Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-04-14
By DAN GARDNER

| Inc y. ,. supreme court mas
now said that the white primary
in Texas is illegal, thus upholding
the right of Negroes to vote in
state primary elections like any
one else. The U. S. Constitution
declares that ''the right of citizens
of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State,
on account of race, color, or pre-
viouS condition of servitude." The
Supreme Courts decision of April
3, 1914, also involved the 18th
Amendment, which abolished slav-
cry, and the 14th Amendment,
which granted the Negro the rights
of citizenship.
Many angles are presented in
this latest affront to southern White
supremacy, but the most striking,
it would seem, is: What do we
do now" 1t is all well and good
to get slaphappy over what white
people put down on paper, but it
is another matter to go ahead and
do what those words on the paper
say you can do. As in the case of
possible passage of some kind of
federal anti-lynching bill, the
Southern Negro is on the spot. 1t
is he who has been cruelty victim
lied throughout the years; it is he
for whom the Supreme Court de-
cision was made. 1t is he who must
brave the wrath of the crackers
and show he is worthy of the bal
lot by boldly taking it, despite all
the threats and physical violence
he might be subjected to. 1t is a
tough fight ahead. 1t is a fight
that will determine the caliber of
the Goth Century American Negro;
one in which he can prove his
remuneration of the permanent
badge of racial inferiority be-
queathed him by the Uncle Toms
of another era; one in which he
can shed the label of unworthiness
branded onto him by the ignorance
and fear and subsection in which
ne has wallowed through the vicious
exploitation and intimidation exer-
cised against him by the close-knit
white minority in the cracker south
which in reality, rules America.
Hell hath no fury like a South
ern Congressman" it has truly
been said. And Hell hath no fury
like an aroused black man with a
shotgun who will shoot to defend
his inalienable right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness, it
also can be said.
The temper of the crackers has
been aroused by the 81 decision of
the Supreme Court which "invades
the privacy" of their home BALI
wicks and orders them for the
benefit of the entire nation to cease
the practice of a revolving system.
Right now the cracker attitude
borders on an inclination toward
another Civil War-yes, in the
midst of a world war. Defiance of
the national government, the very
foundations of that government, is
being key-noted by those unmanly
opponents of white supremacy who
are determined that their way of
keeping "niggers" and "po' whites"
in their places will not, cannot be
disturbed. From the red hills of
Georgia to the dry plains of Texas;
from the bayous and swamps of
Louisiana, to the hills and valleys
of Arkansas, the old Rebel Yell
has been sounded and the crackers
are ready to ride again. This time
the ride will be without benefit of
hood and gown. The issue is too
plain. White Supremacy has been
officially challenged and the hood
lums will gallop to the rallying cry
to head off this latest threat to the
complacency and comfort of the
Southern Extension Heaven of
Father Adolf Hitler.
Most of the eight southern states
which have democratic white pri-
maries" have already announced
openly through their Democratic
leaders that they intend to nullify
the Supreme Court decision either
by returning to the convention sys-
tenn of nominations or by other
"unspecified" means. The latter,