The Omaha guide., 1945-12-01

Address by the Honorable
Harold l.. lckes, Secy of Interior
before the Pyramid Club,
Philadelphia, a.P, at 400 pm.,
Sunday, November IS, 1915
It is gratifying to me to be here
today as the guest of the Pyramid
Club. 1t is a particular pleasure
to receive the token which assur-
es me Of an esteem which is cor
daily reciprocated. Such awards
1 am convinced, perform a real
service. Such an occasion as this
provides all of us who are inter-
ested in a cause an opportunity to
rededicate ourselves to those prin-
ciples which we hold in common,
and to gather from that rededica-
ton renewed strength to go forth
and continue the battle for what
we believe to be right.
Your club has long been a gath
ering place for the best minds of
the Negroes Of this city. The
n which / am interested, r and
1ave been, l am sure, the causes
70 which your members dedicated
themselves. Your members have
been concerned with plans to am
,liorate some the difficulties con-
fronting Negroes because they
Ue Negroes. You are concerned
bout charging and improving
Jour economic opportunities. JUST
iably you demand your fair share
# available obs. In common with
1ther minority groups you are al
20 deeply interested in the prob
EN- of the full exercise of the civ
I rights that ought to be yours
Eithout question by virtue of the
Constitution of the United States.
During the past few years, you
have seer many of your hopes in
these fields burgeon INTO realities.
The public works program which
/ directed contributed largely, 1
believe, to improving The lot of the
Negro in this country. We built
hundreds of new school buildings,
SEQ - of hospitals, and thousands
of housing units for Negroes.
During the war, Negroes general
1y received higher wages than
they had ever received before.
The skills which had been learned
on projects financed by the Fed
eral Government were utilized and
improved upon.
/ need not tell such an INTEL
gent group as this of the tremend
Gus gains that have been yours as
a result Of the insistence of our
great President, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, that neither the Con-
stitution of the United States nor
right and justice, and certainly
not Christianity recognized any
distinction due to the pigment
alton Of the skin. Measured a.
gainst unfair and discriminatory
practices that had come to be
taken for granted not only in the
South but in the North we can
appraise the craftsmanship and
the courage of the great Roose-
welt in setting up the Fair Employ
ment Practices Committee.
There is cause for rejoicing over
what has been accomplished to
date in Jul Nation but there is
also anxiety for the future. We
must not permit a revival of
thoughtless and unfair discrimin-
alton. The continuance of the
FEPC is needed to help insure the
Negro his rightful place in our E.
economic system, for it must be
recognized that full fruition Of
the powers and development of
the capacities of the Negro has
not been achieved.
The problem of the Negro merg
es into and becomes inseparable
from the greater problem of Am
erican citizens generally who are
at or below tn line which separ-
ates those that are able to live in
decency and comfort from those
who r not. This is the most
serious threat to democracy that
we r facing today. We must
find a solution if our democracy
is to develop and endure.
There is grave and pressing
need that we resist more firmly
and more p~ersistently the exploit
alton Of the underprivileged third
of the Nation-a third which con-
tains so large a proportion of our
Negroes.
President Truman has ably dia-
gnosed the problem. His solution
and it is a solution which affects
not only the Negroes but all of us
in the country. is the full employ
ment bill. The purpose of this IS
to attempt to provide a job at all
times for everyone who wants to
work and is capable of working.
If the purposes of this bill could
be achieved, a great advance
would be made not only in solv-
ing the Negro problem but in find
ing an answer to the crucial ques
ticn which confrontS America TO-
day-whether we can make our
democracy work.
This fail employment bill, if en-
acted ito law, VI .ulu be a mod
crate assurance 70 Compensate for
the ma jships experi,--ceo by the