The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-05-27
5 THE FACTS
m OUR NEWS
By HORACE A. WHITE


angle The Sun Is My I'm
doing" and "For Whom the Bell
Tolls" use the language that Is
meaningful for the characters that
move through the pages OF these
two books. Anybody with . mind
to do so could take certain words
out of these books and have these
two very remarkable pieces Of lit
erature branded as obscene and un-
desirable. There has not been any
effort on the part Of the police
and pure minded" book sellers TO
have taken out Of circulation these
two books and q score Of others,
because they are speaking the Ian
guage through the main characters
Of the books that give the main
characters their right to say what
they are made TO say by their
authors.
Lillian Smiths Strange Fruit"
deals with the same problems that
The Sun Is My Undoing' and
For Whom the Bell Tolls deal.
The difference is that in Strange
Fruit the characters, the setting
and the problems of the novel are
home grown. They are not in Spain,
Africa and the isles Of the sea.
Furthermore, Strange Fruit hits
our familiar American soil at a
time when we Americans are try
ing with all Of the courage and or
ganizational efforts at our disposal
either 10 re-think our race prob
lens, or 10 keep from thinking
about them at all.
Our police department did not
just suddenly discover that there
was a four letter word In the novel
strange Fruit" and therefore want
II taken out Of circulation for that
reason. This four letter word gives
a good excuse for taking the book
out of circulation. The excuse Is
one that Is hard 10 deal with by
the understanding people in our
community. The four letter word
Is charged with so much emotion
as 1t touches our individual lives
that few Of us will be able to think
effectively about the book when
this four letter word Is flung at us
out Of its context and setting. The
police know this, and they are go
ing to use this for all that II Is
worth. They are going to attempt
to brighten intelligent and objec-
tive minded people away from any
defense Of the book on this very
superficial basis by pointing out
only the four letter word. They
know that no one wants TO be put
In the position of defending obscen-
ity for obscenity's sake. This Is
the line that the police department
will attempt to have hold In an
effort to have the book taken out
Of circulation at our public library
and book stores.
This four letter word will carry
in the minds OF a great many geo
pie the weight Of the treatment
OF the social. economic. and psy-
Geological problems Miss Smith sets
up so well in her novel Strange
Fruit" This is the real shame about
this whole fight over Strange
Fruit" 1t is shame that has
familiar ring to the ears OF the
down-trodden in our country. In
the South and in the North. when
ever the common people have
sought to create for themselves a
better life by working together, the
highly emotionalized idea of sex
has been thrown in as red her.
ring 10 cut off the peoples vision OF
unity.
Lillian Smith, wrote more than
a novel when she wrote strange
Fruit" and gave IL the characters
and setting that she did. She chal-
lenged Americas fine sense of de-
cency and respect for individual
worth. She showed the common
man. both white and black. that
his hatreds, Illustrations and degra-
dation Nere not things with which
he was born, but rather that the
institutions to sound and the fact
that they had allowed their institu-
tions to represent their fears rath-
er than their goals was responsible
for their degradation, Illustration
and race hatred.
Nonnie and Tracy in Strange
Fruit are intensely human char
acterS. II we forget. for moment.
| the social and economic causes that
produce Nonnie and Tracy and look
at these two characters. We see that
Miss Smith raises for us again
/ through her novel the problem that
is raised in factory, in Office and on
battle front that we Americans
face, and must whip IL our democ-
racy is 10 survive. This problem is
one of inner unity around the idea
Of the worth OF individuals, This
lack Of inner unity about the worth
Of individuals makes us mixed iii
our desires TO have our objective
expressions 10 mean an opportunity
for every individual to express his
worth to himself. In other words,
Nonnie and Tracy were faced with
certain human desires OF happiness,
but found their, expressions Of this
happiness so much out OF harmony
with their devilish society that they
ultimately destroyed each other.
| Their efforts 10 find happiness,
which finally led 10 mutual de-
struction. also served TO further
confuse and Illustrate hundreds OF
other people in their community.
The police department and other
fearful people may lynch over and
over again the four letter word In
Miss Smiths novel. but no force
can kill the hopes and ambitions
Of Miss Smiths individual charac-
ters and the people who help ia
create these main characters. These
people will 60 on being real and
working for a unity that will help
them all 10 have an increasing
amount Of happiness. While the
common people struggle for happi-
ness and unity. they will create
art for the painters brush and art
for the writer's pen. The police
department may get away with
Iynching a book by lynching -four
letter word i'm an open forum. bu
the only way you can keep TIT
people from creating the art Is Il
lynch all Of the peope. Histor,