Arkansas State press., 1951-03-30
this
day and age
Don't Rock The Boat
BY Clyde O. Jackson, City Editor

with the air of an accomplished journalist, laments over the fact
that her Gown true love- husband, that isl was stolen by a
white woman. Throughout the sizzling article, the writer cites
the cases of numerous prominent Negro men who have "fanen
prey to her paler sisters and denounces "mixed-marriages" as
a threat to the chocolate colored dolls.
| couldn't very well be termed as an advocate of mixed
marriage personally, but | have always regarded marriage as
a private affair, mixed or sorted. Writers such as this woman
and articles such as the one she penned for the Negro Digest are
enough to make those who seek our full integral freedom wonder
if the Negro really knows what he wants.
l am not one who believes that white people or any other
group of people are to be admired or envied, neither do l re-
gard the accomplishment of association with Americas ma
jorhy race as a bright goal. But since l realize that separate,
but equal is merely separate, but not equal at all, l stand
for the complete abolition of segregation. After all, segregation
is a luxury, only for those willing to pay for it. Those who want
to be secluded from a certain group or from certain individuals
should be in a position to pay for this seclusion. They should
ride taxis and private cars rather than public conVeyances and
should have their own private showing of motion pictures rather
than to view those at the local theatre. No person, white or col
ored, has the right to force segregation on all people, because he,
the individual, desires it. w should look upon marriage in the
same manner. No one has the right to dictate who shall marry
whom. Any law which limits marriage to certain groups is sinful.
No sooner had dropped the Digest before l glanced at an
article in one of the national newspapers which stated that Ne
gro teachers in New Mexico had gone on record publicly as in
favor Of the continuation of racially segregated schools in that
state. OF course it is obvious that one of the main reasons for
their stand is the fact that they are not confident that they are
prepared to fully compete with white teachers for jobs.
All of this goes to show us that a great number OF Negro
citizens in the United States do not want the COMPLETE ADO
LTTION OF SEGREGATION Oh, yes, they want the courts to
quit rairoading innocent Negroes off to death for the se-ealled
honor of a white woman who has the reputation of a harlot'
htty Ndm TIE Guulls 10 qul NSdHN lSHNIAhS 4'S6iVN' Af 'G'S
white men only in defense of their own lives; they want the
courts to quit freeing Negroes who kill other Negroes (Who are
freed to Kill and kill again, as long as they kill other Negroes and
not white folks); they want white men TO gel the same treatment
for trespassing on the honor of a Negro woman as the Negro
would get for treSpasses upon a white woman; they want the
equal opportunity to participate in elections, run for offices and
live tremendously with their families in a free and peaceful at
mosphere but.
We must realize that if the dastardly evil practice Of segre-
cation and discrimination is to be eradicated at all, it will have
to be eradicated altogether, sorted marriages. sorted schools
included!
We know that segregation is ending. We know that we are
going to have to compete for worthwhile jobs and positions OF
dignity and honor. We know that we are going to have to be
fifteen or twenty times better than a white man competing for
the same job or position in order to be considered, so why not
get busy preparing ourselves rather than sitting around wanting
to "have your cake and eat ii too
II Negroes would limit social indulgence (and quit re-
lying on the excuse, well, white folks do IT'D, petty pickering,
jealousy and s~ellshness, we would be fifty years ahead in our
struggle.
Negroes who want complete freedom with reservations
are not unlike the Uncle Tom or the dangerous, selfish, profit
seeking towards among us who would sell us out for a hali-cent.
They are rocking the boat" in our drift toward full, first class
citizenship.
The white fascist is not too worried about civil rights com
ing about for the Negro nor is he worried about the Negro COM
ing into his own in politics or any other phase OF the American
way Of life. He knows if he plays his cards right, exploiting our
weaknesses, the sins of greed, jealousy and lust viii take Uaeir
deadly toll, thus leaving US yet unfreed.
All or nothing at all is what we will get in the end. We Will
either march forward to freedom, recognition and fairness or re-
main in slavery. The decision of which shall be our fate is lett
entirely up to us, not up to the white man or anyone else, for no
one has ever or will ever take any more liberties with us than
we are passive enough 10 allow. NpEINtS uOl I HdNt W w
lynched or otherwise exploited. And we are going to need more
than passage of laws to stop these explorations, too. For If you
are freed by legislature yet remain a slave in mind,
you are not much better off than when you were a slave by
force sometimes you are worse off.
| can understand a little how the woman who lost her man
TO the seductiveneSs of a white adventures feels and | can sym
pathize a little with the Negro teachers who are only afraid
that they will lose their Jobs should segregation in the schools
be eliminated in that state; after all they are only looking out
for their own security and w%ellbeng. But think of that youth
there; will he be stunted and mistreated because you had not
the foresight or the consciousness of race to realize that we are
in a precarious condition as long as we are excluded from every
public supported Institution or position in the south merely be-
cause of the color of our skin? Nothing worthwhile is gained
at no cost, and least of all freedom. We have already paid such
a bloody. heartbreaking price to begin backing down now. The
blood, sweat and tears of a million black %forefathers are stained
on the pages of our history and along we come with nothing in
mind but sefperpetuation, greed for money and praise for
those scoundrels who have done nothing but hold us in slavery
and degradation for hundreds of years.
... And so, we who advocate only the partial breaking
down Of segregation and discrimination and we who 90 along
with the white supremacist theory that this is a gradual, "edu-
cational' matter which is destined to take hundreds of years are
not only "whistling in the dark, but also are rocking the
boat.