The Omaha guide., 1946-05-11
OUR
GUEST
Column
EJszI L.. To-n HnrrsQ
Edited by Terna p. Harris
(BY A. PHILIP RANDOLPH

tB1 a Hf1lLIf hANDOLI
If Negroes on the road to freedom
don't begin to broaden their horizon
beyond the defense of their own civil
rights and go about against all fasc-
ism, sooner or later they are destined
to drop back to a rear-guard position.
Any person with a passing knowledge
Of the social sciences realizes that we
live in an interdependent world. What
affects other minorities Affects US. What
helps labor helps us. What breeds
nti-Semitism breeds anti-Negro preju-
dice. Yet you'd never know it from a
lot of the agitation in Negro circles.
On the contrary, some colored Americ-
ans are playing with dynamite by hat
ing and disparaging Jews.
I'm not talking out Of a book when
/ warn Negroes to call a halt on this
practice. | know from experience how
dangerous and downright stupid it is.
In our various battles in Washington "a
gainst Jim Grow, we stood in a much
better light because Jews and white
Christians rallied to our support. And
not just with words. For example =
the needle trades unions in New York,
largely composed of Jews, have con-
tributed very, very generously to the
FEPC fight. Despite this overt good
will, educated and uneducated Negroes
babble on, like a broken record, about
"Jewish landlords and Jewish store
keepers and other alleged varieties of
"Jewish tightwads." Frankly | wish
/ had kept a diary of experiences with
Jews and n~on-Jews. If | had, I'm sure
l could list just as many pleasant ex-
periences with Jews as with Negroes
or white Christians. Any kindergarten
graduate should know by now that no
group has a concession on greed and
trickery.
So what does it all add up to? Well,
an Army wins battles by constantly
improving its strategy. When it does
not advance with sufficient speed, it
takes stock Of mistakes and revamps iP
plans and calls for reinforcements. To-
day Negroes are not advancing fast
enough, the ballyhoo to the contrary
Notwithstanding. If we don't want to
be caught short with an American Fue-
hrer, like the Italian and German anti
f~ascists, we've got to evaluate our past
techniques and future goals and add
some more battalions.
AND that's where all other believers
in fair play, including our Jewish
neighbors, come into the picture. Up
to now we haven't sought and organic
ed sufficient support from people who
F,1,r,,,t,I1x chnra ,r,r afpnr lfro
told you about the Jewish trade union
lists in New York. Well, we can dupli
cate this type of friendly relationship
in MANY more communities throughout
the nation. We can call in the Japan
ese-Americans, too, and the Mexican
Americans, and all the people who are
tagged with hoary st%ereotypes and
plagued with discrimination. And we
can recruit support among white Cen
tiles also. Many Of them feel as keen
ly about Jim Grow as we do.
But let M remind you of one little
point. Our appeal to Jews and the
others on Rankin's blacklist will come
with ill grace if we keep on nourish-
ing our own pet perjudices. If we
keep on believing the fairy tales that
Jews own everything" If, in other
words, we keep on aping Mr.. Hitler.
We have a case against Jim Grow.
The strongest kind Of case, based on
scientific findings. But we weaken
our moral position in the eyes of the
world if we show that basically we're
no different from our oppressors. Ii
is encouraging to note that the public
opinion poll of Fortune magazine some
months ago revealed that there is less
anti-semitism among Negroes than am
ong other groups in the population.
But that's not good enough. We
should get rid of it all. Let's not risk
defeat by playing patty-cake with the
anti-Semites and native fascists. Too
much is at stake. The whole structure
of racism and Imperialism hangs in the
balance.
Let's cleanse our own hearts before
We declare a holy war on the Bilbos.
Let's get rid of the mote in our own
eye before we condemn the profession
al bigots. Let's end all signs of this
damnable anti-Semitism among oursel-
yes. Then we can get on with the real
job. Then will the lines be clearly
drawn.