St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-06-09
The Philadelphia Record

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ton among Negro soldiers in the
South. It would seem possible that
the Government-which rightly
builds emergency homes for mi.
grant war workers and establishes
reasonably priced cafeterias in the
Pentagon Building - might dc
something to make the matters OF
eating and sleeping more tolerable
for its citizen soldiers and their
families.
Claim Cited
They have a claim equal to that
Of the war workers, it would seem.
The Negro soldiers were sent South
because the climate there is suit
able for training, just as war work
ers go to Philadelphia and other
cities because that's where they are
needed on certain jobs. The case
for emergency facilities appears to
be the same.
In my 3,40O-mile tour of South
ern States, I found good mixed
with the bad, as Roy Wilkins, ex-
ecutive secretary of the National
Association for the Advancement Of
Colored People, told me I would.
I found that Negro leaders gen.
orally are not too despondent-al.
though they often are disheartened
by discrimination and segregation
which arouse cumulative resent
ment.
Overall Picture
Carter Wesley, editor of the
Houston Informer, Negro news.
paper, expressed a general opinion
when he said to me:
"The overall picture through
out the South in regard to i'm
proved conditions for Negroes is
unbelievably better"
It was inspiring to find that con-
ditions in communities where Ne
groes were stationed in World War
No. 1 generally are better than
those where Negroes have been
brought in for the first time.
That makes one feel that people
can get along together if they know
each other.
I discovered on this, my first trip
through the South, that it makes a
lot of difference what particular
person you happen to be dealing
with. My experiences on two dining
cars illustrate that point.
Table Reserved
The southern railroads reserve a
table or two at the end of the cal
for Negroes. Sometimes a curtain
is hung between them and the white
tables, sometimes not.
On the Seaboard Airline, I anG
three Negro soldiers went to the
dining car a few miles above Ra.
leigh, N. C. White passengers oc.
cupied the table reserved for US
We waited until they finished. The
steward beckoned us forward, ther
motioned US back, and gave the
table to a wizened old Chinese, who
had come up behind us. He wore
no coat, collar, or tie. But he ate
at our table, all alone, while We
were made to wait.
On the same railroad some day.
later, another Negro and I wen
into the diner, just behind foul
white men. They took the only
remaining seats-which were at :
Negro table. This steward {:
southerner, like the other), camC
up to US, told US he was sorry
but we would have to wait a mo
ment. He then told the white mel
they must move. One Of the whit,
men glared at US, but they al
moved, and we were seated.
Contrasts Numerous
It is possible to find such con
trasts all over the South. The un
fortunate thing is that propagan
dists have not been able to see tn
true picture, but have picked on
the bad, ignoring the good and tax
ing advantage of every justifabl
resentment.
Thus bus drivers-and the typ,
Of men who bulldoze Negroes Of
station platforms - furnish girls
for the mills of such men as Edga
G. Brown, referred to in an earle
article as leader In the movemen
to stir up Northern Negroes wit