The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-06


captain, Hugh Mulzac. Is . notable
example. The United Auto Workers
has an interracial committee with
Walter Hardin. q veteran Negro Of
fetal. as its chairman. At first white
workers resisted the right Of Ne
groes to do more skilled kinds Of
were first placed on machines pre-
viously manned by white operators,
a work stoppage shut down a whole
section OF the Packard plant. X. J.
Thomas, the president Of the union.
ordered the white strikers to return
to work or suffer loss Of union men,
bership and employment. Within .
few hours the strikers were back.
with the recently promoted Negroes
still at their machines.
Besides the National Maritime
Union and the Auto Workers. .
number of other unions have taken
the lead In promoting interrzcial
understanding. They include the In
ternatiOnal Ladies Garment Work
ers. the Amalgamated Clothing
Workers. the United Electrical Ra-
do and Machine Workers, the Ma
rine Shipbuilding Workers, and the
United Rubber Workers. In the Bir-
mingham. Ala. area there are more
than q hundred union locals with
both white and Negro members.
and the Southern Tenant Farmers
Union has . mixed membership.
The Government
From the time OF Lincoin's Ernan.
cipation- Proclamation to the pres
ent day. the national and state gov
ernnents have passed laws 10 carry
/ feF~affa-tsiAae pr ifetFies- of eur Dec
laration Of Independence and our
Constitution In June, l94l, Presi-
dent Roosevelt took direct action in
his Executive Order No. 1902 toward
eliminating discrimination in en-
ployment in plants with war con-
tracts. The Fair Employment Prac-
tees Committee was set up and
held public hearings in Los Angeles.
Chicago. New York, and Birming-
ham,. When an individual applied
for a job in plant doing war work
and was refused for reasons Of
prejudice-because he was a Negro.
Jew. or naturalized citizen-he
could bring his case before the COM
mlttee, who then called the COM
pany to public hearing. This COM
mittee is now part Of the War Man.
power Commission.
The Negro Manpower Commission
OF this same body is headed by sr
able Negro economist and main.
tains q STAFF Of Negro field repre-
sentatives attached 70 the u 8
Employment Service. They slss
work through the regional of1ces o.
the Social Security Board TO detec1
cases of racial discrimination.
= The Bureau of Indian Affairs un.
I der Commissioner Collier should b
( mentioned here as a government
bureau with long record Of sue.
cessful effort for the adjustment O,
I a racial minority.
{ But at best the government car
s act only rs . policeman. finding 4
: wrongdoer here and there. Only thu
I people themselves can really enc
s racial discrimination. through nm
: Outstanding. sympathy, and pubII,
( action. But there II evidence TIA
! the American people ~ individual
are beginning to think and @ oct
s One hundred thousand American
have petitioned the War Depart
} ment to have 1t least one division d
the Army containing both Negree
! and whites. A separate petition wa,
signed by American white men o
I draft age who asked 10 be assigne,
to such . division-many Of Ties
were Southerners.
5 Community Activities
In Houston, Texas. the mayor an,
: a group of prominent citizens ad
I vertised in the local papers tina
s no disturbance would be tolerate,
! that would blacken the reputatio,
; OF Houston when the Negroes O
I that city celebrated nineteenth Da,
s in honor of the emancipation of tn,
: slaves 1t began with the Statement,
! Don't do Hitler's work." an,
! warned citizens not to repea
s rumors. The celebration was peace
: fully carried out. 1t is unfortunate
: that in Beaumont. Texas, simila
! effective action was not undertaken
s and a serious riot occurred.
Just Folks
In the most disastrous of recen
riots in Detroit, a number OF obscur,
I oyStanders performed heroic &C
) tons.
; A white passenger on a street ca
I spoke TO the mob and dissuade,
{ them from searching the car.
s Two women, mother and daugh
s ter. realizing that the Negro pas
Senger was in danger, sheltered hin
! o that when the rioters looked int
s the car he was effectively hidden.
s In a bus going south recently tn
: n tie passengers all remainet
! standing rather than occupy tn
s white" seats of Jim Crow bus.
During the recent disturbances 4,
New York's Harlem, a group OF Ne
! groes stood in front of the restauran
s OF a white proprietor who had bee,
: their friend and in this way pro
: tected Il from being broken into an,
) destroyed by the mob.
s In the last ANALYSIS these homei,
incidents tell the real story. The
I tel us that the conscience OF Amer
5 lea IS aroused. that there is worI
TO be done. and that some of US ar
I already trying TO do It.
The Challenge
5 With Americas great tradition a
( democracy. the United States shsul
clean Its own house and ret rssA
I Cor . better twenty first century
' Then u could stand unashameA .
: fore the Nazis and cendsmn. WIN
: out confusion. their doctrines &C
e Master Race. Then u ceulA pus n
hand TO the building q he Unl6D,
i Nations. sure Of support frs0 a
u the yellow and the black paos
o where the war IL being fssghl, sus
q that victory In this war WIN -
the name. not Of one race % q q
other but of the univogual 49,,