St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1955-02-25

ieScafcn project, or problem u
engineering. and theyll get tn
facts-all Of them before the,
dare come up with an answer
An industrialist IN only Kidding
himself when no repeats the
standard. pat objections 10 fair
employment. We cannot stand
for enlightened progress on the
one hand, and on the other will
ingly serve meaningless taboo
right out Of the Dark Ages.
Economic Justice may be only
half the battle for Americas Ne
groes, but II Is the greater half
Improving the Negroes economic
lot will breed social Improvement
land reduce the high price we
pay for sium-bred crime, disease
and poverty. While we win always
have some Negroes, AS well as
white men at the bottom OF the &C.
onomic lader. they need not. at
least. be corsigned 10 that position
because OF the color Of their skins.
We have 10 believe that, here In
tbs United States, there really ia
enough opportunity 10 20 around
ready and waiting for men born
equal and entitled TO find their
place In life according 10 what
they can give. Wasted ability In
costly, when we need more en-
gineera, doctors. or other people
In our top professions. and when
we continue, In some areas, to sub
stitute human muscle for machin-
cry which could do the same work
at less cost. II goods and services
constitute our real wealth, then
the more people we permit 10
create. produce and consume that
wealth. the better off we are.
WIN Create Consumer Markets
n we let Negroes find their
true level ON the basis OF ability,
joining with us In the creation
and production Of wealth, their
Increased earnings will give us
one Of the best consumer mar
kets we can hope for. Estimates
ON the total cost OF prejudice TO
the United States have run as
high as thirty billion dollars a
year. II the true cost were only
one quarter Of that. II would
still be more than we can afford.
Basic ability must, OF course, be
rainod before Il can be fully util-
zcd. In general, young Negroes
ire better trained and educated
low than they have ever been.
ust as there are comparatively
letter employment opportunities
TO them than there were
o their parents. But the fact re-
mains that, for many, there Is
lot yet much incentive TO obtain
higher education, particularly
when they see Negro college grad
Iates working as janitors or labor.
rs, and when they see others shut
'ur from the in-plant training and
apprenticeship programs available
o whites.
Incentive and the ability to az
ord education will increase an the
legro's economic condition inn
'roves. but the immediate slim
Illus TO meet immediate needs re-
Mains joint problem for Negro
naders and for the people Of In
ustry who are In position TO
royide training for trades and
or production Jobs, The responsi-
ility for making this kind of
raining available to Negroes in
Industry Ia an important one be.
ause II will mean a great deal to
ne average Negro who. like the
,verage white, liz more apt 20 find |
lis future within an industry than |
within profession
As ! have said before, there Is
10 blueprint for indignation which !
an be applied rigidly within each |
industry; but there are
ome general guides which should
iolp make the Job easter every
where. When we started our own
program, we didn't have much
outside assistance: but in the
curse OF administering our pro.
yram. we formed contacts with
ocal and national groups, which,
n the beginning could have made
,ur task simpler and less worri-
'ome II we had gone TO them for
guidance, We have worked parti-