The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-11-25
By HARRY r. RICHARDSON
Chaplain. Tuskegee Institute
CONDENSED from N. Y. Times)

Something like a sense of i'm
pending disaster falls heavily on
the hearts Of many earnest citizens
these days whenever the thought
OF race" comes to mind. II is
feeling OF hopeless inevitability. as
though present-day relations be-
tween groups and races were al
most, il not quite. beyond success
full handling. Each outbreak OF
interracial violence seems but a
foretaste Of worse yet to come.
The trek of large numbers Of
Negroes TO industrial centers in
search of work, the ghettos OF
many large cities with their over
crowded. underprivileged masses.
the general tenseness Of the times.
the coming readjustments that
must follow the war-these are all
grounds. and valid grounds, for I'M
easiness. They are causing many
10 wonder what. il anything. can
be done to offset the trouble, and
20 solve the persistent race prob
lem which is our national diem
ma" and. in some ways, our ma
tional shame.
1t should be said, first. that MOTH
ing can solve the problem suddenly
and relieve the nation for all time
of this tremendous responsibility
What we call the race problem 1:
really not problem in the sense
Of single issue arising at par
ticular time or place. II is. in
reality. a process. a long drawn
out process, already running
through 300 years and involving
the upward movement of people
from slave status to full citizenship
in a nation they have helped to
build. The process moves forward
constantly. but il moves at an un-
even speed, There are times when
il advances both rapidly and peace
fully. with splendid gains in many
areas Of life There are other times
when il has 10 push its way slowly
! through turmoil and opposition
stirred up by persons or events.
Granting that there is nothins
that can bring the process to sud
den completion. there is much that
can be done TO ease today's ten
sions and help us make a worthy
contribution toward an ultimate So
luton. One step OF primary i'm
portance that can be undertaken
Immediately is the exchange OF
basic Understandings - wholesome
sensible feelings. attitudes and out
looks. from which constructive Ell
forts may arise.
NEGRO NO INTERLOPER
First. and most essential. Of ths
basic understandings is recognizln!
the Negro as an American. HI
should not be seen as an invader oil
an interloper or even as an unwel
come immigrant He was in thu
nation from its inception. arriving
at Jamestown in 1919. a year be
fore the Mayflower arrived al Ply
mouth. He has played his part. a.
best he could. in the development
~ America ever since Strikingl,
enough. it is in the South.
Second. we must recognize ina
progress is just as important al
elemen, in the race problem as TIT
troubles that arise from time Il
time The rapidity of Negro prog
ress is one Of the marvels Of on
history. But II this progress Is
tribute 20 the Negro. il is also
, tribute TO the nation as a whole
For. being always in the minority
the Negro could not have progress
ed without the sympathy and as
Il fNl1.N..s-
PROGRESS BEING MADE
II is an open question as {
whether present troubles are an,
worse than those Of the past, Blu
eventual mastery of difficulties
. the one sure thing the history c
me problem clearly indicate!
Progress in past and present is a
underiable fact
In no part OF America is thi
progress more clearly illustrate
than IN the South. where Negroe
are most numerous, tensions sever
: est. repre- ssions and discrimination
: most bitter. Yet. when seen /
A., historic retrospect and in the ligt
: o, other considerations. the South
: crogreSs is both great and crafty
, ing. One must always rememoe
, that what we call the South
neither a geographical nor a M
man unit II is a composite {
peoples and Of ways
a Some sections Of the South NJ
highly advanced in their hardin
} OF human relations Some oihC
|. .o,.;,vs ,rn kark Guard and ron
, ,onary. little advanced beyond III
:. Super-race. Slave-holding min,
Much dcpendS. also. upon the leJC
I crShlp that prevails at a gave
= time
One mus, remember. turtle
that n a problem Is vast as u
race problem all aspects do n,