Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1944-09-01

ton day, November Z. For tn,
politicians know better than any
one else that our votes may bt
the deciding ones come Novem
Der Z. 1t is, indeed, possible that
they will determine who will oc.
cupy the White House for the
next four years: Roosevelt OF
Dewey.
To possess something. however
and not use it for your own and
others benefit is worse than not
to possess it at all. And this is
the situation with thousands of
Negro voters: they can vote, if
they want to, but they are too
Indifferent to register and later
east their ballots. These slack
er not only harm themselves
by failing to register and vote,
but they also hurt their whole
race. They are as useless as a
company Of soldiers asleep at the
front with their rifles full of bull
lets and the enemy shooting at
them.
There are approximately two
million Negro voters living above
the Mason-Dixon line and thou
sands more below it. Yet, in no
election up to now have more than
about fifty per cent of them vot-
ed. Usually the percentage is much
less.
Though the Democrats, Repub-
licans and other political organi-
cations, such as the CLIO Poll
teal Action Committee, are ac-
tive in getting both colored and
white people to register so they
can vote on election day, the re-
sponsibility Of registering and
voting rests primarily upon the
voters themselves. No one should
depend upon another person to
remind him or assist him in ex-
ercising his sovereign power -
to vote - If he knows how to 60
about doing it. This is particul'
arly true of the Negro voters
this year, because they have more
at stake in this election than ever
before.
As matter of fact, our flu
ture depends upon the men elect
ed to office this year more than
in any election since 1860, when
Lincoln's election sounded the
end of slavery in America. And
it must be remembered that there
are men running for office this
time on both the Republican and
Democratic tickets who are as UNI
alterably opposed to the things
we stand for and the things we
know we must have, if we are to
become completely integrated in
to this nation, as the men who
championed slavery in 1860.
Though we have made some
gains during the war. we must
protect them and fight for more
and more. If we did otherwise, we
would not be worthy of the things
we demand and rightfully deserve
as citizens of the U. s. For ex'
ample, we must work and fight
for the welfare, protection and Sc
curity of the three quarters Of a
million colored men and women
in the armed services, especially
when they return from battle. We
must fight to keep the jobs We
have gained in private industry
and we must fight to see that We
get better and more housing, more
educational opportunities, ant
better health provisions. In truth
we must fight for all the things
that will make us and othe
American citizens economically Sc
cure and culturally better off il
thousand ways.
The most effective way for u
to fight is by backing the candi
dates for office any and al
offices $500 whom we believe vii
work to help put over the thing
we are fighting for. Fortunately
there are men and women run
ming FOR office who will plum
for the things we want and need
We must help elect to Cor
gress and to state offices the met
and women who are our friend
and who will sponsor and wor'
for the kind Of legislation $500 tn
kind Of democracy - we are guar
anteed by the Constitution bu
have never been able to enjoy
But the kind Of me nand womei
we want to see in office canno
win, unless we register and vot,
for them.
It Is easy for anyone to find
out how to register and vote, II