St. Paul recorder., 1945-02-09

f false premise
which they know
is wrong. McALPIN
Recently, I've run into it on
number of occaSions-the argument
that Negroes prefer to be together,
therefore we set aside spot for
them and REQUIRE them to stay
within those limits.
Last week 1 had an interview with
Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, Admin
istrator of the Veterans Admins
tration. After praising the all
Negro facility at Tuskegee- which
he resents having called Jim Crow
hospital he mentioned the fact
that there is great misunderstand-
ing of the agency's policy in other
hospitals. There is a breakdown by
wards, according to the malady or
surgical need of the patient, he
said. And, when sufficient num-
ber of Negroes have the same NAL
ady to make up ward, they find
that these Negroes prefer to be to-
gether. So-they are put together.
1t is a little difficult for me to
imagine a man sick unto death
being brought into hospital and
expressing a preference as to where
he shall be put to bed. 1t is even
more difficult for me to imagine
the hospital authorities paying the
least bit of attention to any such
request. And l wonder what hap
pens when one comes into hos
pital with a Negro ward and ex-
presses a preference for being in
the white ward!
I had a similar experience with
Congressman John LesinsH of
Michigan on a train from Wash
ington to Detroit week before last.
We were in the lounge car discuss
ing a number of matters of general
political interest and particular ra-
cial interest. Congressman Frank
Hook, also of Michigan, made up
the rest of our trio. Lesinski could
see no segregation involved when
the Housing Authority puts up a
Negro project at Inkster and a
white project at Willow Run. Ne
groes prefer to be together, he said.
Those who talk about integrated
housing are Communists, he be-
lieves. The only real segregation
comes when Negroes are forced to
move into dilapidated neighbor-
hoods where the "Jews charge them
three times as much rent as the
property is worth" Nothing Hook
or l could say would convince him
otherwise because he won in the
last election by the largest majority
he has ever had-40,0 0,000-and much
of it Negro vote.
And about two weeks ago talked
to some housing officials about
housing conditions in federal prof.
ects on the West Coast. There,
some of the Housing Authorities
have the same idea. They ASSUME
that all Negroes want to be to-
gether, so they set aside a portion
of the project for Negroes and force
all Negroes to live in that section,
even when the section becomes
overcrowded and vacancies exist in
other parts of the project.
There may be a lot of truth in
the theory that most Negroes would
prefer to be together. No doubt,
there are many who would prefer
to avoid the prejudices and spiteful
acts of some members of the other
group. But there are helluva lot
of Negroes who resent the practice
of those whites in authority who
seize upon this assumption and
move beyond it to fix rules and
regulations which REQUIRE all
Negroes to stay together.
1t may be sound procedure to
herd cattle in the same pasture, but
Negroes are human beings. They
want to exercise their own right of
choice, and not have their choice
made for them. Undoubtedly, most
of them would choose to be to-
gether-but more and more they
are resenting being FORCED to-
gether on the assumption that
would be their choice. Every Ameri-
can rebels at the curbing of his
individual freedoms-an Negroes