St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1953-08-28

y
OF intellectual land there are
somel on the right and move step
by-step on the radical equalitar-
ians on the other end. We would
find that not all Negro intellec-
tuals are cynical. not all are OPP
timistic, not all are defeatist. and
not all are aggressive. We would
have some specific points of ref
erence in discussing the group as
4 whole and its various sub-types,
While the general run OF intel
lectuals in America has rarely felt
at home, has never had a sense OF
meaningful social responsibility
and usefulness in our business in
dustrial order, their Negro
eounterparts have been continu-
ously alienated by white-dom-
mated society. even though their
status is probably higher than
that of any other group OF Ne
groes. Contrary to the claims OF
the economic determinists. this re-
lection is not a necessary func-
ton OF our capitslist-type econ
omy although it's does bear GER
tain characteristic markings OF a
bourgeois system.
Negro intellectuals have reacted
in variety OF ways 10 the ex-
elusionist policies with which they
are perpetuaAy confronted. Some
stand aloof from racial struggle
and address themselves to nom
racial endeavors. Such a man was
William Stanley Braithwaite,
Others have chosen TO ignore the
implications of race. they mea-
sure themselves and others as In
dividuals and maintain only a dis
tant Identity with race move
ments. In this connection one
thinks Immediately OF Fora Ncalc
Hurston and Of the dark Ameri-
can Daughter. Era Belle Thomp-
son. Some Negro intellectuals
have found the American environ
ment Mt times uncomfortable and
have journeyed 10 other lands
where the color bars do not en-
compass the mind so completely.
This was Claude McKay's re-
Spouse at one time, as well as that
Of Richard Wright.
Always Return
The fact that they almost In
variably return is partial testi.
mony to the failure OF their mis-.
sion. And II underscores the fact
that after all. they too are Ameri-
cans. Other Negro intellectuals
have fought back against race
prejudice with the weapons
which they knew best 10 employ
Frederick Douglass with his
provocative writings. Kelly Miller
with his bitter and ironical jabs
at white supremacy, w. f.. y. Du.
Bots tat one time) with fine NOR
al courage and scientific sociol-
ogy. Carter Woodson with histori-
cal data and sharp scholarship.
James Weldon johnson with the
novel, the poem, the autobio-
graphy, and Carl Rowan and Ted
Poston with perceptive and
thorough reporting with lay bare
the less palatable aspects of Ne
gro-white relations. and so on.
While not all colored intellec-
tuals have been in the forefront In
criticising and seeking 10 change
prejudiced society. there is
hardly a racial protest or better
mint movement WHICH AT itd1l
some of them have not inspired,
organized and led. The Negro
colleagues Of Phillips. Garrison,
and Lovejoy in the abolitionist
movement were primarily intel.
lectuals, free men who had ac-
CURED the ability TO read, write
and speak and thus TO project
new goals for their less literate
brathern. The convention move
ment during the Reconstruction
and Post-ReconstructiOn periods
was largely a result OF the efforts
of teachers. preachers, writers,
and professionals among the new
ly liberated Negroes to maintain
their war-won gains and push on
in the direction Of fun citizenship.
Even Booker r. Washington, who
stood above all for racial peace at
the white mans price, could not
have shaped the thought and ac-