The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-12-09

conversation about Prophet"
Jones. There are those who say
that he Is smart and more power
to him, II he can get all Of these
things and give nothing more than
he gives in return. There are 9TH
ers who look upon his confused
thinking. which Is given out Is re-
ligiOus insight as . shame and .
disgrace TO the Negro people in
Detroit and the nation, for that
matter. One might add that there
are the credulous and unsuspect-
ing who stand In awe Of the "'Pro-
phet's7 antics.
In order to understand Prophet"
Jones rise to notoriety and az
fluence in Detroit. one has to un-
derstand the fears, the Illustrations,
the anxieties and the superstitions
of the Negro people. These fears.
Illustrations, anxieties and super
stitions are not peculiar to the Ne
gro, but they are apt to manifest
themselves in terms Of religion for
the humble and good among Ne
groes. This Is true because re-
ligion is an accepted method Of
permitting one to release his hos
tility, his fear. his anxiety and con-
fusion, especially as this confusion
relates TO the inwardness OF the
| individual.
Sixty-two thousand Negro peo-
pie have come to this big imperson.
al city of Detroit since 1910. They
have come from rural areas, and
rural areas are intimate areas for
the individual. There is friend
ship, there is a certain responsive
ness from the group to the needs
OF the individual that is not true
in large impersonal city. Religion
itself is warm. less restrained and
more everyday in its content. In
a city, religion is removed, for
the most part, from the struggles.
pains, joys and successes Of the
individual. The city demands many
more decisions in the course of
day to be made by the individual
than the rural community ever de-
mands in the course of q week.
The tempo of life, therefore, Is
speeded up to terrifying degree
for person who comes from rural
areas to a big urban community.
Trouble itself Is distressing In
large city. In a rural community,
trouble can be shared, ana Is
shared. In a large community,
people can be living next door to
each other, one neighbor just as
trouble stricken as the other. Each
neighbor however bears his own
trouble and misfortunes in big De-
troit-afraid in fact to talk with
his neighbor about them. Not so
| in a rural community. One neigh
bor's security in the matter OF
food and shelter guarantees the
other neighbours food and shelter,
Then il has to be remembered
that Negroes who came North,
came North to flee the scorpion
of race prejudice and the demon
OF race segregation. When they
arrived in Detroit they discovered
that these dealers" in spiritual
death for the individual and the
group are here too The hopes and
ambitions that the Negro held
about freedom and the opportunity
to develop as an American citizen,
free from the plaques Of race dis
elimination and lack Of equality,
must vanish and give way to the
old pattern of bigotry and denial
of opportunity as he knew it in the
South.
A Prophet" Jones. a Frank Nor
ris. q Baptist clergyman In De-
troit. an Amy Semple Mcpherson
when she lived) and Miss Ethel
WiIIetts, pastor Of Everybody's
Tabernacle (She Is . healer. ward
err of Of evil and makes thousands
Of dollars a year by taking advan-
tage Of the frightened, frustrated
whites Of Detroit and some Ne
groes) find an easy path into the
pocketbooks Of fear-stricken. pow
erty stricken, disease-ridden. nom
schooled people. and people who
live BY superstitions because they
are unable. psychologicafly or ply
sicaIly, to have their environments
yield them any happiness. So.
these spiritual charlatans are the
peoples escape mechanisms from
the world Of cold, unrelenting real
ity into a world OF easy answers
land patented formulas for success.
Our Prophet" Jones knows how
frightened and superstitious the
Negro people are. He knows how
deeply they feel about religion.
and how uncritical the humble
people. who are the majority, are
about things done in the name OF
religion. He senses with an UNI
canny sense how truly easy il is to
be representative of their fears and
confusions by his rhetorical and
physical antics. In other words,
the jumping. shouting. clapping Of
hands and misinterpretation of his
tory (relgion, also) represent a
seeking after physical, emotional
or spiritual security.
The Prophet asks them to de-
post their hopes, desires and their
ambitions in his keeping, and he
will make all things right. Be-
cause OF the numerous decisions,
the unrelenting reality one must
face, the impersonality Of large
city. and the terrible struggle the
individual has 10 keep his identity.
even to himself, Prophet" Jones
and others Of his ilk can get rich.
II can all be likened unto quack
doctor standing on a corner maxi
ing a lot Of money selling a cure
for tuberculosis in ten easy good
tasting doses. for five dollars. The
people will buy, because they are
afraid Of tuberculosis. They want
10 get we'll from tuberculosis. Be-
cause nobody has taught them the
real way to do II. they take the
ways OF the cheat and the ire
sponsible.
Many people are surprised al the
alteration and homage intelligent
people give 10 the fact that PRO
phet' Jones has radio costing
90 much, rug from this store. two
hundred suits Of clothes. and 50