to suit the
Alabama Sun.
In small print at the top of each
such article, the editors of the Sun
wrote a caustic comment, purport-
eddy to point out the impracti-
cality, the viciousness, the stupid
ty, or the audacity of the demands
and revelations made in the re-
produced articles.
Here are few samples: Over an
article headed "Would Unfrock
Clergymen practicing Segregation"
the editor noted: "Here is an ar
ticle from the Pittsburgh Courier
a Negro paper. Read it and weep
or laugh" Over another headed
"Ask Probe of Bias in Utility Serv-
ice Hiring" with a Baltimore date
line, the editor commented: Here
is an example of what might hap
pen here (B'ham). This was pub
lished in the Chicago Defender, Ne
gro newspaper"
On reading the reproduced ar
ticles, however, one could not help
but be struck by the clear, concise,
logical presentations they con-
tanned.
That these articles should thus
be brought to the attention Of the
kind of people most likely to buy
the Alabama Sun opens up a new
field to the Negro press. Robert
E. White, the editor of the Sun,
and those who are supporting the
venture from the hidden recesses
of anonymity, are unconsciously
rendering a much needed service.
Of course, the paper is vitriolic
in its own treatment of the race
question. It takes the usual digs
at Mrs. Roosevelt. 1t unhesitating-
ly uses epithets in referring to Ne
groes. A 3-column cut on the front
page, of Mrs. Roosevelt and George
Goodman, Red Cross worker
brought back from England to work
in the Red Cross fund drive, is
captioned Eleanor Greets Niger
Again"
It makes the same illogical argu-
ments common to all who attempt
to defend the undemocratic theory
Of white supremacy" And on the
front page, Immediately below the
cut, is an article and application
blank urging whites to join the
white Supremacy League"
The net result is that the paper
presents glaring, paradoxical con-
trast between what it says it in
tends to do and what it actually
accemplishes. The purpose is ex-
pressed in the lead editorial. It
says in part:
"The big dailies of this state, as
a whole, hush-hush the entire mat
ter. White people as a whole do
not know the facts of this trouble
which has been brewing for a num-
Der of years, between the races.
And facts prove the pot is about to
bust wide open as a result.
"In order to send those outside
agitators back where they belong,
thus permitting our white people
and our Negro people in the South
to live peacefully in the same sec
ton, both the white race and the
Negro race in the South, should
have the FACTS. That is why the
ALABAMA SUN was born-be-
cause the people should have facts
regarding this vital matter and the
Birmingham papers, like most
others in the South, hush-hush the
truth.
"If this SUN shines too hot on
some people, then we will have
done our duty.
"Most of the articles we will
publish are COPIED from Negro
papers. The name Of each paper
will be given in each article.
Remember, WE DID NOT
WRITE THIS BULL that has the
name of a Negro paper with it,
but we merely copied what THEY
published!"
And so, the Alabama Sun be-
comes a Negro digest-somewhat
"slimy," tits true, but useful.
Somehow, it brings to mind the
remark made by a young scientist
to his previous employer. He had
been working in a mental job, was
physically kicked out for showing
some ambition to get ahead, which
resulted in his getting a more suit
able job in a chemical laboratory.
He went on to win fame and fortune.
To his old employer he subsequently