St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-10-20

This week we shall exam
quences of fear of the white man
which inspires cowardice, destroys
a self-respect and respect from
those whose attitudes we are seek
ing to change.
At Jerusalem, Mississippi, a &C.
year-old Negro minister was MUIR
dered in cold blood by four white
men-for nothing. PM, the mill
tant New York daily, presupposes
in story released nine days before
the trial of the four men at Jack
son, Mississippi, just which way
lily-white justice will nod her head.
The question answers itself-they
are expected to go free. PM sent
Elizabeth Wilson, white reporter,
down to Washington to check with
the Civil Liberties Section of the
Department of Justice and then to
Mississippi to check the facts in the
case, and her findings convinced the
editors of PM that the four white
men named in the case would be
freed and that white supremacy
would still rule. PM charged that
there was one chance in a million
that the courts of this kind of
justice would be proved incorrect
and the guilty persons punished in
measures equal to the crime.
The Real Negro Problem
Now, here's how fear enters the
matter. At Jerusalem, Mississippi,
Negroes were even afraid to tell
Miss Wilson the real story. Said
one, 81 will tell you what happened
but, if you ever tell anybody 1
talked to you, 1 will get killed"
This type of fear of white men, who
have taken the law into their own
hands, is real Negro problem in
the South.
Here is a man who knows he
will be killed by white outlaws, yet
does not have the courage to pro-
tect himself by killing the other
man first. He knows minding his
own business and "staying in his
place" won't help if these white
hoodlums and brigands decide he is
in their way.
The Rev. Isaac Simmons did all
this and the white hoodlums shot
him in the back without telling him
why they did so. His son, Eldridge
Simmons, 48, cowardly offered to
move off his (Eldridge's) own place
if they would not harm him. They
then proceeded to beat the hell out
of him and gave him IL days to
leave his own land. The abject fear
of dying and wanting to live so
bad that cowardice dethrones honor
here is primarily in evidence.
said that this is the real Negro
problem in the South because white
people, even though they do not
say so, can see no reason why they
should shed their blood when the
Negroes won't even fight like men.
The whites take care of them
selves, adequately and competently.
If man of any race or color kicks
them in the pants, it means fight;
if a man tries to take what belongs
to them, they take their guns and
shoot to protect their families and
their honor. Meanwhile, they just
can't see where the Negro is en-
titled to first-class citizenship along
with the whites when he is afraid
to fight for it.
Each Man Law to Himself
When white men lived in the
open spaces of the West, each man
was his own law-as it is in the
South where white men and Ne
groes are concerned. They made
it habit to be quick on the draw
and were ready to fight and die, if
necessary, to protect property and
family. History is replete with
glorious stories of stirring, raw
courage of these pioneers of our
Western Plains as they helped COM
plete an empire in the Western