The Omaha guide., 1947-03-29

lIlSlcSS dllQ TcAAOIC AlOlu JUG. AL
he understood and cared about was
that his freedom had been arbi.-
rar1ly curtailed.
The italian author, Igrazio Sill
one, put the same point in a slight
ly different way in his hard-hitting
novel, "Fontamara"-the name Of
a peasant village which was COM
pletely wiped out by the fascists.
When the peasants, early in the
book, 60 to the nearby town to
protest a diversion of their life
giving awter supply, they receive
loud outlaws from the police and
townspeople when they ask to e
the mayor. Under Mussolini a
new name for mayor had been
decreed, but to the peasants the
changed title was unimportant.
Inustices were still being rained up
on their village. whatever the
cource of authority might nov be
called. One peasant passed a pene
trating comment about the condos
cending laughs Of the townspeople
"Well-brought-up folks are pretty
sharp" he said, land they get ex-
cited over the east little thing"
I am sure that the low-income
Negroes, Jews, Japanese-Americ-
ans and others who would benefit
mos tfrom a permanent FEPC will
never get excited about the petty,
supercilious and heated arguments
we shall soon be hearing when Con
gress debates this legislation.
Such persons are too close to 20
nomic realities, too downtrodden
and too keen to pay much attention
to the apologists for discrimin-
ation-by whatever name it goes.
Though many of them lack school
ing and formal education, the
grind Of poverty and of second
class citizenship has led them, like
Stones peasants, to analyze, APP
praise and ~deprecate the super
structure and sweet language of
oppression.
What am I trying to say? Only
that the more ~articulate and edu-
Gated advocates of FEPC and civ
il rights must face the facts of a
slave economy and a slave society.
The manipulators Of power have
devised many schemes and many
slogans to keep racial and econom-
ic minorities fooled. We constant
ly let them sidetrack our efforts by
pickering over meaningless form.
Substance is lost under a smoke
screen. The average Negro in the
South, ~ourneying to a distant city,
has no idea whether it is a city,
state. federal or United Nations
law-just a local custom-that re-
quires him to travel i'm crow. And
to him it makes no differences. All
that's significant is that, to save
his skin. he must walk to the rear
of the bus. The immigrant Jew
reaching our shores seeks employ
ment and housing. The disabilit-
les he suffers are an inner spirit
ual concern. 1t matters little, to
one who cannot speak the lang
uage, whether he is pushed around
by discriminatory landlords, a
state employment agency or the
immigration Service. At the end
Of the day, like the "Porgy and
Bess" character, he STILL doesn't
know what it's all about.
Let's pitch the FEPC appeal.
then. on a spiritual basis. In fact.
let's handle each kindred issue
STANDARDIZATION it's additional
laws to protect our civil rights,
laws to outlaw restrictive coven-
ants. or laws to provide hot lunch
es for undernournished children.
1t will be a long, long time-con-
sidering the state of our education
al system-before the average ex-
plotted American will make all
the fine distinctions that are the
oy and inspiration of literal-mind-
ed bureaucrats. 1t will be many
lynchings hence before most Mis-
sissippi farm-hands will be able to
spell "Civil Rihts Section of the De
-partment of Justice. or Fair
Employment Practices Commits
sion."
Again I say, what difference, so
far as immediate action by pro-
gressive forces is concerned? Our
mainstay, in so far as keeping our
eye on the ball, is the very persons
who know the score, not from
books and pamphlets but through
their daily struggle for the s e
tials of life. The important point.
if we are to be free, is to build the
kind of society that contains with
in itself the protection against in
justice which such agencies should