The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-03-25

i'm a book.
Four of us got into a coupe
owned by young business man
named Carter. We sped down the
black-topped road toward the resi-
Dental section of the city AS
we passed through the Negro Sec
ton and entered the open road
again all Of US sighted down il in
stinctively II was a narrow. dam
dred yards ahead. a red delivery
truck drove in from a dusty side
street In one voice we shouted 10
Carter He turned quickly to
left side of the road and shouted.
Out Of my way!' and sped at the
oncoming truck.
The truck was driven by Ne
gro youth. He jammed IL the
brakes and brought the me- h.ne 10
grinding stop and sat there. in
moment of terror ! suppose. Won
dering IL this fool of a white man
was crashing deliberately head on.
But no. AT the last moment our
brakes and tires shrieked and the
shiny chromium bumper slid 10 a
stop two feet from then. motionless
truck. Carter leaned out of the
window and shouted again. Out Of
my way"
Ordinarily Carter would have let
il 60 at that. But a devil had got
inside him. He crashed into the
bumper and stepped on-the gas
pushing the truck ahead of him
down the road. The Negro applied
brakes The two machin' strug-
| gled TO stop.
Get Il out Of the way" Carter
cried, warming to the game. He
stepped on the throttle again, the
two bumpers groaned together. and
the truck tires chirped and skidded
ten feet down the road.
The groaning OF motors had at
tracted a little group of Negroes.
men and women, who came walking
+ across the open lots from the houses
back by the canal Carter had for
| gotten that there was not another
white man within half mile OF US.
! At first they stood in silence. be-
/ holding one more scene Of an i'm
memorial humiliation. At first there
had been only two. or three. or
Ave. and we in the car had hardly
been conscious OF their presence
Suddenly there were more-twenty
perhaps thirty--and they were star
ing at US and muttering.
In another moment Carter doubt
less would have backed. turnec
past the truck on the right-hanc
side OF the road and driven of: and
we should have talked about the
incident for ten minutes and for
gotten il forever. But suddenly q
tall. bony. mean-faced Negro left
the crowd and ran round the truck
He jumped on the running board
and gave the chocolate-faced boy
contemptuous shove.
The driver ripped the gear shift
into first and set the big Mack
engine laundering. Carter did the
same and the bumpers smashed and
ground together.
Carter pushed back a. the truck
for few minutes, though there
was no longer any point to It. The
! " I'm W dS liSullilS OdCh, anu IL udO
the power. The Negroes were fight
ing back. and they had the num-
bers Finally he locked the emer-
| sency brake and IL held.
Carter got out Of the car on one
side and on the other II the three
men in the truck had been white
We should have expected 10 figh,
instantly. But We were faced with
something different-a race clash
the southern nightmare. White men
and black men fight TO kill. Sud-
denly sensed the bitter knowledge
that thousand Negroes have died
with the feeling Of being OUT
numbered.
And yet We were white men and
this was still an advantage. II mean,
that a simple fist fight was i'm
possible: but Il meant also We were
untouchable so long as the Negroes
did not lose their heads. For death
was in the offing for them too. They
had not yet forgotten that.
The Negroes got out of the truck
and watched us. could see a CLEAN