St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1951-03-02

To say that a man can Ice pre-
iudic"d against Negroes all his
life and for the duration Of
given trial as juryman, such
man can be free of prejudice,
Is to fly into the face of the
laws of social psychology. No
man ON earth can he prejudiccd
81 weeks in year and suddenly
become unpre JUDGED for the
duration of his duty As jury
man.
This means that Negroes who
are involved in crimes against
whites never get justice, in that
they are never tried by an unpre-
JUDGED jury. It is almost I'M
thinkable to imagine that any
jury is composed of II white men
who are not prejudiCed To the ex-
tent 1t is unthinkable to assume
that on any given occasion II
white men can be found who are
preiudiCcd in their attitudes to-
ward Negroes is the extent to
which Negroes fail to get justice
in the courts of the land
one of the greatest tragedies of
modern times is this self same
situation where Negroes are Of
ten tried for their lives by a jury
that is prejudiced This writer is
not here debating the guilt or in
noCence of the Martinsville Seven
He is merely saying that they
were not tried by an UMPIRE JUDGED
jury, as has been the case a
thousand times before through
out the south and nation II is
doubtful if any Negro has ever
been convicted or exoneratcd by
an unprejudiced jury. This legal
handicap poses one of the gray
est problems of Jurisprudence of
our times.
When a group Of Negroes and
whites went down to the capitol
of Virginia last summer to plead
for a Communication of the sentence
of the Martinsville Seven the
writer was among them. When
the pleadings ended with final
say by mother of one of the con-
demned men. we all repaired to
the capitol lawn where we talked
among ourselves. One of the white
women expressed a doubt as to
whether our petitions had been
effective. Said she, 1T looks as
If the boys are doomed for their
case is now in politics"
This writer took II to mean
that the Byrd machine had de-
creed that the boys must die.
They died. II would now appear
that the white woman knew
whereof she spoke. and that she
saw the CORY sequel OF which We
write here. The point of this re-
lease Is to show how limited are
prayers and vigils when votes
are lacking. The case Of the
Martinsville Seven stirred the
world.
There We're pressures on both
sides, for a communication and for
their execution. II was matter
of pressure against pressure. I'm
fortunately for the boys the pres
sure for execution was the greater
and so they were called upon to
pay with their lives the penalty
that Virginia laws exscted.
The bristling point that the
NAACP able attorneys uncovered
to the effect that the death
sentence for rape has been re-
served for Negroes only was never
faced by the legal machinery of
the state and nation. II was a
telling point and although it was
over-ruled by the state and feder-
al courts. it still stands out in
bold relief to the discredit of Vir-
ginia and the nation. 1t is bound
to have its effects. II was a
righteous contention and as such
cannot be downed.
On the eve Of the multiple ex.
ecutions there were vigils and
prayers but the executions went
on apace. The reason: Negroes
are relatively voteless In Vir-
ginia. The very fact that the ex-
ecution Of the Martinsville Sew
en- was In politics IL proof that
the course Of events might have
been changed had Negroes com
manded $4,000 or 100000 votes
to be cast In q given election.
A few votes would have won a
communication for the Martinsville
Seven: but the votes were lack
ing; and so the tragic sequel to
the Martinsville tragedy. 1t is
going to be great day in vir-
ginia and throughout the nation
when Negroes learn that votes
and not vigils are the ultimate
determinants Of American Negro
destiny.
Turn extra furniture into ready