, 1951-11-24
Straight Ahead
BY JULIUS J. A

NEW YORK, (GLOBAL)-Since the Straight Ahead" piece
about the Josephine Baker-Stork Club incident in which mention was
made of Walter White and of the strategy of the battle, numerous
letters have come in commenting on the logic of the article. I'm
fortunately, many of them interpreted the article as a criticism of
Mr. White and Of the NAACP planning. It is probable some of
those writer's actually interpreted the piece that way; others OBJ
viously read into it something they doubtless felt themselves.
Anyone familiar with my book, "The Challenge, A Study in
Negro Leadership" o who knows even a little about my writings
and utte1ances over the 2oodd years l toled as a working news
paper man, certainly should know my attitude toward both MI.
On page rs of "The Challenge" l wrote:
Today there r many individuals broadly described as Ne
gro leaders, but they are limited to special fields of activity and en-
deavor. The best known in the white world is Walter White, who has
seen more than a quarter century Of service with the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP).
"As head of the NAACP, MI. White enjoys a unique position
in public affairs because of his personal accomplishments and of the
prestige of his organization. He is a familiar figure in the nations
Capital. In his position, he has tremendous responsibility, and the
people whom he represents have a right to demand that he fulfill
that responsibility with intelligence, vigor, wisdom and courage"
In the book, a quote from MI. White appears, in which he
stated briefly his thought on the question of Negro leadership for
the future. He said:
at seems to me that leadership must devdope beyond purely
racial lines and realize that we are living in an increasingly shrink
ing world in which our problems and their solutions r part and
parcel of that of other PEOPLES. particularly colored peonles through.
out the world. increasingly the leadership is going to require the
very best training and experience and integrity"
Mr. White also was described in "The Challenge" as "a shrewd
field of civil liberties. There was nothing said, however, about his
being able to carry the Negroes burden by himself.
In the 10 Baker-Stork Club piece, it was noted that the
round in the battle had been lost, not on the field, but in the plan
ming room. 1t was noted also, that even more serious mistakes are
going to be made unless the policies of Negro leadership, including
the Negro press, are called upon to support are formulated different
ly in the future than they have been in the past. The theory is thai
no individual or organization has the right to commit the Negro tt
a policy position without greater participation Of the leadership Of
the various elements in the race in formulating that position. This
should apply to local groups if the problem is. local or to nationa
groups if the problem is national.
AS ne who has supported the NAACP stanchly for 20 year
and S one who began his contribution to the organization with
check for $25 in 1880, and has backed it ever since. I would Hk
to see the NAACP consult the leadership Of other organizations be
fore taking a major policy position. This most assuredly doesn't ap
ply to the work of it's legal arm in fighting civil rights cases. Ger
tanIV a representative IT the National NaWSnan puhEchor
Association ought to be consulted chiefly because the ultimate success
of the NAACP depends largely upon the support of public opinion
and in this newspaper support is imperative.