Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-11-24

street. corner street lamps
the three or four restaurants and
taverns in the block cast an eery
light over the brawl going on that
morning at 2 o'clock. Automobiles
and trucks speeding down Eighth
Avenue here in Harlem, their head
lights cutting white paths of light
on the street, outlined the figures
of the fighting young men as
drivers slowed down, swerved to
avoid running over the struggling
figures, and shouted loud impreca-
tions at the brawling youths.
Process of Beating Man
to Death
There were about six young men,
around 20 and "a years of age, busy
beating a seventh youth into a pulp.
AS fast as the victim got up from
the street and tried to run, one of
the gang would grab him by the
coat or arm and fling or knock him
to the ground again. AS he lay
there, all would kick and stomp at
his head. One ran out of tavern
with a glass and hurled it with all
the force at his command at the
head of the rapidly weakening vic
tim.
AS automobiles swung, swerved,
and lodged to keep from hitting
the fighting group, three colored
NJ. P.'s came around a corner. They
rushed into the fracas and sepa-
rated the victim from the gang,
their hands on their revolvers as
they closed in. The unfortunate
youth who was so badly beaten
climbed shakily to his feet and
loped unevenly down a side street,
We could hear part of the CONVEX
sation among the NJ. P.'s and the
gang.
"Ill kill the black so and so,'
snarled disheveled youth, the one
who had thrown the glass, "bumpin'
into me like that. He don't know
what he doin' messin' round with
me-"
Jaw, man, these guys amt
nothin' but NJ. P's. They amt got
nuthin' to do with US. Let's catch
that n-r and fix him up for good,
shouted another.
Yeah, man. l kicked hell outts
him. Let's see if we can find an.
other one of them simple fellers
l felt like whippin' somebody thi!
mawnin'," stated another.
wish I'd a had my knife" an
other put in. 81 couldda choppet
his ears off,"
"He sho' was hollerin'," said
fifth. "By the way, what did tn
black so and so do in the frs
place? saw y'all out here whalir
him an I thought I'd better git m
a few ticks off'n him, myself. VIVA
did he do?"
We Move On from Sordid
Scene
The lights changed and the taxi
cab driver started his car movin
again, and we rolled down the stree
leaving the battle scene far in tn
distance. A glance through tn
rear window etched the seen
sharply in my mind as the inter
vening distance widened and tn
figures of the gang grew smalle
and smaller.
"Your folks" said the taxi drive
after we had ridden awhile.
"Your folks" l said, falling int,
a racial trait in which kinship witt
bad-acting Negroes is something
to disaVow publicly, especially whel
one is deeply embarrassed.
"Bet you couldn't get single on,
of them n-rs to lay a hand on ;
white man." said the taxi driver al
he paused for a light. "But they'll
shore beat the hell outta eacl
other"
l agreed silently as we rolleC
along. To mind came as man
similar scenes we had just wit
messed as / could recall. The hos
pital in Memphis, Tenn, where OF
Saturday nights, the internes
nurses and doctors worked overtime
sewing Negroes together after they
had cut one another up. To minc
came the scenes almost any nigh
at Harlem Hospital with ambu
lances heading into the hospita
yard loaded down with knife, gun
baseball bat, or I've victims. TIT
same, recalled, was true in Chicago